Fighting in Afghanistan leaves 5 U.S. troops dead
Three service members die today in a clash with militants in the south, another dies in separate fighting in the east, and a fifth member with a NATO-led force is killed a day earlier in the south.
By Laura King
January 11, 2010 9:06 a.m.
Reporting from Afghanistan -- Three American troops were killed today in a clash with insurgents in southern Afghanistan, which is likely to be the scene of escalating battles in coming months. A fourth U.S. service member died today of wounds suffered in separate fighting in the east, near the border with Pakistan, military officials said.
Also today, NATO's International Security Assistance Force disclosed the death of another American service member in an attack a day earlier in the south.
read more here
Fighting in Afghanistan leaves 5 US troops dead
Monday, January 11, 2010
Fighting in Afghanistan leaves 5 U.S. troops dead
Please keep their families in your prayers. As you pray for them also remember that with these 5 deaths are other soldiers grieving for their lost brothers. When we read about one death, we also must acknowledge those they left behind.
Multiple Deployments Lead to Major Increase in PTSD Cases
Multiple Deployments Lead to Major Increase in PTSD Cases, New Study Says
Tuesday 05 January 2010
by: Mary Susan Littlepage, t r u t h o u t Report
Soldiers with multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan are more than three times as likely as soldiers with no previous deployments to screen positive for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression, according to a new study published by the American Journal for Public Health.
Additionally, soldiers with multiple deployments are more than twice as likely to report chronic pain and more than 90 percent more likely to score below the general population norm on physical functioning.
For the study, researchers assessed the effects of prior military service in Iraq or Afghanistan on the health of New Jersey Army National Guard members preparing for deployment to Iraq. Researchers analyzed anonymous, self-administered pre-deployment surveys from 2,543 National Guard members deployed to Iraq in 2008. They assessed the effects of prior service in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) or Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom) on mental and physical health.
"Those experiencing multiple deployments are most at risk, with the Office of the US Army Surgeon General reporting mental health problems in 11.9 percent of those with one deployment, 18.5 percent with two deployments and 27.2 percent with three or four deployments," the report stated.
Amy Fairweather is an expert in veterans' issues and is director of the Coalition for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, a clearinghouse of more than 45 agencies serving a myriad of needs associated with deployment in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
"What we're seeing is a people who are having more serious PTSD when they're called up for an additional deployment, and that triggers a lot of mental health issues - in fact, suicidal action in some cases," Fairweather said. "But it's also mixed with a lot of conflicting feelings of guilt" in that if people have PTSD, they are a danger toward other people, but Fairweather said they may think, "Who am I to try to get out of this? Who am I to complain?" when fellow soldiers are going through the same hell.
Fairweather also is director of the Iraq Veteran Project for Swords to Plowshares, a community-based, not-for-profit organization that provides counseling and case management, employment and training, housing and legal assistance to homeless and low-income veterans in the San Francisco Bay area and beyond.
Tuesday 05 January 2010
by: Mary Susan Littlepage, t r u t h o u t Report
Soldiers with multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan are more than three times as likely as soldiers with no previous deployments to screen positive for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression, according to a new study published by the American Journal for Public Health.
Additionally, soldiers with multiple deployments are more than twice as likely to report chronic pain and more than 90 percent more likely to score below the general population norm on physical functioning.
For the study, researchers assessed the effects of prior military service in Iraq or Afghanistan on the health of New Jersey Army National Guard members preparing for deployment to Iraq. Researchers analyzed anonymous, self-administered pre-deployment surveys from 2,543 National Guard members deployed to Iraq in 2008. They assessed the effects of prior service in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) or Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom) on mental and physical health.
"Those experiencing multiple deployments are most at risk, with the Office of the US Army Surgeon General reporting mental health problems in 11.9 percent of those with one deployment, 18.5 percent with two deployments and 27.2 percent with three or four deployments," the report stated.
Amy Fairweather is an expert in veterans' issues and is director of the Coalition for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, a clearinghouse of more than 45 agencies serving a myriad of needs associated with deployment in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
"What we're seeing is a people who are having more serious PTSD when they're called up for an additional deployment, and that triggers a lot of mental health issues - in fact, suicidal action in some cases," Fairweather said. "But it's also mixed with a lot of conflicting feelings of guilt" in that if people have PTSD, they are a danger toward other people, but Fairweather said they may think, "Who am I to try to get out of this? Who am I to complain?" when fellow soldiers are going through the same hell.
