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. Military to calculate radiation doses for those in Japan following quake. The U.S. military plans to calculate radiation doses received by each of the approximately 61,000 U.S. personnel living and working in Japan during this year’s nuclear disaster, according to the U.S. Pacific Command’s top surgeon.

2.Can surfing help ease combat stress? Government researchers in the United Kingdom and even a program associated with the U.S. Marine Corps have explore

3.Downrange deployments linked to untreatable lung ailment. Some soldiers have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with an untreatable lung disease that interferes with their ability to do physical exercise, possibly caused by inhaling toxic material, doctors report.

4. Display honors US heroes.  Youngstown Vindicator  The US Department of Veterans Affairs reports that some 900 veterans of World War II die daily. At the end of the WWII, 1939-45, there were 16 million veterans. That number has dwindled to 2 million. That’s a reason why Girard Historical Society …

5. Plans get under way for home for homeless vets.  Youngstown Vindicator  Veterans living in the home would be referred to any services they might need, such as mental-health or substance-abuse treatment, the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs medical clinic or job-training services, Scott said. The housing authority will

6. State veterans dept. chief talks budget cuts, outreach.  SignOnSanDiego.com  The secretary of the state department, who spoke in San Diego Wednesday, said the loss means they will lean even more on veterans service officers at the county level to get the word out about the GI Bill and disability pay from the US Veterans Affairs …

7. Changes Planned For VA Medical System.  WAMC  – Changes are coming in the US Department of Veterans Affairs health care system that will impact more than 100 thousand veterans in Western and Central Massachusetts. WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports. …

8. Briefcase: Robyn’s Nest offers custom delights. The Daily News Journal   — Local veterans are invited to attend upcoming National Veterans Small Business Conference and Expo to be held Aug. 15-18 in New Orleans and hosted by the Department of Veterans Affairs. It will be the largest nationwide conference of its …

9. Around Town: VFW open house.  Merced Sun-Star  The Veterans of Foreign Wars will hold its annual open house Saturday at 10 am at Post 4327, 933 W. Main St. Refreshments will be served and there will be guest speakers from the US Department of Veterans Affairs and local support agencies. …

10. The road home for veterans.  SignOnSanDiego.com  The campaign’s leadership includes the Downtown Partnership business group, government entities such as the Center City Development Corp., San Diego Housing Commission and the City and County of San Diego, the US Department of Veterans Affairs, …

Have You Heard?

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will host the National Veteran Small Business Conference and Expo, August 15-18, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, La. The largest nationwide conference of its kind, the National Veteran Small Business Conference and Expo provides Veteran-Owned and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSBs and SDVOSBs) with an opportunity to learn, network and market their businesses. The conference will offer a variety of sessions on navigating the Federal acquisition process including finance, compliance, business development, marketing, strategy, contract management, human resources, technology, and program management. A VA Open House has been added to the event to give Veterans from both the conference and local region the opportunity to experience the wide range of resources available to the Veteran community. The National Veteran Small Business Conference and Expo is open to both government and non-government personnel. For more information and to register for the conference, go to www.nationalveteransconference.com.

More Veteran News

• Michelle Obama To Appear On TV’s “Extreme Makeover.” Reuters On Tuesday, ABC said First Lady Michelle Obama will appear on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” in support of Joining Forces, her initiative to support military families. Mrs. Obama will help the program assist homeless veterans by building a new facility that will house several families.

• Obama OKs Medal Of Honor For Living Marine. Marine Corps Times “A Marine who repeatedly braved enemy fire in eastern Afghanistan attempting to find and save fellow members of his embedded training team will receive the Medal of Honor, Marine Corps Times has confirmed. Dakota Meyer was contacted by President Obama on Monday, according to sources with knowledge of the award.” Meyer “will be the first living Marine recipient of the nation’s highest award for valor since now-retired Sgt. Maj. Allan Kellogg received the medal for actions 41 years ago in Vietnam.”

• VA Says Allegations Are “Blatantly False.” KHOU-TV “After weeks of silence,” VA is “responding to allegations of religious censorship at Houston National Cemetery. A lawsuit was filed against director Arleen Ocashio after she allegedly told groups not to use certain religious phrases.” But in a statement released Tuesday, VA said, “The idea that invoking the name of God or Jesus is banned at VA national cemeteries is blatantly false. Put simply, VA policy puts the wishes of the Veteran’s family above all else on the day it matters most — the day they pay their final respects to their loved one.” KHOU added, “The VA said it can’t go into the specifics of the lawsuit, but is asking everyone to reserve judgment until all the facts are out.”

