Soldiers allege punishment over Christian show
By Joe Gould - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Sep 6, 2010 10:03:09 EDT
The Army is investigating allegations that soldiers were pressured to attend a Christian concert — and punished when they refused.
Pvt. Anthony Smith says he was one of 80 soldiers in Advanced Individual Training at Fort Eustis, Va., who were punished for opting not to attend a Christian rock concert on post. The soldiers were confined to their barracks, ordered to clean and were barred from using cell phones and other electronics, according to Smith and another soldier who asked to remain anonymous.
The Army is conducting an investigation into the incident, ordered by Lt. Gen. John E. “Jack” Sterling, Training and Doctrine Command chief of staff, TRADOC spokesman Harvey Perritt said. Perritt and a Fort Eustis spokesman declined to offer details while the investigation continues.
Col. Thomas Collins, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, said the military should not impose religious views on soldiers.
“It’s not a problem to hold a Christian rock concert on an Army post; it’s a problem if soldiers who didn’t want to attend were compelled to attend or feel punished for not attending,” he said. “That is not consistent with Army policy.”
read more here
Soldiers allege punishment over Christian show
I felt the same way when I wrote this,,,,,
Monday, August 23, 2010
Soldiers Punished for Refusing to Attend a Christian Rock Concert
There is nothing wrong with being a Christian. There is something very wrong with trying to force others to become one. There is nothing wrong with talking about the love of Christ. There is something wrong with trying to force someone to love Christ. There is nothing wrong with talking about your own faith, no matter which group you happen to belong to. There is something wrong with power being given to your denomination over others just as there is something wrong with the military doing any of this.Maybe you're devoted like I am but thinking of what Christ means in your own life was not forced on you. You had the right to decide which church to attend. Christians come from many different denominations and each has their own set of rules as well as beliefs. If you read this story based on your own faith then look deeper and know this isn't about just being a Christian, but a member of the selected group of Christians above all others. This isn't about making a choice of your own freewill but being forced to conform. This nation was built on the foundation of religious freedom and was defended by the blood of those who serve in the military. If you find no problem with these things going on in the military then you are not supporting your own faith, your own country or the troops.
click link for the rest of this
Monday, September 6, 2010
Winn Army Community Hospital hostage situation ends
Hostage situation at Fort Stewart ends without casualties
By the CNN Wire Staff
September 6, 2010 11:45 a.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: The gunman, an ex-soldier, had four weapons, base spokesman says
Gunman is taken into custody, spokesman says
"Everyone is safe," spokesman says
Check out a local report on the hostage situation from CNN affiliate WTOC-TV in Savannah, Georgia.
(CNN) -- A hostage situation that lasted about two hours at Fort Stewart, Georgia, ended Monday without injuries, and a gunman is in custody, a spokesman for the Army base said.
The gunman -- a former soldier -- entered the Winn Army Community Hospital at about 4 a.m. ET and demanded care, spokesman Kevin Larson said.
He immediately took one hostage and went to the third floor, which houses the behavioral health unit, where he held two more people at gunpoint, including a nurse practitioner, Larson said.
read more here
Hostage situation at Fort Stewart ends without casualties
linked from RawStory
By the CNN Wire Staff
September 6, 2010 11:45 a.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: The gunman, an ex-soldier, had four weapons, base spokesman says
Gunman is taken into custody, spokesman says
"Everyone is safe," spokesman says
Check out a local report on the hostage situation from CNN affiliate WTOC-TV in Savannah, Georgia.
(CNN) -- A hostage situation that lasted about two hours at Fort Stewart, Georgia, ended Monday without injuries, and a gunman is in custody, a spokesman for the Army base said.
The gunman -- a former soldier -- entered the Winn Army Community Hospital at about 4 a.m. ET and demanded care, spokesman Kevin Larson said.
He immediately took one hostage and went to the third floor, which houses the behavioral health unit, where he held two more people at gunpoint, including a nurse practitioner, Larson said.
read more here
Hostage situation at Fort Stewart ends without casualties
linked from RawStory
Labor Day would have been better if they spent the money making jobs
You really have to wonder what people are thinking when they have all this money but they are not spending it to make jobs for us,,,,,,,
Maybe, just maybe if they spent the money from the stimulus, we could have more jobs?
Unions, Democratic Party politicians rally for more jobs in Orlando
Updated: 3:26 p.m.
Sunshine, pulled pork, Democratic politics and festive live music could only go so far Monday to lift spirits at a Labor Day rally during this year's stagnant economy. Read more...
Maybe, just maybe if they spent the money from the stimulus, we could have more jobs?
September 5, 2010 Article
Florida slow to spend federal stimulus cash
By William E. Gibson, Washington Bureau
...40 percent of their share of federal stimulus money, a slow flow of funds that has...share. In all, about $5.7 billion of stimulus grants awarded to Florida has yet to...about slow spending is that much of the stimulus money is still coming, a time-release...
VA seeks land for 2 Fla. national cemetery sites
VA seeks land for 2 Fla. national cemetery sites
The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The Florida Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking land to develop two national cemeteries, one in Tallahassee and the other in central Fla.
A news release said Sunday the department was looking for interested landowners to sell or donate at least 200 acres of "contiguous and developable" land. The statement added that this would honor Florida's more than 1.6 million veterans, and could provide a closer location for loved ones to visit. The existing national cemeteries are in Pensacola and Jacksonville.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/06/1810476/va-seeks-land-for-2-fla-national.html#ixzz0yljkxwaT
The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The Florida Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking land to develop two national cemeteries, one in Tallahassee and the other in central Fla.
A news release said Sunday the department was looking for interested landowners to sell or donate at least 200 acres of "contiguous and developable" land. The statement added that this would honor Florida's more than 1.6 million veterans, and could provide a closer location for loved ones to visit. The existing national cemeteries are in Pensacola and Jacksonville.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/06/1810476/va-seeks-land-for-2-fla-national.html#ixzz0yljkxwaT
General Petraeus says troops will be at greater risk if Florida church burns Qurans
Petraeus Condemns U.S. Church's Plan to Burn Qurans
By JULIAN E. BARNES And MATTHEW ROSENBERG
KABUL—The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said the planned burning of Qurans on Sept. 11 by a Florida church could put the lives of American troops in danger and damage the war effort.
Gen. David Petraeus said the Taliban would exploit the demonstration for propaganda purposes, drumming up anger toward the U.S. and making it harder for allied troops to carry out their mission of protecting Afghan civilians.
"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort," Gen. Petraeus said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. "It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community."
go here for more
Petraeus Condemns U.S. Church Plan to Burn Qurans
By JULIAN E. BARNES And MATTHEW ROSENBERG
KABUL—The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said the planned burning of Qurans on Sept. 11 by a Florida church could put the lives of American troops in danger and damage the war effort.
Gen. David Petraeus said the Taliban would exploit the demonstration for propaganda purposes, drumming up anger toward the U.S. and making it harder for allied troops to carry out their mission of protecting Afghan civilians.
"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort," Gen. Petraeus said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. "It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community."
go here for more
Petraeus Condemns U.S. Church Plan to Burn Qurans
Navy Cross recipient continues to help Marines
Navy Cross recipient continues to help Marines
By Jeb Phillips - The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch
Posted : Saturday Sep 4, 2010 16:35:02 EDT
COLUMBUS, Ohio — One of the most highly decorated Marines during the war in Iraq had to drink to fall asleep.
He once tried to kill himself.
This was after Jeremiah Workman’s tour in Fallujah, where on Dec. 23, 2004, he demonstrated such extraordinary heroism that he was awarded the Navy Cross.
Workman, a retired staff sergeant, led three assaults into a house where insurgents had trapped other Marines. Injured by grenade shrapnel, he helped save many of those Marines and kill 24 insurgents.
Workman, now 27, originally is from Richwood and was a high-school football player. He tells these biographical details to current and retired Marines, including the ones he has recently spoken with in Ohio.
“I wasn’t broken before I went in,” he tells them. “I’m you.”
He still goes to counseling, he says, and he still takes medicine for post-traumatic stress disorder. If a football player, not to mention a Navy Cross recipient, admits that he needed help after a deployment, maybe other Marines will admit it, too.
go here for more
Navy Cross recipient continues to help Marines
also
Navy Cross Citation for Jeremiah W. Workman
A Hero Who Did not Save Himself
For Jeremiah Workman, Decorated for Bravery in Iraq, the Battle's Not Over Yet
By Peter Carlson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Despite heavy resistance from enemy automatic weapon fire and a barrage of grenades, Corporal Workman fearlessly. . .
Jeremiah Workman stood at attention and tried to listen as the narrator read the citation that detailed what he'd done to earn the Navy Cross, an award for valor that is second only to the Medal of Honor.
. . . Corporal Workman again exposed himself to enemy fire while providing cover fire for the team when an enemy grenade exploded directly in front of him, causing shrapnel wounds to his arms and legs . . .
He was standing on the parade ground, facing a grandstand packed with hundreds of people, including his wife and his mother. Behind him were several hundred Marine recruits who were about to graduate from boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., where Workman had recently lost his job as a drill instructor after he suffered what he calls a "mental meltdown."
. . . Although injured, he led a third assault into the building, rallying his team one last time to extract isolated Marines . . .
When the narrator finished reading the story of Workman's "extraordinary heroism" in Iraq, Brig. Gen. Richard T. Tryon pinned the Navy Cross to Workman's chest and the crowd in the grandstand stood and cheered. It was a moment of well-deserved triumph, but it didn't make Workman feel any better.
"When they put that medal on me, from that point on, I sunk deeper into depression," he recalls. "Everybody says it must be awesome to win the Navy Cross. Well, as a matter of fact, it's not. I lost three guys that day, so for the longest time, I didn't even want to wear it. I'd look down at it and see three dead Marines."
click links for more of these
By Jeb Phillips - The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch
Posted : Saturday Sep 4, 2010 16:35:02 EDT
COLUMBUS, Ohio — One of the most highly decorated Marines during the war in Iraq had to drink to fall asleep.
He once tried to kill himself.
This was after Jeremiah Workman’s tour in Fallujah, where on Dec. 23, 2004, he demonstrated such extraordinary heroism that he was awarded the Navy Cross.
Workman, a retired staff sergeant, led three assaults into a house where insurgents had trapped other Marines. Injured by grenade shrapnel, he helped save many of those Marines and kill 24 insurgents.
Workman, now 27, originally is from Richwood and was a high-school football player. He tells these biographical details to current and retired Marines, including the ones he has recently spoken with in Ohio.
“I wasn’t broken before I went in,” he tells them. “I’m you.”
He still goes to counseling, he says, and he still takes medicine for post-traumatic stress disorder. If a football player, not to mention a Navy Cross recipient, admits that he needed help after a deployment, maybe other Marines will admit it, too.
go here for more
Navy Cross recipient continues to help Marines
also
Navy Cross Citation for Jeremiah W. WorkmanSgt. Jeremiah Workman was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism while on duty in Fallujah. "Almost any infantry Marine would have done what I did," he says. (By Sarah L. Voisin -- The Washington Post)
A Hero Who Did not Save Himself
For Jeremiah Workman, Decorated for Bravery in Iraq, the Battle's Not Over Yet
By Peter Carlson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Despite heavy resistance from enemy automatic weapon fire and a barrage of grenades, Corporal Workman fearlessly. . .
Jeremiah Workman stood at attention and tried to listen as the narrator read the citation that detailed what he'd done to earn the Navy Cross, an award for valor that is second only to the Medal of Honor.
. . . Corporal Workman again exposed himself to enemy fire while providing cover fire for the team when an enemy grenade exploded directly in front of him, causing shrapnel wounds to his arms and legs . . .
He was standing on the parade ground, facing a grandstand packed with hundreds of people, including his wife and his mother. Behind him were several hundred Marine recruits who were about to graduate from boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., where Workman had recently lost his job as a drill instructor after he suffered what he calls a "mental meltdown."
. . . Although injured, he led a third assault into the building, rallying his team one last time to extract isolated Marines . . .
When the narrator finished reading the story of Workman's "extraordinary heroism" in Iraq, Brig. Gen. Richard T. Tryon pinned the Navy Cross to Workman's chest and the crowd in the grandstand stood and cheered. It was a moment of well-deserved triumph, but it didn't make Workman feel any better.
"When they put that medal on me, from that point on, I sunk deeper into depression," he recalls. "Everybody says it must be awesome to win the Navy Cross. Well, as a matter of fact, it's not. I lost three guys that day, so for the longest time, I didn't even want to wear it. I'd look down at it and see three dead Marines."
click links for more of these
Soldier from Titusville killed in Afghanistan
Florida soldier killed in Afghanistan
A Florida man was among four soldiers killed in Afghanistan this week, the Pentagon announced Friday.
