Suicide in the military is an "emerging mental health crisis."

Army suicide: Preventable deaths
Florida Times-Union - Jacksonville,FL,USA
Army suicide: Preventable deaths
Click-2-Listen

By The Times-Union
Suicide in the military is an "emerging mental health crisis."
The numbers bear that out, as reported by The Associated Press.

Thousands deployed: Over 1.6 million troops have been deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Persian Gulf since Sept. 11, 2001. Nearly 550,000 of these troops have been deployed more than once.

Mental issues: About 300,000 who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan have anxiety or post-traumatic stress, reported a Rand study released in April.

The Army surgeon general reports a 46 percent increase last year in cases of post-traumatic stress disorder.

click link for more

Hero marine who threw himself on grenade to receive George Cross medal

Hero marine who threw himself on grenade to receive George Cross medal from Queen
A Royal Marine who threw himself on a hand grenade to save his comrades is to receive the George Cross medal at Buckingham Palace.

By Chris Irvine
Last Updated: 6:56AM GMT 30 Oct 2008

Lance Corporal Matthew Croucher, pictured holding the backpack he was wearing when he jumped on the grenade, will receive the George Cross from the Queen. Photo: PA

L/Cpl Matthew Croucher is only one of a select group of 20 living recipients of the medal, awarded for acts showing the same degree of heroism as the Victoria Cross.

He will receive his award from the Queen on Thursday morning.

L/Cpl Croucher, 24, was part of a company of 40 Commando sent to investigate a suspected Taliban bomb-making factory near the town of Sangin when he set off the trip-wire that unleashed the grenade.

He jumped on the hand grenade, part of a Taliban booby trap, during an operation in Afghanistan earlier this year.

He had less than seven seconds to make up his mind about whether to risk sacrificing his own life to save his friends, and chose to save his colleagues.

Speaking after the incident in February in Helmand province, he said: "It was a case of either having four of us as fatalities or badly wounded or one."

click post title for more

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.

Cabbie's cry jolts comrades after being shot

Cabbie's cry jolts comrades
By Eileen Kelley • ekelley@enquirer.com • October 28, 2008


The phone call first jolted Jay Austin from his bed.

"Richard’s been shot,” the caller blurted.

Austin then heard it for himself, when he heard the cries of a veteran cabbie come over the radio.

“I need help. I need help. I’ve been shot,” Austin heard Richard Reynolds plead over his cab’s radio.

Reynolds generally works the day hours – a shift that, by all accounts, tends to be safer. But wanting to pull in some extra cash, he picked up a Saturday evening shift.

At about 1 a.m. he was flagged down outside Newport on the Levee. His fare asked to be taken to Bond Hill.

Reynolds called in the ride, but after arriving in Bond Hill he was shot three to four times, said Austin.

The 37-year-old Covington man, who has been driving a cab for nearly as long as he’s had a driver’s license, was listed in critical condition Tuesday at University Hospital. He underwent six hours of surgery and is hooked up to a ventilator. He was shot in the chest and right arm.

“A cab driver is an easy mark,” said Reynolds, owner of Hilltop, a Florence-based cab company.

The small company of about 40 drivers is doing what it can to help the Reynolds family out. He did not have insurance and as a subcontractor, he doesn’t qualify for worker’s compensation.

Austin said the drivers have decided to kick in $5 a week, each week to help the family get by without Reynolds’ income. Austin said he will match their contributions.
go here for more
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081028/NEWS0107/310280028

