The latest flurry of attention toward gays in the military shows that the question of who gets to be a soldier, and why, is sometimes unavoidably moral. So let’s ask that question about another group of soldiers who haven’t attracted as much talk but should: mothers, many of them single, in combat boots — and combat zones.

By Mary Eberstadt–Washington Post–

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

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

Brown was referring to HR 2847, the Hiring Incentive to Restore Employment Act, or HIRE Act, that passed the Senate on Wednesday by a 70-28 vote and is pending before the House.

Speaking before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s economic opportunity panel, which is considering legislation that would expand vocational training for veterans, Brown said the VFW “finds it unconscionable that American’s veterans, who have left their families, risked their lives and limbs and left civilian career pursuits behind to answer the nation’s call, do not have the attention of Congress for this important matter.”

The unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans is almost 15.8 percent, higher than the average 10.6 percent overall unemployment rate, as well as the 11.8 percent rate for foreign-born U.S. citizens — a sore point among veterans groups such as the VFW.

Read Full Article Here

Greetings people.  Thursday is over and we are into another Friday….weeks come and go like days.  One of these days I am going to slow down enough to smell the roses……………..but then again, back to work!!

Prayers and blessings for you and your loved ones and for our wonderful Troops and their loved ones everywhere.

Best………………Wayne

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VA News for Thursday, February 25, 2010

1.      During Texas Visit, Shinseki Discusses Goals To Improve VA. In continuing coverage, the Army News Service (2/24, Reho) noted that on Friday, more than “50 veterans gathered…to hear Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki speak about his goals to improve the quality of life for veterans at the El Paso VA Health Care System facility.” During his visit, Shinseki, who “was hosted” by US Reps. Silvestre Reyes, Ciro Rodriguez, and Harry Teague, “toured the VA facility and the Fort Bliss National Cemetery, and he participated in a veterans roundtable before addressing the public on the purpose of his visit. In his speech, he addressed three specific goals targeting programs affecting the nation’s veterans: reducing the growing backlog of claims, improving the quality of VA healthcare facilities and reducing homelessness among all veterans.”

2.      VA Program Cited As Example Of “Relentless” IT Oversight Planned By White House. NextGov (2/25, Brewin) reports, “The White House plans ‘relentless oversight’ of the entire federal information technology portfolio, which will include a bottom-up review of all projects, Vivek Kundra, federal chief information officer, said at a news briefing on Wednesday.” NextGov adds, “A Veterans Affairs Department program to track progress and improve management of IT projects is an example of how the administration plans to monitor the federal IT portfolio, Kundra said.”
     VA Terminates 12 Failing IT Projects. Federal Computer Week (2/25, Lipowicz, 90K) reports, “The Veterans Affairs Department has terminated its Enrollment System Redesign, Pharmacy Reengineering and 10 other failing information technology projects for a projected savings of $54 million this fiscal year, officials announced” during a conference call on Wednesday. After noting that the “12 canceled IT projects were among 44″ that had been “halted by VA officials in July 2009,” Federal Computer Week quotes one of the officials on the conference call, White House Chief Technology Officer Vivek Kundra, as saying, “Today, under the leadership of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and CIO Roger Baker, we are taking major steps in relentless management across the IT portfolio.” Government Health IT (2/25, Buxbaum) and InformationWeek (2/25, Montalbano) both publish similar stories.
     Baker: Shortage Of Experienced IT Program Managers Hampering VA. In a separate story, Federal Computer Week (2/24, Lipowicz, 90K) reported, “The conversion to paperless benefits systems and other new information technology solutions at the Veterans Affairs Department is hampered by a shortage of experienced federal IT project managers, VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker said” on Tuesday, during a “breakfast conference sponsored by Bisnow.” However, Baker “also said organization and governance at the VA are in a strong position and the VA’s management and its IT division are working closely together.”
     Blogger Skeptical About IT Task Force Leading To More DOD Cooperation With VA On EHRs. In continuing coverage, Bob Brewin, writing in his “What’s Brewin’” blog for NextGov (2/25), notes, “On Feb. 19, Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management Budget, and Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, sent a memo” to numerous Administration officials, including VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and Defense Department Secretary Robert Gates, “detailing the formation of a high-level task force to coordinate all federal health information technology.” According to Brewin, this “all sounds ducky on paper, but since Defense has passively resisted cooperating with VA on development of compatible” electronic health records (EHRs) “as far back as the last Ice Age, I asked” Vivek Kundra, the Federal chief information officer, “how this memo and the formation of yet another task force would improve things. Kundra told me that development of a joint virtual lifetime record is backed by President Obama as well as Gates and Shinseki,” but, Brewin argues, while “presidents and secretaries come and go,” the “Military Health System bureaucracy outlasts — and outfoxes — all of them.”

3.      Duckworth To Be Honored By US Army Women’s Foundation. The AP (2/25) reports, “Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs Tammy Duckworth will be inducted into the US Army Women’s Foundation Hall of Fame.” The induction ceremony is scheduled to take place “on March 17 at the foundation’s second annual Army Women in Transition Symposium and Hall of Fame luncheon in Washington.” KITV-TV Honolulu, HI (2/24, 10:43 p.m. HT) broadcast a similar report.
     Assistant Secretary Chooses VA Over Lieutenant Governor Run. Politico (2/24, 25K) notes that on Tuesday, Duckworth “took herself out of the running for the job of lieutenant governor” of Illinois, “issuing a statement explaining: ‘I made a commitment to President Obama and our nation’s veterans to serve at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and I want to fulfill my promise before returning home.’”

4.      Grant To Fund Expansion Of Successful Pilot Program At Tomah VAMC. The fourth “News In Brief” item for the Jackson County (WI) Chronicle (2/25) says the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center “was recently selected as one of 20 sites within the Veterans Health Administration to receive a grant for systems redesign and improvement.” After noting that the “$1.3-million grant was awarded” to the hospital’s Intensive Clinical Care Management (ICCM) team, the Journal says the money will be used to expand a pilot program that “was launched in…2008 at the Tomah VAMC and has demonstrated promising patient outcomes.”

5.      Connecticut Lawmaker Honored For Helping Veterans. The New London (CT) Day (2/24, Renczkowski) noted that Connecticut state Sen. Andrew Maynard, “D-Stonington, Senate chair of the General Assembly’s Select Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, was recognized Tuesday at the fourth annual Veterans Day at the Capitol for his multi-year advocacy on behalf of Connecticut’s veterans.”

6.      Legislative Aide Concerned VA Relying Too Much On Billing Private Insurers. The Marine Corps Times (2/25, Maze) reports, “More aggressive billing of private insurers for health care received at veterans hospitals and clinics may be a way to cut costs – but it’s also fraught with errors, a House subcommittee was warned Tuesday. Blake Ortner, a legislative aide with Paralyzed Veterans of America, said if Congress and the Obama administration ‘are going to continue to rely on massive collections estimates and dollars actually collected to support the VA health care budget, then serious examination of how VA is achieving these numbers is necessary.’” The Times notes that the “national commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars raised similar concerns in early February when the Obama administration released its 2011 budget plan.”

7.      Vet Center Team Leader Says Those Returning From War Need Comprehensive Care. The Florida Times-Union (2/25, Gibbons, 132K), a newspaper based in Jacksonville, Florida, reports, “Helping veterans who return home affected by the trauma of war requires a holistic approach to help them become part of the community again, the team leader of the Jacksonville Vet Center said Wednesday.” During a “lunchtime gathering,” Reginald Lawrence, “laid out the approach taken by the Vet Center, part of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to a crowd composed mainly of mental health professionals looking to help those returning from war.” The event “was arranged by Jacksonville Community Council Inc. as part of the organization’s push to help medical personnel and the broader community work with veterans wrestling with ‘the invisible wounds of war.’”

8.      Former Camp Lejeune Resident’s Injury Claim Allowed To Move Forward. In continuing coverage, McClatchy (2/25, Barrett) reports, “For what appears to be the first time, a former resident of Camp Lejeune, N.C., has been permitted to move ahead” with a personal injury claim “against the Marine Corps for years of water contamination that she says led to the development of her non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.” The US Department of the Navy, “which includes the Marines, this week lost its bid” in Federal Court “to dismiss the case of Laura J. Jones of Iowa, who lived at Camp Lejeune from 1980 to 1983 as the spouse of a Marine officer.” McClatchy adds, “The decision means the case can now move forward, said Joseph L. Anderson, a Winston-Salem, N.C., attorney who represented Jones and has heard from thousands of other potential victims at Lejeune.”

9.      Coalition Of New Orleans Business Groups Push For Movement On State, VA Hospitals. In continuing coverage, the New Orleans Times-Picayune (2/25, Barrow, 169K) reports, “A coalition of 10 business groups from across the New Orleans region came together” Wednesday to “urge Gov. Bobby Jindal to make his appointments to the governing board for a teaching hospital slated for Mid-City and to ask that plaintiffs drop pending lawsuits challenging the state project” and an adjacent Veterans Affairs hospital project. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, “which filed the federal suit, reacted” to the development “with a statement emphasizing that its proposed alternatives would produce the same economic benefits that business leaders cited in their press event.” The WGNO-TV New Orleans, LA (2/24) website focused its coverage on the press event.

