1.     At Gettysburg, tweeting the news and battle data.  Deliver the breaking news of the Battle of Gettysburg to the world in 140 characters or fewer. That's the goal of the first live team-tweeting effort by journalists covering this weekend's annual reenactment of the epic Civil War battle - or at least one pivotal skirmish

 

2.     Image consultant helps military transition to civilian fashion.  Sofio Barone, an image consultant and tailor, has only two hours to lead the visual transition from soldier to civilian, as these men and women take a course to prepare for their retirement from the military.

 

3.     Missouri county starts court for vets in KC area.  San Francisco Chronicle  The court is a combined effort of the Jackson County Circuit Court, the prosecutor's office and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, The Kansas City Star reported (http://bit.ly/Pf2Ayg ). The Jackson County court for veterans will focus on ...

 

4.     Disabled Veterans Stop in Salem in Cross-Country Bike Ride.  WJBD Online  Raymer then presented each of the veterans with a City of Salem pin. Lt. Colonel and former Illinois Veterans Affairs Director and Assistant Secretary of the U.S.Department of Veterans Affairs Tammy Duckworth told the group the role they will play for ...

 

5.     Five Local Veterans Representing the VA Maryland Health Care System .  Albany Times Union  Nationally recognized for its state-of-the-art technology and quality patient care, the VAMHCS is proud of its reputation as a leader in veterans' health care, research and education. It costs nothing for Veterans to enroll for health care with the VA ...

 

6.     War veterans face paying to stay at state veterans homes.  Atlanta Journal Constitution  The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Aid and Attendance benefit, designed by federal law to assist veterans with payments for direct medical care, was identified as a source for new funding. The A&A benefit, according to state officials, amounts to ...

7.     Times Reporters Whine About Shinseki Access. NextGov  The recent displays of "sheer arrogance" ehibited by "big deal reporters and columnists" fromThe New York Times: In a "more-than-1,000-word whine," Times reporter James Dao "blasts Shinseki for not talking" to Nicholas Kristoff for a "column on suicide – even though the Secretary's office said it was not aware of the interview request"; and Dao quotes reporter Joe Klein as saying Shinseki "should answer the phone when Nick Kristoff calls." Brewin says that such diatribe is what makes reporters "almost as well loved as members of Congress." He adds that Shinseki "did give me an interview" in Raleigh, North Carolina, recently, "but only after he talked to every vet waiting in line to see him," which is the "way it should be in the VA – vets first."

 

8.     The Week At A Glance: July 9-13. CQ The House will begin its "workweek considering several measures under suspension of the rules, including two veterans bills scheduled for vote" Monday: the Veterans Skills to Jobs Act (HR 4155 ) and a veterans compensation COLA Act (HR 4114 ). On Wednesday, July 11, the House Veterans Affairs Committee is slated to mark-up several veterans bills including two benefits-access improvement acts ( HR 5880,HR 5881 ), an act (HR 4115 ) to help new veterans return to employment, and the Improving Transparency of Education Opportunities for Veterans Act (HR 4057 ), as well as HR 3730, HR 4481, HR 5948, HR 3524, HR 4740, HR 5747, HR 3337, HR 5753 and HR 4079.

 

9.     Bottom Line Looks At Veterans' Unemployment Crisis. CNN's Your Bottom Line (7/7, 9:36 a.m. EDT) Host Christine Roman, noting that this "Presidential election is all about jobs," asked CNN's Barbara Starr what Michigan "employers are saying about the economy"? CNN (Starr): "As we went through the [Detroit] job fair, a lot of employers said they do have jobs to fill. So, we went back to General Motors to learn a little bit more about what types of jobs they want to fill." A video clip was shown of General Motors Affinity Group President Doug Waite saying, "We're looking for engineers, technicians and production jobs. And, of course, military veterans are well trained in those areas." Starr: "So veterans need training and advanced education for a job market that is increasingly high-tech. ... But a lot of them are living" in rundown neighborhoods amid a "diminishing hope that they can really move ahead." CNN (7/8) provides a transcript of the discussion on its website.

 

10.                        Army Vet Who Received Job Offer At Detroit Fair Encourages Homeless Vets To Visit Local VA Office. WXYZ-TV Detroit (7/8, 11:15 p.m. CDT) broadcast, "On the day that we met Army veteran Sheila Dixon, she was all smiles after receiving her new job, the one she found here at the National Veterans Small Business Conference at the Cobo Center." Dixon: "I got a call from the Detroit Human Resources Department offering a position to me." WXYZ: Dixon "spent a decade in the military...but lost a job to downsizing." Although an old friend has "provided her with a temporary home," Dixon wants "homeless vets to know that the VA has stepped up its help." Dixon: "If you go to the VA and they will help you get into a homeless program." WXYZ added, "More vets are struggling and becoming homeless because jobs are difficult to find."

