Tens of thousands based in N.C. coming home
By Estes Thompson - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Dec 28, 2007 16:53:50 EST
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — For much of 2007, this normally bustling post — home of the U.S. Army’s airborne infantry — was quiet: all four combat brigades of the storied 82nd Airborne Division were deployed overseas. Ditto at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, where the resident II Marine Expeditionary Force was fighting in Anbar, Iraq.
That changes in 2008, as more than 22,000 troops based in North Carolina are set to return home from their latest deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
“As they come back, other infantry battalions are going to head out the door again,” said Lt. Col. Curtis Hill, a Marine Corps spokesman at Camp Lejeune.
About 10,500 Marines who are assigned to the 2nd MEF — including aircraft pilots, infantrymen, and support troops units — are expected to return to the Corps’ main East Coast base in 2008, Hill said.
Glenn Mayberry, deputy family readiness officer with the 2nd MEF, said those returning Marines will get more concentrated attention now than at any point in the 12 years he has worked in the Corps’ family programs.
Mayberry said conflicts during the transition from life on the battlefield to life at home don’t have to be dramatic to be troublesome. Even the mundane — such as deciding which spouse gets to go out by themselves to shop: the stay-at-home spouse who watched the family’s children for months or the Marine who was in a combat zone all that time — can cause tension.
To help, returning troops are given plenty of time off. The Marines also compare results of pre-deployment examinations with later reviews to look for problems, and family members are also are asked to report anything they notice among the returned.
“They’re seeing mental health (professionals), chaplains and the doctors,” Hill said. “We’re relying on the Marines to tell the truth. There’s the pride thing and sometimes they’re not going to do it. What we’re trying to stress is just because you have an issue and you tell us, that doesn’t mean your career is over.”
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/12/ap_nccominghome_071228/
All family members need to learn the signs of PTSD to be ready for them to come home. If the family and friends don't know what to look for, they will not know what to do to help them.
Go to the right side of this blog and watch the videos on PTSD to know what to look for and understand what they just came home from.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Fort Campbell is getting its own VA field office
VA field office was due on post
Fort Campbell is getting its own Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs field office, and it's about time.
Montgomery County veterans have had to drive to either Dickson or Nashville regarding benefits.
While those are not, of course, particularly long drives, with all of the veterans who decide to retire or start a second career in this community, it was ridiculous that Fort Campbell didn't have a field office before now.
The new office is at 5661 Screaming Eagle Blvd. on post. For more information, call the Department of Veterans Affairs at 615-741-6663.
Primarily, the office will help file benefit claims for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and transitioning out of service. It also will help family members who may be entitled to federal benefits.
Anything that can help speed up the bureaucracy will be welcome.
click post title for link
Fort Campbell is getting its own Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs field office, and it's about time.
Montgomery County veterans have had to drive to either Dickson or Nashville regarding benefits.
While those are not, of course, particularly long drives, with all of the veterans who decide to retire or start a second career in this community, it was ridiculous that Fort Campbell didn't have a field office before now.
The new office is at 5661 Screaming Eagle Blvd. on post. For more information, call the Department of Veterans Affairs at 615-741-6663.
Primarily, the office will help file benefit claims for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and transitioning out of service. It also will help family members who may be entitled to federal benefits.
Anything that can help speed up the bureaucracy will be welcome.
click post title for link
Photo of Dead Soldier Inspires Surprising Response
Photo of Dead Soldier Inspires Surprising Response
By Greg Mitchell
Published: December 28, 2007 12:15 PM ET
NEW YORK Sometimes a picture is, indeed, worth a thousand, or maybe 100,000, words. That seemed true two days ago when, in my regular pursuit of stories about noncombat American deaths in Iraq. I came upon the name of a new victim.
As usual, the Pentagon release merely stated that he had died in a non-hostile situation and that an investigation would proceed. Also as usual, I then googled for stories in local news outlets, which often provide some details about the deceased, occasionally even the true cause of death.
