PTSD on Trial:Tragedy that followed Sgt. Horner home from Iraq

Iraq Vet in Pennsylvania Murders Was Radically Changed by War and PTSD
Tim King Salem-News.com
PTSD sufferers can't always leave the war behind.


Photos of Nicholas Horner: HelpHorner.com

(ALTOONA, Penn.) - Tragedy and war-inspired Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can meet like a head on crash when the nation's care providers at the Veterans Administration, notorious for lies and deceit, deny our combat veterans the care they need.


This story of deadly, senseless shootings in Altoona, Pennsylvania April 6th is possibly the most tragic story I have ever reported, and if it isn't, it is among the very worst.

The most agonizing fact is that it possibly could have been avoided with a proper diagnosis from the VA. Sergeant Nicholas Horner is a highly decorated war veteran who was sent to Iraq repeatedly. On his third tour things went south and he was sent home.

But according to what we can tell, this soldier, in spite of having his weapon taken away and being sent home early from Iraq, on his third tour, was never officially designated as having PTSD.

Family and friends say this father of two came back from the third tour as a changed man. He had to fight to receive treatment from the VA and nobody should have to do that. In the most basic sense, being damaged goods from the war is not what anyone wishes. They are placed in extremely dangerous positions for long periods of time and they do it for a year each time they deploy.

go here for more

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/april182009/nick_horner_tk_4-17-09.php

As many as 13 soldier suicides in March

As many as 13 soldier suicides in March

That would bring 2009’s total to 56, Army reports
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Apr 19, 2009 8:26:29 EDT

As many as 13 soldiers are believed to have killed themselves in March, bringing the number of reported soldier suicides this year to 56, officials announced April 10.

None of the March cases under investigation have been confirmed, but about 90 percent of deaths involved in such investigations typically are ruled to be suicides.

The March total marks a decrease in suicides compared with the first two months of the year.

As many as 24 suicides were reported in January, but on March 4 officials removed one case because it was determined that the soldier was no longer on active duty when he died. Of the 23 remaining cases, 14 are confirmed suicides; nine are pending a determination.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/army_suicide_041909w/

Wyoming National Guard embedding mental health care

Health Care
Embedding Mental Health In The National Guard
by Addie Goss
Listen Now [4 min 55 sec] add to playlist
All Things Considered, April 18, 2009 · Wyoming is about to mobilize its largest deployment of National Guards in state history. Embedded with the troops will be a mental health professional who is a PTSD specialist. The commander of the Wyoming Guard believes treating the mental health needs of the National Guard troops is a priority and he has also worked to connect mental health resources in Wyoming communities to those in the military.
Addie Goss reports for Wyoming Public Radio.

31,000 Wounded Civilian Workers Fight For Care

The biggest secret about Iraq and Afghanistan has been the civilians deployed with the troops. When they are wounded or killed, no one ever counts them as the price of either occupation.
According to ICasualties.org, as of today Reported Deaths: 4274 in Iraq from the US alone and a total of 4,592. Afghanistan has coalition forces deaths at 1,133, 678 were US forces.
Would people still be talking about the low death counts if they had to add in the contractors? Begin with adding 1,400 and then add in 31,000 wounded.

Wounded Civilian Workers Fight For Care
AIG, Other Insurers Routinely Deny Medical Claims Of Contractors Injured In Iraq, And Afghanistan, Probe Finds

April 17, 2009


(CBS) Much has been written about the struggle of U.S. veterans to get the proper care from the military's V.A. hospitals, but another class of returnees from the battlefront is facing similar difficulties obtaining care for injuries sustained in the war zone: civilian contract employees who suffered wounds while supporting the military's war efforts.

In an alarming article co-written by T. Christian Miller of ProPublica and Doug Smith of the Los Angeles Times, insurance companies responsible (under taxpayer-funded policies) for the treatment of civilian workers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan are reportedly routinely denying medical claims for basic care, as well as artificial limbs, psychological counseling and other services.

The same companies - primarily American International Group (AIG) - reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in profits from these insurance policies.

