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War-torn Troops Soothed
by Horses’ Spirit
(zootoo.com)
MIAMI -- The science of the
human-animal bond is proving very effective in a
new arena: on the home front of a new war.
Returning veterans are finding help, as well as
healing in therapy that involves a saddle and a
set of reins.
"It feels pretty good. I feel
tall," said U.S. Marine Gene Calonge, who
recently returned from his deployment. Learning
to ride again is strengthening the bodies and
minds of young vets here at the South Florida
Veterans Multi-Purpose Center in Davie, Fla.
The last time Calonge mounted
a horse, was his service with the Marine Corps.
This time around it's Sam, a 4-year-old Arabian,
giving him a much-needed boost.
"It's different bonding with
an animal, you feel like you're not going to be
judged so much about anything so ... you and him
just have a good time,” said Calonge.
CAMP LEJEUNE TOXIC EXPOSURE Update
Nearly 12 years ago, a federal report told
Marines and their families that adults faced
little or no increased cancer risk from drinking
and bathing in chemical-tainted water at North
Carolina's Camp Lejeune. That report, long
challenged by skeptical veterans, no longer
stands. Federal health officials on 28 APR said
they were withdrawing their 1997 assessment of
health effects from the water contamination
because of omissions and scientific
inaccuracy...
A new search tool will help current and former
service members determine if they are owed some
of the $2.3 million that is still unclaimed as a
result of a 2006 multi-state settlement
agreement concerning life insurance sales
practices to the military.
The tool, located
at https://eapps.naic.org/restitution was
launched 23 APR by the National Association...
Lawyers filed seven class-action lawsuits in
seven states on behalf of service members and
civilians who say they were sickened by the
open-air burn pits on U.S. military bases in
Iraq and Afghanistan. The lawsuits, including a
wrongful death suit, were filed against
contractor KBR Inc., as well as its parent
company, Halliburton, after a Military Times
story that ran last October showed that the burn
pit at Joint Base Balad, the biggest U.S. base
in Iraq, burned everything from petroleum
products to dioxin-releasing plastic water
bottles to amputated limbs. Two more lawsuits
are expected to be filed 29 APR.
More than 150
people contacted Military Times with similar
sets of symptoms ranging from respiratory...
The Department of Defense announced the current
number of reservists on active duty as of 28 APR
09. The net collective result is 6,174 more
reservists mobilized than last reported in the
Bulletin for 24 MAR 09. At any given time,
services may mobilize some units and individuals
while demobilizing others, making it possible
for these figures to either increase or
decrease.
The total number currently on active
duty in support of the partial mobilization of
the Army National Guard and Army Reserve is
103,709; Navy Reserve, 6,750; Air National Guard
and Air Force Reserve, 14,892; Marine Corps
Reserve...
A House bill aimed at making it easier for
support troops to qualify for veterans
disability benefits for post-traumatic stress
disorder has the Veterans Affairs Department
worried it would create a loophole for
fraudulent claims.
The bill, H.R.952,
sponsored by Rep. John Hall (D-NY) would expand
the definition of “combat with the enemy” to
include anyone who was in the combat theater,
regardless of whether they engaged in combat.
The idea, according to its chief sponsor is to
make it easier for people in administrative and
support jobs to receive disability benefits
without having to prove a specific
service-related cause. John Wilson of Disabled
American Veterans, a supporter of the bill who
appeared with other witnesses at a 23 APR
hearing of the House Veterans’ Affairs
disability assistance panel, which Hall
chairs...
The Department of Veterans Affairs has a new,
high-profile chief messenger: disabled Iraq war
veteran Tammy Duckworth. Duckworth, who lost
both legs in 2004 in Iraq when her helicopter
was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, was
confirmed by the Senate as VA’s assistant
secretary for Public and Intergovernmental
Affairs.
She will deal with Congress, veterans
and their families, the news media, and the
public...
The federal government has decided to settle a
lawsuit filed by the widow of a veteran who
hanged himself about 12 hours after being
admitted to a mental health ward.
