Volunteers of America gets grant to help homeless veterans
Jun 22, 2012
Troops wait for President Barack Obama to speak to them at the Third Infantry Division Headquarters, Friday, April 27, 2012, Fort Stewart, Ga. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) / AP
Written by
The Courier-Journal
The Home Depot Foundation has awarded a $77,741 grant to Volunteers of America of Kentucky to help address the housing needs of Louisville-area military veterans.
The grant will be used to support transitional housing for homeless veterans at the agency’s campus at 1432 S. Shelby St. Among the improvements to be funded with the grant money is the replacement of 42 windows, many of which are in disrepair and not energy-efficient, agency officials said.
The funding follows a grant for $67,720 in October 2011 and $2,500 worth of gift cards in December 2011 from The Home Depot Foundation for other work at the campus. read more here
THE CHALLENGES
Statistics show that many veterans face severe housing needs sometimes because of a disability from combat injuries or because they’ve been particularly hard hit by the economy and sometimes because they simply can’t find affordable housing.
An aging population: 9 million veterans are senior citizens, many of whom live on fixed incomes
Disabilities:
From 2001-2008, the number of disabled veterans increased 25 percent to 2.9 million.
Low Incomes:
More than 4.3 million veterans have a combined family income of under $20,000.
Homelessness:
Statistics show that veterans are twice as likely to be homeless than those who haven’t served.
Veterans represent 8% of the general population, yet they form 16% of the homeless population.
THE OPPORTUNITIES
The skills learned in the Armed Forces are often directly applicable in the workplace, making veterans highly educated and trained employees for businesses. We know that firsthand — more than 35,000 of The Home Depot’s associates are veterans.
Leadership & Work Ethic:
Proven leadership skills, honed in the most challenging operational environments.
Top Skills:
92% of active duty military in the United States use computers at their places of duty and 40% of military personnel have job assignments that involve information resource management; 60% of the enlisted personnel can program in at least one computer language.
Education Level:
Almost 33% of young veterans have an associate or bachelor’s degree, compared to 27% of young non-veterans.
By Joe Ruble
ORLANDO, Fla. — A non-profit agency that serves 15,000 veterans in Central Florida with an annual budget of $16,000 had to make a tough decision. Were they to spend their funds entirely on the needs of homeless and other veterans or finally start a badly needed renovation project in the building they have called home for 49 years?
"It was coming down to hard decisions," said Brad Bouters, commander of DAV Chapter 16 in Orlando.
Then another non-profit stepped in and with the help of The Home Depot Foundation were able to pull off the repair job. The Mission Continues organized over 100 volunteers who showed up at 2040 W. Central Avenue on Tuesday morning to turn it into a new place of work.
The DAV office there is normally open two days a week for paperwork, while the rest of the time veterans are working in the field with homeless veterans, Bouters explained. Not one DAV volunteer gets paid.
Older vets reach out to younger peers
By ART HOVEY
Lincoln Journal Star
Posted: Thursday, June 21, 201
Peggy Gillispie remembers the day she was ready to declare her husband the winner in his war with himself.
It was 11 years after he lost a leg to a land mine in Vietnam and the day of their older son’s first communion.
When retired Marine Terry Gillispie went to confession and took part in the sacrament with 7-year-old Shawn at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln in 1979, she realized the “cradle Catholic” and father of three had found a measure of peace.
“It was one of the happiest days of my life,” said a woman who stood by her man through years of readjustment.
"I was more involved in my faith at that time, but I like to think I brought him back into the fold."
It took a long time for Terry Gillispie to move beyond his injuries from an ambush on April 20, 1968, just one year after graduating from Lincoln Southeast High School.
“I relived that incident every day,” he said. “I was angry. I did some things. I drank too much. I got in fights. I raised hell.”
Now that’s behind him. And now, he and fellow Vietnam veteran Larry Brown are reaching out to Mike Sheets and others coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan with post traumatic stress and other problems.
They worry that a bleak jobs picture will add to the latest round of emotional turmoil for men and women returning from war zones.
“Our objective is to get them to the VA now,” Gillispie said, “and not to have them go through what we went through.”
One focus of their efforts is Saturday’s Veterans Freedom Music Festival at the Veterans Administration Campus in Lincoln. Read more
While doing a radio talk show interview a couple of years ago I met two female veterans. One was from a deployment to Iraq and the other from Afghanistan. During a break we talked about military rape. They told me that female soldiers stopped taking fluids at noon so they wouldn't have to use the latrine at night. Imagine being in that kind of heat and instead of giving your body water, you're just too afraid to drink. I asked them if it happened to them and then one of them said something that shocked me. She said that it really didn't matter if it did or not. The fear was there all the time. The rest of the conversation was personal but that always stuck with me. Just the fear of hearing someone was attacked was enough to cause these women, heavily armed women, not afraid of the Taliban or the insurgents in Iraq but afraid of what was happening with their own people.
Most of the troops are decent humans and we should be proud of most of them but there are some who still think that a woman is not worth anything else. While most of the troops would risk their lives for a servicewoman just as they would for a man, a few need to be stopped and kicked out of the military because they are nothing more than criminals. Rape is a crime.
While rape does not only happen to women, it takes the rest of the servicemen to put a stop to those who cannot live up to the military code of conduct. That "buddy" raping another soldier will not care about anyone but himself so don't count on them to be there watching your back.
Today, The Invisible War opens in theaters in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.
Already, the film has been an incredibly effective vehicle to help raise mass awareness of military sexual assault and has served as a catalyst to effect change in Washington and beyond. However, much more needs to be done.
This is a must-see film about a must-solve problem. And if enough people show up opening weekend, it could expand and extend the number of showings. But if we don’t, millions of people may never have a chance to see it and learn how serious this problem is.
Make your voice heard and help tell policy makers this issue matters by supporting opening weekend in theaters. They are watching and now is the time for us to make a big impact. There is power in numbers – invite your friends, family and colleagues to stand with survivors and take the first step to ending rape within the military.
From Oscar®- and Emmy®-nominated filmmaker Kirby Dick (This Film Is Not Yet Rated; Twist of Faith) comes The Invisible War, a groundbreaking investigative documentary about one of America's most shameful and best kept secrets: the epidemic of rape within the U.S. military. The film paints a startling picture of the extent of the problem-today, a female soldier in combat zones is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire. The Department of Defense estimates there were a staggering 19,000 violent sex crimes in the military in 2010. The Invisible War exposes the epidemic, breaking open one of the most under-reported stories of our generation, to the nation and the world.
Vietnam vet dies 'making a difference' in Afghanistan
Tom Boyle, right, shown in an undated photograph (Handout )
June 21, 2012
By Jim Jaworski
Tribune reporter
Friends recall that Tom Boyle faced many deadly situations on the streets of Chicago during more than 30 years as a police officer. More than a decade after retirement, at age 62, he was training police in war-torn Afghanistan how best to keep the peace when he died this week.
Eager to make another part of the world safer, Boyle took a job as a security contractor, according to his wife, Pauline Boyle. He trained police in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, she said.
Pauline Boyle was notified by his company and a military chaplain on Monday of her husband’s death in Afghanistan that day.
