While it appears the blog world is abuzz with either McCellan's tell all or McCain's invitation to Obama to go to Iraq, there is much that is being missed. The fact a VA psychiatrist came out saying that rapes and sexual assaults do not cause PTSD, has all but been avoided. Sure, there are a few hundred jumping on the rise in PTSD cases in the DOD but there has been really nothing new in news on that front. It's just and endless cycle of what we already knew was coming. Some may find it shattering, disgraceful, whatever, but to me it's just more of the same type of treatment the veterans and the troops have been receiving for far too long. It was to be expected, yet we should be grateful the media has finally paid all of this the attention it is due.
I want to go back on something that was said by McCain the other day when he was speaking out on being against women in combat. He actually said there is no history of women in combat. While I did a small post on this yesterday, today I was spending more time thinking about it because of the news the VA has a psychiatrist denying PTSD can be caused by sexual attacks. For Heaven's sake, the population of the world knows it can so how can someone supposedly listed as a professional in mental health within the VA does not seem to be clued in at all?
Women are just as human as males in the military, but women are more likely to be sexually assaulted than men are. Yes, there are some men who have been assaulted as well, but a tiny fraction. We cannot diminish their contribution to the nation. As such, here are just two more parts to what I began yesterday. When you read their names and some of their stories, think about if their lives are being honored when rapes and sexual assaults are passed off and ignored within the military and now a psychiatrist denies their wound from it all together.
So Proudly We Hail!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
So Proudly We Hail! is a 1943 film made by Paramount Pictures, directed by Mark Sandrich, and starring Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard (who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance), George Reeves and Veronica Lake.
An effective sample of wartime propaganda, the film follows a group of military nurses sent to the Philippines during the early days of World War II. The movie was based on a book written by nurse Juanita Hipps[1] a WWII nurse who served in Bataan and Corrigedor during the time when McArthur withdrew to Australia which ultimately led to the surrender of US and Philippine troops to Japan. Those prisoners of war were subjected to the infamous Bataan Death March. The movie was based on LTC Hipps' true story "I Served On Bataan."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_Proudly_We_Hail!
ACCOMPLISHED WOMEN BURIED AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
Commander Beatrice V. Ball, b. December 2, 1902. d. October 21, 1963. U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. She was a senior officer in SPARS (Women's Coast Guard unit) founded in World War II.
Lt. Ollie Josephine B. Bennett, b. March 27, 1874. d. February 4, 1953. Pioneer woman doctor in World War I.
Lt. Kara Spears Hultgreen, U.S. Navy -- Was the first female pilot killed after the Department of Defense Risk rule was rescinded. Lt. Hultgreen was one of the first U.S. Navy female combat pilots.
Commodore (Rear Adm.) Grace Murray Hopper - 1906-1992 U.S. Navy -- Was a mathematician, and a pioneer in data processing and computer science. Admiral Hopper invented COBOL and coined the term "bug" in computers. When she retired from the Navy in 1986, at the age of 80, she was the oldest officer on active duty.
Captain Winifred Love, USN, of Newport, Rhode Island, 1914-1999 In 1967, Captain Love, who was among the first group of Navy women officers selected to the permanent rank of Captain, reported to her last command as director of training publications for the operating Fleet. In 1973 she retired after 30 years of distinguished service to her country. Captain Love has awards and decorations that include the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal.
Maj. Marie Therese Rossi During Desert Storm the first woman pilot gave her life while flying in a combat zone. Major Marie T. Rossi died at age 32 on March 1, 1991, when the Chinook helicopter she was piloting crashed near her base in northern Saudia Arabia. The unit she commanded was among the very first American units to cross into enemy held territory flying fuel and ammunition to the rapidly advancing 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions. Major Rossi is buried in Arlington Cemetery where her simple epitaph there reads "First Female Combat Commander To Fly into Battle."
Constance Bennett -- Acted in more than 50 films, including 1937 "Topper" married Brig. Gen. Coulter.
Jane Delano -- Second superintendent of Army Nurse Corps 1909-12, active with the Red Cross during World War I.
Ruth M. Gardiner, b. May 20, 1914. d. July 27, 1943. One of the first Army Nurses killed in WWII.
Lillian Harris, b. May 6, 1913. d. April 15, 1998. She was a member of the original WAC ( Women's Army Corps) and graduated in its first class. She served as an executive officer during World War II in North Africa. She retired in 1968, she was the recipient of the Bronze Star and Legion of Merit award.
Marguerite "Maggie" Higgins - 1920-1966 -- Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, only woman correspondent during the Korean Conflict. She also reported from the battlefields of WWII - where she witnessed the liberation of Dachau and covered the Nuremburg Trials.
Juanita Hipps -- Wrote I Served on Bataan, best seller in 1943 and basis for movie "So Proudly We Hail," World War II Army Nurse.
Juliet O. Hopkins -- "Florence Nightingale of South" during the Civil War.
Dr. Anita Newcomb Magee - 1864-1940 -- First woman Army surgeon in 1898, assigned to secure and train nurses for the Spanish American War. When the war ended she organized the Army Nurse Corps under the U.S. Surgeon General and served as its first director and the first woman assistant surgeon general.
Katherine Marshall -- Wrote Together, an autobiography about her life with Gen. George C. Marshall.
Anna C. Maxwell, Army Nurse Corps
Barbara Allen Rainey - 1948 - 1982 -- First woman pilot in the history of the U.S. Navy, earning her gold wins in 1974. She was killed while training another pilot, in an air accident at Middleton Field near Evergreen, Alabama.
Mary Randolph -- First person buried on grounds that became Arlington Cemetery, cousin of Mary Custis, wife of Gen. Robert E. Lee, wrote The Virginia Housewife, a best seller in late 1700s .
Vinnie Ream - 1847 - 1914 -- Sculpted Lincoln statue in Capitol at age 18. First woman artist to be commissioned by the government and last artist whom Lincoln sat for before his death; sculpted many other statues including Sappho, the poetess, above her grave.
Mary Roberts Rinehart - 1876-1958 -- America's first woman war correspondent during World War I for the Saturday Evening Post; wrote mystery novels, including The Circular Staircase and The Bat; in 1921 was referred to as "America's Mistress of Mystery."
Lt Commander Catherine Dodson "Cay" Callahan, US Navy (Ret) World War II veteran whose duties included service as a legislative liaison officer to the U.S. Congress. She began her naval career as a member of a graduating class of WAVE Midshipmen from Smith College in 1943. As a young communications officer, she served on the staff of Fleet Adm. Ernest J. King throughout World War II.
Fay Bainter -- Actress during silent films (wife of Lt. Cmdr. Reginald Venable).
Captain Winifred Quick Collins, USN. 1912-1999 Captain Collins served 20 years in the Navy, beginning in the early period of World War II. Most of her career was in personnel positions, related to the integration of women into the Navy. She served in Hawaii, San Francisco and Washington. Her decorations included a Bronze Star and the Navy Commendation Medal. After retiring from active duty, Captain Collins served as vice president and director of the National Navy League. She was the first woman to hold that position. In 1997, the University of North Texas published her book, "More Than a Uniform: A Navy Woman in a Navy Man's World."
Colonel Geraldine Pratt May, WAF Director, USAF. 1895-1997.
Col. May joined the newly formed Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in July 1942 to attend officer candidate school at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. May received her commission in August 1942 and the following March was among the first women officers assigned to the Army Air Forces where she served as WAC staff director of Air Transport Command, With the enactment of the Women's Armed Services Integration Act in June 1948, May received a reserve commission in the newly created Air Force. She was appointed director of Women in the Air Force with the rank of full colonel, the first woman in the Air Force to hold that rank and the first to hold this post. As WAF director, May advised the chief of staff and the Air Staff on the formulation of the plans and policies for integrating women into the regular and reserves of the Air Force.
Colonel (Retired) Bettie J. Morden died of breast cancer on Friday, October 12, 2001 at her home in Arlington, Virginia. She was a pioneer Army woman, acclaimed historian/writer and tireless supporter of the Women's Army Corps Museum (now the Army Women's Museum). Colonel Morden has been described by Army senior leaders past and present as the "best of the best". Funeral services were held at the Fort Myer Old Post Chapel on Monday, November 5, 2001 at 9 AM. She was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the United States Army Women's Museum Foundation (formerly WAC Foundation), P.O. Box 5030, Fort Lee, Virginia 23801-0030 or to the Hospice of Northern Virginia, 6400 Arlington Boulevard, Suite 1000, Falls Church, Virginia 22042.
Capt. Helen Krystopik Garrison , is buried at Arlington. She was a Bellevue Nursing School graduate who served in England, and France during WWII, and later Norfolk, Virginia and Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, immediately after the war. She was buried in Arlington in 2001.
http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/arlington.html
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
DOD tried to cover up electrocution death of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth
Green Beret electrocuted in shower on Iraq base
Story Highlights
At least 12 U.S. troops have been electrocuted in Iraq from wiring problems
Ryan Maseth, 24, died January 2 while taking a shower on base
"I truly couldn't believe he would be electrocuted," his mom says
Defense Department inspector general, Congress launch investigation
By Abbie Boudreau and Scott Bronstein
CNN Special Investigations Unit
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- A highly decorated Green Beret, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth died a painful death in Iraq this year. He died not on the battlefield. He died in what should have been one of the safest spots in Iraq: on a U.S. base, in his bathroom.
Ryan Maseth, a 24-year-old Green Beret, died in his shower January 2.
1 of 2 The water pump was not properly grounded, and when he turned on the shower, a jolt of electricity shot through his body and electrocuted him January 2.
The next day, Cheryl Harris was informed of his death. A mother of three sons serving in Iraq, she had feared such news might come one day.
"I did ask exactly, 'How did Ryan die? What happened to him?' And he had told me that Ryan was electrocuted," she said.
Her reaction was disbelief. "I truly couldn't believe he would be electrocuted ... in the shower," she said.
Maseth, 24, was not the first. At least 12 U.S. troops have been electrocuted in Iraq since the start of the war in 2003, according to military and government officials. Watch mom describe horror, heartbreak over son's electrocution »
In fact, the Army issued a bulletin in 2004 warning that electrocution was "growing at an alarming rate." It said five soldiers died that year by electrocution, with improper grounding the likely culprit in each case.
The Army bulletin detailed one soldier's death in a shower -- eerily similar to Maseth's case -- that said he was found "lying on a shower room floor with burn marks on his body."
Maseth's mother says the Army was not immediately forthcoming with details about her son's death.
At one point, she says, the Army told her he had a small appliance with him in the shower on his base, a former palace complex near the Baghdad airport.
"It just created so much doubt, and I know Ryan, I know Ryan, I know how he was trained, I know that he would not have been in a shower with a small appliance and electrocuted himself," she said. Watch "I can't make sense around Ryan's death" »
The Army refused to answer CNN's questions about the case, citing pending litigation by Maseth's family.
