Why the troops are dying there and here

Latest Coalition Fatality: Mar 28, 2008

03/28/08 MNF: MND-C Soldier attacked by IED
BAGHDAD - A Multi-National Division - Center Soldier was killed as a result of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device attack south of Baghdad March 28.
03/28/08 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Spc. Gregory B. Rundell, 21, of Ramsey, Minn., died March 26 in Taji Iraq, of wounds suffered from small arms fire. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
03/28/08 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Staff Sgt. Joseph D. Gamboa, 34, of Yigo, Guam, died Mar. 25 of wounds suffered when he came under indirect fire in Baghdad, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, Vilseck, Germany.
03/27/08 MNF: MND-B Soldier attacked by IED
A Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldier was killed at approximately 4:30 p.m. March 27 after being struck by an improvised explosive device in eastern Baghdad while conducting a combat patrol.
03/27/08 DoD Identifies Army Casualties (4 of 4)
Pvt. George Delgado, 21, of Palmdale, Calif...assigned to the 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division...died March 24 in Baghdad...from wounds suffered when their vehicle encountered an IDE on March 23.
03/27/08 DoD Identifies Army Casualties (3 of 4)
Staff Sgt. Christopher M. Hake, 26, of Enid, Okla...assigned to the 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division...died March 24 in Baghdad...from wounds suffered when their vehicle encountered an IDE on March 23.
03/27/08 DoD Identifies Army Casualties (2 of 4)
Pfc. Andrew J. Habsieger, 22, of Festus, Mo...assigned to the 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division...died March 24 in Baghdad...from wounds suffered when their vehicle encountered an IDE on March 23.
03/27/08 DoD Identifies Army Casualties (1 of 4)
Spc. Jose A. Rubio Hernandez, 24, of Mission, Texas...assigned to the 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division...died March 24 in Baghdad...from wounds suffered when their vehicle encountered an IDE on March 23

.

Slate
What are they fighting about in Basra?
The wars in Iraq (the plural is no typo) are about to expand and possibly explode, so it might be useful to have some notion of what we're in for.
TimesOnline
Areas of Baghdad fall to militias as Iraqi Army falters in Basra
Iraq’s Prime Minister was staring into the abyss today after his operation to crush militia strongholds in Basra stalled, members of his own security forces defected and district after district of his own capital fell to Shia militia gunmen.
Washington Post
U.S. Armor Forces Join Offensive In Baghdad Against Sadr Militia
U.S. forces in armored vehicles battled Mahdi Army fighters Thursday in Sadr City, the vast Shiite stronghold in eastern Baghdad, as an offensive to quell party-backed militias entered its third day. Iraqi army and police units appeared to be largely holding to the outskirts of the area as American troops took the lead in the fighting.

News Current Time in Baghdad: 3:10:27 AM
03/28/08 BBC: Militia battles threaten fragile Iraq
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has extended by 10 days a deadline for Shia militiamen fighting troops in the southern city of Basra to hand over their weapons. Militiamen...show no signs of giving up and fighting continues.

03/28/08 NPR: Can the Basra Situation Be Solved?
Iraq's government continued its crackdown on Shiite militias Friday. U.S. air strikes helped Iraqi security forces fight against militants in Basra. Alex Chadwick talks to Anne Garrels about how American action there could be a step backward...

03/28/08 AP: Case dropped against Haditha defendant
The Marine Corps dropped charges and gave full immunity Friday to a serviceman who was accused of involuntary manslaughter in a squad's killing of 24 Iraqis in Haditha in 2005.

03/28/08 kuwaittimes: Iran cleric calls on Iraqis to end fighting
A hardline Iranian cleric called on Friday for the Iraqi government and a Muslim Shi'ite militia to stop fighting and strike a deal. Ayatollah Ahmad Janati made his appeal in a sermon broadcast on state radio on the fourth day of a crackdown...

03/28/08 BBC: Iraq extends Shia arms deadline
Iraq's government has extended by 10 days a deadline for Shia militiamen fighting troops in the southern city of Basra to hand over their weapons. More than 130 people have been killed and 350 injured since a clampdown on militias began...

03/28/08 Reuters: 13 insurgents killed across Baghdad
U.S. forces killed 13 insurgents during engagements across Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

03/28/08 Reuters: U.S. helicopter fire kills 4 gunmen in Sadr City
A U.S. helicopter fired a hellfire missile at gunmen firing from the roof of a building, killing four of them, in Sadr City, a U.S. military spokesman said. Police said 12 people were killed and 60 wounded in several U.S. air strikes on Sadr City.

03/28/08 Reuters: 7 bodies found in Baghdad
Seven bodies were found in Baghdad on Friday, police said.

03/28/08 Reuters: 7 people killed, 15 wounded in Mahmudiya
Seven people were killed and 15 others wounded in clashes between Mehdi Army fighters and Iraqi security forces in Mahmudiya, 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

03/28/08 Reuters: Iraqi Army Colonel killed in Numaniya
An Army Colonel, Jabar Rashid, was killed in clashes with Mehdi Army fighters in Numaniya, 120 km (72 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

03/28/08 Reuters: 15 people killed, 50 wounded in clashes in Nassiriya
Fifteen people including three policemen were killed and 50 people wounded in clashes between Mehdi Army fighters and Iraqi security forces in Nassiriya, 375 km (235 miles) southwest of Baghdad, a hospital source said.

03/28/08 Reuters: Six policemen killed, 9 wounded in Hamza
Six policeman were killed and nine others wounded in clashes with Mehdi Army fighters in Hamza, 35 km (22 miles) south of Hilla, police said. Sixty-two gunmen were captured in these clashes.

03/28/08 Reuters: 6 policemen killed, 42 peoeple wounded in Hilla
Six policemen have been killed and 42 people including 30 policemen wounded in clashes between Iraqi security forces and Mehdi Army fighters since Tuesday across Hilla...Eighty- five gunmen have been captured during these clashes, they said.

03/28/08 channel4: British jets fire on Basra militia
British jets have unleashed a hail of cannon fire around Basra, forcing militia to take cover as fighting in the city continued for a fourth day. The show of force came after US pilots strafed suspected insurgent positions...

03/28/08 telegraph: Rift between UK diplomats and Army in Basra
Signs of a rift were growing among British officials as diplomats said that UK forces "stand ready to support" Iraqi soldiers as and when requested, contradicting military statements that UK forces would be confined to "niche" roles.

03/28/08 wtkr: Local Soldier Credited With Saving Little Iraqi Girl's Arm
A local National Guard Soldier is being credited with saving a little Iraqi girl's arm. Captain Jon Brillhart is a soldier with a Portsmouth National Guard unit now in Iraq. He helped a little girl who suffered severe burns on her arm...

03/28/08 BBC: Iraq extends militiamen deadline
Iraq's government has extended by 10 days a deadline for Shia militiamen fighting troops in the southern city of Basra to hand over their weapons. More than 130 people have been killed and 350 injured since a clampdown on militias began in Basra...

03/28/08 timesonline: Basra police shed uniforms, kept rifles and switched sides
Abu Iman barely flinched when the Iraqi Government ordered his unit of special police to move against al-Mahdi Army fighters....He and 15 of his comrades took off their uniforms, kept their government-issued rifles and went over to the other side...

03/28/08 Reuters: 3 policemen and 2 civilians killed, 25 wounded in Nassiriya
Three policemen and two civilians were killed and 25 people wounded in clashes between Mehdi Army fighters and Iraqi security forces in Nassiriya, 375 km (235 miles) southwest of Baghdad, a hospital source said.

03/28/08 Reuters: 26 gunmen captured in Hilla
Iraqi security forces captured 26 gunmen across Hilla, 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

03/28/08 Reuters: 3 gunmen killed, 7 captured north of Kerbala
Three gunmen were killed and seven others captured when they attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint in the Husseiniya district north of Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police said.

03/28/08 Reuters: Clashes kill 3 police officers, wounded two militants in Kut
Clashes between Mehdi Army fighters and Iraqi security forces killed three police officers and wounded two militants in Kut, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police said.

03/28/08 Reuters: Gunmen killed the mayor of Ghmash neighbourhood
Gunmen killed the mayor of the Ghmash neighbourhood in Diwaniya...sparking "very severe" clashes between Iraqi security forces and Mehdi Army fighters, police said. An office of Moqtada al-Sadr's followers was burned in retaliation.

