Verdict in electrocution of soldier upheld
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Feb 27, 2008 10:13:27 EST
LITTLE ROCK — A federal appeals panel on Tuesday upheld a $6.5 million verdict against a private contractor in the death of an Arkansas soldier who was electrocuted when he leaned back against the metal exterior wall of a latrine.
Pvt. Van Ryan Marcum died June 19, 2004, following an exercise at a firing range at Fort Benning, Ga. Marcum’s estate sued The Shaw Group Inc., which was under contract to demolish several abandoned metal latrines at the Army base. Marcum, 21, was from Prescott, Ark.
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis turned away The Shaw Group’s requests for a new trial or a ruling that the company was not responsible.
The Shaw Group, based in Baton Rouge, La., argued that it had no duty to have demolished the latrine, noting that the Army had given it an extension for the demolition work.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_electrocution_022608/
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Mental Health being withheld from Fort Drum Soldiers
Military Doctors Withholding Treatment from Soldiers with Mental Health Problems
By Maggie Mahar, Health Beat.
Posted February 27, 2008.
The military is denying crucial care to soldiers, making them vulnerable on the battlefield.
In recent months, VFA reports, it has been contacted by a number of soldiers based at Fort Drum who are concerned about their own mental health and the health of other members of their units. In response, VFA launched an investigation of conditions at Fort Drum, and what it found was shocking.
Soldiers told the VFA that "the leader of the mental health treatment clinic at Fort Drum asked soldiers not to discuss their mental health problems with people outside the base. Attempts to keep matters 'in house' foster an atmosphere of secrecy and shame," the report observed "that is not conducive to proper treatment for combat-related mental health injuries."
The investigators also discovered that "some military mental health providers have argued that a number of soldiers fake mental health injuries to increase the likelihood that they will be deemed unfit for combat and/or for further military service."
The report notes that a "conversation with a leading expert in treating combat psychological wounds" confirmed "that some military commanders at Fort Drum doubt the validity of mental health wounds in some soldiers, thereby undermining treatment prescribed by civilian psychiatrists" at the nearby Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown, NY.
"In the estimation of this expert, military commanders have undue influence in the treatment of soldiers with psychological wounds," the report noted. "Another point of general concern for VFA is that Samaritan also has a strong financial incentive to maintain business ties with Fort Drum -- a dynamic [that] deserves greater scrutiny."
Because some soldiers do not trust Samaritan, the report reveals that a number of "soldiers have sought treatment after normal base business hours at a hospital in Syracuse, more than an hour's drive from Watertown ... because they feared that Samaritan would side with base leadership, which had, in some cases, cast doubt on the legitimacy of combat-related mental health wounds.
go here for the rest
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/77867/
It is almost impossible to get these men and women to admit they need help. They were trained to take care of themselves and watch out for the backs of their brothers and sisters. I've been dealing with them and their denials for 25 years. They don't want to admit they need help. Yet still, Fort Drum, and other bases, treat those who do as if they are slackers! Disgraceful! How can it be that such very smart, able, dedicated leaders can remain so uninformed and uneducated as to the tactics of the enemy the soldiers bring home with them? PTSD is an enemy. It attacks and it kills. There is only one thing PTSD fears and that is knowledge.
By Maggie Mahar, Health Beat.
Posted February 27, 2008.
The military is denying crucial care to soldiers, making them vulnerable on the battlefield.
In recent months, VFA reports, it has been contacted by a number of soldiers based at Fort Drum who are concerned about their own mental health and the health of other members of their units. In response, VFA launched an investigation of conditions at Fort Drum, and what it found was shocking.
Soldiers told the VFA that "the leader of the mental health treatment clinic at Fort Drum asked soldiers not to discuss their mental health problems with people outside the base. Attempts to keep matters 'in house' foster an atmosphere of secrecy and shame," the report observed "that is not conducive to proper treatment for combat-related mental health injuries."
The investigators also discovered that "some military mental health providers have argued that a number of soldiers fake mental health injuries to increase the likelihood that they will be deemed unfit for combat and/or for further military service."
