Chaplain Kathie on WDJA Saturday

A couple of days ago I received an email from Tom about my website and the work I do for veterans. He invited me to be on his radio show for Saturday and I am totally amazed to be included in on such a group to be on the show.

TOM GRAVER REPORTS ON MATTERS NEAR & DEAR TO THE MILITARY, THEIR FAMILIES AND THE PUBLIC

Listen to him on the G I Radio Network

Saturday from 12:00 NOON to 2 on

POWERTALK 1420 A M WDJA

People call listen through out the world by going to http://www.wdja.com/ or http://www.giradio.us/.

CALL IN LINE: 877-278-1420

Dr. Eugene Lipov

Stellate ganglion block offers hope for PTSD treatments

About Raymond Cralle
Raymond Crallé has been a practicing Physical Therapist for 39 years, most of that time in his own private practice. There is no physician ownership since Crallé was one of the original private practices in Florida founded by his mother Ruth Crallé in 1957. Raymond graduated from the University of Iowa in 1971 following service with the Marines during the Vietnam conflict. Raymond served on many committees in the Florida Physical Therapy Associations twice as Chairman of the Private Practice Section. He sold controlling interest in 13 sports medicine centers in 1992 to specialize in treatment for Brain injury, Sports injury and has developed an international reputation in these areas of practice. Mr. Cralle works with many of the Polo team members from Wellington, he was featured in “ Polo Magazine” season guide, 2006.

Crallé’s advanced training in Neuro rehab has found him as an annual presenter to international symposiums on rehabilitation for brain injury and cerebral palsy. He was also featured in Cerebral Palsy Magazine regarding his advanced work with such children.

Cralle' has added Hyperbaric Oxygen Treament to his practice and has had amazing results. (www.ORCCAHBO.com)

The 501(3)(C)corporation will allow us to solicit funds to further extend staff, equipment and service for the underprivileged. Benefactors will allow us to support research, arrange for Physician Specialists visits and provide for adaptive chairs, braces and other needs.
We are excited about our future because of our special “Angels” here on earth.

Navy Seal James "Patches" Watson -One of the FIRST Navy Seals!

Keith DeMello "Battleship Missouri at Pearl Harbor
Captain Howard - National Navy UDT - Seal Museum


And then there is me.


I am a Senior Chaplain with the International Fellowship of Chaplains, IFOC.org and Chaplain of the Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary, Chapter 16 Orlando. Aside from being the wife of a Vietnam veteran, fast approaching 26 years, I've been helping veterans and their families to survive and heal PTSD since I met my husband.

I track PTSD around the country and reports focused on veterans, the troops, National Guards and Reservists, police officers, firefighters and trauma survivors on this blog. I also make videos on PTSD so that people find understanding, support and comfort on what it took me over 20 years to learn.


I have a Charter of the IFOC and seek donations to support my work, so please, if you find what I do to be worthy of support, don't wait for someone else to do it.

I am the author of For the Love of Jack, about 18 years of living with PTSD. This book is for free on my website, Nam Guardian Angel and I have over 30 videos to watch on this blog currently housed on Great Americans.

I will be focusing on the spiritual healing of our veterans since it is my greatest belief this is a spiritual wound and any healing must include the spiritual part of being human. Each one of us walks away from traumatic events either feeling blessed or cursed. We believe God spared us, saved us, was watching over us, or God abandoned us, judged us, punished us by what we had to endure. I've been exposed to all kinds of traumatic events other than combat. My experiences had allowed me to see my husband in a different way because I connected the events in my life to his. The more I worked with veterans the more I was able to understand that they experienced traumatic events for their entire deployment into combat zones. For them, it was not just a matter of the events themselves, but the fact they were in positions where they feared the events could happen at any moment.

As I studied PTSD it became a quest to understand why I didn't have PTSD. There are two factors that later training helped me to understand. As an IFOC chaplain, I was trained to respond to crisis situations moments after they happen. This is done so that people can find someone to talk to. In my life, I had a big Greek family where things were talked about until no one needed to talk about them anymore. Plenty of ears to listen and surrounded by people I felt safe to talk to made all the difference. The other factor was my faith and the understanding that I was loved by God and because of my faith, I was not alone. I am Christian but I do not dismiss the faith of other people. The Bible is filled with accounts from the Hebrews about warfare and spiritual crisis. History is rich with accounts of war and many different faiths addressing the spiritual aspects of being human.

