Doug Karr

Six-year army veteran Willie Holmes, 25, was granted $2,751 for housing through the G.I. Bill when he decided to pursue a graduate degree in health service administration at Fort Hamilton Army Base in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Yet when Holmes ventured to New York City for eight days to apartment hunt he encountered several problems.

Holmes was repeatedly told that Harlem was the most practical neighborhood for him given its low rent housing. Yet with school being in Brooklyn and Holmes hoping to continue his modeling career in Manhattan, Holmes decided against the area. With his list of requirements in hand, Holmes set off to find a new home one of the boroughs.

Tags: G.I. Bill, mesothelioma, VA, veteran health, Willie Holmes

Colonel Jack Mosher and Major Jay Brock of Augusta, Maine are both members of the Maine Army National Guard. Both men have served in the Middle East. And both men are running 13.1 miles a day in an effort to raise awareness for military personnel.

Mosher and Brock have decided to run from Kittery, Maine to Washington D.C. as a way to encourage other veterans to take responsibility for their health. The men began their trek May 8 and have run 13.1 miles each day. Their combined distances have the men running a marathon a day. After 21 days, the men plan to reach the gates of Arlington National Cemetery in D.C., having completed 21 marathons total. They have named their quest the “Resiliency Run.”

Tags: Arlington National Cemetary, Iraq veterans, mesothelioma, VA, veteran health, veterans, Washington D.C.

Newly-passed legislation in Georgia would permit a veteran’s PTSD diagnosis to be indicated on their driver’s license. But is this really a good idea?

Senator Ron Ramsey, a co-sponsor of the bill, believes that the new legislation will better-protect law enforcement and other veterans. “If a veteran suffering from PTSD was pulled over for a simple traffic violation, a designation on the license explaining the circumstances could inform an officer that the situation should be handled cautiously,” said a statement released by Sen. Ramsey to FoxNews.com.

Tags: AMVETS, asbestos, Georgia State Patrol, mesothelioma, mesothelioma treatment, PTSD, veterans, VFW

As a veteran myself, I am always out and about on the Internet, looking for organizations that assist and support vets. Honor Flight is one of those organizations, and if you’ve yet to hear about the great things they’re doing, now is your chance!

Honor Flight Network began in 2005, when six planes transported the first of thousands of World War II vets to our capitol to visit the WWII Memorial. Soon, the group had a long waiting list of vets who wanted to make the trip, and in an effort to accommodate them, Honor Flight partnered with HonorAir in Hendersonville, NC to transport veterans via commercial airplanes.

Tags: Air Force, Earl Morse, Honor Flight Network, mesothelioma, Washington DC, WWII, WWII Memorial, WWII veterans

At a news conference at the Kings Bay, Georgia U.S. Navy submarine base, Rear Admiral Barry Bruner announced that by the fall of 2011, women would be permitted to serve aboard U.S. navy submarines. The announcement came some 16 years after policy changes allowed women to begin serving on Navy surface vessels in 1994.

With women now accounting for about 15 percent of all active duty Navy personnel – more than 52,000 in all - the change was necessary, many believed, including those who recommended the policy change, namely Defense Secretary Robert Gates, top Navy official Admiral Gary Roughead, and Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy. The men noted that the plan was met with no opposition and that the women who continuously pushed for the policy change were delighted and enthusiastic about the new adventures awaiting them.

Tags: mesothelioma, navy, veterans, women in the navy

Florida’s Gulf Coast VA Health Care System is accepting applications for the Medical Foster Home Program.

The Medical Foster Home, or MFH, program places veterans with various health problems in “foster homes” where they can receive treatment in a home environment. Jeanie Sherman, the program’s coordinator, said that the qualifications for a veteran “foster parent” are basic:

The VFW Chuck Cain Post 7670 in Hamilton, Ohio will hold an event for vets called “Operation Information” this Sunday, April 18^th, from 10 AM until 4 PM.

The focus of the event, according to Terri Ruggerie, a VA Medical Center Program Specialist from Cincinnati, is to provide veterans with information about health care services.

A fellow Navy veteran has died as a result of mesothelioma cancer. Kalamazoo County Commissioner Grady Biby died on February 3^rd. He spent twenty years in the Navy.

Biby, an Oklahoma native, was a Navy man from 1959 until retiring in 1979, when he went to work for the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in South Haven, Michigan. He remained there until 1995 and later began his own company with a relative. Biby also worked for the Census Bureau and a Michigan construction company. Biby was best known, however, for his four terms as commissioner for Kalamazoo County.

Music touches the soul, calms a frenzied spirit, and provides an outlet in times of great stress. That’s why four Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans have teamed up to honor their fellow soldiers – retired and active duty – through the use of luscious harmonies and memorable melodies designed to tell the story of the never-ending fight for freedom.

This recently organized musical group, known as 4TROOPS, just completed their first album, to be released on April 20. Proceeds from its sale will benefit several military-related organizations including the USO, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

The Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii has announced that is has 175 open positions ranging from apprentice to engineer, and plans to fill all positions by the end of the year. The shipyard already employs close to 5,000 people.

A job fair is scheduled for March 27^th from 8 until noon at the Honolulu Community College on Dillingham Boulevard. All interested individuals are encouraged to attend and learn more about the job openings. At least 100 apprentices are needed by January of 2011, and there are close to 80 other positions, such as engineer assistant, that the shipyard is hoping to fill.

Many veterans may be unaware that, in 2003, the VA released a document called the National Cancer Strategy, which outlines their plan for treating vets with various forms of cancer.

