Prosecute Army For Dereliction Of Duty

I was thinking about some of the stories I've posted this year and this was one of the ones that made me think of how many others like 1st Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside there are. What if Dana Priest and Anne Hull didn't report on what she was going through? What would have happened to Whiteside if the Army got away with just prosecuting her?

Update on Veteran Army 1st Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside
Army 1st Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside, who was recently profiled by Post reporters Dana Priest and Anne Hull, has received good news: an Army hearing officer has recommended that she should not face a court-martial for attempting suicide and endangering another soldier while in Iraq. Whiteside, who is undergoing psychiatric treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, should be allowed "to end her military service and receive the benefits that she will desperately need for the remainder of her life," said Maj. Mervin H. Steals, the officer assigned to conduct a preliminary hearing. His decision will be passed along to an officer who has jurisdiction over the matter and can accept or reject the recommendation. Whiteside suffered a mental breakdown earlier this year, waving a gun and threatening others before she fired a shot into her stomach. She faces the possibility of life in prison if she is tried and convicted. Her story was part of the Post's ongoing coverage of the treatment of veterans at Walter Reed.

By The Editors December 11, 2007; 10:00 AM ET Walter Reed Previous: Responding to a Critic Next: Meet the Reporters and Editors

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Dana Priest and Anne Hull have done a great service to the men and women who risk their lives everyday and for all veterans who were ignored by the media before. They've done it time and time again. In each case we really need to wonder what would have been done or allowed to go on if they didn't bother?

Would Walter Reed hospital still be treating the wounded as if they were lucky to be there at all in squalor? Would the DOD still be allowed to ignore the suffering of thousands of veterans, forced out under "personality disorders" unable to be compensated for their wounds or support themselves or their families? Would the VA get away with ignoring the problem of suicides reaching epidemic proportions doing absolutely nothing to open clinics and veterans centers, hiring more psychologist and therapists as well as claims processors? Not that they have even come close to fulfilling those needs still.

Without reporters and families standing up to say this is all wrong, nothing would be fixed at all. We owe them our willingness to fight for all of them, to stand up and say "you can't get away with treating our troops like this" to the Army. As a matter of fact it needs to be said to the Marines, the Navy, the Air Force and the National Guards as well. It is dereliction of duty to leave any of these wounded behind and without their wounds being tended to.

As the brass contemplates any more charges against them they should wonder what they did that caused it to happen because it begins and ends with them. kc

Vietnam Vet, PTSD and once homeless moves upscale

Season of Sharing: Once homeless, veteran's family moves upscale
Peter Hartlaub, Chronicle Pop Culture Critic

Sunday, December 30, 2007


Umoja Selassie and his three daughters were the first family to move into the tony planned community of Bayport Alameda last year. They remember everything seemed to sparkle, with sidewalks that were flawless and a street so empty that their footsteps echoed across the neighborhood.

"We were the first ones in the whole neighborhood, and everything was brand new," Selassie remembers. "The street wasn't even named when we got in here."

Unfortunately, it wasn't the first time the 55-year-old Navy veteran and his three then-teenage daughters lived without an official address. They were homeless in San Francisco several years ago, until they received help finding an apartment in 2003, with several months of rent provided by The Chronicle's Season of Sharing Fund.

Years later, they've turned into one of the program's biggest success stories. A case worker at the veteran aid organization Operation Dignity helped Selassie find his new home - a three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath apartment that he rents for less than $500 in a neighborhood that includes million-dollar houses. All of his daughters are in college, with plans to become an artist, a nurse and a psychiatrist.

For Selassie, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from working on ships during the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and the conflict in Somalia, the home is a blessing that he makes sure his family gives thanks for every day, not just Christmas.

Mental health treatment for Montana vets lags behind nation

Statistics contradict praise of mental health programs Mental health treatment for Montana vets lags behind nation
By CHRIS ADAMS
McClatchy Newspapers
By CHRIS ADAMS
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, took officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs to an auditorium at the Montana State University-College of Technology campus in Great Falls last summer to talk about the best way to provide health care to veterans in the region's vast rural areas.

The director of the VA region that includes Montana, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming detailed all that the agency was doing to provide for veterans' health needs — physical and mental.

"Comprehensive mental-health care is one of the top priorities for Network 19," Glen Grippen said, referring to the multi-state Rocky Mountain region. He said that mental health staff had been added recently, specifically for treating post-traumatic stress disorder.

