PTSD violence reported in national media "tip of the iceberg"

I find this headline troubling since the rest of the article is really good. It points out that multiple deployments and the use of National Guards has made living with combat afterwards is worse than other wars.

Muskegon County's David Eling:
PTSD violence reported in national media is just the tip of the iceberg
By Stephen Kloosterman
February 14, 2013

MUSKEGON, MI – Men who died violent deaths linked to post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have captured national media's attention in recent weeks.

But the leader of a local agency that helps veterans says it's just the tip of the iceberg of PTSD-related deaths.

A prolific U.S. sniper, Chris Kyle, and his friend were shot to death in Texas less than two weeks ago. Kyle himself suffered from PTSD, and tried to help others with the condition. The man charged in his death – another veteran – was among the group of people he was trying to help.

"In a live chat on MLive.com Wednesday, David Eling, director of the Muskegon County Department of Veterans Affairs and the West Michigan Veterans Service Center, said it's just a small part of an epidemic."

It also pointed out this.

Iraq and Afghanistan, almost 7,000 died in action and we have exceed(ed) more than 7,000 (who) have killed themselves since coming home.

This is the part that left me shaking my head. We lose more than that every year to suicides of survivors of combat. Most of them are veterans with recent research putting their numbers at almost one an hour and almost 500 servicemen and women committed suicide last year alone.

They are more likely to commit suicide than harm anyone else but the media has avoided mentioning that fact. Violent acts get more attention than sad ones someone can actually do something about.

Push for National Guard PTSD treatment advances

Push for National Guard PTSD treatment advances
DAN HOLTMEYER
Associated Press
February 13, 2013

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma must bridge a gap in mental and physical trauma treatment for its 10,000 National Guard members, a state senator told a Senate panel Wednesday.

The Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee approved without opposition a proposal from Sen. Brian Crain, R-Tulsa, that calls for training guard members' caregivers to better treat post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.

"I've got a concern that others have brought to me that we are not doing enough to provide the full attention that those National Guard members need and certainly deserve," Crain told The Associated Press after the hearing. "We want to make sure that people that are providing care to those National Guard members have the training, have the support, know what resources are available."

Specifically, Crain's bill calls on the Oklahoma Health Care Authority's medical advisory committee to launch and oversee pilot training programs for caretakers, even if they're simply family members or neighbors of guardsmen.

According to Pentagon data, more veterans died by suicide than in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan last year, a years-long trend that has intensified interest in military mental health screening and treatment. Multiple studies also have found National Guard members are especially at risk for PTSD and other mental health problems.

"Because National Guard soldiers return to civilian status following their deployment, they do not have the same uninterrupted access to military medical care as Active Component soldiers," researchers at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research wrote in a June 2010 study on PTSD among returning active and reserve Iraq veterans.
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Army Major featured in People Magazine shines light on military suicides

It is wonderful this Major is talking about it along with his wife. What is not wonderful is the fact no one in the military seems to understand that since suicides have gone up along with attempted suicides, what they are doing is NOT WORKING!

Local Army Major shines light on military suicides
WQAD News
February 12, 2013
by Rebecca Smith

"The army’s suicide rate climbed nine-percent since a prevention campaign was launched in 2009."

A local Army man is speaking out on military suicides and getting national attention.

People Magazine recently did a feature on Army Major Jeff Hall, of Davenport, as a way to address the growing epidemic that’s got military leaders looking for answers.

Pencil and paper help Hall sort through the images that cloud his head after two tours in Iraq. Drawings, some of which are gruesome, illustrate his struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“It’s very therapeutic just to get it out,” said Hall.

This hidden talent may never have been discovered.

“I hated everything, I hated myself and that level of hate paralyzed me,” he said.

Hall’s wife of more than 20 years, Sheri, still remembers the day she feared the worst would happen five years ago.

“When he said he didn’t want to live anymore, he wanted to die,” said Hall. “Two deployments to Iraq and I’d never feared for his life.”

It’s a reality that hits home with a lot of military members.
According to the Department of Defense, more soldiers died from suicide in 2012 than from combat. read more here

No Purple Hearts for being shot, no medals for saving lives at Fort Hood

No Purple Hearts for being shot, no medals for saving lives.

This is the biggest reason it should be considered "Combat related" because had this been in Iraq or Afghanistan and they were taken by surprise, unarmed, they would have been treated as combat wounded. This was actually worse than that simply because it happened in one of the most "safest" places in this country. A military base called Fort Hood.

Despite extensive evidence that Hasan was in communication with al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki prior to the attack, the military has denied the victims a Purple Heart and is treating the incident as "workplace violence" instead of "combat related" or terrorism.

If you have never been to Fort Hood, it is the size of a small city. It is where families live, shop, go to school and no one is walking around with guns. That is why the damage done by this attack did more harm than anything else. The murderer was one of their own, promoted no matter what was known about him or what superiors were concerned with. The soldiers deserved so much better before this happened and afterwards, so much more than what they got.

Members of Congress Demand Obama Administration Classify Ft. Hood Attack as an "Act of Terrorism"
ABC News
By NED BERKOWITZ
Feb. 13, 2013

In the wake of an ABC News story detailing claims by victims of the Fort Hood shooting that they have been neglected by the military and 'betrayed' by President Obama, the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee has sent a letter to his fellow members of Congress demanding that the Obama administration classify the attack as a terrorist act and provide full benefits to the victims and their families.

"It is time for the administration to recognize the Fort Hood shooting for what it is—an act of terrorism," wrote Rep. Michael McCaul, R.-Texas, in a letter cosigned by Rep. Frank Wolf, R.-Virginia. "To date, the Department of Defense and the Army classify this attack [as] 'workplace violence,' despite mountains of evidence [that] clearly proves the Ft. Hood shooting was an act of terror."

The letter recommends that members of Congress view the ABC News report, "which highlights the broken promises made to the victims of that attack by the Obama Administration. The video contains never-seen-before footage of the terrorist attack and moving interviews with several of the survivors."

"As this news piece makes clear," wrote McCaul and Wolf, "the result of this inexcusable [workplace violence] classification … is that victims and their families have not received the same recognition or medical and financial benefits as those wounded or killed in war."
read more here

Melbourne Homeless Veterans have new place to call home

Second home for veterans opens in Melbourne on Saturday
Group closer to goal of 18 beds available for homeless heroes
Feb 8, 2013
Written by
R. Norman Moody
FLORIDA TODAY

MELBOURNE — George Gore, a resident of the first transitional home opened by National Veterans Homeless Support, is working on getting back his independence. He and fellow veterans were helping to prepare the organization’s second house for its Saturday opening. It will be the temporary home for four homeless veterans.

“This here is for those who want help,” Gore said as he swept construction debris at the home on Sarno Road. “They helped me. I can give back by helping here. I’m giving back to the community.”

NVHS, which plans to have 18 beds for homeless veterans in four transitional homes by the end of June, officially will open its second home Saturday on Sarno Road. The first opened in December 2011 in Titusville. The purchase and remodeling of the houses are being financed from a $1 million state grant NVHS received last year.
read more here