Grants available for student-veteran centers

Grants available for student-veteran centers

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jul 1, 2010 15:10:28 EDT

The Department of Education has announced that it will make grants available to 19 colleges or universities to help pay for student-veteran centers.

Thirty or more institutions of higher learning could vie for $6 million in grants, said Ray Kelley, national legislative director of AmVets, which has been pushing the idea of one-stop centers to help student veterans with admission, registration, financial aid, personal and mental health issues, and other needs.

“Our hope is that this is an idea that really takes off,” Kelley said. “This has a lot of promise for really helping veterans.”

Institutions have until Sept. 28 to apply for grants, which Education Department officials said will be awarded based on who makes the best presentation for a program to help recruit veterans, keep them in school and help them graduate. Programs that help veterans who are disabled, need help with the English language, or have been homeless also will have a better chance of being picked.
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Grants available for student veteran centers

WWII vet waiting 65 years to have VA claim honored!

When innocent people are locked up but it is later found they were innocent, society demands they be paid for the injustice they received. Millions of dollars are paid to them because they didn't deserve to suffer or have their freedom taken away from them. It is the right thing to do.

So how is it that when a veteran seeks help and compensation for being wounded in service to this nation we send them away and make them fight for what society simply assumes is a debt we owe them? 65 years!

A soldier's 65-year fight with the VA
By William R. Levesque
In Print: Saturday, July 3, 2010


It was 1945 when Tampa native Marty Redding Jr. first asked the Veterans Administration for a pension and treatment for the psychological trauma he suffered fighting in World War II.

He was 20 years old.

On Sunday, Redding will celebrate his 85th birthday — and he's still seeking benefits. "Kind of hard to believe, isn't it?" he says.

In what might be one of the longest-running benefits cases at what is now the Department of Veterans Affairs, Redding has enjoyed some measure of victory in his on-again, off-again battle. After half a century, the VA agreed to pay him a pension for post-traumatic stress starting in 1997. With other ailments, that brings his total monthly pension today to $2,800.

Now the contest is over retroactive benefits dating to 1947.

The Lakeland resident's struggle has outlasted four of his marriages and 11 U.S. presidents. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki was just 3 years old when Redding first filed a VA claim.

Delayed or improperly rejected claims at the VA "are a catastrophic problem," says Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense. "Marty should be labeled a hero for never giving up."

Redding's discharge papers show that he spent more than 10 months in combat from 1944 to 1945 in Italy. He earned a Bronze Star for meritorious service.

He found that war held no romance. Forty of the 200 men in his company were killed in action, and another 45 were severely wounded, military records show.

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A soldier 65 year fight with the VA

Fireworks and PTSD a matter of perception

When a PTSD veteran told his psychologist that he loves to go to the Disney Parks, she was stunned. PTSD veterans hate crowds so it didn't make sense he would really enjoy the rides, even in the dark, the crowds and strangers walking around in costumes. Then he said "it's a matter or perception." For him, Disney is all about families and most of the people there are kids under 12. Yet this same veteran can't go to a movie, sits with his back to the wall in restaurants and tries to stay out of stores as much a possible unless it's a food store. For him a grocery store is all about people being just human and filling a need to eat.

This veteran has carried PTSD inside of him since Vietnam and was tested very high for PTSD. Sleep problems, nightmares, flashbacks, twitches and all of this with heavy medications, yet he can understand the difference between what is supposed to be safe and what is unknowable. Fireworks can bother some veterans and remind them of combat. For others, while the reminders of combat are still awakened, they enjoy them. It is such a big problem for some that I added it into the video Hero After War when I try to explain what a flashback looks like along with how simple things we see everyday can become a dangerous reminder to them.

When it comes to fireworks, amusement parks and living in general, "it's a matter of perception" above anything else. Support them and try to understand why they react the way they do.

Fireworks and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Submitted: 07/02/2010

RHINELANDER - July 4th is a holiday when we celebrate our nation's birthday and those who selflessly fought for her.

But it can also be a dreaded day for some veterans, especially for someone who's been in combat warfare.

One veteran shares how this holiday can have a different meaning.

Jacob Lobermeier served his country in the Middle East as a platoon leader in combat warfare.