Maseth's mother says she pressed the military for answers, eventually uncovering more details about her son's electrocution. The surging current left burn marks across his body, even singeing his hair. Army reports show that he probably suffered a long, painful death.
go here for more
Story Highlights
At least 12 U.S. troops have been electrocuted in Iraq from wiring problems
Ryan Maseth, 24, died January 2 while taking a shower on base
"I truly couldn't believe he would be electrocuted," his mom says
Defense Department inspector general, Congress launch investigation
By Abbie Boudreau and Scott Bronstein
CNN Special Investigations Unit
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- A highly decorated Green Beret, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth died a painful death in Iraq this year. He died not on the battlefield. He died in what should have been one of the safest spots in Iraq: on a U.S. base, in his bathroom.
Ryan Maseth, a 24-year-old Green Beret, died in his shower January 2.
1 of 2 The water pump was not properly grounded, and when he turned on the shower, a jolt of electricity shot through his body and electrocuted him January 2.
The next day, Cheryl Harris was informed of his death. A mother of three sons serving in Iraq, she had feared such news might come one day.
"I did ask exactly, 'How did Ryan die? What happened to him?' And he had told me that Ryan was electrocuted," she said.
Her reaction was disbelief. "I truly couldn't believe he would be electrocuted ... in the shower," she said.
Maseth, 24, was not the first. At least 12 U.S. troops have been electrocuted in Iraq since the start of the war in 2003, according to military and government officials. Watch mom describe horror, heartbreak over son's electrocution »
In fact, the Army issued a bulletin in 2004 warning that electrocution was "growing at an alarming rate." It said five soldiers died that year by electrocution, with improper grounding the likely culprit in each case.
The Army bulletin detailed one soldier's death in a shower -- eerily similar to Maseth's case -- that said he was found "lying on a shower room floor with burn marks on his body."
Maseth's mother says the Army was not immediately forthcoming with details about her son's death.
At one point, she says, the Army told her he had a small appliance with him in the shower on his base, a former palace complex near the Baghdad airport.
"It just created so much doubt, and I know Ryan, I know Ryan, I know how he was trained, I know that he would not have been in a shower with a small appliance and electrocuted himself," she said. Watch "I can't make sense around Ryan's death" »
The Army refused to answer CNN's questions about the case, citing pending litigation by Maseth's family.
Maseth's mother says she pressed the military for answers, eventually uncovering more details about her son's electrocution. The surging current left burn marks across his body, even singeing his hair. Army reports show that he probably suffered a long, painful death.
go here for more
Iraq war vet killed in crane accident
Worker killed in crane accident was a young father and veteran
The construction worker killed when a massive crane boom collapsed Friday at the Iatan Power Plant near Weston was identified Tuesday as 23-year-old Terry Eugene Stimpson of Peculiar.
A U.S. Army veteran of the Iraq war, Stimpson is survived by his wife, Alexandria, and two children. He grew up in of Chillicothe, Mo.
The boom for the crane collapsed as it was being lowered after a test of wind speed determined that its use was unsafe. It has been used to install pollution control equipment on Unit 1, the operating plant next to a second unit under construction by the Kansas City Power & Light Co.
Three other workers injured during the collapse were treated and released, said Steven Goldberg, a spokesman for Alstom Power Inc. of Windsor, Conn., the general contractor for the new plant and the pollution control retrofit for Unit 1.
Construction crews returned to the job site Tuesday, said Bill Downey, chief executive officer of KCP&L. The site and the collapsed crane are quarantined as teams investigate what caused the accident, Downey said.
Bill Graham, bgraham@kcstar.com.
http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/638569.html
The construction worker killed when a massive crane boom collapsed Friday at the Iatan Power Plant near Weston was identified Tuesday as 23-year-old Terry Eugene Stimpson of Peculiar.
A U.S. Army veteran of the Iraq war, Stimpson is survived by his wife, Alexandria, and two children. He grew up in of Chillicothe, Mo.
The boom for the crane collapsed as it was being lowered after a test of wind speed determined that its use was unsafe. It has been used to install pollution control equipment on Unit 1, the operating plant next to a second unit under construction by the Kansas City Power & Light Co.
Three other workers injured during the collapse were treated and released, said Steven Goldberg, a spokesman for Alstom Power Inc. of Windsor, Conn., the general contractor for the new plant and the pollution control retrofit for Unit 1.
Construction crews returned to the job site Tuesday, said Bill Downey, chief executive officer of KCP&L. The site and the collapsed crane are quarantined as teams investigate what caused the accident, Downey said.
Bill Graham, bgraham@kcstar.com.
http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/638569.html
Iraq senders knew it all, troops did not have a clue
Warrior Transition Units Help Soldiers Heal
Reporting
Jim Benemann FORT CARSON, Colo. (CBS4) ― The United States military has formed special units to help wounded soldiers recover from the injuries of war. One of the so-called Warrior Transition Units (WTU) is at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs.
A leader at the WTU in Fort Carson said the driving force behind the concept was a report last year on the volume of injured soldiers going through Walter Reed Army Medical Center outside Washington, D.C.
"We never anticipated the length of the war," she said. "We never anticipated the volume of causalities that were going to come out of both Afghanistan and Iraq and our system needed to grow, needed to change, needed to evolve."
Specialist Michael Janke served in Iraq and was injured when a grenade exploded three feet in front of him.
"And I woke up and I just wasn't right," Janke said. "I had a lot of pain in my head. And I wasn't aware of my surroundings.
"I live with pain all day long. When it's really bad, I can't move."
Janke is assigned to Fort Carson's WTU where multiple caseworkers are assigned to help him recover and map out his future. The philosophy brings military structure to the healing process.
The WTU has its own campus at the mountain post with 164 staff serving 600 recovering soldiers. The healing soldiers live together and eat together in their own area.
go here for more
http://cbs4denver.com/local/warrior.transition.unit.2.733580.html
Again, the problems encountered with by invading Iraq were all known ahead of time and all of the people involved with doing this, knew what would happen. Their words of caution captured on tape and video for generations to see. Interviews on PBS, speeches in front of veterans groups, all answering why they did not take Iraq after Saddam's forces were pushed out of Kuwait. It's all documented and recorded for history. The problem is that no one learned anything from it when the people doing the most warning, seemed to change their minds and were asked nothing about what they said back then. The devastation left behind was no surprise to any of the planners but the American public was left out of the loop. What's worse is that the troops were all left out of it as well. No one told them about the warning Stormin Norman gave about Iraq becoming "like a dinosaur stuck in a tar pit" or the warning Cheney gave about "a quagmire" or Bush 41's warning that it would created "countless losses" or any of the other warnings.
All of this was known but no one considered the troops who would have to pay the price with their bodies, their minds and their lives. Right now after the release of McClellan's tell all book, the media should finally put two and two together and demand answers. None of this was unknown but too much of it was left undone and no one prepared for any of the wounded this would create.
GAO finding: No accountability for claims processors
GAO faults training for VA claims processors
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 28, 2008 6:18:36 EDT
Although the Veterans Affairs Department has added thousands of staff to help process disability claims, a new study finds those new employees face no consequences if they don’t attend mandatory training.
And because the caseload is so heavy, instructors aren’t always available to provide on-the-job training for new employees.
The Veterans Benefits Administration “is taking steps to strategically plan its training, but does not adequately evaluate its training and may be falling short in some areas of training design and implementation,” the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Tuesday.
Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, asked GAO to find out what training is provided and whether it is uniform; how well it is implemented and evaluated; and how it compares with performance management practices in the private sector.
The questions came after veterans testified that the disability compensation system is Byzantine in complexity, and that it takes months — sometimes years — to make it through the process.
From September 2007 to May 2008, GAO looked at four VBA regional offices, in Atlanta; Baltimore; Milwaukee; and Portland, Ore.
VA officials said it takes at least two years to properly train disability claims employees, and they must complete 80 hours of training a year. New employees have three weeks of intense classroom training before they begin several months of on-the-job training at their home offices.
But “because the agency has no policy outlining consequences for individual staff who do not complete their 80 hours of training per year, individual staff are not held accountable for meeting their annual training requirement,” the GAO found. “And, at present, VBA central office lacks the ability to track training completed by individual staff members.”
In 2007, VBA conducted 67 centralized training sessions for 1,458 new claims processors, compared with 27 sessions for 678 new employees in 2006.
VBA’s online training tool, the Training and Performance Support System, was found to be out of date, too theoretical, and lacking in real-life examples. Employees at one office did not know what the system was.
GAO also found that more experienced staff members felt training was not helpful because it was redundant or was not specific to the work they do, and some said the training is adapted directly from training for new employees. They also said they did not have time to spend 80 hours a year in training because their caseloads are too heavy.
“A number of staff from one regional office noted that instructors were unable to spend time teaching because of their heavy workloads and because instructors’ training preparation hours do not count toward the 80-hour training requirement,” the GAO said. “Staff at another regional office told us that, due to workload pressures, staff may rush through training and may not get as much out of it as they should.”
go here for more
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/05/military_va_training_052708w/
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 28, 2008 6:18:36 EDT
Although the Veterans Affairs Department has added thousands of staff to help process disability claims, a new study finds those new employees face no consequences if they don’t attend mandatory training.
And because the caseload is so heavy, instructors aren’t always available to provide on-the-job training for new employees.
The Veterans Benefits Administration “is taking steps to strategically plan its training, but does not adequately evaluate its training and may be falling short in some areas of training design and implementation,” the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Tuesday.
Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, asked GAO to find out what training is provided and whether it is uniform; how well it is implemented and evaluated; and how it compares with performance management practices in the private sector.
The questions came after veterans testified that the disability compensation system is Byzantine in complexity, and that it takes months — sometimes years — to make it through the process.
From September 2007 to May 2008, GAO looked at four VBA regional offices, in Atlanta; Baltimore; Milwaukee; and Portland, Ore.
VA officials said it takes at least two years to properly train disability claims employees, and they must complete 80 hours of training a year. New employees have three weeks of intense classroom training before they begin several months of on-the-job training at their home offices.
But “because the agency has no policy outlining consequences for individual staff who do not complete their 80 hours of training per year, individual staff are not held accountable for meeting their annual training requirement,” the GAO found. “And, at present, VBA central office lacks the ability to track training completed by individual staff members.”
In 2007, VBA conducted 67 centralized training sessions for 1,458 new claims processors, compared with 27 sessions for 678 new employees in 2006.
VBA’s online training tool, the Training and Performance Support System, was found to be out of date, too theoretical, and lacking in real-life examples. Employees at one office did not know what the system was.