 

11.                        What The Jobs Report Reveals About US Population. AP  US employers "added only 80,000 jobs in June, a third straight month of weak hiring that shows the economy is still struggling three years after the recession ended." The unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2%.  New York Times  The new data released by the Labor Department Friday, makes clear that the US is "far from the booming job growth that prevailed only a few months ago." The June unemployment rate remained unchaged at "8.2 percent."  Army Times  The June unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans dropped to "9.5 percent, down from 12.7 percent the previous month and from 13.3 percent in June 2011." But the Army Times cautions that a big monthly change can be a "statistical fluke" because the DOL's report is "based on a survey of about 200,000 people, of whom just 22,000 are veterans." Still, there has been a "continuing expansion of federal and private-sector programs." For example, VA and US Chamber of Commerce "jointly sponsored a hiring fair in Detroit last week that officials said resulted in 1,300 job offers" made to veterans; and VA officials announced earlier this week that more than "18 percent of procurement dollars went to disabled" veteran-owned businesses and 20 percent went to veteran-owned businesses, exceeding VA Secretary Eric Shinseki's goals of 10 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

 

12.                        Local Veteran To Raise Awareness Of PTSD By Cycling 4,200 Miles. Troy Record "Life hasn't been easy" for USAF veteran Colleen Bushnell who suffered with PTSD for many years. But she is "planning to bike 4,200 miles across the country starting July 16. She'll be joining four other veterans who are trying to overcome their own medical issues, two of whom are paralyzed from the chest down and will be using hand cycles, on a journey called the Long Road Home." Bushness is also planning to donate $5,000 of the money she raise to "local non-profits in an effort to help bridge the financial gap for veterans who claim disability" because they "do not receive any benefits for two years."

13.                        Museum Chronicles Wisconsin Veterans' Stories. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel  The Wisconsin Veterans Museum, an "educational arm" of the state Veterans Affairs Department. The museum has "two award-winning galleries covering 10,000 square feet" and exhibits that "rival those at the Lincoln Museum" in Springfield, Illinois. The majority of the displays, which "chronicle the lives of residents who served in conflicts ranging from the Civil War" to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, were donated by "veterans or their families" and include "thousands of guns, uniforms and other military memorabilia."

 

14.                        Grant To House Homeless Veterans. Highland (CA) Community News "According to the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino (HACSB), a new grant award for $319,567 will help house 50 homeless veterans in San Bernardino County." HACSB partnered with the Loma Linda Veterans Affairs Medical Center to provide the service to the "local homeless veteran population" through vouchers "awarded to HACSB over the past four years." The recent HUD-VA Supportive Housing grant allocation gave HACSB the "ability to subsidize housing for 135 veterans."

 

15.                        Sandoval Signs Executive Order Creating Interagency Council On Veterans Affairs.  KRXI-TV  Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval "signed Executive Order 2012-15 this week, establishing the Governor's Interagency Council on Veterans Affairs." The measure "creates the council to work to identify and prioritize the needs" of Nevada's veterans and charges the council with coordinating the state "government's efforts to meet the needs of veterans with the efforts of Federal and local governments, non-profit organizations and any other entities working towards meeting the needs of veterans."

 

16.                        WWII Veteran, Prisoner Of War, Tells His Story (with Video). CN Weekly  An online video of WWII Veteran Harold Perkins talking about his experiences during the war, including the time he spent as a POW of the German Army. Perkins and the other prisoners "rose at 6 a.m. each day, received a bowl of 'water soup' and a piece of military bread for breakfast," then worked all day "repairing German rail yards hit by US bombers."

 

17.                        WWII Vet Can't Help Thinking Of The Horror He Witnessed. Stars And Stripes  WWII veteran Darrell Morris who recalled the the horrors of the months he spent with comrades, freezing starving and scurrying around German foxholes, and "not being able to touch anything for fear it was mined." Their sleep was scant and their days were filled with revelations of deaths; and the SS troops "left the bodies" of fellow American soldiers in a such a way that they spoke untold stories of immense suffering and cruelty that still gives Morris "nightmares."

