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.   US urges computer users to disable Java.  Millions of computer users were advised Friday to temporarily disable Oracle’s Java software because of security weaknesses that make their machines vulnerable.
 
2.   Vietnam veteran forever cherishes Marine Corps experience.  To say C.O. Smith has been “active” in the Marine Corps League somehow seems like an understatement; he’s been involved in almost every aspect of the organization, especially the West Central Illinois Leathernecks Detachment 1177 of the Marine Corps League.
 
3.   Anniston Army Depot hosts ‘wounded warriors’ event.  Some came from different states to the Anniston Army Depot while others already worked there. Each man was from a different background and had a different story to tell. All of them were heroes.
 
4.   Burn pit exposure cuts Poquoson soldier’s career short.  Before he got sick, before the tremors, memory lapses and surgeries, Chief Warrant Officer Jeff Lamprecht guarded his buddies from an Apache attack helicopter, with Hellfire missiles at his fingertips.
 
5.   Uncertainty on sequestration taking toll on Bragg defense contractors.  Executives with Fayetteville contractor Combat Medical Systems went to Washington last week to talk about military medevac equipment, but the conversation with lawmakers quickly turned to sequestration.
 
6.   Military presence makes Washington vulnerable to cuts.  Defense spending soared in Washington state last year, even as the specter of long-anticipated budget cuts drew closer.

7. VA Sec. Shinseki To Student Vets: Graduate, Graduate, Graduate.  WUSF-TV  Secretary Shinseki “gave the keynote address at the 2013 Student Veterans of America annual convention in Orlando last week,” telling them to “graduate, graduate, graduate. … If I sound like your dad, I am. I’m paying most of your bills.” Shinseki told the veterans “that their education benefits need to show a ‘return on investment’ or risk being cut” and said there was progress on getting graduation rates reported to the VA, with some 2,600 schools providing data. Shinseki “said between June 2011 and December 2012, schools notified the VA that more than 62,000 veterans graduated and 4,800 completed programs.” Shinseki also told the veterans to “do good. Take advantage of this opportunity, but help other veterans who are also going through this process with you.”
 
8. Obama To Present Afghanistan Veteran Medal Of Honor.  NBC Nightly News  The “nation’s highest military decoration for valor,” and it will be given to Romesha next month “for his courageous actions while serving” in Afghanistan. CBS Evening News  Romesha “helped repel an attack on his combat outpost in which eight Americans were killed. Romesha was wounded but he ducked enemy fire to rescue other wounded soldiers and recover the bodies of the fallen.”  ABC World News Incident for which Romesha will be honored stems back to 2009 when “he was battling 300 enemy fighters” and “a grenade exploded wounding him but still he rushed through a street that left him exposed, taking out more of the Taliban to provide cover for his fellow soldiers and then pushing forward the length of a football field under fire to recover the bodies of his friends who had fallen. It is only the fourth time the honor has been giving to a living member of the military.”  AP President Obama will award the Medal of Honor to Romesha on February 11 at the White House.
 
9. Minnesota VA Helping Veterans Find Jobs. KQDS-TV “It’s a heavy issue facing millions of veterans when they come home from war and that’s finding a job. To help solve the problem, Northland employers got together today to try to see how they can help local heroes retain jobs.” Barb O’Reilly, Minnesota Dept. of Veterans Affairs: “It’s definitely a challenge for veterans to find work when they come back from deployments.” KQDS (Holmes) added, “The national unemployment rate for veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan is 10.8%.” Sen. Amy Klobuchar: “When our soldiers signed up there wasn’t a waiting line and when they come home to this country and they need a bed or they need education or they need a job there should never be a waiting line.” Holmes: “To try to boost job opportunities for local heroes, nearly 40 employers got together to identify the challenges they face when trying to hire them.”

10. Search On For Missing WWII Troops In Myanmar.  AP The US will return to Myanmar later this month to begin “its first search in eight years for remains of American soldiers” lost there in World War II. Some 730 Americans remain missing there, mostly in mountainous areas and in jungles where flight crews are believed to have gone down “while flying supplies from India to China.” The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hawaii said a “coordination team” is due in Myanmar Jan. 21 to prepare for a team of investigators to arrive Feb. 21. That team of about a dozen people – “mostly linguists and analysts” – will “spend three weeks in Yangon Division and Mandalay Division to pursue leads.” Another trip is scheduled for summer “in hopes of gathering enough information to send in recovery teams later.” The AP says “the resumption of the search is a product of the revived U.S. ties” with Myanmar.

Have You Heard?

VA and SVA Working Together to Determine Graduation Rates

VA teamed up with Student Veterans of America and the National Student Clearinghouse to better track how student Veterans are performing.
Learn more at VAntage Point