A Christmas video like no other

National Anthem sung by National Guardsman for Veterans Day

Here's the video of it with a huge American Flag!
Clay Walker sings the National Anthem at Reliant Stadium on 9/11/11 before the Houston Texans took on the Indianapolis Colts.

Marines lip sink video from Afghanistan

Being a Digital Media student I can tell you that this took a great deal of time to do but, wow, worth it! It shows that our Marines are not just young, (my daughter's age) brave, (takes a lot of courage to be filmed) talented (when they perform like this) but have great imaginations too. One other thing that you may not have thought about but it also shows that no matter what is going on where they are, they are still like everyone else their age. Now imagine being in their age group having nothing more to worry about than college, getting a job and a girlfriend and partying with your friends while they have to worry about being so far away from home with bullets and bombs to worry about on top of what you do. Just amazing!

Uploaded by atarin18 on Sep 14, 2011

This is a video we made in Afghanistan before the Hold it against me video.
I do not own the music tracks it belongs to the below:
Justin Bieber Baby
Far east movement Like a G6
Black eyed peas dirty bit
kesha tik tok

Britney Spears meets YouTube Marines

Britney Spears Marine Spoof (Video) Meets The Youtube Marines!
by Jack Ryan
Britney Spears has met the HMLA-169 and VMM-266 REIN Marines who did a spoof of her song "Hold It Against Me." The spoof video was shot in Afghanistan. It featured members of the Marines dancing and lip synching to her new audacious hit single.

The popstar met the marines on Friday before her show in Anaheim, California. She wrote on her twitter: "So honored to meet the marines of HMLA-169 'Vipers' who made that amazing HIAM video." She posted a photo of her and the marines who did the video.
read more here

Stars reach out to stop military suicides

Cher, Melissa Leo, Tim Daly, Taye Diggs Get Behind Military Suicide PSA




Starting this week, Discovery Communication's Military Channel will air a series of PSAs produced by The Creative Coalition in partnership with Blue Star Families, with support from the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) and Health Net, Inc. Directed by actor and President of The Creative Coalition Tim Daly, the PSAs promote a toll-free suicide prevention help line.

The PSAs feature celebrities and athletes such as Cher, Academy Award-winner Melissa Leo (THE FIGHTER), Michael Chiklis (FANTASTIC FOUR, "The Shield"), football star Terrell Owens, and Taye Diggs ("Private Practice"). In addition the PSAs also feature: Minnie Driver (CONVICTION); Omar Epps ("House"); Peter Gallagher ("Covert Affairs"); Aaron Staton ("Mad Men"); Emmy Award-winner Alfre Woodard ("Memphis Beat"); Tom Arnold (TRUE LIES); Ariel Winter ("Modern Family"); Ashley Jones ("True Blood"); Bridget Moynahan (BATTLE: LOS ANGELES); CCH Pounder (Avatar); Eliza Dushku ("Dollhouse"); Esai Morales (GUN HILL ROAD); Emmy Award-winner Hector Elizondo ("Grey's Anatomy"); Holt McCallany ("Lights Out") James Denton ("Desperate Housewives"); Jon Huertas ("Castle"); Karina Smirnoff ("Dancing with the Stars"); Lea Thompson ("Caroline in the City"); Maria Menounos ("Access Hollywood"); Richard Kind (A SERIOUS MAN); Robert Davi ("Criminal Minds" ); Sara Rue ("Less Than Perfect") ; Steven Weber ("Wings"); and Wendie Malick ("Hot in Cleveland"), just to name a few.

Beginning this month, in addition to the Military Channel, the PSAs also are airing on the Lifetime network's mylifetime.com, Elle.com, MakingOf.com, as well as on taxi cab screens in New York City, Boston, Miami, and Chicago.



Read more: Military Suicide PSA

Veteran Shares Battle With PTSD

He could have come home and kept his suffering a secret but guys like him are saving lives because they wanted to give a voice to others who are unable or unwilling to talk.

Veteran Shares Battle With PTSD
By: Jeff Stensland
jstensland@wsiltv.com
MARION -- A local veteran hopes his battle with post traumatic stress disorder will prompt other soldiers to get help. This past Thursday marked nine years from the start of the Afghanistan war, Operation: Enduring Freedom, making it the longest war in our nation's history.

Today's battlefield has few boundaries, making it hard for veterans to adjust to home life. Illinois National Guard Sergeant First Class Randy Adams has served his country for 29 years, but his tour in Afghanistan last year changed him.

"You don't know who the combatants are--the insurgents blend with the civilian population, so you don't know who you are fighting," Adams said.

Adams says everywhere he goes, he sees potential threats. He rarely leaves his home. It has put a strain on his marriage to wife, Sharon.
read more here
Veteran Shares Battle With PTSD

Marines lift social media ban

Marines lift social media ban
By Warren Peace, Stars and Stripes
European Edition, Wednesday, March 31, 2010
STUTTGART, Germany — The Marine Corps lifted its ban on social media sites Monday, allowing Marines from Japan to the States to sign on to YouTube, Facebook and Twitter and other sites.

But it looks like European-based Marines — along with other troops in Europe — will have to wait a little longer: As of Tuesday, servicemembers in Europe were still unable to log onto the sites from their government computers.

The Defense Department had lifted the ban on social networking sites in late February, but Army and Air Force officials in Europe said earlier this month they were trying to determine the best way to proceed.

“Local commanders still have to weigh security risk and bandwidth issues in their area of operation,” Chris Joseph, a spokesman for U.S. Army Europe’s 5th Signal Command said at the time.

The day after the Marines reversed their position, one official spoke about maintaining a transparency with the American public.
read more here
Marines lift social media ban

Mom Blames YouTube After Son Sets Self On Fire

Mom Blames YouTube After Son Sets Self On Fire
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 5:56:12 AM

Reported By Stephanie Coueignoux

ORLANDO -- A Volusia County boy set himself on fire and his mom is blaming a video he saw online for what happened.

Russell Gortzig, 13, of Deltona says he and his friends were hanging out looking at videos online when they found a video of a guy setting himself on fire. Sunday night, they actually re-enacted what they had seen.

Russell is in the hospital with second and third degree burns and lucky to be alive.

"A mother's fear, that I couldn't help him, I didn't know what to do, I couldn't take it away," said Russell's mother, Linda McCrea.

McCrea says she'll never forget the phone call when she found out her son was severely burned or seeing him in so much pain.
read more here
http://fwix.com/share/38_94ea2c03bd

Michael Musto just became a hero

Michael Musto just became a hero to me because he was on MSNBC talking about the Wedding video and this latest video being great for advertising music. He said that record companies are hurting and videos drive sales of CD's. He's right.




So how does this make him a hero to me. My videos! No, my videos will never come close to hitting the kind of hits videos like this one did. Mine are geared to PTSD and veterans, providing understanding and support. I've taken over half my life and crunched down what I know into videos lasting under half an hour, most lasting under 10 minutes. I use mostly old songs to help deliver the message that hope lives on no matter how bad things seem right now.

The videos I created took a long time to put together and a small fortune to buy the CD's searching for the right song to go along with the video. Aside from the educational purposes, these videos also end up being free advertising for the group and the record company. YouTube and the record companies decided that they didn't want their music used on videos, but only on selected videos, not all of them.

This is what one of the messages looked like

Video Disabled

A copyright owner has claimed it owns some or all of the audio content in your video Hero After War With PTSD. The audio content identified in your video is I'll Stand By You by Pretenders. We regret to inform you that your video has been blocked from playback due to a music rights issue.


It didn't matter that this song was used with permission. I emailed the Pretenders and let them know about the music. I was told that Chrissie Hynde would feel honored to be able to help the veterans with this song once I explained what the video was for.

It happened with Toby Keith. I used a couple of his songs on When War Comes Home Part Two. Again, another pull from YouTube, I fought it and the release was given by the music company. It was too late. The music was muted so that people could still watch the video. By the time I received the release, I couldn't get the music to play again, so I deleted it, tried to upload it again but received a message saying the song was in violation of copyright. That's when I had enough.

