Veterans! Here are 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. Efforts mounted to keep D-Day memories alive.  Greenville News  According to statistics from the US Department of Veterans Affairs, South Carolina has about 29300 surviving World War II veterans. They are dying at a rate of approximately 292 per month, with the state’s veteran population projected to fall by 3500 …
2. D-Day commemorated at museum.  Salisbury Post  “I want to honor the veterans and teach the younger generation how to preserve history,” Mault said. After teaming up with the US Department of Veteran Affairs to provide solutions to veterans’ questions, as well as with the Rowan County Department of …
3. Local veterans recall D-Day’s heroism, sacrifices.  Albany Times Union  Richard Goldenberg of the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs greets D-Day veteran Angelo Picarazzi of Selkirk during a D-Day survivors reunion in Colonie Saturday June 4, 2011.
4. Grand opening for new East End VA clinic.  Riverhead News-Review  The new state-of-the-art medical clinic operated by the US Department of Veterans Affairs had its grand opening at the County Center in Riverside Friday. The new center will help local veterans cut down on trips to the Northport VA Medical Center,…
5. Frustrated and confused.  Suffolk News-Herald  Localities all over the state are having to inform veterans that they are ineligible because they’re not disabled enough, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Many veterans, like Bryant, are receiving a 100-percent disability payment, …
6. Remembering, Internalizing, Revering, And Doing.  Manila Bulletin  Because many people confuse Memorial Day with Veterans Day, the US Department of Veterans Affairs clarifies that Memorial Day is for honoring military personnel who DIED in the service of their country, particularly those who died in battle or of …
7. Healing war’s scars: New VA rules help local veterans with PTSD. Healing war’s scars: New VA rules help local veterans with PTSD find relief …. Another veteran, Garcia, the former state Veterans’ Services secretary who…
8. VA Physicians Continue To Look For EHR Workarounds.  InformationWeek  Physicians are still using paper-based and electronic “workarounds” with even the most advanced electronic health records, but that is not necessarily a bad thing, research from the US Department of Veterans Affairs …
9. The Profound Daily Struggle Of Soldiers With PTSD.  NPR  The US Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 10 to 18% of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans may have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. The sleeplessness, anger, anxiety and sense of isolation that can accompany PTSD pose tremendous …
10. Friday’s letters: VA benefit process transparent, prompt.  Tampabay.com  I went to the Veterans Affairs Department for the first time and left that day with vital prescriptions that I needed. When pensions are graduated according to the percentage of disability, there are strong financial incentives for people to complain …

Have you Heard?

Following the tornados in Missouri, VA announced special disaster assistance available to qualified Veterans with VA-guaranteed home loans affected by the severe storms. “We will do everything we can to help Veterans and their families get through this difficult time,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “We urge Veterans to use VA resources available to help them recover from this disaster.” VA strongly encouraged mortgage companies not to initiate any new foreclosures in the disaster areas for a period of 90 days; extend leniency and patience to borrowers in distress through no fault of their own; and suspend reporting to credit bureaus and waiving late charges for those affected. VA also provides basic information and options on the website (www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans) available to Veterans following a major disaster in addition to contacting their nearest VA Regional Loan Center at 1-877-827-3702.

More Veteran News

• Veteran-owned companies launch academy.  Bizjournals.com  Local military veterans aspiring to be entrepreneurs will get a shot at some free business assistance this summer. VOB-108, a group of veteran-owned companies in the Dayton region, is launching an academy for vets and military spouses who want to grow …

• Rahall asks VA to review Mercer County health care.  Bluefield Daily Telegraph  A state lawmaker is asking the US Department of Veterans Affairs to take a closer look at needs in Mercer County and how better health care can be provided to area veterans.

• Women Veterans Share Experiences At VA Benefit. Evansville (IN) Courier & Press “Women veterans, young and elderly alike, were provided an opportunity to learn about VA benefits, be pampered by stylists and meet other veterans Saturday at the University of Evansville’s Ridgeway University Center. Approximately 75 female veterans of America’s wars attended the Honoring Women Veterans Conference presented by UE and the Evansville Vet Center.”