03/28/08 Reuters: Air strike kills 3 people in Baghdad's Kadhimiya neighbourhood
A U.S. air strike in Baghdad's Kadhimiya neighbourhood killed three people and wounded six, police said.

03/28/08 Reuters: 4 people killed in Sadr City air strike
Police said four people were killed and three wounded in a second Sadr City air strike later in the day.

03/28/08 Reuters: U.S. helicopter fire kills 4 gunmen, 5 civilians in Baghdad
A U.S. helicopter fired a hellfire missile at gunmen firing from the roof of a building, killing four of them, a U.S. military spokesman said. Police said five civilians were killed in the strike.

03/28/08 Reuters: At least 120 "enemy" fighters killed in Basra
At least 120 "enemy" fighters have been killed in a four-day-old Iraqi military operation against Shi'ite militias in the southern oil hub of Basra, said Major-General Ali Zaidan, commander of Iraqi ground forces in the operation.

03/28/08 Reuters: Missile hits Iraqi Vice President's office
THE office of Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi was hit in a mortar or rocket strike on Baghdad's Green Zone government and diplomatic compound on Friday, and a security guard was killed, an official in his office said.

03/28/08 NPR: Iraq's Prime Minister Extends Basra Arms Deadline
Iraq's prime minister on Friday extended a deadline for Shiite militants in southern Basra to hand over their weapons. Nouri al-Maliki also said the militants would receive a financial reward if they complied. Renee Montagne talks...

03/28/08 local6: Fla. Husband, Wife Deployed To Iraq Leaving 1-Year-Old For Year
A U.S. Army married couple in Florida being deployed together will serve their country will have to be away from their 1-year-old son for a year. Yvette and William Sims will soon be heading to Iraq as members of the Army Reserve's 345th...

03/28/08 AP: Relatives of 2 contractors hear the worst
After 16 months of hoping and praying, family members of two U.S. contractors kidnapped in Iraq received the news they feared: Their loved ones were not coming home alive

03/28/08 signonsandiego: Amputee going back to battle
The bomb exploded as Marine Lance Cpl. Robert Pofahl turned around to talk with Cpl. Garrett Jones during a foot patrol in Karmah, Iraq. Despite being thrown forward, Pofahl quickly pushed himself off the ground and rushed toward the site...

03/28/08 Reuters: Nine people killed, 95 wounded in clashes in Baghdad
Nine people were killed and 95 others wounded in clashes between Iraqi security forces and Mehdi Army members in different parts of Baghdad, said Major-General Qassim Moussawi, spokesman for Iraqi security forces in Baghdad.

03/28/08 Reuters: Three policen killed in Hamza
Three policemen were killed and three others, including two soldiers, were wounded in clashes with Mehdi Army fighters in Hamza, 35 km (22 miles) south of Hilla, police said.

03/28/08 Reuters: One gunman killed, eight others captured in Diwaniya
One gunman was killed and eight others captured after they attacked a police patrol in central Diwaniya, 180 km (112 miles) south of Baghdad, army Colonel Ghasan Mohammed said. One policeman was wounded in the attack.

go here for the links

http://icasualties.org/oif/

491 killed in Afghanistan which has been forgotten about. All of this adds to the reasons they are dying there and killing themselves back home. If you still don't understand how PTSD strikes them, go there yourself.

Afghanistan And Regional Instability: A Risk Assessment

By Human Security Report Project EXCERPT: "The report offers a stocktaking of Afghanistan’s regional challenges. It finds that domestic instability in Pakistan, strains in Pakistan–Afghanistan relations and insecurities associated with the US–Iran stand-off on Iran’s

Pakistan says US and Afghanistan Behind Al-Qaeda and Taliban

By Yid With Lid(Yid With Lid) The right wing Pakistani Newspaper Roznama Ausaf and its acting interior minister Hamid Nawaz, say the US in conjunction with Afghanistan and India are working with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban to create terrorism and destabilize Pakistan.

Quietly, the UAE deployed their Army in Afghanistan to help the ...

By revolution To sum it up, nobody really knew that the UAE had sent their own army to Afghanistan to give support to the Kuffaar. Clearly, they are Murtadeen and we ask Allah to dishonor these Arabs that have no Islaam.

British Casualties in Afghanistan - Updates for February 2008

By Casualty Monitor(Casualty Monitor) Updates of casualty data for February 2008 have now been published for the casualty monitor projects for British forces in Afghanistan. The trend in combat casualties has remained steady for the last 3 months, with levels at about ...

UAE Forces in Afghanistan

By Silent Hunter BBC NEWS World South Asia Muslim troops help win Afghan minds Suspect Al-Qaeda's not going to be too happy with the UAE

O'Malley, Mikulski seek more funds to help returning troops

More post-deployment aid urged
O'Malley, Mikulski seek more funds to help returning troops
By John Fritze Sun reporter
8:30 PM EDT, March 27, 2008

Gov. Martin O'Malley and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski told a group of soldiers Thursday that the government must do more to help returning troops by increasing mental health funding and cutting bureaucracy in existing programs.

During a meeting at the Fifth Regiment Armory in Baltimore, both officials heard accounts from about a dozen members of the Maryland National Guard who had emotional and financial problems after returning from deployment overseas.

About 1,500 members of the Guard are expected to return to Maryland in the next six months, a wave that is likely to strain state-funded integration programs. Last year, 1,300 members of the Army National Guard and 350 Air National Guard members from Maryland were deployed, according to the governor's office.

"When they come back home, just like they stood by America, America has to stand by them," said Mikulski, who vowed to seek an additional $45 million for integration programs nationwide. "We've got to help these guardsmen."
go here for the rest
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-guard0327,0,4371180.story

Veterans Legislative Updates

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
All links from United Female Veterans Of America http://www.ufva.us/
More Info
March 28, 2008

Reps. Michaud and Miller Introduce Substance Abuse Legislation for Veterans Congressman Mike Michaud (D-Maine), Chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health, joined with Congressman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), the subcommittee’s Ranking Member, to introduce the Veterans Substance Use Disorder Prevention and Treatment Act of 2008. The bill would require the VA to provide a range of solutions for treating substance abuse at every VA medical center. Rep. Michaud penned an op-ed in The Hill on this legislation.

DAV Testifies on Substance Abuse
DAV’s Assistant National Legislative Director, Joy Ilem, testified before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs earlier this month on substance abuse. She urged the Committee to provide veterans with access to a full continuum of care for substance use disorders, including drug screening in all care locations, intensive outpatient treatment and residential care for the most severely addicted. Her testimony can be viewed here.

Members of Congress Encouraged to Sign Pledge
DAV is asking members of Congress to sign a pledge that supports the principle of ensuring veterans receive the comprehensive medical care and support that they deserve The pledge was distributed earlier this month on Capitol Hill by hundreds of DAV members. A copy of the pledge can be viewed here.

Media Coverage
The Boston Globe wrote about the insufficient support for relatives of disabled veterans and others serving as caretakers.
USA Today ran a story on how the Pentagon admitted to delaying screening for mild brain injuries for two years.

About the Stand Up for Veterans Initiative
"Stand Up for Veterans" is a new initiative of the Disabled American Veterans, an organization of 1.3 million disabled veterans who are focused on building better lives for disabled veterans and their families. The initiative seeks to find public policy solutions for all veterans, particularly those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, who have incurred devastating injuries and disabilities, including traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological wounds of war. Please visit http://capwiz.com/dav/utr/1/EIMWIGMALX/INKAIGMAPB/1856948681 to learn more about this effort. Stand up for veterans. They stood up for us.

Rep. Dave Loebsack:More has to be done for veterans

Veterans still need much more support
Loebsack holds discussion at Burlington VFW.

By CHRISTINIA CRIPPES

ccrippes@thehawkeye.com

Even with an additional $3.8 billion in federal funding in 2008, veterans need more money for services.

"I don't know anybody in Congress, and I certainly don't know anyone in the administration, the president included, who thinks we should not be treating veterans better than we have up to this point," District 2 U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack said.

Loebsack, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, came to Burlington's VFW post Wednesday to hold a roundtable discussion with veterans.

Aside from making them aware of the additional funding -- and the push for a $4.9 billion increase in 2009 -- Loebsack agreed with veterans that much more needs to be done.

"Everyone really supports the troops, everyone supports veterans when they come home," Loebsack said. "I think that we're beginning, in Washington, D.C., to understand and fully accept what veterans have done for us in past wars and the current war."

He said as evidenced by the Vietnam War, that has not always been the case.

