by Freddy Groves

Sometimes there are mysteries we just don't understand, and this is one of them: Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia won Senate approval to halt the proposed Department of Veterans Affairs ruling that acknowledges three new illnesses caused by Agent Orange.

by Freddy Groves

Did you know that the Department of Veterans Affairs has a fiduciary program to help veterans handle their finances when they can't do it for themselves? No? Lots of people don't.

Fiduciary representatives can be a group such as a nursing home or law firm, or a family member or someone appointed by the VA. At present the fiduciaries are managing the financial affairs of more than 100,000 veterans with estate assets of more than $3 billion. Fiduciaries earn 4 percent of the amount they manage.

by Freddy Groves

With the economy being in the shape it's in, a record number of people have decided to sit it out -- and go back to school. Veterans are a healthy portion of that number.

The new G.I. Bill, with its cash benefit, is a good impetus for veterans to enroll.

The problem? Getting the money. The Department of Veterans Affairs didn't expect to be so swamped with education claims.

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – A recent initiative launched by the Veterans Affairs Department and the U.S. Olympic Committee is giving disabled veterans a chance to rediscover their potential through athletics and competition.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between the two organizations Oct. 21 to expand Paralympics sport programs to wounded warriors rehabilitating at community-level recreational facilities. Before the memorandum, Paralympics programs were offered primarily through warrior transition units at facilities such as Walter Reed Army Medical Center here, the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and VA rehabilitation centers.

by Freddy Groves

Just before a three-day Stand Down in Redding, Calif., was due to start, volunteers showed up to find their storage locker wide open -- and empty. Stolen were $26,000 in goods and supplies intended for the expected 400 homeless veterans who were coming in from seven surrounding counties to get assistance.

The more than 100 volunteers jumped in and gathered things from their own homes to make up for what had been stolen: cots, 1,500 blankets, socks, winter coats, shoes, underwear and other types of clothing, as well as the tents, towels, first-aid kits, office supplies, sleeping bags and other things needed to run the event. The police have no idea who did it.

by Freddy Groves

Whenever I read a book that claims to have important facts, I always check out the credentials of the author.

So that's what I did with a volume that arrived in the mail about helping suicidal veterans. Author Victor Montgomery is a former crisis intervention therapist for the National Veterans Suicide Crisis Hotline and is a Vietnam-era veteran. He's been a counselor for 20 years. His specialty, it seems, is veteran suicide crisis rescue.

By Freddy Groves


If you're in a veterans service organization or are someone who wants to help veterans, this is a good time to start planning your efforts for this winter and next year.

Stand Downs (www.va.gov and put Stand Down in the search box), the Moving Wall (www.themovingwall.org) and donating to groups that let veterans go on adventures free of cost are all good places to direct your energies.

By Freddy Groves

Two court cases were decided recently, and neither one went in our favor.

In the first case, a veteran was sent numerous times in 1947 to the Bikini Atoll, where he was subjected to radiation. Years later he developed serious eye problems, which he blamed on the radiation. He was turned down for disability benefits. On appeal he questioned the competence of the medical expert who testified as an expert witness on radiation. The court decided that there's no requirement for the Department of Veterans Affairs to prove a doctor's qualifications.

by Freddy Groves

A study released by the National Research Council concluded there just wasn't enough data to determine whether those living at Camp Lejeune were harmed by chemicals in the drinking water. Although the water was laced with industrial solvents that leaked from a nearby dry cleaner from the 1950s to 1985 and contaminated the water supply at multiple base housing sites where it was used by a million people for cooking, drinking and bathing, the NRC apparently couldn't decide.

It started with 20 veterans questioning the amounts of their monthly checks. These were veterans who should have received retro pay, but didn't.

The Department of Veterans Affairs' Retro Pay Project has been in trouble since it started in 2006. Until Congress changed things, recipients couldn't get both retired and disability pay, either Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay or Combat-Related Special Compensation.