Injured without scars : The hidden wounds of battle from traumatic brain injury, PTSD

Injured without scars : The hidden wounds of battle from traumatic brain injury, PTSD
1A
Pamela E. Walck Sunday, December 2, 2007 at 12:30 am (see enhanced version)

Laboran Pickens sits inside the busy Savannah coffeehouse.

He flinches every time the grinders whine so strangers can walk away with frothy, caffeinated beverages.

He looks nervous. He assures his company he's fine.

He's on medication from Georgia Regional Medical Center.

It helps, but not always.

The Iraq nightmares still come, medicine or not.

Sometimes the spell is prompted by a loud noise or errant thought. It makes him space out. He moves like he's in a dream. He often disappears from his Hinesville home, sometimes for hours.

His wife spends those hours frantic, wondering where he is. She worries each time will be his last. That he won't come back to her and their three children.

He returns, but remembers nothing.

At 30, he is a shell of the man he once was.


'Signature wounds'

It is estimated that up to 20 percent of the 1.5 million men and women who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq since America's War on Terror began may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries, according to the Defense and Veteran Brain Injury Center, which is part of the Walter Reed Medical Center.

And a 22-month study by Veterans for America of all soldiers returning to Fort Carson, Colo., found more than 17 percent of all servicemen and women who had deployed from the installation had some form of traumatic brain injury.

Veterans organizations fear that thousands of soldiers are living undiagnosed.

Many have left the military. Or, like Pickens, were asked to leave.

They carry invisible scars.
go here for the rest
http://www.savannahnow.com/node/407817

Army to soldier, go to jail if you try suicide and fail

Under military law, soldiers who attempt suicide can be prosecuted under the theory that it affects the order and discipline of a unit and brings discredit to the armed forces. In reality, criminal charges are extremely rare unless there is evidence the attempt was an effort to avoid service or endangered others.

Army charges Iraq vet over self-inflicted gun wound
Despite years of exemplary service, Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside, right, could face prison over a mental breakdown in Iraq.

Army charges Iraq vet over self-inflicted gun wound
By Dana Priest and Anne Hull
The Washington Post


Despite years of exemplary service, Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside, right, could face prison over a mental breakdown in Iraq.

MICHEL DU CILLE
Now a psychiatric outpatient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside, 25, is undergoing a court-martial and faces the possibility of life in prison if she is tried and convicted.
WASHINGTON — In a nondescript conference room at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 1st Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside listened last week as an Army prosecutor outlined the criminal case against her. The charges: attempting suicide and endangering the life of another soldier while serving in Iraq.
Her hands trembled as Maj. Stefan Wolfe, the prosecutor, argued that Whiteside, now a psychiatric outpatient at Walter Reed, should be court-martialed. After seven years of exemplary service, the Army reservist faces the possibility of life in prison if she is tried and convicted.
Military psychiatrists at Walter Reed who examined Whiteside, 25, after she recovered from her self-inflicted gun wound diagnosed her with a severe mental disorder, possibly triggered by the stresses of a war zone. But Whiteside's superiors considered her mental illness "an excuse" for criminal conduct, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.
click post title for the rest

According to the report on suicides, there were over 900 others who seriously attempt suicide each year while serving. Did they arrest all of them? Did they put them all on trial for trying to take their own lives? Or did they do the right thing and look at the reason they tried to commit suicide? This is torture beyond belief and we are paying to prosecute them? That's right folks. Our money is paying to put them on trial instead of going to treat them for what their minds have to go through. Is this nation ever going to get totally serious about any of this or are we still going to allow for empty promises and claims with no connection to facts?

In DNC Speech, Obama Pledges to End Partisanship

I'm breaking my own rules here by posting the whole thing. There was just no good way of cutting it. Plus I want to make sure I have a copy of the entire speech Senator Obama gave. He reminded me of what was good about America and what can be again. If I didn't believe in this country, there would be no point in fighting as hard as I do to get this right. We have not sunk so far that we cannot return to what our real values used to be.