New rule on PTSD claims, not enough of a change

It's a good start but leaves to many out of this. While it will reduce the number of claims in the backlog, it will not help enough of the veterans while they have already waited and suffered for years. Sorry but, not happy on this one at all. Why not get it right in the first place to include the veterans who have been misdiagnosed, dishonorably discharge with personality disorders, or use the presumption of stressor to all who have been deployed and diagnosed with PTSD but have still been unable to "prove" their case?
Why not include the women who have been sexually assaulted/raped and diagnosed with PTSD who have been unable to prove their legal case against their attackers?
What about the chemical exposures of depleted uranium along with other toxins still being reported from Iraq? What about the older veterans from the Gulf war and Vietnam who are still dealing with delays on their cases when the military has already documented what areas were exposed and when the exposures occurred?
Telling a veteran that if the DOD does the right thing then they don't have to reprove it all to the VA is really not that much of a benefit considering it has already been assumed this would be the case. This rule change does nothing to address the claims being denied and trapped in the appeal process. How many claims have been approved by the DOD that have been turned down by the VA? I doubt we're talking about very many.
Now, how many claims have been denied by the DOD and the VA only to be trapped on appeal? Seems to me that addressing those claims pronto would be a greater benefit to the veterans than doing something they thought was already being done. kc

[Federal Register: October 29, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 210)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 64208-64210]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29oc08-12]
=======================================================================

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
38 CFR Part 3
RIN 2900-AN04

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Interim final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its adjudication regulations regarding service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by eliminating the requirement of evidence corroborating occurrence of the claimed in-service stressor in claims in which PTSD is diagnosed in service. This amendment is necessary to facilitate the proof of service connection in such claims. By this amendment, we intend to reduce claim-processing time for such claims.

DATES: Effective Date: This interim final rule is effective October 29, 2008. Comments must be received by VA on or before November 28, 2008.

Applicability Date: VA will apply this interim final rule to claims pending before VA on the effective date of this rule, as well as to claims filed after that date.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted through www.Regulations.gov; by mail or hand-delivery to the Director, Regulations Management (02REG), Office of the General Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Ave., NW., Room 1068, Washington, DC 20420; or by fax to (202) 273-9026. Comments should indicate that they are submitted in response to ``RIN 2900-AN04--Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.'' Copies of comments received will be available for public inspection in the Office of Regulation Policy and Management, Room 1063B, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday (except holidays). Please call (202) 461-4902 for an appointment. (This is not a toll-free number.) In addition, during the comment period, comments may be viewed online through the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) at www.Regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maya Ferrandino, Regulations Staff (211D), Compensation and Pension Service, Veterans Benefits Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420, (727) 319-5847. (This is not a toll-free number.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Secretary of Veterans Affairs has the authority to prescribe regulations governing the nature and extent of proof and evidence required to establish entitlement to benefits. 38 U.S.C. 501(a)(1). Under 38 CFR 3.303(a), one of the ways that service connection of a disability may be established is by affirmatively showing inception or aggravation during service of a disease or injury that resulted in that disability. However, in order to establish
service connection for PTSD in cases in which a veteran did not engage in combat with the enemy or was not a prisoner of war, current 38 CFR 3.304(f) requires: (1) Medical evidence diagnosing PTSD; (2) medical evidence establishing a link between a veteran's current symptoms and an in-service stressor; and (3) credible supporting evidence that the claimed in-service stressor occurred.

The longstanding requirement in Sec. 3.304(f) of credible supporting evidence that the claimed in-service stressor occurred is based on the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (1994) (DSM-IV), to which a diagnosis of a mental disorder must conform. 38 CFR 3.304(f) and 4.125(a). According to DSM-IV at 427, the first diagnostic criterion for PTSD is:

The person has been exposed to a traumatic event in which both of the following were present:

(1) The person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others

(2) The person's response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror.

The symptoms of PTSD ``usually begin within the first 3 months after the trauma, although there may be a delay of months, or even years, before symptoms appear.'' DSM-IV at 426. Given the delay that may occur between the occurrence of a stressor and the onset of PTSD and the subjective nature of a person's response to an event, VA concluded, when it first promulgated Sec. 3.304(f) in 1993, that it is reasonable to require corroboration of the in-service stressor, a conclusion with which the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit agreed. 58 FR 29109 (1993); Nat'l Org. of Veterans' Advocates, Inc. v. Sec'y of Veterans Affairs, 330 F.3d 1345, 1351-52 (Fed. Cir. 2003). Also, according to DSM-IV at 424-25, a ``person commonly makes deliberate efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations about the traumatic event * * * and to avoid activities, situations, or people who arouse recollections of it. * * * This avoidance of reminders may include amnesia for an important aspect of the traumatic event.'' We believed that it was reasonable for Sec. 3.304(f) to require corroboration of the occurrence of the stressor in order to substantiate aspects of the event that a veteran may not remember.