Enemy forces used a roadside bomb on Tuesday to attack the vehicle in which Pfc. James A. Page, 23, of Titusville was riding in Logar province, a Department of Defense announcement said.
Page, whose specialty was as a driver, enlisted in the Army in 2008. He was promoted to the rank of specialist posthumously.
Read more: Florida soldier killed in Afghanistan
A Florida man was among four soldiers killed in Afghanistan this week, the Pentagon announced Friday.
Enemy forces used a roadside bomb on Tuesday to attack the vehicle in which Pfc. James A. Page, 23, of Titusville was riding in Logar province, a Department of Defense announcement said.
Page, whose specialty was as a driver, enlisted in the Army in 2008. He was promoted to the rank of specialist posthumously.
Read more: Florida soldier killed in Afghanistan
PTSD Assistance Needed In Christchurch
PTSD Assistance Needed In Christchurch
September 5, 2010
The Royal New Zealand College of Genereal Practitioners is calling on health agencies to ensure the longer-term emotional after-effects of the earthquake are dealt with appropriately.
College deputy president, Dr Tony Townsend said it is likely that some people will suffer post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of the magnitude 7.1 earthquake.
"It's normal for people to feel anxious after a major event like this, and most people will recover.
"However, some people, especially women, children and the eldery, may continue to feel anxious for longer periods and it is essential that these people see their general practitioner.
"Parents and teachers of younger children should keep an eye on their charges over coming weeks to note any signs of behaviour change."
Dr Townsend said it is essential that health agencies plan and organise for enough trained people to be available at that time to assist people in need.
"Trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy is widely reecognised as the most effective intervention for PTSD," he said.
read more here
PTSD Assistance Needed In Christchurch
September 5, 2010
The Royal New Zealand College of Genereal Practitioners is calling on health agencies to ensure the longer-term emotional after-effects of the earthquake are dealt with appropriately.
College deputy president, Dr Tony Townsend said it is likely that some people will suffer post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of the magnitude 7.1 earthquake.
"It's normal for people to feel anxious after a major event like this, and most people will recover.
"However, some people, especially women, children and the eldery, may continue to feel anxious for longer periods and it is essential that these people see their general practitioner.
"Parents and teachers of younger children should keep an eye on their charges over coming weeks to note any signs of behaviour change."
Dr Townsend said it is essential that health agencies plan and organise for enough trained people to be available at that time to assist people in need.
"Trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy is widely reecognised as the most effective intervention for PTSD," he said.
read more here
PTSD Assistance Needed In Christchurch
Habitat for Humanity gets grant to build for a veteran
Habitat for Humanity gets grant to build for a veteran
Applications will be taken one day only in October
Posted: September 4, 2010
By DeAnn Komanecky
RINCON - Effingham County Habitat for Humanity volunteers are on the hunt for a little land - and one lucky veteran.
Habitat was notified this week they will receive a $10,000 grant to build a home for a local veteran, said George Groce, development director of Effingham Habitat for Humanity.
The grant is from the Ferland Foundation for a Habitat Women's Build project.
The next step will be to identify a veteran and then find land for the home.
"We just got news of the grant this week, but we've already been talking to the American Legion and will also be checking with Alpha Battery for possibilities," Groce said.
read more here
Habitat for Humanity gets grant to build for a veteran
Applications will be taken one day only in October
Posted: September 4, 2010
By DeAnn Komanecky
RINCON - Effingham County Habitat for Humanity volunteers are on the hunt for a little land - and one lucky veteran.
Habitat was notified this week they will receive a $10,000 grant to build a home for a local veteran, said George Groce, development director of Effingham Habitat for Humanity.
The grant is from the Ferland Foundation for a Habitat Women's Build project.
The next step will be to identify a veteran and then find land for the home.
"We just got news of the grant this week, but we've already been talking to the American Legion and will also be checking with Alpha Battery for possibilities," Groce said.
read more here
Habitat for Humanity gets grant to build for a veteran
Fort Richardson soldier found dead at home
Authorities investigate soldier's death
The Associated Press
Published: September 5th, 2010
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Authorities are investigating the death of a Fort Richardson soldier at his Eagle River home.
Army officials say the soldier's wife called 911 when she found her husband unresponsive late Saturday night.
Read more: Authorities investigate soldier death
The Associated Press
Published: September 5th, 2010
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Authorities are investigating the death of a Fort Richardson soldier at his Eagle River home.
Army officials say the soldier's wife called 911 when she found her husband unresponsive late Saturday night.
Read more: Authorities investigate soldier death
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Marine's dying wish for Afghanistan's children lives on
Marine's dying wish turns to reality
By Jessica Bowman – email
GULFPORT, MS (WLOX) - Thousands of school supplies will be sent over seas to help students trying to receive an education. During the Gulfport High School pep rally Friday supplies were presented to one woman who is helping make those students achieve their goal.
Pens and Paper for Peace is the name of the project in memory of Matthew Freeman. Freeman was serving in the United States Marine Corps in Afghanistan. While there, he noticed local children were struggling for school supplies. He said they treasured those items more than anything else. After Freeman was killed in the line of duty his family wanted to carry on his compassion for helping those children in need of school supplies.
The crowd roared with enthusiasm preparing to hand over their generous donations.
Theresa Freeman said, "My husband, Matthew Freeman, when he deployed to Afghanistan, he was very impressed with how the children were hungry for education and paper. They wanted that more than food and he told his mom that the last time he talked to her."
So, Freeman's mother and his widow Theresa Freeman decided Matthew's legacy could live on through the lives of children.
read more here
Marine dying wish turns to reality
By Jessica Bowman – email
GULFPORT, MS (WLOX) - Thousands of school supplies will be sent over seas to help students trying to receive an education. During the Gulfport High School pep rally Friday supplies were presented to one woman who is helping make those students achieve their goal.
Pens and Paper for Peace is the name of the project in memory of Matthew Freeman. Freeman was serving in the United States Marine Corps in Afghanistan. While there, he noticed local children were struggling for school supplies. He said they treasured those items more than anything else. After Freeman was killed in the line of duty his family wanted to carry on his compassion for helping those children in need of school supplies.
The crowd roared with enthusiasm preparing to hand over their generous donations.
Theresa Freeman said, "My husband, Matthew Freeman, when he deployed to Afghanistan, he was very impressed with how the children were hungry for education and paper. They wanted that more than food and he told his mom that the last time he talked to her."
So, Freeman's mother and his widow Theresa Freeman decided Matthew's legacy could live on through the lives of children.
read more here
Marine dying wish turns to reality
Soldier back from Iraq killed back home
Police: Fatal shooting may have been domestic dispute
SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - Savannah-Chatham Metro police detectives are investigating a fatal shooting of an Army staff sergeant.
Police said that Staff Sgt. Michael A. Sams, 36, recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq may have been shot during a domestic dispute with his wife.
read more here
http://www.wtoc.com/Global/story.asp?S=13103825
SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - Savannah-Chatham Metro police detectives are investigating a fatal shooting of an Army staff sergeant.
Police said that Staff Sgt. Michael A. Sams, 36, recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq may have been shot during a domestic dispute with his wife.
read more here
http://www.wtoc.com/Global/story.asp?S=13103825
Don't just sit there, cry
Don't just sit there, cry
by
Chaplain Kathie
Living in the lightening capital of the country, the sky fills with dark clouds and you know what's coming. Soon the sky grows darker taking over the light of the Florida sun. It gets darker and darker. Then comes the rolling thunder as rain comes down so hard it feels as if your skin is on fire. Lightening strikes so fierce you cannot look away. Everyone for miles around cannot escape the fact the storm is here. They see it. They hear it. They feel it. They fear it.
We can all understand the power of the storms but what we cannot understand is what is left behind unless it happens to us. There are homes set on fire by lightening strikes but it doesn't happen all the time, doesn't happen to every home and doesn't change every life, so it's hard to know what it feels like to someone else.
Some storms are so powerful they take out electricity in neighborhoods. Since most of these storms come when air conditioners are essential, there is no way to cool off as heat penetrates the walls making it unbearable. With no way to know where the storm is, where it is going as communication ends, we don't know if it will get worse or how long it will last or when our suffering will end. We wait listening to the rain and thunder putting our lives on hold. Should the storms come at night, we light candles trying to break up some of the darkness we are surrounded by but the candles are not enough to light every part of our homes and we need to walk around with candles so that we don't trip and fall.
Then the rain stops pounding turning into a soft shower. The dark clouds move on to someone else's neighborhood. We hear the distant thunder knowing the danger has passed over us. The sky slowly turns clear again and then we know it's going to return to normal soon. The power comes back on and we get on with our lives.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a lot like thunderstorms. Everyone in the area suffers pretty much the same way but some suffer more from the same event. Some lose power for longer periods of time, so as one neighborhood returns to life as normal, another is still suffering until it is their turn to get their power back on. While most homes are spared a direct hit of lightening, some will end up seeing this storm was just too much for them and their lives were sent into turmoil. It will take a lot out of them and take much longer for them to get over this storm everyone else has moved on from.
My job is to make the journey from darkness easier to get through, to help other neighbors understand that there are people who did not see the clouds clear and their lives return back to where they were before but above all, it is to make people cry.
It may sound heartless but I am delighted when a Vietnam veteran emails me because I made them cry. It has been far too long they felt as if they couldn't. I get emails from Gulf War veterans, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and from families. Now and then I'll hear from a cop or a spouse, a firefighter and then from members of the National Guards with a blended life of being deployed into combat and then facing traumatic events right here back home as a cop or firefighter.
If I can touch a veteran and make them cry, it is because I got them to understand that what they have been feeling is not so impossible for someone else to understand and see. They don't feel so alone. It is almost as if a sledgehammer has begun to take down the wall they have been living trapped behind. If I make a spouse cry, it is because they can finally understand what someone they love has been living with and then understand why their own lives have been filled with thunderstorms.
These comments were left when I had my videos up on YouTube.
comment on em PTSD Not God's Judgment
my faith was gone...i'm in tears and want to say thanks
comment on A Homeless Veteran's Day
This brought me to tears. Damn good job with the video. It's abominable that we treat our vets like that... and the way some treat these people is even more so.
There are a lot more I save to keep me going when I want to stop. When veterans email me, most of the time they write about crying. I am happy when this happens because it means the walls around their soul are coming down. It means that the pain they had trapped is leaving them so that good feelings can enter in.
This email pretty much says it all.
PTSD and cops - my husband
The other morning around 4 am, my husband (XXXXX Police for 17 years, 3 shootings, all lethal, and a million horrible experiences later because he worked in the worst part of XXXXX for 10 years) woke me after he had only had about 1 1/2 hrs of sleep to watch your video. I believe God led him to it because he doesn't like computers and for him to even find it was a miracle. We've been married for 19 years.
He's been in treatment for PTSD for about 6 months now, and you need to know that your video mirrored our life. He doesn't feel so alone now, and I'm not so angry when he takes off for a few hours, not even knowing what triggered the event (he rarely even remembers much anyway).
He's beginning EMDR therapy, and although it will be hard, after watching your video he understands that he has to keep going to his appointments faithfully to get better. He's had suicidal thoughts and before we even knew what was happening he ended up on a mountainside with a gun in his mouth, not able to go to work. He barely even remembers it. He had to take FMLA leave, and thankfully his doctors were able to word everything correctly as to not "rubber gun" him (make him not able to use his weapon, which would basically put you somewhere in nowheresville being a policeman).
I just want to thank you for your video and if you know how I can volunteer somehow to help veterans or anyone effected by PTSD (a shelter?), I want to make a difference, as you have. I especially want the world to know that cops can be affected by this, and it is so often shoved under the table with police. I know that it is real and my husband and I have both discussed the fact that if I had ever left him, he would have quit his job and quite possibly be homeless. I am believing that someday, after therapy, through prayer and through my precious Lord Jesus Christ, our life will have some normalcy again.
Thank you so much for giving us hope.
Emails like these keep reminding me that this is the way the military and the VA need to go. They need to let everyone know what it feels like to be subjected to a thunderstorm of trauma touching everyone's life but allowing some to just go back to "normal" while changing the lives of others to different levels of darkness.
We need everyone in the neighborhood of the USA to see the clouds move in as darkness takes over. Hear the thunder rolling across the sky and feel the rain of grief. Too many are suffering needlessly, feeling alone, believing the power to get back to "normal" will not be turned back on for them and others find all they had is gone. None of what they are going through has to happen if they all understand why they should cry and begin to heal. As with thunderstorms the hard rain (hard cry) soon turns into a soft shower and then the darkness moves on allowing the sun to shine again lighting their lives.
While my videos are hard to watch they are intended to make you cry and to understand that the darkness can move away from your life. So dont' just sit there suffering. Cry and begin to heal.
The rest of my videos are on the sidebar of this blog.
But it is not just men who suffer in darkness. It is women too.
