Franklin Countians seek to help veterans
By VICKY TAYLOR Staff writer
Fred Bucci, retired Army, folds the flag with his son Staff Sgt. Michael Bucci at the group of local veterans are looking for a few good men -- and women, businesses and organizations -- to help them start and run an outreach program for area soldiers and their families.
The Franklin County Military Outreach Program will be designed to help military members, their spouse, children and parents.
"It will be the first of its kind in our area," said Fred Bucci, one of the veteran organizers.
The goal is to support military members and their families in any situation they may face, according to Bucci and fellow organizers Gary J. Stopyra and Bobby Rideout.
"Our organization needs to be so diverse that it's infrastructure can handle any situation that arises, whether it is just to answer a simple question, help a returning wounded soldier with their Veterans Association paperwork or provide moral, financial or any other kind of support for any crisis our military families face," Bucci said.
Bucci knows how difficult it can be for family members when a soldier is wounded or he and his family face personal crisis.
In 2003, the Bucci's son, Michael, was evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center because of a blood-borne disease he contracted during his initial tour in Iraq. In 2006, Michael lost a son who lived only two weeks following a complicated birth.
"At no point was there anyone from the Army to assist us through these most trying times," Bucci said. "I want to make sure that never happens to another of our military families."
go here for the rest
http://www.publicopiniononline.com/localnews/ci_8355069
This needs to happen all over the country. We have a nation filled with advocates just waiting for someone to ask us to help. Put the word out and we'll be there.
Monday, February 25, 2008
PTSD DVD sets available again soon
I received several donations and thank you for them. I just purchased a DVD drive that is supposed to be able to keep up with the load. The donations were not enough to cover a new PC. I will still need all the donations I can get to be able to keep sending the DVD's out, that is if I can get the drive to work right. Remember I'm no Bill Gates.
I was promised donations when requests came in for the DVD's but some people never sent in the donation. If you want one, I will send them out for free still but if you promise to make a donation, please make sure you do. I'm out of work now so I don't have extra money to cover the cost of doing them. Email me for a DVD at Namguardianangel@aol.com and if you can make a donation, use the PayPal button on the side bar. Even $10.00 helps a lot more than you think it does.
The DVD will now have Hero After War and you can pick one other video to go onto the DVD. If you don't request another video, then the Wounded Minds video will be included. These are the two top requested videos I've done.
Please also consider making a donation for the hours I spend doing this work. I do about 12 hours a day and seven days a week, except for play day on Friday with my husband, when I get mental health time away and act like a kid again. At least he knows he can get me away from the PC for 5 hours or so before I disappear back into the office.
If you want to write to me by snail mail send it here.
Nam Guardian Angel
5703 Red Bug Lake Road #154
Winter Springs, FL 32708-4969
Make sure the box number is there or the UPS store will send it back to you.
Thanks again and say a prayer I can figure out the new DVD drive.
PTSD? Why be afraid if you're not alone?
Cpl. Brent Phillips
Wounded marine helps other vets get benefits
Bert SassSpecial Projects Producer12 NewsFeb. 24, 2008 09:47 PM
War Stories: Corporal Brent Phillips
Nearly five years after he was wounded, it has taken Phillips a long time to adjust to civilian life. He says he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which affects many combat veterans.
Phillips tells about flashbacks
Phillips is determined to manage his PTSD and not let it control his life. He says, "I pretty much deal with it by telling my parents about it...both sheriff's officers (in California). Both of them have been in different firefights." Phillips also finds his wife and three small children help relieve the tension. He also is taking a proactive role in helping vets, like himself, get the VA benefits they deserve. He organized a recent information meeting to help vets learn about benefits and get VA appointments. Some Valley veterans with PTSD attend regular meetings that were started by case manager Patricia Tuli at the Carl T. Hayden Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Phoenix. Tuli works with many veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.
dealings with POWs surprised Phillips
Phillips describes firefight
go here for the rest
http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/052007warstorywebbonus-CR-CP.html
From the University of Virginia
Mental Health Disorders
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Statistics related to PTSD
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH):
Nearly 7.7 million Americans have PTSD at any given time.
About 30 percent of men and women who have spent time in war zones experience PTSD.
What is post-traumatic stress disorder?
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition that often follows a terrifying physical or emotional event - causing the person who survived the event to have persistent, frightening thoughts and memories, or flashbacks, of the ordeal. Persons with PTSD often feel chronically, emotionally numb.
PTSD was first brought to public attention by war veterans and was once referred to as "shell shock" or "battle fatigue." The likelihood of developing PTSD depends on the severity and duration of the event, as well as the person's nearness to it.
What triggers PTSD to develop?
The event(s) that triggers PTSD may be:
something that occurred in the person's life.
something that occurred in the life of someone close to him or her.
something the person witnessed.
Examples include:
serious accidents (such as car or train wrecks)
natural disasters (such as floods or earthquakes)
man-made tragedies (such as bombings, a plane crash)
violent personal attacks (such as a mugging, rape, torture, being held captive, or kidnapping)
military combat
abuse in childhood
http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/UVAHealth/adult_mentalhealth/anptsd.cfm
If PTSD wound becomes part of you, why would you be afraid to talk about it? You're not alone suffering from it. Your family is not alone coping with it. All you have to do is look over the last few years of news reports to know how large the world's population has been wounded by trauma.
Thirty years ago, it was America's secret. It was trapped in whispers and silence. Hidden under shame with the thought this wound was a character defect of those who suffered from it. They would look at others who lived through the exact same event appearing to be untouched. The thought of being weaker than others caused them to suffer in secret. It was not a well kept secret because others could see the changes in them.
Families began to keep the secret as well. They would find excuses why a combat veteran would not go to family functions. They would find excuses to provide bosses when they could not go to work because of yet another night of terrifying nightmares.
