Veteran Takes Lucky Shot Through Pair of Pants

Man shoots at guest, bullet passes through pants
Sheriff: suspect believed victim was intruder
Record Eagle
By Matt Troutman
March 29, 2016

The man served in the military and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, Borkovich said. He said authorities will reach out to a local veterans' center to get the suspect help.

TRAVERSE CITY — A Suttons Bay man could face firearms charges after authorities said he drunkenly shot at a partygoer leaving his home.

The bullet passed through the victim's pant leg, leaving him uninjured, said Leelanau County Sheriff Mike Borkovich. He said deputies responded to a call about the shooting early Tuesday, found the suspect — a Suttons Bay man, 27 — and arrested him.

The suspect apparently hosted guests at his home about a half-mile south of Suttons Bay for a night of drinking. Borkovich said the shooting occurred when the suspect thought someone was trying to break into his home.

"It wasn’t an intruder, it was somebody leaving the house," Borkovich said.
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American Legion Veterans Center At Risk of Closing

Veterans center at risk of being shut down
FOX 5
BY ELLINA ABOVIAN
NOVEMBER 6, 2014

SAN DIEGO — A veterans community center in Linda Vista is at risk of being shut down for not having a wheelchair-accessible elevator to accommodate older and handicapped veterans.

The American Legion Community Center, built in 1972, does not meet current California handicap codes and must install an elevator.

The center is considered a second home for its nearly 400 members, said Marine veteran and Legion 1st Cmdr., John H. Priess.

“We have a special connection with each other and it’s a place we can come to and relate to each other,” Priess said. “To walk through this door, it’s like walking back into the military and being amongst the people I served with in the Marine Corps.”

The center is especially important to those members who suffer from PTSD and consider the Legion a place of therapy.

“People don’t feel like they belong in other places once they get out, and we feel like this is a home where we share our brotherhood,” said Sam Flores, a Marine veteran who fought in Afghanistan.
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Sam Rayburn Memorial Veterans Center opens Mental Health Center

Sam Rayburn Memorial Veterans Center opens new mental health suite
KXII News
By: Ashley Park
Apr 22, 2014

BONHAM, TX -- As more and more veterans are diagnosed with PTSD, getting help has become vital to their health, even survival.

The Sam Rayburn Memorial Veterans Center has just opened up a new mental health outpatient clinic to offer more services to veterans who need them and who might be hesitant to seek help.

The new suite at the medical center in Bonham offers more space and privacy, something officials say will be beneficial to veterans with mental health disorders.

They say they've seen an increase in veterans and now that they have more space, they believe more will come forward for help.

Veterans will now have a new facility to help them through the challenges some say are even tougher than combat.

The Sam Rayburn Memorial Veterans Center opened a new mental health suite complete with more than 20 offices, giving officials more space to offer more services.

"Individual and group therapy for veterans dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, substance abuse disorder and addiction, and then areas that the VA call seriously mentally ill," says Dr. Steven Bender, clinical director of the mental health services.
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Vietnam vets get their day in the sun

Vietnam vets get their day in the sun
 Barnstable Patriot
Written by Susan Vaughn
November 15, 2013

Special recognition given to local group on Veterans Day

Susan Vaughn photos LEADING CONTINGENT – The NamVets Association of Cape Cod and the Islands had the largest contingent in the Veterans Day parade Monday.

The Vietnam veterans finally had their day in the sun on a brisk, sunny Veterans Day Monday in Barnstable. They were the largest contingent in the parade that started the annual commemoration in Hyannis, and they were singled out in speeches and two special citations presented by U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, D-Cape and Islands, to the local Vietnam veterans association.

Robert Servidori, president of the NamVets Association of Cape Cod and the Islands, noted how Vietnam veterans experienced hostility and lack of interest by Americans 40 years ago when they returned from the 10-year conflict in Southeast Asia. “Welcome home to Vietnam veterans,” he said during the program before a gathering of several hundred participants and onlookers on the Hyannis Village Green.

As an example of the poor treatment, Keating said Vietnam veterans had to wait until 1979 for veterans' centers to be in place after the end of the war in 1973. “They sought little attention and they deserve a great deal,” he said, noting how “they were a great group who came home and continued their service as civilians.”

The Congressional proclamation gives special recognition of the 50 years since the Vietnam War started and the 40 years since it ended, and the second citation from Keating thanked the Vietnam veterans and cited the 30th anniversary of the Vietnam memorial monument on the Hyannis green.

Servidori said he expects the new the Grace Brain Center at New Seabury in Mashpee that will service all veterans with traumatic brain injuries and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder will open in the spring. He noted that one of many federal grants to assist veterans with basic expenses, such as back rent, auto repairs, medical bills and family expenses, began arriving at the Cape office in October.

Keynote speaker U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Deb Schiavi, retired, also noted the effects of PTSD as a life-altering affliction from war wounds that take an enormous toll on families as well. She said one in 10 veterans are disabled by combat injuries, often PTSD, and 50 percent of those with PTSD do not seek treatment, and of those, only half get treatment. Nineteen percent of veterans have traumatic brain injuries, she said.
read more here If you don't believe PTSD and 1978 think again.

While the official end to the Vietnam War was 1973, more died into 1975.

Secaucus Vet Center had over 4,000 visits last year

Treating war trauma
Local center helps veterans readjust to society
by Adriana Rambay Fernández
Reporter staff writer

“If you have been to war, it sticks with you forever,” said David Cathcart last week. A veteran of the Vietnam War with the 173rd Airborne, Cathcart knows from experience what it is like to go to battle and face challenges upon return. He provides individual counseling to veterans returning from war at a local Vet Center located on Meadowlands Parkway in Secaucus.

“It doesn’t matter what background you are from. Somebody is shooting at you and it is going to change you [and] it is up to us to make sure that those changes don’t remain permanent,” he said.

Part of Veterans Affairs, the Vet Center program was established in 1979 to provide free and confidential readjustment services to veterans and their families. The Secaucus Vet Center had over 4,000 visits last year between family and individual counseling sessions combined.
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Little Rock citizens don't want Veterans Center because "beautiful heritage is at stake"???

Does this make sense to you? Why is it people always say they love veterans but love them more when they are out of sight? Their "beautiful heritage" looks a bit tarnished now.

Neighbors opposed to VA Center in downtown area
8:22 PM, Feb 6, 2012
Written by
Pam Baccam


LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- The Little Rock City council will vote on an ordinance tomorrow, which could determine the fate of a new Veterans Affairs center.

The VA has plans to move into the old Cook Jeep dealership on Main Street. If the city amends an ordinance, the VA would have to apply for a permit.

The VA announced last month plans to expand services to Main Street, but some residents in the area are upset they did not have a chance to voice their opinions on the clinic.

Jo Summar and Dick Kelley live near Little Rock's Main Street. They're neighbors and want to see the area thrive as it once was.

"Our beautiful heritage is at stake here."
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Vet Center does battle on behalf of troops

Vet Center does battle on behalf of troops
The Bakersfield Californian
Wednesday, Aug 10 2011

Last Updated Wednesday, Aug 10 2011

War on one side, Vernon Valenzuela on the other.

Hmm. My money's on Valenzuela.

Sure, war is tough. But Valenzuela has seen its horrors up close and spent the last 30 years learning the worst of its dirty, lingering tricks.

He's ready for battle and now he's got backup.

Valenzuela is director of the newly minted Bakersfield Vet Center, which focuses on helping combat veterans and their families pick up the pieces after the shooting stops.

Its grand opening will be September 24.

The "center" has actually been around since 2008. But then it was just Valenzuela in a borrowed cubby hole office in the Kern County Veterans Services building helping one veteran at a time.

read more here

Secretary Shinseki Announces Expansion of Counseling for Combat Veterans

Recent VA News Releases






Secretary Shinseki Announces Expansion of Counseling for Combat Veterans


Additional 28 New Community Vet Centers



WASHINGTON (August 14, 2009) - Today, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric
K. Shinseki announced that combat Veterans will receive readjustment
counseling and other assistance in 28 additional communities across the
country where the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will establish Vet
Centers in 2010.



"VA is committed to providing high-quality outreach and readjustment
counseling to all combat Veterans," Secretary Shinseki said. "These 28
new Vet Centers will address the growing need for those services."



The community-based Vet Centers -- already in all 50 states -- are a key
component of VA's mental health program, providing Veterans with mental
health screening and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) counseling.