This was sent from the man who wrote the lyrics to this beautiful song. It shows that after all these years, his message is still reaching out to so many people in need and so is he.
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.
For the last three years I have been living in Jerusalem, Israel, volunteering with a ministry that helps feed the poor and homeless of the city (regardless of ethnicity). As a lay chaplain myself, and as a follower of Jesus Christ, the Scripture I use as a "signature", both in the addictions ministry I worked for six years in Canada and now here in feeding the poor, is Galatians 6:9 NIV, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Those last six words are indicative of a diligence with which you seem to have been blessed.
I may not have known it at the time, but I now believe with all my heart that while it might have been me who held the pen when I wrote those lyrics, the words that fell on the page were inspired by the Holy Spirit himself. The darkness of the "hardest times" you are so faithfully trying to expose to the Light is not the first time Wildflower has been a blessing to others - and it is my sincere prayer that it won't be the last.
It is also my prayer that the Lord will go before you in this venture, and that your heartfelt efforts will help to set captives free (Isaiah 61).
Blessings again, in Christ Jesus...
Dave Richardson
We can get the storms to pass if we all do what we can when we can, no matter how small we think the effort is. No one has to be in the darkness when there are so many ready and willing to light the candles.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Sen. Simpson, Don’t Blame Vietnam Veterans for Our Nation’s “Fiscal Mess"
Sent by email. It shows that if the American people really do care about our veterans, they need to decide. Do we owe them a debt that has not been paid or do we again ask them to sacrifice even more? How much more can our veterans be asked to give when the rich in this country want more and more? Contractors are not the military. They make money off of the men and women asked to risk their lives. They make money off war itself. Yet the same members of congress refusing to hold them accountable for one dime are now saying that yet again the burden has to come from those willing to risk their lives for the sake of this country. That is exactly what the Vietnam veterans did and after 40 years some in congress want them to keep paying and sacrificing at the exact time we have new veterans coming into the long lines of the VA wondering what their future will look like if it is this bad now! America needs to stand with our veterans or stand in front of them the next time there is a war to fight.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
A Vietnam Veteran Responds: Sen. Simpson, Don’t Blame Vietnam Veterans for Our Nation’s “Fiscal Mess”
It's Time for All State Council President's To Join John's Call To Action!
September 3, 2010
By John Weiss,
President Rhode Island State Council, Vietnam Veterans of America
(Providence)--We hear that some in Congress are calling on America’s Vietnam veterans to slow down the Agent Orange “gravy train”—this because the price tag for caring for our war-related health problems is one that some would like not to pay.One former senator is even going so far as to implicitly question our patriotism. Sen. Simpson heaps praise on Vietnam veterans for having “saved this country.” This strange and long-overdue recognition, however, is merely his preface to the admonishment that follows: “The veterans who saved this country are now, in a way, not helping us to save the country in this fiscal mess.”
Sen. Simpson’s remarks are directed at an AP news story reporting that diabetes is the most frequently compensated disease among Vietnam veterans. I sincerely hope that Sen. Simpson is not calling on Vietnam veterans to sit back and allow Congress to turn their backs on our sick brother and sisters, thus allowing our “leaders” to renege on Lincoln’s promise, “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and orphan”? When our leaders send the nation’s sons and daughters off to war, they must be prepared to pay the full price—and in this case, the price for one of the longest, most divisive wars in our modern history is high, that we don’t deny.
Though we Vietnam veterans are aging, our short-term memories have yet to fail: We remember, not so long ago, when our Congress voted for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), authorizing the Department of the Treasury to purchase or insure troubled assets as a way to save the financial institutions And we also remember when certain CEOs of these same financial institutions, bailed out by U.S. taxpayer dollars, continued to pay themselves excessive bonuses, with U.S. taxpayer dollars. We wondered then what was happening to our country. And now we know.
The projected cost of TARP continues to fluctuate over time, depending on the source. According to a report issued in March 2010, by the Congressional Budget Office, the cost of the TARP program over the next ten years is estimated at $109 billion. In August 2010, however, the Treasury Department estimated that TARP program would cost $105 billion. The ten-year projected cost of caring for our veterans suffering from the contested Agent Orange-related war wounds, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, is $42.2 billion. Let’s ask the American people where they would rather their tax dollars go. We stand with our fellow citizens in every community, all across our great nation.
We stand with our newest generation of veterans and with all veterans. Our fight is their fight. They are us, and we are them. And years down the road, how we prevail in Congress today will foreshadow how they will prevail as they age and become us. We support our newest generation of warriors for they are our sons and daughters, those whom we honor when they go off to battle and those whom we honor when they come home—you see, warriors are generation bound. A strong country relies on a strong defense. And we are your defenders. So when you deliberate, remember that our country’s future relies, not on those corporate lobbyists who flash through Congress’s halls, but on us, its citizens. And if nothing else, come election time, we will be leading our families to the polls.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Mrs. Kelley - From: Glenda Kelley (on behalf of Charles)
blogger's note: perhaps our participation in the economic ruin of our country isn't quite as malicious as seen by Senator Simpson...I think this was the part that angered me the most. Who do they think ordered the spraying of all the chemicals that were used, the same government that was told by all the scientists "do not do this" not only did they do it but mixed it in quantities far and above the recommended usage. The "miracle" turning into milk and honey is almost laughable. My husband was an engineer. He made lots more money working than he will ever make in disability payments from the VA. Do they really think these men wouldn't rather be physically fit and able to work and play and travel or maybe just live to see their 65th birthday. Yes heart disease can be a condition of old age but many of these men have been suffering from it for 20 yrs or more ...just because it is just now being recognized does not mean its because they are now old. In the ranch hand transcripts it was noted that they were not seeing increases in cancer because the men were dying of heart disease before the cancers had a chance to develop. We need to do something before these people spread enough of these lies to kill any chances we have of getting what all our Vietnam Veterans (by land and sea) deserve.Come up with a plan and count the Kelley's in.
Glenda
via Paul Sutton
Agent Orange Victims & Widows Support Network
Home Of The Agent Orange Quilt Of Tears
http://www.agentorangequiltoftears.com~Sacrifice is meaningless without remembrance~
Soldier's home foreclosed while she was serving abroad
Soldier's home foreclosed while she was serving abroad
"I couldn't believe it," Capt. Tania Garcia said. "I was in shock."
By Jeff Weiner and Gary Taylor, Orlando Sentinel
10:47 p.m. EDT, September 3, 2010
Army Capt. Tania Garcia said she was on active duty in South Korea when she got the news.
Garcia's Realtor informed her that her south Orange condominium had been foreclosed upon. Suddenly, a soldier serving abroad had no home to return to.
"I couldn't believe it," Garcia said. "I was in shock."
More shocking news was ahead. Court files from the foreclosure showed an affidavit had been filed that stated Garcia was not in the active military and that the notice of foreclosure was served on her husband.
Two problems: Garcia said this week she was on active duty — and she is not married. Now, Garcia is fighting to win back the home she thinks was taken from her unfairly.
Garcia fell victim to a foreclosure process in which the most important element is the time it takes from start to finish, said Jeff Kaufman, senior partner with KEL Attorneys.
Garcia's condo initially was bought back by Flagstar Bank and then resold, Kaufman said. But because of errors in serving notice in the case, his law firm was able to persuade a judge to throw out the sale, he said.
read more here
Soldier home foreclosed while she was serving abroad
"I couldn't believe it," Capt. Tania Garcia said. "I was in shock."
By Jeff Weiner and Gary Taylor, Orlando Sentinel
10:47 p.m. EDT, September 3, 2010
Army Capt. Tania Garcia said she was on active duty in South Korea when she got the news.
Garcia's Realtor informed her that her south Orange condominium had been foreclosed upon. Suddenly, a soldier serving abroad had no home to return to.
"I couldn't believe it," Garcia said. "I was in shock."
More shocking news was ahead. Court files from the foreclosure showed an affidavit had been filed that stated Garcia was not in the active military and that the notice of foreclosure was served on her husband.
Two problems: Garcia said this week she was on active duty — and she is not married. Now, Garcia is fighting to win back the home she thinks was taken from her unfairly.
Garcia fell victim to a foreclosure process in which the most important element is the time it takes from start to finish, said Jeff Kaufman, senior partner with KEL Attorneys.
Garcia's condo initially was bought back by Flagstar Bank and then resold, Kaufman said. But because of errors in serving notice in the case, his law firm was able to persuade a judge to throw out the sale, he said.
read more here
Soldier home foreclosed while she was serving abroad
Leo students see faces of war
Leo students see faces of war
Vietnam Memorial replica coming to school.
By Sarah Janssen
The lights switched off and a photo was projected on the wall of a group of men, Vietnam veterans, most with thick hair and mustaches.
“Which one was shot in the leg four times?” asked one student. His history teacher at Leo Junior-Senior High School, Mike Lance, pointed to the photo. “This guy,” he said.
On Friday, Lance finished the Vietnam War lecture he began earlier this week to the seventh-grade class.
Teachers at Leo have incorporated the war into English and history lessons throughout the week to prepare students for the arrival of a traveling half-size replica of the Vietnam War Memorial wall called the Wall That Heals and the accompanying Agent Orange Quilt of Tears. Both honor veterans who died in the war or from complications and injuries from the war.
Vietnam Memorial replica coming to school.
By Sarah Janssen
The lights switched off and a photo was projected on the wall of a group of men, Vietnam veterans, most with thick hair and mustaches.
“Which one was shot in the leg four times?” asked one student. His history teacher at Leo Junior-Senior High School, Mike Lance, pointed to the photo. “This guy,” he said.
On Friday, Lance finished the Vietnam War lecture he began earlier this week to the seventh-grade class.
Teachers at Leo have incorporated the war into English and history lessons throughout the week to prepare students for the arrival of a traveling half-size replica of the Vietnam War Memorial wall called the Wall That Heals and the accompanying Agent Orange Quilt of Tears. Both honor veterans who died in the war or from complications and injuries from the war.
See exhibit
♦The Wall That Heals and the Agent Orange Quilt of Tears will be on display 24 hours a day 6 p.m. Wednesday-dusk Sunday at Leo Junior-Senior High School, 14600 Amstutz Road.
♦The Wall That Heals will be in the south lot of Leo and the Agent Orange Quilt of Tears will be in the front entryway of the school.
♦An opening ceremony honoring local fallen soldiers will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
♦A traveling museum and information center will be available.
Staff Sergeant William Castillo, wounded in Iraq, gets new home in Orlando
Wounded vet gets new home
By Lisa Bell, Anchor
Last Updated: Friday, September 03, 2010 9:17 AM
ORLANDO --
A wounded soldier has a new place to call home in Central Florida thanks to some local volunteers.
Staff Sergeant William Castillo received a purple heart for his service in Iraq-- it was the home this soldier and his family had been hoping for.
A renovated, 5 bedroom south Orlando home, built by the hands of volunteers who thought Staff Sergeant William Castillo deserved a gift for his work in Iraq.
"Being a husband and a father this is what you want to be able to provide for your family," said wounded veteran William Castillo.
Castillo was hit with 5 bullets after an IED exploded under his Humvee in Iraq.
read more here
Wounded vet gets new home
By Lisa Bell, Anchor
Last Updated: Friday, September 03, 2010 9:17 AM
ORLANDO --
A wounded soldier has a new place to call home in Central Florida thanks to some local volunteers.
Staff Sergeant William Castillo received a purple heart for his service in Iraq-- it was the home this soldier and his family had been hoping for.
A renovated, 5 bedroom south Orlando home, built by the hands of volunteers who thought Staff Sergeant William Castillo deserved a gift for his work in Iraq.
"Being a husband and a father this is what you want to be able to provide for your family," said wounded veteran William Castillo.
Castillo was hit with 5 bullets after an IED exploded under his Humvee in Iraq.
read more here
Wounded vet gets new home
211 Spotlights Suicide Awareness and Prevention for US Veterans
211 Spotlights Suicide Awareness and Prevention for US Veterans
pagewoodward
TCPalm
Posted September 3, 2010
September 3, 2010-During the month of September, the mental health community is highlighting the need for National and Global Suicide Awareness and Prevention. In the US an average of 30,000 individuals commit suicide yearly. In fact one person dies from suicide every 16 minutes. Veterans make up 20% of the yearly deaths, at double the rates of other populations with an average of 18 suicides per day. This has many health and human service professionals alarmed.
It is estimated that there are nearly 2 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to date, most of whom have served multiple tours. This translates into more and more veterans who are returning with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and other mental health issues. Left untreated, these elevate the risk for suicide and if coupled with substance abuse, the proverbial “time bomb waiting to go off” theme comes into play.
read more here
211 Spotlights Suicide Awareness and Prevention for US Veterans
pagewoodward
TCPalm
Posted September 3, 2010
September 3, 2010-During the month of September, the mental health community is highlighting the need for National and Global Suicide Awareness and Prevention. In the US an average of 30,000 individuals commit suicide yearly. In fact one person dies from suicide every 16 minutes. Veterans make up 20% of the yearly deaths, at double the rates of other populations with an average of 18 suicides per day. This has many health and human service professionals alarmed.