I found myself making excuse as well. Even though I knew what PTSD was from the beginning, it was hard to protect my husband from judgmental attitudes that PTSD meant Jack was crazy. Working in offices, and most of the time surrounded by men, it was hard to hear them talk about normal life. They would talk about taking their wives to movies. I would tell them I wasn't interested in going to movies, when the truth was, I loved to go to them. I couldn't tell them my husband couldn't tolerate them anymore. He couldn't handle being in a crowd, in the dark and feeling vulnerable especially if he had a flashback, feeling as if the enemy was right behind his seat.
They would complain their wife stole the covers at night or how she would stick her cold feet on their warm leg. I couldn't do anything more than laugh while I wanted to cry. My husband and I never spent an entire night in the same bed during our 23 years of marriage. I doubt we ever will.
The church I attended back home in Massachusetts, the same one I attended since birth, where everyone knew me, hardly knew what my husband looked like. Some wondered if we were still married.
I would go shopping by myself because he couldn't stand the malls and hated to be in crowds.
The list goes on of how what we found to be normal for us, was abnormal to the rest of the world. Years later it was easier to talk about it because I had come into contact with so many others going through the same things. Once someone spoke of it, or I indicated something about it, then the communication opened up. It was never racking every time I did because I wondered what they were thinking about me and especially about Jack.
To this day, knowing what I know, knowing the stories of others, knowing that we are not alone with this, I still feel the need to protect him. I don't even use my married name when I write. Often I wonder why I would still feel this need of protecting him considering to me there is no reason the stigma lives on and that there is no shame in being human, no shame in being wounded by tragedy and trauma and there is nothing about him to be ashamed of. To me, he is an amazing man, filled with kindness and gentleness as well as strength. His character lives on beneath the dark days of flashbacks and drained days following nightmares. Still in my mind I know the attitude of too many in this country and around the world. It is one of the reasons I work so hard to provide information and stories of others going through all of this. Sooner or later there will be no more stigma to overcome.
There are some people who can speak openly about the ravages of PTSD on their lives. I admire them greatly. It's very hard to have all of this going on in your life and be able to talk about it. It takes a lot of courage to be able to look at your life and see the need to open up about it. Jack can't. I walk a very thin line on what I feel free to speak out about and what remains in the shadow of the work I do.
When I did the video Coming Out Of The Dark, the song by Gloria Estefan was perfect.
COMING OUT OF THE DARK (Gloria Estefan)
Why be afraid if I'm not alone?
Though life is never easy, the rest is unknown
Up to now, for me, it's been hands against stone
Spent each and ev'ry moment
Searching for what to believe
Coming out of the dark
I finally see the light now
And it's shining on me
Coming out of the dark
I know the love that saved me
You're sharing with me
Starting again is part of the plan
And I'll be so much stronger holding your hand
Step by step, I'll make it through; I know I can
It may not make it easier
But I have felt you near all the way
Forever and ever, I stand on the rock of your love
Forever and ever, I'll stand on the rock
Forever and ever, I stand on the rock of your love
Love is all it takes, no matter what we face
Why is it that we still feel the need to be ashamed and afraid? What is there to be afraid of? The thoughts of others who would not have those ignorant thoughts if we all spoke out about it? The more people talk about being human, surviving a traumatic event, overcoming it and still stand, the weaker the stigma will become. It takes a greatness of character to survive the carnage of combat, the violence of police work, the tragedy of a firefighter and emergency responder, the terror of crime and the wrath of nature. Yet we look at the survivors as damaged instead of wounded.
When we look at the veterans who have committed suicide, we fail to see how they not only carried on when their lives were in danger, as well as their military brothers and sisters, they acted with bravery and courage. It was not until they were no longer in danger from the human enemy, but when they were back home with the enemy in their mind that they felt they could no longer go on. When they commit suicide while deployed, they don't do it while the fight is going on, but in the quiet of their barracks or the silence of the night.
Family Thinks PTSD Drove Veteran to Suicide
Dylan Darling
Redding Record Searchlight
Feb 24, 2008
February 24, 2008 - During Michael Sherriff's nine-month tour in the battlefields of Iraq, his mother worried that one day a pair of Army officers in full dress would come to her door with terrible news.
"You're just on edge every single minute," Jennifer Cass said.
She didn't dream her son would become a victim of the war the way he did -- not on a faraway battlefield like she feared, but like a growing number of veterans -- by his own hand once he made it home.
Of 807,694 veterans diagnosed with depression and treated at a Department of Veterans Affairs facility nationwide between 1999 and 2004, 1,683 committed suicide, according to a study released in October 2007 by the University of Michigan Depression Center.
After her son safely returned stateside in April 2004, Cass dealt with a new set of worries. She said she began experiencing stress and anxiety as her Mikey had an increasingly difficult time adjusting to civilian life.
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleid/9410
Information, sharing and caring will erode the stigma and replace it with hope. Hope that they will be able to speak of what is happening inside of them and be embraced instead of embarrassed. Hope that once they say they need help, the help they need to heal will be there waiting for them. Hope that as soon as they know the trauma was too strong for them, they will be supported by those who care about them. Hope that life can regain a quality of what it once was. Hope that compassion will rap arms around them instead of point fingers at them.
So why be afraid if you're not alone? 7.7 million Americans are in the same company of wounded. We are not the only nation with PTSD. Every nation has a population of people wounded by it as long as they have humans in it.
Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
Homeless man committed suicide in hospital
Hospital cited in patient suicide
ER fell short in monitoring a homeless man who hanged himself in Douglasville, according to a federal report.
By ANDY MILLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/25/08
A Douglasville hospital failed to meet patient safety standards when a homeless man committed suicide in its emergency department, federal regulators have found.
The patient, evaluated as a suicide risk by WellStar Douglas Hospital staff, was not properly monitored for two hours and was then found hanging in his seclusion room, said a federal investigative report. The death occurred Oct. 31.
under the Freedom of Information Act.
Douglas Wayne Brown, 45, was in a seclusion room — typically used to manage a very agitated patient — a total of 22 hours, waiting for a transfer to another facility for treatment of alcohol and psychiatric problems, according to the report from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The report, based on an inspection by state surveyors in mid-November, does not describe whether the WellStar Douglas emergency room was crowded when the patient died.
A suicide in a hospital emergency department is extremely rare, health care officials said. Brown's death also renews questions about the capacity of general hospitals and psychiatric facilities in Georgia to handle the rising demand for mental health services.
go here for the rest
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/02/24/ersuicide_0225.html
ER fell short in monitoring a homeless man who hanged himself in Douglasville, according to a federal report.
By ANDY MILLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/25/08
A Douglasville hospital failed to meet patient safety standards when a homeless man committed suicide in its emergency department, federal regulators have found.
The patient, evaluated as a suicide risk by WellStar Douglas Hospital staff, was not properly monitored for two hours and was then found hanging in his seclusion room, said a federal investigative report. The death occurred Oct. 31.
under the Freedom of Information Act.
Douglas Wayne Brown, 45, was in a seclusion room — typically used to manage a very agitated patient — a total of 22 hours, waiting for a transfer to another facility for treatment of alcohol and psychiatric problems, according to the report from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The report, based on an inspection by state surveyors in mid-November, does not describe whether the WellStar Douglas emergency room was crowded when the patient died.
A suicide in a hospital emergency department is extremely rare, health care officials said. Brown's death also renews questions about the capacity of general hospitals and psychiatric facilities in Georgia to handle the rising demand for mental health services.
go here for the rest
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/02/24/ersuicide_0225.html
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Brig. Gen. Mike Tucker A Man On A Mission To Heal
“What’s their job? To heal,” Tucker said. “If they’re not healing, they’re not doing their job.”
General: Army still facing Warrior Transition Unit challenges
Tucker lauds progress but says more ‘hard thinking’ necessary
By John Vandiver, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Monday, February 25, 2008
BAUMHOLDER, Germany — Nearly a year ago, Col. Robert P. White was catching up on old times with his old boss, Brig. Gen. Mike Tucker, when the phone rang.
White was in a pre-command course at Fort Knox, Ky., where Tucker was serving as deputy commanding general.
“I’m sitting there having a beer with him and he gets a call. He walks out of the room and comes back in and his face, his jaw just dropped,” White told a group of 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division commanders.
On the phone was the chief staff of the Army, who had a special assignment, one that would place Tucker in the eye of the storm. Revelations about shoddy outpatient care at Walter Reed Medical Center had just burst into the national consciousness. Tucker’s task was to make things right.
Tucker, now the Army’s assistant surgeon general for warrior care and transition, was in Baumholder last week to talk with commanders about the progress made so far and the challenges ahead.
“We have transformed the way we care for warriors in our Army and we will never go back to the way it was,” Tucker said during the presentation Thursday.
go here for the rest
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52803
Vets don't need health battle
Vets don't need health battle
February 24, 2008 6:00 AM
Editor's note: Chellie Pingree, from North Haven, is a Democratic candidate for Congress in Maine's First Congressional District. James E. N. Bachelder from Acton is Maine state commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
By Chellie Pingree and James E. N. Bachelder
It was just about a year ago that the nation was shocked by a Washington Post story that revealed the dismal conditions inside the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Over 700 active duty soldiers with serious physical and psychological issues were being warehoused in rundown buildings, neglected and lost in a tangle of bureaucracy without access to the care they desperately needed.
Once again, America was caught not living up to the promise we have made to the men and women who serve — that we will take care of you when you come home.
Some progress has been made, but there is much more that needs to be done, especially for veterans who have completed their service and are ready to come home. They've fought for us; now it's our turn to stand up and fight for them.
Maine has one of the highest percentages of veterans of any state in the country. Over 140,000 Mainers have worn a uniform. Nearly 90 percent of the Maine National Guard has been deployed to Iraq, and too many of them have come home bearing the scars of combat.
According to a new government study, the rate of suicide among those returning from Iraq or Afghanistan has increased substantially. And over half of those who took their own lives were members of the Guard or Reserves.
Better and faster emergency care on the battlefield means more and more servicemen and servicewomen are surviving, but improvements in the availability of mental health treatment have not kept pace.
It's estimated that 30 percent to 40 percent of all Iraq veterans will face some sort of mental health issue when they come home, and although the VA provides some of the best care in the world, it simply doesn't have the resources to adequately address those problems. In the current system, less than 40 percent of vets with psychological conditions are getting the treatment they need.
The first step to address this need is a thorough and confidential health-care assessment for all returning veterans. And those who need help making the transition back home should get it. The Maine National Guard has taken this step, but the VA should be able to make it available to all returning servicemen and women. Too often the health care and benefits that veterans have earned are buried under a mountain of paperwork and kept out of reach by bureaucratic delays. Too often, when a vet comes home from war unable to work because of disabilities, a long delay in awarding disability leads to homelessness.
Sometimes the wounds inflicted in a combat zone aren't very visible. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are real injuries that affect tens of thousands of veterans. The diagnosis isn't always easy, but rules and regulations shouldn't make it more difficult.
Congressman Tom Allen has introduced a bill that would remove certain requirements that have been keeping veterans suffering from PTSD from getting the treatment they needed. Simply put, if a health-care professional determines a veteran returning from war is suffering from PTSD, that diagnosis will be enough, without requiring documentation that is often difficult or impossible to obtain.
Because the VA budget is discretionary, not mandatory, reliable funding is hard to come by, which leads to delays and cutbacks. Injured veterans are denied the benefits they deserve and they end up paying the price. Complicated forms and a difficult-to-navigate application and appeals process make it worse. The VA budget should be made mandatory and the treatment and benefits process streamlined. Veterans should be able get the help they need without having to fight for it.