Each medical center now has a suicide prevention coordinator, he said, and the VA's medical centers "actively collaborate with state National Guard and Reserve components to ensure that no returning soldier slips through the cracks."
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PTSD and depression hits home for veterans

A Pentagon report that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association confirmed that 17 percent of soldiers return home with signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or other situations that involve relating to nonveterans. The study of 88,000 veterans showed that percentage to nearly double six months later.

"Some of them come through, and they don’t start realizing that they have changed because of some situation, or until they have been home for a number of months," Bayer said. "It’s something the government is very aware of."

In Wisconsin, the problem may be even worse because, Bayer said, most new veterans are with the National Guard, a specific high-risk group according to the study.
About 42 percent of Guard members and reserves were identified as needing mental health treatment.

Depression hits home for veterans
BY ROGER ANDERSON
Journal Times
Saturday, December 29, 2007 11:00 PM CST



Quinn Copeland never thought the day his platoon gathered to take its first picture would turn out to be one of the roughest days of his life. He also didn’t expect to find himself living on unemployment six years after enlisting in the Army.



Between Sept. 11, 2001 (when the picture was taken) and today, Copeland has drilled at multiple bases, trained in Kuwait and served in Iraq.



He’s also earned a bachelor’s degree and found himself without a job, a scenario thousands of U.S. veterans face every day.



Steven Bardouche applied to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside six months before he finished his four years of active duty with the Marine Corps. Having finished his first semester, he says he’s among only two of about 30 close friends who served with him who are now going to school.



Both men agree that the transition back to civilian life has been a difficult journey. And while they count on the future being brighter, the present is one of questions.



"I expect it to be easier, but I don’t really know," Bardouche said. "I don’t know if it’s going to be a light bulb, or how it’s going to change."
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Reader insults PTSD troops and veterans

This is what I deal with all the time. People want to act as if there is something disgraceful in having been wounded by PTSD. This is the kind of attitude people still have. They will never give the honor to all the wounded or come close to the gratitude they should to all of them. The only disgrace is on this nation because so many have committed suicide because of PTSD and the failure of this nation to take care of the wounded. They have their families fall apart. They end up tortured instead of being treated. They end up jobless because they can no longer work. They end up homeless and abandoned. With all of that, with all that can be done for them, people like this poster would rather insult every veteran with PTSD by suggesting they are less than honorable, less than good, less than someone they claim to know.

NB has left a new comment on your post "Another non-combat death in Iraq": Sgt. Peter C. Neesley was an amazing man. I cannot even begin to believe that I came across his name on a website that would even SUGGEST that his death may have been a suicide. He died not even 5 days ago and already you're speaking about it as if his family and friends feelings mean absolutely nothing. You say that you wont know until 'his family speaks,' and you say it like they are hiding some deep dark secret about their fallen hero. He was an honorable, caring man who lost his life fighting for his country. If only you could give him and his family the respect they he gave all of us. Posted by NB to Wounded Times at December 30, 2007 12:03 AM

My reply

Kathie Costos has left a new comment on your post "Another non-combat death in Iraq": There are too many non-combat deaths not counted and you should want to make sure all of them are counted. There are too many families who do not know how their family member died and you should want all of them to have closure. Some have died by suicide, some by being murdered, some by health problems associated with their service with vaccines. If you cared about all of them then you would want them all treated as worthy of attention. I said absolutely nothing about the cause of his death. I reminded readers that we cannot assume anything because most non-combat deaths are in fact suicide. If you cannot understand this, then you have a real problem. The families deserve to know how their family member died as soon as possible and there are too many who still don't know years later. Why? Because they fell through the cracks and the military was allowed to drop the investigations.In the cases of non-combat, either the family speaks out or the media files Freedom Of Information to find out what happened. This is the only way we come close to knowing how they died. Deal with it. Too many families are suffering because they don't know what happened.As for your comment about him. I have no doubt he was an honorable caring man. You just suggested that if they develop PTSD and commit suicide they are not honorable caring people. That means you just insulted hundreds of thousands of veterans with PTSD and the tens of thousands who have committed suicide.People like you make me sick. You act as if they should be ashamed of being wounded. They are just as patriotic, brave, honorable and all the rest that goes into making them heroes but you want to disgrace all of them as if they are worthless. Find a "right wing" blog to visit because that is the only place where you disgraceful attitude belongs. Posted by Kathie Costos to Wounded Times at December 30, 2007 8:28 AM

It is disgraceful that people like NB are still out there in this country. With all the reports and studies on PTSD, they are deaf, dumb and blind. It is this kind of person who will scream the loudest on "supporting the troops" but when it comes to them needing us, they are nowhere to be found.
Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington