2002 News Articles

VA and DOD Officials Allegedly Covered Up Medical Records - 10/30/02, WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Former Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara is among 11 defendants named in two first-of-their-kind class action lawsuits for allegedly covering up medical records without which veterans of atomic, biological and chemical warfare testing cannot receive needed medical and other benefits. The plaintiffs include veterans, their families, and the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), who allege a deliberate and ongoing cover-up by U.S. government officials to conceal and ignore relevant records, many of which are personal medical records that would allow them to seek proper benefits from the Department ofVeterans Affairs (VA) for the often devastating long-term health effects of the government's testing of weapons of mass destruction.
 

Billboard Takes Government To Task: �Promises Made Will Be Promises Kept�- By Carol Moulton, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, CRAWFORD � In a show of belief that President George W. Bush might keep his pre-inaugural address promise to retirees and veterans of the armed forces, a group of veterans placed a billboard at Highways 84 and 6 in Waco on Saturday that says, �Promises Made Will Be Promises Kept.�

Vets Not Eligible for Lifetime Care - WASHINGTON (AP) - 11/20/02, A federal appeals court reluctantly agreed with the government that military recruiters had no legal authority to promise World War II and Korean War veterans that they would get free lifetime health care if they stayed in the service 20 years.

FIREBASE EMERALD COAST GROUP RALLIES STUDENTS - UWF students, vets unite forces to save homes, up benefits- 11/14/02 - A group of veterans trying to rally support Wednesday for better medical care and funding at the VA clinic on Kenmore Drive was joined by another group of protesters trying to save a vacant housing project. While Escambia County inches toward plans for a 25-acre park in Warrington, a small group of protesters - many of them social worker students from the University of West Florida - continued efforts to rally support to save Lexington Terrace, a 198-unit Navy housing project declared surplus property.

Filipino-American Vets Seek Benefits - By DEBORAH KONG, A P, 11/11/02 02:18 EST, SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Ernesto Cinco fought in the Philippine jungles alongside Americans and his fellow Filipinos during World War II. He spent 11 months in Japanese prison camps, and was awarded the Bronze Star medal.
But Cinco, who was sent to war by President Roosevelt and is a U.S. citizen, is not eligible to receive the same benefits as the other veterans who were his comrades in arms.

DOD Acknowledges Civilian Exposure In SHAD Tests - US Medicine � The Voice of Federal Medicine, November 12, 2002, By Matt Mientka, WASHINGTON-The Department of Defense (DoD) acknowledged for the first time last month that civilians were exposed to toxic chemicals and/or biological agents on American soil during a series of military tests in the 1960s and 1970s known as Project 112.

DOD RELEASES FIVE PROJECT 112 SHAD FACT SHEETS - The Department of Defense today released five new detailed fact sheets on Cold War-era chemical and biological warfare tests conducted in support of Project 112.  Project 112 was a comprehensive program initiated in 1962 out of concern for our nation's ability to protect and defend against these potential threats. 

Ex-VA Nurse Pleads Guilty in Death - MIAMI (AP) - 10/31/02, A former nurse at a Veterans Affairs medical center pleaded guilty Wednesday to involuntary manslaughter in the death of a patient.

U.S. Aides Sued Over Weapons Tests - 10/30/02, WASHINGTON (AP) - Two groups of military veterans charge in federal court that they cannot get proper medical treatment because the government will not release records of their exposure to tests of atomic, chemical or biological weapons.

VA's medical system flooded - To reduce the backlog, a rule change will give priority to veterans with disabilities considered to be service related. By ALICIA CALDWELL, Times Staff Writer, � St. Petersburg Times, published September 29, 2002 - Madigan had been trying since April to get a doctor's appointment at a VA clinic and finally got one -- for December. Madigan is just one in what has become a crush of people who are overwhelming the federal health care system for veterans.

Nukes of the Gulf War - by John Shirley, Special Assignments Team
Thousands of U.S. troops have been exposed to hazardous levels of depleted uranium.

Connecticut lawmakers denounce veterans' cutbacks
05 September 2002, WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) _ Connecticut's congressional delegation Thursday expressed its anger over the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs decision to cut some specialty care services at the Newington VA hospital.