One of the biggest things to come out of research in recent years is the development of the frontal lobe and how it is not fully mature until the age of 25. This helps us to understand that as the age of recruits into the military right out of high school has some benefits, it should also cause greater awareness of the need to have someone to talk to right after traumatic events. There is a lot of support out there for this because as they trained their bodies to endure, addressing the crisis right after it happens helps to train their brains to recover from them.

I also believe that we will see the suicide, attempted suicide, self-medicating, homelessness among veterans and divorce rates continue to rise if this is not addressed. As we read about the calls flooding into the Suicide Prevention Hotline, there are lives saved but when there were over 200,000 calls in three years, that should have been a alarm heard around the country. To have that many veterans reach the point of that kind of despair they feel the need to call is the greatest indicator of the failures of the past being continued.

The other issue that has to be addressed is family involvement. Most families have no idea what PTSD and what little others do know does not help them to understand how their reactions can either help the veteran heal or can harm them more. They need to be fully informed just as much as they need to be fully involved in the mental healthcare provided. Doctors only know what the veteran tells them and most of the time, they hold back too much. Families have to be included to set the record straight for the doctor to know what the reality is.

I hope you tune in tomorrow and listen to the show to hear more and about other things being done to help our veterans heal. It will be broadcast to the troops serving overseas.

When soldiers' deaths benefit companies, families continue to lose

As the combat in Afghanistan heats up and draws down in Iraq, we can still argue all we want about the necessity to have troops in either country, but the reality is, we ignore the other issues as we make the claims to support them and their families.

For years as they suffered because of the backlog of claims in the VA, most people in this country didn't have a clue. As the suicides were ever increasing, again, most people didn't have a clue. What it took to bring attention to what we so easily ignore, were the families involved to speak out and fight for what they should have never been forced to fight for. Had they not spoken out, we would blissfully sleep at night knowing they were doing their jobs serving and defending this country and assuming all was well with them too.

So Secretary of Defense Bill Gates attends yet another military funeral as another milestone is reached in Afghanistan. But too often the family's pain is just starting.

Grim milestone as three U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 30, 2010 6:52 a.m. EDT

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday consoles the family of Army Pfc. David T. Miller, who was killed in Afghanistan.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Deaths bring July tally to 63, the highest monthly toll for U.S. forces in the 9-year war
Milestone comes amid concern over Washington's strategy in the Afghan war
A total of 85 international service members, including Americans, have died this month

(CNN) -- Three U.S. soldiers were killed in two separate blasts in southern Afghanistan, making July the deadliest month for American forces since the war started nine years ago.

The three died Thursday after an improvised explosive device attack, the International Security Assistance Force said.

Their deaths bring the July tally to 63. A total of 85 international service members, including Americans, have died this month.

Before this month, June was the deadliest month for Americans and coalition forces. A total of 103 international soldiers died last month -- including 60 Americans. The totals are based on reports compiled by CNN.

The grim milestone comes amid concern at home over Washington's strategy in the Afghanistan war.
read more here
Grim milestone as three U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan

We could very well settle for that knowing the fallen soldiers receive a military funeral, but then the back story would show a totally different story when we read about the problems at Arlington National Cemetery topped off with the recent news of families left behind being ripped off by insurance companies that are supposed to be paying the families instead of themselves first.

Dead soldier's family sues insurer
Friday, July 30, 2010
By FRED CONTRADA
fcontrada@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - A Belchertown family that has advocated for soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder since their son committed suicide in 2004 is among the lead plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against Prudential Insurance Co. of America.

Kevin and Joyce Lucey received a $250,000 life insurance payment following the death of their son, Jeffrey, an Army corporal who hanged himself in their home shortly after returning from active duty in Iraq.

The class-action suit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Springfield by Conway lawyer Cristobal Bonifaz alleges that the Luceys and other beneficiaries of life insurance policies on members of the military were short-changed by Prudential, which was earning 5.7 percent interest on the benefits while paying 1 percent interest.

According to Bonifaz' calculation, Prudential has kept more than $100 million that should have been paid to the families of soldiers. The suit includes as plaintiffs all beneficiaries dating back six years.