It is estimated that there are nearly 2 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to date, most of whom have served multiple tours. This translates into more and more veterans who are returning with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and other mental health issues. Left untreated, these elevate the risk for suicide and if coupled with substance abuse, the proverbial “time bomb waiting to go off” theme comes into play.
read more here
211 Spotlights Suicide Awareness and Prevention for US Veterans
Driver in Marine Recruit Fatal Crash Wants Lower Bond
Driver in Marine Recruit Fatal Crash Wants Lower Bond
A man accused of causing a traffic crash that killed three Marine recruits is asking the court to reduce his bond.
Driver in Marine Recruit Fatal Crash
Related Links
Driver Surrenders, Charged with Death of 3 Recruits
Truck Driver Accused in Marine Recruit Deaths Back in Court
Grand Jury Hears Evidence in Marine Recruit Fatal Accident
Marine Recruit Accident: What Really Happened
Three Marine Recruits Die in Warren Township Accident
A man accused of causing a traffic crash that killed three Marine recruits is asking the court to reduce his bond.
read more of this hereWilliams is accused of driving the vehicle that crashed into a Marine recruiters car March 31 killing Zachery A. Nolen, Joshua A. Sherbourne and Michael T. Theodore Jr. The crash also injured three others.
Driver in Marine Recruit Fatal Crash
Related Links
Driver Surrenders, Charged with Death of 3 Recruits
Truck Driver Accused in Marine Recruit Deaths Back in Court
Grand Jury Hears Evidence in Marine Recruit Fatal Accident
Marine Recruit Accident: What Really Happened
Three Marine Recruits Die in Warren Township Accident
Fort Hood takes aim at stigma of needing help
The more I think about what needs to be done, the more I am convinced a huge part of this is being missed. We've talked about getting them to understand that considering what they survived, PTSD is one of the results for those able to feel things deeply. The more they are able to feel, the deeper they are also able to feel pain. For them, they don't just walk away with their own pain but pain felt from the suffering of others. This is what haunts them. We've talked about the need for more therapists to be ready for them to talk to and sort it all out. Medications to help level off the chemical balance in their brains. Family involvement and getting them to understand how they react has a lot to do with how much healing can happen. Early treatment to prevent full blown PTSD. The list goes on. But one other fact about their character stands out and we cannot avoid talking about it.
Pride. Not the kind of pride that tells them they are better than PTSD or the kind of pride that tells them they will look weak to the people in their lives. The kind of pride that a "helper" feels when they are the ones always being ready to help also being the last to ask for help.
I know that feeling well. I am the type of person always rushing to help someone else but I also find it nearly impossible to ask for help when I need it. "I should be able to do it all." "If I need help someone out there needs it more than I do." While this type of personality does not look down at the people we help, when we need it, we feel we shouldn't need it at all.
To explain this take two houses on fire. An average person will take care of their own home first and then go help the neighbor. If one of the homes belongs to a firefighter, they will help the neighbor first and then take care of what is left of their own home. They are that devoted to helping others.
For the men and women in the military, it's the same devotion few average people come close to understanding. For the members of the National Guard and Reserves, it is more deeply rooted within them. They are ready 24-7 risking their lives in other countries as well as in their own states or other states depending on the level of the emergency.
I give time, hours when I can but they are willing to give their lives. As hard as it is for me to ask for help, for them it is nearly impossible. Once they understand they cannot help anyone if they are falling apart, losing sleep and suffering, they are more willing to ask for help. If they are approached by someone pointing out that there is a need for help for them alone, they have a hard time being willing to accept it.
We've gotten the message through to a lot of veterans and servicemen/women that there is a reason PTSD has entered into their lives and a lot have sought help but too many still refuse to ask. If we are going to reach them, they need to know asking for help will help them to be able to help others again.
A lot of veterans I talk to want one thing out of healing. The ability to help other veterans like themselves. Often they want to do this while they are just beginning to heal. This happens more often with Vietnam veterans than the newer generation. It is in their nature to help and if this feature of their character is understood and supported, they want it. It helps them to put the fire out in their own home first so they can take care of their neighbor better.
Pride. Not the kind of pride that tells them they are better than PTSD or the kind of pride that tells them they will look weak to the people in their lives. The kind of pride that a "helper" feels when they are the ones always being ready to help also being the last to ask for help.
I know that feeling well. I am the type of person always rushing to help someone else but I also find it nearly impossible to ask for help when I need it. "I should be able to do it all." "If I need help someone out there needs it more than I do." While this type of personality does not look down at the people we help, when we need it, we feel we shouldn't need it at all.
Fort Hood takes aim at stigma as it battles record suicide pace
Officials hope role-playing sends message to soldiers: It's OK to get help.
By Jeremy Schwartz
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, Sept. 3, 2010
FORT HOOD — Inside a darkened theater, camouflage-wearing soldiers shuffle toward their seats to confront an enemy that has taken record numbers of their comrades in the past year.
On the stage, four actors re-enact a situation in which a soldier who recently returned from war describes the pain and hopelessness he feels but doesn't know how to handle. Jamey Gadoury , an Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, interrupts the action and talks directly to the troops, many of whom are about to deploy to Iraq next month.
"We talk a lot as an Army about warrior culture," he says. "As an Army we know what courage on the battlefield looks like. The question is, when it comes to a life-and-death situation with a buddy, can I dig deep to that same sense of courage?"
This sprawling Army post, the nation's largest, is set to pass an unwelcome milestone. Through July, officials say there have been 14 confirmed or suspected suicides of Fort Hood soldiers, eclipsing last year's total by three and matching the total in 2008, which saw the most suicides of Fort Hood soldiers since the wars began. The spike at Fort Hood comes as the suicide rate for the whole Army doubled between 2005 and 2009, leaving military leaders searching for answers and scrambling to implement suicide prevention measures.
"The Army realized too late that there was a very serious problem," Gen. Peter Chiarelli , the vice chief of staff for the Army, wrote in a report last month that provided a stark assessment of the Army's suicide prevention efforts.
read more here
Fort Hood takes aim at stigma
To explain this take two houses on fire. An average person will take care of their own home first and then go help the neighbor. If one of the homes belongs to a firefighter, they will help the neighbor first and then take care of what is left of their own home. They are that devoted to helping others.
For the men and women in the military, it's the same devotion few average people come close to understanding. For the members of the National Guard and Reserves, it is more deeply rooted within them. They are ready 24-7 risking their lives in other countries as well as in their own states or other states depending on the level of the emergency.
I give time, hours when I can but they are willing to give their lives. As hard as it is for me to ask for help, for them it is nearly impossible. Once they understand they cannot help anyone if they are falling apart, losing sleep and suffering, they are more willing to ask for help. If they are approached by someone pointing out that there is a need for help for them alone, they have a hard time being willing to accept it.
We've gotten the message through to a lot of veterans and servicemen/women that there is a reason PTSD has entered into their lives and a lot have sought help but too many still refuse to ask. If we are going to reach them, they need to know asking for help will help them to be able to help others again.
A lot of veterans I talk to want one thing out of healing. The ability to help other veterans like themselves. Often they want to do this while they are just beginning to heal. This happens more often with Vietnam veterans than the newer generation. It is in their nature to help and if this feature of their character is understood and supported, they want it. It helps them to put the fire out in their own home first so they can take care of their neighbor better.
Medal of Honor finally for Richard Etchberger KIA in Laos
Richard Etchberger was killed in Laos by N. Vietnamese.
Forty-two years on, a posthumous award for a Pa. veteran
By Robert Moran
Inquirer Staff Writer
Richard Etchberger died in Laos in 1968, saving fellow Americans at a top-secret radar station overrun by North Vietnamese commandos.
Etchberger, who grew up north of Reading, was nominated that year for the Medal of Honor. But there was a problem: The United States was not supposed to have troops in Laos. President Lyndon B. Johnson declined to award the medal.
On July 7 of this year, Etchberger's son, Cory, received a phone call. "Will you please hold for the president?" a woman asked.
President Obama then told Cory Etchberger that his father would finally receive the Medal of Honor.
"It's been a long time coming," Obama told Etchberger, 51, of Schwenksville, Montgomery County.
Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20100904_Forty-two_years_on__a_posthumous_award_for_a_Pa__veteran.html#ixzz0yYqPVph0
Watch sports videos you won't find anywhere else
Friday, September 3, 2010
Unemployment numbers drop for younger veterans
Being back in college myself I can tell you a lot of them went back to school. Yes, this old lady is back in college taking tech classes on digital media and post production. There is usually a line at the VA service clerks desk in the financial aid office. You can spot them walking around campus because of the way they carry themselves. You can spot a Marine a lot quicker than a soldier because of the way they walk. I still have to admit that when I talk to a young female student, I can't tell if they were in Iraq or Afghanistan or right out of high school until they tell me.
Unemployment numbers drop for younger veterans
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Sep 3, 2010 15:46:33 EDT
The unemployment rate for Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans dropped sharply in August but rose for other veterans and for the general population, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The drop in unemployment may not be good news — part of the reason for the decline could be that some younger veterans have stopped looking for work.
In their Friday release of August employment statistics, the BLS, an arm of the Labor Department, reports the national unemployment rate rose one-tenth of a percentage point to 9.6 percent.
For all veterans over age 18, the unemployment rate climbed from 8.4 percent in July to 8.7 percent in August. One year ago, it was 7.7 percent.
go here for more
Unemployment numbers drop for younger veterans
Medevac door gunner takes bullet to her helmet in rescue
Gunner takes bullet to helmet in rescue
By Jake Lowary - The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf-Chronicle
Posted : Friday Sep 3, 2010 16:22:42 EDT
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Spc. Patricia Fowler says the Taliban got a lucky shot off, but she was glad to take the bullet.
Fowler, a crew chief and door gunner on a Black Hawk medevac helicopter in southern Afghanistan, earned the Purple Heart following that incident in May in which she was fractions of an inch from a much more serious injury, probably death.
“I was just doing my job, and they happened to get a lucky shot off,” she said in a phone interview from Afghanistan with The Leaf-Chronicle.
Fowler is part of Task Force Shadow and B Company, 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. In May, she was on a helicopter that was in the role of “medical chase,” providing air support to another helicopter sent to pick up wounded Marines.
“I feel worse for those guys than I do for us,” she said of her fellow aviators, who set down in the midst of Taliban gunfire to rescue the wounded Americans.
read more here
Gunner takes bullet to helmet in rescue
By Jake Lowary - The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf-Chronicle
Posted : Friday Sep 3, 2010 16:22:42 EDT
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Spc. Patricia Fowler says the Taliban got a lucky shot off, but she was glad to take the bullet.
Fowler, a crew chief and door gunner on a Black Hawk medevac helicopter in southern Afghanistan, earned the Purple Heart following that incident in May in which she was fractions of an inch from a much more serious injury, probably death.
“I was just doing my job, and they happened to get a lucky shot off,” she said in a phone interview from Afghanistan with The Leaf-Chronicle.
Fowler is part of Task Force Shadow and B Company, 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. In May, she was on a helicopter that was in the role of “medical chase,” providing air support to another helicopter sent to pick up wounded Marines.
“I feel worse for those guys than I do for us,” she said of her fellow aviators, who set down in the midst of Taliban gunfire to rescue the wounded Americans.
read more here
Gunner takes bullet to helmet in rescue
Soldier survived brutal deployment
Shooter’s troubled soul: Soldier survived brutal deployment
By Matthew D. LaPlante
The Salt Lake Tribune
Sep 3, 2010
A U.S. Army soldier who was killed in a shootout with police in downtown Salt Lake City on Friday afternoon had suffered through a brutal combat tour in Afghanistan, where he survived mortar attacks, sniper ambushes, roadside bomb blasts and a suicide bombing — and in which he took the lives of several enemy fighters, according to soldiers who served with him.
Just days after returning home from the war, Brandon Barrett was cited for driving under the influence of alcohol after police found him asleep and intoxicated behind the wheel of his car at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in western Washington. Fellow soldiers say that Barrett went AWOL on July 19 shortly after being berated for the incident in front of his comrades by a senior soldier.
“We all thought he was going to take a month or two and come back,” said one of Barrett’s fellow soldiers. “I guess that wasn’t his plan.”
The factors leading up to Barrett’s death in Salt Lake City may never be clear, but friends and family members say the Army appears to have quickly washed its hands of Barrett after he left, leaving a clearly troubled soldier to his own devices just weeks after returning home from war.
read the rest here
Soldier survived brutal deployment
By Matthew D. LaPlante
The Salt Lake Tribune
Sep 3, 2010
A U.S. Army soldier who was killed in a shootout with police in downtown Salt Lake City on Friday afternoon had suffered through a brutal combat tour in Afghanistan, where he survived mortar attacks, sniper ambushes, roadside bomb blasts and a suicide bombing — and in which he took the lives of several enemy fighters, according to soldiers who served with him.