November 30
In DNC Speech, Obama Pledges to End Partisanship


from the Obama for President Campaign, Nov 30 ,2007



Washington, DC— In remarks at the Democratic National Committee’s annual fall meeting, Barack Obama today pledged to bring an end to the bitter partisanship that has divided the country and unite Americans behind a sense of common purpose. Rather than re-fight the partisan battles of the 1990s, Obama said he would build a new majority focused not just on winning, but on governing, and deliver change that is more than just a slogan – change we can believe in.



As Prepared for Delivery:

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
Democratic National Committee Fall Meeting
Friday, November 30th, 2007
Washington, DC



Less than a year from now, you will go into the voting booth and you will select the President of the United States of America.

Now, here's the good news - the name George W. Bush will not be on the ballot. The name of my cousin Dick Cheney will not be on the ballot. We've been trying to hide that for a long time. Everybody has a black sheep in the family. The era of Scooter Libby justice, and Brownie incompetence, and Karl Rove politics will finally be over.

But the question you're going to have to ask yourself when you vote this year and next is this:

"What's next for America?"

We are in a defining moment in our history. Our nation is at war. The planet is in peril. The dream that so many generations fought for feels as if it's slowly slipping away. We are working harder for less. We've never paid more for health care or for college. It's harder to save and it's harder to retire. And most of all we've lost faith that our leaders can or will do anything about it.

We were promised compassionate conservatism and all we got was Katrina and wiretaps.

We were promised a uniter, and we got a President who could not even lead the half of the country that voted for him.

We were promised a more ethical and more efficient Washington, and instead we have a town that is more corrupt and more wasteful than it was before. And the only mission that was ever accomplished is to use fear and falsehood to take this country to a war that should have never been authorized and should have never been waged.

It is because of these failures that America is listening, intently, to what we say here today - not just Democrats, but Republicans and Independents who've lost trust in their government, but want to believe again.

And it is because of these failures that we not only have a moment of great challenge, but also a moment of great opportunity. We have a chance to bring the country together in a new majority - to finally tackle problems that George Bush made far worse, but that had festered long before George Bush ever took office - problems that we've talked about year after year after year.

And that is why the same old Washington textbook campaigns just won't do in this election. An electoral strategy that starts out leaving half the country behind just won't do. Telling the American people what we think they want to hear instead of telling the American people what they need to hear just won't do. Triangulating and poll-driven positions because we're worried about what Mitt or Rudy might say about us just won't do. If we are really serious about wining this election Democrats, we can't live in fear of losing it.

This party - the party of Jefferson and Jackson; of Roosevelt and Kennedy - has always made the biggest difference in the lives of the American people when we led, not by polls, but by principle; not by calculation, but by conviction; when we summoned the entire nation to a common purpose - a higher purpose. And I run for the Presidency of the United States of America because that's the party America needs us to be right now. A party that doesn't just offer change as a slogan, but real, meaningful change - change that America can believe in.

That's why I'm in this race. I am in this race to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over. I have done more than any other candidate in this race to take on lobbyists - and won. They have not funded my campaign, they will not get a job in my White House, and they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am President.

I'm in this race to take those tax breaks away from companies that are moving jobs overseas and put them in the pockets of hard working Americans who deserve it. And I won't raise the minimum wage every ten years -I will raise it to keep pace so that workers don't' fall behind.

That is why I am in it. I'm in this race because I want to stop talking about the outrage of 47 million Americans without health care and start actually doing something about it. I expanded health care in Illinois by bringing Democrats and Republicans together. By taking on the insurance industry. And I have put forth a universal health care plan that will do more to cut the cost of health care than any other proposal in this race. Here’s the truth – if you can’t afford health insurance right now, you will when I’m President. Anyone who tells you otherwise is more interested in scoring points than solving problems. And I’m in it because we’ve had enough of that.

I run for president to make sure that every American child has the best education that we have to offer- from the day they are born to the day they graduate from college. And I won't just talk about how great teachers are - as President I will reward them for their greatness - by raising salaries and giving them more support. That's why I'm in this race.

I am running for President because I am sick and tired of Democrats thinking that the only way to look tough on national security is by talking, and acting, and voting like George Bush Republicans.

When I am this party's nominee, my opponent will not be able to say that I voted for the war in Iraq; or that I gave George Bush the benefit of the doubt on Iran; or that I supported Bush-Cheney policies of not talking to leaders that we don't like. And he will not be able to say that I wavered on something as fundamental as whether or not it is ok for America to torture - because it is never ok. That's why I am in it.

As President, I will end the war in Iraq. We will have our troops home in sixteen months. I will close Guantanamo. I will restore habeas corpus. I will finish the fight against Al Qaeda. And I will lead the world to combat the common threats of the 21st century - nuclear weapons and terrorism; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease. And I will send once more a message to those yearning faces beyond our shores that says, "You matter to us. Your future is our future. And our moment is now."

America, our moment is now.

Our moment is now.

I don't want to spend 2008 re-fighting the same fights that we had in the 1990s. That’s exactly what Mitt and Rudy want. That’s they’re only hope of winning because they know that if this election is about health care, or ending this war, or making college affordable, then they will lose. They are counting on the same bitter partisanship and the same electoral map we’ve had for far too long.

I believe I can transform that map. In my Senate race I won some of the reddest, most Republican counties in Illinois. In 2006, when House and Senate candidates in states like Missouri, and Nebraska, and Tennessee, and Virginia, and Indiana needed someone to come campaign for them, I was the one they called. And I’m attracting more Independents and Republicans to our cause than anyone else in this campaign.

It’s because I believe we can build that new majority – not just to win, but to govern – to actually get something done. I don't want to pit Red America against Blue America, I want to be President of the United States of America. And that won't just be a Democratic victory; that will be an American victory.

And that is a victory America needs right now.

I am not in this race to fulfill some long-held ambitions or because I believe it's somehow owed to me. I never expected to be here, I always knew this journey was improbable. I've never been on a journey that wasn't.

I am running in this race because of what Dr. King called "the fierce urgency of now." Because I believe that there's such a thing as being too late. And that hour is almost upon us.

I don't want to wake up four years from now and find out that millions of Americans still lack health care because we couldn't take on the insurance industry.

I don't want to see that the oceans have risen a few more inches. The planet has reached a point of no return because we couldn't find a way to stop buying oil from dictators.

I don't want to see more American lives put at risk because no one had the judgment or the courage to stand up against a misguided war before we sent our troops into fight.

I don't want to see homeless veterans on the streets. I don't want to send another generation of American children to failing schools. I don't want that future for my daughters. I don't want that future for your sons. I do not want that future for America.

I'm in this race for the same reason that I fought for jobs for the jobless and hope for the hopeless on the streets of Chicago; for the same reason I fought for justice and equality as a civil rights lawyer; for the same reason that I fought for Illinois families for over a decade.

Because I will never forget that the only reason that I'm standing here today is because somebody, somewhere stood up for me when it was risky. Stood up when it was hard. Stood up when it wasn't popular. And because that somebody stood up, a few more stood up. And then a few thousand stood up. And then a few million stood up. And standing up, with courage and clear purpose, they somehow managed to change the world.

That's why I'm running, Democrats – to give our children and grandchildren the same chances somebody gave me.

That's why I'm running - to keep the American Dream alive for those who still hunger for opportunity, who still thirst for equality.

That's why I'm asking you to stand with me, that's why I'm asking you to vote for me, that's why I am asking you to stop settling for what the cynics say we have to accept. In this election - in this moment - let us reach for what we know is possible. A nation healed. A world repaired. An America that believes again. Thank you very much everybody.

http://illinoischannel.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!B0DB128F5CD96151!2833.entry

Washington Post needs to look back at homeless figures

Many D.C. Veterans Homeless, Study Says
Report Sounds a National Alarm

By Steve Vogel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 8, 2007; Page B01

As many as 195,800 military veterans were homeless on any given night last year, and there are "troubling" indications that many service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan could eventually face the same fate, according to a study being released today.

The report, from the National Alliance to End Homelessness, found that veterans make up a quarter of the United States' homeless population and that the District has a particularly high rate, with an estimated 7.5 percent of the nearly 32,000 veterans in the city living on the streets, in shelters or in assisted housing.

click post title for the rest

This is a great piece and worth reading. What the Post didn't do was check the figures from past years from the National Coalition For Homeless Veterans. Then maybe they could answer how the government lost over 100,000 homeless veterans when they couldn't take care of the homeless after Katrina. It's for damn sure they all didn't die suddenly and I really doubt, based on the track record of this administration they managed to house over 100,000 veterans who had already been reported homeless.

Mark Fiore better advocate for veterans than the DOD or the VA

You have got to watch this cartoon from the mind of Mark Fiore.

The Surge at Home
Cartoon by Mark Fiore November 29, 2007

Click here: The Surge at Home


This cartoon requires Macromedia's Flash Player. If you don't see the cartoon above, download the player here.
Mark Fiore is an editorial cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Examiner, and dozens of other publications. He is an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and has a web site featuring his work.

I have to say this was a great job. A cartoonist managed to put together a better video than the DOD ever could on what our troops face when they come home. Maybe they should have hired him when they were putting together the crap video of Gilgamesh.
Ok! I admit it. I am still angry over this. It still gets to me the VA came out with this cartoon to address PTSD in our troops coming back. I still wonder how much they paid for it. I'd also like to know how they did it because, I may be bias but I think mine are better than this cartoon! They should have just used this Ouchy one because it was a lot more informative.
I have a feeling this was the work of Daniel Cooper.

Top VA Official: Bible Study "More important than doing [my] job."Posted on: September 5, 2007 - 11:08am by Aaron Glantz

new article on Inter Press News Service on a complaint brought by Veterans for Common Sense and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. The groups are demanding an FBI investigation of Daniel Cooper, President George W. Bush's Undersecretary for Benefits at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Their complaint stems from an appearance Cooper made in a fundraising video for the evangelical group Christian Embassy, which carries out missionary work among the Washington elite as part of the Campus Crusade for Christ.

In the video, Cooper says of his Bible study, "it's not really about carving out time, it really is a matter of saying what is important. And since that's more important than doing the job -- the job's going to be there, whether I'm there or not."Since Cooper was appointed the head of the Veterans Benefits Administration, the number of veterans waiting on their disability claims has increased dramatically, from 325,000 in 2002 to 600,000 today.
http://www.warcomeshome.org/content/top-va-official:-bible-study
-%2526quot%3Bmore-important-doing-%5Bmy%5D-job.%2526quot%3B

This is how they were selling this video.

gilgamesh
Online course materials outlining the epic of Gilgamesh and its historical setting.
novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/eng251/gilgameshstudy.ht... - 31k - Similar pages
http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/eng251/gilgameshstudy.htm

Gilgamesh at VA Free Government Information (FGI)
I'm not exactly sure what to say about this new training video on the VA website ... The Epic of Gilgamesh. Clinical Practice Guidelines for Post-Deployment ...
freegovinfo.info/node/810 - 23k - Similar pages
http://freegovinfo.info/node/810

A Short Discussion of the Influence of the Gilgamesh Epic on the Bibleby
Brenda W. Clough

In the course of the research for HOW LIKE A GOD I’ve done a lot of reading on Mesopotamian legend. This is a brief discussion of the Gilgamesh epic as it relates to the Old Testament. It was originally written on the fly in response to an on-line question, and turned out so relatively cogent that I saved it.

The most well-known parallel between the epic and the Bible is of course the story of the Flood, in Genesis 6-7. This is essentially equivalent to the story that Utnapishtim, the Sumerian Noah, tells to Gilgamesh on Tablet XI. Even the way the narrative is laid out is similar – the gods put a bug in Utnapishtim’s ear; a description of how the ark is built (“daubed with bitumen,” a common glue or mortaring agent in Mesopotamia); everyone piles in, and it starts to rain. When it’s over, Utnapishtim releases a dove, then a swallow, and finally a crow, however – an interesting change of detail.

However, the section of the Bible that really seems linked to Sumerian mythology is the book of Ecclesiastes. The writer of that book informs us, in Eccl. 12:9-10, that in the course of composing it he read widely, presumeably everything that he could get his hands on in those days before inter-library loan and the Internet. From internal evidence it’s obvious that he read some version of the epic of Gilgamesh. It’s fascinating to see that the story, already very ancient by Biblical times, circulated so widely in the Middle East.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (in the Revised Standard version) runs, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up.” This appears in fragmented form in Tablet V column ii of the epic. (If you want to look at the tablets in English translation the best one is by John Gardner.) It was apparently a common proverb in the Middle East, and you can easily find equivalents all over the place in literature. It’s even in KING LEAR someplace. The one that I remember is from BEOWULF, “Bare is back without brother behind it.” (Alliteration’s artful aid, what?)

go here for the rest but you get the idea now.
http://www.sff.net/people/Brenda/gilgam.htm

Really supporting the troops when they need us

Really supporting the troops
Brattleboro Reformer - VT, United StatesThe Veterans Administration remains overwhelmed by the demands of taking care of hundreds of thousands of new veterans.


Comment Posted


"They'd be homeless anyway." "They would be in jail anyway." "They just want a free ride." I've heard it all and from some very Christian people. This is the attitude people have. Most of it comes from ignorance. They have no clue what they go through during combat or after. I'm glad the media finally woke up to all of this. They have managed to put a face and story behind these deplorable figures. These are veterans.

These men and women were willing to risk their lives for this country but we have allowed them to suffer for having survived it all. So much for "grateful nation" when apparently we can only honestly say that when our money is going to support them when they are risking their lives but dries up after.

All our prayers for them stop being prayed when they come home. All our gifts and cards sent during deployment stop being sent when they come home. What little interest we give them during deployment is replaced with total ambivalence when they need us.


If the silence of PTSD is ever going to end, it will take the media educating the public on what it is. If the stigma of this wound to the soul will ever be healed it will take an army of reporters covering it. If our veteran are ever going to be taken care of it will take every veteran in this country standing up and demanding it. Imagine 17 million combat veterans, with all their medals and citations going to the steps of congress and asking the fine members of congress when they decided these veterans were no longer worthy of support of honoring their end of the deal with them! They could chant, You broke us, you owe us!" After all, if they were not wounded for what the congress asked them to do, they wouldn't need the help at all.Kathie Costos Homepage 12.01.07 - 5:11 pm # Report this comment for offensive material

Stop the Stop Loss policy

Vets sound off about VA at forum with Murray
By LEAH BETH WARD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Brett Wachsmith of Ellensburg was nearing the end of the semester at Central Washington University in 2004 when his Army National Guard unit was activated to Iraq. His professors did not make it easy for him to finish his credits before he left, he said, and he didn't complete the courses and lost his tuition.


"Nobody was watching out for you," U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash, observed Friday after hearing the tall young soldier's story at a hearing in Yakima.

Wachsmith, 24, is back in college now, after laying ambushes and conducting raids in Iraq. But his Army unit was just alerted that it will be redeployed. Though he didn't plan to re-enlist when his contract expires in January, he may be forced to return to combat in Iraq due to the Army's "stop-loss" program to address the shortage of forces.
A number of his Army buddies are suffering symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, he said. He called the military's screening for the problem inadequate. It's limited, he said, to a perfunctory question about "needing to talk to someone" in Iraq and a questionnaire when the soldiers return home.

PTSD is a common, debilitating anxiety disorder that can afflict anyone exposed to grave physical danger and prolonged fear.
go here for the rest
http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/290419668468094


They lived up to their promise and it is high time we did the same. We need to take care of the wounded and stop abusing them. We need to stop the stop loss policy that makes them stay in longer than they agreed to. Give them back the lives they were promised when they have done their duty.

PTSD Getting help, getting well

PTSD from sexual trauma in UK

Saturday, December 1, 2007 3:06 PM US/Western


Getting help, getting well
By MIKE JOHNSTON


If the same thing had happened two years ago, Monie, a 49-year-old woman living in rural Kittitas County, doesn't know what she would have done. It possibly could have sent her into a self-destructive spiral of depression.

A flood of hurting emotions and memories of a childhood lost rushed in earlier this week when she heard the tinkling of Christmas bells on a television movie.

The sound of the bells was something connected to Monie's experience of 14 years of physical and sexual abuse from her late father, an alcoholic.

In the past, such a strong tug of emotions drawing her into her former life would put her into her "own private hell," as she puts it. She would revisit the loss of self-esteem and personal value as a victim of abuse and remember past, poor choices in failed personal relationships.



But this time Monie used techniques and "wise mind" responses learned from two years of counseling and classes at Central Washington Comprehensive Mental Health, or CWCMH. They kept her from sliding into a deep depression and overwhelming anxiety from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

Monie "graduated" from her program with CWCMH in October.
go here for the rest

http://www.kvnews.com/articles/2007/
12/01/news/doc47510ec2e7bfc612072316.txt

Here is a look at PTSD from a fireman

Compo man's ordeal by fire Australia
December 02, 2007 12:15am
A FORMER fireman has won a major court victory by successfully suing for workers compensation based on post traumatic stress disorders from the 1960s.

Tom Schwerdt, 61, of Christies Beach, won the victory in the Workers Compensation Tribunal after a seven-year legal battle, but the payout was limited to the period before 1986, when a new Act with a tougher test came into force.
Mr Schwerdt is now appealing that part of the verdict with a view to obtaining backpay to 1991, when he left the Metropolitan Fire Service.

"There are 28 other firemen with similar circumstances lined up behind me to see what happens with this case so I'm sure the powers-that-be are watching it very closely," he said.

Mr Schwerdt served from 1963, when he signed up as a 17-year-old, until 1991 when he was forced to leave after a lengthy period on sick leave.

In later years he found himself bursting into tears when watching news bulletins showing accident scenes, and in 1999 was diagnosed with PTSD.

He lodged a claim in April 2000 under the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1986, and a second claim in April last year under the Workers Compensation Act 1971.

Mr Schwerdt said he received no counselling during his career despite repeatedly being involved in situations where he saw terrible deaths or injuries, and being in events where he feared for his life.
go here for the rest

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/
story/0,22606,22854878-2682,00.html

It doesn't matter what country you live in. It doesn't matter what kind of trauma caused it. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is after trauma. It is a human illness.

Paul Sullivan on 20/20 last night

It's very hard to not see Paul Rieckhoff of IAVA, Jon Solz of VoteVets on TV whenever the veterans or the troops are being talked about. I think it's wonderful. I really wish people like them were getting so much attention when men and women were coming home from Vietnam. I doubt we would have half the problems we have today if that generation of veterans were taken care of.

Another advocate finally getting more attention is Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense. He did a fantastic job in the 20/20 report on drug use in the military, especially with those deployed into the combat zones of Iraq and Afghanistan. He's been out there a long time and doing a great job fighting for our veterans.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.cfm/Page/Article/ID/8863
Paul Sullivan, Executive Director, VCS


Nov 28, 2007

Nov. 29 Update: VCS on ABC's '20/20' This Friday

Dear VCS Friends:

Veterans for Common Sense has two items for you in this week's update.

First, VCS will be featured on the news program '20/20' this Friday, Nov. 30. ABC News investigative reporter Brian Ross interviewed VCS's Paul Sullivan about the growing drug abuse problem in our military and among our veterans, especially our returning Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.

Second, we are launching our End of Year fundraising drive. Your generous tax deductible donations to VCS make a big difference in the lives of the 1.7 million U.S. service members deployed into combat for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

With your financial support, this year VCS scored several major policy and public relations victories. Here is a partial list of our VCS accomplishments:

On the policy side:

* In May, our VCS expertise helped add $1.8 billion in new funds so VA could hire thousands of more doctors and claims processors that our veterans desperately need.

* VCS helped craft and push for S 1606, the Wounded Warrior bill that will streamline healthcare and benefits for veterans, approved by both the House and Senate. Final passage of a revised bill is expected soon.

* VCS fought hard to remove VA Secretary Jim Nicholson, who eventually quit in July as VA’s funding, planning, and capacity crises became public and America became outraged at the Walter Reed and VA scandals.

* All year, VCS used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain VA documents that were used by Harvard University to estimate the human and financial costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars: 700,000 patients with a price tag of $700 billion.

* In July VCS filed a major class action law suit against VA to force VA to provide prompt medical care and benefits, especially for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

* VCS testified twice before Congress. We called for an end to the illegal military practice of discharging wounded soldiers suffering from traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder on trumped-up claims of a personality disorder. VCS called for the automatic approval of PSTD claims by VA, and for a national anti-stigma campaign so veterans want to seek VA treatment.

On the public relations side, VCS put a human face on the difficulties facing our veterans by working with both local and national reporters:

* In February, in a major cover story, Newsweek magazine and VCS highlighted VA’s failure to plan for the 264,000 new Afghanistan and Iraq War veterans already treated at VA.

* In February, ABC Evening News anchor Bob Woodruff interviewed VCS Executive Director Paul Sullivan about the hundreds of thousands of veterans already being treated at VA - the first time the public knew about the enormous scope of battlefield casualties.

* In March, the Boston Globe profiled our VCS efforts to publicize the growing casualties from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

* In October, the Charlotte Observer, working with VCS, highlighted the endless wait for many veterans to see doctors at some VA hospitals - 93 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans with traumatic brain injury waited longer than 30 days to see a VA doctor.

* Two weeks ago, CBS News interviewed VCS and publicized the growing epidemic of veteran suicides. Working with the University of Georgia, CBS News reported that veterans aged 20 to 24 are four times more likely to commit suicide than non-veterans of the same age group.

* This Friday, ABC News interviews VCS and highlights the growing drug abuse crisis among our veterans. Left without screening and treatment, combat veterans turn to self-medication for the physical and mental pain from war.

Because of your support, the world knows that the alarms are sounding and the lights are flashing red for our veterans. The impact of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars is devastating. Record divorces and broken homes. Unemployment and job discrimination. Rising alcoholism and drug abuse. Homelessness. Suicides.

We are a Nation at war. That means we have a collective duty to care for our service members, our veterans, and our freedoms. VCS asks you to please make a donation so that we can continue our publicity efforts to highlight veterans’ needs and concerns and our policy efforts that bring real change at the national level.

Next year Congress and the press will be focused on elections, and VCS will work hard to make sure that national security, civil liberties, and veterans needs remain front and center in the discussion. Will you help VCS today?

Thank you,

Paul Sullivan
Executive Director
Veterans for Common Sense

If you missed the report last night I'm sure you can catch it somewhere on YouTube. This is not a new problem and this country needs to face what they do and why they do it. This is not about doing drugs just because you want to. In these cases, it is about having to because the government does not take the wounded out of combat and does not treat the wound.