However, VA has found, based on claims submitted since September 11, 2001, that service members are increasingly being diagnosed with PTSD while still in service, rather than after discharge from service. The increased incidence of in-service diagnoses of PTSD is attributable to advances in medicine and increased monitoring of service members' mental health by the service departments. Given the ability to more quickly diagnose PTSD and the proximity between an in-service diagnosis of PTSD and the claimed occurrence of the stressor, VA no longer believes it is necessary to require evidence corroborating occurrence of the stressor in claims based on an in-service diagnosis.

We are therefore amending Sec. 3.304(f) to relax the requirements for establishing service connection for PTSD that was diagnosed in service. We are adding a new paragraph, which provides that, if the evidence shows that the veteran's PTSD was diagnosed during service and the claimed stressor is related to that service, in the absence of clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, and provided that the claimed stressor is consistent with the circumstances, conditions, or hardships of the veteran's service, the veteran's lay testimony alone may establish the occurrence of the claimed in-service stressor. We believe that this change will contribute to faster processing of PTSD claims by eliminating the need for VA to develop evidence of occurrence of the in-service stressor in claims in which the veteran's PTSD was diagnosed during service.

For claims based on a postservice diagnosis of PTSD, we will continue to require credible supporting evidence of the occurrence of the claimed in-service stressor. The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) has held that VA is ``not bound to accept [the claimant's] uncorroborated account'' of a stressor or a ``social worker's and psychiatrist's unsubstantiated * * * opinions that the alleged PTSD had its origins in appellant's [military service].'' Wood v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 190, 192 (1991). Further, the CAVC stated that VA ``is not required to accept doctors' opinions that are based upon the appellant's recitation of medical history.'' Godfrey v. Brown, 8 Vet. App. 113, 121 (1995). A post-service diagnosis of PTSD is often based on a claimant's personal account of a stressful event that may have occurred many years before the doctor's examination. In order to ensure a competent and credible diagnosis of PTSD, there must be corroboration of the claimed in-service stressor. This standard is the same as that generally applied by VA when a post-service diagnosis of a disability is allegedly due to an injury incurred or disease contracted during service.

Also, we are eliminating the hyphen in the term ``post-traumatic stress disorder'' in Sec. 3.304(f) to reflect current medical terminology.

Administrative Procedure Act
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs finds that there is good cause to dispense with the opportunity for prior comment with respect to this rule, which eliminates the need for evidence to corroborate the occurrence of a stressor in claims in which a veteran was diagnosed with PTSD during service. The Secretary finds that it is impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public interest to delay this regulation, which will speed up processing of PTSD claims, for the purpose of soliciting prior public comment because the regulation relieves an unnecessary proof requirement for certain veterans disabled by service-connected PTSD who need VA benefits as soon as possible to compensate for loss in wage-earning capacity. For the foregoing reasons, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs is issuing this rule as an interim final rule. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs will consider and address comments that are received within 30 days of the date this interim final rule is published in the Federal Register.

Paperwork Reduction Act
This document contains no provisions constituting a collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521).

Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Secretary hereby certifies that this interim final rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities as they are defined in the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601-612. This interim final rule will not affect any small entities. Only VA beneficiaries could be directly affected. Therefore, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), this interim final rule is exempt from the initial and final regulatory flexibility analysis requirements of sections 603 and 604.

Executive Order 12866
Executive Order 12866 directs agencies to assess all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, when regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public health and safety, and other advantages; distributive impacts; and equity). The Executive Order classifies a ``significant regulatory action,'' requiring review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), as any regulatory action that is likely to result in a rule that may: (1) Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or communities; (2) create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an action taken or planned by another agency; (3) materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients thereof; or (4) raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles set forth in the Executive Order.