At least 31,000 civilians have been injured while providing support services to the military and U.S. State Department. More than 1,400 have died.

Injured Iraq war veterans have sued the Department of Veterans Affairs claiming they were denied timely services for medical and mental health problems.

Meanwhile, the military struggles to cope with soldiers who come home suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which affects one in five service members returning from Iraq or Afghanistan, according to the Pentagon.

But unlike veterans who are provided with care by the military, the civilian wounded have to go it alone - battling a federally-run insurance system that is laden with high costs and delays.
go here for more
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/17/national/main4951906.shtml

Spc. Michael J. Anaya was proud to be in service to the nation.

Soldier's 'life was meant for' service
Schofield-based man from Florida killed by roadside bomb in Iraq
A Salute to the Fallen
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

It's pretty clear from his MySpace page that Schofield Barracks soldier Spc. Michael J. Anaya was proud to be in service to the nation.

There's a reference to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a prayer entitled "God Bless Our Military" and a poster that reads "Support Those Supporting America," with a picture of four soldiers on patrol in the desert and an M1A1 Abrams main battle tank behind them.

The Pentagon yesterday said Anaya, 23, of Crestview, Fla., who joined the Army in 2006 and was assigned to Hawai'i in January 2008, died Sunday in Bayji, northwest of Baghdad, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

Col. Walter Piatt and the 3rd Brigade of about 3,500 Schofield soldiers took over security responsibility in Salah ad Din province on Nov. 22. The soldiers are expected to be in Iraq for a year.

Anaya's family told the Northwest Florida Daily News that the truck he was driving ran over a roadside bomb. There was no word on whether others were injured.
go here for more
Soldier's 'life was meant for' service

5 U.S. soldiers killed in northern Iraq blast

5 U.S. soldiers killed in northern Iraq blast

By Hamid Ahmed - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Apr 10, 2009 11:58:28 EDT

BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden truck into a sandbagged wall Friday in northern Iraq, killing five American soldiers and two Iraqi policemen in the single deadliest attack against U.S. forces in more than a year.

A sixth American soldier and 17 Iraqi policemen were wounded in the blast that took place near the national police headquarters in southwestern Mosul, Iraq’s third-largest city and al-Qaida’s last urban stronghold.

Suicide bombings — a hallmark of al-Qaida’s attack style — continue to threaten the city, which U.S. troops must leave by June 30 under an agreement with the Iraqis. The approaching deadline
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5 U.S. soldiers killed in northern Iraq blast

National Guardsmen rush to help one of their own

They didn't leave him behind. They didn't dismiss what he was going thru. Police, didn't overreact. This is the way it's supposed to work and a life is saved because they did the right thing. They are all heroes.

Ark-La-Tex soldier suffers from PTSD

Posted: April 3, 2009 10:21 PM EDT

NATCHITOCHES, LA (KSLA) - Fellow soldiers rushed to the aid of a suicidal Iraqi war veteran Friday, in the Ark-La-Tex.

The incident happened in Natchitoches, Louisiana when Natchitoches Police were called out to a welfare concern near Highway 1 in Natchitoches.

It all began when fellow guardsmen went to the soldier's trailer to find out why he didn't show up for duty.

They found him in his trailer with a gun next to him and he wouldn't hand over the weapon. After speaking with police over the phone, he came out peacefully.
go here for more
http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=10129168&nav=0RY5

Mystery Surrounds Local Marine's Death in Iraq

Mystery Surrounds Local Marine's Death
Man Killed In ‘Non-Hostile Incident’ In Iraq

POSTED: Thursday, April 2, 2009
UPDATED: 8:04 am EDT April 3, 2009

MIAMI -- A mystery is brewing from Miami to Iraq, where a local member of the U.S. Marine Corps was found dead at a military facility.

The Department of Defense said Thursday that 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Nelson M. Lantigua of Miami died on Tuesday in Anbar province.

Lantigua was found shot to death, face down, in a bed inside the military facility to which he was assigned in Iraq, Local 10's Terrell Forney reported.

Officials said Lantigua died of a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. But no other details have been released. The incident is under investigation.