VA Chief Says 'Enough' -  Armed Forces News, 9/3/02, Although insurance reimbursements are cascading into the Department of Veterans Affairs' coffers, Veterans Affairs Department secretary Anthony Principi is talking of suspending enrollment of lower-priority veterans into the health-care system, and capping the number of veterans who can enroll, or limiting annual open enrollment periods. The department floated the idea (rejected by Congress) of a $1,500 deductible for higher- income beneficiaries. The VA has told its network directors to stop marketing for new patients. Here are a few reasons why:

VA withholding Crucial Gulf War Statistics as we approach war with Iraq - The VA is in violation of public law, 8/29/02, The National Gulf War Resource Center (NGWRC) is requesting that the Department of Veterans Affairs release up-to-date Gulf War veteran death and disability statistics. The NGWRC has made this request informally and now formally with a letter to Secretary Principi. Public Law 102-585 Sections 701 and 702 state that every three months, as required by law, the VA must publish the "Gulf War Veterans Information System" report. The last Gulf War statistics were released in February 2002. The next release was due in May 2002. VA is now four months delinquent in distributing these critical statistics.

SAILORS SKEPTICAL OF CHEMICAL TEST - By TOM STUCKEY - 08/20/02 17:18 EDT - ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Sailors who were sprayed with chemicals aboard a Navy ship in the 1960s received assurances Tuesday that the government is actively trying to determine whether the tests caused their health problems.

Senate Investigates Navy Nerve Gas - By JEFFREY McMURRAY, 6/24/02 18:57 EDT - WASHINGTON (AP) - A Senate panel will investigate whether the Pentagon intended to use American sailors as human guinea pigs during the 1960s testing of chemical weapons aboard Navy ships, Sen. Max Cleland said Monday.
 

VFW OUTRAGED AT PRESIDENT'S INTENT TO VETO
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL - WASHINGTON, D.C., June 19, 2002--Expressing outrage and disbelief, the Commander in Chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. today termed the Administration's threat to veto the FY 2003 Defense Authorization Act (S 2514) an injustice, if it provides for even the partial elimination of the current ban on concurrent receipt of military retired pay and VA compensation for disabled military veterans.

Vets vow to fight against shutting doors - http://web.archive.org/web/20030402220102/http://www.newbritainherald.com/ - By JOY PACHLA, Staff Writer, June 14, 2002 - NEWINGTON -- Veterans from the Connecticut Veterans' Coalition Forum, which represents 22 local and national veterans groups, met Thursday night to ask lawmakers to fight against the closing of three specialty clinics at the Newington Veterans Hospital.

DoD: 60s Tests May Have Harmed Veterans - Dateline: 05/28/02, Recently declassified reports on Cold War-era tests reveal that U.S. veterans may have been exposed to live nerve and biological warfare agents. The VA is now attempting to contact veterans who may have participated in the tests.

Mice, bugs face VA hospital eviction - Jun. 04, 2002, By LIBBY QUAID, Associated Press - WASHINGTON � Senior administrators within the Veterans Affairs Department knew for years about rodent and bug infestations at the Kansas City , Mo. , veterans hospital and should have intervened more aggressively, government investigators said Tuesday.

Former VA Nurse Charged With Murdering 10 Veterans - By DAVID A. LIEB, 06/05/02 22:21 EDT - COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -Attorney Kathryn Benson said Richard A. Williams will plead innocent to charges he killed the 10 patients under his care at Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital in 1992. Forty-one patients under Williams' care died that year.

Vets Who Served in Persian Gulf Are Sicker - Mon May 13,11:57 PM ET, by Kathleen Doheny HealthScoutNews-Reporter, MONDAY, May 13 (HealthScoutNews) -- Veterans who served in the Middle East during the Gulf War (news - web sites) have had more health problems after their return than veterans who served at the same time but were stationed elsewhere

Experts Say Cuts Overwhelming VA - 5/14/02, By MELISSA B. ROBINSON , Associated Press, WASHINGTON (AP) - Thousands of veterans are being turned away from Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics because of shortages in money and staff, a congressional panel was told Tuesday.

VA Addresses Nurse Shortage - WASHINGTON, May 2 /PRNewswire/ -- A 60-second public service announcement on television is reminding viewers that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is an employer of choice for health care workers.  The TV ad is one of VA's initiatives to address the shortage of nurses and ensure continued quality care for veterans.

