Military’s stance on burn pits assailed
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Nov 6, 2009 13:01:40 EST
The Air Force bioenvironmental officer who was among the first to warn about the potential effects of open-air burn pits on U.S. troops deployed in the war zones said Friday that he does not believe the findings of a 2008 Army report that discounted the possibility of long-range health risks from exposure to the smoke, fumes and ash.
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Darrin Curtis, a biomedical sciences officer who was deployed to Joint Base Balad, Iraq, in 2006 and 2007, told a Senate panel looking into military contracting issues that he believes the Army lacked the necessary data to conclude, as it did in a report from its Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, that long-term health effects from breaking smoke from burn pits is unlikely.
A new joint study by the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs Department is underway that focuses on comparing the health of 30,000 combat veterans who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and 30,000 veterans who never deployed to see whether there are signs of ill effects from exposure to burn pits. This is similar to post-Vietnam and post-Gulf War studies that took years to complete.
“Although I have no hard data, I believe that the burn pits may be responsible for long-term health problems in many individuals,” Curtis said. “I think we are going to look at a lot of sick people.”
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/military_burnpits_curtis_110609w/
Friday, November 6, 2009
Slain Fort Hood soldier's family 'completely blindsided'
Slain Fort Hood soldier's family 'completely blindsided'
By Ann O'Neill, CNN
November 6, 2009 2:13 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
First known Fort Hood fatality is Pfc. Michael Pearson of Bolingbrook, Illinois
Brother says he finds it hard to accept that shooter was fellow soldier
Pearson was set to deploy overseas in January, brother says
Watch a CNN special investigation at Saturday 8 p.m. ET on CNN TV
The CNN Special Investigation Unit drills down on the causes and the impact of the Fort Hood shootings, at 8 p.m. ET Saturday on CNN TV.
(CNN) -- U.S. Army Pfc. Michael Pearson wasn't much with words, his older brother said through tears, but when he picked up a guitar he let his music speak for him.
"He was a genius as far as we were concerned," Kristopher Craig told CNN affiliate WGN-TV in Chicago, Illinois, late Thursday, reeling from the news that his 21-year-old "little kid brother" was among the 12 soldiers and one civilian killed in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas.
Pearson grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois, with two brothers and a sister. "He was really living his life playing guitar," Craig said. "When he picked up a guitar, we all understood that he was expressing himself."
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/06/fort.hood.pearson/index.html
By Ann O'Neill, CNN
November 6, 2009 2:13 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
First known Fort Hood fatality is Pfc. Michael Pearson of Bolingbrook, Illinois
Brother says he finds it hard to accept that shooter was fellow soldier
Pearson was set to deploy overseas in January, brother says
Watch a CNN special investigation at Saturday 8 p.m. ET on CNN TV
The CNN Special Investigation Unit drills down on the causes and the impact of the Fort Hood shootings, at 8 p.m. ET Saturday on CNN TV.
(CNN) -- U.S. Army Pfc. Michael Pearson wasn't much with words, his older brother said through tears, but when he picked up a guitar he let his music speak for him.
"He was a genius as far as we were concerned," Kristopher Craig told CNN affiliate WGN-TV in Chicago, Illinois, late Thursday, reeling from the news that his 21-year-old "little kid brother" was among the 12 soldiers and one civilian killed in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas.
Pearson grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois, with two brothers and a sister. "He was really living his life playing guitar," Craig said. "When he picked up a guitar, we all understood that he was expressing himself."
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/06/fort.hood.pearson/index.html
Officer Kimberly Munley ended Fort Hood rampage
Fast-Acting Officer Stopped Rampage
FORT HOOD, Texas (Nov. 6) -- A civilian police officer who shot the Fort Hood gunman four times during his bloody rampage stopped the attacker cold, a U.S. Army official said Friday.
Officer Kimberly Munley of the Fort Hood Police Department is a "trained, active first responder" who acted quickly after she "just happened to encounter the gunman," said Lt. Gen. Bob Cone, Fort Hood's commanding general.
Full Coverage: Deadly Rampage at Fort Hood
Cone said the officer and her partner responded "very quickly" to the scene of the shootings -- reportedly in about three minutes.
Munley "just happened very fortunately to be very close to the incident scene," Cone told CNN's "American Morning."