10.    Vets Concerned About Use Of West LA Land Announce Intention To Sue. In continuing coverage, the San Fernando Valley (CA) Sun (2/25, Chavez) reports, “A small and highly motivated group of veterans and their supporters, some in their 60s, 70s, and 80s,” recently “braved the blistery weather outside the locked gates of the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration’s facility to announce their intention” to file a lawsuit over land on that facility’s campus. According to the Sun, the veterans “will sue in federal court to remove non-veteran entities from the West L.A. campus and are calling for the resignation or termination of some of the top managers of the L.A. VA.” The Sun notes that while the veterans have larger plans for getting a medical and rehabilitation center built on the West L.A. campus, in the “immediate future, they want to build a temporary shelter for homeless veterans on the 16 acres that is now designated as a public park and soccer field.”

11.    “High Tech” ID Badges Being Rolled Out At VA Hospital. In continuing coverage, the KWES-TV Odessa, TX (2/24, Ruiz) website said the Veterans Affairs hospital “in Big Spring is rolling out some new ID badges for their” employees, but these are “not your typical” identification cards. According to KWES, the “new high tech badges,” which are “being funded by the VA in Washington,” are “supposed to reduce identity fraud and protect personal privacy.”

12.    Musician Helps Nonprofit Bring Music To VA Hospital Patients. In continuing coverage, the website for Country Music Television (2/24) said musician Darius Rucker “visited the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System’s Veterans Affairs” hospital “in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on Wednesday on behalf of Musicians on Call, a nonprofit organization which brings music to hospital patients.” The website noted that Rucker, who “will also perform at the Hard Rock Café in Nashville on March 3 to raise money for the organization,” said, “Hospitals like the VA are so incredible for recognizing this benefit and incorporating it into their treatment to break up the monotony and improve each patient’s quality of life.”

13.    Don’t Believe Everything You Hear! The Marlin (TX) Democrat (2/25) reports, “Rumors of a possible ’stop work’ on refurbishing of the old Marlin” Veterans Affairs hospital “for use by the new owners, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice,” was premature. The plans for the vacant “building in Marlin to be a prison hospital are still on ‘go’ even though some of the funds designated for the facility may be diverted to cover a state budget shortage.”

14.    County Announces Transportation Changes For Thursday. In a story that notes local schedule changes made in anticipation of a “weather forecast for significant snow and hazardous daytime driving conditions,” the Burlington County Times (2/25, Camilli), a newspaper based in Willingboro, New Jersey, says that on Thursday, “Veterans Transportation Service….will operate on a limited basis.” Veterans with appointments at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Philadelphia “have been notified to reschedule those appointments. Veterans Transportation operates Tuesday-Friday.”

15.    Huber Heights Woman Keeps Promise, Becomes US Citizen. The Dayton (OH) Daily News (2/25, Zezzo) reports, “It’s a long haul from the tsunami-scarred shores of Thailand to the steps of the United States Courthouse in Dayton, but Pratoon Mims has made it in grand style,” fulfilling a promise to her late husband, veteran Christopher Mims, to become an American citizen. The News adds, “After becoming a citizen, the first place she headed to was the Veterans Cemetery in Dayton to practice a ritual she often repeats: placing a yellow rose” on her husband’s grave.

16.    Veterans Invited To Opportunity Conference. The Shoshone (ID) News Press (2/25).

17.    Man Walking Across America For Disabled Veterans. The KOSA-TV Odessa, TX (2/24, Sherman) website.

18.    Brain Injuries — The Silent Epidemic.The Salon.com (2/25, De Yoanna, Benjamin) website.

19.    ‘Ewa Beach Soldier Killed By Explosive. The Honolulu Advertiser (2/25, Cole, 130K).

20.    GI Back From Haiti Stricken With Rare Infection. The WPTV-TV West Palm Beach, FL (2/24, Garner) website.

21.    Local Honor Flight For WWII Vets Set For Nov. 10. The Myrtle Beach (SC) Sun News (2/25, 49K)

22.    Local Collectors Help With ‘Shutter Island.’ The Hooksett (NH) Banner (2/25, O’Brien) reports, “World War II vehicles owned by two New Hampshire collectors got a lot of time in front of the camera during the filming of ‘Shutter Island,’ the Martin Scorsese-directed thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio that premiered Friday, Feb. 19.”

23.    US War Dogs Monument To Honor Military Canines. Kansas City InfoZine (2/25, Hiner).

24.    Western Springs Prosthetist Helps Rebuild Lives. The Doings La Grange (2/25, Burrows), a newspaper based in LaGrange, Illinois.

25.    On the Hill for February 25, 2010:

Top lawmakers will meet with President Obama for much of the day at a bipartisan summit on health care.

The House is expected to vote on an intelligence authorization bill and a bill to extend provisions of the counterterrorism law known as the Patriot Act.

The House is also expected to pass a draft bill to extend several expiring programs, which may include unemployment and health care benefits, highway programs, and preventing Medicare pay cuts for physicians, among other provisions.

The Senate continues to consider a bill that contains travel promotion language, as well as provisions regarding the Capitol Police.

House:  Convenes 10 a.m.

        Subject to a rule:

HR 2701 — Intelligence authorization

HR 3961 — Counterterrorism law extension

        Under suspension of the rules:

Draft — Extending various programs

        Postponed suspensions:

H Con Res 227 — Urban crimes awareness

H Con Res 238 — Black veterans

Senate:  Convenes 10 a.m.

        Roll call votes possible after 4 p.m.

HR 1299 — Travel promotion and Capitol Police

            Markups

House Rules considers rules for floor debate of a measure to reauthorize counterterrorism law ( HR 3961 ). 10 a.m., H-313 Capitol

Senate Judiciary marks up bills on cocaine sentencing disparities ( S 1789 ), law enforcement officers carrying concealed weapons ( S 1132 ), criminal justice grants ( S 2772 ), witness protection grants ( HR 1741 ), medical bankruptcy ( S 1624 ), hate crimes against the homeless ( S 1765 ) and maltreated infants ( S 1554 ); also votes on nominations, including Dawn Johnsen to be an assistant attorney general. 10 a.m., 226 Dirksen

            Hearing Highlights

Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs hearing on the semiannual monetary policy report, with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke . 9 a.m., 538 Dirksen

Senate Armed Services hearing on the fiscal 2011 budget for the Navy. 9:30 a.m., G-50 Dirksen

House Foreign Affairs hearing on the fiscal 2011 budget for the State Department, with Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton . 9:30 a.m., 2172 Rayburn

House Budget hearing on the fiscal 2011 budget for the Education Department, with Secretary Arne Duncan . 10 a.m., 210 Cannon

House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on fiscal 2011 funding for the Homeland Security Department, with Secretary Janet Napolitano . 10 a.m., 2359 Rayburn

House State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on fiscal 2011 funding for the State Department, with Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton . 1 p.m., 2359 Rayburn

House Financial Services hearing on executive pay in the financial industry. 2 p.m., 2128 Rayburn

House Homeland Security hearing on the fiscal 2011 budget for the Homeland Security Department, with Secretary Janet Napolitano . 2 p.m., 311 Cannon

House Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on fiscal 2011 funding for the EPA, with EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson . 2 p.m., B-308 Rayburn

26.    Today in History: 

• 1793 – George Washington holds the first Cabinet meeting as President of the United States.
• 1797 – Colonel William Tate and his force of 1000-1500 soldiers surrender after the Last Invasion of Britain.
• 1836 – Samuel Colt receives an American patent for the Colt revolver.
• 1870 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in the U.S. Congress.
• 1901 – J.P. Morgan incorporates the United States Steel Corporation.
• 1919 – Oregon places a 1 cent per U.S. gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax.
• 1925 – Glacier Bay National Monument (now Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve) is established in Alaska.
• 1925 – Diplomatic relations between Japan and the Soviet Union are established.
• 1928 – Charles Jenkins Laboratories of Washington, D.C. becomes the first holder of a television license from the Federal Radio Commission.
• 1932 – Adolf Hitler obtains German citizenship by naturalization, which allows him to run in the 1932 election for Reichspräsident.
• 1933 – The USS Ranger (CV-4) is launched. It is the first US Navy ship to be built solely as an aircraft carrier.
• 1941 – February Strike: In occupied Amsterdam, a general strike is declared in response to increasing anti-Jewish measures instituted by the Nazis.
• 1945 – World War II: Turkey declares war on Germany.
• 1947 – State of Prussia ceases to exist.
• 1948 – The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia takes control of government in Czechoslovakia and the period of the Third Republic ends.
• 1951 – The first Pan American Games are held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• 1954 – Gamal Abdul Nasser is made premier of Egypt.
• 1971 – The first unit of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, first commercial nuclear power station in Canada, goes online.
• 1980 – The Suriname government is overthrown by a military coup which is initiated with the bombing of the police station from an army ship of the coast of the nation’s capital; Paramaribo
• 1986 – People Power Revolution: President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines flees the nation after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the first Filipino woman president. 
• 1991 – Gulf War: An Iraqi Scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killing 28 U.S. Army Reservists from Pennsylvania.
• 1992 – Khojaly massacre: about 613 civilians are killed by Armenian armed forces during the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan
• 1994 – Mosque of Abraham massacre: In the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron, Dr. Baruch Kappel Goldstein opens fire with an automatic rifle, killing 29 Palestinian worshippers and injuring 125 more before being subdued and beaten to death by survivors. Subsequent rioting kills 26 more Palestinians and 9 Israelis.
• 2009 – BDR massacre in Pilkhana, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 74 People are being killed, including more than 50 Army officials, by Bangladeshi Border Guards inside its headquarters.