VA: Errors on Deaths Skewed Study - By SUZANNE GAMBOA, AP, 05/03/02 00:03 EDT - WASHINGTON (AP) - Veterans Affairs acknowledged Friday that it erroneously concluded that Gulf War veterans who escaped exposure to nerve gas were dying at a higher rate than those who were exposed.

Review: 118 Gov't Doctors Punished - 4/14/02, Associated Press, By MATT KELLEY - The majority - 75 - work for the VA, the largest federal health care agency. Some veterans' groups want VA Secretary Anthony Principi to investigate.

Convicted VA worker still paid ILLEGAL FEES - 4/7/02, The News Tribune, By Sean Robinson, A veterans advocate and former state senator who admitted accepting more than $101,000 in illegal payments from former prisoners of war will continue to receive her taxpayer-funded salary through the end of the month. Lena Swanson, 64, pleaded guilty last week in U.S. District Court to accepting illegal payments from former POWs and other veterans.

Sick Agent Orange vets owed benefits - U.S. court - SAN FRANCISCO, April 1 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court ruled on Monday that Vietnam veterans who contracted prostate cancer and diabetes after exposure to Agent Orange should get retroactive disability payments, setting legal precedent that could cover a wide range of illnesses associated with the toxic defoliant.

VA Officials Reassigned Amid Scandal - 3/28/02, By LIBBY QUAID,.c The Associated Press - WASHINGTON (AP) - Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi reassigned two administrators of the VA hospital system Thursday and ordered investigations into a medical journal's report that maggots infested the noses of two comatose patients in one facility.

[FBN EXCLUSIVE!] DAV Chapter rebels against VA in Opposition to DAV National - 3/27/02, In a rebellion against VA mistreatment of veterans and as a show of support for the FIREBASE NETWORK - (http://web.archive.org/web/20030402220102/http://www.firebase.net/), James Rhodes has been elected Commander of Disabled American Veterans, DAV, Chapter 13 in Alexander City, Alabama. "Recent attacks against the FIREBASE NETWORK web site by DAV National are totally uncalled for," Commander Rhodes stated. "The FIREBASE NETWORK is attempting -- in good faith -- to improve the treatment of this country's veterans by grassroots means, and anyone that criticizes this effort, is not acting on the side of justice, much less for the future well-being of our veterans."

VA Mortality Data Raise Questions - March 23, 2002, By THOMAS D. WILLIAMS, Courant Staff Writer. A federal health study shows that veterans exposed to chemical, real and simulated biological warfare agents during U.S. secret ocean experiments in the 1960s are three times more likely to die of respiratory and vascular brain diseases than the general population.

Time to tell truth about gulf war- By Raffi Khatchadourian, March 22, 2002 --NEW YORK -- With U.S. military action in Iraq emerging as a possible next phase in the war on terrorism, the Pentagon should work quickly toward solving some of the nagging questions that cloud over the Persian Gulf war and its legacy.
 

War hero's widow 'excess staff'?- 03/21/02, By Dennis McCarthy Columnist - Los Angeles Daily News, VA employee, Pam Murphy, widow of Audie Murphy -- Medal of Honor winner and America's most decorated World War II soldier, who went on to become an actor -- came to work as usual Monday morning as a program assistant. Then, along with dozens of other employees, she was given a letter saying she was considered "excess staff."

Former VA Employee Sentenced For Stealing From Prescriptions, Reports U.S. Attorney - BOSTON, March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- A Lynn man was sentenced today in federal court for stealing OxyContin and Percocet from prescriptions he was preparing for mailing from the Veterans Affairs pharmacy in Bedford, Massachusetts.

Senators Oppose Veterans Deductible - By Jim Abrams, Associated Press Writer, Wednesday, March 6, 2002; 1:56 PM, WASHINGTON -- Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi said Wednesday that he may be forced to limit new enrollments to VA health care programs unless Congress requires some veterans to pay a $1,500 deductible.

Crunch has vets waiting for health care - By JIM ROSS, Times Staff Writer, St. Petersburg Times, March 17, 2002, INVERNESS -- The Inverness VA Outpatient Clinic is so busy that some new patients are waiting at least nine months before they can undergo a basic exam.

Defense agency fails to screen for beryllium disease - By Sam Roe, Tribune staff reporter, March 3, 2002, U.S. military personnel have been exposed to the highly toxic metal beryllium at dozens of Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps facilities, with some levels exceeding legal safety limits, a Tribune investigation has found.

Study Examines Gulf War Deaths - WASHINGTON (AP) - Veterans groups want further investigation of a government analysis that shows a high death rate among Persian Gulf War troops thought to have escaped exposure to deadly toxins when an Iraqi chemical weapons depot was destroyed.

Health Care Firm Settles Fraud Case - 02-14-02 (AP), The settlement resolves claims that Rotech submitted false bills to several government agencies, including Medicare, Montana Medicaid, the Department of Veterans Affairs and Indian Health Service.

VA Health Deductible Draws Fire - 2/8/02, By JIM ABRAMS, .c The Associated Press - WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush's proposal to require veterans with incomes as low as $24,000 to pay a $1,500 deductible for using the Veterans Affairs health care system is drawing heat.
 

VA cardiac surgery units suffer higher death rates - Wednesday, January 31, 2001- By JOAN MAZZOLINI - PLAIN DEALER REPORTER -- The Department of Veterans Affairs clings to its heart surgery programs even though its patients die more frequently than heart patients in private and public hospitals. The VA acknowledges that some of those programs don�t do enough surgeries each year to guarantee proficiency. Some of those hospitals just don�t have enough heart surgeons willing to work for them, the VA says. 

Military retirees fight for full pensions - By SIDNEY SCHUHMANN, Scripps Howard News Service, January 28, 2002 -- For more than 100 years, the government has refused to pay military retirees their full pensions plus disability, a benefit afforded to retired civil servants.

Three indicted in scam at VA Medical Center in Salem - By the Associated Press, Published January 17, 2002, ROANOKE, Va. -- Three podiatrists who used to work at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem have been indicted on corruption charges by a federal grand jury, the Department of Justice announced Thursday. Benedict A. Profera, the former chief of the podiatric division at the medical center, was charged along with a married couple, Daniel D. and Suzanne Haritatos Semko, the department said. The three face wire fraud, bribery and theft charges.
 

Congress Fails Military Retirees... Again - By Heather Wayman - January 17, 2002 ,  http://web.archive.org/web/20030402220102/http://www.gopusa.com/ - Well, it's official! Congress has succeeded in telling the military retirees of this country that their 20+ years of service in defense of this nation don't mean diddly squat. They have told veterans in no uncertain terms that it doesn't matter that they gave the best years of their working lives to defend the freedoms of those in Congress, the White House and even the folks down on Main Street, Anytown, USA. Congress had the power to right a wrong directed at only one group of persons in this country, the military retiree. They failed miserably and delivered only lip service.
 

Veterans still waiting No funds available to pay disabled military retirees- Times Record News, Published: 01/09/2002,  Byline: Lynda Stringer -- The more than a century-old ban on veterans receiving both retirement and disability payments at the same time has finally been changed, but there's no money to pay for it. So most disabled military retirees are still having their disability payments deducted from their retirement checks.

Few doctors in new (TRICARE) military plan - LORRINE THOMPSON, THE OLYMPIAN , 1/02 -- The not-so-good news: Some Thurston County veterans are finding it difficult to locate doctors who will accept Washington state's low Medicare reimbursement payments, so the new program might not help them. "We've got free health care that's no real benefit to us," said Harold Carr Sr., a retired command sergeant major.
 

2001 News Articles

Ex-VA Hospital Exec Accused of Fraud -AP dated 12-28-01,  A man who worked 28 years for the Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital in Maywood has been charged with using his corporate credit card to cheat the hospital out of $177,000.

Pentagon Slow To Aid Troops In Secret Tests - 12/24/01, By THOMAS D. WILLIAMS, Courant Staff Writer, Hartford, Connecticut. Veterans Say They Became Sick Because Of 1960s Experiments Four months after the Pentagon acknowledged that thousands of U.S. soldiers, sailors and Marines might have been exposed to dangerous chemical or biological agents during top-secret tests in the 1960s, only a fraction of those possibly affected have been identified and none has been contacted.

VETERANS GETTING THE SHAFT- 12/20/2001, North County Times, San Diego County, CA. By Richard Kirk. The law makes military retirees pay for their own disability compensation--at least up to the amount of their retirement benefit. What makes this law so blatantly unfair is that the same provision forbidding concurrent receipt of benefits does not apply to those who receive veterans’ disability compensation but are not military retirees.
 

Veterans rip plan to move Oakland Park Clinic - 12/15/01, OAKLAND, Florida - In nine weeks, thousands of veterans will be forced to move from a clinic they've known for 20 years. That alone is upsetting veterans and politicians alike. But the fact that the Department of Veterans Affairs does not yet know where veterans will go for medical services has them incensed.

Veterans Protest Planned Service Cuts - 12/15/01, NEWINGTON, Connecticut - While a roomful of veterans hissed and booed him, the manager of Connecticut's Veterans Affairs hospitals said Friday that services at the Newington campus will likely be reduced to make up for a shortfall in federal funding.

Veterans fight for hospital - 12/15/01, NEWINGTON, Connecticut - For veterans and nurses worried about service cuts at the Newington Veterans Affairs hospital, one thing was clear. "You're not closing this hospital," exclaimed veteran Willie Harper, 50, of Manchester.

Former VA Employee Indicted - December 1, 2001 � TUSCALOOSA, Alabama A former audiologist with the Tuscaloosa Veteran Affairs Medical Center has been indicted on charges that she collected money from veterans for hearing aids they were supposed to be getting for free.

Former VA Hospital Nurse Charged - 11/24/01, WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A former nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital was charged with second-degree murder in the death of a patient.

Veterans won't sit still, be ignored! - 11/12/01, SEPULVEDALF, CA - If the Department of Veteran's Affairs officials trying to squeeze the life out of the once-proud, flourishing Sepulveda VA thought the old vets who come here for services and camaraderie were going to fade into the sunset without a fight, boy, were they wrong.

While Some Veterans Parade, Others Picket a Health Clinic! - 11/12/01,  SEPULVEDALF, CA - On a day of parades to honor their service to the nation, nearly 200 veterans instead picketed outside a San Fernando Valley clinic Sunday, criticizing the government's health-care system for unduly burdening those who have defended the United States.

Navy says recruit data faked 50 face discipline in falsifying of education records! - 11/09/21, CHICAGO, IL - About 50 recruiters in the Navy's Chicago district face disciplinary action following a five-month investigation that found they were falsifying records to qualify recruits who did not meet education requirements, Navy officials said Thursday.

Veterans Protest Removal of Doctors! - 10/08/01, PRESTONSBURG, KY.- (AP) - Angry veterans protested Tuesday outside a Veterans Affairs clinic where two part-time American physicians were relieved of their duties, leaving only three doctors from the Middle East.

Three VA workers charged with conspiracy, theft in $6 million fraud case! - 08/28/01, ATLANTA (AP) - The government has charged three current and former employees of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs with defrauding the agency of nearly $6 million to buy houses, cars and even a submarine.  

Ten more charged with conspiracy, theft in $11 million fraud case! - 10/05/01, The government filed charges against 10 people Friday to expand an investigation into an alleged theft of almost $11 million from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.  

Report: Mice Infested Mo. VA Hospital - Sun Mar 24,11:01 PM ET By JOSH FREED, Associated Press Writer - KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Maggots were born in the noses of two comatose patients four years ago at a city Veteran's Administration hospital infested by mice and flies, according to a medical journal report released Monday.

Ex-VA Nurse COULD Get Death Sentence! - 03/17/01, SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - Kristen Gilbert was hired as a caretaker, but the accusations that followed painted a gruesome picture: The nurse allegedly killed four patients at a veterans hospital with drug injections to impress her boyfriend.

He made peace with God but waged war on the VA- Sunday, January 28, 2001 By JOAN MAZZOLINI - THE PLAIN DEALER -Cleveland, Ohio. Though his pastor told mourners that Terry Soles had made his peace with God, his war with the veterans� hospital was a different matter. That's something he passed on like an inheritance to his wife, Dee, and their five children.

VA patients encounter tangled web of doctors in training, long waits for appointments, resistance to change in troubled system- Sunday, January 28, 2001 , By JOAN MAZZOLINI - THE PLAIN DEALER , Cleveland, Ohio. Nearly 4 million people depend on the nation�s Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics, but an investigation by The Plain Dealer discovered that the largest full-service health system in the country is operating under many rules that would not be allowed elsewhere, sometimes with disastrous results.

Lax oversight leaves VA doctors who are training on their own - Monday, January 29, 2001 , By JOAN MAZZOLINI, PLAIN DEALER REPORTER. A doctor in training who was staffing the emergency room at the Hines VA Hospital near Chicago sent Peter Melone away, telling him the pain he had was merely arthritis. Though the 73-year-old veteran survived the aneurysm that later ruptured in his belly, his left leg did not.

World War II hero suffocated when tube put in lung- Monday, January 29, 2001, By JOAN MAZZOLINI, PLAIN DEALER, Cleveland, Ohio.One day a resident doctor inserted a feeding tube, and, as is the routine, had it X-rayed. Had she checked the X-ray, she would have seen the tube in LaRoque�s lung instead of his stomach. The feeding was started. LaRoque, 75, suffocated.

Bad knee puts vet on doctor treadmill- Monday, January 29, 2001 , By JOAN MAZZOLINI , PLAIN DEALER , Cleveland, Ohio. David Waters is self-employed, raising his teenage son on his own, and is trying to get a knee replacement at the Birmingham veterans hospital.

Much-needed surgery was canceled 2 times- Monday, January 29, 2001, By JOAN MAZZOLINI, PLAIN DEALER, Cleveland, Ohio. Elizabeth Ann DeRousse died six months after doctors at the Lexington veterans hospital discovered three aneurysms in her brain ready to burst.

VA hospitals skirt the law to employ foreign doctors- Tuesday, January 30, 2001, By JOAN MAZZOLINI, PLAIN DEALER, Cleveland, Ohio. The VA says the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service endorsed those part-time hires, even though immigration laws allow foreigners to stay only for full-time jobs. However, INS officials said they weren't aware that foreign doctors were being hired for part-time VA positions.

Mc Cain Aide Recommends Veteran Take His Case To Federal Court, Based On Evidence - 01/28/01, The Director of this VA Facility is featured here as an interviewee of a VA Hospital article. The Article says "Veterans who offered their lives for their country now may be putting them on the line again in the very hospitals established to heal them."

D.A.V. VERY CRITICAL OF FIREBASE NETWORK! - 01/22/01, Attached is one of two letters DON HOLLAND received from the Disabled American Veterans headquarters in Washing, DC. The letter are in JPG file format for authenticity verification. They have been reduced slightly in size for faster downloading. FIREBASE NETWORK RESPONSE TO DAV 

Gulf War Pesticides Link Probed -  01/12/01, (The Associated Press - ROBERT BURNS - AP Military Writer )WASHINGTON (AP) - Pesticides used by American troops in the Persian Gulf War probably didn't contribute to the unexplained illnesses reported by many veterans but cannot be dismissed for sure, the military said Friday.

Veterans Slam Monstrous Attitude - 01/11/01, (Reuters - Kate Kelland - LONDON), Rusling says the British government has been lying and covering up the possible reasons for his own illnesses and the deaths of hundreds of other Gulf War veterans. And as next Tuesday's 10th anniversary of the war against Iraq approaches, veteran British and United States soldiers suffering from cancer, chronic fatigue, memory loss and severe stress say they have been "abandoned and left to die."

2000 News Articles

Federal Agent Pleads Guilty to Theft of Government Funds, Reports U.S. Attorney - (BOSTON, Dec. 22, PR Newswire) -- A former special agent of the United States Air Force, Office of Special Investigations, pled guilty today in federal court to theft of government benefits.

Military Ballot Rejection Sparks Protest At Courthouse - (By DAVE SHELTON /Hernando Today staff, Originally Published: Nov 25, 2000) BROOKSVILLE. A dozen veterans and their families demonstrated in front of the county courthouse Friday protesting military absentee ballots thrown out statewide because of postmark and dating problems. 
[NOTE: IDA HEREDIA of Brooksville, who organized Friday's demonstration, is a Founding Member of the FIREBASE NETWORK and a valued member of the Veterans� Rights Movement.]

VA NURSE ON TRIAL FOR VETERANS DEATHS - (By JEFF DONN, The Associated Press, 11-21-00) SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - The daughter of one of four men allegedly killed by a nurse at a veterans hospital testified Tuesday that her ailing father was improving when he died.

Vets Protest Care at VA Medical Center - Stars & Stripes Sep 24, 2000 Rowena Wall - Hospital personnel, including physicians, have joined veterans protesting mistreatment and denial of proper care at the Dublin, Ga., VA Medical Center.

Jurors Warned in VA Hospital Case  - 10/16/00 By JEFF DONN SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - A judge Monday warned potential jurors in the trial of a former nurse accused of murdering patients at a veterans' hospital that they might have to decide whether to impose the death penalty.