Loebsack said one area in need of additional attention is caring for veterans of this war effort, as well as of Vietnam, who are experiencing post traumatic stress disorder because of the current conflict.

"We see now either a reoccurrence of PTSD among Vietnam veterans and other vets, or some veterans who've never had PTSD but have been watching the news and seeing what's going on...and now they're suffering from PTSD," Loebsack said. "So, we've seen a rise in a lot of incidents like this because of the most recent war."

Loebsack has traveled to Iraq twice and Afghanistan once in his 15 months in office.

"I think at least veterans are getting a better shake, a more positive shake, when they come back, but this is something that is going to take awhile for us to get right," Loebsack said.

More to be done
go here for the rest
http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Loebsack-veterans-032708

There is no room for the new veterans. Because there is no room for the new veterans needing help, the older veterans, like Vietnam veterans, are being pushed back out of the way. Go into any VA hospital and ask for an appointment when you are not part of the new generation and see what you get for an answer. At the same time advocacy work is working for the Vietnam veterans gaining information on what is wrong with them when it comes to PTSD, the VA has decided that the older veterans need to wait longer than before. Appointments are being pushed back because they have deadlines on getting new veterans into treatment. As bad as it is for the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, think of what it's like for the older ones.

While the government plays catchup to the reality of the dire need all of our veterans are living with, they need to make sure no veteran has to suffer for the sake of another, either way you look at it. I work with the older veterans as well as the new ones because I totally understand that time is key to healing. The sooner they begin being treated, PTSD stops getting worse. Saving time from being lost, saves more of their lives from being eaten away from them.

We have a golden window in which to address the trauma they go through. Ideally they should be treated the same way police, firefighters and emergency responders are treated, on the spot, as soon as possible and they are debriefed as soon as the situation is under control and they can talk about it all. Otherwise they stuff it into the back walls of their brains thinking they "got over it" but then finding out it is eating them alive. This is not possible in combat unless the DOD manages to deploy one Chaplain for every ten soldiers. That isn't going to happen. The next best thing is to get them to open up as soon as they get home before the trauma begins to eat away at them.

It is the same with older veterans. We cannot undo the damage done before they seek help but we can stop it from getting even worse. They all need to get into treatment as soon as possible. Advocates are working on providing the information they need on what PTSD but it will do them no good to understand it if there isn't any help waiting for them when they finally want it. We cannot keep doing this to any of our veterans. Emergency alarms went off four years ago. It's time they paid attention to them!

Chaplain 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

PTSD:Veterans Affairs offers aid in recognizing signs

I don't know if I want to be happy about this or very sad.

Families learning to spot PTSD
Veterans Affairs offers aid in recognizing signs
By Suzanne Bohan, STAFF WRITER
Article Created: 03/27/2008 02:32:42 AM PDT


Roughly one in five soldiers or Marines serving in Iraq and Afghanistan develop post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition that has been plaguing humans through the ages.

"It's been around for thousands of years — as long as there's been war, as long as there's been trauma," said Dr. Byron J. Wittlin, director of mental health services at the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic in San Bruno.

In World War II, the condition was called "shell shock," he said. Now it has an official name: post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

Many of its victims remain untreated, so the VA is trying to educate family members.

"I think it's crucial for (military) family members to be aware of the potential mental health problems of their loved ones," Wittlin said.

As part of the emphasis on training family members to spot signs of the disorder, he recently spoke to a group from the Pacifica Military Moms, a chapter of the national organization, The Blue Star Mothers of America.

Debbie Smyser, co-founder of the Pacifica group and a trainer at Genentech in South San Francisco, has a 21-year-old son in Iraq.

A number of the members of the group also have offspring in Iraq or Afghanistan, and Smyser said they wanted to be prepared to help their children should they return in mental distress.

"We need to know what to recognize, in case we need to get them help," she said. "It's just to make us aware and what signs to look for."

However, the disorder is not unique to military personnel who have witnessed or experienced violence from combatants, or other extreme stresses of wartime service, Wittlin said.
go here for the rest
http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_8713495

Why does it always seem the government is the last one to catch up to speed? We've been doing this for years. I've been doing this for 25 years and 10 of it has been online. Two years ago I started doing the videos. Now,,,,now the VA wants to help people understand what PTSD is!!!!!

Boston University report on PTSD

PTSD Associated With More, Longer Hospitalizations, Study Shows

ScienceDaily (Mar. 28, 2008) — Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) have found post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with more hospitalizations, longer hospitalizations and greater mental healthcare utilization in urban primary care patients. These findings appear in the current issue of Medical Care.

Prior studies suggest that trauma exposure and PTSD have considerable impact on health care use and costs. Most of this research, however, has focused on male veterans and female sexual assault victims but the impact on healthcare use in other populations is uncertain.

The researchers interviewed a sample of primary care patients to examine overall prevalence of traumatic exposure and select behavioral health outcomes in addition to PTSD, including major depression, substance dependence and chronic pain. The interview included demographic questions, the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (version 2.1 PTSD module), the Chronic Pain Definitional Questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire (to measure depression) and the Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form (for drug and alcohol dependence).

Among the participants, the researchers found that 80 percent had one or more trauma exposures. Compared to participants with no trauma exposure, subjects exposed to trauma were significantly more likely to be males, unmarried, have substance dependence and depression. They also had more mental health visits than those with no trauma exposure.

Among the participants, 22 percent had current PTSD. Compared to participants without PTSD, those with PTSD were significantly more likely to be female, to have an annual income of less than or equal to $20,000, have substance dependence and depression. PTSD participants also had more hospitalizations and mental health visits.

According to the researchers, among urban primary care patients PTSD is associated with greater health care use: both mental health visits and hospitalizations. "Unexpectedly, trauma exposure by itself was not associated with increased healthcare utilization apart from mental health visits, a finding which was attenuated after adjusting for PTSD," said lead author Anand Kartha, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at BUSM. "This may be due to the fact that the non-traumatized to whom we are comparing the traumatized patients, have complex social milieu leading to high utilization," added Kartha.

"PTSD has a cost beyond the specific mental health symptoms," said senior author Jane Liebschutz, MD, an associate professor of medicine and social and behavioral sciences at BUSM and a primary care physician at BMC. "PTSD may be on the causal pathway between trauma experiences and negative health consequences. These findings are relevant in light of the PTSD prevalence not only in our returning veterans, but in areas of urban poor," she added.

This study was supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Adapted from materials provided by Boston University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.



http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080327172124.htm

The Pastor's Ass

We all need to laugh every now and then. Just one of the emails I get from one of my Aunts.

The Pastor's Ass


The pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won.

The pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again, and it won again.

The local paper read:PASTOR'S ASS OUT FRONT.

The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the pastor not to enter the donkey in another race.

The next day, the local paper headline read:

BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR'S ASS.


This was too much for the bishop, so he ordered the pastor to get rid of the donkey.

The pastor decided to give it to a nun in a nearby convent.


The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following headline the next day:

NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN.

The bishop fainted.


He informed the nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey, so she sold it to a farmer for $10.


The next day the paper read:

NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10.

This was too much for the bishop, so he ordered the nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild.


The next day the headlines read:

NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE.

The bishop was buried the next day.


The moral of the story is. . . being concerned about public opinion can bring you much grief and misery .. even shorten your life.


So be yourself and enjoy life.


Stop worrying about everyone else's ass and you'll be a lot happier and live longer!

War Comes Home "The man I married died in Iraq"

Last year while doing research for the video about suicides, Death Because They Served, (watch it on the right side of the blog with the rest of my videos) I had to search high and low for reports that had been confirmed as suicides. This was before the major new networks took this on in response to complaints the DOD and the VA were not providing reports that could be studied. Many families were left hanging, waiting for the "investigation" to be ended to be provided some closure. While searching I came upon many reports of young soldiers with deaths categorized as "natural causes" leaving the impression the DOD must have let in a lot of recruits that were either very unhealthy, or there was a lot more to these stories.

The link to Non-combat deaths

http://namguardianangel.blogspot.com/2007/04/
non-combat-deaths-non-caring-media.html

Twenty year olds do not die in such high numbers from "natural causes" and then we read reports that fear can cause heart attacks. We read reports of inoculations causing pneumonia. Depleted uranium causing cancer and birth defects, much like Agent Orange caused them after Vietnam. We read reports that the water is tainted and contaminated causing skin and internal illnesses. All of this and yet I only had a small portion of the deaths not connected to bullets and bombs.