The National Cancer Strategy [NCS] document was published in June of 2003, and it stated that roughly 35,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed in VA patients annually – a number that has undoubtedly increased in the last 7 years. The VA released the NCS in an effort to provide information about how the veteran healthcare system would treat vets with cancer. Not only did it address cancer in general, but it also highlighted the cancers recognized by the VA as being “service connected.” Surprisingly, the list did not include mesothelioma, a form of cancer diagnosed in vets who were exposed to asbestos while aboard naval ships and via other military exposure sites [airplanes, base housing].

Nearly 260,000 American women have fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. These women continue their battle when they return home and struggle in a male-dominated environment. An institution like the military often overlooks the fact that females experience similar physical, psychological, and emotional problems as male veterans. VA hospitals across the country are facing this inadequacy and taking major steps to provide a more comfortable and equal environment.

Retired Air Force Reserve Cmdr. Gwen Sheppard, 47, returned from Iraq in 2003 and found herself suffering from a variety of health issues that were both physical and psychological. She said she was consistently ‘blown off’ and told that it was ‘just a female thing’ when seeking medical attention. Sheppard demanded they take a closer look and dig deeper into these issues; she knew something wasn’t right. Respect is hard to come by as a woman in the military explains Sheppard, she knew she deserved better.

Think of hexavalent chromium and you may recall the movie Erin Brockovich. But the health consequences of exposure to this harmful contaminant are more devastating than anything you have seen in the movies.

At Qarmat Ali, a water treatment plant in Iraq, at least ten members of the Oregon Army National Guard were exposed to hexavalent chromium. They were attempting to protect employees of KBR, a war contracting company. The contaminant was spilled by Iraqis.

Jeff Jackson of the Soldier Support Project passed this along to me and I wanted to garner support via our blog.

Marine Corporal Josh Sweeney lost both of his legs after he stepped on an IED in Afghanistan. He was serving with the ¾ Scout Sniper Pit after enlisting with the Marine Corps at age 18. He was deployed on October 4, 2009 and just 24 days later he stepped on an IED while on patrol in the Helmand Province. Corporal Sweeney lost both of his legs above the knee, injured both hands, and has endured close to a dozen surgeries.

Female veterans in the Saginaw, Michigan area are invited to attend a Women’s Health Fair from 10 AM until 2 PM at the Aleda E. Lutz VAMC Auditorium, in Room 1-1370 this Thursday the 25^th.

In fact, all women in the community are welcome to attend, and children are welcome to tag along. The cost is FREE. Those seeking information about disease prevention, healthy lifestyles, parenting resources and other health-related topics should definitely put this in their calendar.

It never gets any easier to look at images of the September 11, 2001 attacks on America. The New York City Police Department has released new aerial photos, taken by the NYPD Aviation Unit, which were posted on the ABC News website.

The thirteen images show the World Trade Center towers after American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into them. Huge clouds of dark smoke trail from the top portion of the towers while the sun shines down on NYC. One of the most powerful images displays an unbelievable cloud of dust and rubble as it spreads out over Lower Manhattan. Included in the cloud of debris that settled over Lower Manhattan were airborne asbestos fibers, which are conclusively linked to the development of a fatal form of cancer, known as mesothelioma.

The Agent Orange Exposure Compensation & Pension Service has reportedly collected data that confirms exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides on at least sixteen U.S. naval vessels during the Vietnam War.

Robert Mitchell, a writer with the Saratogian online newspaper, stated that a number of sources confirmed that offshore naval vessels known as “blue waters” conducted operations in inland rivers and deltas in Vietnam (these inland rivers and deltas were known as “brown water” areas). Veterans who served on those “blue water” vessels were more than likely exposed to herbicide agents, including Agent Orange. The list of ships provided by the Saratogian included the USS Carronade IFS-1, the USS Clarion River LSMR 409, the USS Francis River LSMR 535, the USS White River LSMR 536, the USS Ingersoll DD-652, the USS Mansfield DD-728, the USS Richard E. Kraus DD-849, the USS Basilone DD-824, the USS Hamner DD-718, the USS Conway DD-507, the USS Fiske DD-842, the USS Black DD-666, the USS Mahan DLG-11, the USS Niagara Falls AFS-3, the USS Providence CLG-6 and the USS Okanogan APA-220.

Following a judge’s order in a lawsuit initially filed by seven veterans suffering from PTSD, the military has agreed to review the benefits extended to combat vets who are dealing with the disorder. The lawsuit suggested that the seven vets were denied benefits over a six-year period, which ended in late 2008, by the military because they had been diagnosed with PTSD.

Now almost 5,000 letters are being sent to veterans to notify them of an “opt-in” period [now until July 24^th] during which they can file suit against the military, much like the seven veterans who originally filed. Attorneys for the seven vets believe that “millions of dollars” could be paid to vets following a review of benefits.

The USNS Comfort arrived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti yesterday to assist the Haitian people in the wake of a 7.0 earthquake that all but destroyed the port city. USNS Comfort personnel were faced with a constant procession of wounded, some brought by helicopter and some carried on board on stretchers.

Lt. Cmdr. Dan D’Aurora, the director of the USNS Comfort’s receiving ward and an officer in the ER at Bethesda, Maryland’s National Naval Medical Center, told the Baltimore Sun that he had seen “more patients in six hours” than he generally sees in a typical day.

Best known as the founder of the largest Mexican fast-food chain Taco Bell, Glen W. Bell Jr. died Sunday at his home in Rancho Santa Fe. He had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease since 1986 though the cause of death has not been released, he was 86.

"Glen Bell was a visionary and innovator in the restaurant industry, as well as a dedicated family man," Greg Creed, president of Taco Bell, said in the statement posted on the Taco Bell Web site.