While he says he doesn't suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, he says the effects of his experiences are long-lasting. "Things that you see, decisions that you make, friends that you've lost. And those things stay with you. You're never the same after as you were before."

And those memories can return in a split second with things like the common bang of 4th of July fireworks.
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http://www.wjfw.com/stories.html?sku=20100702181841

MOAA defends military benefits to cost-cutters

The Military Officers Association had to explain to law makers what "earned by service and sacrifice" means but they should have understood this all along. This is what they were promised and what they earned. Any law maker forgetting what we owe to them should be forced to walk up to a combat veteran after his/her 3rd, 4th, 5th or more tour and explain why the government can't afford to take care of them if they need it. They should have to explain to a young wife after her husband was sent to Afghanistan with the National Guard unit again why she can't afford to take care of her family or why her husband won't have a job any more when he comes back home. Maybe they should have to tell a widow or a Mom how much the sacrifice of their solider meant to this country when the men he served with can't get what they need when they come home. Do you think these "law makers" would find it so easy to say that other law makers need to find the money to pay for it all first? This debt was owed the day they were sent into combat!

MOAA defends military benefits to cost-cutters

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jul 1, 2010 13:15:16 EDT

Current and former service members and their families understand the need for federal fiscal responsibility, but they don’t believe their benefits should be the first place the government looks when it tries to cut spending, a representative of a major military association told a federal budget commission.

Speaking Wednesday before the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, Steve Strobridge of the Military Officers Association of America said his organization “believes strongly that there is a fundamental difference between social insurance programs that are made available to every American, and programs such as military and veterans’ compensation that are earned by service and sacrifice to the nation.”
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MOAA defends military benefits to cost cutters

June unemployment rates rise for veterans

June unemployment rates rise for veterans

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 2, 2010 12:39:16 EDT

The unemployment rate for veterans rose slightly in June, to 8 percent overall and 11.5 percent for Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans, a sign that expanding programs aimed at helping veterans find work are not working in a stagnant job market.

June employment statistics released Friday by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics show the overall unemployment rate for veterans rose slightly from 7.8 percent in May. Still, the unemployment rate for veterans remains lower than the overall national rate of 9.5 percent.
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June unemployment rates rise for veterans

Homeless vets starting new lives

Homeless vets starting new lives

By Mindy Blake - email

TUCSON, AZ (KOLD) - On any given night there are 700 homeless veterans sleeping in temporary shelters or on the streets of Tucson.

For many of them, homelessness is just one problem.

If they had a permanent place to stay, they could begin to deal with their other difficulties.

There is a place they can go for help.

It's the first step to getting out of a painful and dangerous cycle.

Navy veteran David Smith doesn't get to sit in an air conditioned room very often.

"I'm experiencing some difficulty in my life. I've been living in a wash for the past six weeks."

And before that, David lived in his pickup truck for two years.
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http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=12737436

Community steps up to find PTSD Vet's dog

A War Hero Reunites with his Dog

Two days after a Rogersville War Hero's dog disappeared, the much loved pet is back home.

Tuesday night, WAAY 31 told you about "Sam." he was a gift to wounded veteran, Jimmy Roberts, who struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, after two tours in Iraq. After our story aired, people all over Rogersville started looking for Sam. Tonight, we're happy to report he's back home.

It's the story of a War Hero, wounded in Iraq, given the gift of a Blue Heeler, to help him get through the day. The dog named Sam disappeared on Monday, but now he's back in his owner's arms. He's Jimmy best friend, he's also his therapy, as he fights Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"I feel like things are more cheerful and lighter now, it's good to have him back," said Former Sgt. Jimmy Roberts.
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http://www.waaytv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12738523

VA Scandal - VA Manipulates Appointment Scheduling

Thanks to Larry Scott over at VAWatchdog.org this became a story in the first place. Then Paul Sullivan over at Veterans For Common Sense.org jumped on it to get the word out to even more people. These are the heroes who track what is really happening to veterans day in and day out. Want to know how we really care, or should I say, don't really care about our veterans, read some of the work they do and then you'll know what are fairytales and what is their worst nightmare. We cannot go blindly day to day and just assume all is well with our veterans because it isn't and it won't be until the American people actually do pay attention as much as they pay attention to them coming home to their hometowns in flag draped coffins.