The report notes that a "conversation with a leading expert in treating combat psychological wounds" confirmed "that some military commanders at Fort Drum doubt the validity of mental health wounds in some soldiers, thereby undermining treatment prescribed by civilian psychiatrists" at the nearby Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown, NY.
"In the estimation of this expert, military commanders have undue influence in the treatment of soldiers with psychological wounds," the report noted. "Another point of general concern for VFA is that Samaritan also has a strong financial incentive to maintain business ties with Fort Drum -- a dynamic [that] deserves greater scrutiny."
Because some soldiers do not trust Samaritan, the report reveals that a number of "soldiers have sought treatment after normal base business hours at a hospital in Syracuse, more than an hour's drive from Watertown ... because they feared that Samaritan would side with base leadership, which had, in some cases, cast doubt on the legitimacy of combat-related mental health wounds.
go here for the rest
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/77867/
It is almost impossible to get these men and women to admit they need help. They were trained to take care of themselves and watch out for the backs of their brothers and sisters. I've been dealing with them and their denials for 25 years. They don't want to admit they need help. Yet still, Fort Drum, and other bases, treat those who do as if they are slackers! Disgraceful! How can it be that such very smart, able, dedicated leaders can remain so uninformed and uneducated as to the tactics of the enemy the soldiers bring home with them? PTSD is an enemy. It attacks and it kills. There is only one thing PTSD fears and that is knowledge.
Army Suicide Rates Go Up, Alarm Bells Don't
Army Suicide Rates ClimbingPosted: 10:27 PM Feb 26, 2008
Last Updated: 6:24 AM Feb 27, 2008
Reporter: David Nancarrow
Email Address: mailto:dnancarrow@kktv11news.com?subject=Army
Army Suicide Rates Climbing
The Colorado Springs community is constantly reminded of the men and women in uniform who are lost in combat. The Army is now reporting a dramatic rise in the number of soldiers taking their own lives.
There is a single diamond set in a black band on the finger where Mia Sagahon expected to wear her wedding ring.
She thought her fiancee, a veteran, Walter Padilla would be by her side forever.
"You wake up and see them daily and then they're just gone," she said.
Visions of the battlefield haunted the medically discharged Padilla. He tried to hide his pain and tormenting questions from the ones he loved. Mia now knows these questions all too well.
"Am I a weak person?" she believed he wondered. "Why is this happening to me? feeling alone, why am I having these dreams?"
Walter silenced the voices in 2007, taking his life with a single shot from his own gun.
"You can't say good-bye, or anything. It's horrible," Sagahon said.
The Army expects 2007 will have been one of the worst in years in terms of suicide among active soldiers. If 32 cases still under investigation add to the 89 confirmed, 121 suicides represent a 20% spike from 2006, more than twice the number reported in 2001, pushing the Army rate closer to that seen among the civilian community.
Even more alarming, according to Department of Defense sources, attempted suicides rose to more than 2,000, up from about 1400 in 2006.
It is an issue that hits close to home for Ft. Carson commanders. Commanding Officer, Major General Mark Graham, lost a son to suicide.
"In every case where there's a suicide, people will tell you I should have seen it coming. I should have seen it," Graham said.
Army investigators say motives are different, but common reasons include stress levels from time put in to the battle.
"The secretary of the Army says our Army is tired that is no secret. I think our nation is understanding that we are a nation at war now for 7 years in Afghanistan, six years in Iraq," said COL Kelly Wolgast, Director of Ft. Carson's Evans Army Hospital.
Investigators report many are linked to strained romantic relationships, or failed marriages. There's also the issue of fearing to admit to loved ones and superiors they need help.
go here for the rest
http://www.kktv.com/news/headlines/16012862.html
How much time will they talk about doing something? How much money will they throw at this without results that prove it's working? How many different "steps" will they take before they discover what they are doing is not working? When will they hear the alarm bells going off all around the country that when it comes to them coming home, the military sucks at taking care of them?
Senator Brownback showed disrespect to PTSD veterans
By the information on Brownback's site, it's clear that the impression Jay Harden, the author of the following letter, had was right on the mark.
