Groundhog Day for Danny Claricoates, the warrior with invisible wounds
Tom Coghlan
As Danny Claricoates was walking past some roadworks last week, a workman switched on a tarmac-flattening machine. He froze. Sweat began to pour off him and his heart started to race with shock.
He could hear the unmistakable sound of an incoming Chinook helicopter. He was back in Afghanistan on November 12 last year as the vehicle in front of him blew apart, then weeping as he carried the bodies of two close friends to a waiting helicopter.
Danny is trapped in a dystopian version of Groundhog Day. Particular sounds trigger the same flashback, and though the experience is always the same, it never loses any of its horror.
It is deeply debilitating. He is perpetually on edge and unable to shake off deep feelings of guilt.
What makes Danny unusual, however, is that not only is he willing to talk openly about the still-taboo subject of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), of which he now has a diagnosis, but that he is also a winner of one of Britain’s highest awards for gallantry: the Military Cross.
In 2007, aged 27, he spent seven months in Helmand. All but five weeks of that time was spent on the front line. He was awarded the MC for his exceptional courage under fire on three occasions.
When Danny returned from Afghanistan he was, his mother said, a different person. He was troubled, above all, by a sense of guilt. There had been a moment when a Marine was hit beside him and Danny didn’t stop to help him. The man was only shot in the wrist but Danny always blamed himself.
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Groundhog Day for Danny Claricoates
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Medal of Honor, Vietnam Vet Col. Robert Lewis Howard passed away
Decorated Army colonel, MoH recipient dies
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Dec 24, 2009 8:46:38 EST
WACO, Texas — Retired Col. Robert Lewis Howard, a man considered to be the country’s most decorated soldier, died Wednesday. He was 70.
Howard was battling pancreatic cancer and died about noon at a hospice, his friend Benito Guerrero, a Vietnam veteran and retired sergeant major, told the San Antonio Express-News.
The Army veteran died in Waco, according to Oak Crest Funeral Home. At the time of his death he was the most decorated American soldier, the funeral home obituary said. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. No date has been set, the funeral home said.
Howard grew up in Opelika, Ala., and served in the Army from 1956 to 1992. He was part of the U.S. Army Special Forces, known as the Green Berets, and ran cross-border operations in Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam. He was wounded 14 times in Vietnam and was awarded eight Purple Hearts.
He was nominated three times for the Medal of Honor, the nation’s most prestigious award for combat veterans. President Richard M. Nixon presented him with the honor at the White House in 1971 for his bravery in Vietnam during a mission to rescue a missing soldier in enemy territory.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_colonel_dies_122309/
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Dec 24, 2009 8:46:38 EST
WACO, Texas — Retired Col. Robert Lewis Howard, a man considered to be the country’s most decorated soldier, died Wednesday. He was 70.
Howard was battling pancreatic cancer and died about noon at a hospice, his friend Benito Guerrero, a Vietnam veteran and retired sergeant major, told the San Antonio Express-News.
The Army veteran died in Waco, according to Oak Crest Funeral Home. At the time of his death he was the most decorated American soldier, the funeral home obituary said. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. No date has been set, the funeral home said.
Howard grew up in Opelika, Ala., and served in the Army from 1956 to 1992. He was part of the U.S. Army Special Forces, known as the Green Berets, and ran cross-border operations in Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam. He was wounded 14 times in Vietnam and was awarded eight Purple Hearts.
He was nominated three times for the Medal of Honor, the nation’s most prestigious award for combat veterans. President Richard M. Nixon presented him with the honor at the White House in 1971 for his bravery in Vietnam during a mission to rescue a missing soldier in enemy territory.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_colonel_dies_122309/
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Veterans find peace working on San Diego-area farm
Veterans find peace working on San Diego-area farm
The Associated Press
Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009 9:51 p.m.
When Carlos Rivera returned from fighting in Iraq and found work as an electrician, he felt co-workers who knew about his military experience were gawking at him. He went home angry each day.
That's not a problem at his current job working alongside other combat veterans picking avocados, mixing organic fertilizers and gathering basil amid northern San Diego County's undulating ochre hills.
"I'm outdoors, not stuck inside somewhere feeling suffocated," said Rivera, 25, who returned from Iraq in 2007 after four years as a Marine. "There's always someone to talk to, someone there to understand."
Rivera works at Archi's Acres, a 3-acre high-tech organic farm owned by Colin Archipley, who served three tours in Iraq and is trying to help other combat vets shake the trauma of war by turning swords to plowshares.
Working the earth has long been recognized as good therapy for war veterans. About 20 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs centers have gardening programs, said Anthony Campinell, the VA's national director for work therapy programs. He said Archi's Acres is the only fully commercial enterprise of which he was aware.
Veterans have grown fruits, vegetables and flowers on a 12-acre parcel at the VA hospital in west Los Angeles since 1986. They sold their produce at farmers markets until April, when administrators had them take a break while they work out a deal for a nonprofit group to take over the commercial parts of that program.
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Veterans find peace working on San Diego area farm
The Associated Press
Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009 9:51 p.m.
When Carlos Rivera returned from fighting in Iraq and found work as an electrician, he felt co-workers who knew about his military experience were gawking at him. He went home angry each day.
That's not a problem at his current job working alongside other combat veterans picking avocados, mixing organic fertilizers and gathering basil amid northern San Diego County's undulating ochre hills.
"I'm outdoors, not stuck inside somewhere feeling suffocated," said Rivera, 25, who returned from Iraq in 2007 after four years as a Marine. "There's always someone to talk to, someone there to understand."
Rivera works at Archi's Acres, a 3-acre high-tech organic farm owned by Colin Archipley, who served three tours in Iraq and is trying to help other combat vets shake the trauma of war by turning swords to plowshares.
Working the earth has long been recognized as good therapy for war veterans. About 20 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs centers have gardening programs, said Anthony Campinell, the VA's national director for work therapy programs. He said Archi's Acres is the only fully commercial enterprise of which he was aware.
Veterans have grown fruits, vegetables and flowers on a 12-acre parcel at the VA hospital in west Los Angeles since 1986. They sold their produce at farmers markets until April, when administrators had them take a break while they work out a deal for a nonprofit group to take over the commercial parts of that program.
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Veterans find peace working on San Diego area farm
Homeless female vets find few services
Homeless female vets find few services
By Kimberly Hefling
The Associated Press
Updated: 12/18/2009
Long Beach, Calif.
The $15,000 that former Army Pvt. Margaret Ortiz had in the bank when she left Iraq is long gone, spent on alcohol and cocaine.
By the time she found her way to a program run by the nonprofit U.S. Vets for homeless female veterans in this Southern California city, she had slept in San Diego on the beach or anywhere she could find after a night of partying. One morning, she woke up behind a trash bin, her pants torn, with no memory of what happened.
Instead of helping her forget her six months in Iraq, where she said she faced attacks on her compound and sexual harassment from fellow soldiers, the alcohol and drugs brought flashbacks and raging blackouts. She said she tried to kill herself.
"You knew something was wrong with you, but you didn't know what was wrong with you. Nobody knew, and so you couldn't really handle it," said Ortiz, 27, from atop her twin bed in a plain dorm-style room, a black 4th Infantry Division ball cap on her head.
Ortiz is one of the new faces among America's homeless veterans.
They're younger than homeless male veterans and more likely to bring children. Their number has doubled in the past decade, and there are an estimated 6,500 homeless female veterans on any given night -- about 5 percent of the total homeless veterans population.
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http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14030471
By Kimberly Hefling
The Associated Press
Updated: 12/18/2009
Long Beach, Calif.
The $15,000 that former Army Pvt. Margaret Ortiz had in the bank when she left Iraq is long gone, spent on alcohol and cocaine.
By the time she found her way to a program run by the nonprofit U.S. Vets for homeless female veterans in this Southern California city, she had slept in San Diego on the beach or anywhere she could find after a night of partying. One morning, she woke up behind a trash bin, her pants torn, with no memory of what happened.
Instead of helping her forget her six months in Iraq, where she said she faced attacks on her compound and sexual harassment from fellow soldiers, the alcohol and drugs brought flashbacks and raging blackouts. She said she tried to kill herself.
"You knew something was wrong with you, but you didn't know what was wrong with you. Nobody knew, and so you couldn't really handle it," said Ortiz, 27, from atop her twin bed in a plain dorm-style room, a black 4th Infantry Division ball cap on her head.
Ortiz is one of the new faces among America's homeless veterans.
They're younger than homeless male veterans and more likely to bring children. Their number has doubled in the past decade, and there are an estimated 6,500 homeless female veterans on any given night -- about 5 percent of the total homeless veterans population.
read more here
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14030471
At Fort Hood, a 'sense of sorrow' clouds holidays
At Fort Hood, a 'sense of sorrow' clouds holidays
By Donna Leinwand and Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY
For the first time in 22 years, Sheryll Pearson won't put up a Christmas tree. Suddenly, the holiday she's always loved is "horrible."
Pearson's son, Mikey — Army Pfc. Michael Pearson, 22, who specialized in defusing bombs — is dead, gunned down last month in the rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, that killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others. Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, is charged with the slayings.
For families of the victims, for the injured and for the many who call the post at Fort Hood home, the Nov. 5 tragedy remains a fresh, stinging wound in what should be a joyous holiday season. Injured soldiers are wrestling with rehab as their units deploy overseas. Soldiers who live at Fort Hood have put on a brave face as they regain their sense of security. Professional counselors and chaplains are trying to help everyone make sense of it all.
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At Fort Hood, a 'sense of sorrow' clouds holidays
By Donna Leinwand and Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY
For the first time in 22 years, Sheryll Pearson won't put up a Christmas tree. Suddenly, the holiday she's always loved is "horrible."
Pearson's son, Mikey — Army Pfc. Michael Pearson, 22, who specialized in defusing bombs — is dead, gunned down last month in the rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, that killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others. Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, is charged with the slayings.
For families of the victims, for the injured and for the many who call the post at Fort Hood home, the Nov. 5 tragedy remains a fresh, stinging wound in what should be a joyous holiday season. Injured soldiers are wrestling with rehab as their units deploy overseas. Soldiers who live at Fort Hood have put on a brave face as they regain their sense of security. Professional counselors and chaplains are trying to help everyone make sense of it all.
read more here
At Fort Hood, a 'sense of sorrow' clouds holidays
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