The existing 232 centers conduct community outreach to offer counseling
on employment, family issues and education to combat Veterans and family
members, as well as bereavement counseling for families of
servicemembers killed on active duty and counseling for Veterans who
were sexually harassed on active duty.



Vet Center services are earned through service in a combat zone or area
of hostility and are provided at no cost to Veterans or their families.
They are staffed by small multi-disciplinary teams, which may include
social workers, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, master's-level
counselors and outreach specialists. Over 70 percent of Vet Center
employees are Veterans themselves, a majority of whom served in combat
zones.



The Vet Center program was established in 1979 by Congress, recognizing
that many Vietnam Veterans were still having readjustment problems. In
2008, the Vet Center program provided over 1.1 million visits to over
167,000 Veterans, including over 53,000 visits by more than 14,500
Veteran families. More information about Vet Centers can be found at
www.vetcenter.va.gov/index.asp






Communities Receiving New VA Vet Centers



American Samoa

Arizona -- Mohave and Yuma Counties

California -- San Luis Obispo County

Delaware - Sussex County

Florida -Marion, Lake, Collier, Okaloosa and Bay Counties

Georgia - Muscogee and Richmond Counties

Hawaii - Western Oahu

Indiana - St. Joseph County

Louisiana - Rapides Parish

Michigan - Grand Traverse County, also serving Wexford County

Missouri - Boone County

Montana - Cascade and Flathead Counties

Ohio - Stark County

Oregon - Deschutes County

Pennsylvania - Lancaster County

South Carolina - Horry County

Texas - Jefferson and Taylor Counties

Utah - Washington County

Washington - Walla Walla County, also serving Umatilla County, Oregon

Wisconsin - LaCrosse County, also serving Monroe County

Veteran Center hits the road with mobile counseling

VA to Deploy Mobile Counseling Centers Across America


Last update: 1:30 p.m. EDT Oct. 22, 2008
WASHINGTON, Oct 22, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- 50 Motor Coaches to Bring Services Closer to Veterans
The first of a fleet of 50 new mobile counseling centers for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Vet Center program was put into service today with the remainder scheduled to be activated over the next three months.

"Our widespread distribution of this fleet from coast to coast marks a new chapter in VA's innovation to reach rural and underserved veterans with high-quality readjustment counseling," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake.

Each vehicle will be assigned to one of VA's existing Vet Centers, enabling the center to improve access to counseling by bringing services closer to veterans.

The 38-foot motor coaches, which have spaces for confidential counseling, will carry Vet Center counselors and outreach workers to events and activities to reach veterans in broad geographic areas, supplementing VA's 232 current Vet Centers, which are scheduled to increase to 271 facilities by the end of 2009.

Vet Centers, operated by VA's Readjustment Counseling Service, provide non-medical readjustment counseling in easily accessible, consumer-oriented facilities, addressing the social and economic dimensions of post-war needs. This includes psychological counseling for traumatic military-related experiences and family counseling when needed for the veteran's readjustment.
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Senator joins call for a vets center in Keene NH

Senator joins call for a vets center in Keene
By Casey Farrar
Sentinel Staff
Published: Thursday, August 21, 2008
Monadnock Region veterans say they need locally-available medical and mental health care.

And their message was voiced loud and clear Wednesday when nearly two dozen local veterans turned out for an appearance by U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu, R-N.H., to show their support for a combined veterans center and outpatient clinic in Keene.

Sununu has spoken in favor of the idea to U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake, discussing it during a visit to Manchester earlier this summer and last week sending a letter to the secretary urging movement on the proposal.

While Sununu was in Keene for a tour of the renovations of Southwestern Community Services’ future offices on Dunbar Street, and a visit to Precitech Inc., the topic of veterans’ health care rose to the forefront.

“There’s been a lot of talk about expanded outpatient health care services, but we need more than that,” Sununu said.

“That’s very important and I’ve been a strong supporter of the outpatient services ... and we want that availability and access to health care for our veterans here in Keene, but we also want a fully integrated veterans center that would include mental-health screening, that would include claims for disability or other benefits.”

A veterans center focuses on mental health care, offering screenings and counseling for veterans and their families. The veterans administration runs 232 such centers around the country. Community-based outpatient clinics and medical centers, meanwhile, focus on medical treatment.

Two months ago, a veterans center opened in Berlin — the only other center in the state is in Manchester.