Within the reports came suspected links to Larium and violent murder/suicides.

I received this email this morning with a request to post it. I do so gladly. We need to calculate all available evidence and information to ever understand the true price of war and what we ask of those who serve. I was a member of ATSS and because of this, I think I'll join again.

Chaplain 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

Could you please post this on your website:

"In the Spring of 2002, members of the elite Special Operations units began returning home from duty in Afghanistan. Within six weeks, four Army wives, and one soldier, would be dead.

On June 11, 2002, Sergeant First Class Rigoberto Nieves, who had returned from Afghanistan just two days earlier fatally shot his wife, Teresa, and then killed himself.

Master Sergeant William Wright strangled his wife Jennifer on June 29, 2002, and then buried her body in a shallow grave.

On July 9, 2002, Sergeant Cedric Ramon Griffin stabbed his estranged wife, Marilyn, 50 times and then set her house on fire.

On July 19, 2002, the same day as Master Sergeant Wright was arrested for the murder of his wife, Sergeant First Class Brandon Floyd shot his wife Andrea to death and then and then took his own life. On July 30, 2002, Fort Bragg police arrested the wife of a major for shooting him in the head and chest while he slept. These homicides made national news, owing mainly to the number of deaths at Fort Bragg in a short period of time extreme prejudice with which the acts were committed. The incident also caused an increased awareness of post-deployment combat-related stress.

However, such incidents continue to occur following deployment throughout the US.

During a recent address to the House of Representatives, Stacy Bannerman, author of “When the War Came Home: The Inside Story of Reservists and the Families They Leave Behind” and wife of a Reservist reflected on an incident occurring in May 2007:

"This war cost me my family. When my husband returned from Iraq it quickly became apparent he was suffering from PTSD. He became increasingly verbally and mentally abusive to not only my daughter and I, but many of his subordinates at work who either quit or he had fired. He refused to admit he had a problem, and since the military does no mental status follow-up [for Reservists] he hasn't received any treatment for his condition. As a consequence, my family is destroyed. My son isn't being raised by his dad and my daughter lost the only father she knew. I know a divorce isn't as bad as losing my husband to death, but I can honestly say the man I married died in Iraq."

Unfortunately, the current system of screening for PTSD reflects data collected from past male-dominated warfare. However, Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) are unprecedented in the number of women exposed to combat-related stress and the percentage of Reserve and National Guard personnel, who never anticipated becoming full-time military members. Scientific research conducted since the end of the Vietnam Conflict finds PTSD is greatly influenced by personality factors and pre-existing ways of coping.

Unfortunately, a significant void exists in understanding how childhood social learning influences PTSD in the aftermath of deployment.

In April/May 2008, a PhD dissertation study of how gender, personality, traumatic experiences prior to deployment, and ways of coping affect post-deployment wellness will be conducted. Three groups of people are needed: (1) persons between the ages of 18-38 who have never served in the military; (2) persons (male and female) who have been deployed in support of OEF/OIF within the past 18 months; and (3) persons (military and non-military) who have been diagnosed by a medical or mental health authority with PTSD (combat related/or non-combat related). The researchers particularly need women (military and non-military) who served in Vietnam, Desert Storm or OEF/OIF, or experienced assault and sexual trauma.

Participants will need to complete a series of questionnaires requiring approximately 90 minutes to complete. No names or identifying information will be attached to the questionnaires; however, each volunteer will need to sign a Letter of Informed Consent of the benefits and risks prior to completing the questionnaires.

The completed study will be provided to the Department of Defense Surgeon Generals and Veterans Administration to develop more-targeted pre-deployment training, intra-deployment intervention, and post-deployment treatment. The findings of the study will also be used to train and treat professionals deployed in support of national disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.

If you are interested in participating in the study, please contact drhensley1@aol.com for more information."

Alan L. Hensley, PhD Candidate, BCETS, FAAETS
Board Certified Expert in Traumatic StressFellow,
American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress (AAETS)Member,
Association of Traumatic Stress SpecialistsMember,
American Counseling Association(712) 526-2401

Tampa Homeless Survey Hits Streets

Homeless Survey Hits Streets

By KEITH MORELLI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 28, 2008

Updated: 12:14 am

TAMPA - Jayne Stelley, in the lime-green T-shirt of the survey team, chatted easily outside a day-labor office with Leslie Joseph, a 52-year-old homeless man, hoping to get a glimpse into what can be done to ease his misery.

Three teams made up of volunteers and homeless advocates spread out Thursday in Tampa and Brandon toting armloads of survey forms, each consisting of 19 pages of questions meant to help identify the real problems facing the nearly 10,000 homeless men, women and children in Hillsborough County.

Joseph was a willing interviewee, answering question after question - including some intensely personal - about his life, the help he gets and the help he doesn't get.

He said he gets work occasionally, but could work more. For some unknown reason, his teeth began falling out over the past few weeks. He spent last night in a halfway house nearby.

He's been homeless for about two months.

"I know I don't look homeless," he said. "But looks can be deceiving."

Nearby volunteers interviewed others.

Chap Cererin works with the Department of Veterans' Affairs and said he wants to help veterans who have found themselves without a home. He said he has an easy rapport with them.

"You have to treat them with respect," Cererin said.
go here for the rest
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/mar/28/me-homeless-survey-hits-streets/

Homeless Veteran buried with dignity

Homeless Veteran Gets Military Burial
Miri Marshall-KFOX Morning News Traffic Anchor/Reporter
POSTED: 12:39 pm MDT March 27, 2008

EL PASO, Texas -- Family and friends wiped tears as they bid farewell to Navy Veteran Steven Lee Osborn Monday at Fort Bliss National Cemetery.

“We’re all gonna (going to) miss him,” said Osborn’s friend Besi Nicholes.

Osborn, 48, died of pneumonia. He was known for loving the desert and polishing trucks.

“He was a really a neat guy.” Said Nicholes. “He really was very humble, kind, loving, very understanding."

Osborn was homeless and last living in Socorro’s Tent City. He was one of more than 270,000 homeless veterans living on the streets.

The Dignity Memorial Program paid for Osborn’s burial arrangements. The program is sponsored by Kaster-Maxon & Futrell Funeral Home. Dignity Memorial pays for the military burial of homeless veterans.

"Instead of being buried in a pauper's grave they will be buried here at the national cemetery,” said Dignity Memorial spokeswoman Mary Slawson. “They served their country and did what they did for our country, then we need to give back to them."
go here for the rest
http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/15724291/detail.html

Public opinion on Iraq:Call in

Media Advisory for Friday, March 28, 2008 @ 1PM, EDT***

Call-in#: 888-325-3989, Passcode: 546571



Iraq Experts Hold Press Conference Call to Respond to Upsurge in Violence, Out of Touch Bush, McCain Assessments on Iraq



As U.S. Forces Are Pulled into Fighting in Baghdad, and as Green Zone Comes Under Attack, Iraq Veteran, National Security Expert, Expert on Public Attitudes Towards Iraq Asses the





WHO: Jon Soltz, Iraq War Veteran and Chairman and Co-Founder of VoteVets.org, Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Jim Gerstein, Democracy Corps



WHAT: Press Conference Call Regarding Upsurge in Violence in Iraq, Evolving Public Opinion on Iraq



WHEN: Friday, March 28, 2008, 1:00 P.M.



Call-in#: 888-325-3989

Passcode: 546571

Free iPhone with Every Outrage!

Free iPhone with Every Outrage!
Bored with the 'war' on Iraq? 4,000 dead merely induce shrugging? Need an incentive to keep caring?
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist

Friday, March 28, 2008

It is a time for a radical rethinking. It is a time to reconsider it all, to perhaps reassess how we are presenting and digesting America's most costly and lost and unwinnable and brutal and ignoble and inept and insidious and depressing war that's not really a war; it's time to revolutionize how it's all packaged and broadcast and pumped like hot sticky misery into the heavily narcotized American cultural bloodstream because, oh my God, we are sick sick sick of it all, and only getting sicker.

This is the problem: People are getting bored. Check that: People are already bored, insanely so, have been bored for a few years now, so utterly and thoroughly jaded and burned out on stories and pictures and woeful tales of Iraq and death and Baghdad and cluster bombs and burned-out trucks and limbless soldiers and flag-draped coffins and photos of a grinning George W. Bush posing with a horribly burned, mutilated U.S. soldier, it might as well be Lindsay Lohan snorting blow off the dashboard of an Escalade.

