When reporters screw up news articles on veterans, they are used to it. They actually expect it to happen more times than when they get a report right. When heads of organizations and politicians get it wrong, it is worse than
"misremembering" like Brian Williams did with his own rewrite of his history in Iraq.
One of the first crap dumps came in 2007 when "resilient" training was thought to be a good thing to do and they started the process of training them. Ya, right, as if they were not already resilient enough to be able to just get through military training.
As if this was some new theory, this is very important,
But if a network of researchers that includes clinicians at the veterans hospital in West Haven continues down the track they've set out on, troops heading off to war could someday be inoculated against combat stress.
"Are there ways to emotionally inoculate people? It's a new area of research," said Dr. Steven Southwick, deputy director of the Clinical Neurosciences Division of the National Center for PTSD, an arm of the Department of Veterans Affairs that is housed at the West Haven campus. "We do know there are factors that make some people resilient. There are genetic components to it, but there's a huge learning component. People can train themselves to be more resilient."
Nearly a decade ago, Southwick and his colleagues began studying the chemical and psychosocial factors that make some trauma survivors more resilient than others. Through extensive studies of Vietnam POWs and other trauma survivors, and U.S. special forces and Navy SEALs, the researchers have identified a dozen behavioral traits - and two stress-related hormones - that appear to buffer the effects of psychological trauma.
The findings could have implications for future training, screening and even medication of troops preparing for combat.
Sounded good but then you'd have to know what was going on around the same time when politicians were once again "addressing" suicides.
This was around the time when politicians were "paying attention" to suicides tied to the military.
Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, had scheduled the hearing in her home state to explore the unmet mental healthcare needs of servicemembers and veterans.
With the release Thursday of the Army’s report, the suicide issue has now taken center stage.
The Army report indicates that suicides among soldiers has reached a 26-year high, with as many as 101 suicides during 2006, compared with 88 during 2005, 67 in 2004 and 79 in 2003.
Notice the numbers? They seemed really high back then but as we are more aware of the numbers now, they were less than when Congress did nothing.
“Mental health issues are in many ways the top issue of veterans of our generation. It needs to be treated like a pulled hamstring,” said Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, at a forum sponsored by the Military Officers Association of America and the U.S. Naval Institute.
And he said he thinks the military is ready for that change.
“Beyond all the macho and hard-headed culture, I think we understand we have to perform,” Rieckhoff said.
This all came out in 2007. Paul Rieckhoff was getting a lot of attention back then too. (Make sure you click on the link to the bill mentioned in the article to find out who else was paying attention.)
Platinum rock band Drowning Pool is a band on a mission. Immediately following the successful launch of their “This Is For the Soldiers Tour”, the Texas rockers have stepped it up with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), actively campaigning for better mental health care for U.S. Troops on Capitol Hill. Drowning Pool and IAVA presented Representative Patrick Murphy with a petition containing 25,000 signatures in support of the Lane Evans Veterans Health and Benefits Improvement Act of 2007.
Murphy, who is the first Iraq veteran to serve in Congress, is a co-sponsor of the bipartisan legislation, which requires mandatory mental health care screening for returning troops. He served in Baghdad in 2003-2004 as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division.
Drowning Pool and IAVA first joined forces to launch the “This Is For The Soldiers” campaign and accompanying website www.thisisforthesoldiers.org, which continues to ask supporters to sign an online petition urging Congress to pass the Lane Evans bill. The group has been instrumental in involving their young fans in the political process and they challenge their fellow recording artists to show their support for our troops.
“It’s exciting to be on Capitol Hill with a rock band to raise awareness about this urgent issue. Tens of thousands of people from across the country have stepped up to help us support the troops,” said Paul Rieckhoff, IAVA Executive Director. “More than 1.5 million Americans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and almost a third of them will face a serious mental health issue, ranging from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to depression. It’s critical that we get these troops the help they need now and the Lane Evans Bill is a major step in that direction. We are honored to work with Representative Murphy and Drowning Pool to get this important legislation passed.”