Described as a serious man with a sarcastic sense of humor, Boyle is being remembered as someone who never stopped trying to assist others — whether as a police officer, Marine or private security contractor.
“He wanted to see if he could help people,” said Steve Kirby, who sometimes employed Boyle as a private investigator at his Elmhurst company. “That’s just the kind of person he was. He’s been spending his whole life helping people.”
Boyle was born in 1949 and grew up on the Northwest side of Chicago, according to his wife of 35 years. He served two tours in Vietnam, earning multiple awards including the Cross of Gallantry. read more here
Operation Homefront revamps national structure
By Karen Jowers
Staff writer
Army Times
Posted : Thursday Jun 21, 2012
The nonprofit Operation Homefront is changing its national structure to more efficiently serve military families, the organization’s leaders said.
Under the change, the administrative, management and governance responsibilities of the local chapters will shift to the national organization, which officials said would let the chapters focus more on directly serving military families.
Operation Homefront provides emergency financial assistance and other help to families of service members and wounded warriors. Families receive grants to help with basic needs such as food, utilities and housing.
Until now, each of the 23 chapters of Operation Homefront was its own nonprofit, with a board of directors and responsibility to fund itself locally, while handling fundraising, accounting, legal registrations, website maintenance and other administrative and management responsibilities. Now each will become a field office of the national organization, if they choose to remain part of Operation Homefront. read more here
Vets groups split on re-employment rights bill
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Army Times
Posted : Thursday Jun 21, 2012
A House bill that would expand re-employment rights for veterans has divided the nation’s two largest veterans’ organizations.
The nation’s largest veterans group, the 2.4 million-member American Legion, supports the bill. The nation’s second largest veterans group and the largest for combat veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, opposes it because the 2.1 million-member group fears it could make it harder for National Guard and reserve members to get hired by large companies.
Sponsored by Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., HR 3860 would limit the ability of companies to claim “undue hardship” as the reason for not rehiring a returning veteran.
Testifying Thursday before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s economic opportunity panel, Garamendi said the “undue hardship” rule in current law is “too lenient in allowing employers to dismiss deployed service members.”
“Currently, an employer is excused from re-employing a returning veteran if the employer’s circumstances have changed in a way that it is now impossible or unreasonable to do so, or imposes an undue hardship,” he said. read more here
UPDATE
Well that didn't end well. Given the latest reports, he still doesn't really get it. The suicide numbers are up and so are the attempted suicides.
Why is he still in the position he's in with these kinds of results?
Don't tell my husband but after reading what Col. Castro had to say, I think I'm in love! Most of what you'll read in this article will seem to be something you read before. You have. But not from someone in the military. It has all been on this blog but largely ignored by the people who have publicity, power and money. I think they may really have a chance of saving the lives of our troops and helping them heal if this guy is on the job.
I suggest when you are done reading all of this you click the link to read the rest because there is a lot more.
Army research looks at new PTSD treatment
June 20, 2012
By Rob McIlvaine
Photo Credit: Courtesy photo
Col. Carl Castro, director of the Military Operational Medicine Research Program.
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, June 20, 2012) -- While there are no simple cures for post-traumatic stress disorder, a leading military researcher said progress is being made with a new treatment method and a number of recent studies.
Col. Carl Castro, director of the Military Operational Medicine Research Program, has been funding studies into post-traumatic stress disorder, known as PTSD, over the past five years, and he said the results are beginning to come in.
"I really think the next eight to nine months are going to be the most exciting as the data comes on line and we can start saying, okay, this is really working, we really know what we're doing here, let's do this," Castro said.
Castro's program funds studies into PTSD at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, Md.
"Some of the early initial data," Castro said, "looks like we can really treat Soldiers in a two-week compressed time frame. And then we're also looking to see about follow-up, modifying the treatment as we go: the grief, the anger, the second guessing."
Traditionally, he said, psychotherapy is one session per week for 10 weeks. But with the new compressed time frame the Army will use individual and group therapy because Castro wants to take advantage of the natural bonding and cohesion that exists within the military to facilitate recovery.
NO SILVER BULLET
"There's no 'take this drug and you're cured.' There's no, 'come talk to me for 10 minutes and you're cured,' or 'Go to this web link and go through this 20-minute training and you're cured.' There's none of that although people will promise that. I can assure you that does not exist. If it did exist, I'd be the first one saying let's do that," Castro said.
Castro said PTSD can result from many different kinds of exposures: rape, physical assault, earthquakes, national disasters and combat.
"Our current treatments, both psycho and drug therapies, were developed to treat rape and assault victims and had never been validated for use for combat-related PTSD.
"So one of the first things we did was to fund a huge baseline of studies to confirm that the current treatments are effective for treating service members with combat-related PTSD," Castro said. "We wanted to first establish a very solid baseline. We funded these studies about four or five years ago, and they are just now winding up."
As a result it does look like the psycho therapies are effective, but they are not as effective for treating combat-related PTSD as they are for treating rape and sexual assault victims with PTSD.
COMBAT DIAGNOSIS OFTEN DIFFICULT
"Doctor Amy B. Adler and I wrote a paper on why combat-related PTSD is very different than rape or sexual assault PTSD. If you look at the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, it implies that there are no symptoms or reactions present prior to the traumatic event, so all of the reactions and symptoms occur after the event," he said.
In the military, many of the symptoms and reactions that are part of the diagnosis of PTSD are present before a traumatic event ever occurs, he said. For example, having sleep problems and sleep difficulties is a symptom and reaction to trauma.
"But in the military when you deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan or anywhere, your sleep is probably already disrupted. So you're probably already not sleeping well prior to ever being exposed to a traumatic event," he said.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, or DSM, is the criteria by which mental health diagnoses are made.
It's done through the event and the reaction to the event, Castro said. So, the DSM says what should happen when a person is confronted with a traumatic event, they should be horrified, helpless and freeze.
"But Soldiers don't do that. When they're in combat and they see things, their training kicks in, they go on auto pilot and they function. So, even the immediate reaction is very different. And the symptoms can be very different, but if the symptoms are already present before the event, how can the trauma be the cause of those symptoms and reactions?" he asked.
'SUFFERING WHILE FUNCTIONING'
There are symptoms and reactions missing from the DSM that Soldiers often talk about, like extreme anger, grief, second guessing. Castro said the nature of impairment for Soldiers is often quite different than for civilians. The DSM says things such as work, family and life should be disrupted.
"But because of the military structure, Soldiers are still able to show up for work, perform their jobs and carry on, but still have all the symptoms: drinking problems, nightmares; so we call that suffering while functioning," he said.
Castro noted that when Soldiers leave the Army, the military life goes away and then those Soldiers now as civilians come unraveled and they end up going to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Soldiers are expected to be exposed to traumatic events. They train for it, prepare for it and the Army has them sign wills in case something happens.
Nobody expects to walk down the street and be sexually assaulted or attacked. If there's a dangerous area of town, people stay away.
"But in the military, by its very nature, Soldiers go to dangerous places, so they prepare and train for it," Castro said.
For people not in the military, the traumatic event is unexpected, it's unwanted, it's discrete, it's a single event. Unlike the military, where it's expected, there's multiple and varied events that occur over time, and quite honestly, Castro said, a lot of Soldiers are looking forward to going into combat to prove their courage, and see if they've got what it takes.