Sununu said he plans to follow up with Peake’s office next week about the progress of the proposal and he hopes to get money for a Keene center by the end of the year.
go here for more
http://sentinelsource.com/articles/2008/08/21/news/local/free/id_319934.txt

South Florida Veterans Center Grand Opening

SOUTH FLORIDA VETERANS
MULTI-PURPOSE CENTER
4311 SW 63RD AVENUE
DAVIE, FL 33314
954-791-8603





YOU ARE INVITED TO A GRAND OPENING





SOUTH FLORIDA VETERANS MULTI-PURPOSE CENTER’S

NEW MILITARY VETERANS, NATIONAL GUARD

SUPPORT CENTER



DEMONSTRATION OF EQUINE ASSISTED THERAPY FOR DISABLED VETERANS



TYPICAL AGENDA OF THE WEEKEND RETREAT PROGRAM



MEET VA AND COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS,

COMMUNITY ELECTIVE OFFICIALS,

PROGRAM SPONSORS,

NATIVE AMERICAN HEALING,

CENTER VOLUNTEERS,

VETERANS ORGANIZATIONS,

HORSE PROFESSIONALS,





FREE FOOD AND BEVERAGES



PLEASE RSVP TO 954-791-8603



AUGUST 3RD 2008 NOON TILL

I was honored to have been invited to this but unfortunately I cannot attend. They are showing some of my videos. My heart is tugged but I cannot get out of a prior commitment. If you live in Florida, please go to the Grand Opening and show your support of this. Veterans centers are vital in the healing of our veterans. There is not enough help to go around for them and many do not want to turn to the VA for help and support. Please support all veterans centers, not just for the new veterans, but all veterans.

Davie is near Fort Lauderdale.

VA planning two new sites for North Texas

VA planning two new sites for North Texas

09:40 PM CDT on Monday, July 21, 2008
By KIM HORNER / The Dallas Morning News
khorner@dallasnews.com

Two new facilities are planned for North Texas to assist veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to open one in Dallas County and another in Tarrant County by fall 2009.

"There has been an increase in the number of veterans coming to Vet Centers," said Ozzie Garza, spokesman for the VA. "We're trying to do the best we can to serve the returning veterans."

Sam Samford, commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7843 in Duncanville, said there's a "huge demand" for help.

"You can't have too many facilities for veterans as far as I'm concerned," said Mr. Samford, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam. "There's no such thing as too much, especially when you've got a war going on."

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VA Vet Centers Coming to 39 Communities

VA Vet Centers Coming to 39 Communities
July 9th, 2008 (12 views )
VA Vet Centers Coming to 39 Communities
Peake: Provide counseling for all combat veterans

WASHINGTON (July 9, 2008) - Combat veterans will receive readjustment
counseling and other assistance in 39 additional communities across the
country where the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will develop Vet
Centers by fall 2009.

“Community-based Vet Centers – already in all 50 states – are a key
component of VA’s mental health program,” said Dr. James B. Peake,
Secretary of Veterans Affairs. “I’m pleased we can expand access to
bring services closer to even more veterans, including screening and
counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder.”

The existing 232 centers conduct community outreach to offer counseling
on employment, family issues and education to combat veterans and family
members, as well as bereavement counseling for families of service
members killed on active duty and counseling for veterans who were
sexually harassed on active duty.
for more and for list click post title

Boston veterans happy centers will stay open

Veterans happy VA facilities stay open
Say four centers in area necessary
By Emily Sweeney
Globe Staff / May 7, 2008
Local veterans welcomed yesterday the US Department of Veterans Affairs decision to maintain its four Boston-area campuses, saying the centers offer critical and accessible services to people who are often distressed.

VA officials had considered closing facilities in Bedford, Brockton, Jamaica Plain, and West Roxbury and consolidating services.

Among the options the agency considered was closing all four campuses and building a large state-of-the-art medical center in Boston. Other possibilities included merging the Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury facilities or shifting some services from Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford to the VA campus in Brockton.

Ultimately, the VA decided to scrap those ideas.

"The potential benefits to be gained from any consolidation do not justify the disruption to veterans or to our first-class healthcare system in Boston," Dr. James B. Peake, secretary of veterans affairs, said in a statement Monday.

The decision to keep the four VA campuses was a relief to George Egan, deputy commissioner of Boston's Department of Veterans Services.

