Wife's letter to deploying husband strikes a chord with others
By Nancy Montgomery, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Friday, February 5, 2010
Read Jennifer Chaloux's entire letter to her husband here
Jennifer Chaloux, newly wed and deeply in love, didn’t know what to do.
Her husband, Spc. Matthew Chaloux, a Georgia National Guardsman, was deploying to Afghanistan for a year.
Should she try not to cry? Give him a hug, get in the car and just drive off?
It was last spring, and Matthew was in his pre-deployment training at Camp Shelby, Miss. There’d be one final weekend at home, then he’d be gone.
She thought about the absence of the husband it had taken her half a lifetime to find.
"It just kind of hit me: ‘He’s going to be in a country with these terrorists who will stop at nothing,’ " she said. "What was he getting into? It really weighed on my mind.
"I said, I’ve got to say goodbye to my husband, and I don’t know how to do it."
So the former hairdresser sat down and wrote a letter to give him before he deployed. She wanted to put down in words all the things she was feeling.
read more here
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=67796
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Operation Mend at UCLA helping soldiers recover better
Military, civilian medical communities team up to improve the lives of troops with severe disfigurements from war
By Charlie Reed, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, February 6, 2010
Gunnery Sgt. Blaine Scott can now eat a cheeseburger without first having to tear it to pieces.
It’s a small yet significant triumph for the 37-year-old native of Kellerton, Iowa. In 2006, a roadside bomb in Iraq scorched 40 percent of his body, including his face. Three of his fellow Marines died in the attack.
Scott endured more than a dozen surgeries during the 18 months he spent recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where 800 troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan have been treated at its burn center since 2003. But it wasn’t until he returned to active duty and hooked up with Operation Mend at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center that civilian plastic surgeons restored his ability to chew, gave him a new nose and further refined scars with another dozen surgeries.
"It’s good to get back to the way I was," said the married father of three, whose youngest son knows him only by the face scarred by war.
Advances in combat medicine and body and vehicle armor have made war more survivable for troops like Scott. Today, 3 percent of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq die from their wounds, compared with 19 percent during the Vietnam War and 25 percent during World War II, according to statistics provided by the Pentagon.
But the price of survival is often paid with severed limbs, disfigured faces and burned bodies.
Operation Mend is among a growing number of partnerships the military has forged with the civilian medical community to help the tens of thousands wounded in combat, many with severe disfigurements. And recent investments in reconstructive surgery research point to the military’s growing attention to improving life for war-mangled troops.
read more here
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=67806
By Charlie Reed, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, February 6, 2010
Gunnery Sgt. Blaine Scott can now eat a cheeseburger without first having to tear it to pieces.
It’s a small yet significant triumph for the 37-year-old native of Kellerton, Iowa. In 2006, a roadside bomb in Iraq scorched 40 percent of his body, including his face. Three of his fellow Marines died in the attack.
Scott endured more than a dozen surgeries during the 18 months he spent recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where 800 troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan have been treated at its burn center since 2003. But it wasn’t until he returned to active duty and hooked up with Operation Mend at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center that civilian plastic surgeons restored his ability to chew, gave him a new nose and further refined scars with another dozen surgeries.
"It’s good to get back to the way I was," said the married father of three, whose youngest son knows him only by the face scarred by war.
Advances in combat medicine and body and vehicle armor have made war more survivable for troops like Scott. Today, 3 percent of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq die from their wounds, compared with 19 percent during the Vietnam War and 25 percent during World War II, according to statistics provided by the Pentagon.
But the price of survival is often paid with severed limbs, disfigured faces and burned bodies.
Operation Mend is among a growing number of partnerships the military has forged with the civilian medical community to help the tens of thousands wounded in combat, many with severe disfigurements. And recent investments in reconstructive surgery research point to the military’s growing attention to improving life for war-mangled troops.
read more here
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=67806
Will Supreme Court Stop Westboro Baptist Church attack on our soldiers?
VIDEO: Veterans 'Disgusted' By Funeral Protests
News 8's Keri Babic showed Jere Gish's report to a group of Lancaster County veterans.
http://www.wgal.com/video/22470609/index.html
Some will say this is a free speech issue but there is accountability when it is used. No one has the right to say whatever they want without consequences if they harm someone else. Making a false accusation can lead someone to end up in court but what do you do when they hide behind their own understanding of God?
This is what they hide behind. The question is, what will the Supreme Court do? Will they honor the men and women serving this country and protect the families of the fallen or will they protect the free speech rights of this group? If they side with the haters, will they then allow other groups to drown them out in a counter protest? If this happens, what will dueling protests do to the families while they are already grieving the loss of someone they love?
Does the Westboro Baptist "Church" have a right to cause pain and suffering? Does free speech allow anyone to cause pain and suffering or does it allow law suits to hold them accountable?
Father's Lawsuit Over Soldier Son's Funeral Not Over ...
SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY, Pa. -- A military father is fighting back. Al Snyder's son was killed serving in Iraq, but an unexpected protest at the funeral set up a rollercoaster court battle. Thursday, February 4, 2010
Homeless veteran given proper military funeral
Homeless veteran given proper military funeral
By Jacqui Janetzko
Correspondent
Published: Friday, February 5, 2010 at 4:41 p.m.
OCALA - George Lieninger, a homeless Vietnam veteran, was given a proper military funeral at Forest Lawn Funeral Home on Thursday.
The Homeless Veterans Burial Program is handled by volunteers with the Marion County Veterans Council and Dignity Memorial.
"Every veteran is entitled to recognition. They have all put their lives on the line, and we give them dignity and honor. We're not letting him fall in the cracks today," said Bill Ward, Forest Lawn location manager.
The service featured an escort led by the U.S. Military Veterans Motorcycle Club, a rifle salute by the American Legion Post 284 Honor Guard, and a flag folding presentation by the Marine Corps League, Ocala.
read more here
http://www.ocala.com/article/20100205/ARTICLES/100209816/1402/NEWS
By Jacqui Janetzko
Correspondent
Published: Friday, February 5, 2010 at 4:41 p.m.
OCALA - George Lieninger, a homeless Vietnam veteran, was given a proper military funeral at Forest Lawn Funeral Home on Thursday.
The Homeless Veterans Burial Program is handled by volunteers with the Marion County Veterans Council and Dignity Memorial.
"Every veteran is entitled to recognition. They have all put their lives on the line, and we give them dignity and honor. We're not letting him fall in the cracks today," said Bill Ward, Forest Lawn location manager.
The service featured an escort led by the U.S. Military Veterans Motorcycle Club, a rifle salute by the American Legion Post 284 Honor Guard, and a flag folding presentation by the Marine Corps League, Ocala.
read more here
http://www.ocala.com/article/20100205/ARTICLES/100209816/1402/NEWS
When no one wants to cover price of war
2001, troops sent into Afghanistan. 2003 troops sent into Iraq. No one wanted to pay higher taxes to pay for either one. No one wanted to really support the troops we sent by paying for any of it. President Bush didn't even have these wars in his budget and continually asked for supplemental emergency funds. Some in congress were asking for more funding for the VA to care for the increased need while others were pointing to the two wars needing more funding as an excuse to not gear up the VA to deal with the increased demand. Funding for the VA came last on the things to do list almost as if the wounded were totally forgotten about. This continued despite the fact medical advances left more surviving horrific injuries, thus creating more wounded survivors needing care.
Contractors managed to take the spotlight and bulk of the funding. The troops had to deal with what they had to do their jobs with, scavenging for metal to protect their vehicles because no one thought to order the up armored Humvees or the fortified new design to deflect road side bombs. They came last.
It always seems we claim to have no limits when it comes to defense of this nation, at the same time, we have no desire to spend it on the men and women we send.
But the burden and blame is not all on the citizens of this nation. It is on the shoulders of the media as well. When you stop and think about what they can accomplish when they want to, it leaves us wondering where their priorities are.
Remember the coverage dedicated to Haiti after the earthquake and what resulted from the devotion to cover the suffering? Hundreds of millions of dollars flooded in along with aid workers volunteering to step up. Over 200,000 dead, millions homeless, wounded and in need of everything to stay alive with. Their stories touched all of us because we saw their eyes, heard their cries and we saw humans just like us suffering. We knew we could help because we were told we could and how we could help.
Well, here we have more servicemen and women committing suicide because they are not getting the care they need. Attempted suicides have gone up in the military. Divorces have gone up. All the suffering has gone up but most Americans have no clue. The media has not taken the same kind of attitude to cover this crisis as they have with scandals, politics, celebrities or how ketchup is now being packaged differently so that you can dunk into it or squirt it out. (NBC had this last week.) There always seems to be yet one more crisis more important than what is happening to the men and women we send to fight our battles.
Add up the suicides of our veterans starting with the 18 taking their own lives today, then multiply them over the last nine years but you better factor in the 12,000 attempted suicides every year as well. Don't stop there because those are veterans and we have active military committing suicide at higher numbers every year as well. Don't stop there either because with those numbers come the families left behind.
Here we have an interview Al Jazeera did with Give An Hour's founder Barbara Van Dahlen. Ever wonder why an organization like this would be needed if we really lived up to the claim about supporting the troops and caring for our veterans? Why would there be a need for mental health workers to give up the kind of money they make if we were any good at really taking care of them? Then after you read this article or watch the video interview, ask yourself when the last time it was you heard any of what is being said on CNN, MSNBC or FOX.
Where is the coverage of this crisis in our communities as National Guards and Reservists come home to an oblivious neighborhood? Where is it as the men and women in the military return to bases trying to recover from one deployment while another one waits for them hanging over their heads like the Sword of Damocles appearing to be safe back on US soil but nonetheless still in danger? Why don't they report on any of this more than just a story here or there when this is a huge crisis that does not need to be happening?
No one wants to pay for war but when it comes to the men and women we send, they seem to be the only ones paying for all of it with body, blood, spirit along with everyone in their lives. Aren't there any advertisers willing to step up and fund specials for CNN, FOX or MSNBC to report on the magnitude of this suffering? Who is willing to pay the price for their sake? It's time all of us were willing to cover the price only they have been asked to pay.
Contractors managed to take the spotlight and bulk of the funding. The troops had to deal with what they had to do their jobs with, scavenging for metal to protect their vehicles because no one thought to order the up armored Humvees or the fortified new design to deflect road side bombs. They came last.
It always seems we claim to have no limits when it comes to defense of this nation, at the same time, we have no desire to spend it on the men and women we send.
But the burden and blame is not all on the citizens of this nation. It is on the shoulders of the media as well. When you stop and think about what they can accomplish when they want to, it leaves us wondering where their priorities are.
Remember the coverage dedicated to Haiti after the earthquake and what resulted from the devotion to cover the suffering? Hundreds of millions of dollars flooded in along with aid workers volunteering to step up. Over 200,000 dead, millions homeless, wounded and in need of everything to stay alive with. Their stories touched all of us because we saw their eyes, heard their cries and we saw humans just like us suffering. We knew we could help because we were told we could and how we could help.
Well, here we have more servicemen and women committing suicide because they are not getting the care they need. Attempted suicides have gone up in the military. Divorces have gone up. All the suffering has gone up but most Americans have no clue. The media has not taken the same kind of attitude to cover this crisis as they have with scandals, politics, celebrities or how ketchup is now being packaged differently so that you can dunk into it or squirt it out. (NBC had this last week.) There always seems to be yet one more crisis more important than what is happening to the men and women we send to fight our battles.
Add up the suicides of our veterans starting with the 18 taking their own lives today, then multiply them over the last nine years but you better factor in the 12,000 attempted suicides every year as well. Don't stop there because those are veterans and we have active military committing suicide at higher numbers every year as well. Don't stop there either because with those numbers come the families left behind.
Here we have an interview Al Jazeera did with Give An Hour's founder Barbara Van Dahlen. Ever wonder why an organization like this would be needed if we really lived up to the claim about supporting the troops and caring for our veterans? Why would there be a need for mental health workers to give up the kind of money they make if we were any good at really taking care of them? Then after you read this article or watch the video interview, ask yourself when the last time it was you heard any of what is being said on CNN, MSNBC or FOX.
Where is the coverage of this crisis in our communities as National Guards and Reservists come home to an oblivious neighborhood? Where is it as the men and women in the military return to bases trying to recover from one deployment while another one waits for them hanging over their heads like the Sword of Damocles appearing to be safe back on US soil but nonetheless still in danger? Why don't they report on any of this more than just a story here or there when this is a huge crisis that does not need to be happening?
No one wants to pay for war but when it comes to the men and women we send, they seem to be the only ones paying for all of it with body, blood, spirit along with everyone in their lives. Aren't there any advertisers willing to step up and fund specials for CNN, FOX or MSNBC to report on the magnitude of this suffering? Who is willing to pay the price for their sake? It's time all of us were willing to cover the price only they have been asked to pay.
The war against PTSD in the US army
FOCUS
The war against PTSD in the US army
After ignoring and dodging the issue for years, the US army is being forced to face the alarming numbers of soldiers who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The suicide rate among troops on active duty is at an all time high and rising, while veterans are bringing the war home to their families and communities in the form of addiction, abuse and even murder. They are committing suicide at the rate of 18 a day.
Al Jazeera's The War Within programme examined the toll repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan are taking on soldiers.
To understand the symptoms and causes of PTSD from a medical perspective, Al Jazeera spoke to Barbara Van Dahlen, a clinical psychologist and the president and founder of Give An Hour (GAH), a nonprofit organisation that provides free mental health services to US military personnel and their families who have been affected by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
read more here
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/02/20102685951740629.html
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