ISSUE ABOUT PTSD MISDIAGNOSIS
"The first incidence of this happening was at Fort Carson, Colo., where Soldiers were being dismissed with personality disorders and saying it wasn't related to PTSD, then they'd end up in a Veterans Administration medical hospital. The VA would then say 'this is absolutely post-traumatic stress disorder,'" he explained.
"This is an important distinction because if you have a personality disorder it's an administration separation from the military, but if you have PTSD, it's a medical board disability separation and that's where the money, etc., comes into play," Castro said.
PTSD vs. POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS INJURY - PTSI
He said that changing the name is not going to reduce stigma because Soldiers aren't stupid.
"You could call it apple and pineapple salad and people would say, oh, that means you have PTSD.
It's the same thing around the Army, he said. For instance, the Army has Soldier Resilience Centers as the places to go for mental health issues.
"Soldiers know that's where mental health is. They know you go there if you have a mental health problem. You're not going there to build your resilience; they know this," he said.
It's not going to reduce stigma, he said, and it's not going to fool anybody.
Changing the "D" to an "I", isn't going to help the Soldier, at all. It doesn't make the problem go away by calling it an injury.
There are so many things Perry got wrong in this speech. For staters, 9-11 did not give the nation "PTSD" and if she understood what PTSD was, I doubt she'd stoop so low. 9-11 was a shock to the nation and yes, it caused PTSD in the people living in New York while having to walk past the destruction year after year reminding them the planes hit there and the towers fell there. Reminder of the day their sense of security was shattered and how evil could cause so few to do so much to so many.
The rest of us were in shock but after a few months of being one nation that was attacked we returned to the many groups of this nation and returned to being divided.
It was around this time that all the cable news giants cut their cord to decency and the greater good for a political side where average people lost.
Average Americans don't spend our days talking about politics. We talk about our families, hopes and dreams as well as our fears. How do we pay our bills? How do we afford to take care of our health and worry about the day when our bodies give out. Right now we're not so much worried about when our kids take over and "have to pay our debt" as much as we worry about how to take care of today.
What do we hear from politicians and people on cable news? A foreign language we don't understand even though these talking heads say it is how we feel and what we worry about.
Now Perry joined the growing voices using PTSD for a political point. While we live with PTSD and try to help each other heal, they use it. There are many things that make my blood boil and this is one of them.
Motorcycle ride to raise funds for children of troops killed in war
By JAKOB RODGERS
The (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Gazette
Published: June 20, 2012
An upcoming motorcycle ride aims to help children whose parents have died in war.
The Freedom Seekers Association will host a 200-mile motorcycle ride across Colorado on July 7, said Jeff Holt, a member of the club. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund. The rest will be donated to children in the Pikes Peak region who have lost a father in combat.
The ride will stop at a handful of war memorials along the Front Range, as well as in the mountains just west of Colorado Springs, Holt said. read more here
Iraq releases body of US contractor after dispute
June 27, 2012
CBS News
BAGHDAD — The body of an American contractor who was found dead in Baghdad was flown back to the U.S. on Tuesday after a two-week bureaucratic debate over whether the Iraqi government would perform an autopsy on his remains.
Officials said Michael David Copeland, 37, is among a handful of Americans working for the U.S. government to die in Iraq since December. That's when a security agreement between the two nations expired, eliminating immunities that shielded the U.S. military from local laws.
Copeland's case is a snapshot of the new reality of working in Iraq for Americans who, over the years, were accustomed to vast privileges and influence that disappeared when the U.S. troops left.
Officials said Copeland, of Colbert, Okla., moved to Iraq within the last month to take a job on an aviation project with DynCorp International under a State Department contract. His body was found in his bed on June 9, family members said. No foul play was suspected. read more here
Michael David Copeland served this nation as Marine and then in the National Guards. Had he been killed wearing either uniform, the government would make sure his body came home soon afterwards, but he died working for a defense contractor in Iraq instead. His family needs help getting his body home.
Family of Oklahoma contractor who died in Iraq seeks help getting his body returned
By JERRY WOFFORD
Tulsa World, Okla
Published: June 20, 2012
Family members of a civilian contractor who died in Iraq this month are asking for government officials to put pressure on the Iraqi government to release the body to them.
Michael David Copeland - from Colbert in southern Oklahoma, who served in the Marines and with the Oklahoma Air National Guard - was found dead June 9 in his living quarters in Baghdad. His cause of death has not been released, said Ashley Burke, the vice president of communication for DynCorp International, the company at which Copeland worked.
Michael Wayne Copeland, his father, said his family has spoken with officials from the U.S. State Department and the congressional delegation, but he hasn't seen results.
"Everyone is sorry for our loss and his concern; however, his remains are still in Baghdad," his father said. "All we're interested in is knowing what happened to him and getting him home to lay him to rest."
Copeland's father said he was contacted June 9 by DynCorp officials and notified of his son's death. He said his son had been in Iraq working as an airplane mechanic about a week before his death.
Copeland, 37, served two tours of duty with the Marines before he left and joined the Oklahoma Air National Guard, where he served on another tour. His total military career spanned 13 years, his father said. read more here
Retirement might unleash PTSD symptoms in Vietnam veterans
By LEO SHANE III
Stars and Stripes
Published: June 20, 2012
WASHINGTON — It took Sam Luna more than 35 years to get treatment for his post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I didn’t realize anything was wrong,” the combat-wounded Vietnam veteran said. “I thought I had adjusted well after I came back. I had a job, I had a family, everything looked great from the outside.”
But shortly after he retired in 2004, his anxiety attacks and stress levels increased.
A trip to his local Veterans Affairs hospital triggered war memories. The former soldier started to notice the hair-trigger temper his wife had complained about for years.
He found himself thinking more often about the war — and the friends he lost.
“It was like I had a black box on the mantel for years, but I could ignore it when I left for work every day,” he said. “When I retired, it was still sitting there, waiting for me.” read more here
VA to Increase Mental Health Care Access through 200,000 Telemental Health Consultations in 2012
WASHINGTON (June 20, 2012)– In a continuing effort to increase Veterans’ access to mental health care, the Department of Veterans Affairs has set a goal to conduct more than 200,000 clinic-based, telemental health consultations for all mental health specialties in fiscal year 2012. This follows VA’s announcement last month that it would no longer charge Veterans a copayment when they receive care in their homes from VA health professionals using video conferencing.
“Telemental health provides Veterans quicker and more efficient access to the types of care they seek,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “We are leveraging technology to reduce the distance they have to travel, increase the flexibility of the system they use, and improve their overall quality of life. We are expanding the reach of our mental health services beyond our major medical centers and treating Veterans closer to their homes.”
The clinic-based telehealth program involves the more than 800 VA community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs) where many Veterans receive primary care. If the CBOCs do not have a mental health care provider available, secure video teleconferencing technology is used to connect the Veteran to a provider within VA’s nationwide system of care.
As a result, Veterans can arrange appointments at times more in synch with their schedules. The program improves access to general and specialty services in geographically remote areas where it can be difficult to recruit mental health professionals.