• Yoga Helps Older Stroke Victims Improve Balance, Endurance, Study Suggests. Science Daily A Veterans Affairs-funded study done at Indiana University “that exposed older veterans with stroke to yoga produced promising results as researchers explore whether this popular mind-body practice can help stroke victims cope with their increased risk for painful and even deadly falls. The pilot study involved 19 men and one woman, average age of 66. For eight weeks, they participated in a twice weekly hour-long group yoga class taught by a yoga therapist who dramatically modified the poses to meet the veterans’ needs. A range of balance items measured by the Berg Balance Scale and Fullerton Advance Balance Scale improved by 17 percent and 34 percent respectively by the end of the program. But equally exciting to lead researcher Arlene A. Schmid, rehabilitation research scientist at the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis, was the measurable gain in confidence the study participants had in their balance.”

• Visually Impaired Try Hand At Sports. Augusta (GA) Chronicle More than a dozen visually impaired veterans “gathered Friday morning to play games designed specifically for the visually impaired. The event was held by the VA’s Blind Rehabilitation Center, which teaches veterans the skill sets they need to survive with partial or total vision loss.” Blake DeLoach, a blinded Afghan veteran, says that blindness “has taken a lot of adjustment, but he draws on other veterans for strength. The rehabilitation staff at the VA has given him the tools for independence, DeLoach said.”

• Officials Tour VA Mental Health Wing. Helena (MT) Independent Record “The new mental health wing at the Veterans Administration Hospital at Fort Harrison, ready to welcome its first inpatient July 5, is something veterans have needed a long time and now more than ever, said several people involved with a dedication ceremony and tour of the facility.” The facility, the VA’s first in the state providing inpatient mental healthcare, will keep some veterans from having to travel out of state for care. Before the dedication ceremony, Sen. Jon Tester “heard from several veterans advocates in a discussion that also included national and regional leaders of the VA. Among those concerns: the slow development of tele-health around the state; problems with the VA’s phone system, which sometimes have people sitting on hold for 15 minutes or more; and the special needs of women, who comprise an ever-increasing percentage of veterans.”

• Vietnam War Veteran, Veterans Advocate Named Distinguished Veteran Of The Year. Saratogian (NY) Retired Marine Ned Foote, who lost a leg in combat in Vietnam, “was recognized Saturday at the New York State Military Museum for his ongoing veterans advocacy.” Foote “co-founded Adirondack Chapter 79 of the Vietnam Veterans of America, has been president of the Vietnam Veterans of America New York State Council since 2005 and was a driving force behind the creation of a Vietnam Veterans Memorial at the Adirondack Community College campus.” In 2008, he was also in 2008 was named by former Gov. David Paterson to the New York State Veterans Commission.

• Local Veteran Honored For Serving Community, Country. WIFR-TV “Freeport native Maryna Misiewicz has just been awarded the Illinois Veteran of the Month. The 64-year-old former soldier is a decorated Vietnam war veteran and the current superintendent for the Stephenson County Veteran’s Assistance Committee. The award highlights all she’s done for our community.”

• VA Ceases Benefits For Veteran Suffering Ailments Linked To Agent Orange. Glens Falls (NY) Post-Star A three-part series on blue water Vietnam veterans, whom the VA has ruled ineligible for Agent Orange-related disability benefits, because they never set foot in that country. The article tells the story of a local blue water Vietnam veteran suffering from diseases linked to Agent Orange exposure; when he applied to raise his disability rating from 40% to 100%, the VA decided his original award had been in error and ended payments, even though the Agent Orange Act “says a veteran awarded compensation for a disease will continue to receive benefit payments” and the VA’s director of compensation and pension services told regional offices that blue water Navy veterans earlier awarded benefits should retain them.