Just days after returning home from the war, Brandon Barrett was cited for driving under the influence of alcohol after police found him asleep and intoxicated behind the wheel of his car at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in western Washington. Fellow soldiers say that Barrett went AWOL on July 19 shortly after being berated for the incident in front of his comrades by a senior soldier.
“We all thought he was going to take a month or two and come back,” said one of Barrett’s fellow soldiers. “I guess that wasn’t his plan.”
The factors leading up to Barrett’s death in Salt Lake City may never be clear, but friends and family members say the Army appears to have quickly washed its hands of Barrett after he left, leaving a clearly troubled soldier to his own devices just weeks after returning home from war.
read the rest here
Soldier survived brutal deployment
Soldier found dead at Fort Stewart
Soldier found dead at Fort Stewart
By Associated Press
September 2, 2010
For the AJC
FORT STEWART, Ga. -- Investigators at Fort Stewart are trying to determine what caused the death of a military policeman whose body was found on the Army post.
Fort Stewart spokesman Kevin Larson said Wednesday investigators are awaiting results of an autopsy on the soldier, who was found unresponsive by Fort Stewart police inside a building Tuesday.
The dead soldier was identified as Maj. Paul A. Egli, a military policeman from Thompson Station, Tenn.
Larson said investigators were withholding further information about the death until they received the autopsy results.
The Army says Egli had served in uniform since 1981. He had been stationed at Fort Stewart for the past year. http://www.ajc.com/news/soldier-found-dead-at-605191.html
By Associated Press
September 2, 2010
For the AJC
FORT STEWART, Ga. -- Investigators at Fort Stewart are trying to determine what caused the death of a military policeman whose body was found on the Army post.
Fort Stewart spokesman Kevin Larson said Wednesday investigators are awaiting results of an autopsy on the soldier, who was found unresponsive by Fort Stewart police inside a building Tuesday.
The dead soldier was identified as Maj. Paul A. Egli, a military policeman from Thompson Station, Tenn.
Larson said investigators were withholding further information about the death until they received the autopsy results.
The Army says Egli had served in uniform since 1981. He had been stationed at Fort Stewart for the past year. http://www.ajc.com/news/soldier-found-dead-at-605191.html
GOP want to cut budget by hitting veterans
I have no clue what the hell happened to Republicans in Congress but this is what they have been doing behind the backs of veterans for a long time. This is not new and frankly didn't make it into the 24/7 cable news shows. When Congress was debating the VA budget during the ticking time bomb of wounded veterans entering into the VA system, GOP in congress said they couldn't afford to increase the VA budget to take care of them because "There are two wars to pay for." Yes, that's right and if you watched CSPAN you would have heard these words come right out of their mouth with absolutely no shame. After all, when it came to defense contractors, they demanded money to just flow in if other congressmen "supported the troops" they had to support the missions without hesitation. They didn't seem to make the same connection in their own heads when it came to really taking care of the troops and our wounded.
They want to keep going on the tax breaks for the wealthy claiming it's all about jobs but after all these years, the average American is still asking when these breaks for the rich will make any jobs. We're still working with the budget giving the rich money off our backs, but again, the media has not thought this was an important point to make when they talk about how much the average American in hurting. Well if that wasn't enough to get our blood boiling these same folks now say support the rich by letting the wounded veterans suck it up and give up their own lives and futures as if they have not already done that.
When members of the GOP called the VA a welfare program, the mass media ignored it. They were too busy letting the talking heads spout off about how the tax cuts for the rich were needed and covering every single word Sarah Palin tweeted about what she just ate for breakfast. They never once confronted her on the fact for every dollar the people of Alaska paid out in taxes, the state got $5 back,,,,,,in other words, tax breaks worked for them but she complains about paying taxes? What? Yet this makes sense? Rich? Hell ya they should get all they wanted after all they already paid to put the bodies in congress to watch their backs so screw the rest of the American people and the veterans.
If you heard a tenth of the things I've heard coming out of their mouths you'd want to send each and everyone of them to Iraq and Afghanistan with combat boots on and a pack on their backs to see what it was really like for the wounded coming home. A few of them went with a military escort protecting them so they never really understood what it was really like and they were in safe zones just to show up and get a picture taken with some real heroes.
The truth is members of the GOP in congress stopped being real Republicans a long time ago. I used to find many of them deeply committed to the military and veterans but then things changed. They started to vote against them while they pretended to care. Now they don't even bother to pretend they give a damn at all. They'll show up at meetings and talk about how the nation has to support the troops and honor veterans but they are not including themselves in on that. They just expect the American people to take over what they want the government to stop doing. When it came time to really show they had the backs of the men and women risking their lives, the GOP had out a dagger in perfect position to drive the knife straight in without ever once having to look into the eyes of the men and women they just betrayed!
So why not tell corporations to pull up their own bootstraps and pitch in? Why not ask them to be patriotic in this time of crisis? Why not? Because while the veterans were so deeply patriotic they were willing to die for this country, the corporations have proven their are selfish and only care about themselves, what they can get out of this nation and what they can retire on. Think I'm wrong? Then ask them why it is when NAFTA was passed and they were able to set up businesses outside the US hiring foreign workers, they not only jumped at the chance but demanded the right to do it more? Ask them why when two wars were going on and contractors were sent in more than the troops were, why they thought they could get away with the way they were treating the troops, getting pay outs for cost plus contracts and then decided it was in their best interests to just pay fines for what they did? Because that would make sense to the American people but would make a lot of really rich people upset enough they stopped backing these BS superstars we were suckered into sending to congress.
The same folks who said no to reform of the health insurance industry did it off our backs siding with the corporations. Did the American people notice this? Nope and for the most part, they are ticked off the things the congress has managed to do were just not big enough or fast enough even though with the Democrats in the majority of the House, they have passed more bills waiting for some in the Senate to stop blocking debate. We're all suffering while they hold our futures for ransom thinking if things are bad enough no one will remember how we ended up like this in the first place.
I've been angry for a long time but even this one is just about the lowest blow the GOP could ever pull off. Telling wounded veterans they are not patriotic enough because they want what we promised them is the lowest level of depravity. This is not a handout! They paid for it with their lives for 4 years and even more in too many cases while the elected in congress ended up doing a couple of years of living off what the men and women serving risking their lives provided them with. This democracy of ours was provided by the men and women who served this nation since it was begun and now people like Simpson are saying they just haven't done enough? Now do you get the idea why people like me are furious?
They want to keep going on the tax breaks for the wealthy claiming it's all about jobs but after all these years, the average American is still asking when these breaks for the rich will make any jobs. We're still working with the budget giving the rich money off our backs, but again, the media has not thought this was an important point to make when they talk about how much the average American in hurting. Well if that wasn't enough to get our blood boiling these same folks now say support the rich by letting the wounded veterans suck it up and give up their own lives and futures as if they have not already done that.
When members of the GOP called the VA a welfare program, the mass media ignored it. They were too busy letting the talking heads spout off about how the tax cuts for the rich were needed and covering every single word Sarah Palin tweeted about what she just ate for breakfast. They never once confronted her on the fact for every dollar the people of Alaska paid out in taxes, the state got $5 back,,,,,,in other words, tax breaks worked for them but she complains about paying taxes? What? Yet this makes sense? Rich? Hell ya they should get all they wanted after all they already paid to put the bodies in congress to watch their backs so screw the rest of the American people and the veterans.
If you heard a tenth of the things I've heard coming out of their mouths you'd want to send each and everyone of them to Iraq and Afghanistan with combat boots on and a pack on their backs to see what it was really like for the wounded coming home. A few of them went with a military escort protecting them so they never really understood what it was really like and they were in safe zones just to show up and get a picture taken with some real heroes.
The truth is members of the GOP in congress stopped being real Republicans a long time ago. I used to find many of them deeply committed to the military and veterans but then things changed. They started to vote against them while they pretended to care. Now they don't even bother to pretend they give a damn at all. They'll show up at meetings and talk about how the nation has to support the troops and honor veterans but they are not including themselves in on that. They just expect the American people to take over what they want the government to stop doing. When it came time to really show they had the backs of the men and women risking their lives, the GOP had out a dagger in perfect position to drive the knife straight in without ever once having to look into the eyes of the men and women they just betrayed!
GORDON DUFF: TWO WARS LOST, AN UNGRATEFUL NATION NOW TURNS ON ITS VETERANS
September 3, 2010 posted by Gordon Duff
CONGRESS PLANS “STEALTH ATTACK” ON VETERANS BENEFITS
By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor
A week ago, we marched out of Iraq, leaving 50,000 “administrative” troops and tens of thousands of contractors behind. They perform no useful purpose of any kind, no more than the original attack which Secretary of Defense Robert Gates now openly refers to as unnecessary and wrong. The war that never should have started cost America 3 trillion dollars, much of it unaccounted for. Along with the thousands of American dead and the untold devastation in Iraq, the war also cost America health and welfare of up to 400,000 of her veterans, America’s children. A generation of young adults, another generation of our best and bravest stand betrayed.
We have money for fraud of every kind, projects paid for but never finished, weapons stolen, defective or never delivered, buying poisoned water for our troops at 5 times the cost of French Wine, I could go on for hours, the list is endless.
read more here
AN UNGRATEFUL NATION NOW TURNS ON ITS VETERANS
So why not tell corporations to pull up their own bootstraps and pitch in? Why not ask them to be patriotic in this time of crisis? Why not? Because while the veterans were so deeply patriotic they were willing to die for this country, the corporations have proven their are selfish and only care about themselves, what they can get out of this nation and what they can retire on. Think I'm wrong? Then ask them why it is when NAFTA was passed and they were able to set up businesses outside the US hiring foreign workers, they not only jumped at the chance but demanded the right to do it more? Ask them why when two wars were going on and contractors were sent in more than the troops were, why they thought they could get away with the way they were treating the troops, getting pay outs for cost plus contracts and then decided it was in their best interests to just pay fines for what they did? Because that would make sense to the American people but would make a lot of really rich people upset enough they stopped backing these BS superstars we were suckered into sending to congress.
The same folks who said no to reform of the health insurance industry did it off our backs siding with the corporations. Did the American people notice this? Nope and for the most part, they are ticked off the things the congress has managed to do were just not big enough or fast enough even though with the Democrats in the majority of the House, they have passed more bills waiting for some in the Senate to stop blocking debate. We're all suffering while they hold our futures for ransom thinking if things are bad enough no one will remember how we ended up like this in the first place.
I've been angry for a long time but even this one is just about the lowest blow the GOP could ever pull off. Telling wounded veterans they are not patriotic enough because they want what we promised them is the lowest level of depravity. This is not a handout! They paid for it with their lives for 4 years and even more in too many cases while the elected in congress ended up doing a couple of years of living off what the men and women serving risking their lives provided them with. This democracy of ours was provided by the men and women who served this nation since it was begun and now people like Simpson are saying they just haven't done enough? Now do you get the idea why people like me are furious?
VA Secretary Addresses TBI Conference
VA Secretary Addresses Traumatic Brain Injury Conference
WASHINGTON (August 30, 2010) - Recognizing the longstanding, integrated
collaboration shared by the Department of Veterans Affairs and
Department of Defense, VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki gave the keynote
address Monday at the fourth annual Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Military Training Conference here.
"We--DoD and VA--simply cannot afford to be less than aggressive in our
effort to identify, treat and rehabilitate TBI victims," Shinseki told
the approximately 1,000 military, VA and civilian health care workers at
the conference sponsored by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center
(DVBIC).
The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center was established by
Congress in 1992. DoD and VA together offer clinical care, research and
education on traumatic brain injury. DVBIC is the operational component
of the Defense Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and
Traumatic Brain Injury.
In praise of the collaborative DVBIC model, Secretary Shinseki said it
should be replicated for all military personnel transitioning to VA
care, and not just for TBI or burn care.
"When it comes to DoD's patients, there is a network of information and
hands-on human care," the Secretary said, "that helps a wounded warrior
transition from one system to the other-- from the battlefield to our
polytrauma centers."
There are DVBIC researchers assigned at each of the four VA Polytrauma
Rehabilitation Centers (Tampa, Richmond, Minneapolis and Palo Alto)
where they gather information regarding care of patients with TBI,
analyze and translate this information into recommendations to improve
care, and educate providers in implementing those improvements
clinically.
