Stars and Stripes Veterans News

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December 29, 2021

 

VA’s coronavirus cases reach all-time high The active case count reached 22,911 Wednesday, surpassing a high set in January. The record-breaking number of cases among VA patients reflects trends nationwide. READ MORE

Richard Marcinko, first SEAL Team 6 commander, dies at 81 Richard Marcinko, who founded the Navy’s SEAL Team 6 after earning accolades as a SEAL leader during two tours in Vietnam, died Christmas Day at age 81, the National Navy SEAL Museum has announced. READ MORE

VA creates executive-level position focused on homelessness in Los Angeles The department announced Wednesday that it created the position of senior executive homelessness agent for Greater Los Angeles and tapped Keith Harris, a licensed clinical psychologist, to take the role. READ MORE   North Carolina military retirees to see state tax break The North Carolina General Assembly approved eliminating the state's tax on military pension income in the fiscal budget that was signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper in November. READ MORE   When there is a military death, this California woman honors the fallen For 12 years, Laura Herzog, 49, of Garden Grove, Calif., has been there when a military service member has died, offering support and assistance to those left behind. She calls them “hero missions.” READ MORE

‘This was very disheartening’: Veteran, military families upset Christmas items left at gravesites thrown away The daughter of a 20-year Army veteran is upset that personal items left at her father’s gravesite and the graves of others were thrown away without notice. READ MORE   Providence VA Medical Center in RI suspends visitation over omicron concerns Dr. Larry Connell, director of the Veterans Administration Providence Health Care System, said the hospital is allowing visitors to see their loved ones if they are in end-of-life care. The latest guidance has been in effect for the last two weeks, at the onset of the omicron variant. READ MORE   ‘Black Hawk Down’ pilot, Senate candidate Durant says vaccine mandate could force him to fire 80 employees Mike Durant was a guest Sunday on the Black Rifle Coffee podcast and talked about how the mandate would affect the workforce at Pinnacle Solutions, a company the former Army aviator started after retiring from the military in 2001. READ MORE   NJ agrees to pay $52.9M to families over COVID deaths in state’s hard-hit veterans homes The state of New Jersey, which was accused of gross negligence and incompetence over its handing of the COVID outbreak in the state-run veterans homes, has agreed to a pay nearly $53 million to the families of 119 residents whose deaths were attributed to the coronavirus in the early days of the pandemic. READ MORE   Defense seeks to dismiss indictment against 5 men, including Marine veteran, in Mich. governor kidnapping plot Defense attorneys want to dismiss the indictment against five men accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer because of what they described as "egregious overreaching" by federal agents and informants, according to a court filing. READ MORE   Voices of WWII troops live on in letters collected, preserved by Schenectady woman They called themselves “Em’s gang.” Or sometimes simply “The gang.” They were a group of young men hailing from Schenectady and serving in the armed forces during World War II who would often write home to Emma DiGiorgio, a community builder if ever there was one. READ MORE

 

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