“As technology is improving people’s lives in many areas, telemental health is making access to health care and support easier for Veterans with mental health conditions,” said Dr. Robert A. Petzel, Under Secretary for Health. “For example, one combat Veteran from Iraq cites telemental health as a critical factor in rebuilding her life and coping with the aftermath of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and military sexual trauma. Telemental health offered her a safe and convenient setting to receive gender sensitive services that helped her fit back into civilian life after three months of therapy.”
Since the start of the Telemental Health Program, VA has completed over 550,000 patient encounters. In Fiscal Year 2011 alone, more than 140,000 encounters were conducted with 55,000 Veterans via CBOCs, where providers at 150 hospitals delivered care to veterans at more than 500 clinics.
The Telehealth Expansion Initiative launched in May 2011 called for an additional 21 regional leads, 144 facility coordinators and 1,150 clinical technicians to VA’s workforce. When fully implemented, the expansion will provide a potential capacity of 1.2 million consultations annually.
Video to the home is currently projected to grow to 2,000 patients by the end of fiscal year 2012, with 1,500 using innovative new Internet Protocol (IP) video connected to Veterans’ personal computers.
In addition to supporting these current programs, the VHA National Telemental Health Center in West Haven, Conn., has pioneered additional new programs that delivered 1,000 specialized patient encounters from mental health experts at multiple VA sites to Veterans throughout the nation. These include over 100 compensation and pension exams, 700 clinical encounters to over 165 Veterans enrolled in behavioral pain treatment programs, and 200 clinical-video and telephone encounters to over 70 Veterans enrolled in a bipolar disorder treatment program.
This campaign is part of VA’s overall mental health program. Last year, VA provided quality, specialty mental health services to 1.3 million Veterans. Since 2009, VA has increased the mental health care budget by 39 percent. Since 2007, VA has seen a 35 percent increase in the number of Veterans receiving mental health services, and a 41 percent increase in mental health staff.
In April, as part of an ongoing review of mental health operations, Secretary Shinseki announced VA would add approximately 1,600 mental health clinicians as well as nearly 300 support staff to its existing workforce of 20,590 to help meet the increased demand for mental health services. The additional staff would include nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers.
For more information, on VA’s telemental health, visit the Office of Telehealth Services athttp://www.telehealth.va.gov/.
VA to Host Veteran Hiring Fair at the National Veteran Small Business Conference and Expo in Detroit
More than 24,000 Jobs Will Be Offered to Veterans at Detroit VA for Vets Event
WASHINGTON (June 20, 2012)– The Department of Veterans Affairs Veteran Employment Services Office (VESO) will host its largest hiring fair to date at Detroit’s Cobo Center, June 26-28, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
The unique format of this event is one way the VA for Vets program is helping Veterans get career ready. Veterans can visit www.VAforVets.VA.gov/Detroit now and apply for public and private sector jobs being offered nationwide. Qualified Veterans will be contacted by employers and scheduled for interviews in advance of the event.
“We are committed to improving the lives of our Veterans and their families, and that means helping them find meaningful employment,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “VA is taking a lead role in seeking innovative ways to bring more Veterans into the civilian workforce.”
VA is hosting three major events at Detroit’s Cobo Center June 26-29: The VA for Vets Hiring Fair, the Veteran open house, and the National Veterans Small Business Conference and Expo. The events are expected to attract thousands of Veterans, business owners and federal employees, with an economic impact estimated at $11 million for the city.
More than 24,000 federal and private-sector job openings across the country will be available at the free Veteran Hiring Fair June 26-28. VA will bring together partners like the First Lady’s “Joining Forces” initiative and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with private sector companies, during the fair. Not only will the fair provide Veterans an opportunity to showcase their skills to potential employers, it will also assist Veterans with resume preparation, interview techniques and career coaching.
VA hosted a similar event Jan. 18 in Washington, D.C., which attracted over 4,100 Veterans and resulted in over 2,600 on-the-spot interviews and more than 500 tentative job offers.
The open house gives Veterans and their families the chance to find out about the wide range of financial and health care benefits, services and resources that are available from federal, state and community agencies. Veterans can conveniently enroll in VA care, sign up for MyHealtheVet, and get their questions answered face to face.
The National Veterans Small Business Conference and Expo is the premier government event for Veteran-owned businesses. Last year’s conference in New Orleans drew almost 5,000 attendees, and more than 6,000 participants are expected this year. VA will provide Veteran-owned and Service-Disabled Veteran-owned businesses with a wide range of information to help them maximize opportunities in the federal workplace.
Known historically as the world’s capital for the transportation industry, the Detroit metro area is reinventing itself with six booming industries: medical research, defense, entertainment, green tech, urban farming, and aeronautics. About 330,000 Veterans are served by the city’s VA medical center, and more than 704,000 Veterans live in Michigan.
VA invites all interested persons and businesses to attend. More information about the small business conference is available at www.nationalveteransconference.com. Information and registration for the hiring fair is available atwww.VAforVets.VA.Gov/Detroit.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, issued the following statement regarding the construction of the new Orlando Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, which will serve approximately 300,000 veterans and is already two years behind schedule:
“VA has painted a rosy picture for the public and the veterans of Florida for the past two years regarding the construction of the long-overdue Orlando Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. VA’s confidence in the timely and on-budget completion of this project was so great that it devoted ‘bid savings’ from this project for use elsewhere around the country. Needless to say, that confidence has given way to a somber reckoning of serious delays and potential cost-overruns.
“A Contract Cure Notice issued today by the Department of Veterans Affairs has the potential to stop construction at the Orlando site and increase the costs moving forward exponentially, if a resolution is not reached. The Committee was assured by VA officials on March 27, and again on May 18 of this year, that VA was working collaboratively with the contractor to ensure issues surrounding the construction of the facility would be resolved and the new timeline set forth by VA would be met. That was clearly not the case.
“This project has been a multi-million dollar debacle, and a failure of this magnitude deserves accountability at the highest level. Unfortunately, we have seen this pattern before. VA management and oversight of large construction and IT projects across the country has been sorely lacking and fraught with incompetence.
“The current situation in Orlando is inexcusable. Pointing fingers and laying blame will not build the medical center the veterans of Central Florida deserve. I expect answers immediately from VA on the status and cost of this project, and the implication of today’s decision on the delivery of care and services to our veterans.”
Wounded G.I., Bartram Trail grad making 'amazing' progress
Bartram Trail grad injured by suicide bomber overseas tells family 'I love you'
Posted: June 19, 2012
By SHELDON GARDNER
Bartram Trail grad injured by suicide bomber overseas tells family ‘I love you’
After spending two weeks in a coma, U.S. Army Lt. Ryan Timoney, 26, is awake. He is asking for food and drinks — power bars, apples, ice. He has said “I love you” to his family. He can write, and he is using a motorized wheelchair on his own.
“It’s amazing, it’s amazing what he’s doing,” his mother Diane Timoney said over the phone, her voice upbeat, her speech interspersed with laughter.