Kevin Lucey said Thursday that he and his wife received a kind of checkbook from Prudential weeks after their son's suicide that gave them access to an account worth $250,000, the amount of the policy. The Luceys spent about $53,000 of that money, but took out the remaining $197,000 last year after talking to a financial adviser and invested it so it would have a higher yield.

Lucey said he is outraged that Prudential is making a profit on his son's life insurance policy.

Dead soldiers family sues insurer

The Lucey family lost their son because he wasn't taken care of and committed suicide. These people are heroes! They could have just grieved in the privacy of their own home, let the death of their son remain a private matter, but they knew other families were suffering and something had to be done to end the silence.

I remember when their son's story first came out.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Jeffery Lucey's parents sue government over suicide, bravo!
Iraq war veteran's parents sue U.S. after suicide
Thu Jul 26, 2007 5:41PM EDT
By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
BOSTON (Reuters) - The parents of an Iraq war veteran who committed suicide sued the U.S. government on Thursday for negligence, charging their son hanged himself after the government ignored his depression.The suit accuses the federal government of not helping 23-year-old Jeffrey Lucey, who committed suicide in his parents' Massachusetts basement less than a year after returning home from fighting during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary James Nicholson was also named in the suit.

And they won!

Marine Reserve Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey's family wins law suit
Family of Iraq vet gets settlement after his suicide

U.S. loses wrongful death suit

By Jeff Schogol,
Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, January 16, 2009
ARLINGTON, Va. — Marine Reserve Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey hanged himself on June 22, 2004, about three weeks after being released as an inpatient from the Northampton Veterans Medical Center in Leeds, Mass.His parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. government, claiming the VA initially refused to treat him for post-traumatic stress disorder because they required him to be sober first.Now they will receive $350,000 under a settlement with the U.S. government that was announced Thursday by Military Families Speak Out, an anti-war group to which they both belong."The Government killed my son," Lucey’s father, Kevin, said in Thursday’s news release. "It sent him into an illegal and reckless war and then, when he returned home, it denied him the basic health care he needed."
click link for more of this

Not only did they bring honor to the life of their son, they managed to bring attention to the suffering of hundreds of other families so that their ranks would not grow without anyone noticing.

Now they are fighting another public battle for the sake of other families. No longer can insurance companies just do what they want without anyone even trying to stop them. Today the news is flooding in from other families and it will go on for a while as the media reports on it. Just as with suicides happening in private lives, it took someone coming forward to talk about it so that others stop suffering. Ending the silence brought attention to PTSD. It brought attention to suicides. Things changed because people were more concerned about others going through the same thing than they were about their privacy. Things only change when someone has the courage to speak out.

Local veterans upset over life insurance policy
Elise Preston
NewsChannel 10

AMARILLO---A national out cry of disgust rises as people learn Prudential life insurance makes money off of dead veterans benefits. Prudential is the sole provider of life insurance for active duty and recently retired service members.

They provide what's called a retained asset account. When active duty or recently retired service members die, they're beneficiaries don't receive a lump sum. Instead, they receive the funds through a checking account. The account also allows the beneficiaries to earn interest on the policy.
read more of this here

Local veterans upset over life insurance policy

NY subpoenas MetLife, Pru on soldier death benefits

By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK
Thu Jul 29, 2010 7:26pm EDT

(Reuters) - New York's attorney general has subpoenaed MetLife Inc and Prudential Financial Inc as part of a probe into whether life insurers are defrauding families of deceased military personnel by siphoning off millions of dollars of death benefits for themselves.

"It is shocking and plain wrong for these multinational life insurance companies to pocket hundreds of millions in profits that really belong to those who have lost family members and have already suffered immensely," the attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, said in a statement.

Cuomo announced the subpoenas of the largest U.S. life insurers on Thursday, one day after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said in a published report that it had begun its own investigation into the issue.
read the rest of this here
NY subpoenas MetLife, Pru on soldier death benefits

But this is not the worst of it or the end of it. This is what they used to excuse what they were doing,,,,

-- We do not think it makes sense to force people to make decisions in a difficult and complex financial environment during a very emotional time in their lives.

This was from Prudential's press release posted on MarketWatch
Prudential addresses concerns with the Department of Veterans Affairs

How dare they? Do they do this on all life insurance policies? Do they try to "save people the trouble" of having to decide what to do with the insurance checks? Who the hell told them they had any right to decide what people did with the money?


