Local PTSD cases disturbingly low
By Tim Novotny
Video
COOS BAY - The numbers, or rather the lack of numbers, are concerning some mental health professionals on the South Coast. They say they are seeing too few veterans getting help for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. So Dr. Richard Staggenborg, of the Bandon VA Clinic, is trying to do what he can to get the word out by hosting talks like one recently held at Southwestern Oregon Community College.
Talking to veterans and their family members to show them help is available, and if you have PTSD, help is needed because the disorder won't go away on it's own.
His recent talk called "Identifying Signs and Talking to the Returning Service Member" also helped to shed light on the problems faced by all vets with PTSD.
Anyone wanting to find out more about PTSD can contact Staggenborg at 347-4736, or toll-free at 1-800-549-8387.He says he is also hoping to present more talks on the subject in the future.
http://www.kcby.com/news/local/16008597.html
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Too few seek help with PTSD in Coos Bay Oregon
This is not a good sign. PTSD rates are off the charts and seeing too few seeking help is not a good sign at all.
Boston Red Sox Going To Walter Reed For Heroes
"A couple of guys I remember were 19, 20. They couldn't walk out of there — if they had something to walk on — and go to the local bar and have a beer," Mike Timlin said. "And yet, they've gone across the ocean to a strange land and got blown up, because that's what the country needed. And what makes it even more impressive is that to a man, if they could figure out some way to get a prosthetic on or repair what they've done, they'd go right back.
Fans For A Day
Red Sox To Visit Wounded Soldiers At Walter Reed
By JEFF GOLDBERG | Courant Staff Writer
February 26, 2008
FORT MYERS, Fla. - They still remember the horrible wounds. They remember the remarkable courage.
By the time the Red Sox ended their visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington three years ago — celebrating the 2004 World Series title and helping to boost veterans' spirits — it was impossible to tell which group was more in awe.
"Humbling is a very weak word," Curt Schilling said. "It was profound for me. For me, it was, 'Thank you.' You look them in the eye, take their hand and say, 'Thank you. Thank you.' Make sure they understand you truly mean it.
"You always hear hero or superstar, all those words people use for athletes, then you stand in a room of heroes and superstars. They're double-amputees, 19-, 20-year-old kids, and it's just another perspective-giving event in life that you never ever forget."
There will be another such event Wednesday. Like that day in March 2005, the Red Sox will fly to Washington in the late morning, pose with President Bush and the 2007 World Series trophy at the White House around 3 p.m., then head over to Walter Reed.
The visit to the veterans hospital was the most memorable aspect of that day three years ago.
click post title for the rest
Another soldier stages shooting to avoid being re-deployed
Soldier allegedly stages shooting to avoid Iraq
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Feb 26, 2008 17:22:07 EST
APPLE VALLEY, Calif. — A soldier trying to avoid redeployment to Iraq had a friend shoot him in the leg and then claimed he’d been wounded in a holdup, authorities said.
Army Pfc. Matthew John Myers, 20, of Apple Valley, limped into a convenience store about 9:30 p.m. Sunday and reported he had been walking on a golf course when a gunman stole his wallet and military identification and shot him in the right thigh, authorities said.
A helicopter search failed to find a robber, and San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies became suspicious of the story because they could not find a blood trail or any shell casings and Myers could not describe the attacker.
Also, Myers “had stated that he was walking alone when the suspect came up and shot him, then ran away,” sheriff’s Sgt. Todd Newton said. “But when deputies went back to investigate, they found two sets of footprints that had been walking side by side for some time.”
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_soldiershot_022608/
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Feb 26, 2008 17:22:07 EST
APPLE VALLEY, Calif. — A soldier trying to avoid redeployment to Iraq had a friend shoot him in the leg and then claimed he’d been wounded in a holdup, authorities said.
Army Pfc. Matthew John Myers, 20, of Apple Valley, limped into a convenience store about 9:30 p.m. Sunday and reported he had been walking on a golf course when a gunman stole his wallet and military identification and shot him in the right thigh, authorities said.
A helicopter search failed to find a robber, and San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies became suspicious of the story because they could not find a blood trail or any shell casings and Myers could not describe the attacker.