DVBIC and VA have shared, and continue to collaborate, on many
significant initiatives. Recent examples include developing and
implementing:
* Joint DoD/VA clinical practice guidelines for TBI;
* Materials and information for families and caregivers of
Veterans with TBI;
* Integrated education and training curriculum, and joint
training on TBI of VA and DoD heath care providers;
* A Congressionally-mandated 5-year pilot program to assess the
effectiveness of providing assisted living services to Veterans with
TBI;
* The TBI Screening tool used for all Veterans who served in
Iraq or Afghanistan and are receiving care within VA; and
* A specialized Emerging Consciousness Care program at the four
polytrauma centers to serve those Veterans with severe TBI who are also
slow to recover consciousness.
WASHINGTON (August 30, 2010) - Recognizing the longstanding, integrated
collaboration shared by the Department of Veterans Affairs and
Department of Defense, VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki gave the keynote
address Monday at the fourth annual Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Military Training Conference here.
"We--DoD and VA--simply cannot afford to be less than aggressive in our
effort to identify, treat and rehabilitate TBI victims," Shinseki told
the approximately 1,000 military, VA and civilian health care workers at
the conference sponsored by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center
(DVBIC).
The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center was established by
Congress in 1992. DoD and VA together offer clinical care, research and
education on traumatic brain injury. DVBIC is the operational component
of the Defense Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and
Traumatic Brain Injury.
In praise of the collaborative DVBIC model, Secretary Shinseki said it
should be replicated for all military personnel transitioning to VA
care, and not just for TBI or burn care.
"When it comes to DoD's patients, there is a network of information and
hands-on human care," the Secretary said, "that helps a wounded warrior
transition from one system to the other-- from the battlefield to our
polytrauma centers."
There are DVBIC researchers assigned at each of the four VA Polytrauma
Rehabilitation Centers (Tampa, Richmond, Minneapolis and Palo Alto)
where they gather information regarding care of patients with TBI,
analyze and translate this information into recommendations to improve
care, and educate providers in implementing those improvements
clinically.
DVBIC and VA have shared, and continue to collaborate, on many
significant initiatives. Recent examples include developing and
implementing:
* Joint DoD/VA clinical practice guidelines for TBI;
* Materials and information for families and caregivers of
Veterans with TBI;
* Integrated education and training curriculum, and joint
training on TBI of VA and DoD heath care providers;
* A Congressionally-mandated 5-year pilot program to assess the
effectiveness of providing assisted living services to Veterans with
TBI;
* The TBI Screening tool used for all Veterans who served in
Iraq or Afghanistan and are receiving care within VA; and
* A specialized Emerging Consciousness Care program at the four
polytrauma centers to serve those Veterans with severe TBI who are also
slow to recover consciousness.
VA Publishes Final Regulation to Aid Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange
VA Publishes Final Regulation to Aid Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange
VA Health Care and Benefits Provided for Many Vietnam Veterans
WASHINGTON (August 30, 2010)- Veterans exposed to herbicides while
serving in Vietnam and other areas will have an easier path to access
quality health care and qualify for disability compensation under a
final regulation that will be published on August 31, 2010 in the
Federal Register by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The new
rule expands the list of health problems VA will presume to be related
to Agent Orange and other herbicide exposures to add two new conditions
and expand one existing category of conditions.
"Last October, based on the requirements of the Agent Orange Act of
1991 and the Institute of Medicine's 2008 Update on Agent Orange, I
determined that the evidence provided was sufficient to award
presumptions of service connection for these three additional diseases,"
said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "It was the right
decision, and the President and I are proud to finally provide this
group of Veterans the care and benefits they have long deserved."
The final regulation follows Shinseki's determination to expand the list
of conditions for which service connection for Vietnam Veterans is
presumed. VA is adding Parkinson's disease and ischemic heart disease
and expanding chronic lymphocytic leukemia to include all chronic B cell
leukemias, such as hairy cell leukemia.
In practical terms, Veterans who served in Vietnam during the war and
who have a "presumed" illness don't have to prove an association between
their medical problems and their military service. By helping Veterans
overcome evidentiary requirements that might otherwise present
significant challenges, this "presumption" simplifies and speeds up the
application process and ensure that Veterans receive the benefits they
deserve.
The Secretary's decision to add these presumptives is based on the
latest evidence provided in a 2008 independent study by the Institute of
Medicine concerning health problems caused by herbicides like Agent
Orange.
Veterans who served in Vietnam anytime during the period beginning
January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, are presumed to have been
exposed to herbicides.
More than 150,000 Veterans are expected to submit Agent Orange claims in
the next 12 to 18 months, many of whom are potentially eligible for
retroactive disability payments based on past claims. Additionally, VA
will review approximately 90,000 previously denied claims by Vietnam
Veterans for service connection for these conditions. All those awarded
service-connection who are not currently eligible for enrollment into
the VA healthcare system will become eligible.
This historic regulation is subject to provisions of the Congressional
Review Act that require a 60-day Congressional review period before
implementation. After the review period, VA can begin paying benefits
for new claims and may award benefits retroactively for earlier periods.
For new claims, VA may pay benefits retroactive to the effective date of
the regulation or to one year before the date VA receives the
application, whichever is later. For pending claims and claims that
were previously denied, VA may pay benefits retroactive to the date it
received the claim.
VA encourages Vietnam Veterans with these three diseases to submit their
applications for access to VA health care and compensation now so the
agency can begin development of their claims.
Individuals can go to a website at
Claims
to get an
understanding of how to file a claim for presumptive conditions related
to herbicide exposure, as well as what evidence is needed by VA to make
a decision about disability compensation or survivors benefits.
Additional information about Agent Orange and VA's services for Veterans
exposed to the chemical is available at Public Health Exposures to Agent Orange
The regulation is available on the Office of the Federal Register
website at OFR.gov
VA Health Care and Benefits Provided for Many Vietnam Veterans
WASHINGTON (August 30, 2010)- Veterans exposed to herbicides while
serving in Vietnam and other areas will have an easier path to access
quality health care and qualify for disability compensation under a
final regulation that will be published on August 31, 2010 in the
Federal Register by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The new
rule expands the list of health problems VA will presume to be related
to Agent Orange and other herbicide exposures to add two new conditions
and expand one existing category of conditions.
"Last October, based on the requirements of the Agent Orange Act of
1991 and the Institute of Medicine's 2008 Update on Agent Orange, I
determined that the evidence provided was sufficient to award
presumptions of service connection for these three additional diseases,"
said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "It was the right
decision, and the President and I are proud to finally provide this
group of Veterans the care and benefits they have long deserved."
The final regulation follows Shinseki's determination to expand the list
of conditions for which service connection for Vietnam Veterans is
presumed. VA is adding Parkinson's disease and ischemic heart disease
and expanding chronic lymphocytic leukemia to include all chronic B cell
leukemias, such as hairy cell leukemia.
In practical terms, Veterans who served in Vietnam during the war and
who have a "presumed" illness don't have to prove an association between
their medical problems and their military service. By helping Veterans
overcome evidentiary requirements that might otherwise present
significant challenges, this "presumption" simplifies and speeds up the
application process and ensure that Veterans receive the benefits they
deserve.
The Secretary's decision to add these presumptives is based on the
latest evidence provided in a 2008 independent study by the Institute of
Medicine concerning health problems caused by herbicides like Agent
Orange.
Veterans who served in Vietnam anytime during the period beginning
January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, are presumed to have been
exposed to herbicides.
More than 150,000 Veterans are expected to submit Agent Orange claims in
the next 12 to 18 months, many of whom are potentially eligible for
retroactive disability payments based on past claims. Additionally, VA
will review approximately 90,000 previously denied claims by Vietnam
Veterans for service connection for these conditions. All those awarded
service-connection who are not currently eligible for enrollment into
the VA healthcare system will become eligible.
This historic regulation is subject to provisions of the Congressional
Review Act that require a 60-day Congressional review period before
implementation. After the review period, VA can begin paying benefits
for new claims and may award benefits retroactively for earlier periods.
For new claims, VA may pay benefits retroactive to the effective date of
the regulation or to one year before the date VA receives the
application, whichever is later. For pending claims and claims that
were previously denied, VA may pay benefits retroactive to the date it
received the claim.
VA encourages Vietnam Veterans with these three diseases to submit their
applications for access to VA health care and compensation now so the
agency can begin development of their claims.
Individuals can go to a website at
Claims
understanding of how to file a claim for presumptive conditions related
to herbicide exposure, as well as what evidence is needed by VA to make
a decision about disability compensation or survivors benefits.
Additional information about Agent Orange and VA's services for Veterans
exposed to the chemical is available at Public Health Exposures to Agent Orange
The regulation is available on the Office of the Federal Register
website at OFR.gov
PTSD: The battle after the war
PTSD: The battle after the war
Edmonds woman starts support group for veterans
By Mina Williams
Enterprise editor
EDMONDS -- For armed services men and women returning stateside, fear can become a ghost haunting them in daily life, more frightening than the firestorms and improvised explosive devices they encountered abroad. For these veterans, a new war begins at home with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
“Admitting you have PTSD is like admitting you are a bad soldier,” said Dedie Davis, an Edmonds resident and wife of a veteran. Davis' husband asked not to be identified.
Watching her husband struggle to adjust to life in Edmonds spurred her to create Operation Open Arms in 2006. The relief and support network is for veterans with PTSD, an anxiety disorder triggered by witnessing events that cause intense fear, and others suffering from post-combat angst.
Although the organization has been supported through casual donations, Davis is spearheading an event Sept. 1o aimed at raising funds to provide support for veterans with PTSD.
read more here
PTSD The battle after the war
also you can watch the video I made.
Edmonds woman starts support group for veterans
By Mina Williams
Enterprise editor
EDMONDS -- For armed services men and women returning stateside, fear can become a ghost haunting them in daily life, more frightening than the firestorms and improvised explosive devices they encountered abroad. For these veterans, a new war begins at home with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
“Admitting you have PTSD is like admitting you are a bad soldier,” said Dedie Davis, an Edmonds resident and wife of a veteran. Davis' husband asked not to be identified.
Watching her husband struggle to adjust to life in Edmonds spurred her to create Operation Open Arms in 2006. The relief and support network is for veterans with PTSD, an anxiety disorder triggered by witnessing events that cause intense fear, and others suffering from post-combat angst.
Although the organization has been supported through casual donations, Davis is spearheading an event Sept. 1o aimed at raising funds to provide support for veterans with PTSD.
read more here
PTSD The battle after the war
also you can watch the video I made.
U.S. military chaplain killed in Afghanistan
For first time in Iraq or Afghanistan wars, U.S. military chaplain is killed
Editor's Note: CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor Eric Marrapodi and CNN Producer Paul Vercammen filed this report.
For the first time in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a U.S. military chaplain has been killed in action.
On August 30, U.S. Army chaplain Capt. Dale Goetz, 43, was killed in the Arghandab River Valley in Afghanistan, when the convoy he was traveling in was struck by an improvised explosive device, according to the Department of Defense. Four other soldiers also were killed in the attack.
Goetz was serving as the battalion chaplain for the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment.
Friends and co-workers said Goetz was a dedicated father and chaplain. He leaves behind a wife and three sons.
The Army's chief of chaplains, Maj. Gen. Douglas Carver, said in a statement, "Dale was a selfless servant of God, a devoted husband and father, a strong American patriot, and a compassionate spiritual leader whose love for Soldiers was only surpassed by his firm commitment to living his calling as a United States Army Chaplain."
go here for more
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/02/chaplain-killed-in-action/
Editor's Note: CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor Eric Marrapodi and CNN Producer Paul Vercammen filed this report.
For the first time in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a U.S. military chaplain has been killed in action.
On August 30, U.S. Army chaplain Capt. Dale Goetz, 43, was killed in the Arghandab River Valley in Afghanistan, when the convoy he was traveling in was struck by an improvised explosive device, according to the Department of Defense. Four other soldiers also were killed in the attack.
Goetz was serving as the battalion chaplain for the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment.
Friends and co-workers said Goetz was a dedicated father and chaplain. He leaves behind a wife and three sons.
The Army's chief of chaplains, Maj. Gen. Douglas Carver, said in a statement, "Dale was a selfless servant of God, a devoted husband and father, a strong American patriot, and a compassionate spiritual leader whose love for Soldiers was only surpassed by his firm commitment to living his calling as a United States Army Chaplain."
go here for more
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/02/chaplain-killed-in-action/
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Ex-Senator Simpson doesn't think Vietnam Vets are worth taking care of
I was watching Countdown last night because I heard a friend of mine and of all veterans, Paul Sullivan was going to be on the show. Low and behold, I was stunned to hear what Senator Simpson had to say about Vietnam veterans and Agent Orange. When veterans are treated like this behind their backs, the whole nation should be outraged!
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
OLBERMANN: On Monday, the secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki, announced what he called a long overdue rule delivering justice to some of America's veterans-- long overdue in the sense, meaning, since the Vietnam War.