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From:  Bill Elmore at OVBD, SBA (See attached EBV Newsletter folks…It is GOOD stuff!)    Thanks Bill

Sent:   Thu 2/25/2010 9:51 AM

“Dear Friends of EBV,

Veteran interest in EBV is growing. We currently have over 30 applications just for the FSU program and anticipate many more over the next month. With our capacity limited to 25 (or less depending on our fundraising efforts), the selection process will be arduous. 

In an effort to increase our visibility and outreach nationally, attached you will find the national program’s inaugural Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veteran’s with Disabilities newsletter.  This new publication will be issued four times a year, and is designed to keep you informed about developments in the program and share with you some of the great success stories of our EBV graduates.

Please feel free to share this newsletter with anyone who may be interested in learning more about our program and our commitment to those who have given so much in the service of our country.

Thanks for your continued support,”

FYI-This is from the FSU EBV program that is part of the Syracuse Consortium of Schools providing high end entrepreneurship training to service-connected disabled vets.  OVBD is privileged to be a partner in this program.  Bill Elmore

———————————————

From: Kevin Secor at VA

Sent: Thu 2/25/2010 4:29 AM

Subj: HAVE YOU HEARD?

In May 2000, a computer worm nicknamed the Love Bug arrived in the email boxes of tens of millions of computer users. With the eye-catching subject line, “I LOVE YOU,” the bogus email contained a malicious attachment named LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.VBS. Upon opening the attachment, the worm used the user’s email address to send a copy of itself to everyone in the user’s address book and also made a number of nasty changes to the user’s system. The social engineering scheme caused an estimated $5.5 billion in damages. Social engineering occurs when an outsider attempts to acquire sensitive information or inappropriate access by fooling individuals into believing that he or she is trustworthy. Follow these tips to avoid becoming a victim of a social engineering scam:

– Never click on an attachment without first scanning for viruses

– Be suspicious of unsolicited emails asking about employees or other internal information

– Only provide passwords, personal or information if you are certain of the person’s authority to have it

– Don’t respond to email solicitations for personal, financial, or medical information without verifying the identity of the requestor

– Click on hyperlinks in emails only if you know for sure the message is authentic or the source is known

– Notice the URL of a Web site; malicious sites may look identical to the real site, but the URL may use a variation in spelling or different domain (e.g., .com vs. .net)

—————————————————————–

From: Kevin Secor at VA

Sent:  Thu 2/25/2010 4:39 AM

Subject: CALL OUT FOR VETERANS DAY NATIONAL POSTER NOMINATIONS

Do you have an idea for a national Veterans Day poster? If so, the Veterans Day National Committee wants to hear from you. The committee is seeking submissions for the 2010 national Veterans Day poster. The poster is distributed to VA and military installations around the world. It also graces the cover of the official program booklet for the Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. A selection committee will convene in May 2010 to review submissions and select a finalist. The final poster must be 18×24” at 300 dots per inch, but please scale down submissions to 9×12” and submit electronic versions as jpg images or PDF files via e-mail to vetsday@va.gov

Alternatively, send copies of artwork or a CD with artwork files to: Department of Veterans Affairs (002C), 810 Vermont Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., 20420. Please do not send originals. The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2010. To view Veterans Day posters from previous years, please visit http://www.va.gov/vetsday  and click on “Poster Gallery”. Submissions should include sufficient information to demonstrate that the image is the work of the artist and is not copyrighted material (i.e. photos and concepts). The committee may select a particular submission but ask the artist to make modifications to the original design. Additional changes may be required prior to printing.

——————————————--

Godspeed,

Wayne

Wayne M. Gatewood, Jr., USMC (Ret)

President/CEO

Quality Support, Inc.

A Service Disabled Veteran and Minority Owned-Small Business

8201 Corporate Drive, Suite 220,

Landover, MD 20785

301-459-3777 Ext 101    -    FAX 301-459-6961

www.qualitysupport.com

“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their Nation.”   – George Washington

“Give me Liberty to know, to utter and to argue freely according to my conscious, above all other liberties.”    – Milton

Wayne’s Daily Veteran Update–

Greetings good folks.  

Hoping you and your loved ones are well.  Lets keep up with those Prayers and Blessings for our Troops and their loved ones everywhere. 

Best………………….Wayne

VA News for Tuesday, February 23, 2010

1.      Shinseki “Fighting To Reduce” Red Tape For Vets Seeking Benefits. In continuing coverage, KITV-TV Honolulu, HI (2/22, 10:31 p.m. HT) broadcast, “Kauai-born” Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki “is fighting to reduce the red tape…veterans” encounter when seeking benefits. Shinseki “has already made it easier for veterans exposed to Agent Orange in the Vietnam War to get benefits” for numerous diseases “associated with the toxic chemical.”
     Shinseki Urged To Take On Bureaucracy While Attempting To Reduce Claims Backlog. In a related editorial, the Wheeling (WV) Intelligencer (2/23, 19K) notes Shinseki recently “told the Associated Press he will make it a priority this year to reduce backlogs in processing veterans’ disability claims.” The Intelligencer urges Shinseki not to “shirk from the bureaucratic battles he will have to wage to keep that promise. Our veterans are worth it.”

2.      Lawmakers Urge VA Support For New Fisher House In Colorado. The Aurora (CO) Sentinel (2/23, Goldstein, 8K) reports, “Congressional representatives are seeking federal support for a $10-million, 20-bed residential center that would serve patients at the new, $800-million standalone veterans hospital” in Aurora. In a letter sent to Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, “Aurora Reps. Mike Coffman and Ed Perlmutter, and Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall,” along “with other members of the Colorado congressional” delegation, “urged support for a new Fischer House facility to be built next to the new VA hospital.” The Sentinel notes that according to Leslie Oliver, a spokeswoman for Perlmutter’s office, the VA needs to give its approval if the Fischer House is to be completed by the time the VA hospital opens its doors in 2013.

3.      White House Calls For Health IT “Task Force.” Government Health IT (2/23, Mosquera) reports, “The White House Friday called for a government-wide health IT ‘task force’ to strengthen coordination of health IT among federal agencies that hold key roles in carrying out the administration’s plans for a digital healthcare system. The plan, issued in a memo” from Office of Management & Budget Director Peter Orzsag and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, “sets up a way for agencies with heavy healthcare agendas to participate formally in planning health IT adoption projects set in motion by passage of the HITECH Act last year.” The memo, which was addressed to several Cabinet secretaries, including Veterans Affairs’ Eric Shinseki, “asked the secretaries to choose a senior leader from their agencies to represent them on the task force and to send HHS their choices within five days.”

4.      Homeless Vets Facility In Texas Could Soon Begin Accepting Residents. The Fort Worth (TX) Business Press (2/22, Dillard) reported, “The finishing touches are all in place at Liberty House: the walls are painted, the carpet is in, the beds are turned down and the staff is ready to welcome home the first residents in a new transitional housing program for homeless veterans in Tarrant County. Liberty House, a partnership between Mental Health Mental Retardation of Tarrant County (MHMRTC)” and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, “could begin accepting residents by March 1, once final approval is received from the government.” The Business Press added, “Construction on the two-story, 7,500-square-foot veterans’ facility began in August 2009 after MHMRTC’s Addiction Services Division received” a $600,000 VA grant.