High at the Mountain Post
Fort Carson soldiers were prepared for war, but not their own war with drugs.

I talked to Paul yesterday. I'm sure you saw the silly post I put up. I told him how much I loved him and his group. Up until the last few years, there were very few fighting for our veterans. Oh sure, you can think of the American Legion, VFW and DAV, but these groups are more involved in political bending than they are with fighting for the veterans. Today's groups are not interested in playing political sucking up. They are interested in getting what is needed done.

Veterans For Common Sense is having a fund raiser. They are doing great work and we need to support them. Think of giving a gift this Christmas that will make a difference in our wounded veterans' lives. If you have a family member who was a veteran, like most of our father's were, and they are no longer here, donate in their memory. Let them know you have not forgotten them or the sacrifices they made for this nation.

For those of you who are wondering what to do for the homeless veterans, think of the fact Christ had no place to call home when he was born in a manger in Bethlehem. Then look over to the right side of this blog. Read what Christ had to say about how he wanted us all to care for the needy. Donate to a shelter. You'd be surprised how far even a small donation can go.

If you have a couple of dollars and appreciate the videos I do, I could use a donation myself. I'm already in the hole for the DVDs. I don't mind working as hard as I do for free. That was my decision long ago. What I cannot do is go broke doing sending out the DVD. I don't turn anyone away but it's getting expensive and frankly I don't know how many more I can send out without donations coming in. Use the PayPal button and kick in a few dollars if you can.

I know how hard it is this time of the year to find extra money, but if you have a family member who has everything they could want, think of making donations in their name and then taking the tax write off. You can't write it off on your taxes for donating to me, but the shelters and Veterans for Common Sense are tax deductible.

Kathie Costos

Namguardianangel@aol.com

www.Namguardianangel.org

www.Namguardianangel.blogspot.com

www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

To Paul Sullivan, play day report as promised

Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense was worried about me today. He thinks I don't take time to relax. I assured him that every Friday, my husband and I go to one of the parks or attractions around the Orlando area. It's the one time during the week Jack knows he can get me away from the PC. It's something we don't give up. Once in a while we have to go later on in the day but we go.

It's very important for anyone doing this kind of work to go out and have some fun. It keeps you grounded and able to take on some very hard work the rest of the week.

For me, there are several good things that keep me going. One of them is Jack. The man does not stop amazing me. The other day, he took our dog for a walk. About a half mile from home, he had to call me. He wanted to make sure I didn't miss the sunset. He had to share it with me. The sunsets in Florida are magnificent. This is the same man who was just existing. Because of the help he is getting from the VA, he is alive, living a life again. Sure there are a lot of problems in all of this we still have to face, but we face them together.

Working for the church as the administrator of Christian Education is a joy too. Twice a week we have chapel with the pre-school kids. I get to get up in front of them along with the youth pastor, act like a nut, singing and making the kids laugh. They are a joy. So are the Sunday school kids of all ages. I keep telling everyone my kids are from 3-93.

If we fail to enjoy blessings, enjoy being alive, how can we communicate that there is hope, joy, love and life beyond PTSD? If we fail to take care of ourselves, how can we take care of the people who turn to us for help?

So Paul, this is where we went today. Gee I really love these yearly passes. Saves a ton of money.

The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad®
A Stunt Show of Heroic Proportions! Cheer on the heroes and boo the villains in this spectacular live adventure. See death-defying stunts and heart-stopping feats as the mighty Sindbad and his faithful sidekick Kabob attempt to rescue the beautiful Princess Amoura from the evil witch Miseria.

It's at Universal Studios and was a great show. We also did some Christmas shopping there.

Sorry that I didn't take my camera but the weather wasn't the greatest and I don't take it in this kind of weather. I thought you'd enjoy this though. It was taken on one of our play days.

It is my face but I'm sure you can tell that isn't my body,,,and no that isn't Arnold next to me.