Stars and Stripes Daily Headlines

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May 18, 2022 | View in browser

 

Senators reach agreement on health care, benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxins The PACT Act seeks to provide an easy path to health care and benefits for veterans who served near open-air burn pits, which were used throughout the 1990s and the post-9/11 wars to burn garbage, jet fuel and other materials. Read more >

DOD, VA did not do enough to make new electronic health record system work, IG audit finds A joint inspector general audit of the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments found the agencies did not do enough to exchange electronic health records information because interagency program officials did not direct or develop a clear plan for the system to work. Read more >

Texas doctor’s new research links onset of Gulf War illness in some veterans to sarin gas exposure New research from a Texas doctor has linked the onset of Gulf War illness in some veterans to exposure to the deadly nerve gas sarin. Read more >   Vietnam War gunnery sergeant awarded Medal of Honor in 2018 dies at age 84 John Lee Canley, a Marine Corps gunnery sergeant who was belatedly awarded the Medal of Honor in 2018 for his actions in the Battle of Hue during the 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam, died Wednesday. He was 84. Read more >   Okinawa 50 years since return: Koza steak house owner tells of life with US troops The Okinawan culture of eating steak was originally fostered in the Koza area in Okinawa City, which sits right next to the U.S. Kadena Air Base. Read more >

Massachusetts settles with families of Holyoke Soldiers’ Home victims Massachusetts has agreed to pay $56 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by the families of veterans who died or became sick after contracting COVID-19 at a state-run veterans' care center during one of the deadliest outbreaks at a long-term care facility in the U.S., officials said Thursday. Read more >   Alamo, Texas, to honor local soldier killed in Vietnam thanks to fellow veteran's efforts Army veteran Enrique Gonzalez recently set out on a mission to learn more about fellow Alamo native James Dale Earnest, who was killed in action serving with the U.S. Army in Vietnam, and hoped in doing so he'd earn the fallen soldier recognition from his hometown. Gonzalez can now say mission accomplished. Read more >   Remains of Korean War soldier to be buried in Idaho In late 1950, Army Pfc. Kenneth L. Bridger was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950. Read more >   World War II veteran’s remains, marked ‘unknown’ for 78 years, will be buried in California Seaman 2nd Class Denver True “D.T.” Kyser was just 18 years old when he died fighting on Dec. 7, 1941. He was among 429 crewmen killed on the USS Oklahoma after the battleship was hit by multiple torpedo strikes and capsized. Read more >   A Kansas veteran's house was condemned after a fire; now volunteers may save it Kansas National Guardsman Don "Rhino" Lobmeyer had a plan for his north Broadway property. He wanted to convert it into apartments for homeless veterans. But the white two-story Victorian house caught fire in February 2019, a month before Lobmeyer returned from his third deployment in Kuwait. Read more >   Congress bestows its highest honor on WWII merchant marines More than two years after Congress voted to approve the award, leaders on Capitol Hill on Wednesday awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to surviving merchant mariners, who provided equipment, food, fuel and other materials to military troops around the world during World War II. Read more >

 

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