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.   Air Guard nurses share their experiences in war zones.  Pitch black, glow sticks, the roar of airplane engines. That is how Wyoming Air National Guard nurses describe their experiences during air evacuations in Iraq and Afghanistan. “We have to be dark because we’re in Afghanistan, and the enemy wants to shoot our planes down,” Capt. Melissa Stevens told staff and veterans at the local VA Medical Center on Monday.
 
2.   Sandy Hook educators posthumously honored by Congressional Medal of Honor Society.  It’s not an honor anyone went looking for — and for family members of the six women fatally shot while trying to protect children in Sandy Hook Elementary School Dec. 14, it’s one they would happily give back for more time with their mother, sister, daughter or wife.
 
3.   Odierno says Army ‘preparing for the worst’.  If sequestration continues, the Army might not be ready by next year to respond to contingencies such as the Syrian conflict, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno said Tuesday.
 
4.   Pentagon’s annual report shows sexual assault numbers up sharply.  One day after the Air Force’s chief of sexual assault prevention and response branch was arrested on a charge of sexual battery, the Pentagon released a report that sex assaults in the military are occurring at an alarming rate of more than 70 per day.
 
5.   From Okinawa to Hue, one Marine’s three-decade career.  “Here I am, 18 years old seeing my buddies all around me die on that island — men I had trained with for over a year,” said retired Marine Sgt. Maj. George Meyer. “You never quite get over seeing them getting killed by the enemy.”
 
6.   Festival features VA information, music, family fun.  Lincoln Journal Star  The lineup for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System’s Veterans Freedom Music Festival includes the patriotic sounds of the Nebraska Army National Guard’s 43rd Army Band. Information about benefits for …

7.   State grappling with costs of veterans homes.  Hyperlink to Story U-T San Diego: Pressure is mounting on California officials to contain the ballooning costs of retirement homes for veterans so more money can be freed to provide other essential services for the next generation just returning home from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
8.   VA expands nurses to combat homelessness in Greater Los Angeles.  Hyperlink to Story Nurse.com: As the VA GLA expands its homeless programs, the number of nurses working in the program most likely will double in the next fiscal year, said Donna Beiter, RN, MSN, director of the VA GLA. “As we’ve learned more about these vets and their needs, we’ve revised our whole strategic plan,” she said, “and we found we have a greater need for the RN role.”
9.   Military vets, VA rely on expert nursing.  Hyperlink to Story Columbus Dispatch: The theme of National Nurses Week 2013 is “Nurses: Delivering Quality & Innovation in Patient Care,” and no one puts more passion into the health-care profession than VA nurses. VA is the nation’s largest single employer of nurses, and VA nurses lead their profession in education and training, clinical responsibility and research.
10.   Editorial: Funding military suicide prevention efforts is the least we can do.  Hyperlink to Story  NJ.com (Times of Trenton):  To bolster that link, Congressmen Rush Holt (D-Hopewell) and Jon Runyan (R-Mount Laurel) are calling for steady federal funding for projects such as Vets 4 Warriors, a 24-hour helpline that connects servicemen to veterans for advice and support.
 

Have You Heard?

Use of mental health care in a national sample of OEF/OIF Veterans.  Various factors may contribute to nonuse of mental health treatment. A survey by VA researchers of a nationally-representative sample of OEF/OIF Veterans indicates that gender and type of presenting problem are two important factors that affect treatment attitudes and likelihood of treatment utilization. Read more…