These families had to spend day in and day out wondering if their warrior would spend their last day on this earth, then ended up with the doorbell proclaiming their worst fears had come true. They have to wait for the body to return home covered by a flag on top of a casket, then prepare for a funeral. To have anyone holding back paying out on an insurance claim for any reason is unacceptable and appalling! There is no excuse for this at all!

Mullen says WikiLeaks founder may have blood on his hands

Mullen says WikiLeaks founder may have blood on his hands
Pentagon leaders Thursday promised a thorough investigation into the release of 91,000 pages of sensitive military documents to the website WikiLeaks.org, saying the security breach will force changes in operational tactics and intelligence gathering in Afghanistan.

Commanders not aware of suicide deaths until weeks after?

Commanders not aware of suicide deaths until weeks after? How is this possible? As if that were not bad enough this reports wants to point fingers at the troops instead of the reasons they had "risky behaviors" in the first place.

Drinking? Well gee that's a hard one to understand. Talk to most veterans and they tell you why they drank while in some foreign country. Talk to them if they have trouble after combat and they tell you it calms them down. It's called self-medicating for a reason.

Drugs and overdoes? Well this one could be more from the fact the DOD has been giving out drugs to help them sleep and for full blown PTSD to keep them on duty but offered hardly no therapy and worse, very little medical motoring when medications have been coming with warnings about supervision from a doctor. This also could have something to do with the fact along with PTSD comes short term memory loss. Ever forget if you took a pill and take more?

This is a report from people with blinders on searching in the dark for reasons to blame the troops. You know, the same men and women so dedicated to serving this country they were willing to die for it. Not by their hands but by the enemy they were sent to fight. Blaming them without understanding them is one of the reasons the suicide numbers and attempted suicides have gone up instead of down! Now we also know that "commanders didn’t realize soldiers under their control had committed suicide until weeks after the troops had taken their lives."

Report links suicide spike to risky behaviors

By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Thursday Jul 29, 2010 15:21:23 EDT

A record high number of Army suicides are linked to an increasingly “permissive” environment in the service where soldiers take personal risks in their lives by using alcohol and drugs, committing crimes and refusing to get psychological help, according to a sweeping internal investigation released by Army officials Thursday.

In many cases, the report says, commanders don’t do enough to curb the behavior.

The review, commissioned last year by Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli, says this “Army-wide problem” is linked to a tally of deaths last year that included 160 active-duty soldiers who committed suicide and 146 more who died during risky activity or behavior such as drug use. Seventy-four of those deaths were drug overdoses. There were also 1,713 attempted suicides last year.

In some cases, the report says, commanders didn’t realize soldiers under their control had committed suicide until weeks after the troops had taken their lives.
read more here
Report links suicide spike to risky behaviors

Yet this is how Stars and Stripes reported this

Task force report says suicides linked to lack of leadership, discipline
By Megan McCloskey
Stars and Stripes
Published: July 29, 2010

ARLINGTON, Va. — “Atrophied” leadership has led to more high-risk behavior among soldiers and ultimately more soldiers committing suicide, according to a blunt report the service released Thursday.

“It’s time for the Army to take a hard look at itself,” Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. Peter Chiarelli said at a Pentagon press briefing.

The report, based on a 15-month review by the Suicide Prevention Task Force, asks: “Where has the Army’s leadership in garrison gone?”

Chiarelli said nearly 10 years of war has led to a generation of leaders who focus solely on preparing for combat. He pointed out that many of the Army’s platoon sergeants joined the service after 2001, so all they’ve ever experienced is an unbalanced, stressed Army that has had to prioritize tactical readiness over good order and discipline in garrison.
read more here
Task force report says suicides linked to lack of leadership

6K graves at Arlington could be wrong

Senator: 6K graves at Arlington could be wrong
By The Associated Press
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Senator: As many as 6,600 graves at Arlington Cemetery could be misidentified

A Senate Democrat says that as many as 6,600 graves at Arlington National Cemetery could be misidentified because managers there didn't do their job properly.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., spoke at a hearing Thursday, where the cemetery's former superintendent and deputy superintendent were scheduled to testify.

McCaskill says she believes that between 4,900 and 6,600 graves may be unmarked or mislabeled on cemetery maps.
read more here
6K graves at Arlington could be wrong

Westboro Baptist set to protest another soldier's funeral

UPDATE
They didn't show up




Protests planned at Spring Hill soldier's funeral
By Laura J. Nelson, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Wednesday, July 28, 2010


SPRING HILL — First came the flier: "God hates America & is killing our troops in his wrath."