But in our fourth story: a top Republican is unhappy about the rule and he's blaming the veterans. Secretary Shinseki's announcement was about Agent Orange. Agent Orange-- the toxic defoliant which America dumped on Vietnam to kill the growth of plants that were used as cover by the Viet Cong. More than 19 million gallons of herbicides were sprayed during the war. Most of it, Agent Orange, sprayed on inland forests near Vietnam's borders, north of Saigon, and on a mangrove forest lining Saigon's shipping channels -- meaning it was not just killing trees. It was being breathed in by American soldiers. Soldiers who did not know exposure would later be linked to potentially fatal conditions such a Hodgkin's disease, soft tissue cancers and non- Hodgkin's lymphoma. So, in 1991, Congress passed a law to get treatment to Vietnam vets suffering from any of 12 diseases did have to prove they were caused by Agent Orange. On Monday, Shinseki wrote, quote, "The president and I are proud," unquote, to provide additional treatment under the 1991 law. It has been extended to cover Parkinson's, some leukemias and some heart disease. Enter former Republican Senator Simpson.
read more here
Three Tour Iraq Vet needs your help
Sent from Veterans for Change
From time to time we come to you and ask for your assistance to help a Veteran in need as we have done in the past.
We now have one veteran in need of our assistance therefore I now come to you to ask again for your help.
This veteran served three tours in Iraq and was honorably discharged, was shot twice and deals with PTSD, was working a good job, and had to take time off due to flashbacks.
Spc. Stephen Lewis has exhausted his vacation and medical leave from work so he came to ask if we’d be able to help him on his utility and telephone which is a total of $188.50.
I have spoke to both of Stephen’s utilities and put off till tomorrow for a firm answer and transfer of funds.
In the mean time his VSO (Veteran Service Officer) is working on getting him a better VA Rating to have his benefits increased.
So I come to you and ask if we have a few good people out there who are willing to donate $25-$50 each to help this veteran.
If you’re able to contribute $25-$50 to help these Veterans, who like many of you have fought for this great Country of ours please click HERE to be taken direct to the PayPal site which is very safe and secure.
Vet shot by police had sought help
Vet shot by police had sought help
By Matthew Santoni and Stephanie Hacke
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, September 2, 2010
A man police shot to death during a confrontation in Baldwin Borough sought psychiatric treatment at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System on Highland Drive before reportedly becoming suicidal, police said.
A Baldwin police officer shot Edward Zevola Sr., 61, at his home Tuesday night on Songo Street, a quiet hilltop enclave of two-story homes and swimming pools above Streets Run Road.
Police said Zevola's wife called them about 9 p.m. to say the two argued and Zevola threatened her with a gun. She told police she feared he was suicidal or willing to kill someone.
By Matthew Santoni and Stephanie Hacke
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, September 2, 2010
A man police shot to death during a confrontation in Baldwin Borough sought psychiatric treatment at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System on Highland Drive before reportedly becoming suicidal, police said.
A Baldwin police officer shot Edward Zevola Sr., 61, at his home Tuesday night on Songo Street, a quiet hilltop enclave of two-story homes and swimming pools above Streets Run Road.
Police said Zevola's wife called them about 9 p.m. to say the two argued and Zevola threatened her with a gun. She told police she feared he was suicidal or willing to kill someone.
Scott said Zevola was in and out of psychiatric treatment at the VA hospital for the past year.
"The only thing I want to say is that this is a tragedy, ... the worst day of all our lives," said a woman who identified herself as Zevola's daughter-in-law, while carrying a suitcase out of his home Wednesday afternoon. "This is horrific, and we want to keep this as private as possible."
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Man Shot, Killed By Police During Baldwin Standoff
Another oil rig explodes in Gulf of Mexico
Oil Rig Explodes in Gulf of Mexico
Updated: 3 minutes ago
NEW ORLEANS, La. (Sept. 2) -- An offshore petroleum platform exploded and was burning Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico about 100 miles off the Louisiana coast, west of the site where BP's undersea well spilled after a rig explosion.
The Coast Guard said no one was killed in the explosion, which was spotted by a commercial helicopter flying over the site Thursday morning. All 13 people aboard the rig have been accounted for, with one injury. The extent of the injury was not known.
They were rescued from the water by an offshore service vessel, the Crystal Clear, said Coast Guard Cmdr. She said they were taken to a nearby platform. All were being flown to the Terrebonne General Medical Center in Houma to be checked over.
read the rest here
Oil Rig Explodes in Gulf of Mexico
Updated: 3 minutes ago
NEW ORLEANS, La. (Sept. 2) -- An offshore petroleum platform exploded and was burning Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico about 100 miles off the Louisiana coast, west of the site where BP's undersea well spilled after a rig explosion.
The Coast Guard said no one was killed in the explosion, which was spotted by a commercial helicopter flying over the site Thursday morning. All 13 people aboard the rig have been accounted for, with one injury. The extent of the injury was not known.
They were rescued from the water by an offshore service vessel, the Crystal Clear, said Coast Guard Cmdr. She said they were taken to a nearby platform. All were being flown to the Terrebonne General Medical Center in Houma to be checked over.
read the rest here
Oil Rig Explodes in Gulf of Mexico
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Fort Carson says its suicide rate is falling
Fort Carson says its suicide rate is falling
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Sep 1, 2010 12:34:20 EDT
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Commanders at Fort Carson say the suicide rate among their soldiers is on track to drop by 45 percent.
Fort Carson's deputy commanding general for support, Brig. Gen. Jim Pasquarette, said Wednesday the decrease might be due in part to a campaign to make mental health experts more accessible and to reduce the stigma sometimes associated with seeking help.
He cautions that the rate could still climb. He says officials are still studying the reasons for the declining rate at the post.
Suicide rates are measured in deaths per 100,000 people.
Pasquarette says Fort Carson's rate was 44 per 100,000 in 2008, and this year is on track to be 25 per 100,000.
The Army's overall suicide rate is about 22 per 100,000.
Fort Carson says its suicide rate is falling
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Sep 1, 2010 12:34:20 EDT
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Commanders at Fort Carson say the suicide rate among their soldiers is on track to drop by 45 percent.
Fort Carson's deputy commanding general for support, Brig. Gen. Jim Pasquarette, said Wednesday the decrease might be due in part to a campaign to make mental health experts more accessible and to reduce the stigma sometimes associated with seeking help.
He cautions that the rate could still climb. He says officials are still studying the reasons for the declining rate at the post.
Suicide rates are measured in deaths per 100,000 people.
Pasquarette says Fort Carson's rate was 44 per 100,000 in 2008, and this year is on track to be 25 per 100,000.
The Army's overall suicide rate is about 22 per 100,000.
Fort Carson says its suicide rate is falling
10 infant deaths investigated at Fort Bragg
10 infant deaths investigated at Fort Bragg
By Tom Breen - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Sep 1, 2010 11:49:25 EDT
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The mysterious deaths of two infants at the same home within three months of each other has prompted a probe into eight other unexplained infant deaths at the Fort Bragg Army base since January 2007, the military said Tuesday.
At a news conference at the base, military leaders say they don’t suspect foul play in any of the deaths, and are conducting tests of the air, building materials and other elements at the on-base housing where the deaths occurred.
So far, though, investigators have not found any link between the deaths since the probe was ordered earlier this summer, according to Christopher Grey, spokesman for the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command.
“There are no commonalities that we’ve found thus far,” he said.
go here for more
10 infant deaths investigated at Fort Bragg
By Tom Breen - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Sep 1, 2010 11:49:25 EDT
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The mysterious deaths of two infants at the same home within three months of each other has prompted a probe into eight other unexplained infant deaths at the Fort Bragg Army base since January 2007, the military said Tuesday.
At a news conference at the base, military leaders say they don’t suspect foul play in any of the deaths, and are conducting tests of the air, building materials and other elements at the on-base housing where the deaths occurred.
So far, though, investigators have not found any link between the deaths since the probe was ordered earlier this summer, according to Christopher Grey, spokesman for the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command.
“There are no commonalities that we’ve found thus far,” he said.
go here for more
10 infant deaths investigated at Fort Bragg
Man Shot, Killed By Police During Baldwin Standoff
Man Shot, Killed By Police During Baldwin Standoff
BALDWIN BOROUGH (KDKA)
Sep 1, 2010
Baldwin Borough police shot and killed an armed man while responding to a domestic dispute Tuesday night.
Police say the man threatened to shoot a police officer and that is when an officer fired a single shot, which killed him.
The incident stemmed from a domestic dispute that quickly turned into a standoff.
"One of our officers was across the street from the residence trying to ascertain what the address was when the deceased called out to our officer and said, 'You know, I don't want to shoot you. If I wanted to, I have seven rounds here and I'm a Vietnam vet and I won't shoot for your Kevlar, I'll shoot for your heads,'" Baldwin Police Chief Michael Scott said.
According to police, that's the message they received from Edward Zevola, 61, when they arrived at the home on Songo Street.
read more here
Man Shot Killed By Police During Baldwin Standoff
BALDWIN BOROUGH (KDKA)
Sep 1, 2010
Baldwin Borough police shot and killed an armed man while responding to a domestic dispute Tuesday night.
Police say the man threatened to shoot a police officer and that is when an officer fired a single shot, which killed him.
The incident stemmed from a domestic dispute that quickly turned into a standoff.
"One of our officers was across the street from the residence trying to ascertain what the address was when the deceased called out to our officer and said, 'You know, I don't want to shoot you. If I wanted to, I have seven rounds here and I'm a Vietnam vet and I won't shoot for your Kevlar, I'll shoot for your heads,'" Baldwin Police Chief Michael Scott said.
According to police, that's the message they received from Edward Zevola, 61, when they arrived at the home on Songo Street.
read more here
Man Shot Killed By Police During Baldwin Standoff
Marine Sgt. Floyd Holley of Casselberry dies in Afghanistan
Chrissy and Floyd Holley on their wedding day. Holley, 36, a Marine gunnery sergeant from Casselberry, was killed by a roadside bomb Aug. 29 in Helmand province, Afghanistan. (Facebook / August 30, 2010)
Marine Sgt. Floyd Holley of Casselberry dies in Afghanistan
By Susan Jacobson, Orlando Sentinel
11:56 p.m. EDT, August 30, 2010
Gunnery Sgt. Floyd Holley did one of the most dangerous jobs in the military.
A specialist in roadside explosives, Holley grew up in Casselberry and was planning to come home to the U.S. from Afghanistan for the birth of his first child — a daughter — in November.
On Sunday, however, Holley was killed during his third tour of duty in the Middle East, the Department of Defense announced this evening.
Holley, 36, died in Helmand province when he was hit by a blast from an improvised explosive device, the military said.
go here for more
Marine Sgt Floyd Holley
Samaritan who saved driver from sinking car was afraid of lake
Samaritan who saved driver from sinking car: 'I'm terrified of this lake'
Kent Nugent, 32, rescued a woman from a sinking car after she crashed into a pond, officials say
By Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel
9:31 p.m. EDT, August 31, 2010
Firefighters in Orange County rescued a woman from a sinking car on Tuesday, with a big assist from a man who dove in headfirst to help.
Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Kim Montes said 31-year-old Terasa Susanne Meadows had a medical emergency while driving south on Westgate Road.
Meadows lost control of her vehicle, Montes said, driving off the road and into a pond at about 2:25 p.m. Tuesday.
Kent Nugent, 32, lives across the street from the pond and was getting ready to mow his lawn when the vehicle hit the water, officials say.
As an Orange County Fire Rescue spokesman described it, "Without hesitation, he swam out to the vehicle to assist the driver in exiting."
read more here
Samaritan who saved driver from sinking car
Kent Nugent, 32, rescued a woman from a sinking car after she crashed into a pond, officials say
By Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel
9:31 p.m. EDT, August 31, 2010
Firefighters in Orange County rescued a woman from a sinking car on Tuesday, with a big assist from a man who dove in headfirst to help.
Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Kim Montes said 31-year-old Terasa Susanne Meadows had a medical emergency while driving south on Westgate Road.
Meadows lost control of her vehicle, Montes said, driving off the road and into a pond at about 2:25 p.m. Tuesday.
Kent Nugent, 32, lives across the street from the pond and was getting ready to mow his lawn when the vehicle hit the water, officials say.
As an Orange County Fire Rescue spokesman described it, "Without hesitation, he swam out to the vehicle to assist the driver in exiting."
read more here
Samaritan who saved driver from sinking car
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Questions loom over drug given to sleepless vets
Questions loom over drug given to sleepless vets
By MATTHEW PERRONE (AP)
WASHINGTON — Andrew White returned from a nine-month tour in Iraq beset with signs of post-traumatic stress disorder: insomnia, nightmares, constant restlessness. Doctors tried to ease his symptoms using three psychiatric drugs, including a potent anti-psychotic called Seroquel.