Congressman Mike Michaud has been an effective and outspoken advocate for veterans and in addition to cosponsoring Congressman Allen's proposal. Last summer, he introduced a bill that would start to fix some of the problems that vets face. The Veterans Health Care Improvement Act would not only improve access to care and benefits, but it would also commit significant resources to helping those who have slipped through the cracks — like the 200,000 veterans around this country who will sleep on the street tonight.
Both of us have friends and neighbors who have come home from war only to find they have to fight another battle to get the care and benefits they need. We can and must do a better job taking care of these men and women. They deserve it.
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20080224/OPINION/802240333&sfad=1
Great report and Maine should be proud they are standing up for those who stood up for us. Isn't that what it all should be about? Does everything in this country have to be a battle of "with us or against us" or "pro-war or anti-war" when there are some things that should only be about them? When it comes to point of view, the men and women who serve, are really no different than the rest of us. Military presidential contributions are being distributed between Ron Paul with the lion's share and Senator Obama. All of them were willing to lay down their lives for the sake of this nation and while me may disagree on if willingness was appreciated or not, the rest of us can see that part clearly. We all need to stand up for them, especially the members of the groups who find time to march either protesting or supporting the occupation of Iraq. The men and women we fight over, need all of us coming together to really fight for their sake when they need us.
February 24, 2008 6:00 AM
Editor's note: Chellie Pingree, from North Haven, is a Democratic candidate for Congress in Maine's First Congressional District. James E. N. Bachelder from Acton is Maine state commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
By Chellie Pingree and James E. N. Bachelder
It was just about a year ago that the nation was shocked by a Washington Post story that revealed the dismal conditions inside the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Over 700 active duty soldiers with serious physical and psychological issues were being warehoused in rundown buildings, neglected and lost in a tangle of bureaucracy without access to the care they desperately needed.
Once again, America was caught not living up to the promise we have made to the men and women who serve — that we will take care of you when you come home.
Some progress has been made, but there is much more that needs to be done, especially for veterans who have completed their service and are ready to come home. They've fought for us; now it's our turn to stand up and fight for them.
Maine has one of the highest percentages of veterans of any state in the country. Over 140,000 Mainers have worn a uniform. Nearly 90 percent of the Maine National Guard has been deployed to Iraq, and too many of them have come home bearing the scars of combat.
According to a new government study, the rate of suicide among those returning from Iraq or Afghanistan has increased substantially. And over half of those who took their own lives were members of the Guard or Reserves.
Better and faster emergency care on the battlefield means more and more servicemen and servicewomen are surviving, but improvements in the availability of mental health treatment have not kept pace.
It's estimated that 30 percent to 40 percent of all Iraq veterans will face some sort of mental health issue when they come home, and although the VA provides some of the best care in the world, it simply doesn't have the resources to adequately address those problems. In the current system, less than 40 percent of vets with psychological conditions are getting the treatment they need.
The first step to address this need is a thorough and confidential health-care assessment for all returning veterans. And those who need help making the transition back home should get it. The Maine National Guard has taken this step, but the VA should be able to make it available to all returning servicemen and women. Too often the health care and benefits that veterans have earned are buried under a mountain of paperwork and kept out of reach by bureaucratic delays. Too often, when a vet comes home from war unable to work because of disabilities, a long delay in awarding disability leads to homelessness.
Sometimes the wounds inflicted in a combat zone aren't very visible. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are real injuries that affect tens of thousands of veterans. The diagnosis isn't always easy, but rules and regulations shouldn't make it more difficult.
Congressman Tom Allen has introduced a bill that would remove certain requirements that have been keeping veterans suffering from PTSD from getting the treatment they needed. Simply put, if a health-care professional determines a veteran returning from war is suffering from PTSD, that diagnosis will be enough, without requiring documentation that is often difficult or impossible to obtain.
Because the VA budget is discretionary, not mandatory, reliable funding is hard to come by, which leads to delays and cutbacks. Injured veterans are denied the benefits they deserve and they end up paying the price. Complicated forms and a difficult-to-navigate application and appeals process make it worse. The VA budget should be made mandatory and the treatment and benefits process streamlined. Veterans should be able get the help they need without having to fight for it.
Congressman Mike Michaud has been an effective and outspoken advocate for veterans and in addition to cosponsoring Congressman Allen's proposal. Last summer, he introduced a bill that would start to fix some of the problems that vets face. The Veterans Health Care Improvement Act would not only improve access to care and benefits, but it would also commit significant resources to helping those who have slipped through the cracks — like the 200,000 veterans around this country who will sleep on the street tonight.
Both of us have friends and neighbors who have come home from war only to find they have to fight another battle to get the care and benefits they need. We can and must do a better job taking care of these men and women. They deserve it.
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20080224/OPINION/802240333&sfad=1
Great report and Maine should be proud they are standing up for those who stood up for us. Isn't that what it all should be about? Does everything in this country have to be a battle of "with us or against us" or "pro-war or anti-war" when there are some things that should only be about them? When it comes to point of view, the men and women who serve, are really no different than the rest of us. Military presidential contributions are being distributed between Ron Paul with the lion's share and Senator Obama. All of them were willing to lay down their lives for the sake of this nation and while me may disagree on if willingness was appreciated or not, the rest of us can see that part clearly. We all need to stand up for them, especially the members of the groups who find time to march either protesting or supporting the occupation of Iraq. The men and women we fight over, need all of us coming together to really fight for their sake when they need us.
Help for the homeless Tony finds his way home
Help for the homeless Tony finds his way home
An innovative program is getting many of the city’s mentally ill off the streets and into a new life
By DAWN HINSHAW - dhinshaw@thestate.com
When Jeremy McCleery took a job 1½ years ago doing outreach at the Homeless Recovery Center, his mission was to help Tony.
Among the hundreds of anonymous homeless people who wander Columbia’s streets, Tony was different.