5.      Stimulus Funds To Pay For Upgrades At Several VA Facilities. The Newport News (VA) Daly Press (2/23) reports, “The Hampton VA Medical Center will receive funds to replace fire alarm and nurse call systems through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the US Department of Veterans Affairs announced Monday. The $1.5 million project to upgrade the two systems was awarded to Adira Construction Inc., a small, veteran-owned business” in Chesapeake, Virginia. After noting that the hospital will also “complete an electrical upgrade project estimated at $6.2 million,” the Daily Press adds, “Rep. Robert C. ‘Bobby’ Scott, D- Newport News, said the stimulus-funded work ‘will go a long way toward enhancing and improving the benefits our veterans have earned.’” The Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot (2/23) also covers this story, as does the “Hampton Road Recon”, a blog for the Newport News (VA) Daily Press (2/23, Lessig, 76K), and the AP (2/23).
     A separate AP (2/23) story reports, “Federal stimulus funding will pay for $5.4 million in construction upgrades at the Department of Veterans Affairs Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System. A White House news release says the upgrades include replacement elevators and dumbwaiters, a replacement roof and an updated exterior finish to several buildings at the…facility,” which is located in Biloxi, Mississippi. Thomas Wisniesk, the facility’s director, “says the improved infrastructure will benefit the veterans who rely on the center’s services.” The Biloxi (MS) Sun Herald (2/23, Newsom) publishes a similar story.
     The KTVN-TV Reno, NV (2/22) website reported, “Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid says more than $5 million in economic recovery dollars are headed” to Reno’s VA medical center. According to KTVN, the “money will help renovate the community living center and urgent care center,” as well as “help upgrade elevators and refurbish heating and air conditioning units and the hospital floors. Reid says not only is this money important for our vets, but it will help put Nevadans back to work as well.”

     The Salisbury (NC) Post (2/23, 21K) notes that on Monday, US Sen. Kay R. Hagan (D-NC) “announced that the Hefner VA Medical Center in Salisbury has received $5.7 million” in stimulus funds for building renovations. After pointing out that Hagan called the funds a “crucial investment”, the Post notes Carolyn Adams, the hospital’s director, said the money “allows the facility to complete many energy saving initiatives.”

6.      Turnaround At VHA Praised. While being interviewed on CNN’s No Bias, No Bull (2/22, 8:35 p.m. ET), David Osborne, co-author of a book called “Reinventing Government”, praised the turnaround at the Veterans Health Administration, which, according to Osborne, ended up having the “best electronic medical records system in the world, and by any measure they had better performance in terms of healthcare outcomes, quality, and customer satisfaction than the private sector in healthcare.”

7.      Following Efforts At VA, USDA, Army Explores Telemedicine At Some Europe Bases. After noting that the US Army is “testing telemedicine as a way to give patients at remote posts in Europe better access to American specialists,” Stars And Stripes (2/23, Robson) says telemedicine “has already gained a foothold” in the US healthcare system, at the US Department of Agriculture, which recently “announced $34.9 million in grants for 35 states to increase health care services in rural areas.” Stars And Stripes adds, “Additionally, the Veterans Affairs Department is already a step ahead of the rest of the federal government in promoting telemedicine, according to a Feb. 17 article in Federal Computer Week.”

8.      Ad Campaign Part Of VA Plan To Attract “Best And Brightest.” In its “Federal Eye” blog, the Washington Post (2/23, O’Keefe, 684K) says, “If you’ve watched the Olympics or other big events on television in recent weeks, then you’ve likely seen ads with doctors and nurses talking about careers with the Department of Veterans Affairs,” which “plans to hire a mix of medical professionals and clerical staffers to fill roughly 105,000 positions by the end of 2011.” During “an interview on Monday,” VA Deputy Secretary W. Scott Gould said, “It’s a big number and a great opportunity for us to try to attract our fair share of the best and brightest.” The Post adds, “Virtually unanimous political support for the department’s planned growth should calm the nerves of weary applicants, Gould said.” The Washington Post (2/23, 684K) also publishes some of Gould’s interview responses.

9.      Veterans Affairs Secretary Pledges No Cuts In Services. A letter from Louisiana Veterans Affairs Secretary Lane Carson to the editor of the Shreveport (LA) Times (2/23).

10.    Home For Mentally Ill Vets Opens In Alabama. In a front page story, the Tuscaloosa (AL) News (2/20, A1, Avant) noted that last week, the Moundville City Council “approved opening a group home for mentally ill veterans, most of them senior citizens,” in a vacant assisted-living facility. After pointing out that back in 2006, “some residents in the city of Moundville and the City Council protested a group home for the mentally ill that had been planned” at the same facility, the News said that according to Rebecca Meyer, associate chief nurse for mental health at the Tuscaloosa Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the new home is one of 144 private group homes in West Alabama that partner with Meyer’s hospital. The News noted positive feedback from residents of the new home, and then said there is a need for such facilities “because of an increasing population of aging veterans.”

11.    New Orleans Commission To Consider VA Hospital Construction Road Closures. The New Orleans Times-Picayune (2/23, Barrow, 169K) reports, “The New Orleans City Planning Commission is scheduled Tuesday to consider street closures within the Mid-City footprint of the planned” US Department of Veterans Affairs teaching hospital, which is “slated for ground-breaking this fall. Any vote would mark the first regulatory action the body has taken in a public meeting on either the federal hospital or the state teaching hospital proposed next door. Neighborhood residents, along with dozens of planning groups, historical preservationists and other advocacy groups, are poised to use the meeting as a platform to criticize the two projects.”

12.    Some Massachusetts Vets Concerned About Defoliant Exposure At Canadian Base. The Dedham (MA) Daily News Transcript (2/23, Studley) reports, “Some sick Massachusetts veterans are wondering if their medical conditions are linked to time spent at a training camp in New Brunswick, after reading a Daily News report last week about toxic defoliants used at the Canadian base” from 1956 to 1984. George Cameron, department service officer for the Massachusetts American Legion, “said in the past week…he has received about 15 phone calls from Massachusetts National Guard and Army Reserve veterans who served in Gagetown in the 1980s. He said some were sick and others voiced concern they may have been exposed to the herbicides.”

13.    Tuscaloosa VAMC Attempting To Help Homeless Women Vets. On its website, WIAT-TV Birmingham, AL (2/22, Wyatt) noted that the Department of Veterans Affairs “says there are thousands of homeless women vets, and the number is on the rise.” But as “more and more women return home from war, the VA says they try to expand their programs to help them better transition into civilian life.” After stating that the “near future will…see more help for homeless vets in the region” from the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center, which is looking to help set up transitional housing for homeless vets, WIAT said “female vets will…have a new place to find improved medical care, as the Tuscaloosa VA unveils their new women’s health clinic next month.”

14.    Former VA Psychiatrist Pleads Guilty To Unlawfully Prescribing Controlled Substances. The AP (2/23) reports, “A former psychiatrist at the Veterans Administration hospital in Topeka has pleaded guilty to unlawfully prescribing controlled substances” while working at the hospital in 2006. US Attorney Lanny Welch “says 58-year-old Ethan Bickelhaupt entered the plea” on Monday. KSNW-TV Wichita, KS (2/22, 11:20 p.m. CT) broadcast a similar story.

15.    Memorial Honors Japanese-American Internees, Veterans. The AP (2/23) reports, “A new memorial now stands” in California’s “Merced County to remember the thousands of Japanese-Americans who were forced to relocate there during World War II. More than 150 former internees and their families gathered over the weekend to dedicate the plaza with the statue of a little girl sitting atop a pile of suitcases.” The AP adds, “Saturday’s ceremony also honored Japanese-American veterans who had enlisted as a way to prove their patriotism even as their families lived behind barbed wire.”
     The Merced (CA) Sun-Star (2/23, Gaines, 16K) reports, “During Saturday’s ceremony, Japanese-American veterans who served in the military intelligence service as Japanese interpreters and the Asian American 442nd Combat Infantry Regiment were honored. ‘While their families were behind barbed wire, more than 33,000 young Japanese-American men enlisted or were drafted in the US military. They joined the military effort to demonstrate their loyalty and service to the United States,’” the ceremony’s emcee “told the crowd.”

16.    Flag-Raising To Commemorate Battle Of Iwo Jima Anniversary. The Marine Corps Times (2/23, 32K) reports, “A flag-raising ceremony to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima will take place 9:45 a.m. Tuesday at the Marine Corps War memorial, located north of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.” The ceremony “will honor all Marines who fought during the pivotal World War II battle, as well as all the Marines killed in all wars, to whom the memorial is dedicated. Veterans of Iwo Jima will be on hand for the event.”

17.    WWII Female Pilots To Be Honored. The Air Force Times (2/23, Spoth) reports, “As World War II raged,” the Army Air Forces allowed hundreds of women “to take domestic military flying jobs that freed up male pilots to serve overseas, but their service was unappreciated and was kept secret for decades. Now, after years of lobbying, the Women Airforce Service Pilots will be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on March 10.” The Times adds, “Nearly 300 of the original 1,102 woman pilots are still alive, and about 130 are expected to attend the March 10 medal ceremony, according to Marilla Cushman of the women’s memorial foundation.”

18.    “Most Heavily Decorated” Vietnam Vet Buried At Arlington. NBC Nightly News (2/23, story 9, 1:00, Williams, 8.37M) broadcast that on Monday, Medal of Honor recipient Robert Howard “was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.” Howard was the “most heavily decorated veteran of the Vietnam War.” The San Antonio Express-News (2/23, Martin, 210K) says the 70-year-old Howard, “an Army veteran from San Antonio,” died “of pancreatic cancer on Dec. 23 in a Waco hospice.”