Also, Myers “had stated that he was walking alone when the suspect came up and shot him, then ran away,” sheriff’s Sgt. Todd Newton said. “But when deputies went back to investigate, they found two sets of footprints that had been walking side by side for some time.”
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_soldiershot_022608/
Army Spc. Kevin Mowl dies after feeding tube breaks
Soldier dies 6 months after being hurt in Iraq
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Feb 26, 2008 12:50:37 EST
PITTSFORD, N.Y. — A western New York soldier wounded six months ago in an explosion in Iraq has died in a military hospital in Maryland.
Army Spc. Kevin Mowl of the Rochester suburb of Pittsford was 22 when he died Monday at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda.
Mowl suffered multiple broken bones and a head injury Aug. 2 when a roadside bomb flipped his vehicle in Baghdad. Three others died, and 11 soldiers and an interpreter were injured.
President Bush presented Mowl with a Purple Heart and a Presidential Medallion at the hospital in December.
Mowl recently suffered a serious infection after part of his feeding tube broke and perforated his intestines.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_6monthsafter_022608/
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Feb 26, 2008 12:50:37 EST
PITTSFORD, N.Y. — A western New York soldier wounded six months ago in an explosion in Iraq has died in a military hospital in Maryland.
Army Spc. Kevin Mowl of the Rochester suburb of Pittsford was 22 when he died Monday at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda.
Mowl suffered multiple broken bones and a head injury Aug. 2 when a roadside bomb flipped his vehicle in Baghdad. Three others died, and 11 soldiers and an interpreter were injured.
President Bush presented Mowl with a Purple Heart and a Presidential Medallion at the hospital in December.
Mowl recently suffered a serious infection after part of his feeding tube broke and perforated his intestines.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_6monthsafter_022608/
Marines want probe into armored vehicle program
Marines want probe into armored vehicle program
delays
Story Highlights
Corps asks Pentagon to look into why specially armored vehicles were delayed
Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles arrived in large numbers in 2007
Internal report says earlier delivery could have prevented deaths, wounds
Suicide bomber kills 9 in northern Iraq, military says
From Barbara Starr
CNN
(CNN) -- Casualties could have been reduced by half among Marines in Iraq if specially armored vehicles had been deployed more quickly in some cases, a report to the Pentagon says.
Marine Corps spokesman Col. David Lapan said the Defense Department's inspector general wants to investigate the report's claims that bureaucratic delays undermined the program to develop the armored vehicles.
The program was designed to provide combat forces with Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles, known by the acronym MRAPs.
The Marine Corps requested an investigation last week after receiving Marine technology expert Franz Gayl's report.
"If the mass procurement and fielding of MRAPs had begun in 2005 in response to the known and acknowledged threats at that time, as the USMC is doing today, hundreds of deaths and injuries could have been prevented," Gayl wrote in the report.
go here for the rest
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/26/iraq.main/
How many lost their lives because of this? Got blown up? Ended up with TBI and PTSD?
delays
Story Highlights
Corps asks Pentagon to look into why specially armored vehicles were delayed
Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles arrived in large numbers in 2007
Internal report says earlier delivery could have prevented deaths, wounds
Suicide bomber kills 9 in northern Iraq, military says
From Barbara Starr
CNN
(CNN) -- Casualties could have been reduced by half among Marines in Iraq if specially armored vehicles had been deployed more quickly in some cases, a report to the Pentagon says.
Marine Corps spokesman Col. David Lapan said the Defense Department's inspector general wants to investigate the report's claims that bureaucratic delays undermined the program to develop the armored vehicles.
The program was designed to provide combat forces with Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles, known by the acronym MRAPs.
The Marine Corps requested an investigation last week after receiving Marine technology expert Franz Gayl's report.
"If the mass procurement and fielding of MRAPs had begun in 2005 in response to the known and acknowledged threats at that time, as the USMC is doing today, hundreds of deaths and injuries could have been prevented," Gayl wrote in the report.
go here for the rest
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/26/iraq.main/
How many lost their lives because of this? Got blown up? Ended up with TBI and PTSD?
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