A slight Vietnamese man with a broad brown face, Tony slumbered on benches along Devine Street or walked the streets downtown with his clothes bundled under his shirt, his long matted hair stuffed into a stocking cap.
Many people came to recognize Tony during his 15 years on the streets, but no one knew him.
He was calm and silent, never asking for anything, often refusing the money or food that well-meaning people held out to him, saying, “I’m OK, I’m OK.”
Because of his silence, stories grew up around Tony — legends, really — that he was royalty, that he fled his homeland in fear for his life.
As a social work student at USC, McCleery saw Tony around town and wondered about him, too.
“He’d been around for so long, and no one had helped him,” he said. “Our program was made for people like Tony.”
go here for the rest
http://www.thestate.com/local/story/326053.html
It's a heart warming story of what a difference one person can make.
An innovative program is getting many of the city’s mentally ill off the streets and into a new life
By DAWN HINSHAW - dhinshaw@thestate.com
When Jeremy McCleery took a job 1½ years ago doing outreach at the Homeless Recovery Center, his mission was to help Tony.
Among the hundreds of anonymous homeless people who wander Columbia’s streets, Tony was different.
A slight Vietnamese man with a broad brown face, Tony slumbered on benches along Devine Street or walked the streets downtown with his clothes bundled under his shirt, his long matted hair stuffed into a stocking cap.
Many people came to recognize Tony during his 15 years on the streets, but no one knew him.
He was calm and silent, never asking for anything, often refusing the money or food that well-meaning people held out to him, saying, “I’m OK, I’m OK.”
Because of his silence, stories grew up around Tony — legends, really — that he was royalty, that he fled his homeland in fear for his life.
As a social work student at USC, McCleery saw Tony around town and wondered about him, too.
“He’d been around for so long, and no one had helped him,” he said. “Our program was made for people like Tony.”
go here for the rest
http://www.thestate.com/local/story/326053.html
It's a heart warming story of what a difference one person can make.
Fort Knox:"We're soldiers caring for our own"
"We're soldiers caring for our own," said Lt. Col. Gary Travis, the unit commander at Fort Knox.
Fort Knox improves treatments
BOOSTS DISCHARGE PREPARATION, AID FOR WOUNDED
By Bruce Schreiner
ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT KNOX --Staff Sgt. Gerald Gonzalez has seen plenty of changes in a special unit for wounded soldiers since arriving at Fort Knox last summer with injuries from a roadside bomb in Iraq.
Barracks at the Army post in Central Kentucky are being renovated for soldiers placed in the "warrior transition unit." Staffing has been beefed up to help soldiers heal. And an assistance center geared toward the wounded troops and their families has opened.
"It's a lot better now," said Gonzalez, who suffers from a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder since being wounded last May while helping escort a military convoy.
Still, he said, Army efforts to specially tend to the wounded soldiers remain "a work in progress."
go here for the rest
http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/327283.html
Veterans help veterans readjust to civilian life
Veterans help veterans readjust to civilian life
Posted online: February 23, 2008 11:43 PM
Print publication date: 2/24/2008
By Brandy Donaldson , bdonaldson@qconline.com
Many veterans agree that readjusting to civilian life after serving in a foreign land can be like a brand new battle.
Davenport native Jim Gall was 18 when he was drafted into the Army and thrust into combat in Vietnam. Davenport's Wayne Hogard entered the Navy as a teenager during the Korean War. The plight of today's soldier is much the same as it was when they served, and, fortunately, there's more support available for those who need it, they said.
"I didn't have any trouble, but I'm sure there were some who experienced combat who had trouble readjusting after Korea. There's some who still experience that to this day," said Mr. Hogard, who, as an aviation electrician, never entered combat.
"Many boys come back today and don't really have the education they need about their own physical or mental health."
According to a recent Army study, an all-time high 121 active-duty soldiers committed suicide and at least 2,100 injured themselves or attempted suicide last year. The Department of Veterans Affairs reported 144 veterans committed suicide between 2001 and 2005, and thousands more suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
"I would imagine the high suicide rate is a result of boys not being treated when they get home and no one recognizing they're having problems," Mr. Hogard said.
Indicators of PTSD include incessant fear, hopelessness, isolation, memory loss, difficulty sleeping and concentrating, nightmares, flashbacks, erratic emotions, uncontrollable anger, paranoia, unexplainable outbursts and other symptoms.
Most troops can't recognize these things in themselves and those who do may have a difficult time admitting it, said Ron Milburn, junior vice commander at VFW Post 9128 in Bettendorf. He served in the Marines and Navy during peacetime. He later joined the National Guard and was sent to Iraq in 2003.
go here for the rest
http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=375938
Posted online: February 23, 2008 11:43 PM
Print publication date: 2/24/2008
By Brandy Donaldson , bdonaldson@qconline.com
Many veterans agree that readjusting to civilian life after serving in a foreign land can be like a brand new battle.
Davenport native Jim Gall was 18 when he was drafted into the Army and thrust into combat in Vietnam. Davenport's Wayne Hogard entered the Navy as a teenager during the Korean War. The plight of today's soldier is much the same as it was when they served, and, fortunately, there's more support available for those who need it, they said.
"I didn't have any trouble, but I'm sure there were some who experienced combat who had trouble readjusting after Korea. There's some who still experience that to this day," said Mr. Hogard, who, as an aviation electrician, never entered combat.
"Many boys come back today and don't really have the education they need about their own physical or mental health."
According to a recent Army study, an all-time high 121 active-duty soldiers committed suicide and at least 2,100 injured themselves or attempted suicide last year. The Department of Veterans Affairs reported 144 veterans committed suicide between 2001 and 2005, and thousands more suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
"I would imagine the high suicide rate is a result of boys not being treated when they get home and no one recognizing they're having problems," Mr. Hogard said.
Indicators of PTSD include incessant fear, hopelessness, isolation, memory loss, difficulty sleeping and concentrating, nightmares, flashbacks, erratic emotions, uncontrollable anger, paranoia, unexplainable outbursts and other symptoms.
Most troops can't recognize these things in themselves and those who do may have a difficult time admitting it, said Ron Milburn, junior vice commander at VFW Post 9128 in Bettendorf. He served in the Marines and Navy during peacetime. He later joined the National Guard and was sent to Iraq in 2003.
go here for the rest
http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=375938
Families Catch Fallout From PTSD
Spouse Calls Column: Families Catch Fallout From PTSD
February 24, 2008
Of all the subjects covered on the Spouse Calls blog, none is more heartbreaking than post- traumatic stress disorder and its effects on military spouses and families.
An upcoming column will feature resources and counseling for those affected by PTSD. These blog excerpts will explain why:
I live in New Jersey. I have searched endlessly, to no avail for a support group for the loved ones of PTSD veterans. I even tried starting one of my own. The vet centers, and the VA clinics and hospitals say they are including family members and loved ones, but I have not found that to be true.
Many of the veterans’ wives and significant others that I know are left without a support group. Does anyone else have live support in your area?
go here for the rest
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9405
If anyone is in the Orlando Florida area, I'd be happy to begin a support group. I believe it is vital having support to get through all of this. Vietnam veterans and their families didn't have it and it cost too many marriages as well as lives .
February 24, 2008
Of all the subjects covered on the Spouse Calls blog, none is more heartbreaking than post- traumatic stress disorder and its effects on military spouses and families.
An upcoming column will feature resources and counseling for those affected by PTSD. These blog excerpts will explain why:
I live in New Jersey. I have searched endlessly, to no avail for a support group for the loved ones of PTSD veterans. I even tried starting one of my own. The vet centers, and the VA clinics and hospitals say they are including family members and loved ones, but I have not found that to be true.
Many of the veterans’ wives and significant others that I know are left without a support group. Does anyone else have live support in your area?
go here for the rest
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9405
If anyone is in the Orlando Florida area, I'd be happy to begin a support group. I believe it is vital having support to get through all of this. Vietnam veterans and their families didn't have it and it cost too many marriages as well as lives .
Sgt. John Osmolski's funeral peaceful due to flu
Stomach Flu Keeps Protesters Away From Soldier’s Funeral
Sunday, February 24, 2008 12:19:56 AM
EUSTIS -- Hundreds of people showed up to honor the memory of a local soldier who was killed while fighting in Iraq.
Dozens of flags waved outside of Bay Street Baptist Church in honor of Sgt. John Osmolski.
The 23-year-old was killed by a bomb six days before he was supposed to come back home.
Protestors from Kansas that lead a campaign called “God Hates America” were scheduled to picket the service. However, they canceled at the last minute, saying the group came down with the stomach flu.
Friends, family and former military men and women said it allowed them to focus on what was really important.
The men and women who held up flags at the church are part of a statewide organization called the Patriot Guard. The group travels to more than 50 memorial services, funerals and welcome home celebrations of soldiers each year.
Why would anyone would want to protest at a funeral for a soldier? They do it though. Whatever they hope to prove by doing it must be more about proving they are hateful people.
Senator Tester, fix Montana's VA problem sooner
Tester, VA chief hear from veterans
Agency chief says help is on way; senator, vets tell of inadequate services
By TOM LUTEY
Of The Gazette Staff
Limited by staff and space, veterans' health care services in Montana fall short, said U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who brought U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake to Billings to meet with local veterans.
"What I'm getting at is the staff and the square footage is a big issue," Tester said Wednesday. "That's not just here. It's the same in Great Falls and other places."
Tester and Peake got a firsthand look at the tight cramped quarters of the Veterans Affairs Primary Care Center in Billings. Roughly a decade old, the facility at 2345 King Ave. W. is no longer big enough to accommodate services for Billings-area veterans. Plans to relocate to a larger facility are in the works, but the VA Primary Care Center is also short on staff members.
Veterans speaking to Tester and Peake said phone calls to the VA Primary Care Center sometimes go unanswered for half an hour. Getting in to see a counselor about war-related stress can take days.
With the problem veterans are having trying to get fit into the VA, buying land and building new hospitals and clinics will help, but that fix is years away. They need help today.
A quick search of commercial property in Billings Montana showed they not only have land that could be used in the future, but they also have buildings already available. Some of them seem to be a great deal. These are just a few of them.
Property Description:
Prime West End Office Building
2 story building with approx. 26,000 SQFT. Brick construction complex built in 1986 and remodeled in 1999. Located in approx. 66,000 SQFT landscaped and paved lot. The building has 25,825 SQFT. Excellent exposure to one of busiest avenues in Billings - King Avenue.
Location Description:
Located in the Homestead Business Park - Billings MT. A block from King Ave. on Grant Rd.
Property Use Type: Investment
Primary Type: Office
Office-Business Park
Building Size: 26,000 SF
Lot Size: 66,000 SF
Price: $3,200,000
Price/SF: $123.08
Cap Rate: 7.25%
Net Lease Investment: Yes
Years left on Lease: 2
Date Last Verified: 2/22/2008
Property ID: 15530183
Special Purpose Property
In or near Billings, MontanaVery solid 5,040 sq. ft. Commercial Construction. Scenic Spring Creek runs through property, mature trees, an oasis in the middle of Billings. Pe...
Status:Price:Bldg. Size:Cap Rate:Primary Type:Sub-Type:
Active$425,0005,040 SFN/ASpecial PurposeSpecial Purpose (Other)
Special Purpose Property
In or near Billings, MontanaSignificant, historical, brick building, with 7,025 sq. ft. on main level. Structurally astute, constructed of high quaility building materials, 7...
Status:Price:Bldg. Size:Cap Rate:Primary Type:Sub-Type:
Active$385,00014,050 SFN/ASpecial PurposeSpecial Purpose (Other)
Office Property
In or near Billings, Montana
Two 9,000 square foot buildings. Upscale Medical or office complex. 13,300 ADT's Per Day. Billings Highest Per Capita Income. Now Under Constru...