GAO also found that more experienced staff members felt training was not helpful because it was redundant or was not specific to the work they do, and some said the training is adapted directly from training for new employees. They also said they did not have time to spend 80 hours a year in training because their caseloads are too heavy.
“A number of staff from one regional office noted that instructors were unable to spend time teaching because of their heavy workloads and because instructors’ training preparation hours do not count toward the 80-hour training requirement,” the GAO said. “Staff at another regional office told us that, due to workload pressures, staff may rush through training and may not get as much out of it as they should.”
go here for more
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/05/military_va_training_052708w/
VA Psychiatrist says Sexual Trauma does not cause PTSD?
VA Ignores PTSD in Women
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake at 4:00 PM on May 27, 2008.
The VA will not consider trauma from sexual assault a cause of PTSD.
As a female soldier or Marine, you prepare for service with a lot of training with your squad, a lot of extra time in the gym, a lot of mental and physical preparation. But nothing could prepare you for an assault ... a sexual assault ... from one of your fellow soldiers.
What do you do, as a female soldier, when the VA folks in charge of your treatment don't think you merit psych care in the wake of this trauma?
Via AnchorageDailyNews:
I asked the briefer, a VA psychiatrist, whether the VA also considered Military Sexual Trauma an experience that can lead to PTSD. He replied "no."
I looked at the physician with amazement. Many peer-reviewed journal articles assert that Military Sexual Trauma, or MST, is especially associated with PTSD. That the Veterans Administration continues to disassociate MST with PTSD is remarkable.
But it may be understandable, considering the military is a culture that ostracizes and ridicules women who "rock the boat" by reporting incidents of sexual assault and violence.
This is not an isolated opinion, unfortunately. Sen. Patty Murray, who has personal experience working with Vietnam vets in the VA system and understands the long-term ramifications of not doing this work properly, has been trying to give this issue a much louder voice on the Hill.
Kudos to her. But it's going to be a long road to change.
go here for more
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/86579/
Where did this psychiatrist get his training? How many others dismiss what the mental health workers have known for years?
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake at 4:00 PM on May 27, 2008.
The VA will not consider trauma from sexual assault a cause of PTSD.
As a female soldier or Marine, you prepare for service with a lot of training with your squad, a lot of extra time in the gym, a lot of mental and physical preparation. But nothing could prepare you for an assault ... a sexual assault ... from one of your fellow soldiers.
What do you do, as a female soldier, when the VA folks in charge of your treatment don't think you merit psych care in the wake of this trauma?
Via AnchorageDailyNews:
I asked the briefer, a VA psychiatrist, whether the VA also considered Military Sexual Trauma an experience that can lead to PTSD. He replied "no."
I looked at the physician with amazement. Many peer-reviewed journal articles assert that Military Sexual Trauma, or MST, is especially associated with PTSD. That the Veterans Administration continues to disassociate MST with PTSD is remarkable.
But it may be understandable, considering the military is a culture that ostracizes and ridicules women who "rock the boat" by reporting incidents of sexual assault and violence.
This is not an isolated opinion, unfortunately. Sen. Patty Murray, who has personal experience working with Vietnam vets in the VA system and understands the long-term ramifications of not doing this work properly, has been trying to give this issue a much louder voice on the Hill.
Kudos to her. But it's going to be a long road to change.
go here for more
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/86579/
Where did this psychiatrist get his training? How many others dismiss what the mental health workers have known for years?
Served with foreclosure notice for serving your country well
Foreclosures in Military Towns Surge at Four Times U.S. Rate
By Kathleen M. Howley
May 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Jeffrey VerSteegh, who repairs F-16 jets for the 132nd Fighter Wing, departed Des Moines, Iowa, in April for his third tour in Iraq. The father of four may lose his home when he returns.
The four-bedroom farmhouse he and his wife, Kathleen, own near the Iowa State Fairgrounds went into default in December after their monthly mortgage costs doubled to $1,100. Kathleen missed work because of breast cancer and they struggled to keep up the house payment, falling behind on other bills. Their bankruptcy was approved by the court a week after VerSteegh left for Iraq.
In the midst of the worst surge in mortgage defaults in seven decades, foreclosures in U.S. towns where soldiers live are increasing at a pace almost four times the national average, according to data compiled by research firm RealtyTrac Inc. in Irvine, California. As military families like the VerSteeghs signed up for the initial lower rates and easier terms of subprime mortgages, the number of people taking out Veterans Administration loans fell to the lowest in at least 12 years.
``We've never faced a situation like this, not in the Vietnam War, World War II, or the Korean War, where so many military are in danger of losing their homes,'' said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, a Washington-based advocacy group started in 2002 by Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans. ``No one asked them for their credit score when we asked them to fight for us.''
Military Foreclosures
Foreclosure filings in 10 towns and cities within 10 miles of military facilities, including Norfolk, Virginia, home of the Navy's largest base, rose by an average 217 percent from January through April from a year earlier. Nationally, the rate was 59 percent in the same period, according to RealtyTrac, which tallies bank seizures, auctions and default notices.
The biggest surge was in Columbia, South Carolina, home to Fort Jackson, where the Army trains recruits for combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Properties in some stage of foreclosure rose 492 percent from a year earlier, RealtyTrac said. The second-biggest increase was 414 percent in Woodbridge, Virginia, next to the Marine Corps Base Quantico.
Foreclosure filings tripled in the cities surrounding Norfolk Naval Base and the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base near Oceanside, California, RealtyTrac said. Havelock, North Carolina, site of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, saw foreclosures more than double.
Weak Credit
Military families were targeted as customers during the boom in subprime lending because their frequent moves, overseas stints, and low pay meant they were more likely to have weak credit ratings, said Rudi Williams of the National Veterans Foundation in Los Angeles. In 2006, at the peak of U.S. subprime lending, the number of VA loans fell to barely a third the level of two years earlier, according to VA data.
VA loans totaled 135,000 last year, its fourth consecutive annual decline.
An Army or Marine Corps sergeant with four years of experience makes $27,000 a year, plus combat pay of $225 a month, according to the 2008 Military Authorization Act, which increased basic pay rates 3.5 percent from a year ago.
Soldiers authorized to live off-base also receive a housing allowance that this year starts at about $500 a month, 7.3 percent higher than in 2007, paid even when they are deployed. Counting the stipends, they still fall short of the 2007 median U.S. household income of $59,224 as measured by the National Association of Realtors in Chicago.
Legislative Effort
``Think about how much stress comes with a foreclosure, and then imagine you're walking the same tightrope while being employed in Baghdad,'' said Paul Rieckhoff, 33, the head of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and a former 1st lieutenant with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division.
The Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act protects soldiers and sailors from losing homes for nonpayment of mortgages only while on active duty and for 90 days after they return home.
Members of Congress, including Senator Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican, and Representative Bob Filner, a Democrat from California, are trying to extend that to a year, saying three months isn't enough.
Another flaw in the current law is it puts the burden on the soldiers, sailors or the families they left behind to come up with the paperwork and notify the bank, said Sullivan of the Washington Veterans' group. Unlike in other wars, members of the military often are able to telephone home or receive e-mails, creating a ``morale problem'' as they try to deal with foreclosure notices, he said.
VA Mortgages
``It's heartbreaking to see people struggling with a foreclosure while they or someone they love is in a war zone, or when they're trying to adjust after coming back from one,'' said Sullivan, a Cavalry Scout with the Army's 1st Armored Division during the 1991 Gulf War.
Lenders aren't required to keep records on the status of non-government loans to military members or veterans, said Mike Frueh, the VA's assistant director for loan management in Washington. Judging solely by data on VA mortgages, active military and veterans in the current housing slump are getting into trouble with their home loans at a pace only slightly above the civilian rate, he said.
The share of VA mortgages in foreclosure was 1.12 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with 0.96 percent for so-called prime borrowers with the highest credit scores, the Washington- based Mortgage Bankers Association said in a March 6 report.
click post title for more
By Kathleen M. Howley
May 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Jeffrey VerSteegh, who repairs F-16 jets for the 132nd Fighter Wing, departed Des Moines, Iowa, in April for his third tour in Iraq. The father of four may lose his home when he returns.
The four-bedroom farmhouse he and his wife, Kathleen, own near the Iowa State Fairgrounds went into default in December after their monthly mortgage costs doubled to $1,100. Kathleen missed work because of breast cancer and they struggled to keep up the house payment, falling behind on other bills. Their bankruptcy was approved by the court a week after VerSteegh left for Iraq.
In the midst of the worst surge in mortgage defaults in seven decades, foreclosures in U.S. towns where soldiers live are increasing at a pace almost four times the national average, according to data compiled by research firm RealtyTrac Inc. in Irvine, California. As military families like the VerSteeghs signed up for the initial lower rates and easier terms of subprime mortgages, the number of people taking out Veterans Administration loans fell to the lowest in at least 12 years.
``We've never faced a situation like this, not in the Vietnam War, World War II, or the Korean War, where so many military are in danger of losing their homes,'' said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, a Washington-based advocacy group started in 2002 by Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans. ``No one asked them for their credit score when we asked them to fight for us.''
Military Foreclosures
Foreclosure filings in 10 towns and cities within 10 miles of military facilities, including Norfolk, Virginia, home of the Navy's largest base, rose by an average 217 percent from January through April from a year earlier. Nationally, the rate was 59 percent in the same period, according to RealtyTrac, which tallies bank seizures, auctions and default notices.
The biggest surge was in Columbia, South Carolina, home to Fort Jackson, where the Army trains recruits for combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Properties in some stage of foreclosure rose 492 percent from a year earlier, RealtyTrac said. The second-biggest increase was 414 percent in Woodbridge, Virginia, next to the Marine Corps Base Quantico.
Foreclosure filings tripled in the cities surrounding Norfolk Naval Base and the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base near Oceanside, California, RealtyTrac said. Havelock, North Carolina, site of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, saw foreclosures more than double.
Weak Credit
Military families were targeted as customers during the boom in subprime lending because their frequent moves, overseas stints, and low pay meant they were more likely to have weak credit ratings, said Rudi Williams of the National Veterans Foundation in Los Angeles. In 2006, at the peak of U.S. subprime lending, the number of VA loans fell to barely a third the level of two years earlier, according to VA data.
VA loans totaled 135,000 last year, its fourth consecutive annual decline.
An Army or Marine Corps sergeant with four years of experience makes $27,000 a year, plus combat pay of $225 a month, according to the 2008 Military Authorization Act, which increased basic pay rates 3.5 percent from a year ago.
Soldiers authorized to live off-base also receive a housing allowance that this year starts at about $500 a month, 7.3 percent higher than in 2007, paid even when they are deployed. Counting the stipends, they still fall short of the 2007 median U.S. household income of $59,224 as measured by the National Association of Realtors in Chicago.