Letter: Take care of veteransPublished Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Sen. Sam Brownback met with us on the PTSD ward at Colmery-O'Neil VA Medical Center on Feb. 11. I sincerely appreciate his time and good intentions, but the ultimate purpose of the uninvited intrusion escapes me. Perhaps a photo-op?
Sen. Brownback is a public servant, a U.S. senator. That is, he serves the public, and I am one of the public. Therefore, it is important to me (and possibly him) to provide the following feedback.
In my opinion, the entire PTSD patient population here didn't appreciate the senator's performance, nor did many of the professional staff. And I am being charitable here.
Some of us bared our souls, stories and traumas to a stranger and his entourage in the hope some greater good would come of it. At least one veteran walked out on Sen. Brownback, on the verge of tears because of his disrespect to Vietnam veterans. One had the foresight to decline his direct invitation to talk about his Iraq experience.
This is what I want from Sen. Brownback. Take on the task of getting the word out to veterans about the PTSD services of the VA. And do something to standardize the quality of VA care across the nation.
I was stunned to learn how VA services vary greatly in quality from one facility to another. For example, some VA facilities don't help PTSD veterans unless the PTSD is combat-related. This is unacceptable. All are equally worthy as we still relive our service traumas without choice.
I should be able to walk into any VA facility in the U.S. and get the same quality of care for the same services offered. Just because it has never been done doesn't mean it is impossible, right?
JAY HARDEN, Topeka
http://cjonline.com/stories/022708/opi_251511209.shtml
This is from Brownback's site
VETERANS
At a time when our government is asking thousands of military members to enter harm's way in our war against terrorism, the citizens of Kansas are seeing a dramatic decrease in the standard of care that our veterans are provided to help them with the lifelong physical and mental effects of these wars. I have long been a supporter of veterans and veterans' benefits. America's veterans have put their lives on the line to defend our country and we should honor their sacrifices and fulfill our commitments to them. Keeping our nation strong and keeping our promises to veterans should be among our top national priorities.
Brownback Visits Walter Reed
"The system that provides treatment for our soldiers must be improved, but I continue to be impressed with the commitment and dedication of the staff at Walter Reed and other military facilities. I offer my heartfelt thanks and prayers for those wounded while defending this nation and I want to thank all those currently serving in our Armed Forces. Their sacrifices make this nation great and we all owe them a debt of gratitude." Read More
Brownback Introduces Bill to Protect Veteran's Memorials
This important bill would prevent judicial activist groups from using a 1970s-era civil rights law to force taxpayers to pay their attorney's fees in cases related to public displays of religious faith. Read More Bill S.415: Veterans' Memorials, Boy Scouts, Public Seals, and Other Public Expressions of Religion Protection Act of 2007
http://brownback.senate.gov/english/legissues/veterans/index.cfm
Suicide matters to Michelle Malkin, but not when it involves the troops
When I received a heads up on a new article from Michelle Malkin I may be interested in, I paused before going to the link. What could she possibly say that would interest me? My gut instinct was right and should have just avoided it. I ended up very angry.
How is it that the "right" always seem to be so outraged when women have abortions but never, ever contemplate the suicides of our veterans. They never seem to be willing to acknowledge one single needles death when it comes to them.
This is just one more case of them not being willing to really stand up for the troops and our veterans. They could join in the effort to have all our veterans treated for PTSD and cared for in the manner this nation should finally be willing to do, but they don't. Yet Malkin managed to add in the terms AWOL and MIA. These are military terms for Absent Without Leave and Missing in Action. When it comes to our wounded warriors, she couldn't have picked better terms to describe their neglect.
I cannot remember a single time I visited any of their sites and found something worthy of posting. There has been virtually no information they provide that has any value to what should really matter to everyone in this country. Why is that? I keep asking and receive absolutely no explanation at all. Why can't they live up to their claims of being all about supporting the troops when the troops need them? Why can't they cross over the line of wanting to defend Bush when the troops suffer from his neglect? Does anyone have any thoughts on this at all?