Status:No. Spaces:Rental Rate:Space Available:Bldg. Size:Primary Type:Sub-Type:
Active1$.012,800 SF9,000 SFOfficeMedical Office
Now, picture these buildings being used for veterans clinics and Vet's Centers. They seem to be just what the doctor ordered to take care of the veterans today and not just years from now. They could open up Vet Centers tomorrow. They could begin support groups for veterans and their families. If not then they will need to build a lot more homeless veterans shelters a couple of years from now. It's time to get serious about all of this and stop ringing their hands with the monumental task ahead. There is no time to play catch up when veterans are suffering because no one planned for them.
Agency chief says help is on way; senator, vets tell of inadequate services
By TOM LUTEY
Of The Gazette Staff
Limited by staff and space, veterans' health care services in Montana fall short, said U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who brought U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake to Billings to meet with local veterans.
"What I'm getting at is the staff and the square footage is a big issue," Tester said Wednesday. "That's not just here. It's the same in Great Falls and other places."
Tester and Peake got a firsthand look at the tight cramped quarters of the Veterans Affairs Primary Care Center in Billings. Roughly a decade old, the facility at 2345 King Ave. W. is no longer big enough to accommodate services for Billings-area veterans. Plans to relocate to a larger facility are in the works, but the VA Primary Care Center is also short on staff members.
Veterans speaking to Tester and Peake said phone calls to the VA Primary Care Center sometimes go unanswered for half an hour. Getting in to see a counselor about war-related stress can take days.
There's a debate about how many claims will still be made by veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bush administration estimates that 33,690 new veterans will enter the system, but the majority of staff for the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, on which Tester serves, expects 200,000 claims by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
If the committee is correct, the president's budgeted amount for new claims could leave funding short for about 150,000 veterans.
go here for the rest
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/02/21/news/local/18-va.txt
With the problem veterans are having trying to get fit into the VA, buying land and building new hospitals and clinics will help, but that fix is years away. They need help today.
A quick search of commercial property in Billings Montana showed they not only have land that could be used in the future, but they also have buildings already available. Some of them seem to be a great deal. These are just a few of them.
Property Description:
Prime West End Office Building
2 story building with approx. 26,000 SQFT. Brick construction complex built in 1986 and remodeled in 1999. Located in approx. 66,000 SQFT landscaped and paved lot. The building has 25,825 SQFT. Excellent exposure to one of busiest avenues in Billings - King Avenue.
Location Description:
Located in the Homestead Business Park - Billings MT. A block from King Ave. on Grant Rd.
Property Use Type: Investment
Primary Type: Office
Office-Business Park
Building Size: 26,000 SF
Lot Size: 66,000 SF
Price: $3,200,000
Price/SF: $123.08
Cap Rate: 7.25%
Net Lease Investment: Yes
Years left on Lease: 2
Date Last Verified: 2/22/2008
Property ID: 15530183
Special Purpose Property
In or near Billings, MontanaVery solid 5,040 sq. ft. Commercial Construction. Scenic Spring Creek runs through property, mature trees, an oasis in the middle of Billings. Pe...
Status:Price:Bldg. Size:Cap Rate:Primary Type:Sub-Type:
Active$425,0005,040 SFN/ASpecial PurposeSpecial Purpose (Other)
Special Purpose Property
In or near Billings, MontanaSignificant, historical, brick building, with 7,025 sq. ft. on main level. Structurally astute, constructed of high quaility building materials, 7...
Status:Price:Bldg. Size:Cap Rate:Primary Type:Sub-Type:
Active$385,00014,050 SFN/ASpecial PurposeSpecial Purpose (Other)
Office Property
In or near Billings, Montana
Two 9,000 square foot buildings. Upscale Medical or office complex. 13,300 ADT's Per Day. Billings Highest Per Capita Income. Now Under Constru...
Status:No. Spaces:Rental Rate:Space Available:Bldg. Size:Primary Type:Sub-Type:
Active1$.012,800 SF9,000 SFOfficeMedical Office
Now, picture these buildings being used for veterans clinics and Vet's Centers. They seem to be just what the doctor ordered to take care of the veterans today and not just years from now. They could open up Vet Centers tomorrow. They could begin support groups for veterans and their families. If not then they will need to build a lot more homeless veterans shelters a couple of years from now. It's time to get serious about all of this and stop ringing their hands with the monumental task ahead. There is no time to play catch up when veterans are suffering because no one planned for them.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Spc. Brenden Teetsell ended his life leaving questions and heartache
Soldier’s lies unravel after he kills himself
By Nancy Montgomery, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, February 24, 2008
HEIDELBERG, Germany — Spc. Brenden Teetsell stood out. He was 6-foot-6 — but it was more than that. He was talkative, enthusiastic, smart and likable.
But Teetsell, it turned out, was also deeply troubled.
The 20-year-old satellite operator with the 5th Signal Command hanged himself Feb. 7 in his Mannheim barracks. He used bedsheets and a stairwell to end his life, just after Criminal Investigation Command investigators had spent the morning questioning him for apparently impersonating an officer.
He had been claiming to be a captain and that he’d been shot in the leg in Iraq, pastors at a California church told CID after the pastors decided to check up on him.
That long-distance telephone call was to be the first thread in the rapid unraveling of Teetsell’s life.
“It went from zero to 60 that morning,” said Lt. Col. Jay Chapman, commander of the 72nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion.
“We didn’t see symptoms. We’re really upset with ourselves. Nobody would have considered him to be feeling the way he was inside.”
Teetsell, who enlisted in 2006, had never been to Iraq. He hurt his knee before his unit deployed last fall and was reassigned to a different unit.
His death comes at a time when Army officials are grappling with a record number of suicides, even as they’ve stepped up suicide prevention efforts.