Her family has hope now, after two weeks of watching Ryan, a Bartram Trail High School graduate, in a hospital bed — silent, motionless, as he struggled to recover from injuries he suffered after a suicide bomber attacked him and 12 other soldiers in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan. He is being treated at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Bethesda, Md. read more here
Marine who rescued woman from lake: 'She asked me to please find Leo'
By Deanese Williams-Harris
June 19, 2012
A Marine from suburban Lockport who saved a woman Monday at an Indiana beach said this evening that he didn't want to return to shore without the woman's friend, who also went into Lake Michigan when a raft the two were on capsized.
"I'm humbled by the praise and recognition, but I'm pretty sad that I wasn't able to help both of them," Marine 2nd Lt. Nicholas Dominguez said in a telephone interview.
Monday afternoon, Dominguez along with relatives were visiting the Beverly Shores area in Indiana where his mother and uncle were raised, he said. While visiting neighbors, they decided to take their dogs out to play on the beach. read more here
Where is there anything new in this press release from Wounded Warrior Project? We keep waiting for something to come out of this group that is worth the money that has been donated to them and this is what they put out?
Sorry but they still have not lived up to what they could actually do. I am sure they have the passion but they lack imagination and knowledge.
June 15, 2012 01:08 PM Eastern Daylight Time
10 Tips for Helping Someone with PTSD from Wounded Warrior Project™
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--You don’t have to be a member of the armed forces to have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but nearly 20 percent of service members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan reported having symptoms. In recognition of June as PTSD Awareness Month, Wounded Warrior Project™ (WWP) is offering 10 tips for how to help someone who may be suffering from PTSD.
“It is a sign of strength for a returning service member to acknowledge they may have PTSD and ask for help”
“It is a sign of strength for a returning service member to acknowledge they may have PTSD and ask for help,” said John Roberts, executive vice president, mental health and family services for Wounded Warrior Project™. ““These 10 tips are meant to directly help those dealing with PTSD,” added Roberts. “They are also to help others understand that PTSD can be treated and is a normal human reaction to abnormally stressful situations. PTSD can happen to anyone.“
10 Tips for Helping Someone with PTSD
1. Let the veteran determine what they are comfortable talking about and don’t push.
2. Deep breathing exercises or getting to a quiet place can help them cope when the stress seems overwhelming.
3. Writing about experiences can help the veteran clarify what is bothering them and help them think of solutions.
4. Alcohol and drugs may seem to help in the short run, but make things worse in the long run.
5. Crowds, trash on the side of the road, fireworks and certain smells can be difficult for veterans coping with PTSD.
6. Be a good listener and don’t say things like, “I know how you felt,” or, “That’s just like when I…” Even if you also served in a combat zone. Everyone’s feelings are unique.
7. www.restorewarriors.org is a website where warriors and their families can find tools on how to work through combat stress and PTSD issues. Learn about more mental health support resources that ease symptoms of combat stress.
8. Remind warriors they are not alone and many others have personal stories they can share about their readjustment. Talking to other warriors can help them cope.
9. Allow and encourage warriors and their family members to express their feelings and thoughts to those who care about them.
10. Let them know that acknowledging they may have PTSD says they’re strong, not weak.
Wounded Warrior Project
The mission of Wounded Warrior Project™ (WWP) is to honor and empower wounded warriors. WWP’s purpose is to raise awareness and to enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured servicemen and women aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs. WWP is a national, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. To get involved and learn more, visit Wounded Warrior Project.
UPDATE June 21, 2012
Free advice for Wounded Warrior Project if you really want to help PTSD veterans heal.
Forget what you read in a textbook! These are the questions they need answers for.
Q Why do I have PTSD but the others I was with don't?
A It is because you feel things more deeply than they do. You don't all have the same anger level, love the same, think the same, have the same sense of humor any more than you all have the same talents at equal levels. Some of your friends may walk away able to "get over it" but if you don't it does not mean you are weaker than they are but you have stronger feelings than they do.
Q Doesn't that mean I'm a sissy?
A No. It means you have compassion and without that, all the courage in the world won't mean anything. Let's say you are the bravest brute in the neighborhood but don't care about anyone. If you saw a kid in the middle of the street, you'd just watch what happens. You have to have compassion to care enough to act and the courage to do something about it. There are a lot of your peers you regard as heroes with some level of PTSD but they just haven't acknowledged it yet.
Q Why do I push people away?
A Some feel they do not deserve to be loved when they have PTSD. Others push people away so they won't get hurt again. Having someone close to you die is a feeling you don't want to suffer from again, so you shut yourself off and emotionally disconnect. Some believe the less they feel the less they'll hurt. This does not make for a very happy life and adds to the miserable thoughts you have.
Q Does it mean I didn't train right if I have PTSD?
A Resiliency Training is a boatload of crap telling you that you can train your brian to prevent PTSD and is a huge part of the problem. I've had Marines telling me they didn't train right and believe they are weak because of this. You need to remember that most of you do not allow yourself to feel the pain as long as your buddies are in danger. Most of you push past it, do your duty to the fullest everyday you are deployed until you are all back home. It is only then that you take down the barrier and allow yourself to feel. That took great courage and dedication to your buddies. It also means that you are unselfish when you could do all you did with that pain inside of you.
Q How do I heal?
A From the inside out. PTSD is caused only one way. From an outside force you had no control over. It hit you. You have to fight it from the inside with all you've got. Mind, body and spirit.
When you get cut, if you don't take care of the wound, it gets infected, spreads out eating away more tissue, getting into your blood stream and hits more parts of your body. It gets worse until you treat it. When you put on an antibiotic, it stops getting worse, begins to heal and as it does, it gets itchy. Once it is gone, how long it was allowed to get worse, predicts how big the scar is.
PTSD works the same way. If you leave it alone and just wait for it to get better, it is getting stronger. If you numb it with alcohol or drugs, you get temporary relief but it gets stronger. You had to learn how to walk leaning on someone you trust, you have to heal the same way and lean on someone you trust now. Talk about it.
That's just the start of what they need to know. I'm not just a consultant. I've lived with what combat does for the last 30 years. I've seen the worst and have been blessed to have been able to stay to see the best come shining through. PTSD does not always win when people have the right kind of weapons to fight it.
If you want to know more, just email me or call me at 407-754-7526.
Gary Sinise concert to benefit construction of 'smart home' for wounded Whitehall Township veteran
Published: Wednesday, June 20, 2012
By Dustin Schoof
The Express-Times
Express-Times Photo MATT SMITH U.S. Army Sgt. Adam Keys, of Whitehall Township, who was wounded in Afghanistan in 2010, is greeted by hundreds of community members during a homecoming ceremony back in April.
Adam Keys needs a new home and actor Gary Sinise is helping to build it.
The "Forrest Gump" and "Apollo 13" star and The Lt. Dan Band will perform Aug. 17 at the State Theatre in Easton, organizers announced Tuesday during a news conference at the theater.
Proceeds from the show will go toward the building of a "smart home" for Keys, a U.S. Army sergeant from Whitehall Township who was wounded in 2010 while serving in Afghanistan.
The concert, which will include a performance by tenor Daniel Rodriguez and performance artist Scott LoBaido, is a joint partnership between the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation and the Gary Sinise Foundation. read more here
Violence and the Military by Elspeth Cameron Ritchie on Time's Battleland seems to be more about headline grabbing than anything else. As I read it, I wondered why it was not mentioned that with over 2 million veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, there are very few committing crimes?