 

18.                        Are Veterans Being Taken Advantage Of?  Huffington Post  Although the "post-9/11 G.I. Bill will help finance the educations of more than 606,000 individuals over the next fiscal year, according to the VA, some former military members say it's a struggle to find a school that adequately supports their needs." Moreover, whereas some schools offer "counseling, special courses and other services for active duty soldiers and veterans," other institutions have been "accused of inflating these offerings just to take advantage of those G.I. Bill benefits." The Huffington Post has scheduled an online "live discussion" for July 10 at 1:00 p.m. ET for the public to comment on whether enough is being done to "protect service members on their quest for a higher education" and for service members and veterans to share their experiences with navigating the system.

 

19.                        Program Helps Homeless Veterans Get Work. Quad-City Times Although the economy is still struggling, Gabe Simula is "looking for qualified forklift drivers" and he would "especially like it if a veteran were to apply. Simula, the operations manager at a Moline-based staffing agency, was one of a number of participants at a roundtable discussion Friday aimed at promoting a program to help homeless veterans get work." The program, which is managed by "Goodwill Industries of the Heartland, was awarded a $200,000 federal grant last month to train veterans and help them look for a job." Goodwill serves "200-300 veterans a year through the programs." The Quad-Cities' coverage area includes "Scott, Clinton and Muscatine Counties in Iowa and Rock Island, Henry and Whiteside Counties in Illinois." The Muscatine (IA) Journal (7/7, Jarosz, 5K) reports similar details.

 

20.                        Move-In Day For Local Veterans.  WHEC-TV  Veterans are beging to moving in to the the Nucor House, which opened Friday and will ultimately, house "about a dozen veterans" suffering from PTSD and TBIs. Atlhough the home in Penfield, New York, is the "28th residence for CDS Monarch," it is the "first of its kind for veterans perhaps the first in the nation." Notably, the fact that the Nucor House is "part of the Warrior Salute Program," means that the "help won't stop when the veterans get home." When veterans "come in for their therapies, they have their experiences, their support and their opportunities during the day, but when they come home at night, they have continued supports," explained Consulting Psychologist Dr. Kimberly Kalish.

 

21.                        Salt Lake VA Adds Five Mental Health Staffers.  Salt Lake (UT) Tribune "One new psychotherapist began work at the Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System this week" and the system is presently recruiting for a "clinician to evaluate veterans for compensation and pension eligibility, an administrative support staffer and two registered nurse-case managers." The move is part of the VA's plans to add 1,600 mental health clinicians and 300 support staff nationwide. Salt Lake VA Mental Health Chief Scott F. Hill said the five new positions are the system's "share of the national expansion." But Hill has a "request in for four more psychotherapists" because Salt Lake "serves all but two counties in Utah, as well as areas of southeast Idaho and northeast Nevada."

 

22.                        Will PTSD By Any Other Name Bring More Troops To Treatment? Psychiatric News Earlier this year, then-US Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli said the Army wanted the term post-traumatic stress syndrome changed to "posttraumatic stress injury." Chiarelli, who is now the CEO for One Mind for Research, believes "moving combat-related stress reactions into the same category as bullet wounds would decrease stigma." Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD Director Matthew Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., feels the term "injury" is too "imprecise for accurate diagnosis and treatment." Canadian Senate Member Romeo Dallaire's solution, which is "now accepted by Canadian Forces," is to use "'operational stress injury,' a term covering not just PTSD but other injuries to the mind." But he stresses that changing "terminology is not enough," changing "military minds is another critical component."

 

23.                        Neurotrauma, Psychological Health Office Partners With VA To Study PTSD Treatments. United States Army  The US Army Medical Materiel Development Activity's "Neurotrauma and Psychological Health Project Management Office signed an interagency agreement" with the VA Cooperative Studies Program to "jointly conduct and support clinical studies of pharmacotherapeutics" for the treatment of combat-related PTSD. Specifically, USAMMDA and VACSP will be working to "identify and develop alternate indications for existing FDA-approved drugs used to treat other disorders." At present, there are "two drugs that are FDA-approved for treating PTSD" but studies have shown they are "less than 50 percent effective when it comes to treating combat-related PTSD."

 

24.                        North Texas Veteran Receives Free Home. KYTX-TV "Carol Cavazos from our sister station in Dallas spent the day" with wounded Iraq veteran Kevin Bowden and "his family in their new dream house in Forney." The newly renovated, five-bedroom "$175,000" home was was "donated from Bank of America partnering with the Military Warriors Support Foundation and their Homes for Wounded Heroes" program. "I'm completely astonished. ... I'm speechless," said Bowden, who suffered a TBI from an IED blast in Iraq.

