Pvt. Keiffer Wilhelm went to Iraq with a new platoon. He had volunteered to go early. He committed suicide 10 days after arriving. His death lead to an investigation into the abuse. .

Now four soldiers are facing charges for mistreating their fellows. "Allegations include verbal abuse, physical punishment and ridicule toward the soldiers."  [Associated Press]

A booklet published in 1997 for veterans on end-of-life planning has become controversal since a Wall Street Journal editorial last week, later repeated on Fox News. The booklet has a worksheet "meant to help veterans direct in advance the medical care they want in the event they are incapacitated." [Washington Post]

The Veterans Affairs department faces the problem that veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq feel there is a stigma attached to admitting any post-tramautic stress, and therefore the doctors at facilities in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire can't test how well their new techniques are working. [Boston Globe]

Not a good day for the Veterans Affairs Department. The Inspector General in charge found several scandals including an "inappropriate relationship" in the information technology area, nepotism and imappropriate hiring and handling of awards during the last two years.

A fat-filled article with lots of information. [Nextgov.com]

Veterans who were given incorrect doses of radiation against prostate cancer at the Philadelphia area VA face more problems. The total is 98 veterans who received sub-par care there. [Attorney at law.com]

The Army is in the third and final trial of a new Army program called "Warrior Adventure Quest. It sends soldiers just back from war on outings of paintball, mountain biking, scuba diving, sky diving, whitewater rafting, alpine skiing, snowboarding and rock climbing."  It is intended to provide some of the excitement and the thrill of war zones in a safe surviveable environment so that soldiers can ease back into civilian life on their return. [Island Packet]

President Obama is asking federal employees to help find a solution to the backlog of disability claims at Veterans Affairs. The number of claims have soared this year.

At a Veterans of Foreign wars convention, he said that through a web-based program, suggestions could be submitted, and the best of them implemented by the end of the year. [Washington Post]

In a speech, President Obama said that whatever reforms happen in health care, they won't affect those who use Tricare or the VA system. He does say though that Secretary Gates is worried about the rise in costs in Tricare.

The President and Sec. Shinseki sat with military reporters on August 4th to discuss this and other topics. [Island Packet]

People have taken donations, held bake sales and sewn quilts, but in Macon, Georgia, they're having a used clothing sale to send a roughly two hundred boxes to a deployed National Guard unit in Afghanistan. [Macon Telegraph]

For Kenny Euge, memories of a battle in Vietnam never faded. Living amid sculpture created from scrap, Euge suffers from PTSD from a battle in 1970.

He and fellow members of Alpha Troop, First Squadron, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment will be receiving the Presidential Unit Citation. [Belleville News Democrat]