Why would this simple fact be left out? Easy. It doesn't bleed so they won't let it lead.
Ritchie writes
I certainly do not want to add to the stigma by highlighting these examples of violence. Veterans are already too high on the list of those who are unemployed. But if there is a trend, we need to know about it.
Read more
Ritchie's article is part of the reason so many of them are unemployed. It is reporting like this that will leave the impression our veterans are someone to fear.
In 2011 the population of the USA was 311,591,917 but we only have about 24 million veterans and less than 1% serve in the military today. While the media loves to make sure they mention Iraq Veteran or Afghanistan Veteran in their headlines, much as they did with Vietnam Veterans linked to crimes, no one seems willing to also mention the fact that as veterans are rare in this country, those committing crimes are even more rare.
One other thing that keeps getting omitted from reports is that if the serviceman or woman has been discharged, they are no longer counted by the military in any reports including suicides. If they are not in the VA system, they are not counted by the Veterans Affairs either. In other words, with all the figures we read, the majority of this minority are not counted by anyone.
The data has been in for a long time going back to Vietnam veterans but reporters didn't seem to care about the vast majority coming home, raising families, going to work, contributing to their communities, joining forces to make life better for all veterans all while living with the memories of combat.
I usually love to read what Ritchie writes but this time I closed the link pissed off.
Yes, they need to report on a lot of things from medications linked to suicides and crimes just as much as they should be investigating the failure of "Resiliency Training" brainwashing these men and women into believing if they end up with PTSD it is their fault and there is something wrong with them. They need to report on the homeless veterans because they are not getting the right kind of help for PTSD, have to turn to drugs and alcohol so they get numb to the pain just as much as they need to investigate the failures of the VA, millions of tax dollars being wasted on what does not work along with charities taking in donations for the veterans while giving very little to veterans.
They need to report on things that do actually work, veterans taking their own pain to the public so that other veterans won't have to go it alone along with the general public benefitting from their work. If you've seen a mental health worker, psychologist or had a crisis responder come to your aid, it is because Vietnam Veterans fought for it. When civilians are in trouble, it is usually a veteran showing up to help.
Veterans join the National Guards and they show up after a natural disaster. National Guardsmen usually go into law enforcement and fire departments or work as emergency responders in other fields. Then there are the medical advancements accomplished by government funding for the VA in burn units, taking care of amputees and research in TBI and PTSD. None of these things we talk about everyday get into the reporting done as much as the trouble thy get into.
The above article is part of the problem, asking questions that do not lead to answers as much as they lead to conclusions.
WWII Montford Point Marines Receive Congressional Gold Medal
Coral Anika Theill
Salem-News.com
Jun-19-2012
"The Montford Point Marines' selfless service and sacrifice during a time when their contributions to our nation were not fully appreciated or recognized have made this country a better place for all Americans.” –Commandant of the Marine Corps General James F. Amos
L to R LtCol Joseph Carpenter, USMC (Ret), Sgt Earl Evans, USMC (Ret), SSgt Eugene Groves, USMC (Ret), and GySgt Reuben McNair, USMC (Ret) on the Capitol Steps. (Photo: Courtesy of the office of Rep. Corrine Brown)
(WASHINGTON DC) - Seventy years since the first African- American Marine recruit reported to train at the segregated camp called Montford Point at Camp Lejeune, N.C., the Montford Point Marines are finally getting the recognition they deserve.
The fact that African-Americans went through the rigorous training of Marines when the Corps was segregated and while they were treated as inferiors in our society, speaks loudly about the courage and dedication of each and every one of the Montford Point Marines.
There are approximately 500 surviving members of the almost 20,000 original Montford Point Marines. Every properly documented surviving Montford Point Marine or lineal descendant of one who was alive as of Nov. 23, 2011 when the President signed the bill into law will receive an invitation to the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony.
The Congressional Gold Medal ceremony, in honor of the original Montford Point Marines, is scheduled for Wednesday, June 27 at 3 p.m. at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, Washington D.C. The Montford Point Marines will be recognized by Congress for their contributions to the Marine Corps and our nation. At this ceremony, one Congressional Gold Medal will be accepted on behalf of the Montford Point Marines. Attendance at this event is by invitation only. read more here
I interviewed Charles Foreman at the Orlando Nam Knights Clubhouse when he came for a visit.
Navy Cross recipient gets Father’s Day surprise
JUNE 19TH, 2012
BATTLE RATTLE
POSTED BY GINA HARKINS
Cpl. Christopher Farias received a Father’s Day surprise after he threw out the first pitch at the Dodgers game on Sunday — his dad was behind the catcher’s mask.
Farias thought he was throwing out the first pitch as “veteran of the game,” but there was a bigger plan in action.
According to his dad, this was the first Father’s Day in eight years that the 11th Marines Field Artillery School instructor wasn’t called away on duty. So he hid behind the catcher’s gear and got behind the plate to catch his son’s ceremonial first pitch.
Farias, based in Dodger-territory at Camp Pendleton, Calif., said he could tell it was his dad as soon as he caught the ball and started walking towards him. Check out the video capturing the surprise. read more here
Digital Nation Changing Nation
by Chaplain Kathie
Last night I was watching Digital Nation on PBS. They were talking about how everyone is hooked up into a digital world from school age, to college to senior citizens. The show focused on a lot of the negative aspects with people multitasking, believing they are mastering all but it turned out they were falling short in thinking.
As I watched it had me doing a lot of thinking. This digital world has the power to connect people to stories they would have never known about.
Sure there are a lot of fun things going on, stupid stuff wasting time but had it not been for this new world of digital technology and a lot of really smart people changing it on a daily basis, this country wouldn't be stepping up to help veterans. No one would be talking about PTSD, combat, families suffering, along with all the bad that comes but they wouldn't be helping each other heal either.
When Vietnam veterans came home, no one knew what they were going through, so it seemed as if they didn't care. The journalists were focused on all the times a Vietnam veteran got into trouble because as the value the "bleeds" stories putting them into the headlines, stories about these veterans rising above all we did to them, waging another battle to have PTSD treated as a wound caused by combat, were happening all across this country. No one knew about any of it. This made their battle harder to fight than if they had this ability to connect across the country.
Stop and think for a second about our view of these veterans. No one wanted anything to do with any of them because they were an oddity topped off with the only reports released about them in the press were painting them all as drug addicts and criminals. They wouldn't give up on us and fought to make their suffering known so we turned around and actually did something about it.
Most of what they achieved happened because of the introduction of the Web enabling them to connect to other veterans beyond the limited, narrow view of the press. Sites started to link them together. Army Lost and Found is just one example of the sites I visited in the 90's. It is a posting site helping veterans find each other. I used it when I was researching PTSD, reading their stories and discovered how much they still need each other, watch over each other and learn.
While the media ignored all of this, they found ways of connecting and there was an underground railroad of information flowing between veterans.
Today we see this and we still witness the greatness of our veterans. If you only watch cable news, you're missing out on most of what is going on in this country. The digital world will kill off MSNBC, FOX and CNN because they are all focusing on politics more than anything else forcing viewers like me to stop watching. Yet even they occasionally report on a veteran's story that captures the nation's attention.
