Former Army Chaplain Chiefs Confer on Current Issues
Feb 21, 2008
BY Elizabeth M. Lorge
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Feb. 21, 2008) - As the Army's chaplaincy focuses on expanding services to wounded warriors and redeploying Soldiers, 15 former chiefs of chaplains gathered in Arlington, Va., for a "Graybeard Conference" Feb. 15 to discuss lessons learned from their tenures and relate them to the biggest concerns for today's Army.
Maj. Gen. Douglas L. Carver, the Army's current chief of chaplains, invited the former chaplains from the active Army, National Guard and Army Reserve in order to learn from their 40 years of combined experience at the helm of the chaplaincy and update them on the Army's current goals, priorities and challenges.
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"There's a scripture in the bible that says there's nothing new under the sun, so I know that what I'm experiencing today as a leader is something that I can learn from those who have gone before me -- similar challenges that they've faced during the life and the history of the Army and the nation. I think it's also important for us to hear the collective wisdom of those who have been in this leadership position before, to hear their thoughts, their ideas, just to ensure we're doing the best we can to support our Soldiers and Families during a time of war."
click post title for the rest
Saturday, February 23, 2008
A Local Soldier's Long Road Home: Dealing With PTSD
A Local Soldier's Long Road Home: Dealing With PTSD
POSTED: 10:38 pm EST February 22, 2008
WHEELING, W.Va. -- A local Iraq war veteran opened up to NEWS9 about the daily struggles of living with post traumatic stress disorder.
When soldiers leave the war zone, it’s not always a happy homecoming.
"When I came home the first time,” said Ryan Flowers, 25, of Moundsville, “I thought something wasn't right. I felt out of place."
Flowers is one of thousands of Iraq veterans dealing with PTSD.
He served two tours in Iraq, and his jobs included being a heavy wheel mechanic and convoy security.
Flowers’ job in convoy security required him to protect groups of civilians and war supplies.
“Making sure we could get supplies from one camp to another to support the ongoing war effort,” said Flowers.
While Flowers worked at night, his visions are clear as day.
“A night in December, we were leaving Mosul, and there was an explosion on the horizon," said Flowers. “To see an explosion come up over the horizon from that distance, it was my best friend who was in that explosion. He's OK, as OK as you can be."
go here for the rest
http://www.wtov9.com/news/15384598/detail.html
POSTED: 10:38 pm EST February 22, 2008
WHEELING, W.Va. -- A local Iraq war veteran opened up to NEWS9 about the daily struggles of living with post traumatic stress disorder.
When soldiers leave the war zone, it’s not always a happy homecoming.
"When I came home the first time,” said Ryan Flowers, 25, of Moundsville, “I thought something wasn't right. I felt out of place."
Flowers is one of thousands of Iraq veterans dealing with PTSD.
He served two tours in Iraq, and his jobs included being a heavy wheel mechanic and convoy security.
Flowers’ job in convoy security required him to protect groups of civilians and war supplies.
“Making sure we could get supplies from one camp to another to support the ongoing war effort,” said Flowers.
While Flowers worked at night, his visions are clear as day.
“A night in December, we were leaving Mosul, and there was an explosion on the horizon," said Flowers. “To see an explosion come up over the horizon from that distance, it was my best friend who was in that explosion. He's OK, as OK as you can be."
go here for the rest
http://www.wtov9.com/news/15384598/detail.html
Frank Discussion About PTSD and War Trauma
Frank Discussion About PTSD and War Trauma (VIDEO)
Tim King and Dr. Phil Leveque Salem-News.com
Two men with experience in war; one a combat soldier and physician, and one who is a present day war reporter, attempt to spread light on facts surrounding PTSD.
(SALEM, Ore.) - As increasing numbers of veterans are returning from war where they experienced direct combat situations, the number of questions about what that trauma will bring them later in life is growing too.
Dr. Phil Leveque is a WWII veteran and a physician. When he speaks about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, he does so from what may be one of the most unique and qualified perspectives possible.
First he survived combat and battle injuries fighting Hitler's Nazi soldiers while the world raged at war, then he endured the hardships of the government VA healthcare system where he spent several months recovering from combat related injuries.
After that Phillip Leveque, already a college graduate, completed his master's program and attended medical school. He became a doctor who specialized in the treatment of people who had endured similar horrors of war.