We have thousands committing suicide because of PTSD, yet these "pro-life" people want to ignore the living, breathing, suffering so hopeless that they cannot find the strength to go on one more day without relief. All these veterans need is compassion enough to reach out a hand to help them heal, yet the "right" ignore them. Worse, they attack media reports regarding the needless suffering of our men and women in uniform serving this nation. What will it take to get them involved in any of this? What will it take people like O'Reilly and Hannity and Coulter to actually join the fight for the sake of the troops that has absolutely nothing to do with being for or against the occupation of Iraq? The troops will one day leave Iraq but they will not leave Iraq behind them. They will not leave Afghanistan behind them any more than they left Vietnam or the Gulf War behind them or any combat. This will take every ounce of dedication and courage the people of this nation can find to fight for them.
PTSD has nothing to do with a political affiliation, believing in the mission or not, being from a "blue state" or a "red state" or any type of religious institution. It has to do with being a human exposed to traumatic events. Combat is the form that cuts the deepest, but police and firefighters, emergency responders, crime victims, survivors of natures fury, all experience PTSD. What will it take for these people to actually start acting like members of the human family?
How is it that the "right" always seem to be so outraged when women have abortions but never, ever contemplate the suicides of our veterans. They never seem to be willing to acknowledge one single needles death when it comes to them.
This is just one more case of them not being willing to really stand up for the troops and our veterans. They could join in the effort to have all our veterans treated for PTSD and cared for in the manner this nation should finally be willing to do, but they don't. Yet Malkin managed to add in the terms AWOL and MIA. These are military terms for Absent Without Leave and Missing in Action. When it comes to our wounded warriors, she couldn't have picked better terms to describe their neglect.
I cannot remember a single time I visited any of their sites and found something worthy of posting. There has been virtually no information they provide that has any value to what should really matter to everyone in this country. Why is that? I keep asking and receive absolutely no explanation at all. Why can't they live up to their claims of being all about supporting the troops when the troops need them? Why can't they cross over the line of wanting to defend Bush when the troops suffer from his neglect? Does anyone have any thoughts on this at all?
February 27, 2008
The Suicide of Emma Beck and Silence No More
By Michelle Malkin
She didn't have to die. And neither did her unborn children. Over the weekend, London newspapers reported on the 2007 suicide of 30-year-old Emma Beck, a young British artist who hung herself after the abortion of her twin babies. Perhaps the retelling of her suffering can prevent more needless deaths.
The agony and loneliness in Emma Beck's suicide note resonate across the pond, across racial and class lines, across generations. She was distraught over a breakup with her boyfriend, who didn't want the children. She was suffering intense grief from her decision to end the lives inside her. And so she ended her own.
"I should never have had an abortion. I see now I would have been a good mum," Beck wrote. "I told everyone I didn't want to do it, even at the hospital. I was frightened, now it is too late. I died when my babies died. I want to be with my babies -- they need me, no one else does."But it's not just jaded abortion providers and medical assistants, AWOL counselors and MIA parents who need to look in the mirror.
go here for the rest
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/02/the_suicide_of_emma_beck_and_s.html
We have thousands committing suicide because of PTSD, yet these "pro-life" people want to ignore the living, breathing, suffering so hopeless that they cannot find the strength to go on one more day without relief. All these veterans need is compassion enough to reach out a hand to help them heal, yet the "right" ignore them. Worse, they attack media reports regarding the needless suffering of our men and women in uniform serving this nation. What will it take to get them involved in any of this? What will it take people like O'Reilly and Hannity and Coulter to actually join the fight for the sake of the troops that has absolutely nothing to do with being for or against the occupation of Iraq? The troops will one day leave Iraq but they will not leave Iraq behind them. They will not leave Afghanistan behind them any more than they left Vietnam or the Gulf War behind them or any combat. This will take every ounce of dedication and courage the people of this nation can find to fight for them.
PTSD has nothing to do with a political affiliation, believing in the mission or not, being from a "blue state" or a "red state" or any type of religious institution. It has to do with being a human exposed to traumatic events. Combat is the form that cuts the deepest, but police and firefighters, emergency responders, crime victims, survivors of natures fury, all experience PTSD. What will it take for these people to actually start acting like members of the human family?
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