The $390,000
settlement paid to Ingrid Keller ends all
possible claims against the government in
connection with the 29 OCT 06, death of May nard
E. Keller Jr. The settlement specifically states
there is no admission of liability. Mr. Keller,
55, retired from the Army after 24 years. He
worked as a truck driver until his death...
On 7 APR 09 a controversial Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) intelligence assessment
warned law enforcement officials about the risk
of domestic terrorism from returning combat
veterans. The report was directed to federal,
State, local, and tribal counterterrorism and
law enforcement officials as a means to
effectively deter, prevent, preempt, or respond
to terrorist attacks against the United States.
In the report, titled “Right-wing Extremism:
Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling
Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,”
returning war veterans are singled out as
vulnerable to joining extremist groups in
attacks against the government...
Seniors are paying considerably higher costs for
their drug or Medicare Advantage plans since
Part D started in 2006. Now, both the Inspector
General of the Department of Health and Human
Services and the Government Accountability
Office (GAO) say that Medicare beneficiaries and
taxpayers are getting overcharged. According to
the Inspector General, some 80% of participating
drug plans owe the program an estimated $4.4
billion for 2006 alone.
The Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) doesn’t
even know how much money insurance companies owe
taxpayers since 2006 because it hasn’t begun
most of the audits. Seniors enrolled in Part D
and Medicare Advantage plans pay a monthly
premium, and the plans are subsidized through
tax revenues...
Now that our federal budget deficit is the only
major economic indicator that’s roaring upward,
Social Security benefits may be next to go
through the wringer. The policy experts are
quietly considering a number of ways to “fix”
Social Security’s solvency, and Cost-Of-Living
Adjustment (COLA) cuts appear high on a short
list of remedies. Late last year, the Social
Security Administration released a policy paper
examining the financial impact of COLA cuts.
The paper looks at how the benefits of a number
of different demographic groups of beneficiaries
would be affected, as well as the effect such a
change would have on Social Security’s solvency.
The analysis found that cutting COLAs by
one-half of a percentage point (0.5%) would take
care of almost 40% of Social Security’s
long-range imbalance. If COLAs were cut a full
point (1.0%), that would fix almost 78% of
Social Security’s long-range imbalance...
All types of Social Security benefits are based
on earnings, but sometimes payroll taxes are not
properly credited to your earning s record. This
can be a particular problem for women,
especially those who co-owned businesses with
their husbands.
When it happens, you can wind
up with lower benefits than you otherwise would
be entitled to. Even though you have already
started benefits, you may be able to correct...
A new study of veterans of the 1991 Gulf War
suggests that exposure to neurotoxins such as
anti-nerve agent pills, insect repellent and
Sarin caused ne urological changes to the brain.
However, brain imaging shows those changes
appear to differ depending on what and how much
each person was exposed to. The changes also
correspond to different sets of symptoms.
Researchers at the University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center, Southern Methodist
University, and the Veterans Affairs Medical
Center in Dallas performed digital brain scans
on 21 chronically ill Gulf War veterans from the
same Naval Reserve construction battalion, all
of whom had symptoms of “Gulf War syndrome.”...
The Senate voted 31 MAR in favor of more GI Bill
education benefits for National Guard and
Reserve members — but that doesn’t mean benefits
will increase. By voice vote and with no
substantive debate, the Senate approved an
amendment to the 2010 budget resolution that
adds reserve education benefits to a list of
other possible pay increases for service
members, veterans and survivors that might be
funded by a proposed deficit-neutral reserve
fund.
The budget plan, S. Con. Res. 13, also
says that expanded benefits for disabled
veterans in rural areas, as well as concurrent
receipt of full military and veterans benefits
for disabled...
The Supreme Court has made it harder for
veterans to challenge the denial of medical
claims by the Veterans Affairs Department. The
high court, in a 6-3 decision on21 APR, said
veterans who contend the VA failed to tell them
what information was needed to justify their
claims must prove that the VA's mistakes...