Tim King joined the Marine Corps after high school, and then began a career in news broadcasting in the late 1980's. Today in addition to writing and reporting for Salem-News.com full time, he also serves as a War Correspondent.
Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 in Afghanistan embedded with the 41st Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. Army which was under the control of the Oregon Guard.
In late March, Tim will head to Baghdad, Iraq to cover the actions of Oregon National Guard soldiers on the ground.
click post title for the rest and video
I will embed the video soon.
Minnesota Marine veteran Jonathan Schulze suicide back in news
Minnesota Marine's case is part of lawsuit against VA
The suicide of Jonathan Schulze is cited in the class-action suit filed by two national veterans groups.
By KEVIN GILES, Star Tribune
Last update: February 22, 2008 - 9:23 PM
A class-action lawsuit filed by two national veterans organizations accusing the U.S. Veterans Administration of neglecting psychological fallout from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars cites the suicide of Minnesota Marine veteran Jonathan Schulze.
Schulze is one of several deceased veterans named in the suit, which a judge last month allowed to proceed and is headed for a hearing in U.S. District Court in San Francisco in March. Schulze, 25, committed suicide in January 2007 in New Prague, Minn., five days after he allegedly was turned away from the VA hospital in St. Cloud when seeking psychiatric help.
He had fought in Iraq. Medical records showed that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
His father, Jim Schulze of the Stewart, Minn., area, said Friday that attorneys for Veterans for Common Sense and a second group, Veterans United for Truth, asked his wife, Marianne, to file a declaration in support of the case.
The suicide of Jonathan Schulze is cited in the class-action suit filed by two national veterans groups.
By KEVIN GILES, Star Tribune
Last update: February 22, 2008 - 9:23 PM
A class-action lawsuit filed by two national veterans organizations accusing the U.S. Veterans Administration of neglecting psychological fallout from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars cites the suicide of Minnesota Marine veteran Jonathan Schulze.
Schulze is one of several deceased veterans named in the suit, which a judge last month allowed to proceed and is headed for a hearing in U.S. District Court in San Francisco in March. Schulze, 25, committed suicide in January 2007 in New Prague, Minn., five days after he allegedly was turned away from the VA hospital in St. Cloud when seeking psychiatric help.
He had fought in Iraq. Medical records showed that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
His father, Jim Schulze of the Stewart, Minn., area, said Friday that attorneys for Veterans for Common Sense and a second group, Veterans United for Truth, asked his wife, Marianne, to file a declaration in support of the case.
go here for the rest
These are just a few of the names from B. There are over 100 of their stories in my video Death Because They Served. If you want to read more about some of the lives lost you can go to my other blog, Screaming In An Empty Room and look for non-combat deaths. Go to www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com
Friday, February 22, 2008
PTSD:Problems should be anticipated
Our country owes it to its returning combat veterans to do all we know to help them move into an effective survivor mode. Failure to do so will be predictable! Headlines of homeless problems, domestic assaults, alcohol/drug epidemics, and legal problems for combat vets will again catch the nation's attention. Vietnam anyone?
Problems should be anticipated
February 22, 2008
By William Weitz
Recent readings of a Department of the Army news release and an editorial in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported significant increases in the suicide rate of active duty Army soldiers. The numbers showed a 20 percent increase over the prior year, despite efforts to include "more training and education programs, the hiring of more mental health professionals, and the addition of screening programs."
While acknowledging the impact of combat stress and the multiple tours of duty faced by these soldiers, there was also a shift to focusing on other issues such as financial stressors, family discord, and employment concerns as contributing to the suicide rate for these troops.
How little we have learned!
Having worked for 30 years as a military psychologist and a VA Vet Center Team Leader, it is critical not to separate environmental stressors from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. War veterans in intense combat environments develop PTSD at exceeding high rates. In Vietnam, the estimate was generally in the 30 to 40 percent range for developing combat stress and for Iraq, given the multiple tours, the rates should be much higher.
click post title for the rest
Hundreds of acinetobacter infections a year with wounded soldiers
Insurgents in the Bloodstream
Proceedings Capt. Chas Henry (Ret.) February 22, 2008
"It's why I lost my leg, so it sucks."
The assessment, from a 22-year-old Marine toughing out physical therapy on two prosthetic limbs, is laconic, matter-of-fact. Sgt. David Emery lost one leg in February 2007 when a suicide bomber assaulted the checkpoint near Haditha, Iraq, where he and fellow Marines stood guard. Military surgeons were forced to remove his remaining leg when it became infected with acinetobacter baumannii-a strain of highly resistant bacteria that since U.S. forces began fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan has threatened the lives, limbs, and organs of hundreds wounded in combat.
