i actually believe that you have to be armed with information you have to know what's going on and one can say that events are you know really big topic in the news in all different levels the still if you don't know exactly what's going on you may not know how to go about helping them even if it's of a germ of an idea like oh yeah i could do that so i want to create an outlet or a platform where anybody can turn on the t v and listen to t v and go to this radio station this t v station can find out all that there is to find out about veterans and particular vets in this area ok so i'm looking to have a t v show everything by vets for vets and actually looking for people vets and this is a militia who knows how to do media like to learn how to do media help put the show on the vested interest they need employment all of this is necessary and we want to serve as a platform to put all the information out there the entrepreneur the business as far as only will business i knows about the medicinal value and the the value of having pets for some of the returning vets and how they can help and there are recuperation and and everything so there is a show sort of right now in the can for that to our own close circuit community channels ok we're trying to get on as many community channels as we can ok one of the big things i'd like to see is at the veterans looking for and they don't necessarily have to be vets although we definitely strongly encourage vets because you maybe some vets who are interested in media some form of you know production and post production you're producing we're looking for vets to help man cameras or go out on on a shoots do the interviews and see and we can bring them in and we're even looking to do a segment on the vets who have photography and nineteen forty one a date which will live in infamy united states of america was suddenly and deliberately attack pilots aboard a near complete almost eighty five percent of the american fleet was either damaged or destroyed it was one of the most devastating losses in the history of the united states navy japanese was flying a torpedo bomber that day leon cole was a turret gunner on the u s s oklahoma this is where their paths would cross on the battlefront by june one thousand forty one japan has made aggressive military maneuvers into china and southeast asia to be independent of western domination japan needs access to the natural resources of these regions but the united states objects t and tensions build between the two countries the japanese realize that war with the united states could become inevitable with american economic and military strength such a confrontation would overwhelm japan's armed forces the long term japanese battle plan for domination of the east includes an invasion of thailand burma malaya the philippines singapore and the all rich dutch east indies all that stands in the way is the american fleet at pearl harbor hawaii for over a year the japanese navy plans t aboard the battleship oklahoma is leon cole my home state was oklahoma i came from oklahoma city my first ship with the u s s texas and i was going to board it one year until it was reassigned job and the gun fire within the gun around saying that the guns were cleaned and ready to fire the first time i went out it was a wonderful experience of we had about three days and poured after maneuvers at that my trip around the island i have the others there and they are there with a beautiful paradise but when we were permanently stationed there it soon became tiresome you've seen all the sights and we all look forward to when we come back united states hundred one pearl harbor had been the home port for the bulk of american sea power for almost a year and a half to protect the fleet the u s army also maintains two grounded missions there is a continuing buildup of military personnel and weapons into the base corps operating principally out of the coming week reveals moves planes going to strengthen hawaii's defenses the planes are only used for reconnaissance since there's little fear of an air attack after all japan is nearly five thousand miles away readiness for war the united states has a plan but that plan is based on ship to ship battles that have been waged since world war one there is no preparation for a sea battle fought by carriers and aircraft in this respect the japanese have allowed the american forces into a false sense of security during the first two weeks in november while japanese diplomats in washington attempt to come to a negotiated solution the pearl harbor strike force begins to gather at top secret rendezvous points american intelligence which is broken japanese coded transmissions notes that a large segment of the imperial fleet is mysteriously si twenty seven submarines are sent ahead they have been assigned to observe and report back the location of american ships during the attack they are doing or pearl harbor and sink any ships attempting to escape five of them are also fitted with tubes that carry m to men submarines which have been specially designed for this mission they will slip through the harbors defense gates on suicidal torpedo missions but the main striking power of the plan rests with the torpedo planes apollo plowshares is perhaps the most effective organization in the country meeting the needs of america's veterans and military they say in battle we believe no soldier behind swords to plowshares says and when they come home we will be no veteran behind has always prided itself upon serving those most in need it's typically been veterans who have low income or who have issues that are being addressed we are always or selves as part of this community based system of care that includes service providers an advocates and activists all the way through the mid eighty's the whole issue of homelessness and so that was an issue that we attempted to address it's pretty rare to find out that yes or no say shouldn't copperheads to the extent that it can provide legal services employment services housing services emergency care and who had all the stress about how they felt and how they're being treated in the trauma that they went through but it wasn't even recognized by the mental health community when you're in a combat situation and you get off the plane and the doctors talk to you they say one hundred percent of you have post max stress disorder so it's just a matter of how you deal with it after the fact and how you manage the symptoms determines how it'll affect your life but will it changes you more changes have gone from being a chronically homeless person an alcoholic to someone who has a place to live who has a job who has hope and self sufficiency they help me to achieve a better life and to be around the camaraderie veterans helping veterans is a no brainer for me this is where i need to  be tried provide direct care and try to prejudge people and then try to effect a system of care so it's even beyond us of actually system care actually proves and changes and i think we try to i've had the privilege of seeing so it's to pile here up close in san francisco and proudly watch them advocate for veterans in washington d c couldn't hear what they had to say without saying we must change our policy this is the last v a news for two thousand and fourteen and we've got a full slate of stories to share with you first of all the veterans day events from which we could get video and images these disabled veterans were the first graduates of a war years to work program at the v a acquisition academy three veterans tell us what the two thousand and fourteen creative arts festival meant to them and we salute a great hero one hundred fifty one years after he died at the age of twenty two on the field  gettysburg hello i'm roger lockhart with the office of information technology and i'm carmen cordova with the office of administration this is v a news  we like to say that every day is veterans day but there is only one eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month each year and as we know that's when the bells rang out at first side to signal the signing of the armistice to end the first world war and that's when we now herald the living veterans of service in the u s military at arlington national cemetery secretary mcdonald presided over his first veterans day and watched your our cameras were at the ceremony for the greatest generation where veterans mostly over the age of ninety came to see the memorial to their pain and sacrifice in defense of freedom and liberty just nice to  nice people to come out and when i just feel good just a good feeling we were at the vietnam wall for the ceremony of living veterans of the conflicts in the one nine hundred sixty s and seventy's paying tribute to more than fifty eight thousand who generation after generation so that others can understand what these men and women secretary mcdonald kept a hectic deliberate pace attending events and mixing with veterans before and after veteran day he went to reagan national to thank world war two veterans from missouri for coming to see their memorial on an honor flight he was at walter reed to greet team red white and blue at the end of the cross country flag delivery he was on s is sixty minutes and delivered a preventer and stay message to kick off a major v a reorganization there's more on these stories and coverage of veterans day in washington and across the nation on v a social media sites seen here including you tube facebook instagram twitter flicker and the vantage point blog on november sixth v a s acquisition academy in frederick maryland graduated its first class from the school's warriors to workforce program with promise in hand twenty six wounded warriors probably crossed the stage to end a three year program and begin a new life after shaking the hand of v a deputy secretary sloan gibson two graduates told us how excited they are to start the next chapter of their careers damn excited cannot wait work at the lebanon v a medical center it's been exciting of done two rotations me there before and i've learned a lot i'm excited to become a full time member of the team there and contribute for time and just work and when i came out of program i was a mother for single mother for high school drop out a ged now college so i've achieved i've got my bachelor's degree  business done way way far exceeded what i expected when i came to the academy they bring to the table a lot of great skills that they've learned in the military leadership teamwork integrity discipline and we want to build on that with the technical skills and so that is what we're finding as we transition them through the program that we're just taken those are all skills that they've got and adding the technical piece and contracting and so we see that growth in them and they tap back into everything they've learned in the military all those great skills and so what we've got coming out at the end of the program is really a well rounded technical business advisor that will be working in the v m a lot maybe we saw themselves blue collar now they are wearing suits and just seeing that transfer me in from the initial entry three years ago you know they were military or you know never saw themselves in suits and today i look at them and they look like wall street businessmen and you know and women and that's very very cold so i think this program is such a success in doing that transformation in that first year that transition helps them to see themselves in a new light build that confidence and competence because then in year two and three we bring the technical piece and that per national development to a higher level this is the first of three active cohorts with a force starting in february two thousand and fifteen the veterans in the inaugural warriors to work force internship or joint in your two by five veterans who already met the positive education requirement for a federal contract specialist bringing the number of veterans in the cohort to twenty six among those seven have purple hearts to have bronze stars and they total one hundred ninety years of military experience they represent ten states  three branches of service almost lost in the build up and excitement of veterans day was this year's national veterans creative arts festival at the historic milwaukee v a medical center well if you know anything you know we would not let a chance get by to report on this i am a navy vet i live in suburb of minneapolis called shock up the there is nothing in the world that will empty your mind and give you a purpose and  meaning to your life like i said this took three to four thousand hours of concentration and relief from any problems i might i might be experiencing  and i highly recommend it i really appreciate the opportunity to participate in this and i i don't know what i would have done the last few years if i hadn't had  is to be able to perform my talent that's the best you can get any better throughout our nation's history faithful remembrance and tribute to duty honor and country have infused our patriotic spirit selfless sacrifice should never be forgotten that's the message behind the latest award of the medal of honor to union army lieutenant alonzo cushing seen here on the gettysburg cyclorama mortally wounded on one of the cannons that boarded pickett's charge president obama said cushing's deeds and all others before and after should be honored long after they leave the battlefield for decades even centuries to come here are president obama's words about cushing's last day when he was only twenty two and had already fought bravely at bull run and chancellorsville and fredericksburg one was hit and badly w firing at the advancing columns he used his own vomit to stop his guns bent burning his fingers to the bone when he was hit the final time as a poet later wrote his gun spoke out for him once more before he fell to the ground and lots of question was just twenty two years old today awareness of the need to protect our personal identity information as it an all time high the same is true for how we add v a treat veterans personal data with every interaction one of the priorities of the office of information technology is to establish policies and monitor systems to do just that and chief information officer staff ward says v a employees play a key role as well the majority of incidents where we put veterans information at risk is when somebody has taken information out of an electronic system they've printed it on something and then they walked out of the facility and lost control even in the facility they've lost control in a public restroom the other areas we have see process breakdowns where letters get stuck together or the wrong information gets sent to the wrong veteran so a lot of what a v a employee needs to do is to be very mindful of what they're doing to be very aware of the information they have to be cognizant of once they take that information out of a controlled setting if they don't maintain control of it they're putting our veterans at risk when the veteran comes in when a veteran comes in for care or when they're receiving a benefit if they're dealing with identity theft you're not able to enjoy the benefits that you've earned so we got to make sure that the information that's been given us and trust we make sure we protect it and we make sure it's not something we put at risk unnecessarily we have a very strong defense in depth strategy we have a lot of tools and technologies that allow us to make sure not only are we looking at primary flows of information but the back the backup areas so we're always looking we're always scanning we're always searching because we want to make sure if something untoward is happening or something that's outside of the normal boundaries we're aware of it and we go look at it it could be somebody hitting the wrong key or going in a wrong place or it could be something  somebody trying to get in the v a get ahold of veterans information did you know the v a s office of information and technologies and customer satisfaction survey is in full swing and now is your chance to take the survey charlie warner from customer satisfaction improvement group told us that your feedback and perceptions are essential to improving ongoing products and customer service you'll get an e mail inviting you to take the survey from either the customer satisfaction e mail box or from your facility c i a o or both you'll click on the link and take that survey no more than ten to fifteen minutes we really do use the results to make real improvements and so we very much value your feedback and encourage you to please take that survey thank you that's all we have for this show and for v a news in two thousand and fourteen the v a news crew will take the rest of the year to reload and reformat for next year we're not at all sure what that means exactly but you'll know as soon as we do lockhart and i'm carmen cordova hope to see you soon on an all new news happy holidays everyone san francisco state university has always served better and they're very serious about going back to school because veterans are looking for opportunities my name is really i'm an hour and i'm the director of services at san francisco state university and it was through a partnership that we help our veterans not only gain access to higher education but also help them to succeed so that they can be ready for their next phase in life the determination that the veteran student comes into the classroom with these veterans  the next part of their life and it's a small price to pay to make sure that they're taking care of now that they've come back home it's my honor to serve my fellow veterans and it's my joy to see them succeed working on plane this can be your career especially if you like working with your hands you just need the right training from aviation institute of me you know the oakland airport with over two million flights every month these jets need to be maintained so there's lots of opportunities to work on them this can be your career financial aid is available if you qualify you can do just call eight hundred four nine six sixteen forty six or visit fix jets oakland we're here with suzanne show reason day from the aviation institute maintenance you're the director of admissions where's your school located we're located in oakland at the entrance of the oakland airport well that's perfect you are the director of admissions as i said what is the basic requirement or enroll in your school we were carstens to have a high school diploma or ged and to come in and do a career planning session with one of our missions representatives they come in take a tour of the school and together decide whether or not one is aviation is going to be a good route for them and then given what you do their aviation mean if you have to be a mechanic first of all to enroll you don't some of our students don't have any mechanic background they come with backgrounds from sales for intel and decided that they wanted to get a career and do something different with their lives to get employed in the field because they need to get their employer license so we definitely work with them to credit some of their hours towards our program so that shortens their their amount of time with us and also we have a different program for military students and how long is the program it's twenty months twenty months ok and i understand is a shortage of technicians for maintenance of the aircraft so this sounds like it's a really great career path for people yeah definitely high in demand ok and what sorts of projects are your students going to be involved with they