 

25.                        Cape Cod Post Office Named For Afghanistan Veteran. AP The Massachusetts Post Office is "being renamed this weekend in honor of a local Green Beret killed in Afghanistan." A ceremony will be held today to "rename the US Post Office in Sagamore Beach the Army Sergeant Matthew A. Pucino Post Office." Pucino, who "grew up in Plymouth and Bourne," was 34-years old and on his "third tour of duty" when the fatal "homemade bomb" exploded near his vehicle in November 2009.

 

26.                        Homeless Veteran Frustrated By Futile Attempts To Obtain Help. WJXX-TV (7/8) broadcast, "Former Marine Sgt. Mark Reynolds, who served in Iraq" for 14 months, "now roams the streets of St. Augustine, dealing with the problems of PTSD." Reynolds: "I am startled easily; there are a lot of things that are a little bit strange." WJXX: Reynolds has a "part-time job he loves at Home Depot," but the income is "not enough for a roof over his head. He has spent months applying for a HUD-VA rental voucher and for VA disability payments, but has yet to get a definitive answer." He says employees at the VA office are "trying to help but he feels their hands are tied. He meets with the VA again next week and is hoping he gets some good news."

 

27.                        Purple Heart Highway Dedication Set In Oxford. Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal Mississippi Department of Transportation officials "unveiled another marker on the Military Order of the Purple Heart Highway at Oxford" during a dedication ceremony Saturday "in front of the Walmart on West Jackson Street." It was the "second section of Mississippi Highway 6 that has been dedicated"; a section in Pontotoc County was "dedicated in July 2011." Northern District Transportation Commissioner Mike Tagert said MDOT was "proud to be a part of this ceremony" and working with "Sen. Gray Tollison and the local veterans in planning this event has been a pleasure."

28.                        Image Consultant Helps Military Transition To Civilian Fashion. Stars And Stripes  A "silver-haired man at the front of the classroom" says loudly, "Gentlemen, this is an executive suit" as he "points to a photo of a Brooks Brothers model beaming down from a projector screen. The 35 senior officers" at the Fort Meade Army installation in Maryland, "take note." They are preparing to wear these suits, and are now engaged in "examining the cuffs, the lapels, the fit" -- a practice they usually "reserve for Easter services." Meanwhile, Image Consultant Sofio Barone "has only two hours to lead the visual transition from soldier to civilian, as these men and women take a course to prepare for their retirement from the military."

 

29.                        Unusual Collection From Vietnam Veterans Memorial Reflects A Unique War.  Catholic News Service  The "religious articles gathered up each day at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington are just a small part of the estimated 400,000 items left in honor of a veteran and collected twice daily by National Park Service employees since the memorial opened 30 years ago." But for Duery Felton Jr., "curator of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Collection held at the Museum Resource Center in Landover," this collection is "unlike any other." Felton explained that it is the "only collection in which the public decides what will be included, the only one made up of items left by the living for the dead and the only one in which 'the bias of what is worthy is taken out' of the curator's hands."

 

30.                        Proper Reward For Veterans. McClatchy

 

31.                        Army Reviewing PTSD Files For Pay Anomalies. Army Times

 

32.                        Deputies Replace WWII Veteran's Flag Stolen On July 4th.  WYFF-TV

 

33.                        Ways To Help Veterans In Crisis Is Focus Of Meetings. El Paso Times "H.W. 'Bill' Sparks, president and executive director of the Veterans Business Association, is inviting all El Paso area organizations with resources that could help homeless veterans to attend a meeting at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce's Cactus Room, 1359 Lomaland."

 

34.                        New Veterans Of Foreign Wars State Commander Wayne Carrignan Hopes To Bring Young Veterans Into The Fold. Gainesville (FL) Sun

35.                        Military Officers Group To Remember Vets With Wreaths. Rome (NY) Sentinel

 

36.                        WWII Veterans Meet Iconic Bombers For First Time On Honor Flight. Windsor (CO) Beacon

 

37.                        Soldier's Songs: Pa Vet Turns Troubles To Music. WHIO-AM/FM Dayton (OH)

 

38.                        New Laws Impact Veterans.  Alton (IL) Daily News

 

39.                        VA / VSO-MSO Hearings as July 9, 2012:

            July 25, 2012.  The House Committee on Veterans Affairs and the House Armed Services Committee will hold a joint hearing titled “Back from the Battlefield: DOD and VA Collaboration to Assist Service Members Returning to Civilian Life.”  10:00 AM; 2118 Rayburn HOB

 

            July 18, 2012. HVAC, Disability and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee, will hold a hearing entitled: “Obtaining Benefits for Military Sexual Trauma.”  Time and location TBD.