Veterans’ risk of developing ALS may be higher
By Robin Erb
The (Detroit) Free Press
Posted : Sunday Aug 5, 2012
A small number of studies have suggested military veterans may be at a higher risk for developing ALS.
It’s enough evidence that, in 2008, the Department of Veterans Affairs began setting aside benefits specifically for anyone who had been in the service and developed the disease.
Although benefits vary depending on service time and other factors, ALS was categorized as a “presumptively compensable illness.” In other words, veterans diagnosed with ALS are eligible for monthly disability pay and funds to modify their homes, vehicles to transport them, insurance for dependents and survivors’ benefits.
From January 2003 to September 2011, Veterans Affairs — prompted by anecdotal reports of young veterans returning from the Persian Gulf War and developing ALS — collected information and even blood samples from willing veterans with ALS, said Dr. Eugene Oddone, who ran the registry and is now director of the Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care at the VA Medical Center in Durham, N.C.
The goal was to determine whether ALS really was more prevalent among veterans and, if so, among which veterans and why. The results were mixed.
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Sunday, August 5, 2012
Vietnam Veteran Karl Marlantes on What It's Like to Go to War
Bill Moyers: Veteran Karl Marlantes on What It's Like to Go to War
Wednesday, 01 August 2012
By Bill Moyers, Moyers and Company
Interview and Video
Bill talks to Karl Marlantes - a highly-decorated Vietnam veteran, Rhodes Scholar, author, and PTSD survivor - about what we on the insulated outside need to understand about the minds and hearts of our modern warriors. Marlantes shares with Bill intimate stories about how his battlefield experiences both shaped and nearly destroyed him, even after returning to civilian life.
“’Thou shalt not kill’ is a tenet you just do not violate, and so all your young life, that’s drilled into your head. And then suddenly, you’re 18 or 19 and they’re saying, ‘Go get ‘em and kill for your country.’ And then you come back and it’s like, ‘Well, thou shalt not kill’ again. Believe me, that’s a difficult thing to deal with,” Marlantes tells Bill. “You take a young man and put him in the role of God, where he is asked to take a life - that’s something no 19-year-old is able to handle.”
read more here
Wednesday, 01 August 2012
By Bill Moyers, Moyers and Company
Interview and Video
Bill talks to Karl Marlantes - a highly-decorated Vietnam veteran, Rhodes Scholar, author, and PTSD survivor - about what we on the insulated outside need to understand about the minds and hearts of our modern warriors. Marlantes shares with Bill intimate stories about how his battlefield experiences both shaped and nearly destroyed him, even after returning to civilian life.
Vietnam veteran and author Karl Marlantes shares how his battlefield experiences both shaped and nearly destroyed him. (Photo: Moyers and Company)
“’Thou shalt not kill’ is a tenet you just do not violate, and so all your young life, that’s drilled into your head. And then suddenly, you’re 18 or 19 and they’re saying, ‘Go get ‘em and kill for your country.’ And then you come back and it’s like, ‘Well, thou shalt not kill’ again. Believe me, that’s a difficult thing to deal with,” Marlantes tells Bill. “You take a young man and put him in the role of God, where he is asked to take a life - that’s something no 19-year-old is able to handle.”
read more here
Ford Donations Provide Critical Transportation Services to Injured Veterans
Ford Donations Provide Critical Transportation Services to Injured Veterans
Scholarships also granted to dedicated young volunteers
LAS VEGAS (August 3, 2012) —Ford Motor Company will donate $200,000 to purchase eight new vehicles for the DAV Transportation Network and $45,000 to DAV’s youth volunteer scholarship program at DAV’s 91st National Convention at the Bally’s Hotel in Las Vegas.
“For 90 years, Ford has helped DAV build better lives for America’s injured or ill veterans and their families,” said DAV National Commander Donald L. Samuels.
Volunteer drivers use the vehicles to take sick and disabled veterans to VA medical centers. Since 1996, Ford has donated more than $3.4 million for the purchase of 164 vans for the DAV Transportation Network.