Ever since I pulled my videos off YouTube, they have not been able to help as many people. They are now on Great Americans, which does not receive as much traffic. It breaks my heart that this is happening especially when I go into YouTube and find the same music I use on someone else's video, but the song is playing loud and clear.

Michael Musto is right on the mark when he said it's free advertising. People asked me about the songs I used so they could go out and buy the CD. Since, as I said, I use old songs, this drives demand for songs that had been forgotten. Most of the songs stopped getting air time years ago unless they occasionally pop up on the oldies stations. Some of the songs I used received no air time at all, buried in a CD and would not have had any publicity at all otherwise but truly touching songs.

One of the other videos I did, The Hardest Times You Could Imagine, was for women veterans. The song by Skylark was stuck in my head. I couldn't find the music anywhere, so I emailed the agent. After months of working with the agent, the group and the record company, I received the music file and support of Skylark and EMI plus the man who wrote the lyrics, Dave Richardson. He was touched by what I created with his words.
This is part of the email he wrote.

Valley Hennell has been forwarding the details of your contact with her to me, and last night I watched the "Hardest Times" video. I am honoured that the lyrics I wrote so long ago are still being used to bless others in a manner such as you describe with these women - may the Lord bless them abundantly for everything they endure in serving their country. And may He bless you as well, Chaplain Kathie, for all you do in your service to Him and to your country.......

The song, was Wildflower very popular in the 70's but hardly ever heard on the radio. Think of a song thirty years old helping women veterans heal from what was asked of them. What is really amazing about these videos is that they are touching even the newer veterans.

The artists care about our veterans and they want to give back. Each video I create, I am prepared to pull if the artist does not want their music to be used. So far that has not happened. I had to pull them because of software!

YouTube should set up a way for educational videos to not be trapped in their software searching for copyright music that does not break the rules. They not only provide support, education and help for the veterans, but they also offer artists and record companies a new way of reaching people that may have never heard the song without it. I really wish they would do this or actually either make sure that if they want to stop people from using music they do to everyone or allow them to be used at least as free publicity for the songs. People work hard putting these videos together and we don't get paid for any of the work we do. You'd think that would penetrate the record executives heads so they would be more than happy to allow all their music to be used but they never think of it that way.

Maybe with the exposure of the Wedding and Divorce videos, this will change but at what price for hurting troops, veterans and their families? No matter what I wrote in all these years, it did not have the same affect on the veterans as these videos. They are being used all over the country to help our veterans heal. Therapist are using them working with veterans for heaven's sake! Last year I received an award from the IFOC for my work. One of the videos, PTSD Not God's Judgment is being used to help police officers and firefighters heal from PTSD. Think of how many other people these videos could be helping if YouTube would stop the nonsense. Maybe they will take the advice Michael Musto just gave and give video creators a break.

Troop-support Videos Pulled Over Taste

Support the troops with something like this? A matter of taste? Give me a break. I bet many people find these videos very funny. That's fine. It seems that supporting the troops requires actually doing it instead of just entertaining them. How about actually putting out videos about readjustment? Maybe some one PTSD and what they go through? How about what it's like for the families when they come home wounded and then have to face life altered by it along with months or years of having to fight to have a VA claim approved? How about actually doing something to support the troops instead of putting out videos about this kind of sensationalism? Taste is always debatable but it's a waste of time when what they need has been unattainable.

Troop-support Videos Pulled Over Taste
July 14, 2009
Fayetteville Observer

The promotional videos were meant to show that Fayetteville goes out of its way to support the thousands of Soldiers who call the city home.

But the videos were quickly pulled from YouTube and other Web sites Monday after their tastefulness was questioned.

One video shows a Soldier leaping on the back of an old woman using a walker to cross a street. Late Monday, the video was back on YouTube.

Another has a Soldier kissing a blonde while a man dressed in women's clothes sits nearby and fumes because he's ready to go.

