Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

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From The VA
VA Nutrition and Food Services across the nation celebrated National Nutrition Month (NNM) throughout March. VA dieticians took the opportunity to bring nutrition to the forefront and educate Veterans and VA employees about the importance of nutrition. Providence, Portland, Vancouver, Madison, and Danville VA Medical Centers paid special attention to the month’s theme, “Nutrition from the Ground Up.” Providence prepared seeding plants of various herbs and vegetables, then gave them away to patients and staff.

The VA Medical Center also raffled off a reusable shopping bag filled with gardening items and education handouts on container gardening, composting, organic foods, unusual grains, and antioxidant-rich foods. The Portland and Vancouver VA Medical Centers encouraged Veterans, employees, and visitors to begin their own home garden by supplying peas, soil, and egg cartons with instructions on how to grow peas. Madison VA Medical Center provided samples of homemade vegetable soup, pork, and yucca root.

Other medical centers observed the month with health fairs, nutrition tips, and posters. Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center kicked off the month with a health fair that included educational booths on snacks for kids, eating right for older adults, heart health for women, and healthy eating on the run. The VA facility also provided tips on various topics to educate veterans, employees, and visitors. It also showcased nutritional classes and programs available throughout the year to Veterans and employees. Lexington VA Medical Center celebrated Nutrition Month by partnering with Social Work Service to hold a food drive for local veterans.

Update

VA Uses Recovery Act Money to Repair Historic Monuments

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will use up to

$4.4 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act program to repair and preserve historic monuments and memorials at VA-operated national cemeteries, soldiers’ lots and other facilities throughout the United States.

“The Recovery Act will help us preserve these historic memorials for future generations,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.  “In many cases, these irreplaceable historic structures will receive long overdue repairs while keeping skilled American artisans employed on projects important to our heritage.”

Funds for the monument and memorial repairs are coming from more than $1.4 billion in the Recovery Act allocated to VA.

Forty-nine monuments at 36 sites in 23 states will be repaired or conserved under this program.  These represent some of the oldest and most significant memorials at VA cemeteries, and require treatments that include cleaning, roof and step repairs, stone consolidation, joint repointing, and painting or waxing of metals.

Cost estimates for individual projects range from less than $10,000 to $510,000.  The monuments and memorials included in this treatment initiative were installed between 1842 and 1952, and most are associated with the Civil War.

The most costly preservation project is the National Soldiers’ Monument at Dayton National Cemetery in Ohio.  The Soldiers’ Monument dominates the landscape from atop a mound at the center of the cemetery.  The cornerstone was laid in 1873 and it was completed in 1877.  This dramatic structure is composed of a 30-foot marble column on a granite base and topped with a soldier at parade rest.

At the corners of the base are four figures representing the infantry, cavalry, artillery and Navy.  President Rutherford B. Hayes delivered the dedication address on Sept. 12, 1877, to a crowd of about 22,000.  This monument was severely vandalized in 1990, and the current initiative will address problems associated with the repair.The oldest monument among the 49 sites is Dade’s Pyramids at St. Augustine National Cemetery in Florida.  The pyramids cover vaults that contain the remains of 1,468 soldiers who died during the Second Seminole War from 1835 to 1842.  The three Dade’s Pyramids are each six feet tall and were constructed in 1842 of coquina stone.  They were dedicated at a ceremony that marked the end of the Florida Indian Wars.

The funds will also be used to repair and conserve three monumental limestone entrance archways built around 1870 at national cemeteries in Nashville and Chattanooga, Tenn., and Marietta, Ga.  VA will also use ARRA funds to conserve the soldiers’ obelisk monuments at cemeteries affiliated with the National Homes for Disabled Veteran Soldiers.  Also scheduled for repairs are 11 monuments funded by states where large numbers of their troops were buried, five Confederate monuments, and a memorial to President Zachary Taylor located near his tomb in Louisville, Ky.