19.    Wounded Warrior Program Advocate Added To Lebanon VAMC Staff. The second item in “Local Briefs” for the Lebanon (PA) Daily News (2/23, 19K) reports the Lebanon Veterans Affairs Medical Center “has welcomed Wounded Warrior Program Advocate John Boylan IV to its staff. Advocates for AW2, as the program is known, are located throughout the country where there are large concentrations of AW2 soldiers, veterans at VA facilities, military treatment facilities and most military installations, according to a news release.” The Daily News adds, “The medical center’s Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom team has been in place since 2003 and is composed of a program manager, social-work case manager, two nurse case managers and one program support assistant.”

20.    Couple Hopes To Improve Care For Returning Vets. On its website, KGTV-TV San Diego, CA (2/22) reported, “A Rancho Bernardo couple has begun a campaign for federal legislation regarding health care for military veterans. While they have no complaints about the care and treatment afforded” by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Iraq veteran Aaron Dial, who is suffering from acute lymphocytic leukemia, and his fiancée Heidi Christ think there should be more screenings and warnings” from exposure to depleted uranium in ammunition. The couple is “working to get ‘Aaron’s Law’ passed by Congress, extending the health care window for returning veterans from two to five years and more proactively alerting them to the risk of carcinogens.”

21.    Hefner VAMC To Host Creative Arts Festival Next Month. The Salisbury (NC) Post (2/23, 21K) reports the Hefner Veterans Affairs Medical Center “will host a March Creative Arts Festival for veterans.” The festival, scheduled to “be held March 13 in the social room” of building No. 6, “will allow participants to qualify for competition at the regional level for the national festival.”

22.    Why Did Sgt. Thomas Die? The Lexington (NE) Clipper-Herald (2/22) published a story that originally appeared in the Omaha (NE) World-Herald (2/22, Hansen).

23.    DAV Chapter Distributes Christmas Bags To VA Hospital. In a reader-submitted story, the Clarksville (TN) Leaf Chronicle (2/22, 19K) reported, “Local Chapter of the Disabled American Veterans, Hardy-Shelby Chapter 45, Clarksville,” Tennessee, “distributed Christmas bags to disabled veterans” at a Veterans Affairs hospital on December 15, 2009.

24.    Cuellar Talks About Van For Local Veterans. The Seguin (TX) Gazette-Enterprise (2/22, Maloney, 5K).

25.    Author Helps First Black Female POW Tell Tale. The AP (2/23, Fox) reports, “In helping” Iraq vet Shoshana Johnson write “I’m Still Standing”, her autobiography, “Fort Meade Media Relations Chief Mary L. Doyle not only exposed the world to the plight of the country’s first black female prisoner of war,” she “furthered her own budding literary career.” Doyle “said she hopes eventually to be able to write books and novels full time.”

26.    When Johnny (Or Jane) Marches Home. The Albany (NY) Times Union (2/23, Fitzgerald).

27.    Joseph Stack’s Daughter Calls Him A Hero, Then Retracts Statement. In continuing coverage, the KXXV-TV Waco, TX (2/22) website reported, “There is controversy brewing over the two people who died from the suicide flight that slammed into an Austin IRS office building on Thursday, February 18th.” The two men who died were Vietnam vet Vernon Hunter and the flight’s pilot, Joseph Stack, whose “daughter, Samantha Bell, told ABC News Monday morning” that her father was a hero. Bell later “called ABC News and retracted that comment, saying the only hero in the attack was Hunter, and we should all mourn his death.”

28.    Half-Scale Replica Of Vietnam Veterans Memorial Coming To Tuscaloosa. The Columbus (MS) Commercial Dispatch (2/22, 13K).

29.    Brothers Asked To Guard Tombs. In continuing coverage, the KRIV-TV Houston, TX (2/22, Keith) website reported, “A couple of brothers from the Houston area” have “achieved a military first. Army Staff Sgt. Jonathan Brisiel, 27, is tomb guard number 560,” and on Friday, his little brother was named “tomb guard number 578.” This is the “first time ever two brothers have been selected to serve on this elite squad.”

30.    On the Hill for February 23, 2010:

The House votes on a number of commemorative resolutions as well as a bill to allow Native Hawaiian government reorganization.

The Senate continues to consider a package of infrastructure funding and tax breaks intended to create jobs.

Hearings continue in both chambers on the fiscal 2011 budget and appropriations.

House:  Convenes at noon for legislative business.

            Under suspension of the rules:

H Res 1066 , H Res 1059 , H Res 1048 — Haiti earthquake responders

H Res 1074 — Miep Gies

H Res 944 — Religious minorities in Iraq

HR 3695 — Missing persons database

H Con Res 227 — Urban crimes awareness

H Res 274 — National Nutrition Month

Draft — African-American contributions

            Subject to a rule:

HR 2314 — Native Hawaiian government reorganization

            Postponed suspensions:

H Res 1039 — American Heart Month

H Res 1046 — Black History Month

Senate:  Convenes 10 a.m.

Weekly caucus lunches: 12:30-2:15 p.m.

            Roll call votes possible.

HR 2847 — Job creation package

            Markup

House Rules considers rules for floor debate of a draft bill to repeal the antitrust exemption for health insurance companies. 3 p.m., H-313 Capitol

            Hearing Highlights

Senate Armed Services hearing on the fiscal 2011 budget for the Army, with Army Secretary John M. McHugh . 9:30 a.m., G-50 Dirksen

House Armed Services hearing on the fiscal 2011 budget for the Air Force. 10 a.m., 2118 Rayburn

Senate Budget hearing on war costs and the proposed Pentagon budget. 10 a.m., 608 Dirksen

Senate Environment and Public Works hearing on the proposed fiscal 2011 budget for the EPA, with EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson . 10 a.m., 406 Dirksen

House Transportation and Infrastructure hearing on stimulus spending projects. 10 a.m., 2167 Rayburn

Joint Economic hearing on job creation and economic growth, with Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas W. Elmendorf. 11:30 a.m., 2325 Rayburn

House Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on proposed fiscal 2011 spending, with HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan . 1 p.m., 2359 Rayburn

31.    Today in History:  

• 1455 – Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed from movable type.



• 1739 – Richard Palmer is identified at York Castle by his former schoolteacher, as the outlaw Dick Turpin.



• 1778 – American Revolution: Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to help to train the Continental Army.  



• 1820 – Cato Street Conspiracy: A plot to murder all the British cabinet ministers is exposed.



• 1836 – The Battle of the Alamo begins in San Antonio, Texas.



• 1847 – Mexican-American War: Battle of Buena Vista – In Mexico, American troops under General Zachary Taylor defeat Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.



• 1854 – The official independence of the Orange Free State is declared.



• 1861 – President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C., after the thwarting of an alleged assassination plot in Baltimore, Maryland.



• 1870 – In the United States, post-Civil War military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union.



• 1883 – Alabama becomes the first U.S. state to enact an antitrust law.



• 1900 – In South Africa, the Boers and British troops fight in the Battle of Hart’s Hill.



• 1903 – Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States “in perpetuity”.



• 1905 – Chicago attorney Paul Harris and three other businessmen meet for lunch to form the Rotary Club, the world’s first service club.



• 1917 – First demonstrations in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The beginning of the February Revolution.



• 1918 – First victory of Red Army over the Kaiser’s German troops near Narva and Pskov. In honor of this victory, the date is celebrated from 1923 onward as “Red Army Day”; it is renamed Defender of the Fatherland Day after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, and is colloquially known as “Men’s Day”.



• 1919 – Benito Mussolini forms the Fascist Party in Italy.



• 1927 – The Federal Radio Commission (later renamed the Federal Communications Commission) begins to regulate the use of radio frequencies in the United States.



• 1941 – Plutonium is first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.



• 1944 – The Soviet Union begins forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people from the North Caucasus to Central Asia.



• 1945 – World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines and a commonly forgotten U.S. Navy Corpsman, reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag. The photo would later win a Pulitzer Prize and become the model for the national USMC War Memorial.



• 1945 – World War II: The 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino guerrillas, freed the captives of the Los Baños internment camp.



• 1945 – World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by American forces.



• 1945 – World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznań. The city is liberated by Soviet and Polish forces.



• 1945 – World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is completely destroyed by a raid of 379 British bombers.  



• 1945 – World War II: The Verona Philharmonic Theatre is bombed by Allied forces. It would later be re-opened in 1975.



• 1947 – The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is founded.



• 1954 – The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh.



• 1955 – First meeting of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).



• 1958 – Cuban rebels kidnap 5-time world driving champion Juan Manuel Fangio.



• 1966 – In Syria, Baath party member Salah Jadid leads an intra-party military coup that replaces the previous government of General Amin Hafiz, also a Baathist.



• 1974 – The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.



• 1980 – Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran’s parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.



• 1981 – In Spain, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d’état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies.



• 1983 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri.



• 1987 – Supernova 1987a is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud.



• 1991 – Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus starting the ground phase of the war.



• 1991 – In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d’état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan.



• 1992 – The Socialist Labour Party is founded in the nation of Georgia.



• 1997 – A small fire occurs in the Russian Space station, Mir.