"We need all these places open," he said.

Egan said his office regularly refers veterans to the four Boston area VA facilities.

"These kids coming home now, these kids need a lot of help," he said. Post-traumatic stress disorder "is coming into play a lot. Where they're fighting, there are bombs, we see lots of head trauma. They have a hard time coming back and have a horrible time adjusting."
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PTSD truth causes fast changes

VA adds $2 million for PTSD center

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Friday May 2, 2008 14:22:34 EDT

After a series of congressional hearings showed that gaps remain in mental health care for veterans, the Veterans Affairs Department announced Friday it is allocating an additional $2 million to the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

A recent Rand Corp. study found that more than 300,000 combat veterans suffer from PTSD or major depression — a number that mirrors the Defense Department’s own studies.

But Rand found that only 50 percent of them receive care — and of those, only half received “minimally adequate” care — or care proven to be effective in treating PTSD.

The Defense Department, as well as Rand, have also found that significant issues remain in combating stigma surrounding PTSD. Many troops still think that their leaders will find them weak if they seek care, that a mental health issue could ruin their careers, that they’ll be prescribed anti-depressants with harmful side effects or that they’ll be denied security clearances.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/05/military_ptsd_funding_050208w/

Bill would open Vet Centers to active troops

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday May 2, 2008 13:17:01 EDT

Active and reserve service members would be eligible for mental health counseling from one of the 207 veterans’ centers operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs under bipartisan legislation introduced Thursday.

The bill also includes incentives for veterans to become mental health specialists so they could serve as counselors.

The bill would extend military survivor benefits in cases of suicide among service members with a history of service-connected mental health problems, an unprecedented policy change that would extend active-duty survivor benefits beyond the end of service for those who are not receiving retired pay.

Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., joined by six other senators including Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, said he is looking for a quick way to increase access to qualified behavioral health specialists who can provide both immediate treatment and, if needed, long-term care.

Vet Centers, which provide readjustment and mental health counseling for people no longer in the military, are not typically available for use by people on active duty, nor to their families. National Guard and reserve members may use Vet Centers after being demobilized but sometimes have problems with eligibility because they do not have the same discharge papers provided to people separated from active duty.

The bill introduced Thursday, S 2963, “will give our troops the same access to Vet Centers our veterans receive,” Bond said in a statement.

This “not only opens the door to additional resources but also lightens the load on our currently over-tasked specialists,” Bond said. “There are grossly insufficient numbers of military behavioral health specialists to provide the care our troops need.”
go here for more

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/05/military_vetcenters_050208w/

Washington Veterans Service Center provides assistance to veterans, families

The center is specifically reaching out to Vietnam veterans who have been diagnosed with certain cancers or Type 2 Diabetes. “There are both monetary and medical benefits owed to our Vietnam veterans,” said American Legion Service Officer, Doug Coulter. “All veterans who served on the ground in Vietnam are presumed to have been exposed to Agent Orange defoliant. This includes air crews that left their aircraft and naval ships that were in certain Vietnamese waters.”

Veterans Service Center provides assistance to veterans, families


Friday, March 7, 2008

A veterans’ service center has opened in South Kitsap on the grounds of the Washington Veterans Home at Retsil, just east of Port Orchard’s waterfront.

Funded and operated by the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) with support from the Federal Veterans Administration (VA), the center has three full-time service officers providing assistance to veterans and family members.

The American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars military service organizations are contracted by the state to have a service officer at the center. The third provider is employed by the State of Washington.

“While we each represent a different organization, we have built a seamless team and a seamless operation to ensure quality, enthusiastic service to our peninsula veterans,” said Steve Cline, the service center supervisor.

The center is actively filing claims for disability now, with clients ranging from veterans who are just leaving active duty, to veterans well into their 70s and 80s, and for surviving spouses of deceased veterans.
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Closing veterans centers now is insane!

I cannot believe this one!

Lawrence center for veterans may close
Operating funds are slashed N.E. lawmakers to launch probe
By Bryan Bender
Globe Staff / March 5, 2008
WASHINGTON - A center in Lawrence that helps veterans start their own businesses warned yesterday that it will have to close its doors because of a lack of funds, prompting two New England lawmakers to launch a probe into the federally funded nonprofit organization that had been financing it.