Military officials have called it a non-hostile incident and non-combat related, which raises questions for Lantigua's family. The 20-year old joined the U.S. Marines after graduating high school in Miami and was nearing the end of his first deployment to Iraq when he died.
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Mystery Surrounds Local Marine's Death
linked from CNN

DoD Identifies Marine Casualty non-combat death in Iraq

DoD Identifies Marine Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.



Lance Cpl. Nelson M. Lantigua, 20, of Miami, Fla., died March 31 as a result of a non-hostile incident in Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 10 Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.



The incident is currently under investigation.

http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx

Two more non-combat deaths in Iraq

04/01/09 MNF: MND-N Soldier dies from non-combat related incident
A Multi-National Division - North Soldier died in a non-combat related incident in Salah ad Din province, March 31. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense.

03/31/09 MNF: MNF-W Marine dies in non-combat related incident
A Multi National Force – West Marine died as the result of a non-combat related incident here March 31. The Marine’s name is being withheld pending next-of-kin notification and release by the Department of Defense.
http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx

Why have Iraq and Afghanistan produced only 5 Medal of Honor recipients

Death before this honor

Why have Iraq and Afghanistan produced only 5 Medal of Honor recipients, none living?
By Brendan McGarry - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Mar 30, 2009 5:51:05 EDT

The number of Medal of Honor recipients from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan can be counted on one hand.

Each of the five acted spontaneously and heroically to save the lives of comrades. Each exemplified the medal’s criteria of “gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of one’s own life above and beyond the call of duty.”

And each was killed in action or died from wounds received in action.

From World War I through Vietnam, the rate of Medal of Honor recipients per 100,000 service members stayed between 2.3 (Korea) and 2.9 (World War II). But since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, only five Medals of Honor have been awarded, a rate of 0.1 per 100,000 — one in a million.

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Death before this honor

Showering in Iraq deadly enemy for troops

AP IMPACT: More bad wiring imperils troops in Iraq
By KIMBERLY HEFLING – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Military inspectors are racing to examine 90,000 U.S.-run facilities in Iraq with the goal of repairing electrical problems before more troops are electrocuted or shocked while showering or using appliances.

About one-third of the inspections so far have turned up major electrical problems, according to interviews and an internal military document obtained by The Associated Press. Half of the problems they found have since been fixed, but about 65,000 facilities still must be inspected, which could take the rest of this year. Senior Pentagon officials were on Capitol Hill this week for briefings on the findings.

The work assigned to Task Force SAFE, which oversees the inspections and repairs, is aimed at preventing deaths like that of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, of Pittsburgh. He died in January 2008, one of at least three soldiers killed while showering since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Scores more soldiers suffered shocks between September 2006 and July 2008, according to a database maintained by KBR Inc., the Houston-based contractor that oversees maintenance at most U.S. facilities in Iraq.

"We got a ton of buildings we know probably aren't safe and we just don't have them done yet," said Jim Childs, an electrician the task force hired to help with the inspections. "It's Russian roulette. I cringe every time I hear of a shock."
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AP IMPACT: More bad wiring imperils troops in Iraq

50% Iraqi war vets suffer PTSD!

While I know this involves a lawyer, this report is true. At least it is a lot closer to what is real than anything else the media has been reporting in the past.

Dallas VA malpractice lawyer-S. Greco-alerts 50% Iraqi war vets ...TopWireNews (press release) - Dallas,Texas,USA


50% Iraqi war vets suffer PTSD!
March 16, 2009




Dallas veteran medical malpractice attorney-Greco-reveals staggering veterans injury study.

Dallas, TX (AmericanInjuryNews.com)–Indiana’s Times-Mail released the staggering results of a recent study by top Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) psychologist revealing Iraq war worse than Vietnam war for military veterans. The study shows, according to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), 50% of Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans returned with PTSD as opposed to only 30 percent of Vietnam vets. click link for the rest

"Autism-awareness ribbons have supplanted war-related ribbons"

For the longest time I thought the biggest problem was to get veterans to understand what PTSD was so they would seek help, but over the last few years, the hardest battle has been to get the general public aware of what it is. You'd think since they all experience traumatic events in their lives, they'd be all too willing to understand what the troops go through when they are exposed to traumatic events over and over and over again. At the very least, when I attempted to pull in the police officers and firefighters into the discussion, since their exposures are never ending as well, I expected more interest, but I could see by their facial expression they simply were not interested.