Later, the man in drag is approached by a swarm of prospective suitors. The Soldier turns to the camera, gives a thumbs-up sign and says, "Thanks, Fayetteville."

"Now that's what I call supporting the troops," adds an actor playing a town official in the videos. "Then again, that's what you'd expect from America's first sanctuary community for Soldiers."

The videos are a product of the city's advertising campaign "Fayetteville N.C., the World's First Sanctuary for Soldiers." They were spearheaded by the Fayetteville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

One includes a flatulence sound. Another seems to imply masturbation on the part of the "official town official" before the camera sweeps down to show that he's rubbing a Soldier's feet.

"Shhh. He's sleeping," the actor says.
go here for more
Troop-support Videos Pulled Over Taste

YouTube doesn't care about troops with PTSD

YouTube has been blocking my videos one by one for too long now. The latest one was Nam Nights of PTSD Still. I was going to wait until the end of the month to pull the videos but I'm totally fed up. My videos have been up on Google and YouTube for a couple of years now. Suddenly they are targeting my videos. They started with When War Comes Home Part Two, which has songs by Toby Keith. I complained and they allowed it but it was too late. Then one by one I get an email telling me that another video has been blocked but yet again they don't seem to care what these videos are or who they are for.

No matter how much I write or email or try to do anything else, nothing has reached as many veterans as these videos. What good would it do to spend hours searching for music to fit the message and spend more hours putting them together if they are not seen? I trusted YouTube to deliver these videos to help the troops and our veterans. Now they will be on my web site and blog but not linked to YouTube or Google. I'm pulling them all off. I really hope YouTube staff is happy with what they just did because a lot less veterans will be able to find these videos now. Let's face it. When it comes to videos YouTube and Google are the top places to find them. I do all of this for free but YouTube just doesn't care.

The videos will be on my web site at http://www.namguardianangel.com/, this blog and on http://www.greatamericans.com/. At least they appreciated the work done to help the veterans and the troops when they need all the help they can get.

PTSD? YouTube Doesn't Care

Well YouTube just blocked another video of mine. PTSD After Trauma has been blocked so I pulled it. I'm not fighting them anymore. Take a look across YouTube and you'll find music video after music video but mine, well there about PTSD and to help people cope with it. They are for educational use and I have a Creative Commons license for share and share alike. That doesn't matter. You can't talk to anyone there to have them explain this either. They send back a form letter explaining absolutely nothing.

Video Disabled
A copyright owner has claimed it owns some or all of the audio content in your video PTSD After Trauma. The audio content identified in your video is Amazing Grace by Judy Collins. We regret to inform you that your video has been blocked from playback due to a music rights issue.

When War Comes Home Part Two uses two songs by Toby Keith. They blocked that one. I muted the music then they decided to let the music back in but I couldn't get it to play. Then I pulled it, tried to upload it again but they wouldn't allow it. They blocked Women At War, along with others. This is why all of my videos are being pulled from YouTube the end of the month. I can't take this anymore. They will be up on my web site at http://www.namguardianangel.com/ and soon they'll be uploaded here from the site.

Women At War video blocked

Taking a couple of days off and just checked my email. Looks like YouTube has just blocked another video. Women At War will no longer be available. Over 11,000 hits and now they block it. This is the email I received. Guess that if you have Creative Commons and do this all for free to help women with PTSD find the support and understanding they need, it doesn't matter to anyone anymore. This is just one more example of why I am so frustrated with doing these videos. If anyone wants to see the video still, it's on my web site at www.namguardianangel.com
It will stay up there until I receive word to pull it down, but they will have to explain to me what the problem is. You cannot talk to YouTube or Google and get them to explain how a video like this bothers the artist.



Dear NamGuardianAngel,

Video Disabled

A copyright owner has claimed it owns some or all of the audio content in your video Women At War and PTSD. The audio content identified in your video is In My Life by Bette Midler. We regret to inform you that your video has been blocked from playback due to a music rights issue.

