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.   Couple heads from Afghanistan to honeymoon.  Spc. Jessica Foust never wore a pearly white dress. Nor did her husband-to-be, Sgt. Trevor Foust, don a tuxedo and watch her walk down an aisle flanked by family and friends. The two went to a courthouse and filled out the required paperwork to be married on Feb. 17. A month later, separate planes took them overseas. Their honeymoon destination: Eastern Afghanistan.
 
2.   Remains of missing Vietnam soldier returned to family for burial.  The remains of a soldier who was killed during the Vietnam War have been identified and returned to his family for burial, the Defense Department announced Monday.
 
3.   Pentagon drops ‘strategic communication’.  The Pentagon is banishing the term “strategic communication,” putting an end to an initiative that had promised to streamline the military’s messaging but instead led to bureaucratic bloat and confusion, according to a memo obtained by USA Today.
 
4.   Obama calls for renewal of US-Russian pact to dismantle leftover nuclear weapons.  Hoping to salvage his arms control legacy, President Barack Obama called Monday for the renewal of a major post-Cold War agreement between the United States and Russia to secure and dismantle nuclear weapons left over from the former Soviet Union. Could this been what was being discussed during the open mic?
 
5.   US ambassador says planned N. Korea missile launch threatens region’s peace.  The U.S. ambassador to South Korea warned Tuesday that North Korea’s plan to launch a satellite “would be a highly provocative act that threatens peace and security in the region.”
 
6.   NATO sets plan to send Patriot missiles to Turkey.  NATO foreign ministers on Tuesday formally approved a plan to send Patriot missiles to Turkey as part of an effort to shield an ally from potential Syrian missile strikes. The move comes amid alarm over the Assad regime’s access to chemical weapons that could be mounted on missiles or directed at Syrian rebel forces.

7.   Navy suspends early release program for sailors.  With an eye toward unfilled sea-billets and maintaining current force levels, the Navy has suspended a program that allowed eligible sailors to opt out of their service contracts up to 24 months early.
 
8.   Panetta thanks ‘miracle workers’ at Walter Reed in Bethesda.  One year after the joint military hospital in Bethesda was dedicated as the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta praised doctors and nurses there for coming together as a team and taking care of the country’s wounded warriors.
 
9.   Aggression, depression linked to multiple concussions in new study.  A new study of brains donated after death details the degenerative brain disease that afflicted 68 of 85 subjects who suffered multiple concussions during stints in the military or in organized sports.
 
10.  Fake War Hero From Houston Area Gets 30 Days In Prison.  Houston Chronicle    41-year-old Paul A. Schroeder, a Texas resident “who claimed to be a Special Forces soldier with a chest full of medals while counseling traumatized combat troops,” will “spend 30 days in federal prison after admitting he was a fraud.” Schroeder, who “must pay a $3,000 fine,” will also “be on supervised release for a year.” Schroeder “was the former director of counseling at the PTSD Foundation of Texas, leading group therapy sessions around the area and lecturing cadets at the Houston Police Academy as part of a post-traumatic stress awareness program.”  AP  A Federal “judge in Houston on Monday sentenced…Schroeder” for “altering a military or naval discharge certificate. Schroeder in February resigned from the PTSD Foundation of America amid questions about his war record.” Schroeder “was a military police officer at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.”

Have You Heard?

VBA Twitter Town Hall Series: Voc Rehab ;  By Richard Allen Smith,  4 Dec 2012