Tagged: veterans

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Investigative
4:44 pm
Wed August 29, 2012

Veterans' disability claims in limbo at Michigan VA office (share your story)

Former Marine Adam Fields, 27, of Modesto, Calif., has been waiting since November 2010 for a ruling on his claim for benefits for traumatic brain injury.
Credit Michael Short / Center for Investigative Reporting
Former Marine Adam Fields, 27, of Modesto, Calif., has been waiting since November 2010 for a ruling on his claim for benefits for traumatic brain injury.

We've written before about the "unfinished business" of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan... caring for thousands of vets who are coming home after multiple tours with symptoms of PTSD or other disabilities.

Vets seeking benefits to help with their disabilities can face long wait times.

Thanks to a new analysis released today by the Center for Investigative Reporting, we can get a sense for how long those wait times are.

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Politics & Government
6:07 pm
Fri August 3, 2012

Court of Appeals says Governor can privatize nursing assistants at home for veterans

Credit Michigan.gov
Grand Rapids Home for Veterans

Governor Rick Snyder’s plan to save money by privatizing nursing assistants at a state-run home for veterans is legal. The state’s Court of Appeals issued the decision Friday.

The Grand Rapids Home for Veterans is one of two state-run hospitals for vets in Michigan. More than 700 are housed there.

Governor Rick Snyder privatized about 170 nursing assistants at the home last year to save around $4 million.

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Politics & Government
6:50 pm
Wed July 4, 2012

43 years later, a Vietnam veteran gets his Purple Heart

Credit Sarah Cwiek / Michigan Radio
Senator Carl Levin, left, awards Arnold Spencer the Purple Heart.

A Vietnam veteran finally received one of the nation's highest military honors on this Independence Day.

Arnold Spencer got his Purple Heart more than four decades after he was wounded in the leg and refused medical evacuation.

Spencer was only 19 years old when he served as an artillery forward observer in an infantry unit in Vietnam.   

He was wounded in a firefight, but turned down a medical evacuation, allowing a more seriously-injured soldier to go in his place, and returned to his unit.

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