The Northeast Veterans Business Resource Center has provided night classes and other training to more than 3,000 veterans since it was established in 2004, including an Internet course for members of the Massachusetts National Guard serving in Iraq.

But its funding was recently pulled by the Washington charity established and funded by Congress in 1999 to enhance business opportunities for veterans.

"I had to lay off my staff of three, and, if I don't get some funds, I won't be able to pay the rent this month," Louis J. Celli, president of the Lawrence center and a retired Army master sergeant, told the Globe yesterday.

The center, located on Merrimack Street, does not make a profit and relies on annual federal funds and donations to run its operations, which include courses in computers, resource management, writing proposals, and communication skills. It is one of three such centers across the country.

Another of the centers, which is located in St. Louis, also announced yesterday that it would have to shut down by next month, while the third center, located in Flint, Mich., has also had its operating funds slashed.

Walter G. Blackwell - president of the National Veterans Business Development Corporation, which has funded the centers in the past - said yesterday that it had received only $1.4 million of the $3.7 million it had requested from Congress for this year.

Blackwell said the corporation may also have to close down if it is unable to locate additional funding.

The prospect of losing the three centers has raised the ire of influential lawmakers who believe they provide a critical resource to thousands of veterans, including those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, who are seeking to become financially self-sufficient.

Senator John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Senator Olympia Snowe, Republican of Maine, announced yesterday that the Small Business Committee, of which Kerry is the chairman, would formally investigate the organization's management.

"The Veterans Corporation was established to create a network of these centers," Kerry said in an interview. "They have by all appearances not done that."
go here for the rest

http://www.boston.com/news/local/
articles/2008/03/05/lawrence_center_for_veterans_may_close/

How could anyone in their right mind think that cutting funds to help veterans get jobs after they served this country is not worth funding? Is this more of the same they have received from this administration telling them they are not worth the money it takes to get them back on their feet after they served and are no longer "serving" the nation? What the hell kind of message do they think the veterans are getting from this kind of stunt?

Survey Shows Veterans’ Unemployment Lower Than Nonveterans

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced in May the results of the Biennial Employment Situation of Veterans survey (as of August 2005), which showed the overall veterans’ unemployment rate is lower than that of nonveterans. The veterans’ survey is published once every two years as a supplement to BLS’s monthly Current Population Survey.

“The report shows that, overall, the employment of America’s veterans is strong,” said Charles Ciccolella, assistant secretary of labor for Veterans Employment and Training. “In August 2005, the veterans’ unemployment rate was 3.9 percent, 0.8 percent lower than that of nonveterans. On an annual basis, veterans’ unemployment was 4 percent in 2005, which is 0.6 percent below that of nonveterans.”

There is one age group of veterans—20-to-24-year-olds—where the unemployment rate is higher than that of nonveterans of the same age group. In August 2005, those veterans had an unemployment rate of 18.7 percent compared with their nonveteran counterparts. For all of 2005, the annual rate was 15.6 percent for 20-to-24-year-old veterans compared with 8.7 percent for nonveterans in that age group.
The U.S. Department of Labor has undertaken initiatives to address the situation, said Ciccolella. The department conducts transition assistance employment workshops for members of the military who are scheduled for discharge in addition to other programs. For more information on all of these programs go to http://www.hirevetsfirst.gov/•
http://www.gijobs.net/magazine.cfm?id=518

From May 2007 Boston Globe

(John Kerry) The Massachusetts Democrat, who chairs the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, is scheduled to unveil the bill along with a report on the economic difficulties facing returning veterans, especially members of the Reserve and National Guard who have put their civilian jobs on hold for repeated deployments.
The study by Kerry's committee staff, based on government data, found that 11.9 percent of recently discharged veterans are unemployed, compared with 4.6 percent of nonveterans; it found that 18 percent of 18-to 24-year-old veterans are out of work, double the rate of their nonveteran counterparts. Meanwhile, an estimated 40 percent of reservists lose income when called up, while the rate is even higher, 55 percent, for reservists who are self-employed, according to the report. At the same time, the share of small-business loans going to veterans from the largest federal program has dropped from 11 percent to 9 percent since 2001.
http://boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/03/28/kerry_seeks_business_loans_for_veterans/

While National Guardsmen come back after being deployed again and again, what we keep forgetting is that they leave their jobs in order to go. They leave their businesses in order to serve. At a time like this when too many people are out of work, closing one of these centers is just pure evil!