The economic, interagency, budgetary, legal, and policy implications of this interim final rule have been examined, and it has been determined not to be a significant regulatory action under the
Executive Order.

Unfunded Mandates
The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 requires, at 2 U.S.C. 1532, that agencies prepare an assessment of anticipated costs and benefits before issuing any rule that may result in the expenditure by State, local, and tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100 million or more (adjusted annually for inflation) in any year. This interim final rule would have no such effect on State, local, and tribal governments, or on the private sector.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers and Titles
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance program numbers and titles for this rule are 64.109, Veterans Compensation for Service-Connected Disability and 64.110, Veterans Dependency and Indemnity Compensation for Service-Connected Death.

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 3
Administrative practice and procedure, Claims, Disability benefits, Health care, Pensions, Radioactive materials, Veterans, Vietnam.

Approved: October 7, 2008.
Gordon H. Mansfield,
Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

For the reasons set out in the preamble, VA is amending 38 CFR part 3 as follows:

PART 3--ADJUDICATION
1. The authority citation for part 3, subpart A continues to read as follows:

Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501(a), unless otherwise noted.

2. Amend Sec. 3.304(f) by:

a. Revising the paragraph heading and introductory text.

b. Redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) as paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), respectively, and by adding new paragraph (1).

c. Removing ``post-traumatic'' each place it appears and add, in its place, ``posttraumatic''.

The revisions and addition read as follows:

Sec. 3.304 Direct service connection; wartime and peacetime.

* * * * *
(f) Posttraumatic stress disorder. Service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder requires medical evidence diagnosing the condition in accordance with Sec. 4.125(a) of this chapter; a link, established by medical evidence, between current symptoms and an in-service stressor; and credible supporting evidence that the claimed in-service stressor occurred. The following provisions apply to claims for service connection of posttraumatic stress disorder diagnosed during service or based on specified in-service stressors:

(1) If the evidence establishes a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder during service and the claimed stressor is related to that service, in the absence of clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, and provided that the claimed stressor is consistent with the circumstances, conditions, or hardships of the veteran's service, the veteran's lay testimony alone may establish the occurrence of the claimed in-service stressor.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. E8-25735 Filed 10-28-08; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8320-01-P

Florida Veterans for Common Sense wants you to vote with common sense

From Florida Veterans For Common Sense

VOTE EARLY

FLVCS has prepared a comparison on veterans issues between the presidential candidates. It is pasted and attached below. Every vet, active duty service personnel, and their families should be familiar with this information before voting.

SPREAD THE WORD BY RE-CIRCULATING THE CANDIDATES VOTING RECORD

In addition, one candidate has called for a responsible withdrawal from Iraq while the other wants to maintain the occupation indefinitely at a cost of at least $10 billion per month. FLVCS called for withdrawal from Iraq many months ago.

DUES: Please support FLVCS by becoming a dues paying, voting vet member. Although we are a 100% volunteer organization we cannot function without money. Dues are $25 per year. Make checks payable to Florida Veterans for Common Sense and mail to Treasurer Julian Koss, 4180 Via Mirada, Sarasota, FL 34238.

All vets and our non-vet friends are encouraged to donate. Donations are not tax deductible for federal income tax purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.~Abraham Lincoln

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES VOTING RECORD VETERAN ISSUES

27 million American military veterans and the 2.6 million men and women currently serving in the United States military and their families hold an important role in the election of the next president. Florida Veterans for Common Sense believes being an informed voter is of vital importance in the selection of president. Here is the record of the two major 2008 presidential candidates on veteran issues.

