Some 9/11 Charities Failed Miserably
August 25, 2011
Associated Press|by Brett J. Blackledge and David B. Caruso
NEW YORK - Americans eager to give after the 9/11 terrorist attacks poured $1.5 billion into hundreds of charities established to serve the victims, their families and their memories. But a decade later, an Associated Press investigation shows that many of those nonprofits have failed miserably.
There are those that spent huge sums on themselves, those that cannot account for the money they received, those that have few results to show for their spending and those that have yet to file required income tax returns. Yet many of the charities continue to raise money in the name of Sept. 11.
One charity raised more than $700,000 for a giant memorial quilt, but there is no quilt. Another raised more than $4 million to help victims, but didn't account publicly for how it spent all of the money. A third helps support a 9/11 flag sold by the founder's for-profit company.
read more here
Showing posts with label September 11. Show all posts
Showing posts with label September 11. Show all posts
Friday, August 26, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Justice Department to brief 9/11 families on hacking probe
Justice Department to brief 9/11 families on hacking probe
From Susan Candiotti, CNN
August 24, 2011 6:26 a.m. EDT
News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch said he had seen "no evidence" that 9/11 families' phones had been hacked.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The FBI has been probing whether 9/11 victims' phones and voice mail were hacked
The scandal has led to several arrests and resignations in Britain
New York (CNN) -- Families of victims of the 9/11 attacks are expected to meet with top Justice Department officials Wednesday to discuss whether any of their relatives' phone messages were hacked by employees of News Corp.
The FBI began investigating that claim amid a widespread scandal in Britain over the use of phone hacking by employees or associates of News Corp. papers there. The Wednesday meeting with Justice officials will update the families on the progress of the investigation, retired New York firefighter Jim Riches told CNN last month.
"We hope to find out results of the investigation and find out who was tapped, and whether they will hold any anyone accountable if it happened," said Riches, whose son died in the al Qaeda attack on New York's World Trade Center.
Norman Siegel, an attorney representing 9/11 families' organizations, said Attorney General Eric Holder has agreed to take part in the meeting.
read more here
From Susan Candiotti, CNN
August 24, 2011 6:26 a.m. EDT
News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch said he had seen "no evidence" that 9/11 families' phones had been hacked.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The FBI has been probing whether 9/11 victims' phones and voice mail were hacked
The scandal has led to several arrests and resignations in Britain
New York (CNN) -- Families of victims of the 9/11 attacks are expected to meet with top Justice Department officials Wednesday to discuss whether any of their relatives' phone messages were hacked by employees of News Corp.
The FBI began investigating that claim amid a widespread scandal in Britain over the use of phone hacking by employees or associates of News Corp. papers there. The Wednesday meeting with Justice officials will update the families on the progress of the investigation, retired New York firefighter Jim Riches told CNN last month.
"We hope to find out results of the investigation and find out who was tapped, and whether they will hold any anyone accountable if it happened," said Riches, whose son died in the al Qaeda attack on New York's World Trade Center.
Norman Siegel, an attorney representing 9/11 families' organizations, said Attorney General Eric Holder has agreed to take part in the meeting.
read more here
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Vets help to rebuild World Trade Center
Vets help to rebuild World Trade Center
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Tuesday Aug 9, 2011 7:58:38 EDT
NEW YORK — The battered desert combat boots that iron worker Richard Farrell Mohamed wears on the job at the site of the destroyed World Trade Center are not the usual footwear here.
Mohamed, 28 — who grew up a tough kid of Egyptian, Russian and Irish descent from Rockaway, N.Y. — wore the boots when he went to war in Iraq after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
On that clear day, he watched the Twin Towers fall on television while he was in English class at the Lindenhurst High School Alternative Learning Center in Long Island. On this day nearly a decade later, he was helping to rebuild what al-Qaida destroyed in an act he says determined the course of his life.
“You grow up here; 9/11 happens. You join (the National Guard). You go to war.; you come home. And then you’re rebuilding,” he says. “You’re like a full part of this whole thing.”
About a thousand workers are building five office buildings on the World Trade Center site — including the 1,776-foot centerpiece, WTC 1. For some, the job has a particularly special meaning. Labor officials estimate that a few dozen or more military combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, like Mohamed, are on construction crews working at the site.
read more here
Vets help to rebuild World Trade Center
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Tuesday Aug 9, 2011 7:58:38 EDT
NEW YORK — The battered desert combat boots that iron worker Richard Farrell Mohamed wears on the job at the site of the destroyed World Trade Center are not the usual footwear here.
Mohamed, 28 — who grew up a tough kid of Egyptian, Russian and Irish descent from Rockaway, N.Y. — wore the boots when he went to war in Iraq after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
On that clear day, he watched the Twin Towers fall on television while he was in English class at the Lindenhurst High School Alternative Learning Center in Long Island. On this day nearly a decade later, he was helping to rebuild what al-Qaida destroyed in an act he says determined the course of his life.
“You grow up here; 9/11 happens. You join (the National Guard). You go to war.; you come home. And then you’re rebuilding,” he says. “You’re like a full part of this whole thing.”
About a thousand workers are building five office buildings on the World Trade Center site — including the 1,776-foot centerpiece, WTC 1. For some, the job has a particularly special meaning. Labor officials estimate that a few dozen or more military combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, like Mohamed, are on construction crews working at the site.
read more here
Vets help to rebuild World Trade Center
Friday, August 5, 2011
First responders tell of 9/11, aftermath at Fresh Kills landfill
In documentary, first responders tell of 9/11, aftermath at Fresh Kills landfill
Published: Friday, August 05, 2011
ISLANDIA, N.Y. — Anthony Yacapino was sitting at home, watching a Bugs Bunny cartoon in 2004 when he felt the first signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. “My heart felt like it was leaping out of my chest. I thought I was dying. It was seriously scary,” he recalls.
