Web Site Offers Single Access Point for Wounded Warriors

Web Site Offers Single Access Point for Wounded Warriors
Three Federal Departments Collaborate on National Resource Directory

WASHINGTON (Feb. 25, 2010) - The federal departments of Veterans
Affairs, Labor and Defense unveiled today an improved Web site for
wounded warriors.

"VA is committed to tapping into the full powers of the Internet to
provide accurate, timely, easy to find and easy to understand
information that improves the lives of Veterans, service members, their
families and all who care for them," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Eric K. Shinseki.

The National Resource Directory is a comprehensive, free, online tool
for wounded, ill and injured service members, Veterans and their
families. Visitors to the site can find an extensive range of
information about Veterans' benefits, including disability and pension
benefits, VA health care and educational opportunities. The site also
provides information for those who care for Veterans, such as access to
emotional, financial and community assistance.

The Web site has been enhanced to provide a single point of access to a
wealth of information from more than 10,000 sites by federal, state and
local governments and organizations offering services for wounded
warriors.

"This online directory is an invaluable resource for those involved in
helping service members and Veterans," Shinseki said. "Reliable
information about government and private-sector programs can be a
priceless tool."

A recent addition to the Web site is a specialized section where users
can find help for homeless Veterans. These resources will help end
Veteran homelessness over the next five years.

The new design will help visitors find needed resources easily. Other
enhancements include a fast, accurate search engine; a "bookmark and
share" capability that allows users to share valuable resources on
Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites; and a news feature with
updates on relevant information and events. Resources are added daily.

Visit the site at www.nationalresourcedirectory.gov .

Iraq veteran charged with killing girlfriend found dead

Iraq veteran charged with killing girlfriend found dead in Arizona
February 25, 2010 7:43 pm

John Wylie Needham, an Orange County man who was a decorated Iraq combat veteran and was later charged with the murder of his girlfriend, was found dead last week in Arizona, authorities said Thursday.

Needham, 26, was free on $1-million bail posted by his family while awaiting trial. His body was found in Pima, Ariz., about 150 miles southeast of Phoenix, the Orange County district attorney’s office said. Authorities there are investigating the cause of his death.

He was charged in the September 2008 slaying of 19-year-old Jacqwelyn Joann Villagomez. She was found severely beaten at Needham’s San Clemente condo.

Those who knew Needham described him as easygoing surfer who liked to paint and play the guitar before he went to Iraq. Family members said they knew he was struggling since returning home, but didn’t foresee him turning violent.

go here for more

Iraq veteran charged with killing girlfriend found dead

Missing actor's body found in Vancouver park

Missing actor's body found in Vancouver park
By Alan Duke, CNN
February 26, 2010 6:20 a.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Andrew Koenig, 41, was a star of '80s sitcom "Growing Pains"
Koenig committed suicide, his father says at park where body was found
Koenig son of "Star Trek" actor Walter Koenig

(CNN) -- Actor Andrew Koenig, who had been missing since February 14, committed suicide, his father told reporters after his son's body was found Thursday in a park in Vancouver, British Columbia.

"My son took his own life," Walter Koenig said at a news conference in the park.

The body of the former "Growing Pains" star was found by several friends who conducted their own search of Stanley Park, where Andrew Koenig liked to walk, his father said.

Koenig, 41, was reported missing by his parents after he did not board a flight to Los Angeles from Vancouver last week.
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Missing actor body found in Vancouver park

VA to assist Gulf War veterans because of Veterans for Common Sense

VCS Advocacy Produces Results

Here is a timeline describing our successful advocacy for Gulf War veterans that resulted in a new decision by VA to assist Gulf War veterans.

On September 24, 2008, VCS wrote VA Secretary James Peake about how VA leaders had improperly denied many Gulf War veterans' disability compensation claims in the early 2000s by failing to tell them about new laws expanding benefits.

In November 2008, VCS led a national effort to publicize the findings of VA's Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illness.

In January 2009, VCS urged Congress to investigate how VA was handling the issue of Gulf War illness.

In May 2009, VCS testified before Congress about the needs and concerns of Gulf War veterans who remain ill due to toxic exposures such as pesticides, oil well fire pollution, experimental pills, experimental anthrax vaccines, depleted uranium, and other poisons.

Yesterday morning, VCS posted our testimony for a hearing about Gulf War veterans originally scheduled for yesterday, but postponed until a date to be determined in the next few months.

Then this morning, a much-needed victory for veterans appeared on the horizon. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki provided an exclusive interview to the Associated Press promising to review Gulf War veterans' disability claims.

The number of potential veterans impacted by VA's decision is at least 15,000, and the number could go higher depending on the scope of VA's review.

