Blog Post

IAVA Daily News Brief 01.18.12
Posted by Megan Hemler on January 18 2012

Here are some of today's top stories and happenings at IAVA. Prefer to receive real-time updates about major stories and legislation that IAVA is tracking? Follow us on Twitter @IAVAPressRoom.

Here are some of today's top stories and happenings at IAVA.  Prefer to receive real-time updates about major stories and legislation that IAVA is tracking? Follow us on Twitter @IAVAPressRoom and click here to get the News Brief delivered to your inbox every morning.

MUST READS

1) Soldiers and Sons
IAVA Legislative Associate Ramsey Sulayman, a Major in the Marine Corps, reflects in Men’s Health about what it was like to miss the birth of his son while serving in Iraq. Military families face a unique set of challenges when their loved ones are deployed. Read IAVA’s latest issue report on the experiences of military families after ten years of war.

2) You see us all the time
The murder of a park ranger at Mount Rainier is tragic and reprehensible, but the media should be careful not to stereotype all veterans as psychopaths, writes OIF/OEF veteran Jason Payne. Not all veterans have PTSD, he writes, and a diagnosis of PTSD does not necessarily mean that a vet will act violently in the future.

3) And Then They Came Home
IAVA Member Veteran Garrett Anderson and Antonio de la Torre are creating a documentary about what it’s like to be “over there” in Fallujah in 2004. The creators are raising money to produce a work that will become a resource for future veterans and civilians about the true costs of war.

AFGHANISTAN

• Investigators still do not know the motives of an Afghan colleague who killed eight airmen and one contractor in Kabul last April.

• ISAF will no longer report the number of NATO troops killed by friendly Afghan soldiers and police officers.

IRAQ

• Car bombs in two Iraqi cities killed at least 11 people on Monday.

• An Iraqi government official has urged Iran not to close the Straits of Hormuz and jeopardize the region’s economic lifeline.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

• Martin Mulcahey writes in The Atlantic that medical practitioners need to think outside the box when it comes to treating veterans with PTSD.

• A correspondent for CNN writes about what drove the four Marines to desecrate the bodies of three dead Taliban fighters.
• A writer for Military.com rebukes a veteran and two politicians for their misleading responses to the Marines video.
  

NEW GREATEST GENERATION

• After his best friend deployed to Iraq, Brooklyn artist David Pierce started painting watercolors of his friend’s experience.

• A group of veterans in Florida have banded together as the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team.
• IAVA Member Veteran Wes Moore has launched a new show “Beyond Belief” on OWN.
• As the troops come home, local governments are encouraging veteran owned small businesses with financial support.
  

INSIDE WASHINGTON

• The wife of Vice President Biden has published a new book that pays tribute to the troops and their families.
• As the race for the Republican presidential nomination heats up, the candidates are vying for the support of veterans.
• First Lady Michelle Obama did a cameo on the hit Nickelodeon show "iCarly" and encouraged viewers to support military families.
  

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