RATINGS OF VARIOUS VETERANS ORGANIZATIONS:

Disabled American Veterans (DAV):

http://dav.capwiz.com/dav/scorecard.xc?chamber=S&session=1092&votescorecard=true

JOHN MCCAIN supported their interests 2006 20% 2005- 25% BARACK OBAMA supported their interest 2006 80% 2005-92%

Disabled American Veterans for America scorecard notes that JOHN MCCAIN has voted for veterans funding bills 30% of the time (though his history in senate is longer) and BARACK OBAMA has a 90% rating.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

http://www.iava.org/full-ratings-list

JOHN MCCAIN 2006 DBARACK OBAMA 2006 B+

Vietnam Veterans of America

http://politicsandhypocrisy.com/index.php?s=veteran+votes

JOHN MCCAIN Voted against them 17 out of their last 26 scored votes BARACK OBAMA Voted with them all but 1 time


VOTING RECORD ON VETERANS' ISSUES

Compiled from Project Vote Smart: http://www.votesmart.org/index.htm

5/22/2008 NEW GI Bill and other Domestic Provisions, Senate Amendment 4803 (This bill was supported by American Legion and VFW)

Project Vote Smart's Synopsis:Vote to adopt an amendment to HR 2642 that provides education funding for eligible members of the Armed Forces, extends unemployment compensation, establishes moratoria on certain actions regarding Medicaid, and appropriates a total of $28.67 billion for various domestic and international purposes.

JOHN MCCAIN NAY

BARACK OBAMA YEA



2/2/2006 Tax Extension Amendment HR 4297Project Vote Smart's Synopsis:Vote on a motion to waive the Budget Act in order to adopt an amendment that authorizes $21.9 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs and offsets the cost through changes made to tax rates on capital gains and dividends.

JOHN MCCAIN NAY

BARACK OBAMA YEA

1/17/2005 Additional Funding for Veterans Amendment S2020Project Vote Smart's Synopsis:Vote on a motion to waive the Budget Act in order to adopt an amendment that appropriates $500 million annually from 2006-2010 for counseling, mental health, and rehabilitation services for veterans diagnosed with mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, or substance abuse.

JOHN MCCAIN NAY

BARACK OBAMA YEA

10/5/2005 Health Care for Veterans Amendment HR 2863Project Vote Smart's Synopsis:Vote on a motion to waive the Budget Act to allow for adoption of an amendment that increases funding for the Veterans Health Administration in order to account for inflation and changes in the number of veterans using the health services.

JOHN MCCAIN NAY

BARACK OBAMA YEA

Information compiled from sited sources by Florida Veterans for Common Sense, Inc. 100 Wallace Ave. Suite 255, Sarasota, FL 34237 Flveterans@aol.com

The publication is not approved or authorized by any political candidate or campaign. Florida Veterans for Common Sense, Inc. is a non-profit, non-partisan veteran’s organization.

Vietnam Veterans should have been the warning for what we have now

With over 14,000 posts between two blogs, I have a hard time remembering what I already posted about. (26 years worth of information trapped in my brain does leave it a bit crowded in there.) Most of the time I'll find something I did while searching for information for a new video. That's how I came across this from 2006.

I had a rather lengthy rant this morning about how some people have avoided my work no matter what I know or what I have to back up what I post as much as they avoid passing on my videos. It's almost as if they give me any credit as a non-Republican, they will be giving aid and comfort to their enemy, instead of helping veterans. That's how ridiculous this division has become in this country. I do not make this claim without knowing what they themselves have admitted to, at least the honest ones anyway.

This post in 2006 was just part of the reason I was screaming for someone with the power to get things up to speed would do it, but they didn't listen and the people who did read what I wrote, did nothing either. For me I think about the veterans who committed suicide, were turned away from the VA because there was not enough time in the day for them, the families that fell apart and all of the veterans who joined the ranks of the homeless when none of it had to happen if someone, somewhere had listened back then. The only thing I had to gain and still have to gain is the knowledge that I did the best I could to help the veterans. I still have to wonder what the people who refused to help me had to gain by not doing it? Perhaps I'll never know but too many will never know either because they are no longer here.

Screaming In An Empty Room: VETERANS SUICIDE STATISTICS
Saturday, February 18, 2006
VETERANS SUICIDE STATISTICS

SUICIDE STATISTICS
According to a study by Tim A. Bullman and Han K. Yang in the Federal Practitioner 12 (3) : 9-13 (March 1995), "...no more than 20,000 Vietnam Veterans died of suicide from the time of discharge through the end of 1993". However there are others that claim that many more veterans have died of suicide since the Vietnam War.

