Blog Post

IAVA Daily News Brief 08.08.12
Posted by Gretchen Andersen on August 8 2012

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

MUST READS

1) Military Bonds Draw Veterans to Mental Health Jobs

Veterans are looking to help fellow veterans cope with life after active-duty. CNN reports that veterans are looking to become mental health professionals, and some are even filling in gaps in veteran care that government and civilian efforts have left open. Featured in the piece is the organization Train Vets to Treat Vets, which mentors new veterans, provides services to at-risk and homeless veterans, and educates the public about ways they can help. CNN also features Vets Prevail, a free online forum and multistep mental health program.

2) Erin Trieb’s Homecoming Project: Capturing War Through Veteran Tales

Watch a video of Sergeant Major Pat Corcoran on TIME Lightbox’s page. Corcoran discusses seeing photographs of himself unconscious after a bomb exploded under his seat in eastern Afghanistan. Photographer Erin Trieb, who captured the moment, shared the photographs with Corcoran when he returned home, which Corcoran describes in the video as bringing him a sense of closure. Trieb subsequently took photographs of Corcoran’s surgery and therapy, both of which will be added to a growing collection for The Homecoming Project, a non-profit organization Trieb started that uses visual storytelling to illuminate the ongoing issues of veterans from the past decade's wars.

3) Official: 3 U.S. Troops Killed in Afghanistan

The AP reports that a suicide attack has killed three coalition troops in the Kunar province. No more details have been released regarding the nationalities of the troops, but a regional Afghan security official tells CBS News the slain troops were Americans. The Taliban claimed responsibility. A spokesman for the local government said at least one Afghan civilian was also killed and three were wounded in the blast.

AFGHANISTAN

• According to UN figures, civilian casualties in Afghanistan decreased for the first time in five years. Civilian deaths or injuries fell by 15% in the first half of 2012 compared with the same period last year.
• TIME discusses what’s next for Afghanistan and the United States now that Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak and Interior Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi are no longer in the government.

IRAQ

• Gunmen broke into a well-known lawyer’s home in Beiji, Iraq, killing him, his wife, his sons and a relative. 

MILITARY AFFAIRS

• As of Tuesday, August 7th, at least 1,941 service members have been killed in Afghanistan, according to an AP count. 

THE NEW GREATEST GENERATION

• Twenty U.S. military veterans and active duty service members, some of whom were wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, will represent the United States in the 2012 Paralympic Games. 
• Swords to Plowshares has received the Department of Veterans Affairs Supportive Services for Veteran Families grant, which will provide assistance to 330 very low-income veterans and their families in San Francisco and surrounding counties. Swords to Plowshares is a San-Francisco based not-for-profit veteran service organization that helps veterans overcome cultural, economic, psychological and educational barriers. 
• Through a variety of national service programs, vets can harness their skills learned in the military to do good for their communities upon returning home.
• A Marine stood guard outside Cody Green’s hospital door for almost eight hours before Green passed away. Green, 12, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and had always idolized the Marines. The photo of Sgt. Mark Dolfini, 39, standing outside Green’s door has gone viral.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

• Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned colleagues at a meeting of the Association of Defense Communities that shutting down some excess military installations will be an inevitable casualty of Pentagon expense cutting. 
• As rumors swirl about Gen. David Petraeus taking the VP spot for Romney, Politico lists 10 interesting facts about the CIA Director -- such as his childhood nickname “Peaches.” 
• Clothe a Homeless Hero Act would allow TSA to give unclaimed clothing to homeless veterans and their families in addition to turning over unclaimed money to the USO for its airport programs in support of the military.

A wide-range of views, positions, and publications are represented in these articles. These views, positions and publications are not endorsed by nor do they necessarily represent the views of IAVA.

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