Legislative Effort
``Think about how much stress comes with a foreclosure, and then imagine you're walking the same tightrope while being employed in Baghdad,'' said Paul Rieckhoff, 33, the head of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and a former 1st lieutenant with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division.
The Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act protects soldiers and sailors from losing homes for nonpayment of mortgages only while on active duty and for 90 days after they return home.
Members of Congress, including Senator Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican, and Representative Bob Filner, a Democrat from California, are trying to extend that to a year, saying three months isn't enough.
Another flaw in the current law is it puts the burden on the soldiers, sailors or the families they left behind to come up with the paperwork and notify the bank, said Sullivan of the Washington Veterans' group. Unlike in other wars, members of the military often are able to telephone home or receive e-mails, creating a ``morale problem'' as they try to deal with foreclosure notices, he said.
VA Mortgages
``It's heartbreaking to see people struggling with a foreclosure while they or someone they love is in a war zone, or when they're trying to adjust after coming back from one,'' said Sullivan, a Cavalry Scout with the Army's 1st Armored Division during the 1991 Gulf War.
Lenders aren't required to keep records on the status of non-government loans to military members or veterans, said Mike Frueh, the VA's assistant director for loan management in Washington. Judging solely by data on VA mortgages, active military and veterans in the current housing slump are getting into trouble with their home loans at a pace only slightly above the civilian rate, he said.
The share of VA mortgages in foreclosure was 1.12 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with 0.96 percent for so-called prime borrowers with the highest credit scores, the Washington- based Mortgage Bankers Association said in a March 6 report.
click post title for more
Scott McClellan spills the beans. Can you hear me now?
In 2001, I was in a rush to get my book published because I knew PTSD would explode. I was in such a hurry, I gave up trying to find a publisher and paid to have it published. After all, Dr. Jonathan Shay, had done all he could to help me find a publisher there didn't seem to be any point it wasting time when lives would be on the line. If you think fireworks can set off a combat veteran, 9-11 was like a volcano going off.
Then came the invasion of Afghanistan. Given the history of Afghanistan and what the Russian troops faced, I knew it would be a long, brutal fight. The problem was, no one in the White House was getting ready for any of the wounded that would come. They sold it as an easy move to the American people. We only lost 12 taking Afghanistan. Too many in this country figured it was a done deal. Over and done. By 2002, 49 more lives were lost from the US and 20 from the coalition. The propaganda of the need to invade Iraq was taking full control of the Sunday news shows and the selling off of American lives was already carved in stone. No one listened. All the evidence, not suggestions and claims, pointed to the fact there should have been a lot more skeptics asking a lot more questions, but too many were jumping on the "patriotic" bandwagon. I was leery. I wrote a piece about if it was a good idea or not. It turns out, all these years, all the people who were way ahead of me were all right. They were the people who were attacked for being right and paying attention.
Scott McCellan just proved what was already know with the Downing Street memo.
I am not so trusting that I could not believe that needless wars have been perpetrated before, any more than I am delusional enough to think we would have learned from the past, but I did not think anyone would be so callous with the lives of the men and women being sent they would pull troops out of Afghanistan in order to just do it. They did.
For years, we've all heard about the need to defend this nation by what we were doing in Iraq and the media allowed them to never mention Afghanistan. Anyone daring to ask was regarded as a traitor and told they were against the troops. The manipulation of the propaganda was in full swing. The few in congress daring to speak out were no longer allowed on the 24 hour news channels. Only the timid were allowed to go up against the zealots so they could be easily controlled and silenced.
When we had generals resigning, no one wanted to hear from them. These are the generals who spent countless years not only participating in combat, planning and adapting, they made it their careers.
Still in all of this, the worst part is, no one got ready for the wounded. No one cared. Had they cared about the lives of the wounded that they knew would come, none of these reports would be occurring. Walter Reed would not have been a problem. The lack of mental health professionals would not have been a problem. The lack of services in outreach would not have been a problem. Suicides would have been an oddity. Outreach work would have begun in 2001. The VA would have had whatever funding they needed to prepare by hiring all the workers they could find and have them trained ahead of time to not only care for the wounded but process the claims with all sense of urgency they deserved. None of this was done because they ignored the obvious. The data was all in from Vietnam. They decided against even looking at any of it.
Perhaps the most appalling thing to come out of all of this is the fact those who supported the combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq decided the outcomes of both were not their problem. They didn't care about the wounded or the suffering of the troops as long as they got what they wanted. Waving the flag replaced honoring it. Defending Bush replaced defending the truth. Patriotism became associated with appeasement of the White House and no one was allowed to have questions answered.
Had they acted in honor, none of the reports that came out since the invasion of Afghanistan would have been possible. These are just some from today.
Readers of this blog have been aware of the problems since August and many more from my other blog going back to 2003. Even more going back to the posting I've done on AOL blogs and message boards. With all the news that has come out since 2002 how is it possible, how is it morally possible that no one bothered to take care of all of this until it was totally out of control? Didn't the lives of the men and women serving this nation matter enough to invest the time in paying attention to the rest of the people in this nation?
We can bicker all we want about getting the troops out of Iraq or the need to keep them there, but in the process, we devalue their lives by not taking care of their needs. Solutions will come either by way of public pressure to address both occupations or by the fact we can no longer afford to do either one. Set all that aside. Nothing will change with Iraq or Afghanistan until there is a new president and a new administration who will take the lives of the troops seriously enough to act. What we can and need to do today is find out who knew what when and why they did not know more.
The law suit filed by Veterans For Common Sense has provided some of the answers and none of them reflect the notion we are a grateful nation because they were allowed to pull all of it off. Who has been held accountable? Who has been charged or fired? How many of the dishonorably discharged have had justice provided to them? How many of the misdiagnosed have had their cases reviewed and honored? How many of the claims filed and denied wrongly have been made right? Where are we on any of this?
The VA and the DOD do not have enough mental health workers. They do not have enough Chaplains. Where are we on any of this? Have they changed the rules to allow trained Chaplains from the IFOC, who happen to be good enough for law enforcement and emergency responders, but are not good enough for the VA to provide vital services? Have the advocates been able to provide their knowledge to the Washington elected so that solutions come instead of more countless hearings reviewing what is already known?
There are so many questions we need to address and so many solutions that need to be implemented but if we just wait and wonder, the problem will only get worse for all of them.
Let's get our heads together and figure out how to make Washington hear us now. They didn't hear me in the 90's and they didn't hear me in the beginning of all of this. Will they listen now?
Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
Then came the invasion of Afghanistan. Given the history of Afghanistan and what the Russian troops faced, I knew it would be a long, brutal fight. The problem was, no one in the White House was getting ready for any of the wounded that would come. They sold it as an easy move to the American people. We only lost 12 taking Afghanistan. Too many in this country figured it was a done deal. Over and done. By 2002, 49 more lives were lost from the US and 20 from the coalition. The propaganda of the need to invade Iraq was taking full control of the Sunday news shows and the selling off of American lives was already carved in stone. No one listened. All the evidence, not suggestions and claims, pointed to the fact there should have been a lot more skeptics asking a lot more questions, but too many were jumping on the "patriotic" bandwagon. I was leery. I wrote a piece about if it was a good idea or not. It turns out, all these years, all the people who were way ahead of me were all right. They were the people who were attacked for being right and paying attention.
Scott McCellan just proved what was already know with the Downing Street memo.
McClellan Rips Bush, White House
By Mike Allen,Politico.com
Posted: 2008-05-28 09:04:36
Filed Under: Politics News
(May 27) -- Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan writes in a surprisingly scathing memoir to be published next week that President Bush “veered terribly off course,” was not “open and forthright on Iraq,” and took a “permanent campaign approach” to governing at the expense of candor and competence.
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/mcclellan-rips-
bush-white-house/20080528063409990001?icid=1615988631x1203152132x1200309168
I am not so trusting that I could not believe that needless wars have been perpetrated before, any more than I am delusional enough to think we would have learned from the past, but I did not think anyone would be so callous with the lives of the men and women being sent they would pull troops out of Afghanistan in order to just do it. They did.
For years, we've all heard about the need to defend this nation by what we were doing in Iraq and the media allowed them to never mention Afghanistan. Anyone daring to ask was regarded as a traitor and told they were against the troops. The manipulation of the propaganda was in full swing. The few in congress daring to speak out were no longer allowed on the 24 hour news channels. Only the timid were allowed to go up against the zealots so they could be easily controlled and silenced.
When we had generals resigning, no one wanted to hear from them. These are the generals who spent countless years not only participating in combat, planning and adapting, they made it their careers.
Still in all of this, the worst part is, no one got ready for the wounded. No one cared. Had they cared about the lives of the wounded that they knew would come, none of these reports would be occurring. Walter Reed would not have been a problem. The lack of mental health professionals would not have been a problem. The lack of services in outreach would not have been a problem. Suicides would have been an oddity. Outreach work would have begun in 2001. The VA would have had whatever funding they needed to prepare by hiring all the workers they could find and have them trained ahead of time to not only care for the wounded but process the claims with all sense of urgency they deserved. None of this was done because they ignored the obvious. The data was all in from Vietnam. They decided against even looking at any of it.
Perhaps the most appalling thing to come out of all of this is the fact those who supported the combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq decided the outcomes of both were not their problem. They didn't care about the wounded or the suffering of the troops as long as they got what they wanted. Waving the flag replaced honoring it. Defending Bush replaced defending the truth. Patriotism became associated with appeasement of the White House and no one was allowed to have questions answered.
Had they acted in honor, none of the reports that came out since the invasion of Afghanistan would have been possible. These are just some from today.
Huge spike in troops diagnosed with PTSD
Baltimore Sun - United Statesby Aamer Madhani Nearly 14000 US service members who had previously served in Iraq and Afghanistan were newly diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress soars in US troops
Reuters - USABy David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Newly diagnosed cases of post-traumatic stress disorder among US troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan surged 46.4
Veterans seek help for the wounds of war
Seattle Post Intelligencer - USAA panel of experts addressed such issues as post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and homelessness.
Readers of this blog have been aware of the problems since August and many more from my other blog going back to 2003. Even more going back to the posting I've done on AOL blogs and message boards. With all the news that has come out since 2002 how is it possible, how is it morally possible that no one bothered to take care of all of this until it was totally out of control? Didn't the lives of the men and women serving this nation matter enough to invest the time in paying attention to the rest of the people in this nation?
We can bicker all we want about getting the troops out of Iraq or the need to keep them there, but in the process, we devalue their lives by not taking care of their needs. Solutions will come either by way of public pressure to address both occupations or by the fact we can no longer afford to do either one. Set all that aside. Nothing will change with Iraq or Afghanistan until there is a new president and a new administration who will take the lives of the troops seriously enough to act. What we can and need to do today is find out who knew what when and why they did not know more.
The law suit filed by Veterans For Common Sense has provided some of the answers and none of them reflect the notion we are a grateful nation because they were allowed to pull all of it off. Who has been held accountable? Who has been charged or fired? How many of the dishonorably discharged have had justice provided to them? How many of the misdiagnosed have had their cases reviewed and honored? How many of the claims filed and denied wrongly have been made right? Where are we on any of this?
The VA and the DOD do not have enough mental health workers. They do not have enough Chaplains. Where are we on any of this? Have they changed the rules to allow trained Chaplains from the IFOC, who happen to be good enough for law enforcement and emergency responders, but are not good enough for the VA to provide vital services? Have the advocates been able to provide their knowledge to the Washington elected so that solutions come instead of more countless hearings reviewing what is already known?
There are so many questions we need to address and so many solutions that need to be implemented but if we just wait and wonder, the problem will only get worse for all of them.
Let's get our heads together and figure out how to make Washington hear us now. They didn't hear me in the 90's and they didn't hear me in the beginning of all of this. Will they listen now?
Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
China:1,000 teenagers died in school collapse
Crying for the children, and for justice
Posted: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 11:38 AM
Filed Under: Beijing, China
By Kari Huus, msnbc.com reporter
DUJIANGYAN, China – Releasing a tidal wave of emotion and anger, hundreds of grieving parents and sympathizers gathered at a pile of rubble that was once the Juyuan Middle School on Tuesday to memorialize the nearly 1,000 teenagers who died when the building collapsed in the May 12 earthquake.
The heart-rending ceremony also offered the victims’ parents an opportunity to demand justice.
A woman clutching the portrait of her daughter, Dong Yan, cursed the people in charge of building the school, which collapsed even though all the buildings around it remained standing. Like most of the people in the crowd, she believes local corruption was the reason for the poor construction.
Ryan Pyle / msnbc.com
"We want the truth to come out and the corrupt officials to be punished," she said between sobs. "These corrupt players are the ones who have caused us so much misery."
Banners hung across the destroyed building for the occasion were more blunt: "Get even for the deaths of the Juyuan students," read one.
Another demanded harsh punishment for the "murderers" responsible for the collapsed school.
"Whoever is responsible for the building should pay with their life," said another, comparing the building materials used in the structure to tofu.
As the crowd grew, the sound of weeping became a chorus. Women sobbed, and men drew deeply on cigarettes as tears trickled down their cheeks. Mourners lit candles and incense in the wreckage.
Some women were so distraught they were carried away by family and friends. A girl recovering from head injuries stood holding a picture of her dead brother, a faraway look on her face. A hastily set up sound system broadcast a dirge. The crack of fireworks cut through the din.
Notably missing from the memorial service were any representatives of the school or the local government, who in most crises would be expected to attempt to console the mourners.
go here for more
http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/05/27/1067009.aspx
Posted: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 11:38 AM
Filed Under: Beijing, China
By Kari Huus, msnbc.com reporter
DUJIANGYAN, China – Releasing a tidal wave of emotion and anger, hundreds of grieving parents and sympathizers gathered at a pile of rubble that was once the Juyuan Middle School on Tuesday to memorialize the nearly 1,000 teenagers who died when the building collapsed in the May 12 earthquake.
The heart-rending ceremony also offered the victims’ parents an opportunity to demand justice.
A woman clutching the portrait of her daughter, Dong Yan, cursed the people in charge of building the school, which collapsed even though all the buildings around it remained standing. Like most of the people in the crowd, she believes local corruption was the reason for the poor construction.
Ryan Pyle / msnbc.com
"We want the truth to come out and the corrupt officials to be punished," she said between sobs. "These corrupt players are the ones who have caused us so much misery."
Banners hung across the destroyed building for the occasion were more blunt: "Get even for the deaths of the Juyuan students," read one.
Another demanded harsh punishment for the "murderers" responsible for the collapsed school.
"Whoever is responsible for the building should pay with their life," said another, comparing the building materials used in the structure to tofu.
As the crowd grew, the sound of weeping became a chorus. Women sobbed, and men drew deeply on cigarettes as tears trickled down their cheeks. Mourners lit candles and incense in the wreckage.
Some women were so distraught they were carried away by family and friends. A girl recovering from head injuries stood holding a picture of her dead brother, a faraway look on her face. A hastily set up sound system broadcast a dirge. The crack of fireworks cut through the din.
Notably missing from the memorial service were any representatives of the school or the local government, who in most crises would be expected to attempt to console the mourners.
go here for more
http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/05/27/1067009.aspx
Finler:Stop talking and start doing
This is what I've been screaming about!!!!!
Hearing after hearing, listening to one heartbreaking story after another has accomplished more heartbreaking stories following all of the ones already heard. That's it. What good does it do to already know we failed in taking care of our veterans to hear more of them we failed? Does it make the problem go away to listen to the stories of these shattered lives? How many hearings does it take before they actually do something about any of this?
There is nothing new about PTSD. Humans have not changed and war is still war. What good does it do to listen to the new kids on the block when they already have several generations of older ones who have been there and done that and lived to tell their own stories? What good did it do to call on people who just stepped into this landmine and expect solutions from any of them? It accomplished a gigantic waste of time and in the process, more lives that could have been saved if they acted on what was already known.
I apologize to some of the people who have been testifying to congress on this, but the truth is, they can only talk about the problems the new generation of veterans have but they can offer nothing in the form of answers. I've heard all the hearings. I've read the transcripts and it is just rehashing what was already known in the 80's. The names have changed but that's just about all of it. The numbers are coming in sooner than they did after Vietnam, but most of that has more to do with outreach work (thousands of us have been doing since Vietnam) and the fact the redeployments increase the risk of developing PTSD by 50%. We have the numbers in from Vietnam and they are devastating,but we need to understand that as bad as those numbers are, they will be repeated faster simply because so little has been done to deal with it. Talking about it is not dealing with it and fixing the problems, helping them heal and compensating them for their wounds. It's all just more of the same.
“The VA can set up five commissions – yet the real problem goes unresolved. We all know that convening meetings to study an issue in order to formulate a report to offer recommendations IS NOT ACTION. I strongly encourage the VA to proactively reach out to all our returning veterans now. Veterans cannot wait – and should not have to wait – for a blue ribbon panel to come out yet again with another report.
“We KNOW what needs to be done. Each and every service member, Reservist and Guardsman must be given a thorough and mandatory medical evaluation by competent medical personnel when they separate from military service for PTSD and TBI. The VA Secretary was asked to do this weeks ago.
“The time for panels has past. I expect immediate action to address the immediate needs of our veterans.”
go here for more
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfMAY08/nf052408-7.htm
Hearing after hearing, listening to one heartbreaking story after another has accomplished more heartbreaking stories following all of the ones already heard. That's it. What good does it do to already know we failed in taking care of our veterans to hear more of them we failed? Does it make the problem go away to listen to the stories of these shattered lives? How many hearings does it take before they actually do something about any of this?
There is nothing new about PTSD. Humans have not changed and war is still war. What good does it do to listen to the new kids on the block when they already have several generations of older ones who have been there and done that and lived to tell their own stories? What good did it do to call on people who just stepped into this landmine and expect solutions from any of them? It accomplished a gigantic waste of time and in the process, more lives that could have been saved if they acted on what was already known.
I apologize to some of the people who have been testifying to congress on this, but the truth is, they can only talk about the problems the new generation of veterans have but they can offer nothing in the form of answers. I've heard all the hearings. I've read the transcripts and it is just rehashing what was already known in the 80's. The names have changed but that's just about all of it. The numbers are coming in sooner than they did after Vietnam, but most of that has more to do with outreach work (thousands of us have been doing since Vietnam) and the fact the redeployments increase the risk of developing PTSD by 50%. We have the numbers in from Vietnam and they are devastating,but we need to understand that as bad as those numbers are, they will be repeated faster simply because so little has been done to deal with it. Talking about it is not dealing with it and fixing the problems, helping them heal and compensating them for their wounds. It's all just more of the same.
Bill on female vets gets VA thumbs-down
VA GIVES THUMBS-DOWN TO LEGISLATION THAT WOULD HELP
WOMEN VETERANS -- VA says it doesn't have the money.
Sen. Patty Murray says: "I almost come out of my chair when I
hear that. If they need more money, then they should ask for it."
Bill on female vets gets VA thumbs-down
LES BLUMENTHAL
lblumenthal@mcclatchydc.com
WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs said Wednesday that it opposes much of Sen. Patty Murray’s bill to improve care for female veterans, even as the number of women seeking VA medical services is expected to double within the next five years.
A top VA official admitted during a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing that the agency might not be prepared for the anticipated influx of female veterans.
“We recognize there may well be gaps in services for women veterans, especially given the VA designed its clinics and services based on data when women comprised a much smaller percentage of those serving in the armed forces,” said Gerald Cross, the VA’s principal deputy undersecretary for health.
But Cross said the VA opposes many sections of the bill sponsored by Murray, a Washington state Democrat.
The agency’s concerns cover new studies of the physical and mental health problems female veterans faced and how the department was dealing with them. Cross said that would overlap with existing studies under way and would cost millions of dollars that could better be spent on health care services.
The VA also opposed sections that would require mental health workers to get special training on how to care for female victims of military sexual trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder, to require additional staff to deal with female veterans and to provide child care for veterans seeking VA care. The agency’s concerns about those proposals involved cost, necessity and a preference to let each region or hospital decide how to allocate its staffing.
The VA does support a provision requiring each VA medical center to have at least one full-time employee acting as a female veterans program manager and would require the department’s Advisory Committee on Women Veterans to include women who recently left the military.
“We are addressing the gaps with a number of initiatives,” Cross said. “We are absolutely committed to making (female veterans) welcome.”
“Making them welcome and addressing their needs are two different things,” Murray responded. “It’s important we focus laserlike on this.”
Women make up 14 percent of active-duty, National Guard and Reserve forces. About 180,000 have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In addition, there are about 1.7 million female veterans, and the VA is providing health care to about 253,000. That number is expected to double within five years.
go here for more
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfMAY08/nf052308-3.htm
WOMEN VETERANS -- VA says it doesn't have the money.
Sen. Patty Murray says: "I almost come out of my chair when I
hear that. If they need more money, then they should ask for it."
Bill on female vets gets VA thumbs-down
LES BLUMENTHAL
lblumenthal@mcclatchydc.com
WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs said Wednesday that it opposes much of Sen. Patty Murray’s bill to improve care for female veterans, even as the number of women seeking VA medical services is expected to double within the next five years.
A top VA official admitted during a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing that the agency might not be prepared for the anticipated influx of female veterans.
