Aid groups race against time in Haiti
January 14, 2010 9:58 a.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Haitian airspace opens to aid groups, but flood of aircraft overwhelming infrastructure
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calls next 24 hours critical to save lives
Port-au-Prince remains without water and power since quake
Government officials fear death toll might eventually run into the six figures
Watch live reports from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Anderson Cooper is on the scene for firsthand accounts of the devastation from the earthquake.
Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- Countries and aid groups large and small worked Thursday to help survivors in quake-ravaged Haiti in an international effort rivaling the response to the 2004 Asian tsunami.
They scrambled to help as people dug furiously to rescue loved ones trapped in the rubble on the streets of Port-au-Prince. International aid groups sought to provide medical care, food and water to tens of thousands after Tuesday's devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake.
Haitian airspace was opened Thursday to charitable organizations, enabling humanitarian aid to be flown in, a Red Cross official said. But the limited infrastructure in Haiti doesn't appear to be able to accommodate the flood of aircraft headed there.
One humanitarian flight from the University of Miami couldn't take off because it couldn't land in Haiti and another was hovering in the air above the country, CNN's Elizabeth Cohen reported in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/14/haiti.earthquake/index.html
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Aid groups race against time in Haiti
Nation's veterans need help
Nation's veterans need help
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can lead to suicide if left untreated
By Ingrid Mitchell THE EASTERN ECHO
Added January 13, 2010 at 8:15 pm
One tends to assume, once a military member has returned from a combat zone alive, whether harmed or uninjured, all should be well once the member is removed from the hostile sector.
This is the scene most of us may want to paint. It is a fairytale filled with unicorns, blooming flowers and fixed smiles.
The truth is, the Suicide Prevention Network reports that approximately one in five suicides involves a veteran.
This report also suggests veterans make up 19 percent of deaths by suicide in the United States.
However, veterans make up only 11 percent of the nation’s population, and approximately 12-20 percent of those serving or who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
In the Veteran’s Hospital of Ann Arbor, I sat on a bench, a veteran with no apparent injuries, no visible war wounds and with no documented disabilities.
One, two, 20, countless wheelchairs rolled by, occupied by wounded war heroes. Strangers paused their actions to help the disadvantaged.
My mind is like a pressurized bag right before the air escapes. It wants to release the abundance of information that I have stored, but the seal is too tight.
read more here
Nations veterans need help
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can lead to suicide if left untreated
By Ingrid Mitchell THE EASTERN ECHO
Added January 13, 2010 at 8:15 pm
One tends to assume, once a military member has returned from a combat zone alive, whether harmed or uninjured, all should be well once the member is removed from the hostile sector.
This is the scene most of us may want to paint. It is a fairytale filled with unicorns, blooming flowers and fixed smiles.
The truth is, the Suicide Prevention Network reports that approximately one in five suicides involves a veteran.
This report also suggests veterans make up 19 percent of deaths by suicide in the United States.
However, veterans make up only 11 percent of the nation’s population, and approximately 12-20 percent of those serving or who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
In the Veteran’s Hospital of Ann Arbor, I sat on a bench, a veteran with no apparent injuries, no visible war wounds and with no documented disabilities.
One, two, 20, countless wheelchairs rolled by, occupied by wounded war heroes. Strangers paused their actions to help the disadvantaged.
Then I caught my reflection in the glass doors opposite my little bench and noticed a wounded veteran was staring back at me.
No one rushed me to see a physician or inquired about my injuries. I did not receive a Purple Heart for my wounds. They are hidden, but I can guarantee they are there.
My mind is like a pressurized bag right before the air escapes. It wants to release the abundance of information that I have stored, but the seal is too tight.
read more here
Nations veterans need help
Dog helps Iraq vet with PTSD: 'My little Marine'
Dog helps Iraq vet with PTSD: 'My little Marine'
Life has become calmer, safer and less stressful for Chris Goehner since he paired up with Pele, according to this story by the Associated Press.
Goehner, 25, a Wenatchee Valle, Wash., native now attending Central Washington University, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which has afflicted him since serving two tours as a U.S. Navy corpsman attached to a U.S. Marine Corps emergency room unit in Iraq. He worked as a medic in Kuwait and Iraq in 2004 and 2005, before being diagnosed with PTSD and discharged in 2006.
Pele is his service dog. Since November, the two have become inseparable.
Goehner is one of only 21 Iraq War veterans suffering from PTSD who have been paired with service dogs since the military recently started a new program to try to help soldiers with the disorder.
Pele was trained for the program by an organization called Puppies Behind Bars. The nonprofit organization uses prison inmates to train service dogs in several New York regional prisons.
read more here
Dog helps Iraq vet with PTSD
Life has become calmer, safer and less stressful for Chris Goehner since he paired up with Pele, according to this story by the Associated Press.
Goehner, 25, a Wenatchee Valle, Wash., native now attending Central Washington University, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which has afflicted him since serving two tours as a U.S. Navy corpsman attached to a U.S. Marine Corps emergency room unit in Iraq. He worked as a medic in Kuwait and Iraq in 2004 and 2005, before being diagnosed with PTSD and discharged in 2006.
Pele is his service dog. Since November, the two have become inseparable.
Goehner is one of only 21 Iraq War veterans suffering from PTSD who have been paired with service dogs since the military recently started a new program to try to help soldiers with the disorder.
Pele was trained for the program by an organization called Puppies Behind Bars. The nonprofit organization uses prison inmates to train service dogs in several New York regional prisons.
read more here
Dog helps Iraq vet with PTSD
PTSD does not have to be the end of anything
PTSD does not have to be the end of anything
by
Chaplain Kathie
With the reports coming out about the suicides going up among veterans as well as active military, the saddest fact is that none of it has to happen. PTSD is a serious, disabling wound caused by a traumatic event. When the person happens to have served in the military, it is caused by multiple traumatic events building on a series of others. Experts know traumatic events cause PTSD in survivors of a one time event in their lives. A car accident, fire, crime and natural disaster can take hold onto the minds of many. One time out of their lives can change those lives forever. When citizens enter into the fire and police departments across the nation or any emergency services, these events come into their lives with more frequency. The biggest difference is when we are talking about people in the military, it is a 24/7 job while they are deployed. They do not get to go home, be a regular person when their shift is over. They stay on guard, exposed to more events until their deployment ends.
When they return back to their homes, they return with the events carried deeply embedded within their soul, trapped in their minds while they wonder when the day will come they have just "gotten over it" instead of understanding what those events are doing to them as they wait.
PTSD claims more territory as they wait for it to go away, mask the pain with drugs and alcohol, pushing everyone they used to love away from them as they allow only the emotion of anger to surface.
Families want them back to the way they were before and when they show no signs of life in the "old person" the families end up resenting the changes instead of understanding them. Combat veterans always say "I just want to be the way I was before" because they cannot accept the fact every event in a human's life changes them. Wishing, wanting and regretting thrive while recovery time is lost and PTSD gets worse.
Some veterans look at older veterans falling apart, drinking too much, doing drugs, living on the streets, getting married for the 5th or 6th time and believe they are doomed to the same outcome. What they do not see is usually veterans become that wounded because they did not receive help when PTSD was mild. The hopeful reality is that even veterans that far down can be helped out of that pit and it is not hopeless for them to live a decent life.
As soon as help for PTSD is begun, it stops getting worse. The sooner it begins, the better the outcome. Getting help with medication alters the chemicals in the brain back to a "normal" level. Getting therapy helps the veteran heal emotionally, allowing them to talk about what is weighing heavily on their soul to someone they know will not judge them heals them. Reconnecting to their faith, knowing God is not punishing them heals their soul.
As we look at the figures of the newer veterans entering into this spiral of hell, we all need to know that while the sooner the better is best, it is not hopeless for older veterans to begin to heal. As time went on, some of the results of PTSD are forever a part of them but they can learn to cope with what cannot be healed. They can minimize the strength of flashbacks and nightmares. They can reduce the anger they feel. Even if they cannot hold a job because of medications and other factors like short term memory loss, impaired judgment or other symptoms, many have ended up working in their communities to give back.
If they are helped early on, PTSD does not have to end a career, end a marriage or allow the end of hope for a better future. Stopping PTSD from getting worse begins today and it will not get worse. Then comes tomorrow when hope returns, laughing replaces the crying as the wall is broken down, anger is replaced by love, relationships replace loneliness and the energy it took to try to hide the wound is turned into healing the wound from within.
It is not too late for Korean War veterans, Vietnam veterans, Gulf War veterans, Afghanistan or Iraq veterans and it is not too late for you to heal. You just need help finding the tools to do it. Open up to someone you know cares about you, go to a Veterans Center, call your family doctor, call your spiritual leader, find someone to talk to and begin to heal today. Tomorrow depends on what you do and instead of seeing your life slip away, take it back and heal.
And now a message from Papa Roy.
by
Chaplain Kathie
With the reports coming out about the suicides going up among veterans as well as active military, the saddest fact is that none of it has to happen. PTSD is a serious, disabling wound caused by a traumatic event. When the person happens to have served in the military, it is caused by multiple traumatic events building on a series of others. Experts know traumatic events cause PTSD in survivors of a one time event in their lives. A car accident, fire, crime and natural disaster can take hold onto the minds of many. One time out of their lives can change those lives forever. When citizens enter into the fire and police departments across the nation or any emergency services, these events come into their lives with more frequency. The biggest difference is when we are talking about people in the military, it is a 24/7 job while they are deployed. They do not get to go home, be a regular person when their shift is over. They stay on guard, exposed to more events until their deployment ends.
When they return back to their homes, they return with the events carried deeply embedded within their soul, trapped in their minds while they wonder when the day will come they have just "gotten over it" instead of understanding what those events are doing to them as they wait.
PTSD claims more territory as they wait for it to go away, mask the pain with drugs and alcohol, pushing everyone they used to love away from them as they allow only the emotion of anger to surface.
Families want them back to the way they were before and when they show no signs of life in the "old person" the families end up resenting the changes instead of understanding them. Combat veterans always say "I just want to be the way I was before" because they cannot accept the fact every event in a human's life changes them. Wishing, wanting and regretting thrive while recovery time is lost and PTSD gets worse.
Some veterans look at older veterans falling apart, drinking too much, doing drugs, living on the streets, getting married for the 5th or 6th time and believe they are doomed to the same outcome. What they do not see is usually veterans become that wounded because they did not receive help when PTSD was mild. The hopeful reality is that even veterans that far down can be helped out of that pit and it is not hopeless for them to live a decent life.
As soon as help for PTSD is begun, it stops getting worse. The sooner it begins, the better the outcome. Getting help with medication alters the chemicals in the brain back to a "normal" level. Getting therapy helps the veteran heal emotionally, allowing them to talk about what is weighing heavily on their soul to someone they know will not judge them heals them. Reconnecting to their faith, knowing God is not punishing them heals their soul.
As we look at the figures of the newer veterans entering into this spiral of hell, we all need to know that while the sooner the better is best, it is not hopeless for older veterans to begin to heal. As time went on, some of the results of PTSD are forever a part of them but they can learn to cope with what cannot be healed. They can minimize the strength of flashbacks and nightmares. They can reduce the anger they feel. Even if they cannot hold a job because of medications and other factors like short term memory loss, impaired judgment or other symptoms, many have ended up working in their communities to give back.
If they are helped early on, PTSD does not have to end a career, end a marriage or allow the end of hope for a better future. Stopping PTSD from getting worse begins today and it will not get worse. Then comes tomorrow when hope returns, laughing replaces the crying as the wall is broken down, anger is replaced by love, relationships replace loneliness and the energy it took to try to hide the wound is turned into healing the wound from within.
It is not too late for Korean War veterans, Vietnam veterans, Gulf War veterans, Afghanistan or Iraq veterans and it is not too late for you to heal. You just need help finding the tools to do it. Open up to someone you know cares about you, go to a Veterans Center, call your family doctor, call your spiritual leader, find someone to talk to and begin to heal today. Tomorrow depends on what you do and instead of seeing your life slip away, take it back and heal.
And now a message from Papa Roy.
Good morning, encourage someone today!
Words do matter
A comforting, cheering, and encouraging word from any friend, that compassionates their distressed case; this lifts up the heart and inspires it with joy; so a word in season, raises up a soul that is bowed down, and gives it comfort and joy: such a good word is the Gospel itself; it is good news from a far country, which is like cold water to a thirsty soul, very refreshing and reviving. (J. Gill)
Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad. (Proverbs 12:25)
Today, you can encourage someone who is desiring to hear a word to cheer their heart. There are no better words than the Words found in the Bible. Do you know someone who needs a kind word? Today in prayer, thank Christ for His encouragement and ask Him to guide your heart to someone who needs a kind word. "Kind words do not cost much. They never blister the tongue or lips. Though they do not cost much, they accomplish much. They make other people good-natured. They also produce their own image in other men's souls, and a beautiful image it is." – (Blaise Pascal)
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
New director brings personal experience to Vietnam vet center
New director brings personal experience to Vietnam vet center
Plans call for public education and outreach program
BY JACQUELINE HLAVENKA Staff Writer
HOLMDEL — William “Bill” Linderman is standing in the center of exhibit space at the Vietnam Era Educational Center in Holmdel, surrounded by a glass case filled with letters written by soldiers to their parents.
Each letter is handwritten, some expressing regrets, others sending messages of love.
“This really is dedicated to the 80,000 people — veterans — who went to Vietnam from New Jersey,” Linderman said, pointing out that some of the letters were from Neptune, Matawan and other locations in Monmouth County. “Out of that, 1,562 paid the ultimate sacrifice.”
A veteran himself, Linderman, the new executive director of the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation, understands both the pride and struggle of serving one’s country.
“We like to think of it as a museum and a place where people can come to visit and reflect upon what went on during that time and where we are now,” Linderman said. “People are comparing Afghanistan to Vietnam, and they come here and observe the parallels. One of the important things about this place is that we try to present both sides. We want to include all different points of view because it was such a tumultuous time.”
read more here
New director brings personal experience to Vietnam vet center
Plans call for public education and outreach program
BY JACQUELINE HLAVENKA Staff Writer
HOLMDEL — William “Bill” Linderman is standing in the center of exhibit space at the Vietnam Era Educational Center in Holmdel, surrounded by a glass case filled with letters written by soldiers to their parents.
Each letter is handwritten, some expressing regrets, others sending messages of love.
“This really is dedicated to the 80,000 people — veterans — who went to Vietnam from New Jersey,” Linderman said, pointing out that some of the letters were from Neptune, Matawan and other locations in Monmouth County. “Out of that, 1,562 paid the ultimate sacrifice.”
A veteran himself, Linderman, the new executive director of the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation, understands both the pride and struggle of serving one’s country.
“We like to think of it as a museum and a place where people can come to visit and reflect upon what went on during that time and where we are now,” Linderman said. “People are comparing Afghanistan to Vietnam, and they come here and observe the parallels. One of the important things about this place is that we try to present both sides. We want to include all different points of view because it was such a tumultuous time.”
read more here
New director brings personal experience to Vietnam vet center
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