The Recovery Act, signed into law by President Obama on Feb. 17, 2009, is an unprecedented effort to jumpstart the American economy, create and save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so our country can thrive in the 21st century.  In addition to repairs to monuments and memorials, America’s national cemeteries will receive an estimated:

• $25.9 million for national shrine projects to raise, realign, and clean headstones or grave markers and repair sunken graves at various locations across the country;
• $5.9 million for energy-related projects such as conserving energy and water through the use of wind turbines, solar power and other measures;

• $9.5 million to repair roads, buildings, and other cemetery infrastructure at locations nationwide; and
• Nearly $6 million for equipment purchases for cemetery operations.

VA operates 131 national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico and 33 soldiers’ lots and monument sites.  More than three million Americans, including Veterans of every war and conflict — from the Revolutionary War to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan — are buried in VA’s national cemeteries on more than 19,000 acres of land.

Top Veterans Stories in Today’s News

1. Harkin says Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown getting $2 million Marshalltown, Iowa (AP) – U.S. Sen.Tom Harkin has announced that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is awarding $2.2 million in Recovery Act funds for improvements to the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown.
2. VA laboring under surge of wounded veterans: Analysis Chicago, Illinois – In a sobering reminder of the long-term costs of war, a dramatic spike in disability claims during the last seven years has overwhelmed the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and nearly doubled the cost of compensating wounded veterans, according to a Chicago Tribune analysis.
3. National Consumer Law Center Hails Rule to Protect Seniors’ Bank Accounts Boston, Massachusetts, – New rules proposed by Obama’s Treasury Department would prevent debt collectors from triggering the illegal seizure of Social Security funds from the bank accounts of tens of thousands of seniors. “Once enacted, this regulation will stop banks from illegally freezing Social Security, SSI and veterans’ benefits to satisfy garnishment orders from debt collectors,” said Margot Saunders, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center.
4. More than a wall The Wall casts a long shadow. Washington, DC – Artist and architect Maya Lin, now 50, was a 21-year-old college student when her design was selected for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. A black wall of the names of the dead, set into the sloping ground near the Washington Monument, would honor those who fought in the Vietnam War.
5. Sacramento, California – Capitol event honors survivors, liberators Holocaust survivors and WWII veterans who helped liberate concentration camps will be honored in Sacramento during a ceremony at 12 p.m. Monday, April 19. More than 40 survivors, veterans and their guests from around the state are expected to attend, sharing stories of survival and memorializing those who lost their lives. During the event in the Capitol, Assembly Concurrent Resolution 31, which formally proclaims April 12 to April 18 as California Holocaust Memorial Week, will be presented on the Assembly floor.
6. SBA opens new centers to assist veterans Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – The U.S. Small Business Administration said Thursday it will open eight additional Veterans Business Outreach Centers around the country, including one at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
7. State rejects county VA head’s bias claim Waterloo, Iowa – The Iowa Civil Rights Commission has found no probable cause to pursue a complaint filed by Black Hawk County Veteran Affairs executive director Bennie Spain.
8. Vets asked to tell stories for national archives Virginia Beach, Virginia – Veterans who live in Hampton Roads are invited to share their stories so they can be preserved at the Library of Congress.
9. Veterans’ care could be village’s future Saranac Lake, New York – A broad-based coalition of community leaders and veteran advocates are working to bring a first-of-its-kind retreat and reintegration facility for veterans, active military personnel and their families to this village. Patriot Hills at Saranac Lake involves construction of a $30 million hotel and conference center that would host a wide range of support programs, counseling and services for military personnel and their families from across the Northeast.
10. STGi Hosts Re-Opening of Veteran Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in Scottsbluff, NE Scottsbluff, Nebraska – STG International, Inc. (STGi) will re-open the Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) in Scottsbluff, NE with an official ribbon cutting ceremony. STGi became the clinic’s management company in March 2010.