We have now accomplished 4,000 dead U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Did you see that headline? Did it cause anything but a stab of pain and a heavy sigh and a need to click a different headline, maybe the one about cute baby polar bears in Germany? Did you simply mash and mix that inglorious number with tales of wretched economic meltdown and torture and health care system collapse and roll it all into a little ball of sadness and hurl it at the wall of forgetfulness? You are not alone.
go here for the rest
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/03/28/notes032808.DTL

Bill Addresses Military Suicides

Bill Addresses Military Suicides
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Senior Editor
March 27, 2008

(CNSNews.com) - Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) recently introduced legislation requiring the Defense Department to establish a detailed database on suicides and attempted suicides among U.S. troops.

Last year, 121 soldiers committed suicide and another 2,100 attempted suicide, Boxer said on her Web site. She noted that the 2,100 attempted suicides represents a six-fold increase since 2002 (when the U.S. was not at war).

In addition to requiring a comprehensive database, the Boxer-Lieberman legislation (formally, The Armed Forces Suicide Prevention Act of 2008) would require the individual investigation of all suicides across the Armed Forces, and it would require the Pentagon to provide Congress with regular updates on military suicides.

A second bill, The Armed Forces Mental Health Professionals Recruitment and Retention Enhancement Act of 2008, would increase the number of uniformed mental health providers serving service members and their families. (Lieberman noted that the troops have a strong preference for uniformed, rather than civilian, providers.)

"This legislation will help ensure that the Defense Department and Congress are getting an adequate picture of the state of mental health within our Armed Forces," Boxer said in a news release.
go here for the rest
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200803/NAT20080327d.html

Murder trail points to war trauma

Army Ranger Sgt. Gary Smith is accused of killing fellow Ranger Spc. Michael A. McQueen II.
Montgomery County Police Department / AP

Murder Trial Points to War Trauma
Thursday, Mar. 27, 2008
By MARK THOMPSON/WASHINGTON

A Maryland murder trial is being turned into a debate on the lingering traumatic impact of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on the psyche of the Americans who served there. The prosecution is trying to prove that Gary Smith, a one-time Army Ranger, murdered his roommate of 20 days and fellow Ranger Michael McQueen, 22, by putting a .38-caliber revolver to his right temple and pulling the trigger. Smith's attorney, however, notes that the 25-year-old former sergeant has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following repeated combat tours, and insists that McQueen committed suicide, drunk, despondent and unemployed.

Whether McQueen's death was a murder or a suicide, the tale offers a rare window into the grim realities of post-war mental trauma. As the odometer of war clicks past 4,000 killed in Iraq, and approaches 500 in Afghanistan, it's stories like those about the Ranger roommates that often fall below the nation's radar screen. The Army introduced these two men to one another — McQueen was African-American; Smith is white — and dispatched them to Afghanistan together twice, in 2004 and 2005. There, it seems one or both became unhinged by the experience. But in a country that rescues Wall Street banks from ruin while down-on-their-luck homeowners find themselves suddenly homeless, the prosecution would prefer to keep the focus of the trial in the Rockville, Maryland, courthouse away from the war.

"This is a homicide — Gary Smith is the person that did it," prosecutor John Maloney said in his opening argument March 18 in what is expected to be a two-week trial. "The most important thing you'll bring to your deliberations is your common sense." But Smith's attorney, Andrew Jezic, said McQueen was unemployed, not in school and drinking heavily when he killed himself. Smith, upset at the death of a war buddy, tried to hide how he died to preserve McQueen's dignity — and to avoid being implicated — according to police files. "There is no motive in this case," Jezic said. "Zero."

go here for the rest

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1725860,00.html

VA Reaches Out to Women Veterans

VA Reaches Out to Women Veterans

March 27, 2008

Women Vets Have Earned “Benefits, Respect, Thanks” – Peake
Fourth National Summit on Women Veterans Issues Begins June 20

WASHINGTON -- Recognizing the valor, service and sacrifice of America’s 1.7 million women veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has created a comprehensive array of benefits and programs.

“Women who served this country in uniform -- whether veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, the current Global War on Terror or peacetime service -- have earned our respect and thanks,” said Dr. James B. Peake, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. “They have also earned the full range of VA programs offered by a grateful nation.”

Secretary Peake also announced the Fourth National Summit on Women Veterans Issues to be held from June 20 – 22 in Washington D.C. The Summit will offer attendees an opportunity to enhance future progress on women veterans issues, with sessions specifically for the Reserve and National Guard, information on military sexual trauma and readjustment issues, after the military veteran resources and many more programs and exhibits.

http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfMAR08/nf032808-4.htm

Minnesota Female Veterans Face Unique Challenges

Thursday, March 27, 2008
Coming home

Minnesota female veterans face unique challenges

Although the numbers of female veterans are increasing, the lack of studies and information about female veterans makes it difficult to gauge the needs of returning female soldiers. Mainstream media coverage of returning veterans often makes little or no mention of the women who served. Andrea Lindgren, a state researcher with the Minnesota Office on the Economic Status of Women (OESW) commented on the difficulty of identifying the specific needs of female veterans. "There's not a lot of information out there," said Lindgren. "I think it's cultural-there may be a hesitancy to acknowledge that there exist issues related to being female."

by Kendall Anderson

Chante Wolf was in the U.S. Air Force for 12 years, returning to civilian life in 1992 after the first Gulf war. But the soldier-turned-activist has traveled a long road to resolving the trauma of what she calls regular sexual harassment and near-rape while serving her country.

"It's only recently that I started dealing with-started talking about in therapy-the sexual stuff, knowing that the longer this goes on the deeper this wound will go," said Wolf, now 50. "You just bury it."

The stress first surfaced in verbal attacks against her parents. Added to the normal anxiety veterans often face-Wolf slept with a loaded .357 magnum under her pillow during her first few years back-the sexual trauma nearly put the veteran over the top. She drank herself to sleep for many years.

That extra anguish from sexual assault and sexual harassment is not something every female vet experiences. But it's one of several challenges female vets face when returning to civilian life. So is returning to societal norms of female behavior and resuming parenting and other family roles that may differ dramatically from being a soldier. That's something Gina Sanders can testify to.

Becoming mom again
Sanders (not her real name), 25, came home to her son and found he was not quite the same. A sergeant who had served in Iraq, she had to accept that her toddler had experienced milestones without her. Her son's father took over parenting-and continued even after she first returned from duty.

"Coming home to your family, you're very happy to be home. You're thinking that the family you come home to are the same as when you left, which is not true-they had their own struggles while you're away," said Sanders, 25.

Eager as she is to become her son's most important parent-Sanders is a single mom-she also misses aspects of the life she left behind, especially the female soldiers who shared her experiences. The pleasure of being with her son has been the best part of coming home.

"It is a difficult transition coming home from the deployment. We tend to come back as stronger, more independent women," said Brandi N. Wilson, women veterans coordinator, Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs. Wilson sees among women vets challenged by parenting and interpersonal relating. She added that female vets often have a harder time finding the support they need.

Female vets and rape:
Nearly one-third of a nationwide sample of female veterans seeking V.A. health care said they experienced rape or attempted rape during their service. Among them:
• 37 percent said they were raped multiple times
• 14 percent reported they were gang-raped.


Family matters
43% of female vets have at least one child, compared to 22% of male vets.
56% of female vets are married, compared to 72% of male vets.

click above for the rest

IRAQ: Fever Named After Blackwater

IRAQ: Fever Named After Blackwater
By Ali al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail*

FALLUJAH, Mar 26 (IPS) - Iraqi doctors in al-Anbar province warn of a new disease they call "Blackwater" that threatens the lives of thousands. The disease is named after Blackwater Worldwide, the U.S. mercenary company operating in Iraq.

"This disease is a severe form of malarial infection caused by the parasite plasmodium falciparum, which is considered the worst type of malarial infection," Dr. Ali Hakki from Fallujah told IPS. "It is one of the complications of that infection, and not the ordinary picture of the disease. Because of its frequent and severe complications, such as Blackwater fever, and its resistance to treatment, P. falciparum can cause death within 24 hours."

What Iraqis now call Blackwater fever is really a well-known medical condition, and while it has nothing to do with Blackwater Worldwide, Iraqis in al-Anbar province have decided to make the connection between the disease and the lethal U.S.-based company which has been responsible for the death of countless Iraqis.