Dr. James B. Peake doing what Nicholson should have done years ago

VA Has Added 20 New Vet Centers
Posted : Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:19:51 GMT
Author : U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs




PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake today said an expansion by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) of its Vet Centers, which provide readjustment counseling and outreach services to returning combat veterans, is well ahead of schedule.

In February 2007, VA announced it would open 23 new centers during the next two years. Fifteen of those centers are already operational, and five others are seeing patients in temporary facilities while finalizing their leases. The other three facilities will begin operations later this year.

"Building on our past successes, 2008 will see a permanent increase in the number of Vet Centers, as we bring the remaining facilities on line to reach a record 232 Vet Centers by the end of the year," Peake said.

"To support this expansion and augment the staff at 61 existing Vet Centers, this year we are channeling a 44 percent increase in funding to the Readjustment Counseling Service, which operates the Vet Centers -- nearly $50 million more than last year's budget," he added.

The community-based Vet Centers are a key component of VA's mental health program, providing veterans with mental health screening and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) counseling, along with help for family members dealing with bereavement and loved ones with PTSD.
click post title for the rest

DOD contract of $6.5 million to promote "support" of the troops?

Nothing against America Supports You but this is bullshit!

Report: DOD may award PR contract for America Supports You
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, February 10, 2008



ARLINGTON, Va. — The Defense Department could award a contract of up to $6.5 million for a public relations firm to promote America Supports You, according to the magazine PR Week.

The move comes as the Defense Department Inspector General’s Office is conducting an audit looking at how Stars and Stripes was used as a conduit to transfer money from American Forces Information Service to a public relations firm hired to promote the newspaper and America Supports You.

American Forces Information Service and Stars and Stripes fall under the purview of Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for internal communications and public liaison.

Barber also runs America Supports You, a Defense Department Program that gives publicity to nonprofit groups that support U.S. troops.
go here for the rest
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52340

Do you think that kind of money would be better spent maybe opening some veteran's centers across the country TO GIVE THE WOUNDED SOLDIERS WHAT THEY NEED TO REALLY BE SUPPORTED? $6.5 MILLION AND HOW MANY LIVE IN AREAS WITH NO MENTAL HEALTH HELP AT ALL? HOW MANY HOMELESS VETERANS WITH NO PLACE TO SLEEP? $6.5 MILLION FOR PR WORK? ARE THEY NUTS?

More than 240,000 deployed received counseling at veterans centers

72,000 American casualties: toll of war on terror
IAN BRUCE, Defence Correspondent January 25 2008

A second request to the Veterans' Administration, the government-funded body responsible for taking care of ex-servicemen and women, showed 263,909 soldiers with experience of the two 21st-century wars have so far received treatment for everything from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the aftermath of amputated limbs.

It also showed 52,375 veterans had been diagnosed with PTSD and 34,138 have received approval for disability claims for the psychological disorder. As of October 31 last year, 1.6 million Americans have been deployed overseas since 2001.

Harvard University estimates the cost of caring for Iraq and Afghan veterans over the next 40 years will amount to between £125bn and £350bn, depending on the long-term effects of trauma.

More than 240,000 of those deployed have received some form of counselling at veterans' centres.

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What happened to the other 18,237 veterans diagnosed with PTSD but not granted disability? What happens to all the 240,000 other veterans with their claims still tied up in the system like the veterans who had to go to veterans centers for help? You have to assume that none of them are included in on the figure released. It is bad enough there hundreds of thousands of claims tied up in the backlog but when you understand these are not just claims, they are for the most part, wounded veterans waiting for care and for compensation.

Whenever the government releases information, it's usually a good thing to follow up and ask them what happened to the others. The next point to appreciate is that with 240,000 of them going to the veterans centers for help, it is more beneficial to them to ramp up veterans centers all over the country because this is where they want to be.

We need to look back at the data from Vietnam because these are the same numbers that came back from what was considered "combat zones" all through the years. It produced 500,000 diagnosed cases of PTSD by 1978, 300,000 homeless veterans and between 150,000 and 200,000 suicides, Agent Orange illnesses, and that was just the beginning. We are still seeing Gulf War veterans, Vietnam veterans, Korean War veterans along with WWII veterans seeking treatment for PTSD today.

Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Namguardianangel.blogspot.com
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington