Friday, January 27, 2012

Vermont proposal: Legalize pot for PTSD treatment

Vt. proposal: Legalize pot for PTSD treatment
By Wilson Ring - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jan 26, 2012 17:00:20 EST
MONTPELIER, Vt. — A Vermont lawmaker wants to amend the state’s medical marijuana law so that anyone suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder could use it to help alleviate their symptoms.

State Rep. Jim Masland said he introduced the bill earlier this month at the request of a number of his constituents who were using marijuana to alleviate stress symptoms they felt were caused by their military service.

“I understand that these unnamed individuals, at least a couple, haven’t been able to find relief any other way or at least this is the best way for relief,” Masland, D-Thetford, said Thursday. “So I would say they are quietly, surreptitiously using marijuana, but they would much rather do it legally.”

Masland said the veterans who asked him to introduce the legislation had served in the Vietnam War as well as the wars the United States has fought over the last decade.
read more here

Apparent suicide victim found dead "had military badge" on car

Apparent suicide victim found dead in vehicle in WindanSea parking lot late this morning

The body of an unidentified man who is believed to have committed suicide was found in a red Pontiac in WindanSea Beach parking lot by locals about 11 a.m. this morning.

They reported it to police who immediately cordoned off the parking lot.

Kennedy said the victim “had a current military badge on his car,” and added the gun those who found him saw “looked lik an issued weapon.”
read more here

Fort Hood soldier chased away by police for "wedding" in public?

Wedding banned from Tarrant County College downtown
Posted Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012

BY BUD KENNEDY
bud@star-telegram.com

We paid $185 million for our new county college on the bluff downtown.

You'd think we'd be welcome there.

No such luck for one would-be bride.

With her Army boyfriend suddenly deployed to Afghanistan, county tax office worker Rosie Enriquez Martinez wanted to use the riverfront overlook at the edge of campus Sunday for a small wedding.

But Tarrant County College police chased them away.

Instead, Rosie and Sgt. Phillip Martinez Jr. of Fort Hood exchanged vows on a windy downtown sidewalk, wondering why he can fight for American freedom in Afghanistan but not peacefully enjoy a public campus downtown.
read more here

Man charged in crash that killed Fort Hood soldier

Man charged in crash that killed Fort Hood soldier
Thursday, January 26, 2012

BELTON, Texas (AP) — A Central Texas grand jury has indicted a San Antonio man on a count of intoxication manslaughter over a crash last summer that killed a Fort Hood soldier.

The Bell County grand jury indicted 37-year-old Philip Ray Hernandez for the crash that killed Sgt. Chad Richard Clifton.
read more here

One lucky Marine, hit by cement truck while on motorcycle, recovering

Motorcyclist struck by truck
January 26, 2012 4:30 PM
SUZANNE ULBRICH - DAILY NEWS STAFF
A Marine riding a motorcycle and hit by a truck on Bear Creek Road Wednesday did not sustain life-threatening injuries, according to Highway Patrol officials.

Trooper Michael Davis confirmed that 58-year-old Francis Mitchell, of Swansboro, was driving a cement truck on Bear Creek Road around 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, turned into a driveway and struck a motorcycle driven by Donald Baldo, 26, of Hubert.
read more here

St. Louis to Host 1st Big Parade on Iraq War's End

St. Louis to Host 1st Big Parade on Iraq War's End

January 27, 2012
Associated Press
by Jim Salter
ST. LOUIS -- Since the Iraq War ended, there has been little fanfare for the veterans returning home. No ticker-tape parades. No massive, flag-waving public celebrations.

So, two friends from St. Louis decided to change that. They sought donations, launched a Facebook page, met with the mayor and mapped a route. On Saturday, hundreds of veterans are expected to march in downtown St. Louis in the nation's first big welcome home parade since the last troops left Iraq in December.

"It struck me that there was this debate going on as to whether there should or shouldn't be a parade," said Tom Appelbaum, one of the organizers. "Instead of waiting around for somebody somewhere to say, `Yes, let's have a parade,' we said, `Let's just do it.' "

Appelbaum, a 46-year-old lawyer, and Craig Schneider, a 41-year-old school technology coordinator, said they were puzzled by the lack of celebrations marking the war's end. But, they wondered, if St. Louis could host thousands of people for a parade after their beloved Cardinals won the World Series, why couldn't there be a party for the troops who put their lives on the line?
read more here

PTSD veterans get review after Madigan Army Medical Center changes diagnosis

Army is reviewing Madigan's reversal of PTSD diagnoses
The Army plans to review a Madigan Army Medical Center psychiatric team that reversed the PTSD diagnoses of more than a dozen soldiers, potentially weakening their case to receive a medical retirement.

By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter

The Army is reviewing the actions of a Madigan Army Medical Center psychiatric team that reversed the diagnoses of more than a dozen soldiers previously found to have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

All these soldiers have been under consideration for medical retirement, which offers considerably more financial benefits than alternative forms of discharge.

Some have complained that doctors at the hospital, south of Tacoma on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, unfairly stripped them of the PTSD diagnoses, which would help qualify them for a medical retirement, and instead tagged them as malingerers.

In an unusual intervention, the office of the Army Surgeon General has arranged for the soldiers to fly to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where they are scheduled to be examined by another team of Army doctors.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., confirmed details of the review to The Seattle Times.
read more here

Salt Lake Veterans Affairs enlists vets for huge medical research project

Salt Lake Veterans Affairs enlists vets for huge medical research project

BY KRISTEN MOULTON
The Salt Lake Tribune
6 million vets get ongoing care through VA, and a national program aims to get 1 million to help create a huge database of continually updated records.

First published Jan 26 2012
Becky Kemp Carpenter’s dad, a Vietnam War veteran, died two years ago of ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. So when she heard about the Million Veteran Program to help medical research, she — a third-generation veteran — didn’t hesitate to sign up.

"I come from a strong history of service," said Carpenter, who was one of 35 veterans enrolled Thursday during the program’s formal kickoff at the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

"By doing a simple blood test and answering questions, we can help not just future vets but people who are around now," said Carpenter, a West Valley City resident who served in the Air Force in the 1990s. "There is so much more we can continue to do to serve our country."

Begun last year in Boston, the Million Veteran Program has so far enlisted more than 20,000 veterans to donate their DNA and release their VA medical records to researchers. The VA in Salt Lake City is one of 40 hospitals participating so far and has enrolled more than 300 veterans since fall; the program hopes to have 50 participating hospitals by summer.
read more here

2nd Fort Bliss Soldier Dies After Shooting Outside Central Nightclub

BREAKING: 2nd Soldier Dies After Shooting Outside Central Nightclub
POSTED: 3:38 pm MST January 26, 2012

EL PASO, Texas -- A Fort Bliss soldier who was shot in the head outside a Central El Paso nightclub has died from his injures, police said.

The shooting occurred shortly after 2:09 a.m. Jan. 15 outside Fussion Nightclub at 4304 Dyer Street.

Preston Brown died at University Medical Center on Monday. Damien Bailey died the night of the shooting. The third victim, Tyrone Head was shot in the upper chest and transported to William Beaumont Army Medical Center. He was released after he received medical treatment. All three soldiers were 21years old.
read more here

Suspect held in shooting death of Fort Bliss soldier

Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier allegedly fired at neighbor's home

JBLM soldier allegedly fired at romantic rival's neighbor's home
JEREMY PAWLOSKI
Staff writer
Published January 27, 2012


Tenino police arrested a solider at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for allegedly shooting up a Rainier home on New Year’s Day to get revenge for an affair.

Police think Eric David Kollar meant to target a romantic rival’s home but instead fired eight shots from a .45-caliber Glock into a home adjacent to where the man lived. The man had an affair with Kollar’s wife while Kollar was in Iraq, police said.

Kollar, 25, was most recently assigned to group support for the 1st Special Forces Group and has served at least one tour in Iraq, court papers state. He was arrested without incident Wednesday on suspicion of one count of drive-by shooting.
read more here