The disease is most prevalent in Africa and Asia. The patient suffers severe intravascular haemolysis -- the destruction of red blood cells leading to kidney and liver failure. It also leads to black or red urination, and hence perhaps the new name 'Blackwater'.

The deadly disease, never before seen in Iraq on at least this scale, seems to be spreading across the country. And Iraq lacks medicines, hospitals, and doctors to lead a campaign to fight the disease.

"We informed the ministry of the disease, but it seems that they are not in a mood to listen," a doctor from the al-Anbar Health Office in Ramadi told IPS, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We are making personal contacts with NGOs in an attempt to get the necessary medicines."
go here for the rest
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41743
linked from RawStory

FDA Investigates Suicide With Merck Drug Singulair

FDA Investigates Suicide With Merck Drug
By MATTHEW PERRONE | AP Business Writer
4:29 PM EDT, March 27, 2008

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it is investigating a possible link between Merck's best-selling Singulair and suicide. FDA said it is reviewing a handful of reports involving mood changes, suicidal behavior and suicide in patients who have taken the popular allergy and asthma drug.

Merck has updated the drug's labeling four times in the past year to include information on a range of reported side effects: tremors, anxiousness, depression and suicidal behavior.

FDA said it asked the Whitehouse, N.J.-based company to dig deeper into its data on Singulair for evidence of possible links to suicide. The agency said it has not established a "causal relationship" between Merck's drug and suicidal behavior. An agency spokeswoman said the review was prompted by three to four suicide reports it received since last October.

It could take up to nine months before agency scientists can draw any conclusions, FDA said in a posting to its Web site.
click post title for the rest

Military Tells Bush of Troop Strains

U.S. Army soldiers from Third Squadron, Third Armored Cavalry Regiment rest between missions at Combat Outpost Rabiy in Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq on Wednesday, March 26, 2008. The northern city is considered by the U.S. military as the last urban stronghold for al-Qaida in Iraq. (Maya Alleruzzo/AP Photo)

Military Tells Bush of Troop Strains
At Pentagon, Bush Hears Military's Worries on War Strains From Long, Frequent Iraq Deployments
The Associated Press By ROBERT BURNS AP Military Writer
WASHINGTON Mar 27, 2008 (AP)

Behind the Pentagon's closed doors, U.S. military leaders told President Bush they are worried about the Iraq war's mounting strain on troops and their families. But they indicated they'd go along with a brief halt in pulling out troops this summer.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff did say senior commanders in Iraq should make more frequent assessments of security conditions, an idea that appeared aimed at increasing pressure for more rapid troop reductions.

The chiefs' concern is that U.S. forces are being worn thin, compromising the Pentagon's ability to handle crises elsewhere in the world.

In the war zone itself, two more American soldiers were killed Wednesday in separate attacks in Baghdad, raising the U.S. death toll to at least 4,003, according to an Associated Press count. Volleys of rockets also slammed into Baghdad's Green Zone for the third day this week, and the U.S. Embassy said three Americans were seriously wounded. At least eight Iraqis were killed elsewhere in the capital by rounds that apparently fell short.

go here for the rest
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/WireStory?id=4533124&page=1

And they wonder why there are so many veterans with PTSD?

Court: Michael Moore did not defame Iraq vet Sgt. Peter Damon

DAVID W. OLIVEIRA / NEW BEDFORD STANDARD TIMES VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS Former Army National Guard Sgt. Peter Damon sued filmmaker Michael Moore for $85 million, alleging that Moore used snippets of a television interview without his permission to falsely portray him as anti-war in "Fahrenheit 9/11." A court has ruled against him.

Court: Michael Moore did not defame Iraq vet

The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 27, 2008 13:54:21 EDT

BOSTON — A federal appeals court has ruled filmmaker Michael Moore did not defame an Iraq war veteran when he used a clip from a television interview without his permission in the anti-war documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11.”

The 1st Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed a federal judge’s decision to dismiss Army Sgt. Peter Damon’s lawsuit against Moore.

Damon, who lost his arms when a tire on a Black Hawk helicopter exploded while he and another reservist were servicing the aircraft, claimed he was humiliated and emotionally distressed after Moore included a clip from a TV interview in his scathing 2004 documentary criticizing the Bush administration and the war in Iraq.

In the interview, Damon was asked about a new painkiller the military was using on wounded veterans. He claimed the way Moore used the clip makes him appear to “voice a complaint about the war effort” when he was actually complaining about “the excruciating type of pain” that comes with the injury he suffered.

Damon is shown shortly after Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., is speaking about the Bush administration and says, “You know, they say they’re not leaving any veterans behind, but they’re leaving all kinds of veterans behind.”
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/ap_michaelmoorelawsuit_032708/

Behind the Bloodshed, Some Backstory of Lance Cpl. Acevedo

You read the story of Marine Lance Cpl. Eric Acevedo, the other day. With much admiration for Lily of Healing Combat Trauma, I am posting the follow up she did on the story. Lily is a friend and very talented. I just wish reporters would take the same interest in the stories they write to do such a fantastic job of telling the stories behind the stories.

Lily Casura
Published writer and editor; Journalist & blogger; Harvard grad; compassionate human being; Friend of Veterans

March 27, 2008
Behind the Bloodshed, Some Backstory
Another day, another lurid headline. A Marine Lance Corporal in Texas, recently returned from three back-to-back tours of duty in Iraq, and allegedly suffering from PTSD, breaks into his former girlfriend's home, stabs her to death and then waits, "covered with blood and looking dazed," in the parking lot for police to arrive and arrest him. On the surface, another brutal domestic violence story, with a very tragic ending. Behind the headlines, though, more questions than answers about troops' after-care, and whether ethnicity (the Marine in question is Hispanic) plays or ought to play a part in how PTSD is diagnosed and treated.

First, some facts. Marine Lance Corporal Eric R. Acevedo, 22, was arrested over the weekend for allegedly murdering his former live-in girlfriend, in Saginaw, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has been covering the story, and it's typically gruesome, but it's also a tragedy for all concerned. The victim, who was a single mother; the alleged perpetrator, who will likely do substantial prison time; and both people's families -- the 10 year old girl who now grows up motherless, as well as Acevedo's family, who believed he was struggling with PTSD, but was sent back to Iraq.
go here for the rest
http://www.healingcombattrauma.com/2008/03/the-ugly-backst.html

After the tornado - Greensburg , Kansas

I received this in an email. It shows what humans have to learn from "dumb animals."

After the tornado - Greensburg , Kansas

THIS IS SUCH A NEAT STORY

The story begins with the rescuers finding this poor little guy they named Ralphie.
Ralphie, scared and starved, joined his rescuers...


Someone had already taken him under their wing but weren't equipped to adopt;
I wouldn't think anything could live thru this...but we were wrong.




This little lady also survived that wreckage.
Here she is just placed in the car - scared, but safe.



and then...they are no longer alone!

Instant friends, they comforted each other while in the car.



Add two more beagles found after that...the more, the merrier!
Oh boy, a new traveler to add to the mix...



(note : the cat coming over the seat needing shelter...)



now just how is this going to work??? - and remember they are all strange to one another.




Wow! The things we learn from our animal friends...

If only all of mankind could learn such valuable lessons as this.

Lessons of instant friendship. Of peace and harmony by way of respect for one another -- no matter one's color or creed.

These animals tell you... 'It's just good to be alive and with others.'

Yes, it surely is.

So... Live, Love, Laugh.

'Life's a Gift... Unwrap It!'

Debbie Shank still asks how her son is. He died in Iraq

Brain-damaged woman at center of Wal-Mart suit
Story Highlights
Debbie Shank, 52, suffered severe brain damage in a traffic accident

Wal-Mart's health plan sued Shank and her family to recoup what it paid out

The Shanks got money in suit; Wal-Mart says policy means couple can't get benefits

Couple's son was killed in Iraq after they lost lawsuit to Wal-Mart

By Randi Kaye
CNN


JACKSON, Missouri (CNN) -- Debbie Shank breaks down in tears every time she's told that her 18-year-old son, Jeremy, was killed in Iraq.


Debbie Shank, 52, has severe brain damage after a traffic accident in May 2000.

The 52-year-old mother of three attended her son's funeral, but she continues to ask how he's doing. When her family reminds her that he's dead, she weeps as if hearing the news for the first time.

Shank suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident nearly eight years ago that robbed her of much of her short-term memory and left her in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home.

It was the beginning of a series of battles -- both personal and legal -- that loomed for Shank and her family. One of their biggest was with Wal-Mart's health plan.