The Military Order of the Purple Heart launched
a new website at www.vetsjobs.net to assist
Veterans in obtaining Federal employment. The
website offers a video, "How to Get a Federal
Job," that walks Veterans through the process of
applying for federal employment. The site also
includes links to USAJOBS, the official website
for federal jobs, the Department of Labor and
the Office of Personnel Management. An
additional source is the largest veteran job
board in the world at the Military.com Career
Center website www.military.com/Careers/Home/0,13373,,00.htm.
[Source: Military.com article 20 Apr 09 ++]
A bill aimed at protecting the gun rights of
some veterans is under Senate consideration. The
Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act, pending
before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee,
would limit the circumstances in which a
veteran’s name could be added to a federal
database used to do instant background checks
for gun purchases. By law, anyone “adjudicated
as a mental defective,” such as people found to
be a danger to themselves or others or who lack
the mental capacity to manage their affairs,
must be registered in the database.
The bill,
S.669, which has 15 co-sponsors, would prohibit
VA from submitting names to the National Instant
Criminal Background Check database unless a
judicial authority finds the individuals to be a
danger to themselves or others...
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has
launched its new "Returning Veterans" Web site
-- www.oefoif.va.gov -- to welcome home Veterans
of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts with a
social, Veteran-centric Web site focusing on
their needs and questions.
The site will
feature videos, Veteran stories, and a blog
where Veterans are encouraged to post feedback.
The site also will restructure the tr aditional
index-of-benefits format found on other VA pages
into question-based, categorized, and easily
navigated links by topic....
Applications for the new Post-9/11 GI Bill will
be accepted by the Veterans Affairs Department
beginning 1 MAY, according the VA and Defense
Department officials. The application process
for the new program that takes effect 1 AUG will
be fully electronic over a secure Internet
connection that can be accessed through VA’s
education benefits Web site.
Early enrollments
will allow VA to work out kinks in a process
that is expected to have more than 450,000
people apply for college benefits in the first
year of the program. Calculating payments will
be complicated by factors such as the length of
active military service since 9/11, the number
of credits, the location of the institution of
higher learning, and in the case of private
institutions, whether the college or university
is taking part in a tuition-reduction program.
Stakes are high for VA to implement the new
program that promises to cover full tuition and
fees for attending public colleges and
universities, plus provide a monthly living
expense, book allowance and other benefits.
Congress, veterans’ service...
Several branches of the US military are
reporting significant spikes in the number of
suicides committed by both active-duty troops
and veterans returning from duty in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Experts are calling the number of
military-related suicides sweeping the country
an epidemic. In addition, survivors of veterans
who committed suicide are starting to file
lawsuits, accusing the Department of Veterans
Affairs of medical malpractice.
The agency has
come under attack by lawmakers and veterans'
groups charging that it failed...
The Veterans Benefits Administration, which has
stored tens of millions of pages in veteran's
files, closed a fast-track procurement on15 APR
that will digitize the paper forms to improve
the way it processes and manages benefits.
The
contract is part of a push by Eric Shinseki,
secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department, wh
o said at his January confirmation hearing that
he wanted to make the department as "paperless
as possible." The paper claims that one veteran
files to receive compensation can fill four or
five cardboard boxes, said Gerald Manar, deputy
director of national veterans' services for the
Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Shinseki in testimony before the House
Veterans Affairs Committee described an almost
Dickensian atmosphere in VBA offices that
process disability claims. "Walk into one of our
rooms where . . . decisions are being made about
disabilities for veterans [and you'll] see
individuals sitting at a desk with stacks of
paper that go up halfway to the ceiling," he
said. "As they finish one pile, another pile
comes in."
The Government Accountability Office (GAO)
released a report in APR 09 that scrutinizes the
military's Temporary Disability Retired List (TDRL)
caseload, management, and impact on service
members. The services use the TDRL when a
service member is determined to have a
disability that won't permit continued service
but the condition is not yet stable. The
disabled member may be put on the TDRL for as
long as 5 years or until the condition
stabilizes.