The retired New York City police detective, like thousands of colleagues, worked for months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks dealing with the aftermath. He interviewed relatives of the dead at a bereavement center and later searched for human remains and victims’ belongings at the former Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island.
After that first scare, Yacapino remained silent for months, trying to avoid letting on to his superiors that he was ailing years after working near Ground Zero. Then he had to go to court one day in lower Manhattan, not far from the World Trade Center site, and he went into a panic attack.
That’s when he finally decided to seek medical help, enlisting in a program run by Stony Brook University on New York’s Long Island. “The best move I ever made,” he admits.
read more here
First responders tell of 9/11, aftermath at Fresh Kills landfill
Published: Friday, August 05, 2011
ISLANDIA, N.Y. — Anthony Yacapino was sitting at home, watching a Bugs Bunny cartoon in 2004 when he felt the first signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. “My heart felt like it was leaping out of my chest. I thought I was dying. It was seriously scary,” he recalls.
The retired New York City police detective, like thousands of colleagues, worked for months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks dealing with the aftermath. He interviewed relatives of the dead at a bereavement center and later searched for human remains and victims’ belongings at the former Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island.
After that first scare, Yacapino remained silent for months, trying to avoid letting on to his superiors that he was ailing years after working near Ground Zero. Then he had to go to court one day in lower Manhattan, not far from the World Trade Center site, and he went into a panic attack.
That’s when he finally decided to seek medical help, enlisting in a program run by Stony Brook University on New York’s Long Island. “The best move I ever made,” he admits.
read more here
First responders tell of 9/11, aftermath at Fresh Kills landfill
Friday, May 27, 2011
Vet wounded in Twin Towers on 9/11, then again serving in Iraq
Vet wounded in Twin Towers on 9/11, then again serving in Iraq
By HOWARD ALTMAN | The Tampa Tribune
Published: May 27, 2011
TAMPA --
Greg Amira leaned on his cane, medals dangling off his black suit jacket.
Bronze Star. Purple Heart. Army Commendation of Valor.
Amira was at MacDill Air Force Base on Thursday, one of several wounded veterans attending a Memorial Day ceremony there. He says he was moved by the memory of those who died in combat and felt a connection to the 13-foot-long, 1,400-pound hunk of iron near the base flag pole, a girder from the World Trade Center, brought in especially for this ceremony.
On Sept, 11, 2001, Amira, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army reserves, was in the 73rd floor of the South Tower, where he worked as vice president of investments at Morgan Stanley.
"I stayed up there until the planes hit," said Amira, who scrambled out of the stricken building, only to run back in to the North Tower, which was hit first and where most of the people were.
"Between my military training and the fact that my father, Irv, was a New York City police officer, my instinct was to run inside and help."
Amira said he and a firefighter were running around, pulling people out of rubble, checking to see who was still alive. He was in the lobby when the South Tower fell.
"It knocked me out," said Amira.
Then the North Tower fell. He was buried in rubble for five hours.
"I woke up with tubes in me," he said. "My left elbow came out of the skin. I had head trauma, back trauma and holes all over me."
Amira said he was ruled totally disabled by Social Security and Workman's Compensation. He was in line to receive $1.25 million from the Federal Victim's Compensation Fund.
"They told me I didn't have to work another day in my life," said Amira.
Then four years later, the Army called.
They wanted him to head to Iraq.
read more here
Vet wounded in Twin Towers on 9/11, then again serving in Iraq
JAY CONNER/STAFF
Greg Amira was one of several wounded veterans attending a Memorial Day ceremony at MacDill Air Force Base.
By HOWARD ALTMAN | The Tampa Tribune
Published: May 27, 2011
TAMPA --
Greg Amira leaned on his cane, medals dangling off his black suit jacket.
Bronze Star. Purple Heart. Army Commendation of Valor.
Amira was at MacDill Air Force Base on Thursday, one of several wounded veterans attending a Memorial Day ceremony there. He says he was moved by the memory of those who died in combat and felt a connection to the 13-foot-long, 1,400-pound hunk of iron near the base flag pole, a girder from the World Trade Center, brought in especially for this ceremony.
On Sept, 11, 2001, Amira, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army reserves, was in the 73rd floor of the South Tower, where he worked as vice president of investments at Morgan Stanley.
"I stayed up there until the planes hit," said Amira, who scrambled out of the stricken building, only to run back in to the North Tower, which was hit first and where most of the people were.
"Between my military training and the fact that my father, Irv, was a New York City police officer, my instinct was to run inside and help."
Amira said he and a firefighter were running around, pulling people out of rubble, checking to see who was still alive. He was in the lobby when the South Tower fell.
"It knocked me out," said Amira.
Then the North Tower fell. He was buried in rubble for five hours.
"I woke up with tubes in me," he said. "My left elbow came out of the skin. I had head trauma, back trauma and holes all over me."
Amira said he was ruled totally disabled by Social Security and Workman's Compensation. He was in line to receive $1.25 million from the Federal Victim's Compensation Fund.
"They told me I didn't have to work another day in my life," said Amira.
Then four years later, the Army called.
They wanted him to head to Iraq.
read more here
Vet wounded in Twin Towers on 9/11, then again serving in Iraq
Friday, May 6, 2011
Gary Sinise working hard for veterans
Lt. Dan Band
Gary Sinise – who co–founded the legendary Steppenwolf Theatre Company in the late 1970s and has enjoyed a successful career on stage, on television and in film – will be in Chicago tonight to perform with his Lt. Dan Band at Joe's Bar to benefit The Veterans Arts Program.
