Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

From The VA

National Veterans Golden Age Games Kick Off
Vets from around the nation are in Des Moines, IA to compete in the 24th National Veterans Golden Age Games, the largest annual sports competition of its kind. On Tuesday, VA Chief of Staff John Gingrich (left) thanked sponsors and medical center staff.Learn more

Top Veterans Stories in Today’s News

1. Memorial Day: Keeping our troops and veterans first Each year on Memorial Day, Americans come together to remember those who have sacrificed their lives on behalf of our country in the name of freedom and democracy. The debt owed to them is immeasurable. Without the brave efforts of all the service men and women and their families, our country would not live so freely.
2. Memorial scams warning Salt Lake City – As Memorial Day weekend draws closer the Commerce Department warns some criminals pose as charitable groups for veterans during this time of the year. In fact the agency set up a website to help people find legitimate charities.
3. Director visits Laurel to consider designating a National Veterans Cemetery Frank K. Salvas, Sr., director of State Cemetery Grants Services, with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration in Washington, DC, was in Laurel Thursday morning to visit the Yellowstone County Veterans Cemetery which is under consideration for designation as a National Veterans Cemetery.
4. Veterans, Psych Drugs, and Deaths Recently reported in Marine Corps Times and other media venues including Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter, it has been noted that psychotropic drug-induced sudden deaths are increasing in Iraq War Veterans. Most of the newer psych drugs are fluoride based and are known to have cardiac effects among the many problems they cause.
5. NRC inspects brachytherapy programs in 12 VA hospitals The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a 51-page report early this week based on inspections of the 12 Veterans Affairs hospitals that currently have brachytherapy programs. Brachytherapy is a prostate cancer treatments in which radioactive seeds are implanted near cancerous tissue.
6. VA centralizes approach to training acquisition workers The Veterans Affairs Department has centralized and standardized its approach to training its acquisition workers. And maybe more importantly for the agency, they are taking steps to keep the pipeline of contracting officers and program managers flowing as more and more employees retire.
7. Vets charity under fire raised over $2M in Va. Richmond, Virginia, A call to a state agency last year led Virginia officials to revoke a registration exemption for a nonprofit Navy veterans organization that was soliciting donations by telephone.
8. AG: Veterans charity shut down; Oregon will join fight to stop military funeral protests Salem, Oregon – A deceptive charity that claimed to help U.S. veterans but instead kept most of the money it raised is being dissolved, Attorney General John Kroger announced Tuesday morning Kroger also announced that Oregon will join with other states in an effort to protect military funerals from offensive protests, such as those conducted by the controversial Westboro Baptist Church.
9. Hiring surge to employ thousands Randolph AFB, Texas – With contractor-to-civilian conversions, new organizations standing up and overall increases in civilian positions, the Air Force civil service continues to grow as officials look to employ thousands of U.S. citizens.
10. As VA med center design revealed, veterans plan memorial park A sneak peek today at the design of the $665 million Orlando VA Medical Center at the emerging “medical city” at Lake Nona will also include a major announcement just in time for Memorial Day: a plan to build an adjacent park honoring Central Florida’s fallen veterans.