Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

From the VA:

Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

1. Shinseki Announces Funding For Maine Vets’ Home Project. The AP (7/21) reports, “The Maine veterans’ home in Caribou will get a multipurpose room addition with the help of a federal grant.” On Monday, US Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki “announced…that the state will receive $336,294 for assistance in the project.” According to the AP, US Rep. Mike Michaud (D-ME), who chairs the Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health, “says the grant will save the state money and provide residents of the Caribou facility with additional space for activities.”

 2. LAT Questions Urgency Of VA’s Efforts To Assist Homeless Vets. The Los Angeles Times (7/21), which notes in an editorial that “Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki declared last year…he intended to end homelessness among veterans within five years,” says the agency has not “yet shown the urgency that Shinseki’s pledge demands. One example of this, oddly enough, is in…VA’s recent agreement to spend $20 million to convert” only one of three “largely idle” buildings “on its campus in West Los Angeles into therapeutic housing for up to 90 veterans who are chronically homeless.” The Times adds, “We hope that Shinseki, who is coming to L.A. on Wednesday, will leave with a greater appreciation of the magnitude of the homelessness problem and the resources waiting to be tapped.”

3. Vets Excited For Groundbreaking Of New Cemetery In Texas. The Corpus Christi (TX) Caller Times (7/21) reports, “After waiting decades for their own Corpus Christi cemetery, veterans don’t care what weather they may face Friday during a groundbreaking for the Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery. ‘We will be there rain or shine,’ said Dick Prewett, chief of staff for Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8932 in Flour Bluff,” who added, “I’ve got boots to tramp through mire if needed.”

 4. Montana Board Of Veterans Affairs To Convene This Week. The Bozeman Daily (MT) Chronicle (7/21, 16K) reports, “The Montana Board of Veterans Affairs will convene at 1 p.m. Thursday, July 22, in the Montana Army National Guard’s Readiness Center.” The board “oversees the operations of the state’s Veterans Affairs Division.”

 5. Executive Order That Established VA Noted. The lead “Today In History” item for AP (7/21) points out that on “July 21, 1930, President Herbert Hoover signed an executive order establishing the Veterans Administration,” which later became the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

6. Report: VA Administrator Used Government Time, Resources To Run Internet Bakery. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (7/21, Roche) reports, “A Department of Veterans Affairs official used government time and resources to run an Internet-based bakery called Shugga Mommas.” A report “issued last week by…VA’s Inspector General concluded the human resources administrator in the agency’s central office in Washington used ‘official time and resources to conduct personal business during VA duty hours.’ The report blacked out names, but its descriptions match those on a website for the suburban Washington-based Shugga Mommas,” which Maryland records show was incorporated in 2002 by a VA administrator named Rasheeda J. Holdip.

7. Iraq Vets Optimistic About New PTSD Guidelines. In continuing coverage, the KDKA-TV Pittsburgh, PA (7/20) website reported, “Veterans from wars extending back to Vietnam have complained of post-traumatic stress and complained as well that they haven’t been able to get treatment.” The Department of Veterans Affairs, however, recently “issued new guidelines designed to make it easy for vets to get treatment and compensation” for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). After noting that in a statement, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said the new guidelines go a “long way to ensure that Veterans receive the benefits and services they need,” KDKA pointed out that Iraq veteran Matt Drudnok, a Pittsburgh resident, said he has had to fight VA for PTSD benefits but he “will be optimistic about” the agency’s new guidelines.
In a similar article, the Kokomo (IN) Tribune (7/20, De La Bastide) noted that 26-year-old Jason Vazquez, a veteran who served in Iraq Afghanistan, also has PTSD but his disability has been denied. Vazquez, however, “believes the recent change made on PTSD claims by the VA gives him the opportunity to receive benefits.”
Mother Says VA Can Do More For Troubled Vets. A front page story in the Woodbridge (NJ) Sentinel (7/21, Ciraulo) reports, “Last week, Linda Bean,” whose Iraq veteran son “took his own life in 2008,” was “sworn in at a hearing” in Washington, DC, where she “gracefully advised” the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on how the Department of Veterans Affairs can improve mental health treatment resources for veterans, including by teaming up with civilian organizations. The Sentinel points out that US Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-AZ), “who chaired the subcommittee hearing,” said that while VA has improved its mental health treatment resources, the hearing was called to “find a more effective outreach strategy.”
Doctor Says Anesthetic Can Block Painful Memories. The KMGH-TV Denver, CO (7/20) website said standard treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which “haunts one in every six soldiers coming back” from Iraq, “means therapy and meds that don’t always work and have side effects.” Now, however, Dr. Eugene Lipov is “treating PTSD with an injection” of a local anesthetic “called stellate ganglion block,” which Lipov “says can block…painful memories.” Other doctors, however, “say more safety studies need to be done before the treatment is widely used.” The KCRG-TV Cedar Rapids (7/20) website published a shortened version of this story, under the headline, “Injection For Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.”

8. Robley Rex VAMC Welcomes Kentucky Guard Members Home. The WDBR-TV Louisville, KY (7/20) website noted that on Saturday, the Robley Rex Veterans Affairs Medical Center “hosted the fourth annual welcome home event for the area’s returning Guardsmen,” this year recognizing “1500 airmen and families” from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Airlift Wing. WDBR added, “In addition to Iraq and Afghanistan, Kentucky airmen provide airlift support to many other areas around the world.”

9. Hampton VAMC Expanding. The Newport News (VA) Daily Press (7/20, Lessig) said, “Growth is the watchword at the Hampton VA Medical Center, something that offers the promise of more treatment but is also testament to growing needs. Several medical center officials offered that assessment Monday during a live chat with the Daily Press, touching on topics that ranged from patient outreach to ongoing construction” of various projects, including a clinic for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. The facility “will…provide one-stop treatment for multiple medical conditions, as well as orientation for newly discharged service members.”

10. Vet To Be Buried In Cemetery He Helped Establish. In continuing coverage, the Manila, Arkansas-based Northeast Arkansas Town-Crier (7/21, Snider) reports, “Caraway” hometown hero Nick Bacon passed away Saturday, July 17, after a long tough battle with cancer.” The 64-year-old Vietnam vet had worked for the Veterans Affairs “Regional Office in Phoenix,” and as “director of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs.”
The Jonesboro (AR) Sun (7/21, Hodges) notes that Bacon, who “was the last living Medal of Honor recipient in Arkansas,” will “be buried on Saturday in the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock, which he helped to establish.” KATV-TV Little Rock, AR (7/20, 7:03 p.m. ET) also broadcast that Bacon will be buried at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery.