The TAPS Daily

Welcome to The TAPS Daily - your source for some of the latest news, resources, and thought pieces from across the military and veteran community during the COVID-19 response.

1. Don't throw out that pre-paid debit card ... it could be your stimulus payment
   (CNBC)
   Have you received a pre-paid debit card in the mail? Don’t throw it out. It could be your stimulus payment.
2. Family autopsy: Floyd asphyxiated by sustained pressure
   (AP)
   An autopsy commissioned for George Floyd’s family found that he died of asphyxiation due to neck and back compression when a Minneapolis police officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes and ignored his cries of distress, the family’s attorneys said Monday.
3. West Point cadets test positive for COVID-19 upon returning to campus for commencement speech
   (Task and Purpose)
   At least sixteen West Point cadets have tested positive for novel coronavirus (COVID-19) upon returning to the New York campus for President Donald Trump's upcoming speech at the school’s commencement ceremony on June 13.
4. Astronauts describe ride to space aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon
   (CBS News)
   The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that boosted astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken into space provided a slightly rougher ride than expected during the later stages of the climb to orbit, but both said Monday they enjoyed their historic trip and marveled at a smooth-as-silk docking with the space station.
5. Facebook Employees Revolt Over Zuckerberg's Hands-Off Approach To Trump
   (NPR)
   Facebook is facing an unusually public backlash from its own employees to the company's handling of President Trump's inflammatory posts about protests over the police's killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man in Minneapolis.
6. This is what happens to the coins left on military headstones
   (We Are The Mighty)
   While it's not exclusively a military tradition, this is common at the resting places of fallen troops. Eventually, someone has to collect these coins and put them to good use. So, what happens?
7. War hero McRaven tells MIT grads they're the 'real heroes'
   (Connecting Vets)
   William McRaven, the retired U.S. Navy admiral who directed the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, told members of MIT's graduating class Friday that they are the “real heroes” who will save the world from pandemics, war, climate change, poverty and racism.

• Armed Forces Cycling Classic Cancelled, Virtual Rides Planned
  (Arlington Now)
  The Armed Forces Cycling Classic, an annual series of cycling races, hosted virtual rides to raise money for TAPS.

• FDA Authorized Malaria Drugs To Treat COVID-19 Without Much Evidence, Agency Documents Show
  (BuzzFeed News)
  A May whistleblower complaint alleged that the FDA’s emergency authorization of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine came about as a result of political pressure from the White House.
• COVID-19 National Summary - VA Access to Care
  (VA.gov)
  This report summarizes what we know about the status of COVID-19 patients who have been tested or treated at VA facilities.
• Congress Calls For More Data on Minority Veterans Amid COVID
  (Connecting Vets)
  Earlier this month, the Department of Veterans Affairs warned that black and Hispanic veterans could be at higher risk for the coronavirus. But VA has not provided any data on how many have fallen ill or died of COVID-19. Now, members of Congress are calling on the department to provide more demographic information on its COVID-19 patients and those who have died of the virus.
• Military families need relief from rising food costs, airman tells leaders
  (Military Times)
  Rising commissary prices are hurting junior enlisted families, said an Air Force tech sergeant, who asked senior leaders if financial relief could be provided to military families because of these and other increased costs worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• People Are Donating Their Stimulus Payments to Help Pay Bail for George Floyd Protesters
  (Newsweek)
  Amid mass arrests at protests following the death of George Floyd, millions of dollars have been raised to help pay bail for some of those detained, with people using their stimulus payments to support causes doing so.
• VA Assessing Damage to Headquarters Following Violent Protests
  (Military.com)
  The VA's Central Office had sustained several broken windows, and graffiti had been spray-painted across its façade. Across the street, the VA's Lafayette Building, which houses many of its offices, lost most of its ground-floor windows.
• Senator: Deploy active-duty military to deal with violent protesters
  (Military Times)
  A top Republican senator on Monday called the president to deploy active-duty military units to restore order in the wake of increasingly violent nationwide protests, saying that leaders need to have “zero tolerance” for the damage being caused.
• VA's High Tech Training Program Runs Out of Money -- For Now
  (Military.com)
  A Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) high tech job training program introduced by the VA last year has run out of money and won’t return until its funding is replenished in October, VA officials announced today.
• 20 little known facts about VA medical centers - VAntage Point
  (We Are The Mighty)
  VA medical centers not only provide top-notch care to 9 million veterans, but many have long and interesting backstories.

• America's lack of bereavement leave is causing a grief crisis
  (Business Insider)
  American jobs aren't allowing a grieving nation the time needed to mourn the deaths of loved ones.
• Resources For Grieving In The Time Of COVID-19
  (Forbes)
  How do you properly grieve while so isolated in quarantine? Below are a few resources to help make sense of your grief in this unusual and anxious time.
• Before COVID-19, a Tragic History of Mourning Amid Pandemic
  (Time)
  The tragic history of how pandemics have disrupted mourning.
• 23 Mental Health Books for Anyone Who's Going Through It Right Now
  (Self)
  Self-help books, workbooks, and mental health books can be useful additions to any self-care toolkit, so we rounded up a few to get you started.
• 10 things you can do to improve your mental health during isolation
  (Business Insider)
  As we emerge from this crisis, while some people may need specialist help with treating mental illness, everybody can benefit from strategies to improve mental health.
• Self-care at home has never been more important
  (We Are The Mighty)
  One area of regular life you might be missing is the ability to leave your home for self care.

• Esper encourages governors to 'dominate the battlespace' to put down nationwide protests
  (Military Times)
  Defense Secretary Mark Esper compared protests in cities across the country over the weekend to “battlespace” in a White House call with governors on Monday, urging leaders to overwhelm protestors to restore the peace.
• National Guard civil unrest update: More than 17,000 troops in 23 states and D.C. activated
  (Military Times)
  The National Guard has drastically increased its response to unrest sweeping America over what prosecutors say was the murder of a handcuffed black man by Minneapolis police. Now, more than 17,000 National Guard troops in 23 states and the District of Columbia have been activated to help quell the unrest.
• Minnesota Guard Carrying Guns and Ammo in Response to 'Credible Threat,' General Says
  (Military.com)
  Guard members are carrying rifles, sidearms and ammunition in response to a "credible threat" aimed directly against them as reported by the FBI, Army Maj. Gen. Jon Jensen, adjutant general of the Minnesota National Guard, said in a phone briefing with reporters.
• Honor Guard Soldiers Continue Performing Final Salutes During COVID-19
  (Defense.gov)
  Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York Army National Guard's Military Funeral Honors Program continues to provide final salutes to Army veterans.
• Fort Benning Confirms 142 COVID-19 Cases in 2 Battalions
  (Connecting Vets)
  The U.S. Army tested a cohort of 640 new recruits and instructors for COVID-19 upon arrival at Fort Benning, Ga. All but four tested negative. Eight days later, 142 of them retested positive.
• Pentagon Begins Testing Troops for COVID-19 Antibodies, Despite CDC Warnings
  (Military.com)
  The military has begun testing troops for COVID-19 antibodies, and might soon ask them to "stick your arm out" to draw blood for possible use as a novel coronavirus therapy, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley said Thursday.
• A Fort Gordon soldier's heroic act saved a family trapped in a flipped vehicle
  (Task and Purpose)
  Fort Gordon Spc. Joshua Bolden doesn't consider himself a hero after saving a mother and two children from a flipped vehicle after an accident Wednesday.
• Naval Academy Puts Stories to Names with Virtual Memorial
  (Military.com)
  Pat McConnell wanted to share and  remember the academy’s fallen. So he gathered more than 2,700 of them, creating detailed web pages for every man and woman in the academy’s memorial hall in the USNA Virtual Memorial Hall.
• Navy Football Player Died of Cardiac Arrest, State Medical Examiner Office Says
  (Military.com)
  Former Navy football player David Forney died of cardiac arrest and natural causes, the state's medical examiner has concluded.
• Shooting at Grand Forks Air Force Base leaves two airmen dead
  (Air Force Times)
  Two active-duty airmen from the 319th Reconnaissance Wing at Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota are dead after an early-morning shooting at the base.
• Guard Soldier Killed in Shootout While Assisting Fellow Law Enforcement Officers
  (Military.com)
  A National Guard soldier serving as a Grand Forks, North Dakota, police officer was killed Wednesday after coming to the aid of fellow law enforcement officers who came under fire while carrying out an eviction notice.

• Inept Boss, Altered Records, Ignored Warnings at Pa. Vets’ Nursing Home
  (Military.com)
  As the coronavirus pandemic bore down on the Philadelphia region, nurses and other frontline health care staff at the Southeastern Veterans’ Center were alarmed.
• Watch WW2 vet finally receive her service medal — during quarantine
  (We Are The Mighty)
  In possibly the most polite and delightful medal ceremony of all time, World War II veteran Edna Wells, 94, was surprised with her long overdue service medal — and a few extra celebrants.
• Retired USMC Lt. Gen. Hank Stackpole, a warrior-statesman and decorated Vietnam veteran has died
  (Task and Purpose)
  Retired Lt. Gen. Henry “Hank” C. Stackpole, a decorated Vietnam combat veteran and Marine Corps legend with deep ties to Hawaii and the Pacific, has died in his 80s, the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies said.
• Former SEAL sues Navy Secretary and New York Times reporter, claiming leaks and false reporting
  (Task and Purpose)
  Hours after Kenneth Braithwaite was sworn in as Navy secretary, he was named in a lawsuit by a retired SEAL who claims service officials illegally leaked documents to a reporter in an attempt to smear him.
• Decorated WWII vet and renowned forensics expert dies at 100
  (Task and Purpose)
  A 100-year-old Sebastopol man who died from injuries he suffered in a fire Monday at his family’s rural home was a World War II and Korean war veteran who learned criminal investigation in the Army and rose to director of the U.S. Army Crime Laboratories, then of a regional U.S. Postal Service crime lab.
• Medal of Honor Monday: Army Sgt. Henry Johnson
  (Defense.gov)
  On the night of May 15, 1918, Army Pvt. Henry Johnson, a member of the all-black New York National Guard 369th Infantry Regiment, found himself fighting for his life against 20 German soldiers out in front of his unit's trenchline.

• Why War Powers Matter to Military Families
  (Newsweek)
  We can choose how our country decides to go to war. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress sole authority to declare war. But right now, two longstanding authorizations for use of military force have been stretched by presidents from both parties to provide enough leeway to engage in numerous military interventions beyond the laws' intentions.
• Missing in Action: How Military Families Spurred the MIA Movement
  (History)
  In the wake of the Vietnam War, families of military members who never returned from service banded together to demand an accounting.

• Georgia student, son of 2 first responders, creates lifesaving COVID-19 equipment
  (NBC News)
  Together with a small team of Georgia Tech faculty and students, he has spent the past two months working to design and build critical protective gear and medical equipment to help first responders battle COVID-19.
• Protests risk spread of coronavirus
  (The Hill)
  The tens of thousands of Americans marching to protest of the death of an unarmed black man may be putting themselves at risk of contracting the coronavirus, setting off what could be a second wave of cases just as the number of new infections begins to ebb in major cities.
• 'Life or death still possible': 31 days at my dad's virtual bedside
  (CNN)
  I wrote my father’s obituary three times.
• Peru Locked Down Hard and Early. Why Is Its Coronavirus Outbreak So Bad?
  (Time)
  Peru introduced harsh and early measures to stop the spread of coronavirus. So why is its outbreak so bad?
• 10 of the best military-themed books
  (We Are The Mighty)
  Have you found yourself with extra time during the social distancing measures in place for the foreseeable future? Why not grab one or all of these great military books and learn some history, be inspired and connect with the military community.
• Boy, 9, with cerebral palsy completes marathon on his walker, half a mile at a time
  (CNN)
  A 9-year-old boy with cerebral palsy and autism has raised $100,000 for charity after completing a marathon up and down his street using a walker.

Banner photo courtesy of the School of Advanced International Studies | John Hopkins University.