Replace Your Audio with AudioSwap

Don't worry, we have plenty of music available for your use. Please visit our AudioSwap library to learn how you can easily replace the audio in your video with any track from our growing library of fully licensed songs.

Other Options

If you think there's been a mistake, or you have other questions, please visit the Copyright Notice page in your account.

Sincerely,
The YouTube Content Identification Team


Women At War and PTSD
We forget how many women go into combat and have since wars first began. They die. They get wounded bodies and minds. They also suffer beyond what is "normal" conditions for men because of their gender. This is for all the women who serve in the military.
(more)(less)

Added: December 03, 2006, 04:06 PMTime: 08:02
Views: 11,501Rating: Comments: 35Responses: 0Broadcast: Public

11,501 hits and 35 comments for a video on PTSD for women veterans at a time when women veterans need it the most and they block the video! Nice work pulling something like this but it's not the first video of mine they've done this to.

Sgt. Coleman Bean did not have to die

Sgt. Coleman Bean did not have to die
by Chaplain Kathie

He didn't have to die and another 6,000 more a year didn't have to either.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Remembering a hero Sgt. Coleman Bean
Remembering a hero
Family and friends mourn the loss of Coleman Bean, 25
BY BRIAN DONAHUE Staff Writer
Coleman Bean was a lot of things to a lot of people. He was a son, a brother, a soldier, and to seemingly everyone who knew him, a good friend. He was someone they could count on to be there, in times of need and in happy times.
When he took his life on Sept. 6, he left those who knew him in shock. But he also left them with 25 years of cherished memories, the kind that could only come from a fun and thoughtful kid who became a loving, caring young man. It's Coleman's indelible character, and not the way he left, that his East Brunswick family — his parents Greg and Linda, younger brother Paddy and older brother Nick — will always hold on to.
Greg Bean, who is executive editor of Greater Media Newspapers, knows how he'll recall his middle son. Most prominent in his mind is the memory of Coleman stopping by unannounced the night before he died."I was sitting here watching TV, and he poked his face in the dining room window and made a funny face at me,"
Greg recalled, adding that Coleman, living in South River after returning from his second tour in Iraq, had been dropping over for dinner often, knowing Greg was on leave from work and was cooking a lot."He came in and said, 'What'd you make for dinner?' I said, 'I didn't know you were coming, so I didn't make enough for you.' So he made a triple-decker peanut butter sandwich and chips, and sat here and talked baby talk to my new dog, who he had just fallen in love with. … But I'm going to remember that night, because he was just happy and joking, and we made plans to go to the movies the next day and to the gym together on Monday. … I've got a million memories; we went through pictures the other day, and all of them bring back lots and lots of memories, but the one I'm gonna keep with me is just the way he was the day before he died."
In the early hours of the next morning, the family would learn, Coleman got into a one-car accident in West Long Branch, was hospitalized briefly, returned home to his apartment in South River and shot himself. His family and friends would react with shock and sadness, and also with anger that he would leave them this way.
Greg Bean's anger is also directed at the U.S. Army. After Coleman returned from nearly a year in Iraq in 2004, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for issues including extreme anxiety attacks and depression. Despite the diagnosis, the Army sent him back to the war in 2007."He had gone to the V.A. and seen a bunch of people [at] the Lyons campus. … He was diagnosed with PTSD and some other troubling issues, just lingering issues from Iraq," his father said. "The problem is that the V.A. doesn't really have anything to do directly with the Army.
When he got called back, the Army said, 'Well, we don't care what the V.A. says about you. If you want a deferment from that, you have to get it from an Army psychiatrist.' "Coleman feared that if he went to an Army psychiatrist, he'd spend the next deployment cleaning latrines or some other unwanted duty."The fact that he was diagnosed with [PTSD] didn't have any impact on him being deployed a second time. I think that's wrong. I think that's horrible that a soldier could be seeing a Veterans Administration doctor and that carries no weight with our Army," Greg said.
go here for moreRemembering a hero Sgt. Coleman Bean

I had to repost this because of a comment left on the post.

CarlynHelene left a comment that should be a wake up call. She made a video for Coleman, her friend, that is now gone too soon. Coleman, as you can read from above, had a lot of lives left behind because he was not helped the way he needed to be. We've lost too many like him. We'll keep losing them until we finally get it right.

If you look up the symptoms of PTSD, you can find it throughout every history book on warfare and, as a matter of fact, in the Bible itself. It's not new. It's just a human response to traumatic events. Nothing more traumatic than combat and out of the "normal" world the rest of us live in. What has changed is that we are a lot more aware of what makes people tick. We can see inside the brain. We can see chemical changes to it and the way it functions. What we cannot see is the soul. The soul that makes us all unique, special, loving and the part in each of us that also feels pain. Not the physical pain but a pain much deeper than that. A pain so deep most people cannot find the words to explain it. The pain within the soul crying out in anguish.

With two thirds of the American public oblivious to this wound, even though regular people are wounded by it from the other causes, the DOD and the VA have done an abysmal job of raising awareness. Imagine if they informed the whole country about PTSD so that the veterans of combat as well as the public at large finally understood what it was and what was "wrong" with them. Believe me. They know something is wrong when they come home or after a traumatic event, but they just don't know what the "it" really is. What a public service the government could be providing the citizens if they did do all they can!

How many parents will have to bury their children because of PTSD? How many wives and husbands will have to go to an empty bed wondering what they could have done to prevent the suicide of someone they loved? How many friends will have travel to a grave site instead of a doorway to visit someone they cared about? How many will have to do so because they simply didn't know?

I receive emails all the time from people just like that, wondering what they didn't do or what they did wrong. The point is, they did what they could and what they knew how to do. The information was out there but they didn't know how to find it. How could they when they didn't even know the name of it? Two thirds don't know it! With all these years behind us, everyone in the country should know what it is and what it means. Above all, they should know what help is available and how they can help the wounded to live a better life instead of shutting them out or unknowingly making the suffering worse by the way they react to it.
The above video says "rest in peace" but I doubt he can if the rest of us ignore why he couldn't find what he needed to heal or the fact so many more are suffering the same fate he did.


It's time to get this right. How many more centuries of humanity do we need to get it right?

Senior Chaplain Kathie "Costos" DiCesare
International Fellowship of Chaplains
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
www.youtube.com/NamGuardianAngel
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Fort Bragg:Army investigates video of fighting toddlers

I just looked on YouTube because most of the time, they say a video was pulled only to find it some place else. I was shocked to see how many toddlers are taped fighting.

Army investigates video of fighting toddlers

The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Nov 18, 2008 8:46:08 EST

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A soldier in the Army Special Operations Command is being investigated after a video made at Fort Bragg showed up on the Internet depicting his toddler son fighting with another youngster.

The Fayetteville Observer reported Tuesday that the video was on the YouTube Web site, but later removed.

The video shows two youngsters pushing and hitting each other while an unidentified man urged one to stay in the fight.

Special Operations Command spokeswoman Carol Darby said the video is at the center of a child custody dispute. The newspaper said the soldier wasn’t identified, but the video was brought to the attention of the Army by the man’s ex-wife.

The Army said in a prepared statement that it was cooperating with other authorities and didn’t condone the behavior.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_toddlervideo_111808/

TroopTube is Pentagon's answer to YouTube

Pentagon launches its own version of YouTube

By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Nov 12, 2008 16:04:27 EST

Eighteen months after banning access to YouTube and other social networking and entertainment sites on Defense Department computers, the Pentagon has launched a site where troops and families can upload and share videos.

Don’t look for anything too edgy on TroopTube. All videos are subject to screening for “taste, copyright violations and national security issues,” according to the Web site, which is administered by Military OneSource, the Pentagon’s online family resource center.

But the good news is that unlike YouTube, MySpace and 10 other networking and entertainment sites banned on official sites worldwide by the Pentagon in May 2007 — primarily, officials said, because they took up too much bandwidth — TroopTube can be viewed on an official computer.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/military_trooptube_111208w/

This sounds great and maybe it'll replace what the troops have been missing.

If you think any of my videos will help a service member understand what PTSD is, not just for themselves, but their friends as well, please feel free to just upload away. No permission needed for what I do. Here's all the links so that you can use whatever you want.


When War Comes Home Part One04:33
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 387
2 ratings

When War Comes Home Part Two

Women At War08:02
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 10,571
17 ratings


Hero After War08:27
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 4,966
16 ratings


A Homeless Veteran's Day04:00
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 1,247
7 ratings


Nam Nights Of PTSD Still08:33
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 2,431


Coming Out Of The Dark Of PTSD04:25
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 1,234

The Voice Women At War09:49
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 1,017

PTSD Not God's Judgment06:00
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 2,168

Point Man Int. Ministries Is There04:41
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 360

PTSD After Trauma04:44
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 2,314

PTSD I Grieve08:40
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 1,109

PTSD Final battle of war05:01
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 268

PTSD It's All About Soul06:12
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 83

Veterans Day Memories of Vietnam08:50
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 179

Wounded Minds Veterans and PTSD

Veteran's Day memories of Vietnam new video

VIETNAM WAR STATISTICS IN UNIFORM AND IN COUNTRY...
Vietnam Vets: 9.7% of their generation.
9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the Vietnam Era (Aug. 5, 1964-May 7, 1975).
8,744,000 GIs were on active duty during the war (Aug 5, 1964 - March 28, 1973).
3,403,100 (Including 514,300 offshore) personnel served in the Southeast Asia Theater (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, flight crews based in Thailand, and sailors in adjacent South China Sea waters).
2,594,000 personnel served within the borders of South Vietnam (Jan. 1, 1965 - March 28, 1973)
Another 50,000 men served in Vietnam between 1960 and 1964.
Of the 2.6 million, between 1 - 1.6 million (40 - 60%) either fought in combat, provided close support or were at least fairly regularly exposed to enemy attack.
7,484 women (6,250 or 83.5% were nurses) served in Vietnam.
Peak troop strength in Vietnam: 543,482 (April 30, 1968)
CASUALTIES...
Hostile deaths: 47,378
Non-hostile deaths: 10,800
Total: 58,202 (Includes men formerly classified as MIA and Mayaguez casualties). Men who have subsequently died of wounds account for the changing total.
8 nurses died -- 1 was KIA.
Married men killed: 17,539
61% of the men killed were 21 or younger.
Highest state death rate: West Virginia - 84.1% (national average 58.9% for every 100,000 males in 1970).
Wounded: 303,704 -- 153,329 hospitalized + 150,375 injured requiring no hospital care.
Severely disabled: 75,000 -- 23,214 - 100% disabled; 5,283 lost limbs; 1,081 sustained multiple amputations.
Amputation or crippling wounds to the lower extremities were 300% higher than in WWII and 70% higher than Korea. Multiple amputations occurred at the rate of 18.4% compared to 5.7% in WWII.
Missing in Action: 2,338
POWs: 766 (114 died in captivity)
go here for more
http://history-world.org/vietnam_war_statistics.htm

1.7 million have served in Afghanistan and Iraq so far. 1.6 million were in what was considered combat areas of Vietnam. When you think about the military operations going on today, it is stunning to know the amounts Vietnam produced and how long it went on.

The new video I did has pictures of Bringing Home The Wall built by Tom Twigg and his wife Dee, loving reconstructed in Lakeland Florida in 2006 by member of Rolling Thunder. The songs came from God Bless the USA cd, Some Gave All by Billy Ray Cyrus and 8th of November by Big & Rich. The video is not about PTSD or the wounds they carry but about how they live as veterans everyday, still caring and still grieving the loss of friends. Look to the top of the side bar from this video. It will stay at the top until after Veteran's Day.

To me, the Vietnam veterans are the greatest generation because they did not do what other veterans had done. They did not settle for excuses from the VA when it came to the wounds of combat. They fought to have their chemical exposures treated and are still fighting to have all veterans exposed to dangerous chemicals treated properly. They fought to have PTSD treated and compensated, a wound all mankind has suffered from since the beginning of time. The advances in the diagnosis and treatment of PTSD are there for the new veterans because they fought for it. They have a motto that never again will one generation leave behind another. This, they have lived up to.

We forget about the price they paid for serving the country and we forget about how many still do. What Vietnam produced was stunning and very telling about what today's veterans will experience. By 1976 when the DAV produced a study, there were 500,000 with PTSD and the rate was expected to increase, which it did. By 1986, 117,000 had committed suicide, more followed. Over 300,000 ended up homeless. Many ended up in prison because of undiagnosed and untreated PTSD, self-medicating with drugs and alcohol as well as domestic violence, all characteristic of PTSD. The newer veterans will not have to go through years of being treated like criminals for this wound because of them.

We have a lot more work to do to take care of all our veterans but we are as far as we've come because of them. One more glaring fact is that the Vietnam veterans taught this country a lesson on how we view those who serve it. Never again will the people of this nation take out their anger at what politicians decide to do on the men and women who serve. We all acknowledge that the men and women serving this country were willing to lay down their lives for the sake of this nation and we respect that and honor them. We will never all agree on where they are sent but we all agree that they are not a political issue but an obligation.

So this video is a tribute to them. They captured my heart 26 years ago and have tugged at my soul ever since I fell in love with one of them and adopted all of them.

Happy Veteran's Day to all veterans, old and young, especially the Vietnam veterans.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos

International Fellowship of Chaplains

Namguardianangel@aol.com

http://www.namguardianangel.org/

http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/

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


Nam Nights Of PTSD Still from Kathleen "Costos" DiCesare on Vimeo.

Congress told face martial law if bailout bill not passed

Thousands of Troops Are Deployed on U.S. Streets Ready to "Carry Out "Crowd Control

By Naomi Wolf, AlterNet. Posted October 8, 2008.
Members of Congress were told they could face martial law if they didn't pass the bailout bill. This will not be the last time.

U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman of California said to Congress, captured on C-Span and viewable on YouTube, that individual members of the House were threatened with martial law within a week if they did not pass the bailout bill:

"The only way they can pass this bill is by creating and sustaining a panic atmosphere. … Many of us were told in private conversations that if we voted against this bill on Monday that the sky would fall, the market would drop two or three thousand points the first day and a couple of thousand on the second day, and a few members were even told that there would be martial law in America if we voted no."

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Marietta School Bus Chaos Posted On YouTube

Marietta School Bus Chaos Posted On YouTube
"I Was Fearing For My Life," Student Said

POSTED: 6:36 am EDT September 16, 2008

MARIETTA, Ga. -- Parents are criticizing Marietta school officials after video of a chaotic school bus ride was posted on YouTube.

The incident began last Friday, when school officials said the driver pulled over to write up students who were being unruly.

A cell phone camera captured students on the bus getting more upset, after the students claimed the bus driver refused to let them off.

The students can be seen and heard on the video screaming for help. Students are also seen jumping off the bus through the emergency exit.


One of those students, DeBrandon Harris, said he was suspended from school and cannot return until further notice.

“I didn't do anything wrong. I was fearing for my life," Harris said.

But the Marietta High School student and his mother believe that he’s being made a scapegoat for the other students.

“This doesn't look good on my college application,” Harris said.

Thomas Algarin, the communications director for Marietta city schools, told CBS 46 News Monday that this was the bus driver's first solo run with these students. It may also be her last. The driver is being removed from her duties pending an investigation.
go here for more
http://www.cbs46.com/news/17483214/detail.html
Linked from CNN

Spc. Daniel Jens shines on America's Got Talent

Three kids and back from Iraq after 15 months, Spc. Daniel Jens sings Edwin McCain's "I'll be" and did a great job. Sharon Osbourne looked like she was going to cry when he was singing and then did cry in the end as he walked off with his wife. You guessed it,,,,,he's going to Vegas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMTu4z-XYFs