One major contributor to the increase in soldier suicides is thought to be the disruption to intimate and family relationships caused by long, repeated deployments.
But Teetsell had never deployed. He did not appear depressed, Chapman said his commanders told him. He was not aware he was being investigated until the day he died, Chapman said.
go here for the rest
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52770
Teetsell was not deployed, not wounded in combat and seemed to have been troubled by many accounts. Why didn't anyone do anything when they seemed to have thougth he was troubled? Why was he able to get into the military if he was already troubled? There are so many questions to this sad story of a life ended too soon.
By Nancy Montgomery, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, February 24, 2008
HEIDELBERG, Germany — Spc. Brenden Teetsell stood out. He was 6-foot-6 — but it was more than that. He was talkative, enthusiastic, smart and likable.
But Teetsell, it turned out, was also deeply troubled.
The 20-year-old satellite operator with the 5th Signal Command hanged himself Feb. 7 in his Mannheim barracks. He used bedsheets and a stairwell to end his life, just after Criminal Investigation Command investigators had spent the morning questioning him for apparently impersonating an officer.
He had been claiming to be a captain and that he’d been shot in the leg in Iraq, pastors at a California church told CID after the pastors decided to check up on him.
That long-distance telephone call was to be the first thread in the rapid unraveling of Teetsell’s life.
“It went from zero to 60 that morning,” said Lt. Col. Jay Chapman, commander of the 72nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion.
“We didn’t see symptoms. We’re really upset with ourselves. Nobody would have considered him to be feeling the way he was inside.”
Teetsell, who enlisted in 2006, had never been to Iraq. He hurt his knee before his unit deployed last fall and was reassigned to a different unit.
His death comes at a time when Army officials are grappling with a record number of suicides, even as they’ve stepped up suicide prevention efforts.
One major contributor to the increase in soldier suicides is thought to be the disruption to intimate and family relationships caused by long, repeated deployments.
But Teetsell had never deployed. He did not appear depressed, Chapman said his commanders told him. He was not aware he was being investigated until the day he died, Chapman said.
go here for the rest
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52770
Teetsell was not deployed, not wounded in combat and seemed to have been troubled by many accounts. Why didn't anyone do anything when they seemed to have thougth he was troubled? Why was he able to get into the military if he was already troubled? There are so many questions to this sad story of a life ended too soon.
Master Sgt. Woodrow Keeble Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor going to Native American soldier
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, February 23, 2008
WASHINGTON — A Native American soldier who fought in World War II and the Korean War will be posthumously honored with the Medal of Honor next month, White House officials announced Friday.
Retired Master Sgt. Woodrow Keeble, a South Dakota native who died in 1984, will be recognized for actions in North Korea in October 1951. According to Army records, he ignored life-threatening wounds to take out three mountainside enemy pillboxes which had pinned down a U.S. platoon.
Keeble was initially awarded a Distinguished Service Cross, a Silver Star and a Purple Heart for those actions, but members of his state’s congressional delegation have pushed for Medal of Honor recognition for him for years.
Army records say Keeble displayed “extraordinary heroism and completely selfless devotion to duty” during his assault on enemy troops in Korea.
After seeing an advance platoon was pinned down by gunfire, Keeble rushed from his support unit to the front line. He then crawled ahead to take out three enemy positions with grenades, despite intense fire trained on him as he moved along the mountainside.
go here for the rest
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52728
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, February 23, 2008
WASHINGTON — A Native American soldier who fought in World War II and the Korean War will be posthumously honored with the Medal of Honor next month, White House officials announced Friday.
Retired Master Sgt. Woodrow Keeble, a South Dakota native who died in 1984, will be recognized for actions in North Korea in October 1951. According to Army records, he ignored life-threatening wounds to take out three mountainside enemy pillboxes which had pinned down a U.S. platoon.
Keeble was initially awarded a Distinguished Service Cross, a Silver Star and a Purple Heart for those actions, but members of his state’s congressional delegation have pushed for Medal of Honor recognition for him for years.
Army records say Keeble displayed “extraordinary heroism and completely selfless devotion to duty” during his assault on enemy troops in Korea.
After seeing an advance platoon was pinned down by gunfire, Keeble rushed from his support unit to the front line. He then crawled ahead to take out three enemy positions with grenades, despite intense fire trained on him as he moved along the mountainside.
go here for the rest
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52728
Renewed Hope Eric Hall Is Still Alive
Missing Marine may have called again
Eric Hall, 24, is believed to have placed another phone call to a friend
CAROLYN QUINN, Charlotte Sun Staff Writer
7:27 p.m., Friday, February 22, 2008
The former Marine who vanished over two weeks ago during a flashback to his service in Iraq may have called an old friend a second time.
Eric Hall, 24, who left his aunt's house in Deep Creek on Feb. 3 and has not been seen since, is believed to have called a childhood friend and former girlfriend in his native Indiana after 6 p.m. Thursday. It is the second call he is believed to have made to the friend, although he did not identify himself either time.
"He is reaching out, and it just renews my efforts," said Becky Hall, Eric's mother, who came to Florida from Indiana shortly after his disappearance.
go here for the rest
linked from ICasualties.org
Eric Hall, 24, is believed to have placed another phone call to a friend
CAROLYN QUINN, Charlotte Sun Staff Writer
7:27 p.m., Friday, February 22, 2008
The former Marine who vanished over two weeks ago during a flashback to his service in Iraq may have called an old friend a second time.
Eric Hall, 24, who left his aunt's house in Deep Creek on Feb. 3 and has not been seen since, is believed to have called a childhood friend and former girlfriend in his native Indiana after 6 p.m. Thursday. It is the second call he is believed to have made to the friend, although he did not identify himself either time.
"He is reaching out, and it just renews my efforts," said Becky Hall, Eric's mother, who came to Florida from Indiana shortly after his disappearance.
go here for the rest
linked from ICasualties.org
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