Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

From the VA:

1.      Press Conference Highlights VA Ad Campaign. In continuing coverage, the WWTI-TV Watertown, NY (10/12, Boname) website said that through a new ad campaign, the Department of Veterans Affairs is “urging combat veterans transitioning back to civilian life to take advantage of the benefits they have earned. Tuesday morning at the VA Watertown Outpatient Clinic,” VA officials “held a press conference to show the new 30-second…campaign ‘What Lies Ahead,’ and to discuss the growing VA presence in the North Country.” The “multimedia ad,” which is part of VA’s “National Veterans Awareness Campaign,” will be “airing in areas throughout the country that are near major military bases and large veteran populated areas, such as: Norfolk, VA; Raleigh, NC; Savannah, GA; Seattle, WA; Watertown, NY; and El Paso, TX.”
     The WWNY-TV Watertown, NY (10/12, Rutherford) website said VA has “chosen the Watertown community to launch a major advertising campaign to encourage veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan to take advantage of available VA benefits and services.” After pointing out that VA’s ad “promotes one of VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki’s top priorities: providing more veterans access to VA services,” WWNY added, “During a news conference at the Watertown VA clinic Tuesday, department officials said they’re upping outreach efforts and encouraging vets to take advantage of the benefits they’ve earned.” The WNYF-TV Watertown, NY (10/12) website ran the same story.
     Virginia Hospital To Preview Ad Today. The WVEC-TV Norfolk, VA (10/12) website said the VA hospital in Hampton, Virginia, “will preview” VA’s awareness campaign “ad on Wednesday.” The “other locations to run the ads are Raleigh, N.C., Savannah, Ga., Seattle, Watertown, N.Y. and El Paso, Texas.” WVEC, which said the “sites were selected because they’re near major military bases and have a large number” of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, quotes VA Press Secretary Katie Roberts, who said the sooner such vets’ needs are met , the “less likely they are to encounter the repercussions commonly associated with their post-combat experience.”
     The Westchester (NY) Journal News (10/13) offers the same quote from Roberts, while publishing a story focused on the growing, “shocking suicide rate among members of the armed services.” The Journal News says VA’s new ad campaign highlights department “resources that can help returning vets transition to civilian life,” including “home loans, education assistance and medical treatment.”
     According to the CNN (10/12, Rizzo) website, VA’s “multi-million dollar” National Veterans Awareness Campaign “includes a $1 million ad buy on television, in addition to an internet campaign.” CNN also quotes Roberts, who said, “This advertising campaign is an effort to bridge the gap. VA wants servicemembers and veterans to know VA is a resource.”

 2.      VA Grant To Help Fund Homeless Vets Residence. According to the Chillicothe (OH) Gazette (10/12, Ison, 12K), homeless “male veterans in the area could have a new place to go by late spring,” because New Vision Outreach has “learned it will receive a $421,000 grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs to help build a 24-bed transitional residence for homeless veterans.” After noting that the “money New Vision is receiving is part of $41.9 million in grants being distributed in 40 states to provide beds for 2,568 veterans,” the Gazette pointed out that in a press release, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said the grants will “provide traditional beds to veterans who have served honorably, but for various reasons now find themselves in a downward spiral toward despair and homelessness.”

 3.      Veterans Agent Praises Shinseki. The Taunton (MA) Daily Gazette (10/12, Vogler) noted that Vietnam vet Steve Nolan, who serves as the veterans agent in the Massachusetts cities of Easton and Norton, met Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki “at an August conference of Paralyzed Veterans of America.” Nolan had been “eager to meet” Shinseki, because, as Nolan put it, Shinseki has “turned…VA around.”

4.      Business Seminar For Veterans To Be Held Today In Minnesota. The North Dakota-based Forum Of Fargo-Moorhead (10/13) notes that on Wednesday, a “small-business seminar for veterans and service members is scheduled” to be held “from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.” at Minnesota State University Moorhead. The seminar, which will be “presented by…the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs” and several other organizations, the “second of six scheduled seminars across the state to support veterans and service members in improving or starting their own business.”