“We recognize there may well be gaps in services for women veterans, especially given the VA designed its clinics and services based on data when women comprised a much smaller percentage of those serving in the armed forces,” said Gerald Cross, the VA’s principal deputy undersecretary for health.
But Cross said the VA opposes many sections of the bill sponsored by Murray, a Washington state Democrat.
The agency’s concerns cover new studies of the physical and mental health problems female veterans faced and how the department was dealing with them. Cross said that would overlap with existing studies under way and would cost millions of dollars that could better be spent on health care services.
The VA also opposed sections that would require mental health workers to get special training on how to care for female victims of military sexual trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder, to require additional staff to deal with female veterans and to provide child care for veterans seeking VA care. The agency’s concerns about those proposals involved cost, necessity and a preference to let each region or hospital decide how to allocate its staffing.
The VA does support a provision requiring each VA medical center to have at least one full-time employee acting as a female veterans program manager and would require the department’s Advisory Committee on Women Veterans to include women who recently left the military.
“We are addressing the gaps with a number of initiatives,” Cross said. “We are absolutely committed to making (female veterans) welcome.”
“Making them welcome and addressing their needs are two different things,” Murray responded. “It’s important we focus laserlike on this.”
Women make up 14 percent of active-duty, National Guard and Reserve forces. About 180,000 have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In addition, there are about 1.7 million female veterans, and the VA is providing health care to about 253,000. That number is expected to double within five years.
go here for more
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfMAY08/nf052308-3.htm
McCain Clueless On Women In The Military
Women's combat roles are likely to be on next president's agenda
John McCain, after his release as a POW, said only men belong in battle. He stands by his record.
By Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 27, 2008
Soon after the Gulf War in 1991, a group of military women pressed Congress to allow female pilots to fly combat missions. But a Vietnam War hero in the Senate, John McCain, pushed back hard.
"The purpose of the military is first to defend this nation's vital security interests throughout the globe and only second to ensure equality," the Arizona Republican argued on the Senate floor, framing the issue in a way that infuriated feminists.
McCain lost that legislative battle, and women pilots started moving into combat roles in the mid-1990s. In the last five years in Iraq, women have flown hundreds of combat missions. And though they remain barred from ground combat units, women -- who make up about 15% of the military -- are playing a bigger fighting role than ever. About 100 have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The drive to eliminate gender distinctions in the military appears to be entering a new phase, with debate likely to come to a head within a few years. The next president, whether presumptive GOP nominee McCain or a Democrat, almost certainly will face the question of women in combat.
Policymakers would need to confront societal taboos against putting women in jeopardy, including the risk of rape that captured female soldiers commonly face. They also would have to tackle such issues as whether women could be involuntarily assigned to the infantry or required to register for the draft.
Democratic presidential contenders Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York -- neither of whom has a track record on the issue -- declined to comment on their positions.
McCain's aides said only that he stood by his past positions, suggesting that he would resist pressures for change.
In the 1991 debate over women pilots, McCain took a traditionalist stance. "This nation has existed for over 215 years," McCain said. "At no time in the history of our nation have women been in combat roles."
go here for more
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-militarywomen27-2008may27,0,5521290.story
Oh really?
Sybil Ludington
A profile of Sybil Ludington highlighting her heroic 1777 ride to raise militia troops to stop the British advance.
Margaret Cochran Corbin
She fought in the American Revolution alongside her husband, continued fighting when her husband was killed, and was awarded a half-pension for her injuries and service.
Deborah Samson
Canton, Massachusetts, Historical Society on the official heroine of the state of Massachusetts.
Who was Deborah Samson? Why was she designated the Official State Heroine? And why, in 1985 did the prestigious United States Capitol Historical Society issue a commemorative medal in her honor?
Schoolmarm Deborah Samson was never mentioned among the beauties of her day when the topic of female pulchritude arose in the decorous social circles of Plympton and Middleborough, Massachusetts in the 1770's; but Private Robert Shurtliff was always mentioned in glowing terms as being one of the toughest, strongest, and most patriotic soldiers in the Massachusetts Fourth Regiment at the 1782 and 1783 campfires and taprooms of what is now known as West Point, New York. Shurtliff's physical endurance was legendary.
What no one suspected for quite a while, except possibly a tactful clergyman in Bellingham, Massachusetts, was that Deborah and Robert were one and the same person. And what a gal she was!
More Women of the Revolution from "Daughters of America",1849 and"Women of the Revolution" 1882:
There is the little known story of Rachel and Grace Martin who disguised themselves as men and assailed a British courier and his guards. They took his important dispatches, which they speedily forwarded to General Greene. Then they released the two officers who didn't even know that they were women.
Then there is Anna Warner, wife of Captain Elijah Bailey, who earned the title of "The Heroine of Groton" because of her fearless efforts to aid the wounded on the occasion of the terrible massacre at Fort Griswald in Connecticut.
Anna Bailey went from house to house collecting material for bandages for the soldiers. Incidentally she denied ever having used the coarse and profane expressions ever attributed to her.
Margaret Corbin stepped up to the artillery during the attack on Fort Washington when her husband fell by her side and unhesitatingly took his place and performed his duties. In July of 1779 the Congress awarded her a pension for her heroism - and a suit of clothes. (see above)
Angelica Vrooman, during the heat of battle, sat calmly in a tent with a bullet mould, some lead and an iron spoon, moulding bullets for the rangers.
Mary Hagidorn, upon hearing the order by a Captain Hager, for the women and children to retire to the long cellar, said: "Captain, I shall not go to that cellar should the enemy come. I will take a spear which I can use as well as any man and help defend the fort." The captain seeing her determination answered "then take a spear,Mary, and be ready at the pickets to repel an attack." She cheerfully obeyed and held the spear at the pickets till hurrahs for the American flag burst on her ear and told that all was safe.
Did you know that women were torpedoed off the coast of Africa during WWII? Did you know that when Gen MacArthur returned to the Phillipines, Navy nurses were waiting for him on shore and were cut out of the press photos? Did you know that there were women prisoners of war? These pages will continue to light more candles that reflect the deeds and accomplishments of military women...in hopes that future generations will remember that during every conflict Women Were There !!!
Pre Revolutionary Days - 1600s
During King Philip's War in 1675 women leaders of Native American tribes helped the colonists defend their settlements. One was Awashonka, squaw sachem of the Saconnet in Rhode Island.
In 1697 a Massachusetts settler, Hannah Duston, from the town of Haverhill, was captured by Abnaki Indians who were fighting for Canada. After an arduous hundred mile trek, while resting on an island in New Hampshire, Hannah decided that she was not going to be tortured or killed in Canada. With the help of a young boy who had been captured earlier, and Mary Neff who had been captured with her, she stole the Indians tomahawks and in a daring nighttime attack the three prisoners managed to kill ten of their captors. They stole a canoe, scuttled the rest, and escaped taking with them the scalps of their victims as proof of their story. The first monument, commemorating the fame of a woman, to be erected in the United States was one to Hannah Duston, dedicated on June 1, 1861, in Haverhill
The War of 1812
The USS CONSTITUTION met and defeated HMS GUERRIERE, the first in a grand succession of victories in the War of 1812. It was during this ferocious battle that the seamen, astonished at the way the British cannonballs were bouncing off the Constitution's hull, cried out - "Her sides are made of iron!"; Thus, her nickname, "Old Ironsides." What was not known at the time was the fact that a U.S. Marine, serving aboard Old Ironsides, as George Baker, was actually Lucy Brewer. Eventually the Marine Corps reluctantly acknowledged that Lucy Brewer was in fact the very first woman marine. It would be over one hundred years before the Marine Corps seriously began to recruit women - August 1918 - to be specific.
Mexican American War - 1846
Sarah Borginis The Mrs' Borginis and Foley enlisted with their husbands into the 8th calvary at the Jefferson Barracks, Mo. Sarah became the principal cook at Fort Brown (Fort Texas) and stayed on the job when General Taylor moved most of his troops to the mouth of the Rio Grande. However, when the Mexicans began bombarding Fort Texas, (Fort Brown) from their positions at Matamoros, she was isssued a musket. It's said she took an active part in the ensuing fray, never missing a target or preparing a meal. Gen. Zachary Taylor breveted her to colonel, making her the first female colonel of the U.S.Army. She moved to El Paso and opened a hotel. For years it was a favorite stop of '49ers heading for the California gold fields. She later moved to Arizona and ran a Yuma saloon until her death in 1866. Col. Borginis was buried at Fort Yuma with full Military Honors - the first woman to be a ranking U.S.Army officer.
The Civil War - 1860s
Many stories have been written about unique Civil War women, including Sarah Emma Edmonds, alias Franklin Thompson. In Nurse and Spy in the Union Army, 1865, Historians have verified that Emma Edmonds, as Franklin Thompson, did serve in the units she mentioned at the times she said.
Another fairly well known story is that of Jennie Hodgers who served and fought for three years as Albert Cashier. Her identity wasn't revealed until 1913.
The trials and tribulations of Lt Harry T. Buford, Confederate Officer,later found to be Madam Loreta Velazquez, have also been recorded. And historical records verify the fact that over sixty women were either wounded or killed at various battles during the Civil War.
Perhaps the most poignant story about women in the Civil War is one told in the book Women in War , 1866, by Frank Moore. In 1863, at age 19, a woman known only as Emily, ran away from home and joined the drum corps of a Michigan Regiment. The regiment was sent to Tennessee and during the struggle for Chatanooga a minie ball pierced the side of the young soldier. Her wound was fatal and her sex was disclosed. At first she refused to disclose her real name but as she lay dying she consented to dictate a telegram to her father in Brooklyn. Forgive your dying daughter. I have but a few moments to live. My native soil drinks my blood. I expected to deliver my country but the fates would not have it so. I am content to die. Pray forgive me...... Emily.
Did you know that a woman was awarded the congressional Medal of Honor?
Dr Mary Walker, a surgeon in the Civil War, was awarded the nation's highest honor by President Andrew Johnson. The citation reads, in part, Whereas it appears from official reports that Dr. Mary E. Walker, a graduate of medicine, has rendered valuable service to the government, and her efforts have been earnest and untiring in a variety of ways, and that she was assigned to duty and served as an assistant surgeon in charge of female prisoners at Louisville, KY., under the recommendation of Major-Generals Sherman and Thomas, and faithfully served as contract surgeon in the service of the United states, and has devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and wounded soldiers, both in the field and hospitals, to the detriment of her own health, and has endured hardships as a prisoner of war four months in a southern prison while acting as contract surgeon....Dr. Walker was an early suffragette, one of the earliest women physicians, a champion for more comfortable clothing for women and a pioneer for women in many areas that we take for granted today.