He said she shot the gunman four times and was wounded herself in an exchange of gunfire with him.
FORT HOOD, Texas (Nov. 6) -- A civilian police officer who shot the Fort Hood gunman four times during his bloody rampage stopped the attacker cold, a U.S. Army official said Friday.
Officer Kimberly Munley of the Fort Hood Police Department is a "trained, active first responder" who acted quickly after she "just happened to encounter the gunman," said Lt. Gen. Bob Cone, Fort Hood's commanding general.
Full Coverage: Deadly Rampage at Fort Hood
Cone said the officer and her partner responded "very quickly" to the scene of the shootings -- reportedly in about three minutes.
Munley "just happened very fortunately to be very close to the incident scene," Cone told CNN's "American Morning."
He said she shot the gunman four times and was wounded herself in an exchange of gunfire with him.
Orlando shooting suspect captured
The news just broke that the suspect has been taken into custody
At Least 6 Shot At Downtown Office, Ex-Employee Sought
Friday, November 06, 2009 2:21:14 PM
ORLANDO -- Police said at least six people have been shot at a downtown Orlando office at the Gateway Center at 1000 Legion Place.
Police said the suspect, Jason Rodriguez, 40, may be armed and dangerous. He was described as a disgruntled former employee at Reynolds, Smith and Hills Inc.
Authorities said Rodriguez is a Hispanic male reportedly wearing a light blue polo shirt and jeans, and possibly driving a 2002 silver Nissan SUV with Florida tag D11-9UX.
http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2009/11/6/downtown_orlando_shooting.html
Screams, sirens herald Fort Hood chaos
Screams, sirens herald Fort Hood chaos
By Moni Basu, CNN
November 6, 2009 10:51 a.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Parents worry about dangers overseas, not in Texas
Soldiers use battlefield medical training on home soil
Mother worries about son in day care as post is locked down
Watch a CNN special investigation at Saturday 8 p.m. ET on CNN TV
The CNN Special Investigations Unit drills down on the causes and the impact of the Fort Hood shootings, at 8 p.m. ET Saturday on CNN TV.
(CNN) -- It was the kind of phone call military families dread receiving from Iraq and Afghanistan -- not from Texas.
Peggy McCarty's daughter called Thursday afternoon to say she had been wounded by a gunshot in her left shoulder. Keara Bono, 21, assured her mother that she was OK, but McCarty's heart skipped.
She knew she had much to fear when Bono, an Army specialist, arrived at Fort Hood to prepare for an early December deployment to Iraq. But McCarty never thought she would have to worry about her child getting wounded on American soil.
"I thought I was more worried about her going over to Iraq than here, just doing training in Texas. She just got there yesterday," McCarty told CNN affiliate KSHB-TV in Kansas City, Missouri.
Bono was one of 30 people hurt when a soldier opened fire on a military processing center at Fort Hood, the place where soldiers report before they head to war. They get medical and dental checkups there. They settle finances and even make out their wills.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/06/fort.hood.shootings.scene/index.html
By Moni Basu, CNN
November 6, 2009 10:51 a.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Parents worry about dangers overseas, not in Texas
Soldiers use battlefield medical training on home soil
Mother worries about son in day care as post is locked down
Watch a CNN special investigation at Saturday 8 p.m. ET on CNN TV
The CNN Special Investigations Unit drills down on the causes and the impact of the Fort Hood shootings, at 8 p.m. ET Saturday on CNN TV.
(CNN) -- It was the kind of phone call military families dread receiving from Iraq and Afghanistan -- not from Texas.
Peggy McCarty's daughter called Thursday afternoon to say she had been wounded by a gunshot in her left shoulder. Keara Bono, 21, assured her mother that she was OK, but McCarty's heart skipped.
She knew she had much to fear when Bono, an Army specialist, arrived at Fort Hood to prepare for an early December deployment to Iraq. But McCarty never thought she would have to worry about her child getting wounded on American soil.
"I thought I was more worried about her going over to Iraq than here, just doing training in Texas. She just got there yesterday," McCarty told CNN affiliate KSHB-TV in Kansas City, Missouri.
Bono was one of 30 people hurt when a soldier opened fire on a military processing center at Fort Hood, the place where soldiers report before they head to war. They get medical and dental checkups there. They settle finances and even make out their wills.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/06/fort.hood.shootings.scene/index.html
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