In Central Florida, we have a lot of huge churches of every denomination. I visited over 20 of them trying to get them involved in raising community awareness for the sake of the returning National Guards and veterans. Only one pastor contacted me and he happened to be a chaplain as well.

How can you get people interested in a wound they have very little understanding of when they are not even paying attention to what is going on causing the wound? How can you get them to pay attention to what the families are going thru when you can't get them to pay attention to what they troops are going thru? The Impossible Dream theme music plays over and over in my brain because that is exactly what this all seems to be.

Magnet America of King, N.C., the largest manufacturer of yellow ribbons, saw sales peak at 1.2 million in August 2004. Now, sales are about 10,000 a month, said Chris Weeks, director of operations. Autism-awareness ribbons have supplanted war-related ribbons as the company's No. 1 seller.

"We have a stockpile of just under 900,000 unsold yellow ribbons," Weeks said. "The yellow ribbon fad for sure is gone."

Iraq war's supporters and protesters have one thing in common: They're paying attention. Is anyone else?
By Steve Wideman • Gannett Wisconsin Media • March 15, 2009

The question, scrawled in black ink on white poster board and stapled to a wooden lath, is inches from Bradley Bodee's face as he stands on the corner waiting to cross Appleton's College Avenue.

"Health Care or War?"

Bodee, 19, a Lawrence University physics major, doesn't give the sign a second glance. Nor does he hear the anti-war chants of Ronna Swift, one of 15 gathered for a monthly Saturday morning demonstration against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bodee is plugged into his iPod, listening to the Young Dubliners, an American Celtic rock band. When the "Walk" sign flashes, he steps off the curb without exchanging a glance or a word with the protesters.

"I haven't been able to keep up on the wars," Bodee tells a reporter once across the street. "I don't really know where the war is at right now."

Like other wars, the conflict in Iraq has divided the country into two Americas, but this is different. This time, supporters and protesters are on the same side: Americans who still pay attention to the war, including members of the military and their families.

On the other side are people like Bodee, who live in an America that's no longer emotionally invested in Iraq or Afghanistan Some say the wars have dragged on so long they've lost interest. Others are too worried about the economy to concern themselves with events half a world away that don't seem directly to affect them.

The lack of a military draft is a big reason fewer civilian Americans are emotionally invested this time around, observers say. There's even a school of thought that waning interest in the war stems in part from the lack of any searing, iconic photographic images from Iraq, something virtually every other American conflict has produced.

It's a benign divide — generally, there are no shouts or confrontations; both Americas support and appreciate the troops. But it's a divide nonetheless, separating two worlds that co-exist but often are unable to relate, and it's everywhere — running through bank lobbies and airport concourses, restaurants and cemeteries, classrooms and street corners.
go here for more

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/20090315/OSH0101/903150405/1128/OSH01

West Virginia National Guards need to know now!

If you served in Iraq or know someone that did, you need to pay attention to this.

W. Va. seeks ex-guardsmen for health screening
By John Raby - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Mar 2, 2009 17:11:21 EST

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia National Guard is still trying to locate about 25 troops who may have been exposed six years ago to a toxic chemical at an Iraqi water treatment plant, a Guard spokesman said Monday.

The Guard was notified in November that as many as 150 members were in the Basra area and were potentially exposed to hexavalent chromium in 2003. Lt. Col. Mike Cadle said that number has since been narrowed to about 125.

About one-third of the troops are still with the Guard and contacting them was simple. But those no longer active members aren’t required to maintain contact and Cadle says efforts to reach them have proven difficult.

The Guard wants the soldiers to get health screenings through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“We want people to know. That’s the goal, whether they were exposed long term, short term,” Cadle said. “We just want people to know there’s a potential and that they should get the appropriate assessment at the VA. Whether the outcome is somebody has an illness related to this or not, it’s not the point.”
click link for more

A statue of compassion in Iraq

The following is from the Oregon Magazine. I decided to share the whole thing and hope the poster does not mind but it is just so powerful to me it seemed wrong to cut it. I want you to read what it says and then read more from me after.

E-RFD: A Soldier in Iraq
(sent to us by KB7RGX)

This statue currently stands outside the Iraqi palace, now home to the 4th Infantry diivision. It will eventually be shipped home and put in the memorial museum in Fort hood, TX. The statue was created by an Iraqi artist named Kalat, who for years was forced by Saddam Hussein to make the many hundreds of bronze busts of Saddam that dotted Baghdad. Kalat was so grateful for the American liberation of his country that he melted three heads of the fallen Saddam and made the statue as a memorial to American soldiers both living and fallen..

He worked on this memorial night and day for several months. To the left of the kneeling soldier is a small Iraqi girl giving the soldier comfort as he mourns the loss of his comrade in arms.

How strange that this work of art has not been celebrated in our mainstream media.

http://oregonmag.com/ERFDIraqBronze309.html

Look at the picture. What do you see? Do you see your opposition to the occupation of Iraq or do you see human kindness? Do you see a child acting like a child without being politically correct or taking into account any kind of pain she may have felt in her own life as her country was being destroyed? Do you see an artist's skillful hands creating this tenderly with love as a human appreciating the depth of a soldiers pain when they kneel at a simple memorial?

This is what I see. I see humans caring about each other which too often is overlooked when mankind wages war. What makes us different is not as important in moments such as this when what makes us the same comes shining thru. There are many wonderful stories of Iraqis going above and beyond to help our troops and their own country at the same time others are doing horrible acts. There are many stories coming out of our troops doing wonderful things for the people of Iraq as well as horrible stories that happen in combat. There needs to be a balance of these stories, without politics, without supporting one position over another, but simply showing humans acting like humans. They are not numbers. They all have families and people that love them, and yes, even feel compassion for a human as a human.

Soldier killed, 3 wounded by Iraqi policemen

Soldier killed, 3 wounded by Iraqi policemen

By Brian Murphy - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Feb 24, 2009 15:30:37 EST

BAGHDAD — Two Iraqi policemen opened fire Tuesday during a U.S. military inspection visit in northern Iraq, killing one American soldier and an interpreter in an attack that deepened worries of possible infiltration of security forces battling insurgents in their last major base.

The shooting at a police outpost in central Mosul — which left three other U.S. soldiers wounded — was the fourth attack in the region since late 2007 with suspected links to Iraqi security units, which have struggled to uproot al-Qaida in Iraq from strongholds in Iraq’s third-largest city.

Any serious breaches in Iraqi force could be a particular blow in the Mosul region — where the U.S. military is light and commanders have been generally unable to spawn the type of tribal militia uprisings that helped break insurgent control in other areas of Iraq.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/02/ap_iraq_attack_soldiers_022409/

DOD:2 non-combat deaths in Iraq

02/08/09 MNF: MND-B Soldier dies in non-combat related incident
A Multi-National Division–Baghdad Soldier died from a non-combat related incident Feb. 8. The Soldier’s name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin
02/07/09 MNF: Soldier dies from non-combat related injury
A U.S. Soldier died as a result of a non-combat related injury near Balad Ruz, Iraq, Feb. 6. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense

War? What War?

Carissa is a dear friend and tenacious fighter for the troops. I wholeheartedly agree with what she wrote. I run into this attitude all the time. Carissa sees the lives of the families on base. I see them in everyday life. No one really seems to care what's going on when they have their own problems. At least that's what I want to excuse it as. It's very difficult to contemplate the American people are so self-absorbed with their own lives they don't care there are two military operations claiming lives of our men and women on a daily basis. It's even more difficult to get it through my own brain they don't care about them coming back to a backlog of claims, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain injury, no money when they can't work and faced with having to prove they were wounded. If I ever accepted this appalling fact, my faith in human nature would erode to the point of no return.

When people ask me what I do, they reveal how little they have paid attention. They have a puzzled expression as I explain what my days are like. When I tell them that financially I'm suffering on top of it they are stunned. They cannot understand that most of the people in this country are doing without for the sake of the troops and the veterans. I'm only one of them.

Carissa is another one. With two small children and a husband deployed, she has been doing this work instead of making money as a lawyer. Think of the kind of money she could be making instead of spending countless hours working for free. Why does she do it? Because it is important to her to make sure she changes what's wrong so that we finally get this right. She set aside her own personal needs for the sake of the greater good and finds the American people taking their cues from the media ignoring what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her husband's life is on the line and so are the lives or a lot of her friends.

Read what she has to say and then ask yourself how you could possibly ignore any of this.

War? What War?
Posted on January 27th, 2009
by Carissa Picard in Iraq War, New York News, North American News, Op-ed, US Government News, US News
I am beginning to wonder if the American public thinks former President Bush went ahead and brought home all 140,000 troops from Iraq as an inaugural gift for President Obama (you know, so Obama wouldn't have to trouble himself with it) or if they simply forgot we were still there. Then again, considering the precipitous drop in media coverage of the war in Iraq (the war in Afghanistan was always under-covered in my opinion), who knows what most Americans think is going on in Iraq now.

For example, according to a study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, Iraq composed 23 percent of network news stories in the first 10 weeks of 2007 but only three percent during that same period in 2008. For cable networks, it dropped from 24 percent to one percent.

Conventional wisdom is that the American public has "lost interest" in the war. I find this troubling. If media coverage is the measure of American interest, we were never particularly interested in the war in Afghanistan and that was the source of the terrorist attacks that led to where we are today.

This lack of coverage—excuse me, "interest"–to date has reached a new low. On 26 January, there was a mid-air collision between two Kiowa helicopters outside of Kirkuk, Iraq, at approximately 2:15 AM. The collision resulted in the death of all four pilots—one of whom was the husband of a friend of mine. My friend and her husband were happily married for many years and had several children together. At 7 AM the following day, my friend was informed that the man she had spent nearly half of her life loving was dead. At 7 AM, she went from being an Army wife to an Army widow; as did, potentially, three other spouses when those helicopters hit one another.

Meanwhile, aviation spouses around the country came together to support her, clicking closing ranks around her. Many are making plans to go visit her, coming from all parts of the country to where she is. Collectively, our hearts are breaking—not only for her loss, but for the losses sustained by all four families. The day after we learned of the collision, most of us remained somber, unable to shake the sadness of losing so many of our own in one night. This collision, like all crashes, was an unasked for and costly reminder of the dangers our loved ones face, and of the emotional Russian roulette we unwittingly play every time we know our soldier is going to fly: it was her husband today, it could be mine tomorrow.

Although this was the deadliest "incident" in Iraq for U.S. soldiers in four months and resulted in the loss of multi-million dollar airframes and soldiers whom the military had invested millions of dollars to recruit, promote, train, retain, and deploy, it did not grace the front page of any major news site after two PM CST Monday. This life changing event for these four families was relegated to the Iraq war page on CNN's, MSNBC's, and yes, even FOX News' websites. After looking for coverage of this collision, I went back and looked to see if any of these three sites had a single story on their main pages about the war in Iraq OR Afghanistan at all. None did. It was infuriating.

Words get used like "war fatigue" to describe the American public and its waning interest. Americans are tired of hearing about war so if the media covers it (or so the logic goes), viewers or readers will tune out and/or go elsewhere for their news. Evidently, men and women dying overseas while carrying out our government's foreign policy just got old.

War fatigue is a luxury not afforded the military community. Those four pilots volunteered to serve this country and their families supported this service. When we choose to love and support our servicemembers, we forego the ability to experience "war fatigue." Quite the opposite, we unwittingly facilitate this luxury for others by keeping the specter of a draft at bay as these wars grind on. In fact, I find it more than a little ironic that voluntary service, which protects Americans from having to face being sent to war involuntarily, seems to be appreciated less by our nation, as opposed to more. Instead, it leads to apathy and "war fatigue." I wonder if those who don't feel like thinking about these wars realize why they are able to do so?

On behalf of every deployed servicemember as I write this—and on behalf of the families who love and support them—I would like to say to the American public, "your welcome."

Carissa Picard is a freelance writer whose husband is a pilot currently serving in Iraq. -- Carissa Picard, Esq.
President Military Spouses of America

I watched the story on CNN of a family selling everything they have on eBay because their kids have health problems. A very admirable thing to do. What ended up happening is that people don't want to buy their possessions. They want to donate instead. So far they've raised $10,000 of the money they need to cover the health care needs of their kids. This proves the American pubic are generous. The need was known and money came in. I'm sure after the story was on CNN, even more donations will flow into them.

In November CNN covered the story of Brenden Foster, an 11 year old boy with Leukemia offering his dying wish for the homeless. KOMO covered the story and then CNN picked up on it. The donations flooded in from around the world soon after.

11 year old Brenden Foster's dying wish, feed the homeless

I have to think that it's not that the American people are so self-centered they fail to step up and help when I've read countless stories like these. The media will say that the people have lost interest in Iraq and Afghanistan but I believe it's the other way around. They made a financial decision and the troops have paid for it with the lack of attention they've been getting. To think of what we could be doing for the troops and the veterans of this nation if the need were known and understood by the American people instead of a tiny percentage of us. Two thirds of the American people do not even know what PTSD is but there are millions of people wounded by it. Ask someone how many died in Iraq or Afghanistan and they don't have a clue.

When the media paid attention and reported on what was going on, there were people in this country slamming them for focusing on the negative without thinking that at least they were reporting on it and connecting the people of this nation with the troops. Now there is nothing being reported and the same people that complained have gone off on their merry way ignoring all of it.

When the protestors focused on Iraq, they ignored Afghanistan. Now there is a new President and a foreseeable conclusion to the occupations of Iraq while the same people who took to the streets protesting it are back to their own lives and not paying attention any longer. Do they feel they've done their job and it's over? No longer claiming lives? The death count in Afghanistan has gone up every year. Do they even know this? Do they think that supporting the troops, as they all claimed they did, ended when they felt as if they won something?

I've complained in the past about the disconnect between the people willing to protest and counter protest across this nation being oblivious to what they could really do to help the men and women serving this nation. I think what Carissa wrote nailed it. When it comes to really supporting the troops they have really been ignored instead.

Some troop deaths in Iraq non-combat related

Some troop deaths in Iraq non-combat related

By Erin McKeon
The Facts

Published December 4, 2008

With more than 800 deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom attributed to non-hostile accidents or suicide, military personnel said steps are being taken to reduce and eliminate non-combat injuries and deaths.

As of Nov. 29, two deaths of Brazoria County soldiers in Operation Iraqi Freedom were classified as non-hostile.

The Aug. 3 death of Army Spc. Kevin Dickson of Angleton was attributed to a non-combat incident, but autopsy results providing the exact cause have not been disclosed. Army First Lt. Robert Tipp Jr. of Lake Jackson died in an all-terrain vehicle accident on March 27, 2005, three days after arriving home from Iraq.

They are among 74 non-hostile deaths of Texas soldiers and 811 non-hostile deaths nationwide, according to Defense Department statistics.

Army Capt. Charles Calio at the Multi-National Forces Media Operations Center in Baghdad said non-hostile deaths could be anything from vehicle or weaponry accidents to drownings.

“There’s extensive training that the soldiers go through when they deploy on everything,” Calio said. “For example, an accidental discharge would be a non-combat death, but it’s weapons-related, as opposed to a vehicle rollover.”

Statistics connected to Operation Iraqi Freedom include casualties that occurred on or after March 19, 2003, in the Arabian Sea, Bahrain, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Persian Gulf, Qatar, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, according to the Department of Defense Web site.

Of the 811 non-combat deaths, 439 have been Army members, 116 have been Army National Guard and 44 have been Army Reserve. Marines have accounted for 159 of the deaths, Navy for 33 and 20 have been Air Force personnel.
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