In this case, I also found a haunting photograph, after a newspaper link took me to – of all places – an elementary school’s online newsletter. I wrote about all this on my new blog (see link below), posted the photo and, amazingly, at least five people who knew the dead soldier and/or attended that school have written me or posted remarks at the blog.
It's rare that the war "comes home" for average Americans like this -- at least with this war. A new AP poll today reveals that only one in five Americans know of a family member, friend or neighbor who has been wounded or killed in Iraq.
My blog report opened: The Pentagon revealed today that a soldier from suburban Detroit died on Christmas Day in Iraq. Sgt. Peter Neesley, 28, was from Grosse Pointe Farms. The military says he died of an undetermined cause in a "noncombat environment" in Baghdad. In the photo at right, Neesley is shown on a recent visit to his nephew's 4th grade classroom in Grosse Pointe Farms.
The school's newsletter described it this way: "Sergeant Peter Neesley, uncle of Patrick D., visited Richard Elementary while home on leave from Iraq. Sgt. Neesley led the school in the Pledge of Allegiance and visited several classrooms answering questions from our inquisitive students. Thanks for spending valuable time with us Sgt. Neesley and don’t forget to write and keep in touch. Thanks to all the men and women in the armed forces. We are so proud of you!"
The blog item got picked up on a few other sites, and the surprising reaction soon arrived.
click post title for the rest
By Greg Mitchell
Published: December 28, 2007 12:15 PM ET
NEW YORK Sometimes a picture is, indeed, worth a thousand, or maybe 100,000, words. That seemed true two days ago when, in my regular pursuit of stories about noncombat American deaths in Iraq. I came upon the name of a new victim.
As usual, the Pentagon release merely stated that he had died in a non-hostile situation and that an investigation would proceed. Also as usual, I then googled for stories in local news outlets, which often provide some details about the deceased, occasionally even the true cause of death.
In this case, I also found a haunting photograph, after a newspaper link took me to – of all places – an elementary school’s online newsletter. I wrote about all this on my new blog (see link below), posted the photo and, amazingly, at least five people who knew the dead soldier and/or attended that school have written me or posted remarks at the blog.
It's rare that the war "comes home" for average Americans like this -- at least with this war. A new AP poll today reveals that only one in five Americans know of a family member, friend or neighbor who has been wounded or killed in Iraq.
My blog report opened: The Pentagon revealed today that a soldier from suburban Detroit died on Christmas Day in Iraq. Sgt. Peter Neesley, 28, was from Grosse Pointe Farms. The military says he died of an undetermined cause in a "noncombat environment" in Baghdad. In the photo at right, Neesley is shown on a recent visit to his nephew's 4th grade classroom in Grosse Pointe Farms.
The school's newsletter described it this way: "Sergeant Peter Neesley, uncle of Patrick D., visited Richard Elementary while home on leave from Iraq. Sgt. Neesley led the school in the Pledge of Allegiance and visited several classrooms answering questions from our inquisitive students. Thanks for spending valuable time with us Sgt. Neesley and don’t forget to write and keep in touch. Thanks to all the men and women in the armed forces. We are so proud of you!"
The blog item got picked up on a few other sites, and the surprising reaction soon arrived.
click post title for the rest
Suicide of Spec. Chris Dana causes Montana to change
''The federal government does a remarkable job of converting a citizen to a warrior,'' said Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat. ''I think they have an equal responsibility converting a warrior back to a citizen.''
Suicide shocks Montana into assessing vets' care
Chris Adams
December 28, 2007 1:25 PM
McClatchy Newspapers
(MCT)
HELENA, Mont. - Chris Dana came home from the war in Iraq in 2005 and slipped into a mental abyss so quietly that neither his family nor the Montana Army National Guard noticed.
He returned to his former life: a job at a Target store, nights in a trailer across the road from his father's house.
When he started to isolate himself, missing family events and football games, his father urged him to get counseling. When the National Guard called his father to say that he'd missed weekend duty, Gary Dana pushed his son to get in touch with his unit.
''I can't go back. I can't do it,'' Chris Dana responded.
Things went downhill from there. He blew though all his money, and last March 4, he shot himself in the head with a .22-caliber rifle. He was 23 years old.
As Gary Dana was collecting his dead son's belongings, he found a letter indicating that the National Guard was discharging his son under what are known as other-than-honorable conditions. The move was due to his skipping drills, which his family said was brought on by the mental strain of his service in Iraq.
The letter was in the trash, near a Wal-Mart receipt for .22-caliber rifle shells.
All across America, veterans such as Chris Dana are slipping through the cracks, left to languish by their military units and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The VA's ability to provide adequate care for veterans with mental ailments has come under increasing scrutiny, and the agency says it's scrambling to boost its resources to help treat post-traumatic stress disorder, prevent suicides and help veterans cope. It's added more mental health counselors and started more suicide-prevention programs.
But the experience in Montana, which by some measures does more than any other state to support America's wars, shows how far the military and the VA have to go.
click post title for the rest
Linked from ICasualties.org
Also on this
Suicide shocks Montana into assessing vets' care
Chris Adams
December 28, 2007 1:25 PM
McClatchy Newspapers
(MCT)
HELENA, Mont. - Chris Dana came home from the war in Iraq in 2005 and slipped into a mental abyss so quietly that neither his family nor the Montana Army National Guard noticed.
He returned to his former life: a job at a Target store, nights in a trailer across the road from his father's house.
When he started to isolate himself, missing family events and football games, his father urged him to get counseling. When the National Guard called his father to say that he'd missed weekend duty, Gary Dana pushed his son to get in touch with his unit.
''I can't go back. I can't do it,'' Chris Dana responded.
Things went downhill from there. He blew though all his money, and last March 4, he shot himself in the head with a .22-caliber rifle. He was 23 years old.
As Gary Dana was collecting his dead son's belongings, he found a letter indicating that the National Guard was discharging his son under what are known as other-than-honorable conditions. The move was due to his skipping drills, which his family said was brought on by the mental strain of his service in Iraq.
The letter was in the trash, near a Wal-Mart receipt for .22-caliber rifle shells.
All across America, veterans such as Chris Dana are slipping through the cracks, left to languish by their military units and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The VA's ability to provide adequate care for veterans with mental ailments has come under increasing scrutiny, and the agency says it's scrambling to boost its resources to help treat post-traumatic stress disorder, prevent suicides and help veterans cope. It's added more mental health counselors and started more suicide-prevention programs.
But the experience in Montana, which by some measures does more than any other state to support America's wars, shows how far the military and the VA have to go.
click post title for the rest
Linked from ICasualties.org
Also on this
When the battalion's tour of duty ended in late 2005 after 18 months away from home, Specialist Dana was rapidly processed through Department of Defense demobilization facilities to expedite his return home and reintegration into civilian environment. This expedited approach is standard operational procedure for Reserve Component (National Guard and Reserve) units whose tour of duty supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom has ended.
However. Chris Dana's suicide-as well as the many others that have occurred nationwide in the aftermath of National Guard and Reserve combat veterans' return to mainstream civilian life-has prompted Montana's critical assessment of the PDHRA program's effectiveness in reintegrating combat veterans into civilian society.
go here for the rest
http://dma.mt.gov/mvad/documents/PDHRA.pdf
Two months between deployments PTSD followed him home
When war again found Iraq, Hill was deployed from August 2005 to November 2006. He deployed again in January 2007 with the 731st Transportation Company out of Larned.
Switching to convoy gunner a fateful choice
By James Carlson - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Dec 28, 2007 7:12:22 EST
OTTAWA, Kan. — Spc. Allen Hill wakes in the middle of the night with a real-life movie playing on repeat.
Gunner position. Night-vision goggles. A man fidgeting with something. A white light, then nothing. Over and over the scene plays, and the 39-year-old Hill can’t seem to dislodge it from his mind.
He is in Kansas for the holidays with his family before returning in early January to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he will continue treatment and finish paperwork to receive at-home care when he returns to Kansas.
The physical signs of that day one month ago are waning, but even in the security of his Ottawa home, the mental pain continues.
