Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

Veterans!  Here’s your Top 10 News stories of the day compiled from the latest sources

We encourage you to browse our list so that you can take what you want and keep what you need

1. Troops’ morale in field plunges. U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan are experiencing some of the greatest psychological stress and lowest morale in five years of fighting, a military study reports.  “We’re an Army that’s in uncharted territory here,” says …

2. Army’s Orlando agency to provide simulation-training for VA hospitals nationwide.  Orlando Sentinel  Orlando Sentinel In a landmark deal, the Army’s Orlando-based training-and-simulation agency has won a $5 million contract to provide medical-care training systems for the US Department of Veterans Affairs’ new Orlando medical …

3. US plans to enroll one million veterans for new DNA bank.  BioNews   The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced in Washington last week that the Million Veteran Program (MVP), a research project that aims to collect DNA, lifestyle and other health data from one million veterans under the …

4. Bringing Faith, Support Back to Homeless Veterans.  Patch.com  The reasons for veterans being homeless are numerous; mental illness, disabilities, alcohol and substance abuse or just not being able to find work are cited as causes. Nationwide, the US Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that there are over …

5. New program pays families to care for wounded 9-11 vets.  Fulton Sun  Sallie Houser-Hanfelder, director of the Harry S Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital in Columbia, said Thursday the US Department of Veterans Affairs is implementing federal legislation authorizing payment to qualified family caregivers that was approved …

6. Gala to honor Mass. veterans secretary.  Boston Herald  Deval Patrick asked the beloved Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reapply for his job and Patrick dumped him for campaign supporter Coleman Nee. Nee is a veteran and is well-respected. But Kelley is that and a Medal of Honor recipient. …

7. Merlin Awarded Contract From the Department of Veterans Affairs. PR-USA.net Merlin International, the leading IT solutions provider to the US Federal Government, today announced that the US Department of Veterans Affairs awarded the company a contract to develop a correspondence solution in support of …

8. Effort planned to aid homeless veterans in area.  Gainesville Times  Officials from US Department of Veterans Affairs could help veterans with processing paperwork and acquiring identification cards. “We’ll try to get some alliances with the health department and (Gainesville-based ministry) Good News at Noon,” Varner …

9. Veterans office serves our heroes in NE Georgia.  Gainesville Times  It has been a very busy and exciting year in that we had over 15313 veteran-related contacts. The necessity of personal assistance to eligible beneficiaries filing and pursuing claims with The US Department of Veterans Affairs results from the legal …

10. U of A research chair to help injured soldiers and vets.  Edmonton Journal  The new chair is expected to work closely with provincial health-care facilities, as well as the new Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research network and the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

HAVE YOU HEARD?

VA Partners with Easter Seals to Train Caregivers of Wounded Vets

VA and Easter Seals have formally announced a partnership to provide comprehensive Family Caregiver training to those whose primary job is to care for an injured Veteran at home. | Read more

IN OTHER NEWS

• Military Families Thrust Into Long-Term Caregiving Roles. McClatchy The US Department of Veterans Affairs “said Tuesday that it will pay thousands of family members who care for severely wounded soldiers at home under a new and expanded program approved by Congress last year.”

• Veterans can apply for new services.   VA “published the interim final rule for implementing the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act 2010 on Thursday.” The new “rule will provide additional support to eligible post-9/11 veterans who elect to receive their care in a home setting from a primary family caregiver. Additional services for primary family caregivers of eligible post-9/11 veterans and service members include a stipend, mental health services, and access to health care insurance if they are not already entitled to care or services under a health care plan.”

• Advocates “Hailing” New Support. Stars And Stripes “Advocates for wounded troops are hailing major changes to the Veterans Affairs caregivers program announced last week, and military families can formally apply for the benefits starting Monday.” Officials with VA had “drawn intense criticism earlier this year when they first unveiled rules for the caregivers benefits, which did not include coverage for veterans suffering from mild traumatic brain injury. After veterans groups and lawmakers demanded changes, the department came back with the revised rules.”