 5.      “Little To No Opposition” For Oregon Vets Home Loan Measure. On its website, KDRV-TV Medford, OR (10/12, Sandberg) reported, “One of the items on the upcoming Oregon November ballot that seems” to be “drawing little to no opposition is Measure 70, which would make all Oregon veterans” and the “surviving spouses” of veterans “eligible for low interest home loans.”

6.      Bridges Dedicated To Fallen Tennessee National Guardsmen. According to the AP (10/12), four “bridges along State Route 840 are being dedicated to four Tennessee National Guardsmen who died in 2010 while in service.” This will “make a total of 22 bridges along the Tennessee National Guard Parkway that are dedicated to soldiers from the Tennessee National Guard.”

 7.      GAO Decision Could Lead To More Contract Opportunities For Disabled Vets. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (10/12, Roche, 175K) said a “disabled veteran who runs a Station Square engineering firm” recently won an appeal with the Government Accountability Office that “could open the door to millions of dollars in contract opportunities for disabled veterans who own businesses across the country.” Michael Cherock, who had appealed a Veterans Affairs contract decision to the GAO, “said that since the GAO decision, he has received calls from other business owners who could benefit on similar contracts.”

 8.      St. Cloud VAMC, Stearns County Reach Agreement On West Metro Corridor. The St. Cloud (MN) Times (10/13, Marohn) reports, “Renovations to Veterans Golf Course will begin immediately now that Stearns County” and the St. Cloud Veterans Affairs Medical Center “have a signed agreement on the West Metro Corridor. The county received the memorandum of agreement Tuesday, ending a dispute that has delayed the major reconstruction of county roads 4 and 134 for years.” Under the agreement, the “county will provide…VA with the 7.6 acres” of land, “plus $25,000 worth of equipment for a football field the VA wants to build.”

9.      PTSD Research Center Now Headquartered In Vermont. The AP (10/13) says the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which researches PTSD, “has a new headquarters at the Veterans Administration hospital” in White River Junction, Vermont. On Tuesday, VA “held a ceremony…to feature the new headquarters.”
     The WCAX-TV Burlington, VT (10/12, Sullivan) website said US Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) were “both on hand for the official grand opening of the new Executive Division for the National Center for PTSD,” which will “conduct research and education for seven other centers across the country.” The WPTZ-TV Burlington, VT (10/12, Bender) website also covered this story.
     Recovery Coordinator Says VA Has Improved PTSD Treatment. On its website, WSIL-TV Carterville, IL (10/12, Stensland) said Afghanistan veteran Randy Adams “hopes his battle” with PTSD “will prompt other soldiers to get help.” After noting that Adams sought help for his condition at the Marion VA Medical Center, WSIL pointed out that “Thomas Kadela, Ph. D., Recovery Coordinator” at Marion VAMC, “says…VA has taken steps the last four years to better treat post combat stress.”
     Psychologist: VA “Working Hard At Collaborating” With Military On PTSD. KSL-TV Salt Lake City, UT (10/12, 6:34 p.m. MT) broadcast that US Army Specialist Brandon Barrett, who was killed in August during a gunfight with a police officer, “recently returned from a year-long deployment in Afghanistan.” KSL, which noted that Barrett’s “family claims the military did not properly screen him” for PTSD, interviewed Dr. Ashley Greenwell, a psychologist with Salt Lake VA. Greenwell, who said her agency is “working hard at collaborating with the military” on PTSD, noted that the website, va.gov, “can…get you set up” with assistance facilities.

10.    US Navy Marks 10-Year Anniversary Of Cole Attack. According to the AP (10/12), the “10th anniversary of the deadly attack on the Cole” was scheduled to take place Tuesday at Naval Station Norfolk, the “homeport of the destroyer. Past and present crewmembers of the Cole” were to attend a ceremony marking the “Oct. 12, 2000, attack on the Cole” that “killed 17 sailors and injured 39 while the ship was in port for a fuel stop in Aden.”