• 1998 – Osama bin Laden publishes a fatwa declaring jihad against all Jews and “Crusaders“; the latter term is commonly interpreted to refer to the people of Europe and the United States.



• 1999 – Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey.



• 1999 – An avalanche destroys the Austrian village of Galtür, killing 31.



• 2005 – In Slovakia, a two-day meeting dubbed “Slovakia Summit 2005” takes place between U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin. This occasion marks the first visit of a sitting American President to the Slovak Republic since its establishment in 1993.



• 2005 – The controversial French law on colonialism is passed, requiring teachers to teach the “positive values of colonialism”. After public outcry, it is repealed at the beginning of 2006.



• 2006 – Dubai Ports World agrees to postpone its plans to take over management of six U.S. ports after the proposal ignited harsh bipartisan criticism.



• 2008 – A United States Air Force B-2 Spirit crashes on Guam. It is the first operational loss of a B-2.

Washington, DC – Congressman Glenn Nye (VA-02) is asking the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ease the burden on local veterans.

Last week, the VA announced that it will ask veterans who received $3,000 emergency payments under the Post 9/11 GI Bill to begin repaying the money – at a rate of up to $750 per month. The emergency payments were issued last year to veterans whose tuition benefits from the Post 9/11 GI Bill were delayed due to processing backlogs at the VA.

On Monday, Nye sent a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, asking the VA to reduce the repayment rate from $750 per month to a rate of no more than 20% of each veteran’s monthly living stipend. For veterans receiving the lowest living stipend, this would mean a repayment amount of $132 per month.

“Asking our veterans to repay $750 a month is too much, too fast, especially when many veterans are struggling to get back on their feet after their benefit payments were delayed last fall,” said Congressman Glenn Nye. “The idea of this program is to help our veterans get ahead, not to bury them in debt and paperwork. The VA should implement a realistic repayment plan that eases the burden on our veterans so they can focus on getting a college education.”

When the Post 9/11 GI Bill program went into effect last fall, many veterans found that their tuition and living benefits were delayed for weeks or months due to extended processing backlogs. After students were forced to take out personal loans or run up credit card debt in order to pay bills while waiting for their benefit checks, the VA issued one-time, emergency payments of $3,000 to help veterans make ends meet.

These emergency payments were an advance against future benefits – not an additional bonus – and they must eventually be recouped by the VA. In mid-February, the VA announced on its web site that it would begin deducting $750 from veterans’ monthly benefit payments.

Download a Copy of Congressman Nye’s Letter to Secretary Shinseki

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (AP) – Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki said he’s making it a top priority this year to tackle the backlog of disability claims that has veterans waiting months — even years — to get financial compensation for their injuries.

Among those waiting for relief are sick Vietnam and Gulf War veterans to whom the former Army commander feels an allegiance and who have long felt ignored.

“I’m a kid out of the Vietnam era, I just have enough firsthand knowledge of folks walking around with lots of issues. If there’s a generation of veterans that have had a tough row to hoe, it’s the Vietnam generation,” said Shinseki, 67, in an interview with The Associated Press as he traveled through snowcapped mountains in Ohio and West Virginia between meetings with veterans.

Shinseki, a former Army chief of staff who had part of a foot blown off when he was a young officer in Vietnam, was unapologetic about a decision he made in October to make it easier for potentially 200,000 sick Vietnam veterans who were exposed to the Agent Orange herbicide to receive service-connected compensation.

He said it was the right thing to do, even though the claims volume will grow and it will likely take about two years to get the average claim-processing wait time back to where it is today, about five months.

There’s a chance Shinseki could also extend similar benefits to veterans from the 1991 Gulf War. A task force he appointed to look at their health is expected to release a report this week, which could eventually lead to thousands of additional sick Gulf war veterans receiving health care and compensation.

Shinseki said he’s often questioned why 40 years after the Vietnam war and nearly two decades after the Gulf War his agency is still trying to resolve issues related to those veterans’ illnesses.

Vietnam veterans with B-cell leukemias, Parkinson’s diseases and ischemic heart disease no longer have to prove their illness are the result of their military service. Shinseki determined after reviewing a study by the Institute of Medicine that the illnesses should be presumed to have come from the veteran’s war service, making it easier for them to receive financial compensation. The VA currently presumes that twelve other illnesses are linked to Agent Orange are exposure.

Shinseki said he’s looking ahead to make sure Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries don’t have similar problems getting financial compensation.

“I’m also asking the question, how do we ensure that 20 years from now, that future secretary isn’t answering questions about PTSD or TBI, sort of the signature injuries of this war in the same way that I’m having to look back and try to address these issues,” he said.

In recent years, resources have been poured into clearing the backlog, but problems persist. Besides the time it takes to process a claim, there are frequent complaints about lost paperwork and inconsistency in how claims are processed.

To start looking for solutions, Shinseki’s agency instigated pilot projects in Pittsburgh; Little Rock, Ark.; Providence, R.I.; and Baltimore that he says he’s watching closely. His plan is to reduce the backlog by 2015, which means a veteran wouldn’t wait more than four months for a claim to be processed.

The VA and Pentagon are also working together to create a universal electronic system with the goal of solving many of the claims challenges. Some of the collaboration is expected to be rolled out in 2012, although it could take years before the system is fully in place.

Shinseki, who became the Army’s chief of staff in 1999, is no stranger to change. In that role he sought to modernize and better prepare the Army for urban combat. In his current position, he’s highlighted the challenges veterans face, such as unemployment, suicide and homelessness.

In small gatherings in Chillicothe and Charleston, W.Va., he listened to complaints about the red tape veterans face and explained the work he’s doing to fix the claims backlog.

“We’re going to fine-tune each of the pieces and then put that engine back together again and look for better processing by the end of the year,” Shinseki said during a morning meeting with employees at the VA hospital in Chillicothe.

The employees listened quietly, not touching the pastries and juice put out for them, as he told them matter-of-factly that he knew the Agent Orange decision was going to add new claims.

“This backlog I just told you I’m going to knock down, I added to it, I know that,” he said.

Later in the morning, he told veteran advocates he wants vets to see the VA as an ally.

“In time, I’m hopeful this relationship will create a culture of advocacy between VA and veterans so that there is that sense, that trust between veterans that VA is working to their benefit,” he said.

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran–Washington Post Foreign Service–

MARJA, AFGHANISTAN — They had slogged through knee-deep mud carrying 100 pounds of gear, fingers glued to the triggers of their M-4 carbines, all the while on the lookout for insurgents. Now, after five near-sleepless nights, trying to avoid hypothermia in freezing temperatures, the grunts of the 1st Battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment finally had a moment to relax.

As the sun set Thursday evening over the rubbled market where they set up camp, four of them sat around an overturned blue bucket and began playing cards. A few cracked open dog-eared paperbacks. Some heated their rations-in-a-bag, savoring their first warm dinner in days. Many doffed their helmets and armored vests.

Then — before the game was over, the chapters finished, the meals cooked — the war roared back at them.

The staccato crack of incoming rounds echoed across the market. In an instant, the Marines grabbed their vests and guns. The 50-caliber gunner on the roof thumped back return fire, as did several Marines with clattering, belt-fed machine guns. High-explosive mortar rounds, intended to suppress the insurgent fire, whooshed overhead.

And so went another night in the battle of Marja.

The fight to pacify this Taliban stronghold in Helmand province is grim and grueling. For all the talk of a modern war — of Predator drones and satellite-guided bombs and mine-resistant vehicles — most Marines in this operation have been fighting the old-fashioned way: on foot, with rifle.

They hump their kit on their backs, bed down under the stars in abandoned compounds and defecate in plastic bags.

“This isn’t all that different from the way our fathers and grandfathers fought,” said Cpl. Blake Burkhart, 22, of Oviedo, Fla.

The battlefield privation here is unlike much of the combat in Iraq, which often involved day trips from large, well-appointed forward operating bases. Even when Marines there had to rough it, during the first and second campaigns for Fallujah, they didn’t have to walk as far and they remained closer to logistics vehicles.

In Marja, U.S. military commanders figured, the best way to throw the insurgents off-balance and avoid the hundreds of homemade bombs buried in the roads was to airdrop almost 1,000 Marines and Afghan soldiers. That provided an element of surprise when the operation commenced, and it allowed the forces to punch into the heart of Marja. But it also meant they would have to tough it out.

Because they had to stuff their packs with food, water and ammunition, sleeping bags and tents were left behind. That seemed fine, because summer temperatures in southern Afghanistan often reach 140 degrees. But at this time of year, the mercury can dip — and it did during the first days of the mission, to freezing temperatures at night.

Huddled under thin plastic camouflage poncho liners, the Marines lucky enough to get a few hours of sleep in between shifts of guard duty huddled close together, sometimes spooning one another, to keep warm.  

It didn’t always work. In those first days, more Marines were evacuated for hypothermia than for gunshot wounds. One grunt in the battalion’s Alpha Company proudly displays the frostbitten tip of his middle finger as his battlefield injury.