• Shaft Notes. Shinseki: VA Taking “Proactive Approach To Enhancing” Care Of Women Vets. Washington Times A “significant issue” for Veterans Affairs “is its major initiative to reach out to women veterans in order to solicit their input on ways to enhance the health care services.” The importance of the initiative was stressed by VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who stated, “We are taking a proactive approach to enhancing VA health care for women veterans. We are seeking the input of women veterans so that VA can continue to provide high quality health care to the growing numbers of women veterans.”

• VA Launches Free Childcare Pilot Program. Warner Robins (GA) Patriot The US Department of Veterans Affairs has “launched a pilot program to provide free, drop-in childcare centers at three VA medical centers,” two in the state of New York and one in the state of Washington. In a news release, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki announced the program, stating, “We know that many veterans, particularly women veterans, are the primary caretakers of young children. We want these veterans to have the opportunity to access the high quality health care that VA offers and we believe these childcare centers will make it easier for veteran caregivers to visit VA.”

• VA To Offer $50K Prize For Boosting “Blue Button” PHR Use. CMIO Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki “has launched a competition under Section 105 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2011 to encourage widespread use of Blue Button personal health records (PHRs) to benefit veterans who receive care from non-VA providers. The competition began July 18 and ends when a winner is announced or on Oct. 18, whichever occurs first, according” to VA. CMIO adds, “The winner of the competition will receive $50,000.”

• Storied US Military Hospital To Close Its Doors. AFP “The storied Walter Reed Army hospital, where generations of American soldiers came to heal their wounds, will shut down in September, the Pentagon said Tuesday.” AFP notes that the “closure is part of a reorganization of the country’s military medical services in the US capital approved in 2005, two years before a scandal that damaged the reputation of the famed hospital.” AFP adds, “Patients and staff members will move to a naval hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside Washington, and to another military center at Fort Belvoir in Virginia.”

• Navy Claims Local Sailor With Traumatic Brain Injury Is Fit For Duty. WFTS-TV Sigurd Mathisen is “one of the estimated 130,000 US Servicemen suffering from a traumatic brain injury from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.” While the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs are “paying increased attention to the needs of combat vets suffering from TBI, an I-Team investigation into Mathisen’s case raises questions about the conclusions the government sometimes makes. While acknowledging the 58-year-old suffers from traumatic brain injury, the Navy is insisting he is still ‘fit for duty’ and requiring him to show up for drills in contradiction to the recommendations of Mathisen’s doctors’ at the James Haley VA Hospital in Tampa, and even the commanding officer of his unit at MacDill Air Force Base.”

• District Judge Dismisses Lejeune Water Suit. Jacksonville (NC) Daily News “After a US District Court judge dismissed the case recently, lawyers of a woman who believes the time she lived aboard Camp Lejeune caused her non-Hodgkins lymphoma said they have filed an appeal.” After noting that the suit was filed by Laura Jones, the Daily News says Judge J. Owen Forester recently “granted the Navy’s motion for summary judgment on the case because Jones failed to reveal that she and her husband had filed for bankruptcy in 2008 or to note the suit in her filing.”

• Vets Face Shortage Of Therapists. Los Angeles Times “Because most psychologists and mental health care professionals don’t have a military background, there’s a void in the safety net for vets. Some veterans’ organizations,” however, “have stepped up, training members to help their peers.” Veterans Affairs, meanwhile, has hired more mental health professionals. But in May, the Tribune adds, a Federal appeals court “ordered a major overhaul of the VA to improve veterans’ mental health care.”

• Pets Being Paired With Troubled Vets. San Diego Union-Tribune “The San Diego Humane Society and SPCA announced last week that it will partner with Pets 2 Vets, an organization that helps pair active-duty military, first responders and veterans with animals to help them cope with trauma often endured in their work.” Pets 2 Vets was “founded by Dave Sharpe, a veteran who grappled with post-traumatic stress disorder after and experienced healing after adopting a pit bull puppy.”

• Medical Errors Down At US Veterans’ Hospitals. Reuters According to a new report in Archives of Surgery, the rate of medical errors is down at the US Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Meanwhile, the number of close calls has increased, which researchers say indicates that there is more awareness and openness about hospital mistakes at VHA.

• Joint Systems Unrealized At Only Fully Integrated VA, DoD Hospital. FierceGovernmentIT “Electronic health record compatibility at the nation’s only fully integrated Defense and Veterans Affairs departments hospital remains an only partially-achieved ambition, says” the Government Accountability Office (GAO). In a “July 19 report, the GAO says the DoD and VA have either implemented, or are in process of implementing integrated operations at the James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago, Ill. However, in the case of information technology, rollout of joint EHR capability has been delayed or indefinitely postponed, the report states.”

• Charity Tourney To Benefit Military Families. Tampa Tribune The Fisher House in Tampa is a “rent-free home away from home on the campus of the James A. Veterans’ Hospital for families of military personnel receiving medical care for injuries or illnesses.” While “operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the local nonprofit facility, as well as the 53 other Fisher Houses in the US and Germany, relies on donations to help sustain its existence.” On “Aug. 6-7 at the Temple Terrace Recreation Complex,” a charity basketball tournament will raise money to benefit the Tampa Fisher House.

• Springs Disabled Veterans Service Center To Close July 29. Colorado Springs Gazette “The Colorado Springs Disabled American Veterans service center will close its doors at the end of the month, meaning that the thousands of veterans who depend on the nonprofit for assistance with filing claims will have to travel to Lakewood. Volunteers and employees said the July 29 closure will present hardships for the 9,000 clients the center sees each year.” Michael Terry, DAV Department of Colorado adjutant, “said veterans have been expecting the closure since October, when the board initially voted to shut down the service center and ‘found some new life until now.'”

• Priceless To The VA. San Bernardino (CA) Sun James Miles, who has “volunteered six days of nearly every week for 17 years” at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans Medical Center. The Sun adds, “Just about all the 2,500 employees and 1,000 volunteers at the hospital know and respect him, according to co-workers.”

• Douglas County Veterans Forum Plans Protests. Roseburg (OR) News-Review “Increasingly restless Douglas County veterans hope to bring their campaign to save services at the Roseburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center to a swift and successful conclusion by taking to the streets. ‘We’re discussing going to a new stage of protest,’ Douglas County Veterans Forum Secretary Rick Sciapiti said Monday,” adding “We’re frustrated” with VA for continually stating that it is “‘investing $40 million in improvement plans to the campus.'” Sciapiti expressed doubt that the money has been appropriated, but in a statement, VA Chief of Staff John Gingrich “responded…that the $40 million has been committed to several projects on the Roseburg VA campus.”

• Health Services Expand For Tarrant County Veterans. Fort Worth (TX) Star Telegram “Newly degreed physicians from the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine are now treating patients at the US Veterans Affairs Department’s outpatient clinic in Fort Worth, marking the first time the VA in North Texas has broadened its use of medical residents beyond its Dallas hospital. The relationship between the VA and the University of North Texas Health Science Center is evidence of the growing importance of the Fort Worth clinic to the VA’s regional system, which has historically revolved almost entirely around the VA complex in south Dallas. ‘This will enable an expansion of services to the veteran population,’ said Dr. Don Peska, TCOM dean and a surgery professor,” who added, “The more veterans who are seen by senior residents supervised by staff VA physicians, the more veterans can come through the door.”

• Grant Provides More Than $660K For Permanent Housing For Homeless Veterans. Cyprus (TX) Times “The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced the award of $666,765 to the Harris County Housing Authority to increase permanent housing and case management for area Veterans. ‘This initiative will strengthen our ongoing efforts to eliminate Veteran homelessness and improve quality of life for Veterans,’ said Adam C. Walmus, M.H.A., M.A., F.A.C.H.E., director of the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center,” who added, “Working with our partners” at Housing and Urban Development, “we continue to make good progress to reduce Veteran homelessness, though much work remains. VA is committed to providing Veterans and their families with access to affordable housing and medical services that will help them get back on their feet.”

• Check Out The VA Clinic In Oakhurst. Sierra Star Female veteran J.M. Collins advised other women vets “in the Mountain Area to consider using the new” Veterans Affairs “clinic in Oakhurst, or at least see if you are eligible to use it. Many of us women veterans have been led to believe over the years that we are not welcome or eligible to receive” VA care. But “in many cases, this is not true.”

• States Save On Medicaid By Kicking Vets To Federal Health Care.New York Post

• State’s Shift Of Vets’ Health Costs To VA Gets Copied. Olympian

• Director Sees Stand Down As A Launchpad. San Diego Union-Tribune