Fort Hood suspect charged with attempted murder
By Angela K. Brown - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Dec 3, 2009 8:09:40 EST
FORT WORTH, Texas — The Army has charged the Fort Hood shooting suspect with 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.
These charges are added to the 13 premeditated murder charges filed against Maj. Nidal Hasan in the wake of the Nov. 5 shooting massacre at Fort Hood.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_hood_suspect_charged/
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Hearing held for Fort Drum soldier in stabbings
Hearing held for Drum soldier in stabbings
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Dec 3, 2009 12:02:35 EST
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — A Fort Drum soldier accused of fatally stabbing two fellow servicemen has been arraigned on fugitive from justice charges in Ohio and has agreed to return to New York to face murder charges.
A court official says bond was set at $1 million Thursday for 20-year-old Joshua Hunter in Portsmouth Municipal Court in southern Ohio.
Hunter was arrested at a nearby hotel early Wednesday. He is wanted in New York on two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of 20-year-old Waide James and 23-year-old Diego Valbuena. Their bodies were found Tuesday in an apartment complex housing mostly military families near Fort Drum.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_army_drum_fatal_stabbings_120209w/
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Dec 3, 2009 12:02:35 EST
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — A Fort Drum soldier accused of fatally stabbing two fellow servicemen has been arraigned on fugitive from justice charges in Ohio and has agreed to return to New York to face murder charges.
A court official says bond was set at $1 million Thursday for 20-year-old Joshua Hunter in Portsmouth Municipal Court in southern Ohio.
Hunter was arrested at a nearby hotel early Wednesday. He is wanted in New York on two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of 20-year-old Waide James and 23-year-old Diego Valbuena. Their bodies were found Tuesday in an apartment complex housing mostly military families near Fort Drum.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_army_drum_fatal_stabbings_120209w/
Obama Administration Struggling to Tackle Mental Health Crisis
Obama Administration Struggling to Tackle Mental Health Crisis Plaguing Military
Tuesday 01 December 2009
by: Jason Leopold and Mary Susan Littlepage, t r u t h o u t Investigative Report
In May 2008, during a campaign stop in Charleston, West Virginia, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama gave a passionate speech about the inadequate care war veterans had received, particularly those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, under the Bush administration's tenure in office.
Without identifying him by name, Obama cited the case of Grover Cleveland Chapman, a World War II veteran from Greenville, South Carolina, who had been repeatedly denied PTSD benefits by the Department of Veterans Affairs. After his final appeal for treatment was turned down in April 2008, Chapman took a cab to his local VA clinic, put a loaded Smith & Wesson revolver to his temple and pulled the trigger. He was 89 years old.
"How can we let this happen? How is that acceptable in the United States of America? The answer is, it's not. It's an outrage," Obama said at the time. "And it's a betrayal - a betrayal - of the ideals that we ask our troops to risk their lives for. ...
"We have to understand that for far too many troops and their families, the war doesn't end when they come home. Just the other day our own government's top psychiatric researcher said that because of inadequate mental health care, the number of suicides among veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan may actually exceed the number of combat deaths. Think about that. Think about how only half of the returning soldiers with PTSD receive the treatment they need. Think of how many we turn away - of how many we let fall through the cracks. We have to do better than this."
Although Obama has taken steps to overhaul the VA - he nominated retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki as secretary of Veterans Affairs and Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran whose combat wounds cost her both of her legs, as assistant secretary of public and intergovernmental affairs - he still hasn't nominated an assistant and deputy assistant secretary of defense for health affairs to tackle some of the lingering mental health issues plaguing the military.
read more here
http://www.truthout.org/1202095
VA To Survey Veteran Households
VA To Survey Veteran Households
WASHINGTON (Dec. 3, 2009) - Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki announced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has launched
a national survey of Veterans, active duty service members, activated
National Guard and reserve members, and family members and survivors to
learn if they are aware of VA services.
"By hearing directly from Veterans and their family members, we gain
valuable information to help us serve them better. We hope those who
receive the survey will respond to it," Secretary Shinseki said.
In addition to assessing awareness levels, the National Survey of
Veterans will collect important health care, benefits, employment, and
demographic information that VA will use to inform policy decisions and
improve benefits. Recognizing a broader client base than just Veterans,
this is the first time VA has included others, such as Veteran family
members, in its survey population.
VA is mailing out survey "screeners" to more than 130,000 households to
identify potential survey participants. The screener asks if anyone in
the household is a member of one of the identified survey groups -
Veterans, family members and survivors, active duty, Guard or Reserve
members. Eligible survey participants then may be requested to
participate in a full-length survey.
Participants will be able to select a preferred survey method: through
U.S. mail, telephone or a password-protected Internet address. VA
expects approximately 10,000 Veterans to complete the full-length
survey.
This is the sixth VA National Survey of Veterans since 1978. The
information collected will help VA in its efforts to design and conduct
outreach to Veterans. In addition, it will provide a clearer picture of
the Veteran population's characteristics to help evaluate existing
programs and policies and measure their impact.