"They could have saved it," says Emery. "They had a rod in it, but then the bacteria was in too bad and my white blood cell count was up to 89,000-and they told my mom on a Friday that they had to take it."
Emery's mother recalls that the hazard was not confined to her son's limbs.
"He ended up getting it in his stomach," says Connie Emery, "and they tried to close his stomach back up, but when they did, the stitches ended up pulling away because the infection was taking over."
An Army infectious disease physician says the germ has spread rapidly since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began. "Prior to the war, we were seeing one to two cases of acinetobacter infection per year," remembers Lt. Col. Kimberly Moran, deputy director for tropical public health at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.
"Now that's much different. We've had hundreds of positive cultures over the last four years."
And the toll has been serious, observes Army Col. Glenn Wortmann, acting chief of infectious disease at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. "Of the infectious disease problems that have come out of the conflict," notes Dr. Wortmann, "it is the most important complication we've seen."
go here for the rest
http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,162552,00.html
Proceedings Capt. Chas Henry (Ret.) February 22, 2008
"It's why I lost my leg, so it sucks."
The assessment, from a 22-year-old Marine toughing out physical therapy on two prosthetic limbs, is laconic, matter-of-fact. Sgt. David Emery lost one leg in February 2007 when a suicide bomber assaulted the checkpoint near Haditha, Iraq, where he and fellow Marines stood guard. Military surgeons were forced to remove his remaining leg when it became infected with acinetobacter baumannii-a strain of highly resistant bacteria that since U.S. forces began fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan has threatened the lives, limbs, and organs of hundreds wounded in combat.
"They could have saved it," says Emery. "They had a rod in it, but then the bacteria was in too bad and my white blood cell count was up to 89,000-and they told my mom on a Friday that they had to take it."
Emery's mother recalls that the hazard was not confined to her son's limbs.
"He ended up getting it in his stomach," says Connie Emery, "and they tried to close his stomach back up, but when they did, the stitches ended up pulling away because the infection was taking over."
An Army infectious disease physician says the germ has spread rapidly since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began. "Prior to the war, we were seeing one to two cases of acinetobacter infection per year," remembers Lt. Col. Kimberly Moran, deputy director for tropical public health at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.
"Now that's much different. We've had hundreds of positive cultures over the last four years."
And the toll has been serious, observes Army Col. Glenn Wortmann, acting chief of infectious disease at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. "Of the infectious disease problems that have come out of the conflict," notes Dr. Wortmann, "it is the most important complication we've seen."
go here for the rest
http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,162552,00.html
Edward Robinson tells Maryland lawmakers what it's like to want to die
This is from the post I did earlier today. This is what some of the legislative people think about the veterans.
Now here is from the Washington Post about Maryland and the way we as a nation treat our veterans.
click post title for the rest
BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Gov. Martin O’Malley’s administration wants $3.5 million to provide short-term mental health services for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
But legislative analysts recommend the funding be cut in half because the services are fundamentally a federal responsibility and the estimates of the veterans needing the treatment are too high.
Now here is from the Washington Post about Maryland and the way we as a nation treat our veterans.
Veterans Share Stories as Work Starts on Mental Health Bills
By Philip Rucker
Friday, February 22, 2008; Page B06
For two years, Edward Robinson was stationed at a Navy hospital in Portsmouth, Va., helping treat wounded troops returning from battle in Iraq. The experience was so emotionally taxing that when Robinson moved home to Annapolis in 2006, his life started unraveling.
Robinson tried to kill himself four times, he said in emotional testimony before a panel of Maryland legislators yesterday. The 35-year-old told lawmakers that he was hospitalized five times, and his mental illnesses grew so bad that his wife recently left him.
"The stigma of having a mental illness . . . people look at you differently. People don't want to hire you," Robinson said. The problem, he said, is that the federal government is not providing adequate care.
Thousands of veterans like Robinson live in Maryland, and state officials say the federal government is failing to connect them to mental health-care providers, a void that became clear last year amid the scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) has proposed legislation to close gaps in federal care for returning service members. The measures would establish a $3.5 million pilot program to help veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan navigate the federal system to obtain care for mental and behavioral health problems.