Every morning I read the emails, alerts about what is going on, press releases, you name it, and every morning I see how this technology is changing this country for the better. We don't just read about stories, we actually do something about what we're reading.
They returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with an abundance of ways to connect and share. The problem for most of them is the information overload leaving them to feel overwhelmed not knowing where to click to find what they need. But this technology is also feeding people in need, giving them shelter, compelling groups to offer support and even saving lives.
Thirty years ago, I had to go to the library and buy books to do research. Twenty years ago, it was searching online and emails. Today it is a growing list.
When I finished college, I posted on my blog updated my profile, Facebook and because of the way my blog is set up, it automatically updated Twitter. I changed my profile on Linked In. I use YouTube for videos and Great Americans because this generation doesn't want to read much and is used to being able to find what they want with a click off their phones and laptops.
While I do agree we have information overload, there is a lot happening in this country that would not have been possible without it.
I just had to laugh considering in 1993, my brother gave me my first computer and I couldn't figure out how to use the mouse! The new generation of veterans coming home are connecting with each other but they are also connecting to my generation and we in turn connect to our parents generation. We learn, we teach, we lead, we follow and we grow. We don't have to sit and wonder how we can help, we just do it. We don't have to go off on our merry way assuming there is nothing to do for our veterans. We know better. In ways great and small, we manage to change this country for the better but the media giants are slow learners. They'll stay focused on the people in politics wanting to run this nation but we are the ones making this nation better.
Most of the good things being done in this country are being done because veterans got involved with it and the digital world hooked them up.
Veterans raising funds for Iraq Veterans Memorial in Riverview
YVETTE C. HAMMETT/STAFF Air Force and Iraq War veteran Mark Goujon, left, and Army veteran Mike Zaffino are helping to raise money for the Iraq war memorial.
By YVETTE C. HAMMETT
The Tampa Tribune
Published: June 20, 2012
RIVERVIEW
For Mark Goujon, heading up the committee to raise funds for an Iraq Veterans Memorial is a labor of love for the six teammates he lost during Operation Enduring Freedom.
"My motivation is those six people that I served with that didn't come back," the Air Force Iraq War veteran said.
Goujon served beside those fallen comrades on teams sent out to gather intelligence on roadside bombs and, after bombings, to seek evidence to determine who set off the explosives.
"With this memorial here, we won't have to go to Washington, D.C., to honor them, and our kids and grandkids will know the effort we put into this," Goujon said.
Army veteran Mike Zaffino didn't serve in Iraq, but he was at the Pentagon the day the plane hit — Sept. 11, 2001. "And I had many friends who served and have fallen" in Iraq, he said.
Joining them on the committee to raise $250,000 for an Iraq Veterans Memorial in Veterans Memorial Park are Tim Lawn, who is in the Army and preparing to deploy to Afghanistan; Bosnia and Iraq Army veteran Mike Graham; and Iraq Army veteran Chris Harrington.
This memorial will be the second of 12 theaters of war set to be constructed at the park on U.S. 301 next to the Tampa Bypass Canal.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was completed in 2011.
Goujon wants to have the Iraq memorial completed in time to dedicate it on Veterans Day 2013. read more here
Official: VA Would Need Staff of 4,000 to Scan All Its Backlogged Benefit Records
By Bob Brewin
Nextgov.com
Updated: June 19, 2012
Jeffrey Hall, assistant national legislative director for Disabled American Veterans, said “NARA's decision to stop performing this work caught [the Veterans Benefits Administration] somewhat by surprise.”
The Veterans Affairs Department would have to employ 4,000 more workers in order to scan billions of pages of paper benefit claims, William Bosanko, a top executive at the National Archives and Records Administration, told a hearing of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee on Tuesday.
NARA has performed sophisticated scanning operations for the department at five sites for the past two years under contracts valued at $9.7 million, Bosanko told lawmakers at the hearing. The system NARA developed for VA not only scans documents, but also has been taught to recognize and compile data from 170 different forms the Veterans Benefits Administration uses, he said. VA’s contracts with NARA expires next week.
Bosanko said NARA has recommended VA seek help from the private sector for meeting its systemwide scanning requirements.
VA holds records on millions of veterans dating as far back as World War II. Bosanko estimated the department would have to scan 60 million pieces of paper a month so that records could be used with VA’s new paperless claims-processing system, the Veterans Benefits Management System -- a feat that would require a staff of 4,000. He did not say how long the process could take. read more here
Viera VA clinic to nearly double mental health staff
More help coming for war-weary
Written by
R. Norman Moody
FLORIDA TODAY
Jun 19, 2012
Since 2007, VA nationally has seen a 35 percent increase in the number of veterans receiving mental health services and as a result, increased its mental health staff by 41 percent. In the past three years, it increased its mental health care budget by 39 percent and last year, provided mental health services to 1.3 million veterans.
Just as the number of troops returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan swelled with the end of one war and the draw-down from the other, so did the number of veterans seeking mental health care.
More than one million troops served in those conflicts during the past decade.
A plan announced last week by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to address the growing need for better mental health care for U.S. veterans will mean the Viera VA Outpatient Clinic will almost double its mental health staff.
The national recruitment effort that already has added some mental health professionals at the Viera clinic — a facility that had 23,000 mental health visits last year — will culminate in about six months with 14 positions added to the previous 16. read more here
UPDATE June 21, 2012
VA fixes problem with vets job training program
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Army TImes
Posted : Wednesday Jun 20, 2012
With just 10 days before a new education benefits is launched to help unemployed veterans learn a new skill, the VA has rushed to fix a problem that could have left community colleges in 18 states and Puerto Rico ineligible for participation.
Veterans Affairs Department officials told Congress late Wednesday they were revising their eligibility criteria for community colleges to be part of the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program so that schools that offer a limited number of four-year bachelor degrees would not be left out.
Four-year colleges and universities will remain ineligible but community colleges listed by the U.S. Education Department’s National Center for Educational Statistics College Navigator as a two-year school will be covered, VA officials said in a note to the House Veterans Affairs Committee, which raised questions about eligibility on Tuesday. read more here
Problem arises for vets job training program
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Army Times
Posted : Tuesday Jun 19, 2012
A problem has arisen for a veterans’ training program expected to launch July 1: Classes at community colleges in 18 states and territories will not be covered because those schools also provide bachelors’ degrees.
The Veterans Retraining Assistance Program, created by Congress to provide one year of training and education benefits to certain unemployed veterans to prepare them for work in high-demand fields, was to be limited to short courses that could yield big results.
However, “using VA’s narrow definition of ‘community college,’ if a school awarded one bachelor’s degree along with hundreds or even thousands of associate degrees, that school would not qualify for VRAP training,” said Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., the second ranking Republican on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
Bilirakis said some community colleges are allowed by state law to provide a small number of four-year degrees. For example, 23 of Florida’s 28 community colleges are not eligible for VRAP, the chancellor of the Florida College System has warned.