Hill joined the Army in Texas in 1986 at age 18. He was placed at Fort Riley in 1990 and has lived in Kansas since. He fought in the 1991 Persian Gulf War before joining the Army National Guard.
When war again found Iraq, Hill was deployed from August 2005 to November 2006. He deployed again in January 2007 with the 731st Transportation Company out of Larned.
Hill’s unit served as convoy security, where he most often drove the Humvees. That was until Nov. 21, the day before Thanksgiving.
“I had driven and driven and driven and the monotony ...” he trails off.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/12/ap_flashback_071228/
He was home two months before going back. This is how they do it to our soldiers. They stick them into another unit that is heading back, and off they go. Yet they get to say the troops have rest between deployments because the unit they left does not go back that quick. Nice trick. Too bad the media let them get away with this over and over again. It happens all the time. Yet they act as if they are surprised by how many end up with PTSD?
Switching to convoy gunner a fateful choice
By James Carlson - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Dec 28, 2007 7:12:22 EST
OTTAWA, Kan. — Spc. Allen Hill wakes in the middle of the night with a real-life movie playing on repeat.
Gunner position. Night-vision goggles. A man fidgeting with something. A white light, then nothing. Over and over the scene plays, and the 39-year-old Hill can’t seem to dislodge it from his mind.
He is in Kansas for the holidays with his family before returning in early January to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he will continue treatment and finish paperwork to receive at-home care when he returns to Kansas.
The physical signs of that day one month ago are waning, but even in the security of his Ottawa home, the mental pain continues.
Hill joined the Army in Texas in 1986 at age 18. He was placed at Fort Riley in 1990 and has lived in Kansas since. He fought in the 1991 Persian Gulf War before joining the Army National Guard.
When war again found Iraq, Hill was deployed from August 2005 to November 2006. He deployed again in January 2007 with the 731st Transportation Company out of Larned.
Hill’s unit served as convoy security, where he most often drove the Humvees. That was until Nov. 21, the day before Thanksgiving.
“I had driven and driven and driven and the monotony ...” he trails off.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/12/ap_flashback_071228/
He was home two months before going back. This is how they do it to our soldiers. They stick them into another unit that is heading back, and off they go. Yet they get to say the troops have rest between deployments because the unit they left does not go back that quick. Nice trick. Too bad the media let them get away with this over and over again. It happens all the time. Yet they act as if they are surprised by how many end up with PTSD?
House Committee Slams VA On Veteran Suicides
House Committee Slams VA On Veteran Suicides
By Stephen Spotswood
Posted: 27-December-2007
WASHINGTON—"This is going to be an emotional hearing."
With that statement, Rep. Bob Filner (D., Calif.), chair of the House Veterans Affairs (VA) Committee, opened a Dec. 12 hearing on what he and other legislators are calling an epidemic of suicides among veterans in the United States and their dissatisfaction with VA’s response.
"This is a topic," Rep. Filner said, "that the Department of Veterans Affairs and the American public don’t like to talk about."
However, in a marathon hearing held shortly before the holiday recess, a spotlight was focused on the topic, and a hearing that began with the story of one family’s struggle with their son’s suicide ended with Rep. Filner severely berating leading VA mental health officials.
Disputing The Numbers
Many times during the hearing, both legislators and VA officials stated that "the exact numbers should not matter" in a discussion of veteran suicide; that one suicide is one too many. Still, a lot of time was spent arguing over just how prevalent the problem is.
The hearing was prompted in part by a CBS news story in November on suicides in the veteran population that put last year’s number of veteran suicides at over 6,000. VA officials refuted that number, questioning its validity. But a VA Inspector General report released in May of 2007 found that as many as 5,000 veterans commit suicide a year—nearly 1,000 of whom are receiving VA care at the time.
go here for the rest
http://www.usmedicine.com/dailyNews.cfm?dailyID=355
Pro-war bloggers need to stop calling the media liars. It's true and they really couldn't care less.
By Stephen Spotswood
Posted: 27-December-2007
WASHINGTON—"This is going to be an emotional hearing."
With that statement, Rep. Bob Filner (D., Calif.), chair of the House Veterans Affairs (VA) Committee, opened a Dec. 12 hearing on what he and other legislators are calling an epidemic of suicides among veterans in the United States and their dissatisfaction with VA’s response.
"This is a topic," Rep. Filner said, "that the Department of Veterans Affairs and the American public don’t like to talk about."
However, in a marathon hearing held shortly before the holiday recess, a spotlight was focused on the topic, and a hearing that began with the story of one family’s struggle with their son’s suicide ended with Rep. Filner severely berating leading VA mental health officials.
Disputing The Numbers
Many times during the hearing, both legislators and VA officials stated that "the exact numbers should not matter" in a discussion of veteran suicide; that one suicide is one too many. Still, a lot of time was spent arguing over just how prevalent the problem is.
The hearing was prompted in part by a CBS news story in November on suicides in the veteran population that put last year’s number of veteran suicides at over 6,000. VA officials refuted that number, questioning its validity. But a VA Inspector General report released in May of 2007 found that as many as 5,000 veterans commit suicide a year—nearly 1,000 of whom are receiving VA care at the time.
go here for the rest
http://www.usmedicine.com/dailyNews.cfm?dailyID=355
Pro-war bloggers need to stop calling the media liars. It's true and they really couldn't care less.
Veterans want attention from candidates
United States Marine Vietnam veteran Wayne Wood of Central City discusses his time in the service and problems he faced afterward with Cedar Rapids sisters Mary Arenas (middle) and Paula Arenas Huber before the Circle of Friends for American Veterans began Operation United Reveille at the Knights of Columbus Council 909 in Cedar Rapids tonight. The Arenas sisters' father served in World War II and dealt with post traumatic stress his entire life.
Veterans want attention from candidates
By Adam Belz
The Gazette
adam.belz@gazettecommunications.com
CEDAR RAPIDS — More than a thousand veterans are homeless in Iowa, and the Department of Veterans Affairs funds only 56 beds for them, Brian Hampton, president of Circle of Friends for American Veterans, said tonight.
Hampton's organization kicked off a series of rallies called Operation United Reveille. The point of the tour is that many veterans believe the government that sends American men and women to war does not take care of them when they return.
The tour is following the key early states in the presidential campaign to try to get candidates to address veterans issues, which Hampton thinks have been largely ignored in the campaign and by the national media.
"The VA is doing little or nothing for homeless vets," Hampton said. "We're going to put the politicians' feet to the fire, 'cause when they feel the heat, they see the light."
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Paris Hilton Knocked Out Of Money In Favor Of Charities
The foundation supports projects that provide clean water in Africa, education for blind children, and housing for the mentally ill. Its aims, based on Conrad Hilton's will, are "to relieve the suffering, the distressed and the destitute."
The Hilton manoeuvre: Paris's granddad gives 97% of his fortune to charity
Michelle Nichols, Reuters
Published: Thursday, December 27, 2007
U.S. hotel heiress Paris Hilton's potential inheritance diminished dramatically after her grandfather Barron Hilton announced plans yesterday to donate 97 per cent of his $2.3-billion fortune to charity.
That wealth includes $1.2 billion Barron Hilton stands to earn from both the recent sale of Hilton Hotels Corp. - started by his father Conrad in 1919 when he bought a small hotel in Cisco, Tex. - and pending sale of the world's biggest casino company, Harrah's Entertainment Inc.
That money will be placed in a charitable trust that will eventually benefit the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, raising its total value to about $4.5 billion, the foundation said in a statement.
Barron Hilton, chairman of the foundation, intends "to contribute 97 per cent of his entire net worth, estimated today at $2.3 billion, including the created trusts, at whatever value it is at the time of his passing," the foundation said.
go here for the rest
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=200784
I'll admit that when I see Paris in the headlines, I usually avoid it but this is not about her latest antics. It's about her grandfather taking notice of them and deciding to give most of his money to charities. I read it reluctantly, hoping that I would read something of value. When it comes to Paris Hilton being in the news I cringe knowing a soldier died in Iraq or Afghanistan no one really takes notice of anymore, or some veteran ended up homeless yesterday, or another committed suicide. She lives off of the media paying attention to her and it's a sad comment on the state of this nation when someone like her becomes the focus of any other news source than the Star or the National Enquirer or other entertainment media, not that she is that entertaining.
So here is a huge bravo to Grand Pa for doing the right thing for people in need instead of his granddaughter living off of greed.
AMVETS post named after Noah Charles Pierce
Virginia AMVETS post named for Iraq veteran who committed suicide
Dickinson Press - Dickinson,ND,USA
VIRGINIA, Minn.
A new AMVETS post here has been named after a 23-year-old Iraq war veteran who committed suicide this year.
Noah Charles Pierce was honored Dec. 15 at a ceremony dedicating AMVETS Post 33 in Virginia.
Pierce was an Army specialist who served with the Third Infantry Division in Kuwait and Iraq. After being discharged from the military, he battled post-traumatic stress disorder before taking his own life in July.
Shawn Carr, who commands the AMVETS post in Virginia, said Pierce carried on the Iron Range tradition of serving the country in a time of need.
"In naming this post Noah C. Pierce AMVETS Post 33, we wish to give Noah a fitting memorial, raise community and public awareness of PTSD and in some way help the healing for his family to begin," Carr said. "As far as I'm concerned, Noah died of injuries received in combat."
Toward the end of the ceremony, Carr read the roll call of local AMVETS members. When he read Pierce's name, "Taps" was played.
Information from: Mesabi Daily News,
http://www.virginiamn.com/
"As far as I'm concerned, Noah died of injuries received in combat." It should be the same way with all people. PTSD is a wound. In his case, it was a wound caused by combat and the traumas of war. They should all be honored and they should all be treated as combat wounded. There is no shame connected to having your limbs blown off or having a bullet wound so why should there be any shame in having your mind wounded by what you lived through and with?
Also on this
“PTSD has been around as long as man has gone to war,’’ Ringstrom said. “We have a name for it now. Thank God for the Vietnam vets’’ for bringing it to light. “This isn’t new. These are warriors we’re talking about.’’
HONORING NOAH
Bringing more awareness to PTSD
Linda Tyssen
Last updated: Wednesday, December 26th, 2007 10:07:03 PM
VIRGINIA — Noah Charles Pierce wasn’t there to answer roll call. The sounding of taps responded instead, as the new AMVETS Post 33 was named in his honor at a special ceremony Dec. 15.
The 23-year-old Army veteran of the war in Iraq committed suicide in July, following a battle with post-traumatic stress disorder. Spc. Pierce served with the Third Infantry Division in Kuwait and Iraq, driving a Bradley fighting vehicle and serving as a gunner on a Humvee. After his discharge from the military, he had told his family he would have gone back for a third tour of duty.
Shortly after the AMVETS post was chartered in Virginia, Commander Shawn Carr announced his wish to name the post for Pierce. AMVETS, short for American Veterans, is open to all those who served in the military, whether in wartime or peacetime, overseas or at home. Post 33 is headquartered at the Servicemen’s Club.
A large group of Pierce’s family and friends and military veterans came to the ceremony at the Servicemen’s Club. Pierce’s parents, Cheryl and Tom Softich of Sparta, and his sister, Sarah Snyder, were among those in attendance.
“In naming this post Noah C. Pierce AMVETS Post 33, we wish to give Noah a fitting memorial, raise community and public awareness of PTSD and in some way help the healing for his family to begin,’’ Commander Carr said in his remarks.
go here for the rest of this
http://www.virginiamn.com/mdn/?sect_rank=1§ion_id=70&story_id=211592
Dickinson Press - Dickinson,ND,USA
VIRGINIA, Minn.
A new AMVETS post here has been named after a 23-year-old Iraq war veteran who committed suicide this year.