The data collection is expected to be finished by the end of February
and the final report released by December 2010.
WASHINGTON (Dec. 3, 2009) - Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki announced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has launched
a national survey of Veterans, active duty service members, activated
National Guard and reserve members, and family members and survivors to
learn if they are aware of VA services.
"By hearing directly from Veterans and their family members, we gain
valuable information to help us serve them better. We hope those who
receive the survey will respond to it," Secretary Shinseki said.
In addition to assessing awareness levels, the National Survey of
Veterans will collect important health care, benefits, employment, and
demographic information that VA will use to inform policy decisions and
improve benefits. Recognizing a broader client base than just Veterans,
this is the first time VA has included others, such as Veteran family
members, in its survey population.
VA is mailing out survey "screeners" to more than 130,000 households to
identify potential survey participants. The screener asks if anyone in
the household is a member of one of the identified survey groups -
Veterans, family members and survivors, active duty, Guard or Reserve
members. Eligible survey participants then may be requested to
participate in a full-length survey.
Participants will be able to select a preferred survey method: through
U.S. mail, telephone or a password-protected Internet address. VA
expects approximately 10,000 Veterans to complete the full-length
survey.
This is the sixth VA National Survey of Veterans since 1978. The
information collected will help VA in its efforts to design and conduct
outreach to Veterans. In addition, it will provide a clearer picture of
the Veteran population's characteristics to help evaluate existing
programs and policies and measure their impact.
The data collection is expected to be finished by the end of February
and the final report released by December 2010.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Decorated WWII Veteran Remains Found in Dump
Decorated Vet's Remains Found in Dump
December 02, 2009
Tampa Tribune
TAMPA, Fla. -- Staff Sgt. Delbert E. Hahn survived the invasion of Normandy. He was a two-time Purple Heart recipient, including one for his actions in the days immediately following D-Day.
But when it came to a final resting place, the war hero wasn't treated with honor or respect.
Hahn's cremated remains -- along with those of his wife and a third unidentified person -- were found in a pile of trash dumped behind a vacant college on Busch Boulevard.
"I kind of decided that he shouldn't be out there in the trash," said Mike Colt, 19, who found the three urns. "Really nobody should. For somebody to do that to a World War II vet is kind of ridiculous."
Hahn was a five-time Bronze Star recipient, including one for valor in the Normandy invasion, police say.
It wasn't immediately clear when he died, although Colt said he believes paperwork found along with the urns indicated Hahn retired in the 1960s and died in the early 1980s.
A newspaper clip found in the trash says he received a Bronze Star and Purple Heart for "exemplary conduct in ground combat" while serving in the 26th Infantry Regiment in Europe in 1944, Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said.
Hahn's wife, Barbara, died Aug. 1, 2003. She was cremated Aug. 12, 2003, at Southeastern Crematories in Clearwater. A Southeastern funeral director said Tuesday that Barbara Hahn's paperwork wasn't immediately available.
The urns and paperwork were found behind Remington College, 2410 E. Busch Blvd., an area used for illegal dumping. Bills found there show the Hahns had lived in Zephyrhills.
Police say a Department of Veterans Affairs liaison determined the Hahns had no next of kin. VA officials said they were arranging with a Tampa funeral home to have the remains transported to Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.
go here for more
Decorated Vets Remains Found in Dump
December 02, 2009
Tampa Tribune
TAMPA, Fla. -- Staff Sgt. Delbert E. Hahn survived the invasion of Normandy. He was a two-time Purple Heart recipient, including one for his actions in the days immediately following D-Day.
But when it came to a final resting place, the war hero wasn't treated with honor or respect.
Hahn's cremated remains -- along with those of his wife and a third unidentified person -- were found in a pile of trash dumped behind a vacant college on Busch Boulevard.
"I kind of decided that he shouldn't be out there in the trash," said Mike Colt, 19, who found the three urns. "Really nobody should. For somebody to do that to a World War II vet is kind of ridiculous."
Hahn was a five-time Bronze Star recipient, including one for valor in the Normandy invasion, police say.
It wasn't immediately clear when he died, although Colt said he believes paperwork found along with the urns indicated Hahn retired in the 1960s and died in the early 1980s.
A newspaper clip found in the trash says he received a Bronze Star and Purple Heart for "exemplary conduct in ground combat" while serving in the 26th Infantry Regiment in Europe in 1944, Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said.
Hahn's wife, Barbara, died Aug. 1, 2003. She was cremated Aug. 12, 2003, at Southeastern Crematories in Clearwater. A Southeastern funeral director said Tuesday that Barbara Hahn's paperwork wasn't immediately available.
The urns and paperwork were found behind Remington College, 2410 E. Busch Blvd., an area used for illegal dumping. Bills found there show the Hahns had lived in Zephyrhills.
Police say a Department of Veterans Affairs liaison determined the Hahns had no next of kin. VA officials said they were arranging with a Tampa funeral home to have the remains transported to Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.
go here for more
Decorated Vets Remains Found in Dump
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