Thousands of soldiers suffering from PTSD have received the same medication over the last nine years, helping to make Seroquel one of the Veteran Affairs Department's top drug expenditures and the No. 5 best-selling drug in the nation.
Several soldiers and veterans have died while taking the pills, raising concerns among some military families that the government is not being up front about the drug's risks. They want Congress to investigate.
In White's case, the nightmares persisted. So doctors recommended progressively larger doses of Seroquel. At one point, the 23-year-old Marine corporal was prescribed more than 1,600 milligrams per day — more than double the maximum dose recommended for schizophrenia patients.
A short time later, White died in his sleep.
read more of this here
Questions loom over drug given to sleepless vets
read some more collected reports from this blog
By MATTHEW PERRONE (AP)
WASHINGTON — Andrew White returned from a nine-month tour in Iraq beset with signs of post-traumatic stress disorder: insomnia, nightmares, constant restlessness. Doctors tried to ease his symptoms using three psychiatric drugs, including a potent anti-psychotic called Seroquel.
Thousands of soldiers suffering from PTSD have received the same medication over the last nine years, helping to make Seroquel one of the Veteran Affairs Department's top drug expenditures and the No. 5 best-selling drug in the nation.
Several soldiers and veterans have died while taking the pills, raising concerns among some military families that the government is not being up front about the drug's risks. They want Congress to investigate.
In White's case, the nightmares persisted. So doctors recommended progressively larger doses of Seroquel. At one point, the 23-year-old Marine corporal was prescribed more than 1,600 milligrams per day — more than double the maximum dose recommended for schizophrenia patients.
A short time later, White died in his sleep.
read more of this here
Questions loom over drug given to sleepless vets
read some more collected reports from this blog
Links to medications suspected with non-combat deaths Sunday, January 13, 2008
Vets taking PTSD drugs die in sleep Saturday, May 24, 2008
"Vets' Sudden Cardiac Deaths Are Not Suicides or Overdoses" says doctor Tuesday, May 19, 2009
But this one really stands out
Seroquel fine to be paid but what about the rest of the story? Wednesday, April 28, 2010
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals took advantage of the government and has agreed to pay a fine. The problem is, the FDA, another branch of the government, did not approve Seroquel for "uses that were not approved by the FDA as safe and effective (including aggression, Alzheimer’s disease, anger management, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar maintenance, dementia, depression, mood disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and sleeplessness)." Why isn't anyone asking the VA why they used them without checking to see if the company was telling them the truth or not? It's great to hold the companies accountable, but who is holding the VA and other agencies accountable?click the links to read more of these stories
Diabetes now tops Vietnam vets' claims
It never fails to amaze me that this nation can be so good at spending money on the machinery of the Department of Defense but we never really do seem to be able to plan on taking care of the men and women we send. Congressman Filner said in Orlando on Sunday that the price of war should always take into account the wounded, but somehow the Presidents and planners of wars never seem to think of this. The survival rate is higher than ever and troops are surviving wounds that would have killed them on the spot during other wars but while they do make it back home to their families, the care of these men and women will need to be taken care of, and rightly so, for the rest of their lives. We spent as a nation a boat load of money over the years to find ways of keeping the wounded alive but that never seemed to translate into the money that would be needed to make sure they had what they needed for the rest of their lives.
All these years later the "good idea of Agent Orange" still does not have a price tag on it. How many years do you think it will take before the rest of good ideas the DOD has used surfaces in the lives of our troops from other wars?
All these years later the "good idea of Agent Orange" still does not have a price tag on it. How many years do you think it will take before the rest of good ideas the DOD has used surfaces in the lives of our troops from other wars?
Diabetes now tops Vietnam vets' claims
By MIKE BAKER (AP)
RALEIGH, N.C. — By his own reckoning, a Navy electrician spent just eight hours in Vietnam, during a layover on his flight back to the U.S. in 1966. He bought some cigarettes and snapped a few photos.
The jaunt didn't make for much of a war story, and there is no record it ever happened. But the man successfully argued that he may have been exposed to Agent Orange during his stopover and that it might have caused his diabetes — even though decades of research into the defoliant have failed to find more than a possibility that it causes the disease.
Because of worries about Agent Orange, about 270,000 Vietnam veterans — more than one-quarter of the 1 million receiving disability checks — are getting compensation for diabetes, according to Department of Veterans Affairs records obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act.
More Vietnam veterans are being compensated for diabetes than for any other malady, including post-traumatic stress disorder, hearing loss or general wounds.
Tens of thousands of other claims for common ailments of age — erectile dysfunction among them — are getting paid as well because of a possible link, direct or indirect, to Agent Orange.
read more here
Diabetes now tops Vietnam vets' claims
Fort McPherson soldier was in near-catatonic state before shooting
Lawyer: Sgt. in shooting was on strict diet
Reserve soldier was in near-catatonic state after being ‘belittled, humiliated and berated’
By Greg Bluestein - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Aug 31, 2010 9:46:48 EDT
FORT McPHERSON, Ga. — A soldier was fasting to meet strict military weight guidelines and was nearly catatonic when he shot and killed a supervisor who denied his vacation request, his attorney said Monday.
Attorney William Cassara said Army Reserve Sgt. Rashad Valmont was dehydrated, exhausted and delirious when he burst into Master Sgt. Pedro Mercado's office in nearby Fort Gillem in June and shot him six times.
Valmont, 29, faces a premeditated murder charge. The details of the shooting were revealed for the first time Monday at a military hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to go to trial. No immediate recommendation was issued.
read more here
Lawyer Sgt in shooting was on strict diet
Reserve soldier was in near-catatonic state after being ‘belittled, humiliated and berated’
By Greg Bluestein - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Aug 31, 2010 9:46:48 EDT
FORT McPHERSON, Ga. — A soldier was fasting to meet strict military weight guidelines and was nearly catatonic when he shot and killed a supervisor who denied his vacation request, his attorney said Monday.
Attorney William Cassara said Army Reserve Sgt. Rashad Valmont was dehydrated, exhausted and delirious when he burst into Master Sgt. Pedro Mercado's office in nearby Fort Gillem in June and shot him six times.
Valmont, 29, faces a premeditated murder charge. The details of the shooting were revealed for the first time Monday at a military hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to go to trial. No immediate recommendation was issued.
read more here
Lawyer Sgt in shooting was on strict diet
Five Fort Campbell Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan
Five Fort Campbell Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan
NewsChannel5.com
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. – Five Fort Campbell soldiers have been killed in three separate incidents in Afghanistan over the past few days.
NewsChannel5.com
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. – Five Fort Campbell soldiers have been killed in three separate incidents in Afghanistan over the past few days.
Private First Class Chad Derek Coleman, and
Private Adam Jacob Novak, both 20,
were killed on August 27 when a command-wired improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle during convoy operations in the Paktiya province, Afghanistan.
Coleman was a Cavalry Scout; Novak was an infantryman. Both Coleman and Novak were assigned to B Troop, 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.
The Department of Defense reported that
Specialist James Robinson, 27,
died August 28 when insurgents attacked his Forward Operating Base in the Bermal district, Paktika province, Afghanistan.
Captain Ellery R. Wallace, 33, and
Private First Class Bryn T. Raver, 20,
died August 29 at Nangahar, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when their military vehicle was struck by rocket propelled grenade on August. 28.read more here
Cape Coral City employees raise $3,200 for soldier
City employees raise $3,200 for soldier
Funds hand delivered to Pfc. Kent at Walter Reed Hospital
By DREW WINCHESTER,
City of Cape Coral employees are trying to look out for one of their own.
City employees donated $3,200 to Pfc. Corey Kent's family recently, hand delivered by Cape Police Sgt. Rob Wardrop to Walter Reed Hospital where Kent is recovering from serious injuries.
City spokeswoman Connie Barron said Wardrop originally intended to have city employees sign cards showing their support for Kent, but later decided to try and raise money for his family, who are also at Walter Reed in Maryland.
Barron said Wardrop expected to collect a few hundred dollars, and was overwhelmed, but happy, that donations were so strong.
Donations were collected over a period of two weeks, according to Barron.
"The idea was to reach out to him (Kent), and let him know city employees care about him," Barron said.
read more here
http://www.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com/page/content.detail/id/518938.html
Funds hand delivered to Pfc. Kent at Walter Reed Hospital
By DREW WINCHESTER,
City of Cape Coral employees are trying to look out for one of their own.
City employees donated $3,200 to Pfc. Corey Kent's family recently, hand delivered by Cape Police Sgt. Rob Wardrop to Walter Reed Hospital where Kent is recovering from serious injuries.
City spokeswoman Connie Barron said Wardrop originally intended to have city employees sign cards showing their support for Kent, but later decided to try and raise money for his family, who are also at Walter Reed in Maryland.
Barron said Wardrop expected to collect a few hundred dollars, and was overwhelmed, but happy, that donations were so strong.
Donations were collected over a period of two weeks, according to Barron.
"The idea was to reach out to him (Kent), and let him know city employees care about him," Barron said.
read more here
http://www.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com/page/content.detail/id/518938.html
Vietnam Vet with PTSD aimed at Westboro group
Marine veteran haunted by memories
By Matthew Hansen
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
George Vogel drove his Ford pickup truck toward a group of people he thought were the infamous Westboro Baptist protesters.
The 62-year-old Omahan’s trigger finger rested on a can of potent pepper spray that can cause temporary blindness and vomiting. His grandson rode in the passenger seat.
But what Vogel saw as he leaned out the driver’s side window and twice sprayed the crowd outside the Saturday funeral of Marine Staff Sgt. Michael Bock is a 40-year-old memory he can’t shake, his wife says.
In the memory, Vogel is himself a young Marine. He has just climbed off the ship that has brought him back to the United States from a brutal tour of duty in Vietnam. And he encounters a group of anti-war protesters, young adults his own age, waving signs and screaming at him.
“He kept saying, ‘All I could think of was when I got off the boat,’” Marlene Vogel said Monday of the lone phone conversation she has had with her husband since he was jailed Saturday on suspicion of 16 counts of misdemeanor assault.
The charges stem from the 16 people — none of whom are believed to be Westboro Baptist members — who were allegedly harmed by Vogel’s bear repellent, a Mace-like chemical that burned their eyes, turned their stomachs and sent several to the hospital.
“In no way did he want to take away from the honor of Sgt. Bock, the solemn occasion for his family,” Marlene Vogel says. “But he was not thinking clearly. All he saw in his mind were those protesters when he got off the ship.”
Vogel is a Creighton graduate, a father of four, a retired vice president of a telemarketing firm and a longtime member of a veterans group that aids families of Marines killed or wounded in combat.
He is also a longtime victim of post-traumatic stress disorder, his wife and his attorney said Monday. He is spooked by loud noises. He has long suffered nightmares — his children, when young, grew used to hearing him call in artillery and scream for help while asleep.
read more here
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100831/NEWS97/708319913/0
By Matthew Hansen
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
George Vogel drove his Ford pickup truck toward a group of people he thought were the infamous Westboro Baptist protesters.
The 62-year-old Omahan’s trigger finger rested on a can of potent pepper spray that can cause temporary blindness and vomiting. His grandson rode in the passenger seat.
But what Vogel saw as he leaned out the driver’s side window and twice sprayed the crowd outside the Saturday funeral of Marine Staff Sgt. Michael Bock is a 40-year-old memory he can’t shake, his wife says.
In the memory, Vogel is himself a young Marine. He has just climbed off the ship that has brought him back to the United States from a brutal tour of duty in Vietnam. And he encounters a group of anti-war protesters, young adults his own age, waving signs and screaming at him.
“He kept saying, ‘All I could think of was when I got off the boat,’” Marlene Vogel said Monday of the lone phone conversation she has had with her husband since he was jailed Saturday on suspicion of 16 counts of misdemeanor assault.
The charges stem from the 16 people — none of whom are believed to be Westboro Baptist members — who were allegedly harmed by Vogel’s bear repellent, a Mace-like chemical that burned their eyes, turned their stomachs and sent several to the hospital.
“In no way did he want to take away from the honor of Sgt. Bock, the solemn occasion for his family,” Marlene Vogel says. “But he was not thinking clearly. All he saw in his mind were those protesters when he got off the ship.”
Vogel is a Creighton graduate, a father of four, a retired vice president of a telemarketing firm and a longtime member of a veterans group that aids families of Marines killed or wounded in combat.
He is also a longtime victim of post-traumatic stress disorder, his wife and his attorney said Monday. He is spooked by loud noises. He has long suffered nightmares — his children, when young, grew used to hearing him call in artillery and scream for help while asleep.
read more here
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100831/NEWS97/708319913/0
Sunday, August 29, 2010
600 Patriot Guard Riders stood vigil for Staff Sgt. Michael Bock
Staff Sgt. Michael Bock, 26, who died August 13 in Afghanistan's Helmand province
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)