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.   Surviving terror: Confessions of an Iraqi translator.  Watching the men approach, Ahmed Abdullah readied the Glock 9 mm pistol in his lap and waited. Traffic had stalled, as it often did, on Main Supply Route Tampa. American forces somewhere ahead were sweeping for improvised explosive devices, turning the highway from Balad south to Baghdad into a makeshift motor camp. Parked vehicles, scattered haphazardly on and off the pavement, had disgorged their occupants into the summer heat. People stood in clusters to talk or walked in search of a breeze.
 
2.   Employers help returning Oklahoma soldiers find jobs.  Jim Gormley came home from a deployment to Afghanistan to an uncertain future and little prospect of finding a job that paid what he had grown used to making as an active-duty soldier in a combat zone.
 
3.   Afghan officials: US reneged on parts of deal to hand over Bagram prison.  Afghan officials on Monday accused their American counterparts of reneging on parts of an agreement that saw the U.S. military formally hand over its main prison in this country to Afghan control.

4.   Alaska VA Stands Down For Southeast Vets.  Alaska Public Radio Network  More than 800 military vets attended the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs first ever “Stand Down” in Southeast Alaska last week. “Stand Down” events are designed to give veterans access to health care and housing services, both from the VA and local …
 
5.   Organic Food No More Nutritious Than Non-Organic. Reuters A study conducted by researchers from Stanford University and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care found that organic food does not typically provide more vitamin and nutrient content that conventional food. The researchers did add, however, that organic food does generally decrease exposure to pesticides and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The study appeared in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
 
6.   No Stumbling For Dad: Headley Tearing Up The National League. North County (CA) Times Jay Paris noted, “The calendar says summer is ending, but not before the National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic is held locally from Sept. 16-21. Injured North County heroes, like the Navy’s Kerry Sprouffske (San Marcos) and Army’s Stephen Bradford (Vista), are among those embracing athletics as a part of their rehabilitation after being hurt from improvised explosive devices.”

7.   Surprising Methods Heal Wounded Troops. AP  “Around the country, the most advanced medical tools that exist are now being deployed to help America’s newest veterans and wounded troops.” For example, some wounded warriors “remain disfigured or impaired despite multiple reconstructive operations. Tackling the toughest cases is the goal of Operation Mend, a program of the UCLA Medical Center, Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and the Veterans Affairs-Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.”

 
8.   Bringing The Smells Of War Home, Via Virtual Reality. Miami Herald On its Orlando campus, the University of Central Florida runs a virtual reality treatment program for active duty soldiers and veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Trauma Management Therapy program is “part of a clinical study…that uses sights, sounds and smell to help ease the episodes of anxiety, sleeplessness and nightmares. With new waves of soldiers returning as American forces withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, researchers are hoping the combination of traditional therapy and virtual-reality simulation – with an emphasis on smell – to help decrease post-traumatic symptoms.”
 
9.   Veteran’s Widow Speaks Out Against Mpls. VA. KARE-TV Jean Schwirtz said going to the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis to get help for her veteran husband, Raymond, was a mistake. The vet’s “death certificate says ‘suicide’ but Jean blames the drugs doctors at the VA prescribed.” KARE added, “A recent report from the VA Inspector General’s Office dismisses the allegation but did find the care Raymond received was ‘deficient.'”
 
10.  War Impacts Veterans Returning Home Year Later. Dayton (OH) Daily News  “Lives of a number of local soldiers from the Ohio Army National Guard’s Columbus-based Task Force 1-134 Field Artillery Regiment, sharing their daily struggles and triumphs as they readjust to life back home.” The Daily News added, “Combat deployment changes everyone in some way, according to Bill Wall, program manager of The Freedom Center at the Dayton VA Medical Center, which serves as a post-deployment clinic for veterans.” Wall said, “Everything is affected – your family, your occupational roles, even fundamental things about who you are and what you do.”

Have You Hear?

September is National Suicide Prevention Month
September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and it’s a reminder that mental health doesn’t have to be a battle waged on your own. Check out our new PSA, Side by Side, and bookmark the Veterans Crisis Line page for valuable information and resources.