Noah Charles Pierce was honored Dec. 15 at a ceremony dedicating AMVETS Post 33 in Virginia.
Pierce was an Army specialist who served with the Third Infantry Division in Kuwait and Iraq. After being discharged from the military, he battled post-traumatic stress disorder before taking his own life in July.
Shawn Carr, who commands the AMVETS post in Virginia, said Pierce carried on the Iron Range tradition of serving the country in a time of need.
"In naming this post Noah C. Pierce AMVETS Post 33, we wish to give Noah a fitting memorial, raise community and public awareness of PTSD and in some way help the healing for his family to begin," Carr said. "As far as I'm concerned, Noah died of injuries received in combat."
Toward the end of the ceremony, Carr read the roll call of local AMVETS members. When he read Pierce's name, "Taps" was played.
Information from: Mesabi Daily News,
http://www.virginiamn.com/
"As far as I'm concerned, Noah died of injuries received in combat." It should be the same way with all people. PTSD is a wound. In his case, it was a wound caused by combat and the traumas of war. They should all be honored and they should all be treated as combat wounded. There is no shame connected to having your limbs blown off or having a bullet wound so why should there be any shame in having your mind wounded by what you lived through and with?
Also on this
“PTSD has been around as long as man has gone to war,’’ Ringstrom said. “We have a name for it now. Thank God for the Vietnam vets’’ for bringing it to light. “This isn’t new. These are warriors we’re talking about.’’
HONORING NOAH
Bringing more awareness to PTSD
Linda Tyssen
Last updated: Wednesday, December 26th, 2007 10:07:03 PM
VIRGINIA — Noah Charles Pierce wasn’t there to answer roll call. The sounding of taps responded instead, as the new AMVETS Post 33 was named in his honor at a special ceremony Dec. 15.
The 23-year-old Army veteran of the war in Iraq committed suicide in July, following a battle with post-traumatic stress disorder. Spc. Pierce served with the Third Infantry Division in Kuwait and Iraq, driving a Bradley fighting vehicle and serving as a gunner on a Humvee. After his discharge from the military, he had told his family he would have gone back for a third tour of duty.
Shortly after the AMVETS post was chartered in Virginia, Commander Shawn Carr announced his wish to name the post for Pierce. AMVETS, short for American Veterans, is open to all those who served in the military, whether in wartime or peacetime, overseas or at home. Post 33 is headquartered at the Servicemen’s Club.
A large group of Pierce’s family and friends and military veterans came to the ceremony at the Servicemen’s Club. Pierce’s parents, Cheryl and Tom Softich of Sparta, and his sister, Sarah Snyder, were among those in attendance.
“In naming this post Noah C. Pierce AMVETS Post 33, we wish to give Noah a fitting memorial, raise community and public awareness of PTSD and in some way help the healing for his family to begin,’’ Commander Carr said in his remarks.
go here for the rest of this
http://www.virginiamn.com/mdn/?sect_rank=1§ion_id=70&story_id=211592
DOD claims 85% of discharges for personality disorder were right?
Military Works to Improve Personality Disorder-Based Discharge Process
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 2007 – The military is working to improve the way it implements a policy of discharging troops based on pre-existing personality disorders, Defense Department health officials said today.
Several articles in summer 2007 claimed that some 22,500 troops had been discharged -- in some instances, wrongly discharged -- after being diagnosed as having personality disorders. In response, the Defense Department launched a “secondary review.”
In the ongoing investigation thus far, officials have reconfirmed that 85 percent of servicemembers initially determined to have personality disorders were correctly diagnosed. Roughly 1.5 percent, however, were misdiagnosed, officials said.
“We have looked at most of them, and some, on review, have been incorrect diagnoses,” Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, told reporters at the Pentagon today.
Casscells denied the most inflammatory claim made in the articles: that the military was shirking its responsibility to those affected. “When the articles first came out, the tenor was, ‘Military is labeling people (with) personality disorders so they don’t have to pay benefits,’” he said. “We did not find any evidence of that.”
Echoing Casscells’ comments, Air Force Col. Joyce Adkins, director of psychological health and strategic operations, defended the policy, but acknowledged possible flaws in implementation.
Adkins clarified that a personality disorder does not necessarily bar an individual from serving in the armed forces. “Certainly there are many people who have personality traits that we would characterize as a disorder who have stayed in the military,” she said. “It’s only when their personality doesn’t fit well with the job that they are separated.”
Moreover, Adkins said a “separation,” or discharge, on the basis of a personality disorder can benefit the discharged servicemember because it serves as a “safety valve,” freeing the servicemember from further obligation to military service.
“If you have a job and you don’t fit well with that job, you can quit,” she said. “In the military, you can’t just quit that easily. This is a way to say that this person doesn’t fit well with this job and to allow them to pursue other employments.”
Adkins added that the “large majority” of such discharges occur within the first two years of military service.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48489
Linked from VAWatchdog.org
Then this would mean they let in people with personality disorders and all their pre-enlistment test are not worth crap. It would mean that they have a lot of soldiers running around with mental disorders. Wouldn't it? So what do you think the DOD should really be releasing in these case? That they are wrong 85% of the time, or they were right and their test make sure those who enlist are in fact fully capable of carrying out their orders? We're talking about 25,000 veterans here. Somehow I doubt they all took the test and bluffed their way through them. I really doubt they were rightfully dishonorably discharged. If they are trying to save money by admitting combat causes trauma and some develop PTSD, then they not only lost their reputation for taking the best and the brightest, they also dishonored the military as a whole by trying to pull a stunt like this. kc
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 2007 – The military is working to improve the way it implements a policy of discharging troops based on pre-existing personality disorders, Defense Department health officials said today.
Several articles in summer 2007 claimed that some 22,500 troops had been discharged -- in some instances, wrongly discharged -- after being diagnosed as having personality disorders. In response, the Defense Department launched a “secondary review.”
In the ongoing investigation thus far, officials have reconfirmed that 85 percent of servicemembers initially determined to have personality disorders were correctly diagnosed. Roughly 1.5 percent, however, were misdiagnosed, officials said.
“We have looked at most of them, and some, on review, have been incorrect diagnoses,” Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, told reporters at the Pentagon today.
Casscells denied the most inflammatory claim made in the articles: that the military was shirking its responsibility to those affected. “When the articles first came out, the tenor was, ‘Military is labeling people (with) personality disorders so they don’t have to pay benefits,’” he said. “We did not find any evidence of that.”
Echoing Casscells’ comments, Air Force Col. Joyce Adkins, director of psychological health and strategic operations, defended the policy, but acknowledged possible flaws in implementation.
Adkins clarified that a personality disorder does not necessarily bar an individual from serving in the armed forces. “Certainly there are many people who have personality traits that we would characterize as a disorder who have stayed in the military,” she said. “It’s only when their personality doesn’t fit well with the job that they are separated.”
Moreover, Adkins said a “separation,” or discharge, on the basis of a personality disorder can benefit the discharged servicemember because it serves as a “safety valve,” freeing the servicemember from further obligation to military service.
“If you have a job and you don’t fit well with that job, you can quit,” she said. “In the military, you can’t just quit that easily. This is a way to say that this person doesn’t fit well with this job and to allow them to pursue other employments.”
Adkins added that the “large majority” of such discharges occur within the first two years of military service.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48489
Linked from VAWatchdog.org
Then this would mean they let in people with personality disorders and all their pre-enlistment test are not worth crap. It would mean that they have a lot of soldiers running around with mental disorders. Wouldn't it? So what do you think the DOD should really be releasing in these case? That they are wrong 85% of the time, or they were right and their test make sure those who enlist are in fact fully capable of carrying out their orders? We're talking about 25,000 veterans here. Somehow I doubt they all took the test and bluffed their way through them. I really doubt they were rightfully dishonorably discharged. If they are trying to save money by admitting combat causes trauma and some develop PTSD, then they not only lost their reputation for taking the best and the brightest, they also dishonored the military as a whole by trying to pull a stunt like this. kc
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