PTSD veterans get ready for shaft again

More must be done for PTSD vets, panel says

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jan 24, 2008 17:23:00 EST

The head of a commission that spent 2½ years studying veterans’ disability benefits says the government needs to do more for those suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.

Testifying Thursday before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee about a proposal for a comprehensive treatment, rehabilitation and benefits plan for veterans with PTSD and other mental disorders, the chairman of the Veterans’ Disability Benefits Committee said current benefits could be described as “just paying people with PTSD to go away.”

Retired Army Lt. Gen. James Terry Scott, whose 13-member commission issued its final report late last year, said the government needs a holistic approach that links disability benefits, treatment and vocational training, with an evaluation every two or three years of a veteran’s disability to see if treatment is working.
go here for the rest
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/01/military_ptsd_080124w/

If they want to know if treatment is working, then that's fine, that is, if their intent is to come up with better treatment, but if it's to try to just get them out of the system, scream!

The newer veterans have a hard enough time with the wound as it is. Between the backlog of claims and appointments lower than needed, what more stress do you think they can endure? For the older veterans, especially Vietnam veterans, you need to know that because of the newer veterans coming into the system and all the problems, the Vietnam veterans are being pushed back to make room. For a veteran who has spent years in treatment on a monthly basis, now being forced to accept once every three months, this is the wrong thing to do to them. It only exacerbates the problem.

What they really need to do is focus on getting the Veterans centers and clinics up and running to get them all into treatment. There have already been cases over the last 30 years where veterans with mild PTSD have recovered enough to go back to work, but that happens when they are treated early. If they are not getting treatment at all, then they are getting worse. PTSD gets worse without treatment so you'd think they would stop screwing around and invest their time into finding out how to get them into treatment instead of trying to figure out how to get them out of it.

They are killing themselves everyday!

Fort Campbell to be first to get such facilities from DoD funding

The DOD and the VA need to get centers open and running across the country now. They need to do what is being done at Fort Campbell. More, they should use the empty buildings across the country and put in Vet's centers to take care of all of them until they have these buildings ready for them. Don't make them wait until we are ready to help them. They didn't make us wait when we sent them to get wounded.

New post clinics to fight dual threat: PTSD, TBI
Fort Campbell to be first to get such facilities from DoD funding
By JAKE LOWARY
The Leaf-Chronicle
Fort Campbell has found itself at the forefront of a different kind of fight — to keep soldiers healthy.

Post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury have vaulted to utmost importance with military officials as more and more soldiers return from deployments with noticeable symptoms of the conditions.
Soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division are no exception, said Maj. Michael McGhee, M.D., chief of neuropsychological services at Fort Campbell.

For that reason, two separate clinics are being built on post to help treat soldiers who have suffered such injuries.

Condition details
About 20 to 25 percent of soldiers who have returned from combat have shown signs of PTSD, McGhee said, noting "a significant problem has been recognized."

"They are clearly having PTSD problems" he said.
click post title for the rest

Barack Obama Hosts Roundtable Discussion with South Carolina Veterans

Obama noted that his commitment to veterans is grounded in his experience being raised in part by his grandfather, who served during World War II.

“I will never forget that everyone who wears the uniform deserves the opportunities that my grandfather got – to have a Commander-in-Chief who is accountable, and to have a grateful nation that helps you live the American Dream that you have defended,” Obama said.

January 24, 2008
Barack Obama Hosts Roundtable Discussion with South Carolina Veterans
Filed under: '08 Candidates SC Visits, Barach Obama, Press Release — schotline @ 3:33 pm
Tags: Barack Obama, Discussion, Hosts Roundtable, South Carolina, Veterans

Conversation Focuses on Importance of Judgment and Keeping our Sacred Trust with America’s Veterans
BEAUFORT, SC - Today in Beaufort, South Carolina, U.S. Senator Barack Obama hosted a roundtable discussion with South Carolina veterans about the need for a President that has the judgment to secure our nation and is willing to be held accountable for keeping our sacred trust with those who serve. Senator Obama detailed his comprehensive plan to give all of our veterans the care and support they have earned.
click post title for the rest

I do not endorse any candidate yet.