Eight years ago, Shank was stocking shelves for the retail giant and signed up for Wal-Mart's health and benefits plan.

Two years after the accident, Shank and her husband, Jim, were awarded about $1 million in a lawsuit against the trucking company involved in the crash. After legal fees were paid, $417,000 was placed in a trust to pay for Debbie Shank's long-term care.

Wal-Mart had paid out about $470,000 for Shank's medical expenses and later sued for the same amount. However, the court ruled it can only recoup what is left in the family's trust.

The Shanks didn't notice in the fine print of Wal-Mart's health plan policy that the company has the right to recoup medical expenses if an employee collects damages in a lawsuit.
go here for the rest
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/25/walmart.insurance.battle/index.html?iref=newssearch

New wars added 662 homeless veterans to New England Shelter

Tallying up the human costs of war

Mélida Arredondo

It’s been five years since the United States began war in Iraq and seven years in Afghanistan. Yet according to a survey recently released by the Pew Research Center, more than one-quarter of the American public — 28 percent, to be exact — is unaware that nearly 4,000 U.S. troops have died in Iraq over the past five years.

No matter what the reason, there is a disconnect among the people of the United States and the impact of the wars our nation is waging, both here and abroad. The numbers are startling. According to the latest government statistics, 4,458 U.S. troops have died and 68,529 U.S. troops have been wounded, injured or become sick while in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

Locally, the state Department of Veterans’ Services reports that a total of 78 troops with ties to Massachusetts have died in Iraq, and 15 have died in Afghanistan.

The number of the dead is low in comparison to Vietnam, where 60,000 U.S. troops were killed or went missing. However, according to The Associated Press, about 15 troops are wounded for every fatality during the current conflicts. This is five times the injury rate of troops who fought in Vietnam.

Dr. Gerald Cross of the federal Veterans Health Administration recently testified that there are 300,000 veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan treated at Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals, and that more than half are treated for serious mental health conditions. Post-traumatic stress disorder accounts for 68,000 cases.

According to VA research obtained in February by The Associated Press, 144 veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan committed suicide from 2001 through the end of 2005. Statistics from 2006 and 2007 are not yet available. In addition, almost 300,000, or about one in four, of the nation’s homeless are veterans. Locally, 662 new veterans have joined the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans this past year, many bearing the signs of trauma from the current wars.
go here for the rest
http://www.baystatebanner.com/issues/2008/03/27/opinion03270858.htm

'Ward 57' examines psyche

'Ward 57' examines psyche
By Bill Hirschman Special Correspondent
March 26, 2008

There is invasive surgery going on inside the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Jessica Goldberg's drama Ward 57, but it's not dissection of the body but of the psyche.

This world premiere is not really about the plight of wounded veterans, although that's certainly examined, and it's not even a tract against the tragedy in Iraq. In fact, the play assiduously respects those who serve and those who dissent.

Ward 57 examines our duty to take responsibility for what we do — and the duty to be intellectually honest about motivations and consequences. Goldberg holds up a mirror and insists we ask the same unsparing questions as her characters.

Her plot sends sincere, if postmodern, screenwriter Wendy Hoffman (Aditi Kapil) to research a film about returning veterans. Her contact at Reed is Capt. Gray Whitrock (Brandon Morris), a prickly counselor who wants to be an example of hope to patients because he lost a leg during his first tour — and then went back for a second.

Whitrock cannot allow Hoffman to visit patients, such as the emotionally tortured Anthony Small (Buddy Haardt), who makes up rap lyrics about his blindness and asks Whitrock to help him commit suicide. So Whitrock and his pregnant wife, Lydia (Bonni Allen), become primary sources for Hoffman's research.

The sparring soldier and screenwriter — opposite poles on the political litmus paper — test each other's sincerity and then the intellectual integrity of their motivations. She sees him as a self-deluded jingoist while he sees her as a parasitic sightseer: " ... we think we lost our limbs for something and you think we lost them for nothing," Whitrock says.
go here for the rest
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/lifestyle/sfl-thwardsbmar26,0,6264311.story


We talk a lot about the death counts, but we don't talk about the wounded in body, mind or spirit. We don't talk about the price they pay after war. Go above and watch the clip of this play.

Shalala: Veterans benefits system is broken

Shalala: Veterans benefits system is broken
26 MAR 2008 • by Juliana Hanson
Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars won't get proper health care until the U.S. government updates and simplifies the bureaucracy strangling benefits and outpatient care.

This is the conclusion of Donna Shalala, former secretary of the U.S. Department Health and Human Services during the Clinton administration. President George W. Bush commissioned Shalala, Bob Dole and several other experts to evaluate the care of wounded veterans after the Washington Post exposed dire conditions at Walter Reed Hospital: deteriorating, rat- and roach-infested housing for family members, neglectful staff, and a mind-numbing bureaucracy. Shalala spoke about their findings to an auditorium packed with students and military personnel Monday, March 10, at N.C. State University.

While deployed, U.S. soldiers have access to world-class health care. But as soon as they leave the hospital bed, Shalala said, "it falls apart ... in the coordination of outpatient care."

This new generation of veterans has different medical needs, yet the dated, convoluted veterans health care system fails many of them. More survivors are returning home with brain injuries and long-term mental health issues, conditions that tend to be more severe and complex. These patients suffer most as they and their families struggle to find continuity among lost records, shuffling caseworkers and miscommunication typical of the military health care system.
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http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A217249

Anthrax vaccine back in the court again

"For a lot of people, it's too late to go to court," he said. "This is a situation that cries out for congressional intervention."

Judge Advances Anthrax Vaccine Rufusal Case

Elaine M. Grossman


Government Executive

Mar 26, 2008

March 24, 2008 - Washington, DC -- A U.S. federal judge has ruled that the Defense Department must again consider exonerating two military pilots whose Connecticut Air National Guard careers ended after they refused to take compulsory anthrax vaccine shots.

The plaintiffs were among hundreds of service members compelled to leave the military after resisting the inoculations during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Many cited qualms about the vaccine's safety and efficacy in protecting against inhaled anthrax, the form of exposure that Pentagon officials anticipated in the event of a biological weapons attack.

The federal courts have since found that the military's mandatory vaccine program was being conducted illegally for more than six years, beginning with its March 1998 inception. Pending Food and Drug Administration approval for using the drug specifically against inhaled anthrax, the Defense Department could not administer the six-shot series without an individual's informed consent, a federal judge said in an October 2004 decision.

The following year, the drug agency issued its long-awaited approval. The question has remained, though, as to whether those service members who refused the vaccine during the previous six-year period might yet be vindicated.
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http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9670

Making room for wounded warriors

We argue about why they are where they are. The question is, where are we when they come home?

Among Vietnam vets with post-traumatic stress disorder who sought mental health care, less than a third went to the VA. Sixty-eight percent of those veterans got care elsewhere.

Conference at Fort Monroe touts medical resources for vets
By Kate Wiltrout
The Virginian-Pilot
© March 27, 2008
FORT MONROE

It took one sobering statistic to bring together 200 social service workers at a regional conference Wednesday.

Thirty-seven percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have sought medical care from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

So, where are the other 63 percent?

This is the question Harold Kudler, a physician and VA mental health services manager, asked the group at the Virginia is for Heroes regional conference.

Almost 800,000 veterans of tours in Iraq and Afghanistan are eligible for services through the VA, he said, and more than 40 percent of those who actually use those services – 120,949 – have reported possible mental health problems.

Kudler warned this “silent majority” of recent combat veterans may turn to other sources for help – churches, family doctors, community service boards – that need to be prepared to assist them.

This reality is what brought together local and state mental health providers, pastoral counselors and educators.

The VA is the federal agency dedicated to serving veterans, and it provides health care to 5.5 million vets – about one in five who are eligible. But the government already knows that young combat veterans might be suffering in silence, or self-medicating with alcohol and drugs. They might show up in jail or at a homeless shelter. Or their children might start getting into trouble at school.

“There should be no wrong door to which Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans or their families can come for help,” Kudler said .
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http://hamptonroads.com/2008/03/conference-fort-monroe-touts-medical-resources-vets

There have been hundreds of reports on PTSD each and every month. I've read most of them. Within them I find glimmers of hope the government is finally getting it, people are moving past the stigma of it and the military brass is finally addressing it. Yet all these glimmers fade when I get emails or talk to veterans who have fallen through into the valley of despair.