VA Scandal - VA Manipulates Appointment Scheduling

On June 23, 2010, veteran Larry Scott at VA Watchdog uncovered a huge VA scandal. Larry posted VA's memo descrbing 24 "tricks" or "gaming strategies" so VA would appear to help veterans get appointments fast. In fact, VA was delaying and denying medical care.

VA failed to fulfill the agency's promise to provide our veterans with prompt medical care. Instead of taking responsibility and actually improving access to care, VA is cooking the books and hoping no one will dig deeper.

VA cheated, and our veterans suffered.

Thanks go out to the investigative journalist who wrote the first news article about the VA scandal, Nora Eisenberg at AlterNet. Additional commendation goes to Kyra Phillips at CNN for making this national news. The CNN article contains a VCS statement about VA's outrageous "Cooked Appointment Books" scandal.

Vets' care hurt by bureaucratic games, memo says
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 2, 2010 12:25 p.m. EDT

Paul Sullivan, from the group Veterans for Common Sense, told CNN the memo is "absolutely" symptomatic of a nationwide problem with the VA. "It's tragic (and) beyond unacceptable," he said. If VA employees are "cooking the books, (they) need to find another job."

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Memo: Veterans being denied care due to improper scheduling practices
VA employees using "gaming strategies" for better performance scores
Top VA official promises to stop denial of care
Advocate for veterans says practice is "tragic" and "unacceptable"

(CNN) -- Military veterans are being denied health care due to "inappropriate scheduling practices" at VA facilities, according to an internal memo from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The memo, written on April 26, says employees at various VA facilities often canceled veterans' appointments with doctors in order to generate better performance scores in reports to supervisors.

"In order to improve scores on assorted access measures, certain facilities have adopted use of inappropriate scheduling practices sometimes referred to as 'gaming strategies,'" the memo says.

"Example: as a way to combat Missed Opportunity rates some medical centers cancel appointments for patients not checked in 10 or 15 minutes prior to their scheduled appointment time. Patients are informed that it is medical center policy that they must check in early and if they fail to do so, it is the medical center's right to cancel that appointment."
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Vets care hurt by bureaucratic games, memo says

Texas Revokes Late Senator Herring's Hero Status

Texas Revokes Late Senator’s Hero Status
July 02, 2010
El Paso Times

EL PASO -- Charles Ferguson Herring, a former state senator and U.S. attorney, no longer will be proclaimed a war hero by the state of Texas.

All references to combat valor were stripped Thursday from Herring's online biography at the Texas State Cemetery. The action came after its officials received military records contradicting Herring's claims of heroism during World War II.

Herring said he received the Navy Cross, a decoration for valor second only to the Medal of Honor; three Purple Hearts, each indicating combat injuries; and a Bronze Star, although not for valor. The biography also stated Herring left the Navy as a lieutenant commander.

Related story: Honored Texan's Medal Claims Fraudulent?

The record shows that Herring received no awards for combat valor or for being wounded. It makes no mention of a Bronze Star for service in a war zone. And it shows he left the Navy Reserve as a lieutenant junior grade, two ranks below lieutenant commander, after 10 years of service.
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http://www.military.com/news/article/texas-revokes-late-senators-hero-status.html

Vietnam Vets have Graves' Disease to worry about after Agent Orange exposure

Link Between Agent Orange Exposure and Graves’ Disease in Vietnam Veterans
June 30, 2010 posted by Michael Leon ·


By Source:
Lois Baker
University at Buffalo

Vietnam War-era veterans exposed to Agent Orange appear to have significantly more Graves’ disease, a thyroid disorder, than veterans with no exposure, a new study by endocrinologists at the University at Buffalo has shown.

Ajay Varanasi, MD, an endocrinology fellow in the UB Department of Medicine and first author on the study, garnered first prize in the oral presentation category for this research at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists annual meeting held in Boston in April.

“Our findings show that Vietnam veterans who came in contact with Agent Orange are more likely to develop Graves’ disease than those who avoided exposure,” says Varanasi.

“The autoimmune disorder was three times more prevalent among veterans who encountered the dioxin-containing chemical. We also looked at other thyroid diagnoses, but we didn’t find any significant differences in thyroid cancer or nodules.”
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Link Between Agent Orange Exposure and Graves Disease