And now, its makers want to deliver their message in person Wednesday on Mariner Boulevard.

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, a Kansas-based religious organization that has gained notoriety by picketing military funerals across the country, plan a protest outside a local soldier's funeral.

Two local groups hope to shield that soldier's family from the WBC's picket signs.

"We will be there to protect the family from this indignity," said Kathy Kentta, a local organizer for United Protectors of Fallen Soldiers. "No grieving family deserves this treatment."

Spring Hill soldier Sgt. Derek Schicchi, 27, died July 19 of an apparent gunshot wound while serving at Fort Hood. He was found behind a store in Killeen, Texas, and local police said there was no evidence of foul play.
read more here
Protests planned at Spring Hill soldier funeral

Florida:State Dept. of VA Director killed in accident

State Dept. of VA Director LeRoy Collins Jr. Killed in Accident
Kevin Derby's blog
Posted: July 29, 2010 11:06 AM

Rear Admiral LeRoy Collins Jr., executive director of the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs, was killed on Thursday morning when a car hit the bike he was riding in Tallahassee.
read more here

LeRoy Collins Jr Killed in Accident


also read here
Crist: LeRoy Collins Jr. hit and killed

U.S. Missing Billions in Iraqi Funds

U.S. Missing Billions in Iraqi Funds
July 28, 2010

A new independent audit shows the U.S. military cannot account for $8.7 billion of Iraqi money allocated for the rebuilding of 
the war-ravaged nation.

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

U.S. Missing Billions in Iraqi Funds

Army suicide study to survey 400,000

Army suicide study to survey 400,000
By Seth Robson
Stars and Stripes
Published: July 28, 2010

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — Starting this summer, researchers plan to survey up to 400,000 soldiers as part of the largest study to date of suicide and mental health among military personnel.

It’s the next phase in a $50 million, five-year study the Army and the The National Institute of Mental Health have been conducting since 2008 in hopes of identifying risk factors and providing a scientific basis for efforts to reduce troops’ suicide rates.

“This is an extraordinary opportunity to assist the Army in addressing a pressing military health issue,” NIMH director Thomas R. Insel said in the statement.

Historically, the suicide rate has been lower in the military than among civilians, but in 2005 that pattern was reversed. In June, there were 21 active-duty and 11 reserve soldier suicides, including seven in Iraq or Afghanistan, the most on record.

“While the stresses of the current wars (in Iraq and Afghanistan), including long and repeated deployments and post-traumatic stress, are important potential contributors for research to address, suicidal behavior is a complex phenomenon,” the NIMH statement said.
read more here
Army suicide study to survey 400000

Retired vets help soldiers with combat PTSD

Retired vets help soldiers with combat PTSD through Operation Restored Warrior
Jawa Report (blog)
June 2010 saw the highest number of combat deaths in Afghanistan, and also the highest number of suicides by active duty and reserve service members. So far this year there have been 145 suicides by soldiers, compared to 130 this time last year. The DOD response to this disturbing trend has been to produce a video addressing service suicide. Oh, and give soldiers professional help from the likes of Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Ft. Hood killer.

But one private organization, Operation Restored Warrior, is working to help soldiers deal with combat-related PTSD. The organization is run by retired military members and has the support of giants like LTG Hal Moore ("We Were Soldiers Once, and Young") and LTG Jerry Boykin (Delta Force CO). Here is a report from WHNT on the fine work of Operation Restored Warrior
read more here
Retired vets help soldiers with combat PTSD


More on this story

Carson GI cited for preventing suicide in Iraq
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday May 18, 2010 14:00:51 EDT

FORT CARSON, Colo. — A Fort Carson soldier has been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for preventing a buddy’s suicide in Iraq.

The Army says Spc. Albert Godding removed the firing pin from his buddy’s rifle after noting he was feeling down because his wife was leaving him and he had several months left in his deployment.

The Army says the other soldier tried to kill himself with his rifle later that day, but it wouldn’t fire without the pin.

Godding was presented the award at Fort Polk, La., where he was training with Fort Carson’s 4th Brigade Combat Team to deploy to Afghanistan.
click link above for this