Fairweather also is director of the Iraq Veteran Project for Swords to Plowshares, a community-based, not-for-profit organization that provides counseling and case management, employment and training, housing and legal assistance to homeless and low-income veterans in the San Francisco Bay area and beyond.
In any case, the Pentagon's data indicate that between 2003 and 2008, 43,000 troops "deemed medically unfit for active duty by their physicians were deployed to Iraq," the report stated. Also, the report stated that the Office of the US Army Surgeon General found that "multiple deployments have adverse effects on work performance during deployment, with multiple deployed soldiers being more likely than are others to report limitations in their ability to work effectively."
read more here
Vietnam veterans mentor to other veterans
New Mentor Program Helps Area Veterans Adjust to Civilian Life
Posted: Jan 04, 2010 5:49 PM EST
by Kristen Elicerio
For a lot of veterans combat service, repeated deployments or drug and alcohol abuse make the adjustment back to civilian life difficult.
A new program aims to help soliders adjust and steer clear from troubles with the law.
"This is a mentors program where we have mentors deal completely outside the court system as early as possible when a veteran is identified as having some legal issues. Whether a victim, or a witness or a perpetrator," said Judge Todd Bjerke.
Mentors in the program help further push vets towards getting help.
"This is a way to maybe reach people who have not asked for help or were not aware of help. If we can get them into the VA system, get them some assistance, maybe mediate some legal problems, I see that as a big plus for this community," said Veteran Services Officer Jim Gausmann.
Mentors who were sworn into the program Monday are also veterans.
read more here
http://www.wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=11767126
Posted: Jan 04, 2010 5:49 PM EST
by Kristen Elicerio
For a lot of veterans combat service, repeated deployments or drug and alcohol abuse make the adjustment back to civilian life difficult.
A new program aims to help soliders adjust and steer clear from troubles with the law.
"This is a mentors program where we have mentors deal completely outside the court system as early as possible when a veteran is identified as having some legal issues. Whether a victim, or a witness or a perpetrator," said Judge Todd Bjerke.
Mentors in the program help further push vets towards getting help.
"This is a way to maybe reach people who have not asked for help or were not aware of help. If we can get them into the VA system, get them some assistance, maybe mediate some legal problems, I see that as a big plus for this community," said Veteran Services Officer Jim Gausmann.
Mentors who were sworn into the program Monday are also veterans.
read more here
http://www.wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=11767126
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Oklahoma City vets’ claims being rejected
None of this is new, it is just worse than it was. My husband's claim took six years to have approved and a friend of his saw his claim rejected for 19 years. While some will say the claim was finally granted, what it takes to get from admitting they need help, especially with PTSD claims, to getting them is more hell than anyone would ever put up with in civilian life, but the veterans are all expected to just deal with the system and wait. Wait for money when they can't work because they were wounded in service? This isn't right and never has been right, never will be right making them wait for what they need from us.
Oklahoma City vets’ claims being rejected
Many armed forces veterans in Oklahoma are having trouble receiving disability payments
BY ANN KELLEY The Oklahoman
Published: January 10, 2010
Four times Gary Endsley has applied for disability compensation for health problems he thinks are related to exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. Each time Endsley has been turned down by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
With each rejection letter he’s flooded with more disappointment and frustration, and feels that he’s "being called a liar” about his military record, he said.
"I’m beginning to feel like I had been better off going to Canada and skipping the war,” said Endsley, 65, of Oklahoma City.
Endsley is one of many armed forces veterans living in Oklahoma and wrangling with Veterans Affairs over disability compensation.
Nationally, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs processed more than 1.1 million claims in 2009, including 25,396 for Oklahoma, said Jessica Jacobson, spokeswoman for the agency’s regional office in Dallas.
The Oklahoman requested the number of Oklahoma veterans denied disability compensation for 2009, but Jacobson Friday said those numbers were not available.
She said the caseload has increased 50 percent since 2000, with Afghanistan and Iraq military servicemen and women returning home and the aging population of other war veterans, as well as the initiation of new U.S. Department of Defense benefits and recent court rulings.
Read more: Oklahoma City vets’ claims being rejected
A story by an Army wife is not from a TV show
Real military life is not what you see on TV.
The lives of veterans after war become America's secret. The civilians are under the impression all is well until a report comes out proving everything they think they know about how this country treats veterans has been wrong. Usually reports about what is really going on cause such an outrage by the American people, the government manages to make swift changes because voters will not let our veterans be mistreated by anyone. While the bureaucracy in Washington manages to muck things up, the American people are fiercely loyal to the troops when they serve and to the veterans they become.
Things changed since Vietnam veterans came home mistreated but they changed for all generations of veterans because these Vietnam veterans refused to surrender to the powers of the government and they forced them to act on addressing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as well as Agent Orange and the rest of what was wrong with the way our veterans were treated. Things also changed because the Internet linked them together so they no longer felt isolated, discovering the power of their united numbers could move mountains and those mountains did in fact move.
Fast forward thirty years and we find reports online about PTSD, suicides, homeless veterans, divorces, suffering and we also read about healing because they shared their stories and made it all personal to the rest of the population. Things changed because they had the courage to speak out. The current members of the military and their families however, do not have the same ability to speak out without paying a price for it.
Carissa Picard spoke out and paints a picture of military life few others will ever know. Do all marriages end up like her's? No but considering the divorce rate in the military it's obvious these marriages are in trouble for more than just the usual reasons people have when getting divorced. They have to live where they are told to live for however long they are told to live there. Their kids end up going through different schools in different states so often they have a hard time making friends because they think they'll end up moving again. Wives end up not being able to work because there are only so many jobs they can hold close to base allowing them to be able to pick their kids up from school while their spouse is deployed. Yes, it's even hard when both parents are in the military.
Maybe things will change in the military because people like Carissa show there is a big difference between watching TV shows making us think we know what military life is about. Lord knows they need more support than they are getting and this can come when we are able to understand some of what they really face.
Please read what she has to say about her life as a real Army Wife.
"The Unit" (2006) Covert warriors. Unsung heroes. Plot:Hour long show which looks at the life of American super-secret operators.
"Army Wives" (2007) The army has its code... the wives have their own.
Plot:
About a woman who marries a soldier and moves her family onto an Army base, where she becomes friends with other women whose husbands are in the military.
The lives of veterans after war become America's secret. The civilians are under the impression all is well until a report comes out proving everything they think they know about how this country treats veterans has been wrong. Usually reports about what is really going on cause such an outrage by the American people, the government manages to make swift changes because voters will not let our veterans be mistreated by anyone. While the bureaucracy in Washington manages to muck things up, the American people are fiercely loyal to the troops when they serve and to the veterans they become.
Things changed since Vietnam veterans came home mistreated but they changed for all generations of veterans because these Vietnam veterans refused to surrender to the powers of the government and they forced them to act on addressing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as well as Agent Orange and the rest of what was wrong with the way our veterans were treated. Things also changed because the Internet linked them together so they no longer felt isolated, discovering the power of their united numbers could move mountains and those mountains did in fact move.
Fast forward thirty years and we find reports online about PTSD, suicides, homeless veterans, divorces, suffering and we also read about healing because they shared their stories and made it all personal to the rest of the population. Things changed because they had the courage to speak out. The current members of the military and their families however, do not have the same ability to speak out without paying a price for it.
Carissa Picard spoke out and paints a picture of military life few others will ever know. Do all marriages end up like her's? No but considering the divorce rate in the military it's obvious these marriages are in trouble for more than just the usual reasons people have when getting divorced. They have to live where they are told to live for however long they are told to live there. Their kids end up going through different schools in different states so often they have a hard time making friends because they think they'll end up moving again. Wives end up not being able to work because there are only so many jobs they can hold close to base allowing them to be able to pick their kids up from school while their spouse is deployed. Yes, it's even hard when both parents are in the military.
Maybe things will change in the military because people like Carissa show there is a big difference between watching TV shows making us think we know what military life is about. Lord knows they need more support than they are getting and this can come when we are able to understand some of what they really face.
Please read what she has to say about her life as a real Army Wife.
Invisible Casualties of an Invisible War
Carissa Picard
http://sites.google.com/site/carissapicard/
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)