Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News – July 02, 2012

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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.    Fight on the home front.  Edwin Phelps remembers the years immediately following his return from the military. It was a long waiting game. Even though he qualified for disability income, the Bowling Green veteran received only $3,000 to $4,000 – over a four-year period. After years of dealing with frustration, he wrote the government a check for about $4,000. He was so upset that he didn’t want to accept any money, even though he had been promised and earned it.
 
2.    Troop hospitalizations show mental toll of war.  Hospitalizations of troops with mental disorders such as suicidal or homicidal intent and debilitating psychosis reached a 10-year high in 2011, underscoring the mental and emotional toll of America’s dual wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
3.    Huge response to Korea vets event in Iowa.  A July 14 event honoring Iowa veterans of the Korean War has grown so large that it will now be held at the Knapp Center at Drake University, organizers said.
 
4.    Military veterans find new firefight.  U.S. Bureau of Land Management squads of wildland firefighters that includes 10 young military veterans on a20-person team have grown out of a nationwide program by Uncle Sam to put young veterans to work and on a career path.

5.    Safety net of veteran mental health care for PTSD goes beyond the work.  Great Falls Tribune  According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, an estimated 11 to 20 percent of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars (Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom) are suffering from PTSD, while as many as 10 percent of Desert Storm …

6.    Area veterans divided on plans for new Springfield VA clinic.  Joplin Globe  Area veterans who use the Department of Veterans Affairs Gene Taylor Outpatient Clinic here are looking at the prospect of having to travel farther w. … Doug Klouse, 60, a U.S. Army National Guard veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and commander of …

7.    VA Extends Verification Term for Veteran Entrepreneurs.  Business Wire  The Department of Veterans Affairs is doubling the amount of time before the owners of service-disabled, Veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB) and V. … U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs RSS feed for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs …

8.    Veteran’s lost trust in Carlson.  Monroe News Star  This letter is in response to the letter that Lane Carlson, Secretary of Louisiana’s Department of Veterans Affairs, wrote to The News-Star on June 27, praising how Louisiana has taken really good care of the veterans at the Northeast Louisiana War …

9.    Veteran’s friends fight for recognition Huntsman man earned in World War II.  StandardNet  Now, thanks to information provided by Larry Dawson of West Haven, outreach specialist with the Utah Department of Veterans Affairs, their quest may be nearing its end. Dawson was able to locate DeVries’ discharge records in files located only at the …
 
10.  VA For Vets Event “A Great Success.”  American Legion During the Detroit VA for Vets hiring and veteran-owned small business networking event, “it was evident” VA Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration John Sepúlveda “was a happy man.” The event was Sepúlveda’s “baby, even though he was joined by an estimated 600 VA employees.” According to Sepúlveda, it was the “second largest hiring fair and conference of its type staged by VA.” Sepúlveda recalled the words of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who said during his keynote address Wednesday, “We hear you — the veteran-owned small business community and the service disabled small business community — and we’re working with you.” Shinseki also “emphasized the need to increase responsibility and accountability among” VA senior staff members; and he “addressed concerns about the veteran-owned small business verification process.”

 

Have You Heard?

Cyclists Bike to D.C. for Homeless Veterans

In support of homeless Veterans, one VA employee bicycled from West Virginia to Washington, D.C. to raise money. Learn more. Learn more.

More Veteran News

 