• Care Costs A Hefty Price Tag For Pentagon. AP A US military “built for fighting wars is looking more and more like a health care entitlement program. Costs of the program that provides health coverage to some 10 million active duty personnel, retirees, reservists and their families have jumped from $19 billion in 2001 to $53 billion in the Pentagon’s latest budget request. Desperate to cut spending in Washington’s time of fiscal austerity, President Barack Obama has proposed increasing the fees for working-age retirees in the decades-old health program, known as TRICARE,” which some budget-conscious lawmakers appear to be open to doing.

• US Navy Destroyer Named After Fallen SEAL. CBS Evening News It has “been a week since Navy SEALs captured and killed Osama Bin Laden. And this weekend, the heroic actions of another SEAL” who was “killed in action in Afghanistan” have “been honored by a grateful nation.” “Cracking a bottle of champagne on its bow, this Mother’s Day weekend Maureen Murphy christened a Navy destroyer bearing” the name of her son, Michael Murphy.

• New VA Facility In Saginaw Township Expands Mental Health Treatment For Veterans. Saginaw (MI) News 62-year-old Saginaw resident Danny Wilson “suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. Three years of group therapy sessions through the Lutz Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Saginaw was a huge help for Wilson, he said.” “In the fall, the VA opened the Healthcare Annex, an 18,000-square-foot building at 4241 Barnard in Saginaw Township, which houses much of the Mental Health and Social Services.”

• Mothers Who Served, World War II. White House Blog Iraq veteran Kate Hoit, the “New Media Specialist at the Department of Veterans Affairs,” noted, “First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden welcomed military spouses, mothers and grandmothers to the White House for a Mother’s Day tea this week.” In honor of the same day, the US Department of Veterans Affairs is “celebrating the women who have served our country and taken on one of the greatest roles in life: motherhood.

• Purple Heart Image Going On Forever Stamps. Fox News The image of the Purple Heart “will be used in the Forever Stamp category” put out by the US Postal Service.

• Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team Vs. Stars And Stripes “The game wasn’t close, but what the players on the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team provided for the crowd at George Mason University Friday night couldn’t be measured by numbers on a scoreboard. Sure, the Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans collected 35 runs on 42 hits against a team from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but most observers considered them winners even before the first pitch was thrown.” The FBI team presented their opponents with “specially-made” bats that had been engraved with the word “heroes.”

• Health Fair Focuses On Female Veterans. Rapid City (SD) Journal “Taking care of female veterans — and helping them take better care of themselves — was the focus of the Women Veterans Health Fair on Saturday at Rapid City Regional Hospital. The second annual event, sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs Black Hills Health Care System, invited female veterans from all eras to experience what the VA has to offer.” The “health fair offered informational booths and workshops on a wide variety of women’s health issues, including disease prevention, heart health, vocational rehabilitation, mental health, sexual trauma, stress management, healthy cooking, yoga and Zumba.”

• Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery: Demand Is Increasing For Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery Burials. Chicago Tribune “A $22 million expansion and renovation is under way and is expected to accommodate…increased demand, officials said. The project is one of 19 planned at veterans cemeteries nationwide to meet the needs of aging veterans of World War II and the Vietnam and Korean wars, as well as troops from the war on terror, said Chris Erbe, a spokesman for the National Cemetery Administration, a division of the Department of Veterans Affairs.” According to Erbe, there are six more such projects.

• Defying Shrinking Spending, CACI Posts Continued Growth. Washington Post “While other defense contractors are reporting flattened sales, punctured by reduced spending on weapons programs and a stalled budget, Arlington-based CACI is touting record earnings this quarter as well as surges in profit and revenue.” The company has “focused on health care as an emerging market, winning a coveted spot on a Department of Veterans Affairs program to consolidate medical records in an electronic database.”

• Monterey Bay Business Plan Competition: Santa Cruz Startups Vie For Prize Money. Santa Cruz Sentinel “Dohna Lee Dunderdale wants the Veterans Administration to buy her microwaveable pillow instead of electric heating pads.” She and four other “Santa Cruz County entrepreneurs will give their best pitch at the Monterey Bay Business Plan Competition, taking place from 1-6 p.m. Friday at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey.”