Vietnam Ghosts At The Door

The post I just put up from Truthout on Joe Wheeler got me to thinking about what Vietnam veterans said when they came home.

With Vietnam veterans, they called contact with other veterans, "ghosts at the door." They didn't want to be reminded of what they were still living with. They didn't want to find out which of the soldiers they knew died, which ones ended up with their legs blown off, which ones got yet another divorce. They wanted to put it all behind them.

Years later, more and more were reaching out to find their buddies. Lost and Found from a Vietnam Veterans site (http://grunt.space.swri.edu/vetorgs.htm) began as a way to help them find each other.

There are a lot of other links from this site and they should be used for the wealth of information they provide.
http://grunt.space.swri.edu/vetorgs.htm

If you go to Lost and Found, read some of their stories as they search for people who were there when a family member was killed in action; when they need help to prove a claim with the VA; when they just want to find someone who they knew, your heart breaks. After all these years, they still reach out at the same time they still try to push it all to the back of their minds.



If you want to know what a Vietnam veteran can do, just look at which ones reached the Senate and the House

Vietnam Veterans in the Senate
"#" in front of the name indicates a combat veteran

#Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI)
U.S. Army 1943-47

Robert Bennett (R-UT)
National Guard 1957-61

Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Army Reserves 1968-74

#Thomas Carper (D-DEL)
U.S. Navy 1968-1973
Navy Reserve 1973-1991

Thad Cochran (R-MS)
U.S. Navy 1959-61

Larry Craig (R-ID)
National Guard 1970-72

Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT)
Army Reserve 1969-75

Michael Enzi (R-WY)
Air National Guard 1967-73

Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
· U.S. Air Force 1983-1989
National Guard 1989-1994

#Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
U.S. Army 1967-68

Tom Harkins (D-IA)
U.S. Navy 1962-67
Navy Reserve 1968-74

James M. Inhofe (R-OK)
U.S. Army 1954-56

#Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Medal Of Honor
U.S. Army 1943-47

Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
National Guard 1966-1972

Tim Johnson (D-SD)
U.S. Army 1969-

Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
U.S. Army 1951-53

#John Robert Kerry (D-MA)
U.S. Navy 1966-1970

Herb Kohl (D-WI)
Army Reserve 1958-64

#Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Army 1942-1946

Richard Lugar (R-IN)
U.S. Navy 1957-60

#John R. McCain (R-AZ)
U.S. Navy 1958-81
*POW Vietnam 1967-73

Bill Nelson (D-FL)
U.S. Army 1968-1970

Jack Reed (D-RI)
U.S. Army 1967-1969

Pat Roberts (R-KS)
U.S. Marine Corps (1958-62)

Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Army Reserves 1973-86

Arlen Specter (R-PA)
U.S. Air Force 1951-53

#Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Army Air Corps 1943-46

#John R. Warner (R-VA)
U.S. Navy 1945-46
Marine Corps 1950-52
Marine Corps Reserves 1952-1964

#Jim Webb (D-VA)
U.S. Marine Corps 1964-1972
Ass't Sec. of Defense 1984-1987
Secretary of the Navy 1987-1988

Vietnam Veterans in the House
"#" in front of the name indicates a combat veteran.

Todd Akin (R-02 Missouri)
U.S. Army

#Joe Baca (D-43 CA)
U.S. Army 1966-1968

Spencer Bachus (R-06 AL)
National Guard 1969-1971

James Barrett (R-03 S.C.)
Army 1983-1987

Michael Bilirakis ( )
Air Force 1951-1955

Sanford D. Bishop (D-02 GA)
U.S. Army 1971

John Boehner (R-08 OH)
U.S. Navy 1968

#Leonard L. Boswell (D-03 IA)
U.S. Army 1956-1976

#Allen Boyd, Jr. (D-02 FL)
U.S. Army 1969-1971

Henry Brown (R-1 SC)
National Guard 1953-1962

Vern Buchanan (R-13 FL)
Air National Guard 1970-1976

Dan Burton (R-05 IN)
U.S. Army 1956-1957
Army Reserves 1957-1962

G.K. Butterfield (D-1 NC)
Army Reserves 1957-1962
Army 1968-1970

Stephen E. Buyer (R-04 IN)
U.S. Army 1984-1987, 1990
Army Reserve 1980-1984, 1987-Present

