News & Opinion

After reporting that it had found 102 more misplaced headstones or markers and 21 graves missing markers at its cemeteries, the Veterans Affairs Department told lawmakers Thursday that it's trying to prevent future errors by requiring contractors to keep headstones at gravesites undergoing renovations and by conducting daily inspections. Read more »

The Department of Veterans Affairs has found more than 100 unmarked or mismarked graves at two more national cemeteries, adding to a mounting toll of problems at military burial grounds across the country. Read more »

The heads of the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs said Monday they want to improve the process by which active servicemembers become veterans but also acknowledged it would take a lot of work. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki convened the second of what they said would be regular meetings about how their departments can better serve troops leaving the military, including those filing claims for service-connected disabilities. Read more »

Disabled American Veterans testified Tuesday in Washington that the Veterans' Affairs claims backlog has grown to 800,000 pending cases. Read more »

-- U.S. Rep. John Mica (R-Winter Park) toured the VA Medical Center construction site at Lake Nona today with VA officials to see first hand what is causing delays in the project. The VA announced last month that the project originally scheduled to be completed by October 2012 will not open until summer of 2013, at the soonest. Read more »

Two years after Congress passed a high-profile law to improve health care for military veterans, lawmakers and advocates are again raising alarms that the sprawling Department of Veterans Affairs is not expanding help for the nation's former fighters and their families as quickly or widely as intended. Read more »

Recently, we've seen signs that our economy is beginning to turn around, which is positive news for those seeking work in the Tampa Bay area. While we are far from a robust economic recovery we all would like, one group in particular that continues to struggle to find work is our nation's veterans who are rejoining the civilian workforce. Read more »

An Ohio congressman has introduced legislation that would move veteran-owned businesses closer to the front of the line when seeking contracts from the Veterans Affairs Department. Read more »

After prodding from his family, Ron Moser went to the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Fort Wayne because he was having "nightmares from hell." The Vietnam War veteran said he was given medication for flashbacks, told he was mentally ill and threatened with a 72-hour stay for observation. Read more »

Congressman Marlin Stutzman (IN-03) and the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Jeff Miller (FL-01) held a veterans’ affairs forum in Fort Wayne Tuesday. Dozens of area vets showed up with concerns ranging from unemployment to mental health. Read more »