Services Turning to 'Felony Recruits' In Economic Boom - (By Emily Kelley, Stars and Stripes Law & Politics Editor, 7/7/00) Some branches of the military are accepting more recruits charged with felony crimes, service records show. Experts see the trend as an indicator of the lengths to which certain branches are willing to go to meet recruitment goals during an economic boom.

VETERANS' RAW DEAL - (By Dan Moffett, THE PALM BEACH POST, Sunday, July 2, 2000) They served bravely, proudly on Guadal Canal, in the Mekong Delta, in Kuwait City. But to file a claim with the Department of Veterans Affairs is a battle none of them ever imagined.

VETS GET STIFFED AS INSIDERS GET RICH - (Dan Moffett, THE PALM BEACH POST, : Friday, August 4, 2000). It is the largest center run by the Department of Veterans Affairs � and the most beleaguered. Despite moving last year into a new, $24 million building equipped with new computers, the St. Pete office still has a backlog of more than 20,000 cases, the most in the nation.

Veterans Still Steamed Over Cohen Retreat On Health Care - (David Eberhart, Stars and Stripes Veterans Affairs 9/13/00) Veterans advocates are still angry with Defense Secretary William Cohen over an Aug. 7 letter in which he seemed to renege on a pledge four months earlier that free lifetime health care for retirees was an "obligation" he intended to keep.

Veterans Protest VA Care - ( VONDA LEE MORTON, Dublin Courier Herald, Georgia 9/12/00) A small group of mid-state veterans are staging a weeklong protest of the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center.

World War II Veterans Speak Up On The Government's Change of Heart On Health Care For Military Retirees RENI WINTER, THE SUN HERALD, July 2, 2000) ... and others who retired after 20 years or more in the military are doing something they never thought they would have to do - fighting the U.S. government because they have to pay for medical care that they thought would be free. The government says promises of free lifetime health care never were legally binding...

Veterans� Groups Try to Dissuade the Young From Serving in the Military  - "Thinking about a military career? Think again! The government does not honor its promises to veterans." Those are pretty strong words, but they are the sentiments of a veterans� group that has taken the problem to the streets in a very public way.

Former VA Doctor Charged With Murder - GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (AP) - A former doctor suspected of poisoning patients from Ohio to Zimbabwe was charged Tuesday with the 1993 murder of three patients at a veterans hospital.

Army Training Centers Get Failing Grades - (Rowan Scarborough, THE WASHINGTON TIMES) More than half of Army combat and support training centers have plunged to the lowest possible readiness level, with some commanding generals warning they risk not being able to turn out qualified soldiers, internal documents say.

Is "Sick Call" Dead? - It's confirmed. TRICARE, under DOD, has killed Sick Call, but that's only the beginning of the story.

Military Reserves Are Falling Short In Finding Recruits WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 -- The nation's military Reserves are increasingly struggling to fill their ranks with new recruits, even as the Pentagon relies on them more heavily than ever to conduct operations around the world, according to military officials and Pentagon documents.

Veterans Take Healthcare Grievance to Highways  - (Marine Times) -- Veterans' Groups are plastering billboards with messages saying the government doesn't honor its promises to veterans, or that Congress denies military retirees health care.

U.S. Senator wants 'shabby treatment' at VA investigated BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions has asked federal officials to investigate an Alabama veteran's claims that he received "shabby treatment" at the Tuskegee VA Medical Center, saying it demonstrates "a lack of quality care" at the hospital.

VA Has �A Duty to Assist,� Says New Evans Bill  - (Stars and Stripes) A Court of Appeals ruling which changed the way the Department of Veterans Affairs helps veterans gather evidence relevant to their claims has spelled disaster for those filing for service-connected benefits this year, according to Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill.

Anti-Recruiting Billboards Spread to Florida - (Stars and Stripes) Douglas McArthur, executive director of the National Veterans Organization of America, Inc. (NVOA), has told The Stars and Stripes that his infamous billboards, which first appeared in Texas, now are popping up in the Sunshine State.

VA Targeted for Fraud - ST. PETERSBURG -- Auditors have uncovered 136 cases of potential fraud or mishandling in the distribution of veterans benefit checks from offices in St. Petersburg and St. Louis, including the approval of $475,000 for a veteran who may have died 21 years ago.

VA Inspector General report of the BVA crime - (Source: VAOIG semi-an