In Chuck Deans' book, Nam Vet., printed in 1990 by Multnomah Press, Portland, Oregon, 97226, the author states that "Fifty-eight thousand plus died in the Vietnam War. Over 150,000 have committed suicide since the war ended". According to this book, Chuck Dean is a Vietnam Veteran who served in the 173rd Airborne, arriving in Vietnam in 1965. At the time the book was written, Mr. Dean was the executive director of Point Man International, a Seattle based, non-profit support organization dedicated to healing the war wounds of Vietnam Veterans.

While doing research for his novel, Suicide Wall, Alexander Paul contacted Point Man International and was given the name of a retired VA doctor, and conducted a phone interview with him. In that interview, the doctor related that his estimate of the number of Vietnam Veteran suicides was 200,000 men, and that the reason the official suicide statistics were so much lower was that in many cases the suicides were documented as accidents, primarily single-car drunk driving accidents and self inflicted gunshot wounds that were not accompanied by a suicide note or statement. According to the doctor, the under reporting of suicides was primarily an act of kindness to the surviving relatives.

If the estimate of over 150,000 veterans of the Vietnam War having committed suicide since returning home is true, the figure would be almost three times the number killed in the war. When these deaths are added to the 50,000 plus Vietnam War casualties, the number approaches the 292,000 American casualties of World War II.



http://www.suicidewall.com/SWStats.html





The stigma of mental illness, a commander's or a soldier's focus on their career, the worry about confidentiality -- all of these can prevent soldiers from getting the mental health counseling and help that they need. Explaining the problems are psychiatrist and author Jonathan Shay; Matthew Friedman, executive director of the VA's National Center for PTSD; VA psychiatrist Andrew Pomerantz; retired Navy psychologist Dennis Reeves; veterans' advocate and former Army Ranger Steve Robinson; Col. Thomas Burke, head of mental health policy for the Dept. of Defense; and Vietnam vet and VA counselor Jim Dooley. These excerpts are from their extended interviews.



http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/heart/themes/

FROM THE DAV STUDY

For approximately 500,000 veterans (Wilson 1978) of the combat in Southeast Asia, this problematic outlook has become a chronic lifestyle (referring to the obsessive connection with combat experiences) affecting not only the veterans but countless millions of persons who are in contact with these veterans. The symptoms described below are experienced by all Vietnam combat veterans to varying degrees. However, for some with the most extensive combat histories and other variables which have yet to be enumerated, Vietnam related problems have persisted in disrupting all areas of life experience. According to Wilson (1978) the number of veterans experiencing these symptoms will climb until 1985 based on his belief of Erickson's psychosocial developmental stages and how far along in these stages most combat veterans will be by 1985. Furthermore, without any intervention, what was once a reaction to a traumatic episode may for many become almost unchangeable personality characteristic.



As you can see the problems facing todays veterans with PTSD it becomes crucial to act as swiftly as possible to begin the healing process. Dismissing the effects on the human mind can, will and does determine the outcome, as we have seen with the number of suicides which have already claimed more lives needlessly.

By 1978 when Wilson conducted his study the number of Vietnam Veterans already diagnosed with PTSD was at 500,000. He stated the number of those who had PTSD would continue to rise. He was right. Today the VA is reporting veterans are presenting themselves for treatment from WWII and Korea, who up until now found that their own illnesses were passed off and excuses instead of treated. Sadly the numbers of Vietnam Veterans who have survived the war and the aftermath have fallen sharply. Jonathan Shay, a renowned psychologist and author has been treating these veterans. He places the number of those with PTSD from Vietnam in the 200,000 range. Suicide and substance abuse has claimed to many lives. When we speak of substance abuse with PTSD veterans, it is logical to think they are simply among the rest of society addicted to these substances. Most will not benefit from treatment programs for addiction because they are not addicted to the chemical itself, they are self medicating themselves. This would be the only reason the figures would drop so far so fast.