Read Full Article Here

Greetings folks.  Been very busy and thus very delinquent in getting the news to you.     I do hope you are well and you and your loved ones are in the best of health. 

Prayers and blessings for you all and for our Dear Troops and their loved ones everywhere.

Best…………………..Wayne

————————————————————-

VA News for Thursday, February 18, 2010

1.      Shinseki: Workers Being Moved Back To New GI Bill Helpline. The AP (2/18, Hefling) reports, “Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with questions about the new Post-9/11 GI Bill will again be able to get help by phone five days a week starting Thursday.” Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, who “made the announcement in an interview while traveling to a meeting with veterans” in West Virginia, “says that GI Bill helpline employees have been tapped since December to help process a backlog in education claims. With claims being processed more efficiently now, Shinseki says those workers are being moved back to the helpline.”

2.      Shinseki Tours Chillicothe VAMC, Meets With Local Vets. In continuing coverage, the WBEX-AM Chillicothe, OH (2/17) website noted that US Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki “was in Chillicothe Wednesday, touring” the Chillicothe VA Medical Center “and meeting with local vets.” Congressman Zack Space, who hosted the event, “says Shinseki toured the facility to view progress” on hospital projects funded by the Recovery Act. WBEX noted that while in Ohio, Shinseki “also met with and participated in a local veteran’s round-table discussion” at Ohio University-Chillicothe.
     The Columbus (OH) Dispatch (2/18, Phillips) reports, “During a visit to Chillicothe” on Wednesday, Shinseki “listened to veterans’ concerns about disability benefits and other issues and outlined some of the steps he is taking to address those concerns. ‘Reducing the backlog (of disability benefits applications) is my primary focus for this year,’ said…Shinseki during a roundtable discussion at Ohio University’s Chillicothe campus.” The Dispatch adds, “Shinseki’s visit to Chillicothe…was the first ever” by a VA secretary.
     The Cleveland Plain Dealer (2/18, Eaton, 304K) also notes Shinseki’s visit to Chillicothe, although only briefly, as part of a larger story on Obama Administration officials and US politicians noting the “one-year anniversary of the date President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law.”

3.      Shinseki, Rockefeller Meet With Veterans In West Virginia. The Charleston (WV) Gazette (2/18, Clevenger, 44K) reports, “It was just another group therapy session for a handful of veterans at the Charleston Vet Center on Wednesday, except that this meeting had two unusual guests: a cabinet secretary” and a US senator. Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and US Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) “met with a small group of veterans and listened to those Rockefeller described as members of ‘a community of pain, and a community of pride.’ The meeting is a part of a larger effort by the VA to reach more veterans and provide better, more specific services to the 8 million Americans who have served in the military, Shinseki said.” WOWK-TVCharleston, WV (2/17, 6:01 p.m. ET) also aired a report on this story.
     VA Gulf War Task Force Soon To Release Report. The Charleston (WV) Daily Mail (2/18, Gavin) reports the US VA “is taking an in-depth look at concerns facing veterans of the Gulf War, almost 20 years after the conflict ended. A small group of Gulf War veterans from the Charleston area had a chance Wednesday to sit down” with Sen. Rockefeller and Shinseki in a roundtable discussion on Wednesday. The Daily Mail notes that the US VA “compiled a Gulf War task force in September to study the specific issues facing veterans from that era,” and the task force’s report “is due out in a couple of weeks.” WSAZ-TV Charleston, WV (2/17, 11:41 p.m. ET) aired a similar report.

4.      VA Planning To Examine Hospital In Illinois For Future Use. The Batavia (IL) Sun (2/18, Okon) reports, “The US Department of Veteran Affairs plans to send a construction assessment team to Silver Cross Hospital to examine the facility for future use by the government.” This is according to comments made at recent House Veterans Affairs Committee by “Dr. Gerald Cross, acting undersecretary for health with the VA.” The Sun also notes that VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has “said the department is ‘taking a strategic look’ at its 5,300 facilities and would look at how Silver Cross might fit into the department’s plans for the next 10 years.”

5.      Veterans Attributing Health Problems To Burn Pits In Iraq, Afghanistan. The Los Angeles Times (2/18, Zucchino, 776K) reports some “returning veterans have reported leukemia, lymphoma, congestive heart problems, neurological conditions, bronchitis, skin rashes and sleep disorders — all of which they attribute to burn pits on dozens” of US “bases in Afghanistan and Iraq. ‘The military needs to step up and address this problem,’ said John Wilson of the advocacy group Disabled American Veterans, which maintains a registry of more than 500 veterans with disorders they blame on burn pits.” The Times notes that the Pentagon “says the pits do not cause serious long-term health problems,” but “some health experts,” including Dr. Anthony Szema, chief of the allergy section at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Northport, New York, disagree.

6.      Wisconsin VA Planning Special Event For Vietnam Vets. On its website, WISN-TV Milwaukee, WI (2/17) reported, “The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs is teaming up with the Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Public Television to honor the Badger state’s Vietnam veterans. Landing Zone Lambeau,” which “will feature a weekend of recognition and celebration of those who served” in the Vietnam War, “kicks off on Thursday, May 20 and runs through May 24 in Green Bay.”

7.      VA Contract Allows Company To Retain Staff. In a story noting that opinions differ on “how effective” the stimulus bill has been, the Chambersburg (PA) Public Opinion (2/18, Rauhut) reports, “One year after” the bill “was signed into law, millions of dollars have flowed into projects in Franklin County.” For example, Industrial Control & Computer Consultants “in Waynesboro won a $264,035 contract to install a patient monitoring system” at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Industrial Control President Dave McCarney “said his firm will be able to retain one or two employees because of the contract.”

8.      Military Retirees Volunteering To Go Back On Active Duty. USA Today (2/18, Schweers, 2.11M) reports, “Elbert ‘Rusty’ Coleman…retired” from the US Army in 1989, but 21 “years later, he has returned to active duty, answering a voluntary recall notice for retirees, in part to serve with his two sons…and to finally get a taste of combat.” USA Today adds, “Coleman is one of 974 current US Army enlisted men and officers who volunteered to return to active duty after retirement, said Lt. Col. Maria Quon, public affairs officer for the Human Resources Command.” The paper notes that similar “volunteer programs exist for the Air Force, Navy and Marines.”

9.      Seattle VAMC Testing New Prosthetic Foot. Popular Science (2/18, Hsu, 1.32M) says researchers at the University of Michigan “have created a new prosthetic foot that recaptures the mechanical energy between steps.” Unlike a conventional prosthetic foot, which requires “23 percent more metabolic energy” than “two normal feet,” this prosthetic “manages to cut down the energy usage to just 14 percent more than normal.” The device is already being tested “on amputees at the Seattle Veterans Affairs Medical Center,” and the researchers “hope to commercialize the device for more widespread use among” Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

10.    Brain Injured Vets Seeking Care At VA Hospital In Texas. On its website, KWES-TV Odessa, TX (2/17, Ruiz) reported, “Brain injuries on the battlefield have been around forever, but modern medicine means more soldiers are making it home and seeking care at facilities like” the Veterans Affairs hospital in Big Spring, Texas, which “tracks all” progress being made by patients “and helps guide them through their therapy.”

11.    Commissioners Ask For $1 Lease On Land Meant For VA Clinic. In continuing coverage, the Decorah (IA) Journal (2/18, Greiner, 7K) reports, “The Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors is willing to do whatever it can to accommodate a new” Veterans Affairs clinic in Decorah. At “Monday’s meeting of the Board of Supervisors, Winneshiek County Commission of Veterans Affairs Chairman Glenn Larson of Decorah and Commission members Chuck Ira of Spillville and Francis Wenthold of Ossian asked the Board if it would commit to leasing county land adjacent to Winneshiek Medical Center for as little as possible. ‘Our main message today, and what we’re asking of you, is if it comes to the point the county (land adjacent to WMC) has been selected to build a clinic, that it be leased to the builder or the VA for $1 as long as a clinic is in Decorah,’ said Larson.”

12.    VA Breaks Ground On Mental Health Facility In Montana. In continuing coverage, the AP (2/18) reports officials with the Veterans Affairs medical center “at Fort Harrison have broken ground on a $6.7 million mental health care facility” that is “expected to open next spring. It will employ up to 40 people, including doctors and nurses.” The AP notes that US Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), “a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, joined a team of doctors and directors on the grounds of the VA hospital west of Helena for Tuesday’s groundbreaking.”

13.    VBA Official: Service For Alaska Vets Is Being Improved. In continuing coverage, the Anchorage Daily News (2/17, 59K) noted that during a field hearing of the US Senate’s Veterans Affairs Committee on “Tuesday at Loussac Library, Veterans Benefits Administration executive Mark Bilosz gave details of how the VA is improving service for Alaska vets in the aftermath of a poor review of the Anchorage regional office by federal inspectors.” But down the “table from Bilosz,” Iraq veteran Gabriel Fierros “offered living testimony that some vets are still frustrated with the local office.” The Daily News pointed out that at the request of US Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK), who conducted the hearing, Bilosz “promised a full report of progress at the Anchorage office by June.”
     The AP (2/17) noted that during Tuesday’s hearing, Bilosz “said the Anchorage office has increased staffing, is handling more claims and doing a better job,” while the KTUU-TV Anchorage, AK (2/17, Kim) website reported, “About 70 people attended the hearing at the Anchorage Assembly chambers.” This story is also covered by the Fairbanks (AK) Daily News-Miner (2/18, Freiberg).