The Spanish American War - 1898
In 1898 when Teddy went charging up San Juan Hill, after the Battleship Maine blew up in Havana Harbor, sanitary conditions for the wounded soldiers were deplorable. There were typhoid fever epidemics in the camps and few qualified medical personnel. Congress quickly authorized the U.S. Army to procure female nurses but not with military status. They were hired as civilians under contract and over one thousand women were recruited to serve - for thirty dollars a month.
From 1898 to 1901 more than 1500 women served in the states, overseas, and on a U.S. Hospital ship. Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee was instrumental in the recruiting of these women and continued to argue for nurses as a permanent part of the military. When Dr. McGee became Acting Assistant Surgeon General in charge of a new Nurse Corps Division she drafted the necessary legislation to begin the process of giving nurses some sort of military status. Yet they had no rank, equal pay, or benefits. Women in the miltary still had a long way to go.
World War One - 1914-1918
In 1901 and 1908 the establishment of the Army and Navy Nurse Corps opened the door for women in the military but ever so slightly. It wasn't until the United States got involved in World War One that some parts of the government got serious about using woman power. As the Army stumbled around bureaucratic red tape trying to figure out how to enlist women the Navy simply ignored the War Department dissenters and quickly recruited women. Nearly 13,000 women enlisted in the Navy and the Marine Corps on the same status as men and wore a uniform blouse with insignia.
These were the first women in the U.S to be officially admitted to full military rank and status. Nurses who served were in Belgium, Italy, England and on troop trains and transport ships. Army and Navy Nurse Corps women served valiantly throughout the war, many received decorations for their service.
At least three Army nurses were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nations' second highest military honor. Several received the Distinguished Service Medal, our highest noncombat award, and over twenty were awarded the French Croix de Guerre. Nurses were wounded, and several died overseas and are buried in military cemeteries far from home.
Thirty thousand women served their country in the Army and Navy Nurse Corps, the Navy as Yeoman (F), the Marines, and the Coast Guard in WWI.
http://www.thelizlibrary.org/collections/military/timeline1.html
Oh yes but then there were even more but McCain would know that if he really wanted to have a clue about what he's talking about. It's not like it would be hard. All he has to do is watch my video The Voice, Women At War and know what a rich history they have had.
John McCain, after his release as a POW, said only men belong in battle. He stands by his record.
By Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 27, 2008
Soon after the Gulf War in 1991, a group of military women pressed Congress to allow female pilots to fly combat missions. But a Vietnam War hero in the Senate, John McCain, pushed back hard.
"The purpose of the military is first to defend this nation's vital security interests throughout the globe and only second to ensure equality," the Arizona Republican argued on the Senate floor, framing the issue in a way that infuriated feminists.
McCain lost that legislative battle, and women pilots started moving into combat roles in the mid-1990s. In the last five years in Iraq, women have flown hundreds of combat missions. And though they remain barred from ground combat units, women -- who make up about 15% of the military -- are playing a bigger fighting role than ever. About 100 have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The drive to eliminate gender distinctions in the military appears to be entering a new phase, with debate likely to come to a head within a few years. The next president, whether presumptive GOP nominee McCain or a Democrat, almost certainly will face the question of women in combat.
Policymakers would need to confront societal taboos against putting women in jeopardy, including the risk of rape that captured female soldiers commonly face. They also would have to tackle such issues as whether women could be involuntarily assigned to the infantry or required to register for the draft.
Democratic presidential contenders Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York -- neither of whom has a track record on the issue -- declined to comment on their positions.
McCain's aides said only that he stood by his past positions, suggesting that he would resist pressures for change.
In the 1991 debate over women pilots, McCain took a traditionalist stance. "This nation has existed for over 215 years," McCain said. "At no time in the history of our nation have women been in combat roles."
go here for more
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-militarywomen27-2008may27,0,5521290.story
Oh really?
Sybil Ludington
A profile of Sybil Ludington highlighting her heroic 1777 ride to raise militia troops to stop the British advance.
Margaret Cochran Corbin
She fought in the American Revolution alongside her husband, continued fighting when her husband was killed, and was awarded a half-pension for her injuries and service.
Deborah Samson
Canton, Massachusetts, Historical Society on the official heroine of the state of Massachusetts.
Who was Deborah Samson? Why was she designated the Official State Heroine? And why, in 1985 did the prestigious United States Capitol Historical Society issue a commemorative medal in her honor?
Schoolmarm Deborah Samson was never mentioned among the beauties of her day when the topic of female pulchritude arose in the decorous social circles of Plympton and Middleborough, Massachusetts in the 1770's; but Private Robert Shurtliff was always mentioned in glowing terms as being one of the toughest, strongest, and most patriotic soldiers in the Massachusetts Fourth Regiment at the 1782 and 1783 campfires and taprooms of what is now known as West Point, New York. Shurtliff's physical endurance was legendary.
What no one suspected for quite a while, except possibly a tactful clergyman in Bellingham, Massachusetts, was that Deborah and Robert were one and the same person. And what a gal she was!
More Women of the Revolution from "Daughters of America",1849 and"Women of the Revolution" 1882:
There is the little known story of Rachel and Grace Martin who disguised themselves as men and assailed a British courier and his guards. They took his important dispatches, which they speedily forwarded to General Greene. Then they released the two officers who didn't even know that they were women.
Then there is Anna Warner, wife of Captain Elijah Bailey, who earned the title of "The Heroine of Groton" because of her fearless efforts to aid the wounded on the occasion of the terrible massacre at Fort Griswald in Connecticut.
Anna Bailey went from house to house collecting material for bandages for the soldiers. Incidentally she denied ever having used the coarse and profane expressions ever attributed to her.
Margaret Corbin stepped up to the artillery during the attack on Fort Washington when her husband fell by her side and unhesitatingly took his place and performed his duties. In July of 1779 the Congress awarded her a pension for her heroism - and a suit of clothes. (see above)
Angelica Vrooman, during the heat of battle, sat calmly in a tent with a bullet mould, some lead and an iron spoon, moulding bullets for the rangers.
Mary Hagidorn, upon hearing the order by a Captain Hager, for the women and children to retire to the long cellar, said: "Captain, I shall not go to that cellar should the enemy come. I will take a spear which I can use as well as any man and help defend the fort." The captain seeing her determination answered "then take a spear,Mary, and be ready at the pickets to repel an attack." She cheerfully obeyed and held the spear at the pickets till hurrahs for the American flag burst on her ear and told that all was safe.
Did you know that women were torpedoed off the coast of Africa during WWII? Did you know that when Gen MacArthur returned to the Phillipines, Navy nurses were waiting for him on shore and were cut out of the press photos? Did you know that there were women prisoners of war? These pages will continue to light more candles that reflect the deeds and accomplishments of military women...in hopes that future generations will remember that during every conflict Women Were There !!!
Pre Revolutionary Days - 1600s
During King Philip's War in 1675 women leaders of Native American tribes helped the colonists defend their settlements. One was Awashonka, squaw sachem of the Saconnet in Rhode Island.
In 1697 a Massachusetts settler, Hannah Duston, from the town of Haverhill, was captured by Abnaki Indians who were fighting for Canada. After an arduous hundred mile trek, while resting on an island in New Hampshire, Hannah decided that she was not going to be tortured or killed in Canada. With the help of a young boy who had been captured earlier, and Mary Neff who had been captured with her, she stole the Indians tomahawks and in a daring nighttime attack the three prisoners managed to kill ten of their captors. They stole a canoe, scuttled the rest, and escaped taking with them the scalps of their victims as proof of their story. The first monument, commemorating the fame of a woman, to be erected in the United States was one to Hannah Duston, dedicated on June 1, 1861, in Haverhill
The War of 1812
The USS CONSTITUTION met and defeated HMS GUERRIERE, the first in a grand succession of victories in the War of 1812. It was during this ferocious battle that the seamen, astonished at the way the British cannonballs were bouncing off the Constitution's hull, cried out - "Her sides are made of iron!"; Thus, her nickname, "Old Ironsides." What was not known at the time was the fact that a U.S. Marine, serving aboard Old Ironsides, as George Baker, was actually Lucy Brewer. Eventually the Marine Corps reluctantly acknowledged that Lucy Brewer was in fact the very first woman marine. It would be over one hundred years before the Marine Corps seriously began to recruit women - August 1918 - to be specific.
Mexican American War - 1846
Sarah Borginis The Mrs' Borginis and Foley enlisted with their husbands into the 8th calvary at the Jefferson Barracks, Mo. Sarah became the principal cook at Fort Brown (Fort Texas) and stayed on the job when General Taylor moved most of his troops to the mouth of the Rio Grande. However, when the Mexicans began bombarding Fort Texas, (Fort Brown) from their positions at Matamoros, she was isssued a musket. It's said she took an active part in the ensuing fray, never missing a target or preparing a meal. Gen. Zachary Taylor breveted her to colonel, making her the first female colonel of the U.S.Army. She moved to El Paso and opened a hotel. For years it was a favorite stop of '49ers heading for the California gold fields. She later moved to Arizona and ran a Yuma saloon until her death in 1866. Col. Borginis was buried at Fort Yuma with full Military Honors - the first woman to be a ranking U.S.Army officer.
The Civil War - 1860s
Many stories have been written about unique Civil War women, including Sarah Emma Edmonds, alias Franklin Thompson. In Nurse and Spy in the Union Army, 1865, Historians have verified that Emma Edmonds, as Franklin Thompson, did serve in the units she mentioned at the times she said.
Another fairly well known story is that of Jennie Hodgers who served and fought for three years as Albert Cashier. Her identity wasn't revealed until 1913.
The trials and tribulations of Lt Harry T. Buford, Confederate Officer,later found to be Madam Loreta Velazquez, have also been recorded. And historical records verify the fact that over sixty women were either wounded or killed at various battles during the Civil War.
Perhaps the most poignant story about women in the Civil War is one told in the book Women in War , 1866, by Frank Moore. In 1863, at age 19, a woman known only as Emily, ran away from home and joined the drum corps of a Michigan Regiment. The regiment was sent to Tennessee and during the struggle for Chatanooga a minie ball pierced the side of the young soldier. Her wound was fatal and her sex was disclosed. At first she refused to disclose her real name but as she lay dying she consented to dictate a telegram to her father in Brooklyn. Forgive your dying daughter. I have but a few moments to live. My native soil drinks my blood. I expected to deliver my country but the fates would not have it so. I am content to die. Pray forgive me...... Emily.
Did you know that a woman was awarded the congressional Medal of Honor?
Dr Mary Walker, a surgeon in the Civil War, was awarded the nation's highest honor by President Andrew Johnson. The citation reads, in part, Whereas it appears from official reports that Dr. Mary E. Walker, a graduate of medicine, has rendered valuable service to the government, and her efforts have been earnest and untiring in a variety of ways, and that she was assigned to duty and served as an assistant surgeon in charge of female prisoners at Louisville, KY., under the recommendation of Major-Generals Sherman and Thomas, and faithfully served as contract surgeon in the service of the United states, and has devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and wounded soldiers, both in the field and hospitals, to the detriment of her own health, and has endured hardships as a prisoner of war four months in a southern prison while acting as contract surgeon....Dr. Walker was an early suffragette, one of the earliest women physicians, a champion for more comfortable clothing for women and a pioneer for women in many areas that we take for granted today.
The Spanish American War - 1898
In 1898 when Teddy went charging up San Juan Hill, after the Battleship Maine blew up in Havana Harbor, sanitary conditions for the wounded soldiers were deplorable. There were typhoid fever epidemics in the camps and few qualified medical personnel. Congress quickly authorized the U.S. Army to procure female nurses but not with military status. They were hired as civilians under contract and over one thousand women were recruited to serve - for thirty dollars a month.
From 1898 to 1901 more than 1500 women served in the states, overseas, and on a U.S. Hospital ship. Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee was instrumental in the recruiting of these women and continued to argue for nurses as a permanent part of the military. When Dr. McGee became Acting Assistant Surgeon General in charge of a new Nurse Corps Division she drafted the necessary legislation to begin the process of giving nurses some sort of military status. Yet they had no rank, equal pay, or benefits. Women in the miltary still had a long way to go.
World War One - 1914-1918
In 1901 and 1908 the establishment of the Army and Navy Nurse Corps opened the door for women in the military but ever so slightly. It wasn't until the United States got involved in World War One that some parts of the government got serious about using woman power. As the Army stumbled around bureaucratic red tape trying to figure out how to enlist women the Navy simply ignored the War Department dissenters and quickly recruited women. Nearly 13,000 women enlisted in the Navy and the Marine Corps on the same status as men and wore a uniform blouse with insignia.
These were the first women in the U.S to be officially admitted to full military rank and status. Nurses who served were in Belgium, Italy, England and on troop trains and transport ships. Army and Navy Nurse Corps women served valiantly throughout the war, many received decorations for their service.
At least three Army nurses were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nations' second highest military honor. Several received the Distinguished Service Medal, our highest noncombat award, and over twenty were awarded the French Croix de Guerre. Nurses were wounded, and several died overseas and are buried in military cemeteries far from home.
Thirty thousand women served their country in the Army and Navy Nurse Corps, the Navy as Yeoman (F), the Marines, and the Coast Guard in WWI.
http://www.thelizlibrary.org/collections/military/timeline1.html
Oh yes but then there were even more but McCain would know that if he really wanted to have a clue about what he's talking about. It's not like it would be hard. All he has to do is watch my video The Voice, Women At War and know what a rich history they have had.
How does the body regrow? Pixie Dust and stem cells
Salamander-inspired therapy may aid injured vets
Story Highlights
"Regenerative medicine" pursued by the Pentagon, top U.S. and medical facilities
Key to regeneration is powder nicknamed "pixie dust"
Powder forms a microscopic "scaffold" that helps cells grow into desired tissue
By Larry Shaughnessy
CNN Pentagon Producer
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (CNN) -- Last week in an operating room in Texas, a wounded American soldier underwent a history-making procedure that could help him regrow the finger that was lost to a bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, last year.
Army Sgt. Shiloh Harris' doctors applied specially formulated powder to what's left of the finger in an effort to do for wounded soldiers what salamanders can do naturally: replace missing body parts.
If it sounds like science fiction, the lead surgeon agreed.
"It is. But science fiction eventually becomes true, doesn't it?" asked Dr. Steven Wolf of Brooke Army Medical Center.
Harris' surgery is part of a major medical study of "regenerative medicine" being pursued by the Pentagon and several of the nation's top medical facilities, including the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic. Nearly $250 million has been dedicated to the research.
Air Force Tech. Sgt. Israel Del Toro is one of the wounded vets who might one day benefit from this research. He was injured by a bomb in Afghanistan. Both his hands were badly burned. On his left hand, what was left of his fingers fused together.
"You know, in the beginning, when I first got hurt, I told them, just cut it off. So I can get some function," Del Toro said. His doctors did not cut off his injured left arm. And since that injury, advancements in burn and amputation treatment mean he may one day be able to use his fingers again. Watch more on regenerative medicine »
A key to the research dedicated to regrowing fingers and other body parts is a powder, nicknamed "pixie dust" by some of the people at Brooke. It's made from tissue extracted from pigs.
The pixie dust powder itself doesn't regrow the missing tissue; it tricks the patient's body into doing that itself.
All bodies have stem cells. As we are developing in our mothers' wombs, those stem cells grow our fingers, toes, organs -- essentially, our whole body. The stem cells stop doing that around birth, but they don't go away. The researchers believe that the "pixie dust" can put those stem cells back to work growing new body parts.
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/05/26/regrowing.body.parts/index.html
Story Highlights
"Regenerative medicine" pursued by the Pentagon, top U.S. and medical facilities
Key to regeneration is powder nicknamed "pixie dust"
Powder forms a microscopic "scaffold" that helps cells grow into desired tissue
By Larry Shaughnessy
CNN Pentagon Producer
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (CNN) -- Last week in an operating room in Texas, a wounded American soldier underwent a history-making procedure that could help him regrow the finger that was lost to a bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, last year.
Army Sgt. Shiloh Harris' doctors applied specially formulated powder to what's left of the finger in an effort to do for wounded soldiers what salamanders can do naturally: replace missing body parts.
If it sounds like science fiction, the lead surgeon agreed.
"It is. But science fiction eventually becomes true, doesn't it?" asked Dr. Steven Wolf of Brooke Army Medical Center.
Harris' surgery is part of a major medical study of "regenerative medicine" being pursued by the Pentagon and several of the nation's top medical facilities, including the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic. Nearly $250 million has been dedicated to the research.
Air Force Tech. Sgt. Israel Del Toro is one of the wounded vets who might one day benefit from this research. He was injured by a bomb in Afghanistan. Both his hands were badly burned. On his left hand, what was left of his fingers fused together.
"You know, in the beginning, when I first got hurt, I told them, just cut it off. So I can get some function," Del Toro said. His doctors did not cut off his injured left arm. And since that injury, advancements in burn and amputation treatment mean he may one day be able to use his fingers again. Watch more on regenerative medicine »
A key to the research dedicated to regrowing fingers and other body parts is a powder, nicknamed "pixie dust" by some of the people at Brooke. It's made from tissue extracted from pigs.
The pixie dust powder itself doesn't regrow the missing tissue; it tricks the patient's body into doing that itself.
All bodies have stem cells. As we are developing in our mothers' wombs, those stem cells grow our fingers, toes, organs -- essentially, our whole body. The stem cells stop doing that around birth, but they don't go away. The researchers believe that the "pixie dust" can put those stem cells back to work growing new body parts.
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/05/26/regrowing.body.parts/index.html
Vietnam Vets 5th annual Memorial Motorcycle Run
This was sent by one of my friends Jan Benoit, mentioned in this article.
GARDNER — As the sun shone brightly over Elm Street Sunday morning, President Norman Webb of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 907 had a simple message for the hundreds of motorcyclists gathered in the parking lot of American Legion Post 129.
“Find your bikes,” he said, “and let’s get ready to rock.”
The group’s fifth annual Memorial Motorcycle Run and Barbecue brought together more than 600 bikers and hundreds more members of the community for a day of riding and remembrance, a way to honor those who died while serving in the military, while celebrating the freedom for which they sacrificed their lives.
Mr. Webb, who helped create the event as an alternative for veterans unable to travel to the Vietnam Veterans of America’s annual gathering at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington , D.C. , said this year’s ride was focused on honoring all of the area’s veterans and fallen soldiers.
He did, however, make particular mention of the 11 soldiers from Gardner who died in Vietnam , each of whose names are inscribed on the national memorial. He said his organization is currently working to gather information about those soldiers in order to create a tribute on its Web site, http://www.vietnamveterans907.com.
“We’re doing it actually for all the vets,” he said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the 11 people down on the wall.”
After opening ceremonies at the American Legion Post — including Tara Morgan’s rendition of the national anthem and a firing squad and color guard from the legion — the gathered riders traveled to Rindge , N.H. for a service at the Cathedral of the Pines.
The group then traveled back to Gardner , meeting an already-in-progress barbecue at the Gardner Fish and Gun Club on Clark Street .
“This is our best year yet,” said James Benton, the secretary of the local Vietnam veterans chapter, outside the club as people formed a long line for barbecued chicken. Both the sunny weather and the high turnout, he said, were “absolutely perfect.”
The event has become a significant fundraiser for the group, said Mr. Benton, allowing for outreach into the community and collaborative efforts with other organizations. Tom Cross, a member of the veterans group, noted that before the success of the motorcycle run — which has more than tripled in size since its inception — the group “couldn’t afford to buy a stamp.”
Janice Benoit, another member of the group who has taken part in the yearly event since it began, agreed that it has become increasingly successful. She also noted the time and energy needed to plan and put on the run and barbecue, adding that planning has already started for next year.
“It gets bigger every year, it really does,” she said. “I’m amazed at how great people are.”
The author of a recent book about post-traumatic stress syndrome, Ms. Benoit also stressed the importance of remembering that the basis of the yearly event — and of the Memorial Day holiday — is to honor the sacrifice of fallen servicemen and women and remember those who have and continue to serve. For service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, she said, ailments like PTSD and the basic challenge of reintegrating into civilian life make the need for continued support all the more critical.
The community’s support for Sunday’s event was clear, with vendors setting up tables, volunteers raffling off a number of donated prizes and local band The Game providing live musical entertainment.
Police Officer Richard Braks led the motorcycle run on the Police Department’s new Harley-Davidson FLH motorcycle, which was officially put into service Sunday. The bike bears the number “907” in honor of the local Vietnam veterans group, which made a donation for the vehicle’s graphics.
“It’s kind of the maiden voyage,” said Officer Braks, who said the city previously had a police motorcycle before budget cuts forced the department to discontinue the vehicle. Bringing a motorcycle back into service, he said, provides police with both a versatile law enforcement tool and a valuable means through which to improve community outreach.
“It’s a conversation starter with the community,” he said, particularly with younger people and those with an interest in motorcycles.
Like Ms. Benoit, Officer Braks spoke of the “great cause” that led to the annual race and the theme of remembrance at the heart of Memorial Day. While bringing together the community to honor the military’s fallen is a positive and appropriate way to celebrate the day, he said such gatherings can never truly give the thanks that is owed.
“The ceremonies are definitely not enough for those that have served us,” he said.
dkittredge@thegardnernews.com
"As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man."
Proverbs 27:19
Jan Benoit
janicembenoit@yahoo.com
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