At the start of this week, O'Malley and the General Assembly paid tribute to the 20 Maryland troops who died in Iraq and Afghanistan last year.
"Our hearts go out to them and to our families," O'Malley said in a short speech. "Our promise goes out to them that we will stand by their comrades."
During a poignant ceremony Monday night on the floor of the House of Delegates, each fallen service member was honored. A delegate representing the service member's county read his or her name and date of death into the record. Then on the wooden dais, a bell tolled for each.
Lawmakers began work on the bills this week by hearing testimony from veterans such as Robinson, Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D), Health and Mental Hygiene Secretary John M. Colmers and Veterans Affairs Secretary James A. Adkins.
Brown, who served as an Army reservist in Iraq, said the state government should fill the gaps to help a "very fragile cohort of veterans" in Maryland.
"In a perfect world, the federal government would help ensure the welfare and care of veterans," Brown said. But "we don't live in a perfect world."
click post title for the rest
BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Gov. Martin O’Malley’s administration wants $3.5 million to provide short-term mental health services for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
But legislative analysts recommend the funding be cut in half because the services are fundamentally a federal responsibility and the estimates of the veterans needing the treatment are too high.
Florida Guard has sent about 9,000 troops to Iraq and Afghanistan
The Florida Guard has sent about 9,000 troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, many on repeated and ever longer deployments. They include Brevard County men and women who serve in such Central Florida-based units as the 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment and 164th Air Defense Artillery Brigade.
Our view: Preventing GI suicides
National Guard program badly needed step to stop tragic trend of Iraq-Afghanistan wars
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are bloody, brutal and have no end in sight.
The brave troops who continue fighting them have gone back on repeated combat tours, facing roadside bombs, heavily armed insurgents and terrorists.
More than 4,000 have died and 30,000 have been wounded with tens of thousands more coming home emotionally traumatized to face failed relationships, divorce, financial troubles and unemployment.
For a growing number, it's too much.
click post title for the rest
Invasion of Panama Veteran Still Has To Fight VA
Another Veteran Screwed and this Time a Kossack: Me
by Jeffersonian Democrat
Fri Feb 22, 2008 at 05:01:11 AM PST
It has taken me a few days to come to grips enough to write this up as a diary as some have suggested. I apologize upfront if my rage comes through in any way whether it is whining or hyperbole as that is not my intent and I will do my best to objectively relate the narrative of events and opinion.
First of all, let me explain how the VA determines PTSD claims:
The formula for a successful PTSD claim is simple. You need three things:
Evidence of an in-service stressor (the Combat Infantryman's Badge, combat Military Occupational Specialty, Combat awards and medals, etc. , for example, is presumptive of that)
A DIAGNOSIS of PTSD (a VA directed Compensation & Pension exam is where that will come from, based upon the records and the exam)
A "nexus" tying 1 and 2 together, for example orders placing one in combat operations and documented problems resulting from that experience
Jeffersonian Democrat's diary :: ::
Ok, quick relevant military bio. I joined the Army in 1984 and became an Airborne Infantryman, a Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. Although I had fantasies of film school in Paris or becoming a diplomat, after I attended SERE school I reenlisted to attend the Special Forces Qualification Course at Ft. Bragg. I successfully completed the course but not without gut-wrenching hardship and sheer iron will power. I am small in stature and only 5'6, but my heart and desire were much bigger at that time. I became a weapons and tactics specialist and Special Forces soldier, commonly known as a Green Beret. I was assigned to 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) immediately after an intensive Spanish course and assigned to an ODA, which is commonly known as an "A-Team". Irrelevant to this case, I also served in the Navy after my education at University of Michigan in Russian and Eastern European Studies as a Naval Intelligence Officer, but that is another can of worms.
Now, I am not going to go into personal stressors and events here, but my little conflict was the Invasion of Panama in 1989-1990. That conflict affected me in ways I had no idea of then. They really came to full force, drastically surfacing, when the Iraq war began. Not that they were there all along, there were things I should have taken notice of. But like a good soldier, I sucked it up and suppressed it. I self-medicated with alcohol for strange feelings that I later learned were panic attacks until I became a full fledged alcoholic. At first, the VA was denying my initial claim because they said that I didn't have the stressor event, however:what the VA does in fact have, in addition to statements, is my DD214 with MOS: 18B Special Forces Weapons Sergeant, and my CIB/SSI and Expeditionary medal awarded through 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) for combat operations in Panama.