Christopher Carney (D-10PA)
Naval Reserves 1995 - Present

Howard Coble (R-06 NC)
Coast Guard 1952-1956, 1977-1978
Coast Guard Reserve 1960-1981

Mike Conway (R-11 TX)
U.S. Army 1970-1972

John Conyers (D-14 MI)
National Guard 1948-1950
U.S. Army 1950-1954
Army Reserve 1954-1957

Robert E. Cramer, Jr. (D-05 AL)
U.S. Army 1972
Army Reserves 1976-1978

Geoff Davis (R-04 KY)
U.S. Army 1980 -1987

Thomas M. Davis (R-11 VA)
U.S. Army 1971-1972
Army Reserves 1972-1979

Nathan Deal (R-09 GA)
U.S. Army 1966-1968

Peter A. DeFazio (D-04 OR)
U.S. Air Force 1967-1971

William D. Delahunt (D-10 MA)
Coast Guard Reserve 1963-1971

John D. Dingell (D-16 MI)
U.S. Army 1945-1946

John F. Duncan, Jr. (R-02 TN)
Army Reserve 1970-1987

Bob Etheridge (D-02 NC)
U.S. Army 1965-1967

Terry Everett (R-02 AL)
U.S. Air Force 1955-1959

#Rodney P. Frelinghuysen (R-11 NJ)
U.S. Army 1969-1971

#Wayne T. Gilchrest (R-01 MD)
U.S. Marines 1964-1968

Louie Gohmert (R-01 TX)
U.S. Army 1977-1982

Charles A. Gonzales (D-20 TX)
National Guard 1969-1975

Virgil H. Goode, Jr. (R-05 VA)
National Guard 1969-1975

Bart Gordon (D-6 TN)
US Army Reserve 1971-72

Phil Hare (D-17IL)
Army Reserves 1969-1975

Ralph M. Hall (R-04 TX)
U.S. Navy 1942-1945

Doc Hastings (R-04 WA)
Army Reserves 1964-1969

Maurice Hinchey (D-22 NY)
U.S. Navy 1956-59

David L. Hobson (R-07 OH)
National Guard 1958-1963

#Duncan Hunter (R-52 CA)
U.S. Army 1969-1971

Darrell Issa (R-49 CA)
Army 1970-1972, 1976-1980

William J. Jefferson (D-02 LA)
U.S. Army 1969-1978

#Sam Johnson (R-03 TX)
U.S. Air Force 1951-1979 (POW)

Walter B. Jones, Jr. (R-03 NC)
National Guard 1967-1971

Paul E. Kanjorski (D-11 PA)
U.S. Army 1960-1961

Peter King (R-03 NY)
National Guard 1968-1973

# Mark Kirk (R-10 IL)
Navy Reserve 1989-present

#John Kline (R-02 MN)
USMC 1969-1994

Joseph Knollenberg (R-09 MI)
Army 1955-1957

Ron Lewis (R-02 KY)
U.S. Navy 1973

John Linder (R-7 GA)
US Air Force 1967-69

Edward J. Markey (D-07 MA)
Army Reserves 1968-1973

#James Marshall (D-3 GA)
U.S. Army 1968-1970

Jim McDermott (D-07 WA)
U.S. Navy 1968-1970

Gary Miller (R-42 CA)
Army 1967-1968

Alan Mollohan (D-01 WV)
U.S. Army 1970
Army Reserves 1970-1983

Dennis Moore (D-03 KS)
U.S. Army 1970
Army Reserves 1970-1972

Patrick Murphy (D-08PA)
Army 1999-2004

#John Murtha (D-12 PA)
U.S. Marines 1952-1955, 1966-1967
Marines Reserve 1967-1990