"Do it yourself" religion for young adults

Young Adults Doing Religion on Their Own? Blame It on Politics
Posted: 02/25/10
Jeffrey Weiss
Contributor
Last week, the number-crunching folks at the Pew Center released a report titled "Religion Among the Millennials." It's part of an ongoing analysis of the generation of young adults between 18 and 29 years old.

"Fewer young adults belong to any particular faith than older people do today. They also are less likely to be affiliated than their parents' and grandparents' generations were when they were young. Fully one-in-four members of the Millennial generation -- so called because they were born after 1980 and began to come of age around the year 2000 -- are unaffiliated with any particular faith. Indeed, Millennials are significantly more unaffiliated than Generation Xers were at a comparable point in their life cycle (20 percent in the late 1990s) and twice as unaffiliated as Baby Boomers were as young adults (13 percent in the late 1970s)."

read more here

Young Adults Doing Religion on Their Own

Sears Employees donate washer and dryer to disabled vet mom of six

Disabled vet gets washer-dryer surprise

By Brian McVicar - The Muskegon Chronicle via Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Feb 25, 2010 13:44:12 EST

FRUITPORT TOWNSHIP, Mich. — When disabled U.S. Army veteran Zaneta Adams arrived at Sears in the Lakes Mall, she thought she was going to be participating in a customer survey to help the store gauge consumer tastes.

What the North Muskegon resident found Wednesday was something entirely unexpected — a free Kenmore washer and dryer paid for by employees from eight of Sears' Michigan stores. Employees from the stores pooled together their personal money and conducted fundraisers to purchase the appliances in honor of Adams’ military service.

"I wish my children were here," said Adams, a 32-year-old mother of six who broke her back at Fort Stewart, Ga. in 2005 when she fell off a 10-foot truck. "It's probably not going to hit me ‘til I get home."
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/02/ap_vet_washer_dryer_022510/

Veterans left off Jobs Bill

Vets deserve a piece of jobs bill, VFW says

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Feb 25, 2010 17:46:40 EST

The nation’s largest organization of combat veterans is demanding changes in the $15 billion jobs bill that passed the Senate on Wednesday because veterans were left out of a package of tax credits and highway projects aimed at increasing employment.

“Despite having more than 1.1 million unemployed veterans, the 60-page package failed to mention ‘veteran’ or ‘veterans’ even once,” said Justin Brown, a legislative associate with the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Brown was referring to HR 2847, the Hiring Incentive to Restore Employment Act, or HIRE Act, that passed the Senate on Wednesday by a 70-28 vote and is pending before the House.
read more here
Vets deserve a piece of jobs bill, VFW says

Mother charged with killing Bragg soldier

Mother charged with killing Bragg soldier
Fort Bragg, N.C. — The FBI on Thursday charged a South Carolina woman with killing her soldier daughter on Fort Bragg late Monday, according to federal court documents.

Autumn Michelle Shannon, 32, was found dead in her home, at 147 S. Dougherty Drive, on post after a neighbor called military police.
Mother charged with killing Bragg soldier


Fort Bragg:Female soldier's death is being treated as a murder case

Whale grabbed ponytail, pulled trainer into tank

Whale grabbed ponytail, pulled trainer into tank, SeaWorld says
February 25, 2010 10:29 a.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Whale shows canceled Thursday at SeaWorld
Trainer Dawn Brancheau, 40, fatally injured by killer whale at SeaWorld Orlando
The whale, Tillikum, has been linked to two other deaths
Incident already has sparked debate about keeping killer whales in captivity to perform

(CNN) -- Whale shows at SeaWorld were canceled Thursday, and officials were re-evaluating safety procedures a day after a 12,000 pound killer whale grabbed a trainer's ponytail, dragged her under water and killed her in front of shocked onlookers at Shamu Stadium.

Dawn Brancheau, 40, was "pulled underwater for an extended period of time," by the whale, Chuck Tompkins, SeaWorld's curator of zoological operations, told CNN's "American Morning." He said he had no further information on the exact cause of Brancheau's death, citing an ongoing investigation.

The incident occurred about 2 p.m. Wednesday. Tompkins said the whale, named Tillikum, had just finished a session with Brancheau, who was standing by the side of his pool and leaning over the whale, rubbing his head.

"She had a long ponytail that brushed in front of her and apparently got in front of his nose," Tompkins said. "He probably felt it." Tillikum grabbed the ponytail and pulled Brancheau into the water, he said.

Earlier accounts varied on how Brancheau ended up in the tank.
read more here
Whale grabbed ponytail, pulled trainer into tank

VA leaders promised us reform, and never delivered

Veterans for Common Sense was supposed to be heard but the hearing has been moved to April. After all, the Gulf War veterans, along with all other veterans have waited all this time for congress to really honor them, what's a couple of months more?