As you can see by the above chart the numbers were stunningly high in 2007 but most of them were older veterans, from Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War.
By the time of the 25 anniversary of the Vietnam Memorial Wall, it was clear that
Rieckhoff didn't seem to understand the first thing about Vietnam when he was interviewed by MTV
Monday (November 12) marks the observed Veterans Day — and also the 25th anniversary of the dedication of "The Wall," the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. And on the holiday, the enduring toll the battle in Iraq has taken on American troops can be summed up by one phrase: the Invisible War.
That's how Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and author of the Iraq memoir "Chasing Ghosts," refers to the war that has been raging since 2003 and has had a startlingly different effect on veterans returning than the war it's most often compared to, Vietnam.
"This is not a drafted army, it's a professional force, so folks are staying in longer, they're older and they're more likely to have families," he said of the average age of Iraq warriors, which is around 27. "But those who are being killed and injured are disproportionately young — the people you played soccer with and went to high school with."
Guess it didn't matter much to him that Vietnam veterans decided to fight for all veterans. Had it not been for them, no one would have been compensated or treated for PTSD.
In September of 2007,
Jonathan Shay received a Genius Grant for his work on combat related PTSD. He wrote two books and worked for the VA treating VIETNAM VETERANS for many years.
Morning Edition, September 25, 2007 · Among this year's MacArthur fellowships — sometimes called the "genius grant" — is a half-million dollar award to a psychiatrist who helps heal combat veterans with post traumatic stress disorder by talking about the mythological Greek warriors Achilles and Odysseus.
Soldiers, and generals, too, listen to Dr. Jonathan Shay of the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in Boston. They listen especially when he talks about why it's crucial to soldiers' mental health to keep them together in the same unit over time, so they truly come to know and rely upon each other. This wasn't the practice in Vietnam. But it is again, today, thanks in part to Shay.
A lot of Shay's insight about how to prevent the mental health problems of war comes from reading the Iliad and the Odyssey. He first picked up the books while recovering from a stroke some 25 years ago. He was just 40.
As he slowly recovered, he took what he figured would be a temporary gig counseling Vietnam veterans at the Boston VA. He told them stories of Achilles and Odysseus — and those tales of betrayal by leaders and of guilt and loss among soldiers resonated with the Vietnam veterans.
"One of the things they appreciate," Shay says, "is the sense that they're part of a long historical context — that they are not personally deficient for having become injured in war."
I checked and the link still works so you can read more of the interview or listen to it now.
Iraq stress hits veterans of past wars
Most PTSD cases locally are triggered by stories, images of current conflict.
By Denny Boyles / The Fresno Bee, 09/24/07 04:21:23
The war in Iraq has caused an increase in the number of local veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, an anxiety illness that can make it difficult -- or even impossible -- to lead a normal life.
But relatively few of those seeking treatment fought in Iraq. Instead, the televised images of war -- and daily news of bombings and deaths -- have caused the disorder to surface in Vietnam and Korean war veterans who have been off the battlefield for decades.
At Fresno's VA hospital, 190 new patients are referred for treatment of PTSD each month.
Up to 80% are older veterans who served in Vietnam and Korea and suffer from anxiety, anger or depression.
They did not seek treatment before because they didn't know they had the disorder or they didn't want to ask for help, say VA officials.
They believe the trend is seen elsewhere as well, and will continue as the war in Iraq progresses.
Dr. Cara Zuccarelli Miller, a clinical psychologist at the Fresno VA, said many older veterans only become aware that they have PTSD because they recognize their symptoms in those returning from Iraq who have been diagnosed.
His attitude paid off and
all veterans were no longer equal. VAWatchdog noticed.
Because of Rieckhoff's work, we now have a two-tiered VA system, with vets from Iraq and Afghanistan getting priority treatment for health care and first-in-line status for disability claims ... while the other 97% of veterans just have to wait.
In fairness, Rieckhoff has worked hard for his constituency, and it has paid off ... to the detriment of other veterans.
Now, we see Rieckhoff's feelings about other veterans, especially those who served in the Vietnam War.
The
fight over all veterans being cared for is something else that slips the mind of some people.
One veteran association, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), says the administration isn't doing near enough to end the backlog with its average wait, from filing to decision, now at 273 days and some veterans in the largest cities reportedly waiting more than 600 days.
But most veteran service organizations aren't joining that chorus, for perhaps two major reasons. One, they believe they understand better than the loudest critics why the backlog has grown so. Some contributing factors these veterans' groups actually fought for.
Two, criticism of Shinseki and his team rings hollow to many veteran groups given the administration's support over the past four years for robust funding of VA, unprecedented cooperation with vet advocates, and the depth of its commitment to reform a 20th Century paper-driven claims process.
That's why groups including Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion came to Shinseki's defense after Klein's call to resign. That's why Joseph Violante, legislative director of Disabled American Veterans, told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee that VA is moving "down the right path" with many of its reform plans even while "processing over a million claims annually, which in my mind is something phenomenal."
Violante described VA leadership as the most open he has seen in almost 30 years working veterans issues in Washington D.C. He had particular praise for Allison A. Hickey, under secretary for benefits.
At the same hearing, Bart Stichman, executive director of the National Veterans Legal Services Program, praised Shinseki. The NVLSP successfully has sued VA, initially more than 20 years ago, to compensate Vietnam veterans for diseases presumed caused by wartime exposure to herbicides including Agent Orange. Stichman said Shinseki showed courage when, facing a rising claims backlog in 2009, he added three new diseases to VA's list of diseases compensable for Vietnam veterans due to Agent Orange.
This required VA to re-adjudicate 150,000 claims previously denied and to process more than 100,000 fresh claims from Vietnam veterans, including for most anyone with heart disease who ever served in Vietnam. The Veterans Benefits Administration put more than 2300 experienced claims staff – 37 percent of its workforce – on the effort for two and a half years, paying out more than $4.5 billion in retroactive benefits.
Guess he misremembered what happened in 2009.
“Backlogs are at the point where veterans must wait an average of six months for a decision on benefits claims and some veterans are waiting as long as four years,” Butterfield said in a statement. “Veterans deserve better than this.”
Butterfield introduced a bill on Friday, HR 3087, that would automatically approve a veteran’s claim if no decision is made by the VA within 18 months. The bill doesn’t say exactly how the VA would do this, but creates a task force to monitor VA to make sure the 18-month deadline isn’t met with an arbitrary denial just before the claim must be paid.
The bill comes as the number of unprocessed veterans claims exceeds 915,000 — a 100,000 jump since the beginning of the year. In testimony two weeks ago before a House committee, VA officials said the current 162 days is 17 days less than one year ago, a sign that they are beginning to make process.
That was reported in June of 2009!
January 2014
Suicide prevention is the No. 1 legislative priority this year for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, says Paul Rieckhoff, the group’s founder and CEO.
His New York-based organization, with 270,000 members, also supports the effort by Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York to have military prosecutors rather than commanders make decisions on whether to prosecute sexual assault cases in the armed forces.
Gillibrand expects a Senate vote on her proposal in the next couple of weeks.
As chairwoman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, Gillibrand also plans to convene a hearing this winter on the link between sexual assaults in the military and suicides.
What brought all this on? Simple. Had any group, any politician, any charity really paid attention to what people were saying and the forgetting, there wouldn't have been a need to have a bill named after Clay Hunt. He'd still be here and taking care of others with the rest of TEAM Rubicon. So would a lot of the thousands of others taken to early graves.
It really should piss everyone off that some folks are celebrating yet again for repeating what has been done and failed to death.