Gary Sinise heads home to Chicago to rock for veterans group
By Tom Lounges Times Correspondent
The tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, deeply affected Gary Sinise and inspired him to become a champion of veterans groups and events.
Sinise – who co–founded the legendary Steppenwolf Theatre Company in the late 1970s and has enjoyed a successful career on stage, on television and in film – will be in Chicago tonight to perform with his Lt. Dan Band at Joe's Bar to benefit The Veterans Arts Program.
Blue Island–born and raised actor/director/musician Gary Sinise said
The Chicago–based organization was co–founded by Kimo Williams, Sinise's musical partner in the Lt. Dan Band.
Sinise, a Blue Island–born and raised actor/director/musician, said it started out as "sort of a culture exchange program," but has since shifted to providing "artist tools" to injured veterans who want to move on in their lives and learn something in the arts, be it playing guitar, or taking up photography, or painting. The Veteran's Arts Program provides instruments and lessons to help enrich the lives of those who served their nation.
Sinise met Williams – a Vietnam veteran and professor at Columbia College – when both were part of Steppenwolf's 1997 production of "A Streetcar Named Desire." Sinise was acting and Williams was composing music for it.
read more here
Gary Sinise heads home to Chicago
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Honoring the members of the military and intelligence community
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
S. RES. ll Honoring the members of the military and intelligence community who carried
out the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, and for other purposes.
Mr. REID (for himself and Mr. MCCONNELL) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
RESOLUTION
Honoring the members of the military and intelligence com- munity who carried out the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, and for other purposes.
Whereas, on May 1, 2011, United States personnel killed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden during the course of a targeted strike against his secret compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan;
Whereas Osama bin Laden was the leader of the al Qaeda terrorist organization, the most significant terrorism threat to the United States and the international community;
Whereas Osama bin Laden was the architect of terrorist at- tacks which killed nearly 3,000 civilians on September 11, 2001, the most deadly terrorist attack against our Nation, in which al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airplanes and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and, due to heroic efforts by civilian passengers to disrupt the terrorists, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania;
Whereas Osama bin Laden planned or supported numerous other deadly terrorist attacks against the United States and its allies, including the 1998 bombings of United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2000 attack on the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen, and against innocent civilians in countries around the world, including the 2004 attack on commuter trains in Madrid, Spain and the 2005 bombings of the mass transit system in London, England;
Whereas, following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the United States, under President George W. Bush, led an international coalition into Afghanistan to dismantle al Qaeda, deny them a safe haven in Afghanistan and ungoverned areas along the Pakistani border, and bring Osama bin Laden to justice;
Whereas President Barack Obama in 2009 committed additional forces and resources to efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan as ‘‘the central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism’’;
Whereas the valiant members of the United States Armed Forces have courageously and vigorously pursued al Qaeda and its affiliates in Afghanistan and around the world;
Whereas the anonymous, unsung heroes of the intelligence community have pursued al Qaeda and affiliates in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and around the world with tremendous dedication, sacrifice, and professionalism;
Whereas the close collaboration between the Armed Forces and the intelligence community prompted the Director of National Intelligence, General James Clapper, to state, ‘‘Never have I seen a more remarkable example of focused integration, seamless collaboration, and sheer pro- fessional magnificence as was demonstrated by the Intelligence Community in the ultimate demise of Osama bin Laden.’’;
Whereas, while the death of Osama bin Laden represents a significant blow to the al Qaeda organization and its af- filiates and to terrorist organizations around the world, terrorism remains a critical threat to United States national security; and
Whereas President Obama said, ‘‘For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda’s leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our Nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.’’: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate declares that the death of Osama bin Laden represents a measure of justice and relief for the families and friends of the nearly 3,000 men and women who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, the men and women in the United States and around the world who have been killed by other al Qaeda sponsored attacks, the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and the intelligence community who have sacrificed their lives pursuing Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda; commends the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and the United States intelligence community for the tremendous commitment, perseverance, professionalism, and sacrifice they displayed in bringing Osama bin Laden to justice; commends the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and the United States intelligence community for committing themselves to defeating, disrupting, and dismantling al Qaeda;commends the President for ordering the successful operations to locate and eliminate Osama bin Laden; and reaffirms its commitment to disrupting, dismantling, and defeating al Qaeda and affiliated organizations around the world that threaten United States national security, eliminating a safe haven for terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and bringing terrorists to justice.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Osama lived in mansion and told others to die
We waited almost ten years for this, "an American bullet in bin Laden's head" but as people line up to take credit, including Bush's cabinet members, it is stunning to discover that for 8 years of his presidency, it turns out Osama has been living in the mansion for years and it took Obama two years to do what Bush couldn't get done in 8. We all remember the news interview in 2002 when Bush said he didn't spend much time thinking about Osama. After all, the talk at that point changed to Iraq and Saddam.
Most of the young men and women enlisted because of September 11, 2001 but the exact number of the over 2 million deployed into Afghanistan and Iraq is not known. This is what they wanted and the rest of the country demanded until they just didn't care anymore. When was the last time Osama's name was even mentioned? As more and more Americans decided the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not worth the money anymore, the men and women serving in the military still risked their lives everyday. Now it seems as if every American and most of the world is celebrating an American bullet ending Osama's terror.
Osama was a coward, hiding in a mansion, telling poor and frustrated fools that they could become martyrs by blowing themselves up, but in the end, he was not even willing to die and hid behind his wife.
As of today, according to iCasualties there have been 4,452 lives gone paying the price in Iraq and 1,566 in Afghanistan. Naturally we do not factor in all the wounded any more than we factor in all the deaths caused by combat PTSD and suicides because that would just be too much for our imagination and conscience to grasp fully. As we are celebrating the death of Osama, how long will it take to think of the price paid for this to happen? Will the American people now respond to surveys saying it was worth it? What does this end up meaning to the veterans of our wars we stopped paying attention to?
Will this Memorial Day be sacred to us or will it be just one more long weekend to kick off our summer? Will the media finally admit that when some wiser heads were saying that a full blown occupation was not necessary when this operation was pulled off with the bravery of SEALS and intelligence of CIA agents? Calm determination of President Obama ended this even while he was being attacked over "silly" accusations like his birth certificate. The media fed the frenzy but he was planning to finally being Osama's life to an end.
Most of the young men and women enlisted because of September 11, 2001 but the exact number of the over 2 million deployed into Afghanistan and Iraq is not known. This is what they wanted and the rest of the country demanded until they just didn't care anymore. When was the last time Osama's name was even mentioned? As more and more Americans decided the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not worth the money anymore, the men and women serving in the military still risked their lives everyday. Now it seems as if every American and most of the world is celebrating an American bullet ending Osama's terror.
Precision mission ends with an American bullet in bin Laden's head
By CHRIS CARROLL
Stars and Stripes
Published: May 2, 2011
WASHINGTON — The plan was to slip in smoothly. Elite Navy SEALs would descend from helicopters and kill or capture the ghostlike figure who had overseen the murder of thousands and haunted the American imagination for a decade.
Instead, the raid began with a bang as a Black Hawk helicopter crash-landed in the courtyard of a fortified compound in Abbottabad, an affluent area outside Islamabad, Pakistan. Here, among retired military officers and near Pakistan’s leading military school, the world’s most wanted man had been hiding in plain sight while the search for him focused on Pakistan’s rough-and-tumble tribal region near Afghanistan.
Bedeviled by helicopter problems, the raid began with echoes of the foiled 1980 mission to free U.S. hostages in Iran, or the brutal Battle of Mogadishu — another Black Hawk down.
But it didn’t play out that way, as some two dozen elite members of fabled SEAL Team Six and CIA operators pulled it together. They continued on with their mission — perhaps the most consequential American military operation in decades — without missing a beat.
Bin Laden had been holed up within an extensive, roughly triangular compound surrounded by walls up to 18 feet high. Inside, it was divided by more walls and dominated by a three-story mansion.
Months of CIA intelligence work based on information from detainees had established first that a trusted emissary of the terrorist leader lived there.
Precision mission ends with an American bullet in bin Laden's head
Osama was a coward, hiding in a mansion, telling poor and frustrated fools that they could become martyrs by blowing themselves up, but in the end, he was not even willing to die and hid behind his wife.
As of today, according to iCasualties there have been 4,452 lives gone paying the price in Iraq and 1,566 in Afghanistan. Naturally we do not factor in all the wounded any more than we factor in all the deaths caused by combat PTSD and suicides because that would just be too much for our imagination and conscience to grasp fully. As we are celebrating the death of Osama, how long will it take to think of the price paid for this to happen? Will the American people now respond to surveys saying it was worth it? What does this end up meaning to the veterans of our wars we stopped paying attention to?
Army Vet: This Is Why I Signed Up (VIDEO)
— By Tim Murphy Mon May. 2, 2011
Ret. Sgt. Evan Cole enlisted the Army when he was a 17-year-old Michigan high school student in 2001. He got out of Walter Reed Naval Hospital three months ago. He has a six-inch scar on his right leg to go with injuries to his hand and his head from his tour in Ramadi. He made up his mind to join the army after the watched the Twin Towers fall in his geography class. Cole was one of thousands of revelers who gathered in front of the White House late last night and stayed well into the early hours of the morning to celebrate the death of Osama Bin Laden.
"In the last few years, it seemed like nobody even cared, like what we did over there in Iraq; nobody even talks about it anymore. It is so amazing to see so many people out here wearing red, white, and blue," Cole said. "See, that's what we were over there for—it's these people!"
Army Vet: This Is Why I Signed Up
Will this Memorial Day be sacred to us or will it be just one more long weekend to kick off our summer? Will the media finally admit that when some wiser heads were saying that a full blown occupation was not necessary when this operation was pulled off with the bravery of SEALS and intelligence of CIA agents? Calm determination of President Obama ended this even while he was being attacked over "silly" accusations like his birth certificate. The media fed the frenzy but he was planning to finally being Osama's life to an end.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Another insult to 9-11 first responders, screening by FBI
Before you hit the roof, you need to know who to thank on this one. Here you go.
For the last 9 years all we've heard them say is 9-11 this and that. They started two wars using 9-11. They used the troops, they ignored veterans, they made the first responders wait all this time for help after they voted against taking care of their healthcare needs and now this!
"The provision was added in an amendment by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) during the heated debate over the bill in the House Energy and Commerce Committee last May.
Sept. 11 responders in the committee room at the time mostly shook their heads at the move, which Democrats accepted on a voice vote after battling to bar other amendments on abortion and immigration that might have killed the bill."
For the last 9 years all we've heard them say is 9-11 this and that. They started two wars using 9-11. They used the troops, they ignored veterans, they made the first responders wait all this time for help after they voted against taking care of their healthcare needs and now this!
9/11 Responders To Be Warned They Will Be Screened By FBI's Terrorism Watch List (EXCLUSIVE)
First Posted: 04/21/11
Michael McAuliff
mike.mcauliff@huffingtonpost.com
WASHINGTON -- A provision in the new 9/11 health bill may be adding insult to injury for people who fell sick after their service in the aftermath of the 2001 Al Qaeda attacks, The Huffington Post has learned.
The tens of thousands of cops, firefighters, construction workers and others who survived the worst terrorist assault in U.S. history and risked their lives in its wake will soon be informed that their names must be run through the FBI’s terrorism watch list, according to a letter obtained by HuffPost.
Any of the responders who are not compared to the database of suspected terrorists would be barred from getting treatment for the numerous, worsening ailments that the James Zadroga 9/11 Health And Compensation Law was passed to address.
It’s a requirement that was tacked onto the law during the bitter debates over it last year.
The letter from Dr. John Howard, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, informs medical providers and administrators that they should begin letting patients know before the new program kicks in this July.
“This is absurd,” said Glen Kline, a former NYPD emergency services officer. “It’s silly. It’s stupid. It’s asinine.”
“It’s comical at best, and I think it’s an insult to everyone who worked on The Pile and is sick and suffering from 9/11,” said John Feal, a former construction worker who lost half a foot at Ground Zero and runs the advocacy group Fealgood Foundation.
read more here
9/11 Responders To Be Warned
Monday, March 14, 2011
Collier Marine wounded in Iraq moves into donated Fort Myers home
Collier Marine wounded in Iraq moves into donated Fort Myers home
By KATY TORRALBAS
Posted March 13, 2011
FORT MYERS — Deep in the belly of the moving truck, Bobby Joseph lifts a military duffel onto his shoulder.
He carries it to the edge and drops it with a thump next to piles of pillows and storage boxes. The duffel is covered in place names written in black Sharpie. First on the list: “Recruiting station — Naples,” and on the bottom it says “Joseph — 3109,” his platoon in the United States Marine Corps.
On this afternoon in early March, Joseph is moving his family into a new house, thanks to a charity called the Military Warriors Support Foundation, created by JP Morgan Chase. After three years in a mentoring program, the home in Fort Myers will be put in Joseph’s name, mortgage-free.
Joseph, 29, signed up for military service six days after Sept. 11, 2001, and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. A roadside bomb exploded into his legs in 2006 and today, about four and a half years later, he has a hitch in his step, a sometimes faulty memory and a Purple Heart.
read more here
Collier Marine wounded in Iraq moves into donated Fort Myers home
By KATY TORRALBAS
Posted March 13, 2011
FORT MYERS — Deep in the belly of the moving truck, Bobby Joseph lifts a military duffel onto his shoulder.
He carries it to the edge and drops it with a thump next to piles of pillows and storage boxes. The duffel is covered in place names written in black Sharpie. First on the list: “Recruiting station — Naples,” and on the bottom it says “Joseph — 3109,” his platoon in the United States Marine Corps.
On this afternoon in early March, Joseph is moving his family into a new house, thanks to a charity called the Military Warriors Support Foundation, created by JP Morgan Chase. After three years in a mentoring program, the home in Fort Myers will be put in Joseph’s name, mortgage-free.
Joseph, 29, signed up for military service six days after Sept. 11, 2001, and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. A roadside bomb exploded into his legs in 2006 and today, about four and a half years later, he has a hitch in his step, a sometimes faulty memory and a Purple Heart.
read more here
Collier Marine wounded in Iraq moves into donated Fort Myers home
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
September 11 survivors show lasting traumatic stress
15% seems low considering we've been talking about one out of three for PTSD (some experts say one out of five) but you have to consider another factor here. Right after 9-11 trauma teams rushed out and got to work taking care of survivors. This shows that even with immediate help, 15% had their lives changed that day above others. What do you think the chances are for the troops coming back from multiple times with their lives on the line and not getting any help after each time? Not good odds at all. So why is it that no one in the government was ready for the troops coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan? They never thought to treat them like humans instead of "soldiers" trained to do their jobs.
September 11 survivors show lasting traumatic stress
By Amy Norton
NEW YORK | Tue Jan 4, 2011 4:41pm EST
(Reuters Health) - Many civilian survivors of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center were still suffering from symptoms of post-traumatic stress several years after the 2001 disaster, a new study finds.
Surveys of nearly 3,700 people who escaped the Twin Towers that day found that nearly all -- 96 percent -- still had at least one symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) two to three years later.
And of those, 15 percent screened positive for full-blown PTSD -- a rate about four times higher than that seen in the general population in any given year.
The study, reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology, is the first to focus on the long-term mental health of the people who were actually in the Twin Towers on the morning of September 11.
Past studies have looked at the general public, or people who lived near the World Trade Center, said senior researcher Dr. Sandro Galea, of Columbia University in New York.
The study found that people who had escaped from floors above the planes' "impact zone" were at greater risk of PTSD than those who escaped from lower floors. Similarly, people who were evacuated relatively later, or who had to run from the cloud of debris sent out by the collapsing towers, were also at elevated risk.read more here
September 11 survivors show lasting traumatic stress
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Research reveals 9/11 impact on police mental health
Research reveals 9/11 impact on police mental health
Sept. 10, 2010 -- Within minutes of the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, police officers were on the scene, helping with the rescue and recovery effort. Almost a decade later, Rosemarie Bowler, lecturer emerita in psychology, is investigating how the trauma of 9/11 is unfolding in the lives of these police responders. Her latest results, published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, reveal differences in the way male and female police officers have been affected.
"We were surprised to find that women police officers, who have been recruited and trained in exactly the same way as their male colleagues, had much higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder following 9/11," Bowler said. "This stands in contrast to previous studies, conducted with Gulf War veterans and police officers in general, which found no gender differences."
Bowler and colleagues analyzed information, collected by trained interviewers in New York City, for more than 4,000 police responders to assess the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is an anxiety disorder that individuals can develop after experiencing a traumatic or terrifying event. Their analysis indicated that 13.9 percent of female officers had PTSD compared with 7.4 percent of male officers.
read more here
http://www.sfsu.edu/~news/2010/fall/12.html
Sept. 10, 2010 -- Within minutes of the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, police officers were on the scene, helping with the rescue and recovery effort. Almost a decade later, Rosemarie Bowler, lecturer emerita in psychology, is investigating how the trauma of 9/11 is unfolding in the lives of these police responders. Her latest results, published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, reveal differences in the way male and female police officers have been affected.
"We were surprised to find that women police officers, who have been recruited and trained in exactly the same way as their male colleagues, had much higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder following 9/11," Bowler said. "This stands in contrast to previous studies, conducted with Gulf War veterans and police officers in general, which found no gender differences."
Bowler and colleagues analyzed information, collected by trained interviewers in New York City, for more than 4,000 police responders to assess the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is an anxiety disorder that individuals can develop after experiencing a traumatic or terrifying event. Their analysis indicated that 13.9 percent of female officers had PTSD compared with 7.4 percent of male officers.
read more here
http://www.sfsu.edu/~news/2010/fall/12.html
September 11th, is it time for the weary heart to rejoice?
September 11th, is it time for the weary heart to rejoice?
by
Chaplain Kathie
An act of hate killed that day and destroyed the lives of survivors. But acts of love and courage inspired a nation. We can all remember where we were that dark day when the news broke that a plane hit one of the Twin Towers, followed by another shock that a second one hit the other. We can remember being horrified. Fear, anger and hatred are very strong emotions. Memories of horrific events take hold and they are hard to forget. But if those events are followed by moments of grace, then those memories become stronger.
We saw the firefighters and police officers running toward the Towers while average citizens were running away. We saw them seconds before the first Tower fell and we knew most of them would die. We saw the images of the fire trucks and police cars covered in debris and dust, horrified, preparing ourselves for the numbers of the dead to be released.
Some people in this country want to hang onto the hatred and anger they felt that dark day. To them, what they feel is justified but it is not allowing them to heal. They are being eaten away by what was inspired by bad instead of what was created by the goodness of so many.
We saw pure love that day and in the days that followed. Firefighters accustomed to risking their lives on a daily basis were digging through the rubble of the Towers and stood silently as one of their own fallen was recovered. For moments they grieved for the loss of life, the loss of a friend, someone's husband, someone's Dad. Soon they returned to searching for more of their brothers they went into danger with.
As homes across America put their flags out on display, every street was covered with the stars and stripes in unity. Cars either had magnets on their bumpers of flags hanging off the windows. Even members of Congress stood together on the steps of the Capitol.
After traumatic events an anniversary date can cause a lot of pain unless we replace that horrifying memory with another one. If we focus on bad, then that is what is allowed to enter into our souls dictating the process of our healing. If we remember the event yet also remember what happened afterward, then most of the time it is healing because we see grace and love in action.
When a solider is wounded, someone comes to help them and save them. They are not left there alone. Someone reaches out a hand to them. Someone comes to comfort them. Someone comes to take them to get medical care. Someone prays for them. They are surrounded by love.
Witnesses see the gore and wonder if they could be next but they also see the response of the other people rushing to help. If they allow that memory to become stronger than the event itself, then they begin to heal. If they allow the horrific memory to be the stronger one, they begin to suffer.
We are all a part of what we see and how we look at the world around us. If it is all bad, then we take that into the rest of our lives. If it is good following bad, then goodness in others lives on. We have hope that we would be treated with the same kind of love.
Nine years after 9-11 many in this country want to hang onto the hate and anger. The pain they carry touches everyone they come into contact with. Many more have allowed the magnificence to take away the pain they felt. They remember people coming to help and they in turn wanted to help others. It is time for the weary hearts to rejoice by allowing love we witnessed to take hold and inspire us to pass that on. Hatred and anger inspire more of the same, but love and compassion can heal a nation.
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Pastor Terry Jones: 'We will not burn the Quran'
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Two 9/11 widows raise funds to help bereaved Afghan women
Two 9/11 widows raise funds to help bereaved Afghan women
They hope medal will help the cause
By Denise Lavoie
Associate Press / August 4, 2010
As a widow of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Susan Retik was showered with love and support from family, friends, and even strangers who sent food, flowers, and cash.
But when she watched the news and saw war widows in Afghanistan, she knew they had no such support system.
Retik and another Massachusetts woman who also lost her husband on Sept. 11, 2001, decided to raise money for widows in Afghanistan, the same nation where their husbands’ killers had trained as terrorists.
On Wednesday, President Obama will recognize Retik and 12 others with the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest honor that can be conferred on an American citizen.
They hope medal will help the cause
By Denise Lavoie
Associate Press / August 4, 2010
As a widow of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Susan Retik was showered with love and support from family, friends, and even strangers who sent food, flowers, and cash.
But when she watched the news and saw war widows in Afghanistan, she knew they had no such support system.
Retik and another Massachusetts woman who also lost her husband on Sept. 11, 2001, decided to raise money for widows in Afghanistan, the same nation where their husbands’ killers had trained as terrorists.
On Wednesday, President Obama will recognize Retik and 12 others with the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest honor that can be conferred on an American citizen.
Retik and the group’s cofounder, Patti Quigley, started by making a donation from the money they received after the Sept. 11 attacks from insurance, their husband’s firms, and strangers.
read more here
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Children fared worse when mothers struggled with PTSD
Mom's Mental State Influenced Kids' Well-Being After 9/11: Study
Children fared worse when mothers struggled with PTSD, depression, researchers say
By Jenifer Goodwin
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, July 15 (HealthDay News) -- For New York City preschoolers, having a mother with lingering mental health issues after the 9/11 attacks influenced how they fared emotionally more than whether the children had actually witnessed the attacks, a new study finds.
Kids whose mothers struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression after the 2001 assault on the World Trade Center were more likely to have behavioral problems three years later than children whose moms coped better with the attacks, the researchers said.
"With young kids, you have two possible sources of trauma: what they experienced directly, and how they react to the impact on their mother from what she experienced," said lead study author Claude Chemtob, director of the Family Trauma Research Program at New York University. "What we learned was, in fact, that if the mom's experience with 9/11 led to her having depression or PTSD, it had more of an impact than whether the kids saw it or not."
go here for more
Children fared worse when mothers struggled with PTSD
Children fared worse when mothers struggled with PTSD, depression, researchers say
By Jenifer Goodwin
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, July 15 (HealthDay News) -- For New York City preschoolers, having a mother with lingering mental health issues after the 9/11 attacks influenced how they fared emotionally more than whether the children had actually witnessed the attacks, a new study finds.
Kids whose mothers struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression after the 2001 assault on the World Trade Center were more likely to have behavioral problems three years later than children whose moms coped better with the attacks, the researchers said.
"With young kids, you have two possible sources of trauma: what they experienced directly, and how they react to the impact on their mother from what she experienced," said lead study author Claude Chemtob, director of the Family Trauma Research Program at New York University. "What we learned was, in fact, that if the mom's experience with 9/11 led to her having depression or PTSD, it had more of an impact than whether the kids saw it or not."
go here for more
Children fared worse when mothers struggled with PTSD
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Distress of 9/11 may have led to miscarriages
Distress of 9/11 may have led to miscarriages, research says
By Madison Park, CNN
May 25, 2010 7:42 a.m. EDT
Even without personal connections, people can be stressed by major events like September 11, 2001.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Distress after 9/11 may have contributed to a higher loss of male fetuses
Even without direct relationships with those killed, women appear affected by attacks
Stress during pregnancy can cause miscarriage, early labor, low birth weight
Factors seem to affect only male fetuses; reason not known
(CNN) -- The shock and stress felt by pregnant women after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, may have contributed to an increase in miscarriages of male fetuses in the United States, according to a study released Monday.
Researchers found the male fetal death rate increased in September 2001 and subsequently affected the ratio of boys born in a later month, according to the study published in the journal BMC Public Health.
The authors hypothesized that this might be a case of "communal bereavement." Even without direct relationships with the deceased, pregnant women may have been distressed by the attacks, resulting in miscarriage, according to the research.
"A huge population saw the consequences and carnage onscreen," said lead author Tim Bruckner, who is an assistant professor of public health at University of California Irvine, about the effects of 9/11. He examined this topic "because pregnancy is sensitive to stressors. I wondered whether pregnant women might have a physiological reaction to witnessing harm."
read more here
Distress of 9 11 may have led to miscarriages
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Fire at 9-11 Chapel caused by "craven and contemptible" monsters
Mayor Bloomberg used the words "craven and contemptible" but the word monsters was mine. Can you imagine anyone doing something like this after the pain so many people were in and have been carrying since 9-11?
NYC probes fire at chapel for 9/11 victims
By VERENA DOBNIK,
Associated Press Writer – Sat Oct 31, 5:54 pm ET
NEW YORK – A small fire at the temporary home for the remains of thousands of World Trade Center victims was likely arson committed after a break-in on Saturday, authorities said.
The smoldering flames in a section of the facility's chapel on Manhattan's East Side were quickly extinguished.
Firefighters got a call at about 9 a.m. to respond to Memorial Park, a weatherproof tent on Manhattan's East Side where the city is storing the remains of 9/11 victims who have yet to be identified.
The fire damaged a wooden bench, while mementos — pictures, notes, flowers — honoring the dead disappeared.
"Anyone who would set fire to the inviolable Memorial Park chapel is craven and contemptible," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement.
read more here
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091031/ap_on_re_us/us9_11_remains_fire
linked from RawStory
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
PTSD:Your Gastrointestinal disorders could be part of PTSD
ACG: GI Disorders in Military, 9/11 Responders Studied
Active-duty military and World Trade Center responders may have higher disorder ratesPublish date: Oct 26, 2009
MONDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Active-duty military personnel and World Trade Center (WTC) workers have an increased risk of gastrointestinal disorders, according to two studies presented this week at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting, held from Oct. 23 to 28 in San Diego.
In one study, Mark Riddle, M.D., of the Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, Md., and colleagues analyzed data from the Defense Medical Surveillance System to identify 31,866 cases of functional gastrointestinal disorders and matched each case to four controls. They found a strong association between infectious gastroenteritis and all functional gastrointestinal disorders, observing the highest risk for functional diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome (odds ratios, 6.28 and 3.72, respectively).
In a second study, Yvette Lam, M.D., of the Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York, and colleagues studied 697 World Trade Center responders. They found that 41 percent of subjects had gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), more than 20 percent higher than in the general population. In addition, participants with GERD had a higher prevalence of mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
read more here
GI Disorders in Military, 9/11 Responders Studied
Active-duty military and World Trade Center responders may have higher disorder ratesPublish date: Oct 26, 2009
MONDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Active-duty military personnel and World Trade Center (WTC) workers have an increased risk of gastrointestinal disorders, according to two studies presented this week at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting, held from Oct. 23 to 28 in San Diego.
In one study, Mark Riddle, M.D., of the Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, Md., and colleagues analyzed data from the Defense Medical Surveillance System to identify 31,866 cases of functional gastrointestinal disorders and matched each case to four controls. They found a strong association between infectious gastroenteritis and all functional gastrointestinal disorders, observing the highest risk for functional diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome (odds ratios, 6.28 and 3.72, respectively).
In a second study, Yvette Lam, M.D., of the Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York, and colleagues studied 697 World Trade Center responders. They found that 41 percent of subjects had gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), more than 20 percent higher than in the general population. In addition, participants with GERD had a higher prevalence of mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
read more here
GI Disorders in Military, 9/11 Responders Studied
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Chuck Norris wants flag stained and doesn't know what year 9-11 attack was?
First the attack was in 2001 not 2002. The troops were sent to Afghanistan in 2001 as a response, but Norris seems to forget that too. He seems to forget about a lot of things. Stain the flag? He's late on that one considering most of the people that rushed out to buy flags for the first time after 9-11, slapped the magnets to the ass ends of their cars, were the first to let them just fade away. People like Norris used to be about respecting the flag as the flag of the nation, not some kind of political weapon to use to prove a point. Now I guess it just doesn't matter anymore. There is a lot that doesn't matter people like Norris could really be getting upset about, but that would have required them to pay attention all along, especially when his "party" was in control.
Begin with the fact we had two military campaigns so important to our security, this bunch of fiscal conservatives didn't seem to let it bother them neither campaign was included in the budget. The contractors ran amuck with no restrictions and no oversight on their contracts. The troops went without equipment they needed to stay as safe as possible and no one had any plans for after the invasion itself. Yet with all of this, people like Norris were silent, never once mentioning how all of this was hurting the troops and our financial security. People like Norris never even bothered to wonder how it was that 9-11 happened and all of our defenses failed at the same time on the same morning we needed them all to work the most. But he can't even see he got the year wrong.
He doesn't seem to understand that most of what is being addressed now, was causing most of us to get angry and scream for accountability, but people like Norris were not listening, swinging instead against people he thought were just "Bush bashers" instead of patriots concerned with where they county was heading.
It didn't seem to bother Norris that when the troops came back from Afghanistan, which most of the people like Norris forgot all about, was producing more wounded, no one here was getting ready to take care of any of them. You know, the same type of people too busy to notice the same thing was happening when the wounded were coming back from Iraq even though the evidence proved there was no need to attack Iraq, but plenty of reason to finish what was going on in Afghanistan, since that did have to do with 9-11 in 2001, not 2002 like Norris said.
So Norris now calls for people to stain the flag when he can't seem to care about the fact people like him never really respected it in the first place, or they would have been paying attention all along. Being a patriot requires people wanting this nation to be her best, no matter who is in charge. It requires them to want security and when there isn't, to find out why and make corrections. It requires respect through actions, not just words. We cannot say we support the troops with words but not when it comes to giving them everything they need to do what we ask of them. We cannot say we are a grateful nation when combat veterans are left without care, incomes and the support they really need from this nation. The list goes on but I bet you get the point. If we do not do what it really takes, then we are just a bunch of bad actors taking the stage and reading a script in a pretend world.
The rest of the American Patriots would never think of disgracing the flag for the sake of a political zealot who doesn't even know what year we were attacked. We also noticed that our men and women coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan waited for their wounds to be taken care of, but people like him, never said let's protest the lack of care and force that President to take care of their healthcare needs. You know, the ones they wouldn't need taken care of if people like Norris cared after they were sent to risk their lives.
Begin with the fact we had two military campaigns so important to our security, this bunch of fiscal conservatives didn't seem to let it bother them neither campaign was included in the budget. The contractors ran amuck with no restrictions and no oversight on their contracts. The troops went without equipment they needed to stay as safe as possible and no one had any plans for after the invasion itself. Yet with all of this, people like Norris were silent, never once mentioning how all of this was hurting the troops and our financial security. People like Norris never even bothered to wonder how it was that 9-11 happened and all of our defenses failed at the same time on the same morning we needed them all to work the most. But he can't even see he got the year wrong.
Chuck Norris to American "patriots": stop flying U.S. flag or fly one that is 'tea-stained'
September 21, 9:49 AM Grassroots Politics Examiner Ron Moore
In today’s column he states that,
“On Sept. 12, 2002, we sought to protect our nation against terrorists from without. Beginning on Sept. 12, 2009, we are seeking to protect our nation against enemies of our republic from within. Many of us are protesting the present political direction of Washington. Outrageous borrowing, excessive bailouts, massive spending, speedball stimulus plans, universal hell-care and swings toward socialism are just a few of things that were protested that day. Of course, economics is far from America's only problem, as large as it appears to loom.“
read more here
Chuck Norris to American patriots
He doesn't seem to understand that most of what is being addressed now, was causing most of us to get angry and scream for accountability, but people like Norris were not listening, swinging instead against people he thought were just "Bush bashers" instead of patriots concerned with where they county was heading.
It didn't seem to bother Norris that when the troops came back from Afghanistan, which most of the people like Norris forgot all about, was producing more wounded, no one here was getting ready to take care of any of them. You know, the same type of people too busy to notice the same thing was happening when the wounded were coming back from Iraq even though the evidence proved there was no need to attack Iraq, but plenty of reason to finish what was going on in Afghanistan, since that did have to do with 9-11 in 2001, not 2002 like Norris said.
So Norris now calls for people to stain the flag when he can't seem to care about the fact people like him never really respected it in the first place, or they would have been paying attention all along. Being a patriot requires people wanting this nation to be her best, no matter who is in charge. It requires them to want security and when there isn't, to find out why and make corrections. It requires respect through actions, not just words. We cannot say we support the troops with words but not when it comes to giving them everything they need to do what we ask of them. We cannot say we are a grateful nation when combat veterans are left without care, incomes and the support they really need from this nation. The list goes on but I bet you get the point. If we do not do what it really takes, then we are just a bunch of bad actors taking the stage and reading a script in a pretend world.
The rest of the American Patriots would never think of disgracing the flag for the sake of a political zealot who doesn't even know what year we were attacked. We also noticed that our men and women coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan waited for their wounds to be taken care of, but people like him, never said let's protest the lack of care and force that President to take care of their healthcare needs. You know, the ones they wouldn't need taken care of if people like Norris cared after they were sent to risk their lives.
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