“The reason given for this denial is that each of those 23 community colleges awards a very limited number of bachelors’ degrees, most often in technical and health care fields, such as a bachelor of nursing degree,” Bilirakis said. read more here
This came in from the Department of Veterans Affairs
Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Hosts Workshops during Detroit VA for Vets Hiring Fair
WASHINGTON ( June 19, 2012) – The Department of Veterans Affairs Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program (VR and E) will host several workshops aimed at helping Veterans understand the many benefits and programs that promote Veteran employment during the VA for Vets Hiring Fair being held in Detroit June 26-28.
As part of the Veteran Open House, VA will educate Veterans on vocational rehabilitation and employment services, register them for VA’s online employment toolkit, www.VetSuccess.gov , and provide tools that help Veterans find meaningful careers, receive accommodations for disabilities at their place of employment, and start a small business.
“At VA, we know the skills and characteristics Veterans bring with them to a new career can only benefit an organization,” said Under Secretary for Benefits Allison A. Hickey. “Our VR and E program is committed to assisting Veterans find meaningful careers, whether in the federal government or in the private sector.”
VA is hosting three major events at Detroit’s Cobo Center June 26-29: The VA for Vets Hiring Fair, the Veterans Open House, and the National Veterans Small Business Conference and Expo. The events are expected to attract thousands of Veterans, business owners and federal employees, with an economic impact estimated at $11 million for the city.
More than 24,000 federal and private-sector job openings across the country will be available at the free Veteran Hiring Fair June 26-28. VA will bring together partners like the First Lady’s “Joining Forces” initiative and Hiring Our Heroes, along with private sector companies, during the fair. Not only will the fair provide Veterans an opportunity to showcase their skills to potential employers, it will also assist Veterans with resume preparation, interview techniques and career coaching to help Veteran attendees become career ready. VA hosted a similar event Jan. 18 in Washington, D.C., which attracted over 4,100 Veterans and resulted in over 2,600 on-the-spot interviews and more than 500 tentative job offers.
The Open House gives Veterans and their families the chance to find out about the wide range of financial and health-care benefits, services and resources that are available from federal, state and community agencies. Veterans can conveniently enroll in VA care, sign up for eBenefits and MyHealtheVet, and get their questions answered face to face.
The National Veterans Small Business Conference and Expo is the premier government event for Veteran-owned businesses. Last year’s conference in New Orleans drew almost 5,000 attendees, and more than 6,000 participants are expected this year. VA will provide Veteran-owned and Service-Disabled Veteran-owned businesses with a wide range of information to help them maximize opportunities in the federal workplace.
Known historically as the world’s capital for the transportation industry, the Detroit metro area is reinventing itself with six booming industries: medical research, defense, entertainment, green tech, urban farming, and aeronautics. About 330,000 Veterans are served by the city’s VA medical center, and more than 704,000 Veterans live in Michigan.
VA invites all interested persons and businesses to attend. More information about the small business conference is available at National Veterans Conference. Information and registration for the hiring fair is available at VAforVets.
Horseshoe GM says vet's vest, military uniforms OK at casino
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
By Thomas Ott
The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- If a security guard barred a Vietnam veteran wearing a military-themed vest from the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland last week, it was because the guard misinterpreted policy on proper dress, General Manager Marcus Glover said Monday.
The Horseshoe allows vests like the one worn by Marine veteran Gerald Doris, Glover said. He said the casino also does not bar active military personnel in uniform, as alleged by a friend of Doris'.
Doris, who lives in Florida but spends half of the year at a campground near Lodi, said he was stopped at the door to the casino early Wednesday afternoon because he was wearing a leather vest adorned with a Marine Corps emblem and a map of Vietnam. He said a guard ruled his vest violated a ban on clothing with "colors." read more here
Rain does not dampen Patriot Ride’s spirit
By Eric Hagen
June 19, 2012
Thousands of people Saturday showed veterans and current service members that their service to America will not be forgotten.
An estimated 2,000 motorcyclists drove a 60-mile round trip between Ham Lake and Cambridge June 16 in honor of military veterans and the current service members during the seventh annual Patriot Ride.
It was raining when the Patriot Ride first began in 2006 and it was lightly raining again during the beginning of the seventh annual ride June 16.
Doug Bley admitted he was not among one of the approximately 100 people who braved the rain in 2006, but he has been to every one since then and now serves as the president of the Minnesota Patriot Guard. This organization and the Minnesotans’ Military Appreciation Fund (MMAF) split the proceeds of the Patriot Ride, which has raised about $600,000 the first six years, according to Bley. read more here
Memories of battlefields strong as Vietnam veteran weighs search for those he served with
MICHAEL WANBAUGH
The Goshen News
First Posted: June 19, 2012
GOSHEN, Ind. — Here inside VFW Post 985 on a sun-splashed Wednesday afternoon, local military veterans sip their beers, puff their cigarettes and bust each other's chops.
The bartender, who knows all her customers by name, hears a song she likes on the radio and turns up the volume on Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky." More wisecracking ensues.
As the clock hits 3 p.m., out come the poker chips and on go the overhead lights as a small group splinters from the bar and takes up residence at a nearby card table.
Before long, Richard Clark Sr. strolls into the bar and orders a beer. The 61-year-old Goshen native has two more meetings left in his one-year elected tenure as commander of the post. His official last day in charge was Saturday.
"It's a lot of hours," Clark said of his position before taking a sip from his can of Coors Light. "But we have so many great volunteers that keep this place running. If it wasn't for our volunteers nothing would get done around here."
Clark lights a cigarette and sits back in his chair. He's wearing a sleeveless shirt that shows off his tan arms and tattoos. On his right bicep are the letters U.S.A. Above it is an eagle head. read more here
Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall Tells Stories
The replica of the Washington, DC Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall will be onview at Calverton National Cemetery this Wednesday through Sunday.
By Lisa Finn
June 18, 2012
A 15-year-old boy, who lied about his age to be able to fight in the Vietnam War.
Twelve female nurses. Eight clergymen. And over 58,000 others.
Although they may never have met, each shares a tragic and heroic destiny forged by war: Each of the 58,257 names inscribed on the Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall, a traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, that will be on view at Calverton National Cemetery from Wednesday through Friday, is forever memorialized.
"Behind every name, there is a story," said Charles Spencer, chairman of the Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall.
And Spencer, a funeral director who has been involved with the project since 1995, has made it his personal mission to ensure that no one's story is forgotten.
Spencer said he was invited to bring the memorial to Calverton National Cemetery because it is the largest cemetery for veterans in the United States, with over a quarter of a million buried within its grassy knolls. "They take care of all the veterans, after they pass away for eternity. What better place to honor our veterans?" he asked. read more here
Florida Disable American Veterans Auxiliary Member of the Year from Orlando Chapter
by
Chaplain Kathie
How do I write this objectively when the member of the year is me?
The DAV-DAVA Florida convention is usually a great event. This year I showed up with my camera, set it up, filmed a great group of ladies singing and got ready to film the top award for the Auxiliary. My hands started to shake when it dawned on me they were talking about me.
As you can see in this video, I was in shock. When I got up to accept the award, I was asked if I had anything to say. If you read this blog often, you know I am hardly ever short on something to say. The only thing I could say was thank you.
Thank you to all the members of the Disabled American Veterans and the Auxiliary. You inspire me everyday!