Soloman P. Ortiz (D-27 TX)
U.S. Army 1960-1962

William Pascrell, Jr. (D-08 NJ)
U.S. Army 1961
Army Reserves 1962-1967

Ron Paul (R-14 TX)
U.S. Air Force 1963-1965
National Guard 1965-1968

#Steve Pearce (R-2 NM)
U.S. Air Force 1970-1976

Collin C. Peterson (D-07 MN)
National Guard 1963-1969

John E. Peterson (R-05 PA)
U.S. Army 1957
Army Reserves 1958-1963

#Joseph R. Pitts (R-16 PA)
U.S. Air Force 1963-1969

Ted Poe (R-2 TX)
Air Force Reserve 1970-1976

Jim Ramstad (R-03 MN)
Army Reserves 1968-1974

#Charles B. Rangel (D-15 NY)
U.S. Army 1948-1952

Ralph Regula (R-16 OH)
U.S. Navy 1944-1946

#Silvestre Reyes (D-16 TX)
U.S. Army 1966-1968

Thomas Reynolds (R-26 NY)
National Guard 1970-1976

Harold Rogers (R-05 KY)
National Guard 1957-1964

Mike Rogers (R-8 MI)
US Army 1985-89

Bobby Rush (D-01 IL)
U.S. Army 1963-1968

John Salazar (D-03 CO)
U.S. Army 1973-1976

Robert C. Scott (D-03 VA)
Army Reserves 1970-1974
National Guard 1974-1976

Jose E. Serrano (D-16 NY)
U.S. Army 1964-1966

Joe Sestak(D-07PA)
U.S. Navy [Admiral] 1970-2006

John Shadegg (R-03AZ)
National Guard 1969-1975

John Shimkus (R-19 IL)
U.S. Army 1980-1984
Army Reserves 1987-Present

#Vic Snyder (D-02 AR)
U.S. Marines 1967-1969

John M. Spratt, Jr. (D-05 SC)
U.S. Army 1969-1971

Fortney P. Stark (D-13 CA)
U.S. Air Force 1955-1957

Cliff Stearns (R-06 FL)
U.S. Air Force 1963-1967

John S. Tanner (D-08 TN)
U.S. Navy 1968-1972
National Guard 1974-Present

Gene Taylor (D-04 MS)
Coast Guard Reserve 1971-1984

#Mike Thompson (D-01 CA)
U.S. Army 1969-1972

Edolphus Towns (D-10 NY)
U.S. Army 1956-1958

Tim Walz (D-01MI)
National Guard 1981-2005

Dave Weldon (R-15 FL)
U.S. Army 1981-1987
Army Reserves 1987-1992

Ed Whitfield (R-01 KY)
Army Reserve 1967-1970

Roger F. Wicker (R-01 MS)
U.S. Air Force 1976-1980
Air Force Reserve 1980-Present

Heather A. Wilson (R-01 NM)
U.S. Air Force 1978-1989
*Only woman veteran in Congress.

Joe Wilson (R-2 SC)
National Guard 1972-2003

Frank R. Wolf (R-10 VA)
U.S. Army 1962-1963
Army Reserves 1963-1967

C.W. Bill Young (R-10 FL)
National Guard 1948-1957

Don Young (R-All AK)
U.S. Army 1955-1957

I find it very troubling what with all of these veterans in the Senate and the House, they let all of this happen to this nation's newest generation. Especially troubling are the combat veterans listed here. How could they just close their eyes to what was happening and let the veterans suffer with backlogs in claims and shortages of doctors and nurses along with shortages of claims processors when they were coming back with PTSD and killing themselves, seeing their lives fall apart, their families fall apart and when they joined the ranks of the forgotten homeless?

They can move mountains and most of the sites you see on the net dealing with veterans, began with Vietnam veterans. If anyone is going to understand this new generation it has to be them. So how is it that with so much being done by people in private lives happens yet so little happens in the House and the Senate? Even with the "highest increase in VA history" is still so far below what is needed. How can this be intstead of getting it right, right now? Where are the veterans' centers? Where is the outreach they keep talking about doing? Where are the minds of those with the power to make all of this happen? Is it because they don't want the ghosts knocking at their own doors?

Four Years Later, the Fallout of Iraq

Editor's Note: To mark the fifth year of the occupation of Iraq, Truthout will be profiling veterans who served in Iraq, have returned to the US and are trying to adjust to life at home. Our reporters will profile veterans over the next several months in order to put a true face on the occupation. This is an effort to step outside of the beltway coverage revolving around the policies, and focus more on the individuals who have been directly affected physically and emotionally. To date, more than 3,500 US soldiers have been killed in combat and tens of thousands more have been wounded and maimed. Additionally, tens of thousands of US soldiers are battling post-traumatic stress disorder. These are their stories. - Jason Leopold

Four Years Later, the Fallout of Iraq
By Maya Schenwar
t r u t h o u t Report

Thursday 17 January 2008

Joe Wheeler, an Iraq vet who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, says it's criminal to call war a "learning experience."

When Joe Wheeler enlisted in the military in 2000, he was thinking about student loans a whole lot more than about terrorism. He came from a poor family with six siblings and worked his way through college, graduating with about $50,000 unpaid. Two years out of college, he was drowning in expenses. In the pre-9/11 era, at the tail end of ten years of relative peace, Wheeler figured that joining the Army would be a quick route to debt relief and graduate education.

"I was in a pretty dire situation, and I felt like it called for serious action on my part," Wheeler told me in an interview. "I didn't join expecting to go to war."

The plan was to spend a year or two on base and then get on with his life. But just months after he entered basic training, the twin towers fell, and there was no way out for Wheeler. He waited for a year and a half as the fighting intensified and the anxiety built among soldiers on the home front. In that time, Wheeler got over a major case of squeamishness - "I hated the sight of blood," he says - and trained as a medic. He began working his way toward an MBA in business administration, hoping to earn a middle management position at a local company and raise a family. His wife became pregnant. But all the while, the prospect of war sat like a lump at the back of his throat.
go here for the rest
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011708J.shtml

Iraq vet kicked out of treatment may be jailed

Iraq vet kicked out of treatment may be jailed
The court had ordered treatment for PTSD instead of jail after Tony Klecker killed a teen in a drunk-driving accident.
Star Tribune

Last update: January 23, 2008 - 9:57 PM
Tony Klecker, who killed a teenager in a drunken-driving accident in 2006, could face 3 1/2 years in prison for his failure to remain in a court-ordered in-patient program for war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Last June, District Judge David Knutson gave Klecker, 30, a break in his sentencing for criminal vehicular homicide, staying a 57-month prison sentence and ordering him to serve a year in jail.

The mother of Deanna Casey, his 16-year-old Inver Grove Heights victim, had agreed to the sentence because it required Klecker, a Marine who fought in Iraq's bloodiest combat zones, to get treatment for the stress disorder.

During that wait, however, Klecker's symptoms worsened, and he became emotional around the one-year anniversary of the fatal accident, his attorney said. After the argument, he was asked to leave the hospital, although he would be allowed to participate on an out-patient basis. That, however, wouldn't meet the terms of his probation.

go here for the rest
http://www.startribune.com/local/south/14168476.html

He completed the substance abuse part October 12 but then had to wait over a month longer for the next stage to begin. What was being done in between stage one and two for this veteran and all the other? There are so many questions in this that I'm stunned.

No one wants to see a wounded veteran going to jail because of his wounds. While this program seems that it will be a wonderful other option than jail, what were they thinking? Was there anything being done for him in between the wait? Did he get medication? Did he get therapy? Did he get anything after stage one?

The other part of this is the Mom of the teenager killed while he was drunk driving. She must have a heart of gold to be able to forgive him enough to want to see him helped instead of sent to jail.

20,000 War Vets Living On Florida Streets; 1,400 In Central Florida

20,000 War Vets Living On Florida Streets; 1,400 In Central Florida

POSTED: 5:42 pm EST January 23, 2008
UPDATED: 10:58 pm EST January 23, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. -- More than 20,000 military veterans in Florida are homeless, living in a kind of war zone they had never imaged -- on the streets and in the woods.

A former U.S. Marine named Pete who once lived in Cocoa Beach with a great view of the ocean is now one of Central Florida's 1,400 homeless.

Pete lives in the woods.

"I got a tent in the woods. I'm not going to a shelter," Pete said. "I'm a carpenter by trade and I just need to get back to work."

Pete said the housing market crisis put him out of work.

Another homeless veteran, Curtis, worked heavy machinery repairing dams and sinkholes after leaving the U.S. Air Force.

His company stopped operations in the United States, leaving him homeless.

go here for the rest
http://www.local6.com/news/15122522/detail.html

Australian Defence Force cannot take care of their PTSD veterans either

"Health facilities are somewhat fragmented," he said. "[The Australian Defence Force] doesn't have the necessary assets to provide the care he really required and this means there are a series of potential holes into which the passage of information falls."

Suicidal soldier's depression not revealed to carers, doctor says

Les Kennedy
January 24, 2008

A MILITARY inquiry into the death of an army captain has been told that the senior medical officer at the navy's Balmoral Hospital did not tell a private drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic the officer was a suicide risk when he was transferred for treatment.

The decision by George Blackwood not to tell the St John of God Hospital that Andrew Paljakka had threatened to kill himself and twice attempted it after returning from Afghanistan was because the hospital did not want to be "stuck with him", he said.

"If we disclosed everything then they may not have taken him and we would be stuck with him," Dr Blackwood told the inquiry at Randwick Barracks during evidence in a three-week closed hearing in November that was made public yesterday.

The doctor's evidence also revealed that Captain Paljakka, 27, was binge drinking while suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and using heroin and amphetamines. He took his life in a Kings Cross hotel on February 26 last year.

Suspicions of his drug use were not revealed to the clinic, which, the inquiry heard, would still have taken him as a patient, assessed his mental condition and would not have allowed him to abscond.
click post title for the rest

Soldier attacks wife, Army officer

Soldier attacks wife, Army officer

The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jan 23, 2008 12:40:14 EST

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A 22-year-old Fairbanks soldier has been charged with assaulting his wife and a commanding officer.

Alaska State Troopers say Bronson Patrick Bourg of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Wainwright was charged Friday with assault and resisting arrest.

Troopers say Bourg and his wife had been drinking at a bar and that he assaulted her in their vehicle and caused her to drive off the road.

Her father and brother took the couple home, and troopers say Bourg beat and choked the woman again.

She called his military squad leader, who called troopers.

Troopers say Bourg assaulted the Army officer and the arresting officers as he was taken into custody.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_soldierassault_080123/

Drum soldier found dead in barracks

Drum soldier found dead in barracks

Staff report
Posted : Wednesday Jan 23, 2008 7:48:50 EST

A soldier has been found dead in his barracks at Fort Drum, N.Y., according to a news release. Spc. Lawrence L. Holloway, 29, of Ponchatoula, La., was discovered shortly after noon Sunday. He was a health care specialist assigned to 3rd Battalion, 85th Infantry Regiment — Fort Drum’s Warrior Transition Unit.

Holloway joined the Army in February 2004. He arrived at the upstate New York post in October 2004 after completing basic training at Fort Knox, Ky., and advanced individual training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

He deployed to Afghanistan from February 2006 to January 2007, where he served as a medic and ambulance driver with the 10th Sustainment Brigade.

Holloway is survived by his mother. The cause of death is under investigation.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/army_barracksdeath_080122w/