• VA Gives Student Veterans Extension To Repay GI Bill Overpayments. Clarksville (TN) Leaf Chronicle “Student veterans required to give back Post-9/11 GI Bill overpayments will get more time to do so under a new Department of Veterans Affairs policy. Prior to the extension, GI Bill overpayments had to be repaid before the end of the term, which in some cases left students paying thousands of dollars in a few months. The new policy gives them up to a year to make repayments.” It notes that the new policy “took effect on April 20 without fanfare,” and adds that Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who had sought relief for affected student veterans but “wants safeguards put in place to protect the credit records of veterans who end up owing money because of clerical errors” and “also wants the VA to come up with a way for schools that receive overpayments to directly reimburse the government without getting the student involved.”

• Man In Custody After Making Threats To Senators Over His VA Medical Care. WXIN-TV A Linton man “is in federal custody after allegedly making a threat to kill Indiana senators. According to recently released federal documents obtained by Radar Online, James Putchel made a series of threatening phone calls to Veterans Affairs staffers, saying ‘I am willing to make a trip to Indianapolis and confront you face to face, and I guarantee I will be the only one walking away on unhurt.’ Now, he has not been charged, but he was ordered to undergo a mental evaluation. It’s been determined that he’s not a real threat. Putchel says that he made those threats because the senators had not helped him get the medical treatment that he needs.”

• Vietnam War Veteran Laid To Rest In Anderson. Anderson (SC) Independent-Mail “Lora Booher didn’t know people were still trying to find her father more than four decades after his plane went down over the Khanh Hoa province in South Vietnam in 1966. But they were looking. Capt. James Howard Graff’s remains were identified earlier this year through DNA testing, using a sample provided by Booher’s mother more than a decade ago, before her death.”  AP adds that Booher, who was three when her father died, “said she has been surprised and impressed by the response of people to her father’s return to the South Carolina Upstate. Hundreds of riders for Rolling Thunder and the Patriot Guard accompanied the casket from Graceland Mortuary in Greenville County to the cemetery in Anderson on Saturday morning.”

• Ceremony Honors Civil War Dead. Albany Times Union “A military ceremony, featuring an honor guard, color guards, a rifle salute, bagpipes and a bugler took place Friday at St. Agnes Cemetery,” at the gravesite of a Civil War veteran, which also marked the start of a campaign to replace the headstones of the cemetery’s Civil War veterans.

• Fisher House Being Sought For VA Campus. Murfreesboro (TN) Daily News Journal Retired Lt. Col. Hooper Penuel and newspaper retiree Dan Whittle “have agreed to co-chair fundraising in Rutherford and Cannon counties for construction of a Fisher House at Murfreesboro’s Alvin C. York VA Medical Center. The goal is to help raise an estimated $3 million from the public and corporations as Tennessee’s share of $6 million total cost to serve ailing veterans and families.”

• Frustrated And Confused. Suffolk (VA) News-Herald “A new state law, which voters endorsed overwhelmingly at the polls in November, requires localities to exempt real estate taxes for veterans and surviving spouses on a primary residence and up to 10 acres on the same property. Only veterans who have a 100 percent service-connected, permanent and total disability qualify.” As a result, many disabled and unemployable veterans are finding that they don’t qualify for the state tax break, because event though they may be drawing 100-percent disability payments, they have less than a 100-percent service-connected rating.

• Wounded Warriors Come To The Valley For Fly Fishing Invitational. WHSV-TV “A national program to help rehabilitate soldiers wounded in combat through fly fishing came to the Valley on Saturday at the Mossy Creek Fly Fishing Invitational in Bridgewater. A dozen soldiers wounded in conflicts spanning the past thirty years participated in the invitational hosted by Project Healing Waters,” founded in 2007 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and quickly expanded across VA’s nationwide hospital system. The program’s founder estimates that it has served nearly 3,000 wounded veterans. The Mossy Creek Invitational is “also an important fundraising event for Project Healing Waters, bringing in close to $100,000 for the non-profit organization.”

• With Veterans Affairs Funds, Montana Group Readies New Homeless Shelter. KPAX-TV  Montana Senator Jon Tester “toured the outside of the former trails Trail’s End bar building. It will be the new Poverello Center in the coming months.” The Missoula-based group, which already operates the state’s largest emergency homeless shelter, “will tear down the bar building and will build a new three-story building in its place. A portion of the new homeless shelter’s funds are coming from the Veterans Affairs Committee, since about 20% of the shelter’s homeless population are veterans.” The group says it’s finalizing design and construction plans, but hopes to begin by mid-summer.

• Harley’s Heroes Brings DAV Counselors To Help Vets Get Their VA Benefits. WJFW-TV  Harley’s Heroes, a program Harley Davidson sponsors through the Disabled American Veterans to provide information and support for vets on their veterans affairs benefits. Doug Klumb of Northern Lights Harley-Davidson, who brought the program to Wausau, “says he discovered the program at a dealer show last summer and booked it right away.” On camera, Klumb notes that Harley-Davidson “has been very generous. They put $1 million into this program a couple years ago, and they just put another million dollars into it to fund these guys coming out to dealerships and providing this service.” DAV counselor and veteran Matthew Seidl says of his work, “I enjoy it every single day. Nothing better than helping fellow veterans.” The account notes that over 300 Harley-Davidson dealerships have participated in Harley’s Heroes since it began in 2007.

• Retired Marine Admits To Medals Charge. Buffalo News “A Marine Corps veteran who led the push for construction of a veterans memorial in Niagara Falls recently accepted a plea agreement for illegally wearing medals he had not earned, including one awarded to those who served in combat in the Vietnam War. David A. Fabrizio, 66, is believed to be the first person in Western New York to be prosecuted under the US Stolen Valor Act, signed into law in 2006 by then-President George W. Bush, law enforcement officials said Friday.” Fabrizio was accused of wearing medals falsely indicating that he had served in Vietnam, head earned a Presidential Unit Citation and Combat Action Ribbon, and was both a certified scuba diver and an airborne gunner. Fabrizzio spent four years on active duty and 29 years as a reservist, but never served overseas or in combat; he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor.

• Riviera Beach Event Aims To Help Veterans. Palm Beach (FL) Post Saturday’s Stand Down in Riviera Beach, attended by several hundred area veterans. In addition to food and entertainment, the event “focused on offering veterans readjustment services ranging from mental health counseling to housing.” Sponsors, including Faith*Hope*Love*Charity Inc., which operates Stand Down House, a 45-bed homeless shelter for vets in Lake Worth, said they plan on making it an annual event.

• Disabled Veterans Are Now Eligible For Federal Home Improvement Grants. Park Rapids (MN) Enterprise Under the Home Improvements and Structural Alterations (HISA) federal grants program, veterans with disabilities, whether or not service-connected, are eligible for assistance for home improvements or structural alterations needed for accessibility or home health treatments.

• Hundreds Of American Flags Stolen From Veterans’ Graves. Gaston County (NC) Gazette Local American Legion members have for over 30 years placed American flags on veterans’ graves at the Bessemer City, North Carolina Memorial Cemetery on Memorial Day. This year, they again placed 350 small flags on veterans’ gravesites, only to get a call on Memorial Day telling them that flags had all been removed. County police are investigating.

• Scams Against Veterans. Victoria (TX) Advocate Executive director of the Corpus Christi Better Business Bureau writes to warn of scams that target veterans and their families. These include those that “target veterans and charge them for products and services they can receive free or at lower cost elsewhere, such as military records and forms,” bogus charities whose names suggest military ties, investment schemes and scammers “who contact veterans saying that they need to update their credit card information or other records with the Veterans Administration.”

• National Donut Day Celebrates Veterans. Westwood-Century City (CA) Patch “Friday morning, more than 100 Los Angeles veterans, active duty military, and homeless veterans of the Salvation Army’s Haven Shelter gathered on the Veterans Administration grounds to enjoy doughnuts and celebrate National Donut Day. According to information provided by the Salvation Army, doughnuts and American veterans go back to World War I, and the celebration of Donut Day goes back to the 1930s.”