And that is a presumptive stressor, so they back-off on that. Yet I had to appeal and file a Notice of Disagreement that I filed in 2005. I had not heard back from the VA until December of 2006, when they finally asked for, and sent me the paperwork for, a VA C&P exam.
Now I had already been hospitalized three times at this point. The first time was the morning that I woke up on my balcony from being passed out, surrounded by beer bottles, and a noose around my neck tied to the railing. I thought, "Jeff Dem, maybe you need some help, hmmm?" I was a kossack also at this point.
go here for the rest
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/22/6057/91498
by Jeffersonian Democrat
Fri Feb 22, 2008 at 05:01:11 AM PST
It has taken me a few days to come to grips enough to write this up as a diary as some have suggested. I apologize upfront if my rage comes through in any way whether it is whining or hyperbole as that is not my intent and I will do my best to objectively relate the narrative of events and opinion.
First of all, let me explain how the VA determines PTSD claims:
The formula for a successful PTSD claim is simple. You need three things:
Evidence of an in-service stressor (the Combat Infantryman's Badge, combat Military Occupational Specialty, Combat awards and medals, etc. , for example, is presumptive of that)
A DIAGNOSIS of PTSD (a VA directed Compensation & Pension exam is where that will come from, based upon the records and the exam)
A "nexus" tying 1 and 2 together, for example orders placing one in combat operations and documented problems resulting from that experience
Jeffersonian Democrat's diary :: ::
Ok, quick relevant military bio. I joined the Army in 1984 and became an Airborne Infantryman, a Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. Although I had fantasies of film school in Paris or becoming a diplomat, after I attended SERE school I reenlisted to attend the Special Forces Qualification Course at Ft. Bragg. I successfully completed the course but not without gut-wrenching hardship and sheer iron will power. I am small in stature and only 5'6, but my heart and desire were much bigger at that time. I became a weapons and tactics specialist and Special Forces soldier, commonly known as a Green Beret. I was assigned to 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) immediately after an intensive Spanish course and assigned to an ODA, which is commonly known as an "A-Team". Irrelevant to this case, I also served in the Navy after my education at University of Michigan in Russian and Eastern European Studies as a Naval Intelligence Officer, but that is another can of worms.
Now, I am not going to go into personal stressors and events here, but my little conflict was the Invasion of Panama in 1989-1990. That conflict affected me in ways I had no idea of then. They really came to full force, drastically surfacing, when the Iraq war began. Not that they were there all along, there were things I should have taken notice of. But like a good soldier, I sucked it up and suppressed it. I self-medicated with alcohol for strange feelings that I later learned were panic attacks until I became a full fledged alcoholic. At first, the VA was denying my initial claim because they said that I didn't have the stressor event, however:what the VA does in fact have, in addition to statements, is my DD214 with MOS: 18B Special Forces Weapons Sergeant, and my CIB/SSI and Expeditionary medal awarded through 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) for combat operations in Panama.
And that is a presumptive stressor, so they back-off on that. Yet I had to appeal and file a Notice of Disagreement that I filed in 2005. I had not heard back from the VA until December of 2006, when they finally asked for, and sent me the paperwork for, a VA C&P exam.
Now I had already been hospitalized three times at this point. The first time was the morning that I woke up on my balcony from being passed out, surrounded by beer bottles, and a noose around my neck tied to the railing. I thought, "Jeff Dem, maybe you need some help, hmmm?" I was a kossack also at this point.
go here for the rest
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/22/6057/91498
This is the comment I just left at the Daily Kos.
It was the same problem with Vietnam vets. My husband came home in 1971, not diagnosed until 1990, couldn't get him to go to the VA until 1993 and his claim took six years. His best friend's claim took 19 years and he was multiple tour Green Beret. My husband's nephew had a claim after coming home addicted to heroin, busted for drug deal gone bad, got his life together, had his claim approved and then committed suicide when the DOD told him his unit never existed. Veterans are dying for attention everyday. Maybe that's what they want when they turn down claims? In 1996, we were told by a VA doctor that for every 10 claims with the VA, 8 drop out because of the frustration. That means 8 less wounded veterans they have to support. Claims get tied up for years and veterans die off or fade away. You'd think we would be able to take care of the veterans if we were ever serious about being a "grateful nation" but then you'd also have to believe that fighting for the country, then being forced to fight the country would be wrong. Don't give up! You paid them up front when you were willing to lay down your life. They owe you! So do the rest of us and we had better all start acting like it by telling the government we will not stand for any of you to be treated like this any longer.
Police Link Takes A Look At Suicide By Cop
Suicide by Cop: Why?
Definition: Suicide-by-cop is a colloquial term used to describe an incident in which a suicidal individual consciously engages in life-threatening behavior(s) to the degree that it compels a police officer to respond with deadly force. In a suicide-by-cop scenario the cop is the methodology of the suicide. If it hadn't been an officer it could have been a rope, sleeping pills, a train, a knife or a handgun. If you can't kill yourself, and you really, really, really want to die, who are you going to call?
Researchers have concluded that suicides-by-cop are surprisingly more common than initially thought, and that the number of incidents is rising. The most comprehensive study to date on the incidence of suicide-by-cop, from 1987 through 1997, found that 11 percent of officer-involved shootings were suicide-by-cop incidents. In 1997, the last year of the study, the percentage of shootings identified as suicide-by-cop jumped to 25%. One researcher, in his analysis of current available literature, has suggested that the true figure may be as high as 46%. The discrepancy in these statistics may be the result of hidden suicidal ideation by the victim of any officer involved shooting. Researchers have long suspected that single-occupant car crashes, some airplane crashes and workplace fatalities involved suicidal motivation. Engaging in criminal acts may in fact involve suicidal ideation.
go here for the rest
http://www.policelink.com/training/articles/11074-suicide-by-cop-why
Definition: Suicide-by-cop is a colloquial term used to describe an incident in which a suicidal individual consciously engages in life-threatening behavior(s) to the degree that it compels a police officer to respond with deadly force. In a suicide-by-cop scenario the cop is the methodology of the suicide. If it hadn't been an officer it could have been a rope, sleeping pills, a train, a knife or a handgun. If you can't kill yourself, and you really, really, really want to die, who are you going to call?
Researchers have concluded that suicides-by-cop are surprisingly more common than initially thought, and that the number of incidents is rising. The most comprehensive study to date on the incidence of suicide-by-cop, from 1987 through 1997, found that 11 percent of officer-involved shootings were suicide-by-cop incidents. In 1997, the last year of the study, the percentage of shootings identified as suicide-by-cop jumped to 25%. One researcher, in his analysis of current available literature, has suggested that the true figure may be as high as 46%. The discrepancy in these statistics may be the result of hidden suicidal ideation by the victim of any officer involved shooting. Researchers have long suspected that single-occupant car crashes, some airplane crashes and workplace fatalities involved suicidal motivation. Engaging in criminal acts may in fact involve suicidal ideation.
go here for the rest
http://www.policelink.com/training/articles/11074-suicide-by-cop-why
WWII veteran passes away with homeless veterans in his heart
Donations may be made in his name to the New England Shelter for Homeless Veteran’s, 17 Court Street, Boston, MA 02108 or to the All Saints Church, 44 Park Ave., Whitman, MA 02382.
Herbert G. "Herb", II Corliss
Whitman, Mass
Friday, February 22, 2008
Herbert G. “Herb” Corliss, II, 85 died Wednesday, February 20th after a period failing health. He was the husband of the late Eleanor G. (Morgan) Corliss. Born and raised in Rockland he was the son of the late Levi J. and Effie (Duffett) Corliss and attended Rockland schools. Herb was a veteran of the United States Army from 1943 to 1945 and served as a Sergeant during World War II. He was awarded a Victory Medal, and a European-African Middle Eastern Theater Campaign Ribbon.
click post title for the rest to read a tiny bit about what this man accomplished in his life. He will accomplish even more for homeless veterans because of his life.
Maryland Lt. Gov. Brown fights for Vets because he is one
Analysts propose trimming veterans mental health initiative
Feb 22, 2008 3:00 AM (15 hrs ago) by Len Lazarick, The Examiner
BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Gov. Martin O’Malley’s administration wants $3.5 million to provide short-term mental health services for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
But legislative analysts recommend the funding be cut in half because the services are fundamentally a federal responsibility and the estimates of the veterans needing the treatment are too high.
“We still have some work to do” to get the money, said Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, an Iraq war veteran who is the administration’s point man on the veterans mental health initiative. “We’re going to work with the appropriations committees.”