Paul Sullivan, Veterans For Common Sense

February 25, 2010 - Veterans for Common Sense thanks Chairman Mitchell, Ranking Member Roe, and members of the Subcommittee for inviting us to testify today.



I am here wearing two hats.



I am here representing Veterans for Common Sense, a non-profit advocacy organization. VCS is here in a spirit of cooperation to offer our seasoned advice for improving VA policies for our nation’s 700,000 Gulf War veterans.



I am also here as a Gulf War veteran who remains ill due to wartime toxic exposures. I have worked on this issue since my return from Desert Storm. Veterans want to know why we are ill, how we can get treatment, and who will pay for our treatment.



Today, VCS presents our written list of 16 detailed policy goals to Congress for specific actions by Congress and the Obama Administration. We ask for our full written statement to be made part of the record.



Our goals are well thought-out and reasonable.



Most of our goals ask VA to do what Congress already ordered VA to do many years ago.



We would also like to thank VA Secretary Eric Shinseki for naming Gulf War veteran and VA Chief of Staff John Gingrich to lead VA’s new Gulf War Task Force.



We look forward to seeing the details of the Task Force report. We have not seen it. At this point, we have more questions than answers.



Mr. Chairman, Gulf War veterans are through with empty gestures from VA for the past 19 years.



Repeatedly during the 1990s, VA leaders promised us reform, and never delivered. In 2002, VA Deputy Secretary Leo MacKay apologized for VA’s shameful treatment of Gulf War veterans and promised reform.



However, behind the scenes, from 1991 through the present, VA bureaucrats scuttled our chances for healthcare and benefits. VCS asks VA to use objective and qualified staff for any new VA effort to assist us.



Let us be clear about today’s expectations: We are willing to work with VA and immediately begin implementing pragmatic solutions.



Here are our nine questions for VA:



1. Will VA Secretary Eric Shinseki publicly confirm that 25 percent of our Gulf War veterans – as many as 175,000 – still suffer from chronic multisymptom illness likely due to toxic exposures? Will the Secretary hold accountable those who blocked or disparaged research, treatment, and benefits?



2. Will VA amend Presidential Review Directive 5? Will our government declare Gulf War illness is a serious public health issue and a long-term cost of war worthy of prompt and high-quality research, treatment, and benefits?



3. Will VA name a specific leader and will VA publicize a timeline for the full implementation of all VA Gulf War Task Force goals?



4. Will Congress fund, and will VA create, a centralized VA office for Gulf War veterans to coordinate implementation of VA policy, training, research, benefits, and outreach?



5. Will Congress fund, and will VA create, a Gulf War advocacy panel?



6. Will Congress act to help VA restore Dr. Robert Haley’s vital research, mandated by Congress, at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center? In a related matter, when will VA investigate the handful of VA employees that VA’s IG concluded had undermined Dr. Haley’s important research? When will VA responded to our FOIA requests about those VA employees?



7. Will Congress urge VA officials to order the use of newer, more sensitive depleted uranium exposure tests as recommended by the Institute of Medicine and sought by Dr. Randall Parrish and by Dr. Haley? Will VA expand the population of veterans participating in DU research sought by Dr. Haley and IOM? If VA does not use the Best Available Current Technology, then VA stands accused of intentionally undermining scientific research and harming veterans.



8. Will VA retrain all VHA medical professionals about the harmful impact of toxic exposures on our veterans? Similarly, will VA retrain all VBA staff about the intent and application of Gulf War benefit laws?



9. Will VBA pay retroactive benefits to the 15,000 Gulf War veterans improperly denied benefits by VBA in 2001 for Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome? VBA leaders may have broken the law by failing to advise veterans about these benefits; the loss of benefits also means the veterans may have been improperly denied essential medical care.



Gulf War veterans should not have to continue waiting for VA to act. We are tired of what we call “death by bureaucracy,” where we wait endlessly for research, treatment, and benefits.



After nearly 20 years of delays and denials, today represents a rare opportunity for VA leaders to implement a set of reasonable, progressive, and pragmatic policies that address our needs for research, treatment, and benefits. Our veterans are dying, the time for delays is over, and the time for action is now.



America’s veterans are watching this hearing. They want Congress to press VA leaders to help Gulf War veterans and quickly address two more new emerging public health concerns: Iraq’s toxic burn pits and Camp Lejeune’s poisoned water.



We strongly urge Congress to demand action from VA to address our concerns today. We also thank Chairman Filner for his outstanding leadership and advocacy since 1993.



Thank you, Mr. Chairman.