“Ford is proud of our partnership with DAV which spans 90 years,” said Jim Vella, President, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services. “We are pleased to lend our support so that these deserving veterans can get the transportation they need to receive critical services.”
read more here
Scholarships also granted to dedicated young volunteers
LAS VEGAS (August 3, 2012) —Ford Motor Company will donate $200,000 to purchase eight new vehicles for the DAV Transportation Network and $45,000 to DAV’s youth volunteer scholarship program at DAV’s 91st National Convention at the Bally’s Hotel in Las Vegas.
“For 90 years, Ford has helped DAV build better lives for America’s injured or ill veterans and their families,” said DAV National Commander Donald L. Samuels.
Volunteer drivers use the vehicles to take sick and disabled veterans to VA medical centers. Since 1996, Ford has donated more than $3.4 million for the purchase of 164 vans for the DAV Transportation Network.
“Ford is proud of our partnership with DAV which spans 90 years,” said Jim Vella, President, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services. “We are pleased to lend our support so that these deserving veterans can get the transportation they need to receive critical services.”
read more here
Texas Vietnam Vet waiting 684 days so far for claim to be honored
Central Texas veterans face nation's longest wait for VA disability claims
By Jeremy Schwartz
The Statesman
Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012
GEORGETOWN — Three decades after he left the jungles of Vietnam, Richard Sivage's life began to unravel around him. The frequent rages snapping car antennas, punching walls were punctuated by uncontrollable crying jags that left him increasingly isolated.
He left the restaurant business and went into home repair, where he wouldn't have to interact with people. He cut himself off from friends and rarely left the house. "The last decade has been hell," he said.
But he didn't connect his debilitating emotional problems to the war until recently. In 2010, he filed a claim with the Department of Veterans Affairs, seeking disability benefits.
That was 684 days ago. Because of a historic backlog of VA claims, Sivage, 70, and nearly a million other veterans have yet to receive a ruling on their claims. The problem is severe across the nation, but it is particularly acute in Texas, which is home to the second-largest veteran population in the country behind California.
The Waco claims processing center, which serves Central Texas veterans, has the nation's longest average wait time for claims processing: roughly 393 days, according to the VA's most recent numbers. That's 139 days longer than the national average and more than three times as long as the nation's fastest claims processing center in St. Paul, Minn. During the claims process, VA officials evaluate medical, service and financial records before determining a disability percentage, or rating.
read more here
By Jeremy Schwartz
The Statesman
Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012
GEORGETOWN — Three decades after he left the jungles of Vietnam, Richard Sivage's life began to unravel around him. The frequent rages snapping car antennas, punching walls were punctuated by uncontrollable crying jags that left him increasingly isolated.
He left the restaurant business and went into home repair, where he wouldn't have to interact with people. He cut himself off from friends and rarely left the house. "The last decade has been hell," he said.
But he didn't connect his debilitating emotional problems to the war until recently. In 2010, he filed a claim with the Department of Veterans Affairs, seeking disability benefits.
That was 684 days ago. Because of a historic backlog of VA claims, Sivage, 70, and nearly a million other veterans have yet to receive a ruling on their claims. The problem is severe across the nation, but it is particularly acute in Texas, which is home to the second-largest veteran population in the country behind California.
The Waco claims processing center, which serves Central Texas veterans, has the nation's longest average wait time for claims processing: roughly 393 days, according to the VA's most recent numbers. That's 139 days longer than the national average and more than three times as long as the nation's fastest claims processing center in St. Paul, Minn. During the claims process, VA officials evaluate medical, service and financial records before determining a disability percentage, or rating.
read more here
Marine Undergoes Rare Surgery For Pain
Marine Undergoes Rare Surgery For Pain
Dr. Allan Belzberg performs rare surgery to relieve a marine's severe pain.
Dr. Allan Belzberg performs rare surgery to relieve a marine's severe pain.
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