The state health department estimates that there are about 15,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan living in Maryland, and about a third of them could use mental health and substance abuse services. There is a particularly high incidence of post-traumatic stress syndrome.
The Maryland Department of Veteran Affairs said there are about 4,300 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans enrolled with the federal VA health system, and there is no waiting list for services at the VA.
click post title for the rest
My guess is there is more that has to be done and until the federal government gets their act in gear, the problem will get worse. Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and Gov. Martin O’Malley want to act now because the federal government did not act in the beginning.
From Maryland Homeless Veterans services
The HVRP program has become an integral part of the continuum of services provided by MCVET. The fundamental approach to homeless services is to provide assistance through a continuum of incremental steps that enable students to rejoin their communities as productive citizens. For the first three months, homeless veterans are placed in emergency housing where case managers help determine their needs and challenges, ensure that all benefit resources are accessed, and help them set education and employment goals. Students who suffer from mental illness or substance abuse issues begin receiving treatment. This is a critical component of the enrollment process because more than 98% of homeless veterans who enter the MCVET program have addiction problems, and more than 80% have mental disorders such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
http://www.nchv.org/hvrp_article.cfm?id=42
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Oceanside CA military not interested in PTSD forum?
San Diego County has the second largest veteran population in the nation, with approximately 252,000 former service members as well as roughly 125,000 active-duty Marines, sailors and National Guard troops, according to Tom Splitberger, the county's veterans service officer.
Forum misses intended targets
By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
County session on how to help military and their families doesn't include them
OCEANSIDE ---- There was a glaring element missing in action at a Tuesday forum on how to better serve the mental health needs of active and former members of the military and their families ---- the intended targets.
The forum sponsored by the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency was one of a series agency officials are conducting to determine how best to spend the $16 million they expect to receive from the state next year for new mental health efforts.
County officials maintained that they had notified area military bases and groups about the forum. They couldn't explain why none of the people they are aiming to serve were present at the four-hour session at the Oceanside Civic Center.
"This is an opportunity to focus specific resources for this (military) population," Alfredo Aguirre, director of the county's adult and children's mental health department, said during opening remarks.
The more than three dozen people in attendance were primarily mental health counselors and specialists, as well as veteran's advocates and people who work for agencies dealing directly with current and former service members.
The absence of military families was discussed by one of three groups that ended the day by brainstorming ways to better serve that large component of the county population. When reporting its conclusions, the group said spending some of the money to reach out to service members and their families should be considered.
click post title for the rest
Speechless!
RESPECT-Mil program used to defeat stigma of PTSD
Army Hopes Program Makes Soldiers More Apt to Get Mental Health Care
Aaron Levin
Psychiatric News
Feb 21, 2008
February 11, 2008 Issue
Psychiatrists are consulting on a plan by the U.S. Army to screen and treat soldiers for depression and PTSD in primary care settings.
The U.S. Army hopes to encourage more soldiers to seek care for mental health problems by expanding a program to detect and treat soldiers with depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in primary care clinics, backed up by consultations with psychiatrists.
The staged rollout of the program, known as RESPECT-Mil, began one year ago at the direction of the Army surgeon general and will spread to 43 clinics on 15 military bases in the U.S., Germany, and Italy over 24 months. Program leaders from 13 of the 15 bases have been trained in its function so far, and about 10 clinics have it in operation. Congress recently increased funding to expand the program further.
The service hopes to undercut the effects of stigma by providing an entry point and screening for soldiers in a setting they find more comfortable.
go here for the rest
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleid/9394
Aaron Levin
Psychiatric News
Feb 21, 2008
February 11, 2008 Issue
Psychiatrists are consulting on a plan by the U.S. Army to screen and treat soldiers for depression and PTSD in primary care settings.
The U.S. Army hopes to encourage more soldiers to seek care for mental health problems by expanding a program to detect and treat soldiers with depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in primary care clinics, backed up by consultations with psychiatrists.
The staged rollout of the program, known as RESPECT-Mil, began one year ago at the direction of the Army surgeon general and will spread to 43 clinics on 15 military bases in the U.S., Germany, and Italy over 24 months. Program leaders from 13 of the 15 bases have been trained in its function so far, and about 10 clinics have it in operation. Congress recently increased funding to expand the program further.
The service hopes to undercut the effects of stigma by providing an entry point and screening for soldiers in a setting they find more comfortable.
go here for the rest
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleid/9394
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