  •   Veterans, Active Duty Military Converge On Special Job Fair In Cleveland.  Willoughby (OH) News-Herald  Joe Gojevic, 39, “thought his military background” and Master’s degree would “help him find work in the private sector. But the college-educated, bilingual Middlefield Village resident has been underemployed for 26 months.” Gojevic was “one of an estimated 350 to 400 veterans and active duty military members” who visited the “Wolstein Center in Cleveland” on Friday for the 2012 Hiring Our Heroes Hiring Fair where “about 100 employers and veterans services organizations” set up booths. Republic Steel’s Human Resources Administrator Cassie Sisler “said her company has 400 salaried and hourly positions open.” STERIS Corp. Recruiter John Carter “said the global manufacturer of infection prevention products places a huge emphasis on diversity hiring — focusing on veterans.”
  •  Boulder’s TechStars Launches Program Focused On Veterans.  Boulder (CO) Daily Camera “Boulder-based startup accelerator TechStars is launching a unique program to help veterans and service members.” The new “Patriot Boot Camp, seeks to provide veterans and military personnel interested in creating their own tech companies the skills and tools they need to launch their ideas. Running from July 18-20 in Washington, D.C., the intensive course includes lectures and personal collaborative sessions with TechStars mentors and alumni, as well as other tech industry insiders and motivated entrepreneurs, and the chance to interact with successful startup companies.” Patriot Boot Camp is “part of TechStars’ new RisingStars program, which seeks to extend startup opportunities to demographic groups that are now underrepresented in the tech world.”
  •  Hiring Military Veterans July 12.  Lincolnshire (IL) Review “With a goal of hiring at least 100,000 veterans by 2020, a coalition of more than 60 companies, government agencies and veteran groups will host a hiring event” on July 12 at the University of Illinois’ UIC Forum in Chicago. The “100,000 Jobs Mission” hiring event, which is for “military veterans, transitioning service members and military spouses,” will be “held in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Employment Security, Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs, JP Morgan Chase, Joining Forces, University of Illinois at Chicago, American Legion, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, Student Veterans of America, US Department of Labor – VETS, US Department of Veterans Affairs and Veterans of Foreign Wars.”
  •  Thousands Attend Detroit Hiring Event. WWTV-TV “Thousands of jobless veterans right here in Michigan hope to connect with employers. Veterans across the state have had the opportunity to attend a job fair at the Cobo Center in Detroit this week. … Veterans met with successful business owners, networked with employees, and gained employment training and advice. Many of the vets have families they need to support.” Marine veteran Scott Bennefield said, “This is something that my daughters and me really need because it’s been three months, it’s the longest I’ve ever been unemployed. I’ve worked my whole life since I returned from the service, and hopefully, I can return that work ethic back to an employer.” WWTV added, “The event was hosted by the US Department of Veterans Affairs.”
  • Lawmakers Vote To Create VA Burn Pit Registry.  Army Times The House VA Health Subcommittee on Friday voted in favor of creating a registry to monitor “service members and veterans to determine if there are any ill effects from being close to or downwind of the open fires used to dispose of solid waste in Iraq and Afghanistan.” The Open Burn Pit Registry Act (HR 3337 [pdf]) gives VA “180 days to establish the registry”; and it requires the agency to issue “periodic notifications” to the registrants on research and treatments associated with toxic-chemical exposure. VA officials objected to the bill, saying there are “other ways to identify and track Iraq and Afghanistan veterans exposed to burn pits” and questioning whether burn pits “even posed a serious problem.”
  • Subcommittee Approves Measure Requiring Homeless Veterans Facilities To Meet Building Safety Codes. CQ  Before approving HR 3337, lawmakers by voice vote adopted an amendment by Cliff Stearns (R-FL) that would “limit the amount the VA can pay in performance bonuses to VA senior staff.” And in a separate voice vote, the subcommittee “approved legislation (HR 4079 [pdf]), that would require an organization that seeks funding from the VA for services to homeless veterans to provide documentation that their building meets or exceeds all safety codes.” Meanwhile, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has “set a goal of providing housing for every homeless veteran by 2015”; and both the House and the Senate FY2013 “Military Construction-VA appropriations bills ( HR 5854, S 3215 [pdf]) would provide about $5.8 billion for healthcare and support services for homeless veterans.”
  •  Veterans Speak Out About PTSD, Suicide.  WAFB-TV New Orleans Veterans Affairs Outreach Director Mike McNaughton is also a wounded Afghanistan veteran, who has had “his own experiences with PTSD and uses that knowledge to help fellow military members.” He said there is “a lot of resistance from soldiers to seek help because of the stigmas associated with PTSD. According to McNaughton, military members are viewed as tough and invincible and admitting a mental issue is perceived by many as being weak.” However, there are various resources available: The Louisiana VA has “four veteran centers that use a variety of techniques to help veterans”; and the Baton Rouge Crisis Intervention Center “specializes in suicide prevention.”

 

  •  Chiarelli Seeks Clarity In PTSD Treatment.  Seattle Times  Speaking Thursday at the National Alliance on Mental Illness convention in Seattle, retired Army Gen. Peter Chiarelli “described how his frustrations with the current state of mental-health medicine led to his new role as chief executive of One Mind for Research.” After he “left the Army,” Chiarelli said he “asked how many new drugs were in the pipeline” to treat post-traumatic-stress, and he was “surprised to learn that there were none.” Therefore, as the CEO of One Mind, Chiarelli is working to “step up the pace of basic research on brain disease and spur the development of new drugs that can improve treatment.” Chiarelli also wants “post-traumatic-stress disorder to be shortened to post-traumatic stress” because he says that calling it a disorder, “discourages people from seeking help.”
  •   Group To DoD: Revisit Purple Heart For PTSD.  Army Times The NAMI is “calling on the Defense Department” to honor those who “suffer PTSD or other mental health injuries resulting from combat exposure by awarding the Purple Heart ‘with the same level of appreciation and recognition as those awarded to warriors with visible wounds.'” In its “Parity for Patriots” report (pdf), the NAMI also called on the VA to “expand its treatment options by using already existing community health networks and private practitioners.” In 2009, the Pentagon decided against awarding the Purple Heart to “troops with PTSD because the disorder can be difficult to diagnose,” and symptoms are not linked necessarily to “any one action.” Traditionally, the Purple Heart is given to those who incur injuries from “enemy engagement requiring” medical treatment.
  •    Local Doc Who Treats Vets’ PTSD Gets Big-Name Help.  Elgin (IL) Courier News Dr. Eugene Lipov believes he has “what looks like a promising cure” for PTSD. Lipov treats PTSD by injecting anesthetic bupivacaine into the stellate ganglion nerves in the patient’s neck. On Thursday, actor Mathew St. Patrick, “best known for his role in HBO’s ‘Six Feet Under,'” met with “one of the veterans before and after his third ganglion block treatment” and said he “could immediately tell the difference” in the veteran’s demeanor after the treatment. The 44-year-old actor says he is “helping to publicize the potential of Lipov’s treatment” because his father and brother served in the US military. Although Lipov received “an $80,000 grant” from the Illinois VA, the treatments cost “$1,000 each” and it takes about “three treatments” per patient to “really work.”

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