This is what our new generation of veterans face today and along with them their families and all those who interact with them on a daily basis. This cannot be allowed to continue.

Well there you have it. The Vietnam veterans should have been a clear warning of what we have now. Think of where we could have gotten if the right people had listened. kc

Frederick Police Officer Bremer died in fiery crash while pursuing driver

Funeral services being held for Frederick officer
Bremer died in fiery crash while pursuing driver
The Associated Press
8:55 AM EDT, October 29, 2008
MIDDLETOWN - A funeral service will be held today in Middletown for Frederick Police Officer Richard Bremer.

The 39-year-old Bremer died Thursday in a fiery crash while pursuing a driver. He was married and the father of three children.

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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-officer1029,0,1829169.story

Economy Issues Leading Veterans Away From McCain

Kevin E. Creed, a retired Army officer and Bronze Star recipient, is co-chairman of Connecticut Veterans for Obama. "John McCain is not going to get the majority of the veterans' vote, not in Connecticut and not nationwide," the Litchfield lawyer and former Connecticut state trooper says. (PATRICK RAYCRAFT / HARTFORD COURANT / October 23, 2008)

Economy Issues Leading Veterans Away From McCain
By RINKER BUCK The Hartford Courant
October 29, 2008

Even though he once voted for Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, Kevin E. Creed is co-chairman of Connecticut Veterans for Obama, an affiliate of Barack Obama's campaign that is dispatching volunteers to swing states and manning phone banks for Obama.

The strategists plotting war hero John McCain's electoral route to the White House have always been confident that they could count on the likes of Kevin E. Creed.

Creed, a Litchfield lawyer and former Connecticut state trooper, spent 17 years as an Army helicopter pilot before retiring from the military in 1996. After Sept. 11, 2001, Creed was one of 33 retired Army aviators who agreed to be recalled to meet the Pentagon's need for specialized officers during a national emergency.

At the age of 51, Creed left his prosperous Connecticut law practice, lost 40 pounds, dug his old logbooks and flight suits out of his attic and returned to duty as an Army major, traveling between Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait as the Army's theater aviation maintenance officer. In April 2003, Creed was shot down south of Baghdad and spent the night camping in the desert until he and his crew were rescued.

He retains one particularly strong memory from his service in Iraq.

The Powell endorsement has reverberated throughout the military establishment. For many undecided military voters, Powell's October surprise could legitimize a vote for Obama.

"It's a complete mistake to think that the Republicans will get the military vote," said Kim Brown, 48, of West Haven, an Air Force veteran who said she is planning to vote for Obama.

"Right now, the VA is either overloaded or cutting back on benefits like prescription drugs or physical therapy, and I have seen people coming back from Iraq paralyzed from their injuries, and they can't even get the wheelchair they need. A lot of us blame that on Bush policies — and McCain is very close to Bush."click link for more

This is one of the biggest reasons I am very angry with some of my Republican "friends" who cannot put politics aside when it comes to the way veterans have been treated by their own party. I don't make this stuff up and it's time they all paid attention to what is real and has been a nightmare for the troops and the veterans. kc

Sleeping 9 year old boy dies in north Harris County home invasion

Sleeping boy dies in north Harris County home invasion
By RUTH RENDON Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Oct. 29, 2008, 10:49AM

A 9-year-old boy was killed while sleeping in his north Harris County home early today and his father was wounded when a group of men — who may have targeted the wrong address — fired a fusillade of shots as they fled.

The attack occurred about 1:30 a.m. after the men had broken into a neighboring home, tied up a woman and ransacked her house, Harris County sheriff's deputies said.

Investigators were talking with the boy's mother, father and other relatives as they tried to determine who the attackers are and why they went to that neighborhood, in the 12100 block of East Hardy near Regena.

The boy who died in his bed was Cesar Armendarez, a third-grader at Stephens Elementary School in the Aldine school district, said his 18-year-old brother, Pedro Armendarez Jr
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6083554.html