GAO found that TDRL caseloads grew
by 43% between 2003 and 2007 - no surprise given
the increased wartime deployments. But the GAO
says the services do not do a good job of
informing the service members about the TDRL
process, as fact sheets provided to disabled
service members were incomplete and inconsistent
between the services. Disabled members who
participated in GAO focus groups expressed
dissatisfaction with limited access to
information and...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the
monthly consumer price index for March this
week. The CPI is the measure used to make
adjustments to military retired pay, survivor
benefits, Social Security and other federal
pensions. The CPI rose 0.2% March. That still
leaves cumulative inflation at -3.8% since
October. Even with that small gain, the CPI is
still down 3.8% so far for this fiscal year.
Unless the CPI gains about 4% or more over the
next six months, there won't be any retired pay
COLA for 2010. This will impact on all federal,
military and social security retirees or about
one in every six Americans. [Source: MOAA Leg Up
17 Apr 09 ++]
The Attorney General's Office is now
investigating two state employees for taking
home 77 gravestones from the Southern Nevada
Veterans Cemetery. Those employees admitted they
turned the stones into a patio. The
investigation is now trying to decide if taking
the stones is considered a crime. But now, Tami
and Kevin Jenicke are taking the stones back
where they belong.
The view from above their
house said it all. Seventy-seven gravestones,
memorials of the heroes who gave so much, now
turned into a patio. Tami Jenicke is a
spokesperson for the state veterans home. Kevin
Jenicke actually works at the cemetery. They
took home stones meant for destruction. Normally
spouses can be buried together and that requires
replacing the current headstone.
A sign of the current state of the economy is
that more and more military veterans are asking
for help with their health= care. The staff at
the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in La
Jolla [San Diego] CA say more veterans are
calling since they are finding it tougher to pay
for health care because they either cannot
afford it or they lost a job and their benefits.
Richard Randolph of the VAMC said, "Just talking
to veterans every day, it's rough out there."
Hospital administrators said the vets are
looking for a hardship waiver, which would allow
them to qualify for extra medical coverage from
the VA.
Last year, only 42 waiver requests
were made. However, in the first four months of
2009, VAMC La Jolla has already received more
than 120 requests, and officials said there
might be a lot more out there. "And a lot of
them are embarrassed about it and they don't
want people to know," said Linette Baker, chief
health administrator at the VAMC...
Under federal law, only the Secretary of Defense
— through the heads of the various military
service branches — is authorized to declare
someone a prisoner of war — “and until the
service reports a person as a POW, then he is
NOT one,” says Larry Greer, spokesman for the
Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel
Office, which maintains a database of officially
recognized POWs for most wars. A separate list
for the Vietnam War is called Personnel Missing
— Southeast Asia, or PMSEA.
Critics say the VA
could use the lists, which are accessible
online, to identify red-flag cases, but doesn’t.
Until APR 09, the VA had claimed on its Web site
that it also had the authority to confer POW
status. But after the AP pointed out the federal
law...
· Apr 16 1945 - WWII: American troops enter
Nuremberg Germany
· Apr 16 1953 – Korean War:
Battle of Pork Chop Hill (Hill 255) began.
· Apr 17 1961 - Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group
of CIA financed and trained Cuban refugees lands
at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of
ousting Fidel Castro.
· Apr 18 1775 - American revolutionaries Paul
Revere and William Dawes ride though the towns
of Massachusetts warning that "the British are
coming."
· Apr 18 1942 - WWII: James H. Doolittle
bombs Tokyo and other Japanese cities.
· Apr 18 1943 - WWII: The mastermind of the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (Admiral Isoroku
Yamamoto) is shot down by Am erican P-38
fighters while traveling in a bomber.
· Apr 19 1775 - The American Revolution
begins as fighting breaks out at Lexington
Massachusetts...