14.    Administration Proposes New Veterans Cemetery In Western New York. The Buffalo News (2/18, Zremski, 185K) reports the Obama Administration “is proposing a National Veterans Cemetery in Western New York, a move that would mean local military families would no longer have to travel 105 miles to Bath, in Steuben County, to bury or visit their late loved ones. In documents accompanying” the Administration’s “fiscal 2011 budget proposal, the Department of Veterans Affairs suggested adopting a policy to build new cemeteries in any area with more than 80,000 veterans that does not already have such a facility,” which, according to the budget documents, would include the Buffalo/Rochester area, as well as two areas in Florida and one in Nebraska. The News adds, “That suggestion is good news to local veterans groups that have been pushing for a Western New York veterans cemetery for years,” as has US Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), “who announced the proposal Tuesday.”

15.    Roanoke VA Office Discovers Benefit Check Scheme Not Found By IG Program. In continuing coverage, the Newport News (VA) Daily Press (2/17, Dujardin, 76K) asked, “How did it take the Department of Veterans Affairs 18 years to discover it was sending monthly benefits checks” to the deceased mother of Gilbert C. Harges? After noting that Harges recently pleaded guilty in Federal court to stealing those checks, the Daily Press reported, “Jim O’Neill, assistant inspector general for investigations” with VA’s Inspector General’s Office, “said 382 people have been arrested and $40 million has been recovered since his office began a program 10 years ago to match Social Security data on dead people with the list of VA beneficiaries.” But O’Neill “said that Harges’ case was not cracked by the Inspector General’s death match program, but by the VA’s Roanoke office.”

16.    Event In New York A Warm-Up For National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. The eight item in “Good Morning Buffalo” for the Buffalo News (2/17, 185K) noted that on Wednesday, local “military veterans with disabilities” were to “hit the slopes…at the Holiday Valley Ski Resort in Ellicottville.” Several veterans were planning to “use this ski outing,” which was “sponsored by the Lounsbury Adaptive Ski Program,” as “an opportunity to warm up for the 24th annual National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic set for March 28 to April 2 in Snowmass, Colo.” The News added, “The Department of Veterans Affairs annually sponsors six national events” for US “military veterans served by its medical facilities nationwide.”

17.    VA Hospital’s New Director To Focus On Outreach. The Daily Hampshire Gazette (2/18, Lowe), a paper based in Northampton, Massachusetts, notes that during an interview it conducted on Wednesday, Roger Johnson, the new director of the US Department of Veterans Affairs hospital “in Leeds, said he plans to focus on outreach, both to veterans already enrolled in the system and those in western Massachusetts who haven’t signed up.” This is “music to the ears of those who work closely with veterans in the area,” including Steven Connor, director of “Central Hampshire Veterans Services, which assists veterans in Amherst, Chesterfield, Cummington, Northampton, Pelham and Williamsburg.” The Gazette points out that the hospital’s “previous director…helped expand the center’s mental health services.”

18.    Museum Captures History Of Battle Creek VAMC. The Battle Creek (MI) Enquirer (2/18, Christenson, 20K) reports, “A dream for 10 years and a project for one, the covers come off Friday at a new museum at the Battle Creek Veterans Affairs Medical Center.” Suzanne Klinker, the hospital’s director, “will be among those present at 9:30 a.m. to open the 12-by-14-foot collection of history at the 85-year-old facility.” The Enquirer notes that the “museum has photographs and drawings displayed on the walls and more pictures, letters, newsletters and other documents in four glass cases.”

19.    VA Facilities Co-Hosting Information Fair. On its website, WJXT-TV Jacksonville, FL (2/17) noted that a Veterans Affairs clinic in Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Vet Center, “Worksource, Urban League, and other vendors will host a Veteran and Community information fair” on “Thursday from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the American Legion Post 197 on Benedict Road. Members of the community and veterans will be able to obtain information on VA benefits, Jacksonville Vet Center Services and legal assistance. They can also learn job search techniques and employment opportunities through Worksource and other community information.”

20.    New VA Director Says Top Goal Is Rural Access To Health Care. The Helena (MT) Independent Record (2/18, Kidston).

21.    Excellence In Nursing Services: Madison VA Hospital Receives Magnet Recognition. The Freeport (IL) Journal-Standard (2/18, Morse, 11K).

22.    Day In The Life: West Roxbury VA Hospital. The Roslindale (MA) Transcript (2/18, Flock).

23.    Business Schools Tap Veterans. The Wall Street Journal (2/18, Middleton, 2.08M).

24.    Service Helps To Link Ex-Military M.B.A.s. The Wall Street Journal (2/18, Porter, 2.08M).

25.    Tavera Triumphs. The Havelock (NC) News (2/17, Wilson).

26.    Pearl Harbor Opens New Visitor Center For The USS Arizona. The Honolulu Advertiser (2/18, Nakaso, 130K).

27.    Mishicot Veteran Visits War Memorials Courtesy Of Old Glory Honor Flight. The Manitowoc (WI) Herald Times Reporter (2/18, 13K).

28.    Seeking An Alternative. The Des Moines (IA) Register (2/17, Jaco).

29.    Today in History: 

• 1229 – The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.
• 1268 – The Livonian Brothers of the Sword are defeated by Dovmont of Pskov in the Battle of Rakvere.
• 1332 – Amda Seyon I, Emperor of Ethiopia begins his campaigns in the southern Muslim provinces.
• 1478 – George, Duke of Clarence, convicted of treason against his older brother Edward IV of England, is executed in private at the Tower of London.
• 1685 – Fort St. Louis is established by a Frenchman at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France’s claim to Texas.
• 1745 – The city of Surakarta, Central Java is founded on the banks of Bengawan Solo river, and becomes the capital of the Kingdom of Surakarta
• 1797 – Trinidad is surrendered to a British fleet under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby.
• 1814 – The Battle of Montereau occurs.
• 1841 – The first ongoing filibuster in the United States Senate begins and lasts until March 11.
• 1846 – Beginning of the Galician peasant revolt.
• 1856 – The American Party (Know-Nothings) convene in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate their first Presidential candidate, former President Millard Fillmore.
• 1861 – In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
• 1861 – With the Italian unification almost complete, King Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, Savoy and Sardinia assumes the title of King of Italy.
• 1865 – Union forces under Major General William T. Sherman set the South Carolina State House on fire during the burning of Columbia.
• 1873 – Bulgarian revolutionary leader Vasil Levski is executed by hanging in Sofia by the Ottoman authorities.
• 1878 – John Tunstall is murdered by outlaw Jessie Evans, sparking the Lincoln County War in Lincoln County, New Mexico.
• 1884 – Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published for the first time.
• 1901 – Winston Churchill makes his maiden speech in the House of Commons.
• 1929 – The first Academy Awards are announced. 
• 1930 – While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.
• 1930 – Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in a fixed-wing aircraft and also the first cow to be milked in an aircraft.
• 1932 – The Empire of Japan declares Manzhouguo (the obsolete Chinese name for Manchuria) independent from the Republic of China.
• 1943 – The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement.
• 1943 – Joseph Goebbels delivers the Sportpalast speech.
• 1948 – Eamon de Valera resigns as Taoiseach of Ireland.
• 1955 – Operation Teapot: Teapot test shot “Wasp” is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp is the first of fourteen shots of the Teapot series.
• 1957 – Kenyan rebel leader Dedan Kimathi is executed by the British colonial government.
• 1965 – The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
• 1970 – The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
• 1972 – The California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson, 6 Cal.3d 628 invalidates the state’s death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life in prison.
• 1977 – The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden “flight” sitting on top of a Boeing 747.
• 1979 – Snow fell in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the only time in recorded history.
• 1983 – Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee Massacre in Seattle, Washington. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. history.
• 1991 – The IRA explodes bombs in the early morning at both Paddington station and Victoria station in London.
• 1998 – Two white separatists are arrested in Nevada and accused of plotting a biological attack on New York City subways.
• 2001 – FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
• 2003 – Comet C/2002 V1 (NEAT) makes perihelion, seen by SOHO.

——————————————————–

Godspeed……………..Wayne

Wayne M. Gatewood, Jr., USMC (Ret)

President/CEO

Quality Support, Inc.

A Service Disabled Veteran and Minority Owned-Small Business

8201 Corporate Drive, Suite 220,

Landover, MD 20785

301-459-3777 Ext 101    -    FAX 301-459-6961

www.qualitysupport.com

“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their Nation.”   – George Washington

“Give me Liberty to know, to utter and to argue freely according to my conscious, above all other liberties.”    – Milton