Two nights ago, it was two phone calls from people about someone they love with PTSD. It was not a matter of them not wanting care, but a matter of them not being taken care of. Both are Vietnam Veterans. One other Vietnam veteran I've been helping has no place to go, very little income, unable to work because of PTSD and his claim has been tied up, so he is also getting very little psychiatric help. He is getting no human help from his community.

Reading an article like this makes me want to scream about the fact we, in polite society, are doing so little.

In these years, I've talked to members of the clergy and watch their eyes glaze over when trying to get them to understand their duty is to these veterans as members of the human race. They cannot understand the toll on the veteran, their family or the far reaching affects on the community in general. They simply don't want to take the time to understand.

Last year I presented the documentary When I Came Home at the church I worked for. The turnout was embarrassing. I had invited a past National Commander of the DAV and a representative of Orange County Veterans Services to attend to answer questions I would not be able to answer. Very few members of the church attended. The Pastors did not and most of the elders did not, yet when there was a different kind of function during the week, it drew large groups of people. People couldn't be bothered to attend even though the event was free and lunch was provided. Pretty sickening when you get right down to it.

It isn't that no one cares. I also met with a group of Chaplains training at a local hospital. They asked me to speak to them because they wanted to know more about PTSD so that they could pastor to the patients with better understanding. These Chaplains were committed to addressing the needs of everyone. They wanted to know the causes and the signs to watch for, not just for veterans but for the community fully understanding that PTSD comes from all kinds of trauma.

Kudler warned this “silent majority” of recent combat veterans may turn to other sources for help – churches, family doctors, community service boards – that need to be prepared to assist them.

This is the same thing I've been trying to get through to people for years. With the VA overwhelmed with the demand for services as it is, they are not able to meet that demand. It will take years for the additional funding Congress finally allocated to increase the resources needed for long term care, but they have operated as if they have time to waste instead of taking care of the veterans today. There has to be room for the veterans in our own communities. There will not be unless we make room for them in our hearts.

We can point fingers all we want and say it's the Republican leaderships fault nothing was done to address this years ago, but we have a history of not providing for the veterans we send into combat. We didn't take care of Vietnam veterans even though we saw the need and now we are compounding this atrocity by pushing them aside to make room for the newest generation of combat veterans. The VA says there just isn't enough room for all of them to be taken care of.

Until there is, and we have to make sure the VA and the Congress move the damn mountains out of the way, we need to make sure the local clergy, service organizations founded to "take care of veterans" are all up to speed on the wounds they bring home. We cannot simply say that we have parades and build monuments for them while we do not do all humanly possible to actually take care of them. This isn't just the government's job to do. This is a job we all need to do.

I've been screaming about the fact so many can turn out for protests against the occupation of Iraq and in support of the occupation, but we cannot turn out in the thousands to address the fact that we are losing 120 veterans every week due to suicide, families are falling apart and wounded warriors are ending up homeless.

I am begging you again to call your pastor, minister, priest, rabbi or whatever to make sure they get involved and do something about addressing this. Time is being wasted while they want to only serve at the pulpit. Their duty is to humanity and they fail to acknowledge this. They speak of how the Holy people of God did this and that, tell you that you need to do the same but they are not.

While Chaplains are out in the communities to reach out to all of "God's children" there are not enough to go around. This demands the actions of everyone to really make a difference for the veterans today!



Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Namguardianangel.blogspot.com
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

PTSD Marine, 22 years old, 3 tours accused of murder

Suspect in Saginaw slaying served 3 Iraq tours
By DEANNA BOYD
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

SAGINAW -- A 22-year-old Marine who served three tours of duty in Iraq faces a charge of capital murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of a former live-in girlfriend.

Family members say Eric Acevedo has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Saginaw police believe that Acevedo broke into Mollieann Worden's townhouse in the 300 block of Cambridge Drive through a front window early Saturday. Worden and a neighbor both called 911 but when officers arrived, they found that the 32-year-old woman had been stabbed multiple times with a kitchen knife, police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:30 a.m.

Officers saw Acevedo in the parking lot and arrested him. Neighbors say the man was covered in blood and looked dazed.

Andres Acevedo, Eric Acevedo's father, said his son has not been the same since returning from Iraq and would never have harmed anyone if he had been in his right mind.

"I gave him to the government nice and healthy, and the government returned somebody who is capable of doing something like that," Andres Acevedo said.

Eric Acevedo remained in the Saginaw Jail on Monday with bail set at $1 million.

Worden's 10-year-old daughter was spending the night at a friend's house when the attack occurred, police said. The girl is staying with relatives, said officer Kimberly Allison, a Saginaw police spokeswoman.

Attempts Monday to reach relatives of Worden were unsuccessful.

Young recruit

Acevedo joined the Marines just nine days after graduating from Joshua High School.

"He'd always been wanting to join the armed services. I wanted to do that myself but my parents didn't allow me. I wasn't about to tell him he couldn't," Andres Acevedo said.

Master Sgt. Ronald Spencer with the Marine Corps Mobilization Command in Kansas City said records show that Acevedo enlisted in the Marines in June 2003 and ended his active service in June 2007. He then joined the inactive ready reserves, where he was to serve until June 2010, Spencer said.

Andres Acevedo said his son served in Iraq three times over a four-year span, but emerged a very different man.

"I was very proud of him. He served well over there. He never complained," Acevedo said. "But when he did this last tour, he was feeling kind of like he didn't really want to go because of the nightmares and stuff he had had from the second time. My wife tried to stop it over medical issues. They still sent him off."

Since his return last May from the third tour in May, Eric Acevedo had gotten only worse, Andres Acevedo said.

"He was nothing but a good kid. He never caused any problems," said Alicia Rodriguez, Acevedo's aunt. "He was a good son to my brother. I know he was a good soldier. I just don't know what happened. When he went in, he was so proud. When he came out, he had so many problems. I don't know what happened to him."

About six months ago, Acevedo went to see a military doctor and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, Andres Acevedo said. He was placed on medication that seemed to calm him down, but not completely, Andres Acevedo said.
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http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/546116.html

Last night I had two phone calls from people involved with veterans who became frightening. Sometimes this happens. It is not always, they need help are not a danger to anyone. There are times when they are not only a danger to themselves, but to others as well. While we tend to want to help them and do whatever it takes to do it, we need to be careful. If they become extremely angry, violent, threatening, abusive, you need to removed yourself from them. Most of the time it is just talk out of anger. That's most of the time but no one should take a chance. Staying there, confronting a combat vet with PTSD bouncing off the wall will only escalate tension and complicate the situation. Wisest thing is to remove yourself from harm first. Then, while it is the hardest thing to do, you need to consider getting the professionals involved. Get to a safe place and call their doctor. If that is not possible then call the police. As for the Sergeant on duty and explain what is going on making sure they know it is a combat veteran, that they have PTSD if they have been diagnosed, if they have a gun in the house or not and exactly what the police will be dealing with. There have been too many innocent victims in all of this.

We cannot place all the blame on the veteran because they did not ask for this and the government is still not prepared to take care of all of them. We do need to help them but we also need to know what we are dealing with. Many times medications need to be adjusted and that's all it takes but in emergency situations, you cannot stand there and wonder what to do.

Often we need to take a tough love approach. There are times when they have to be forced into getting the help they need. Failing to do so will endanger your life and the lives of others as well as the veteran you are trying to protect.

Don't get me wrong here. The violent ones are rare. The greatest percentage of them are a danger to themselves only. If they are a danger to themselves or others, you need to report this. You know them and what they are like. You will be the first to know when they no longer seem like the same person. Get them evaluated as soon as possible but above all, make sure you are safe.

German study, scared to death does happen

Blood-curdling fear linked to heart attack


Published: March 26, 2008 at 10:17 AM
BONN, Germany, March 26 (UPI) -- Scientists in Bonn, Germany, found the saying, "The fear made my blood curdle," may literally be true.

The researchers examined the coagulation in patients with anxiety disorders and compared them to those without such disorders and found intense fear and panic attacks increase blood clotting and may increase the risk of thrombosis or heart attack.

Franziska Geiser of the Clinic and Policlinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy and Ursula Harbrecht of the Institute of Experimental Haematology and Transfusion Medicine matched 31 patients with anxiety disorders to corresponding healthy patients based on age and gender. The blood analysis, which measured various coagulation factors, produced a clear result, the researchers said.
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Right away the first thing I thought of was the recent reports out about PTSD veterans and the rise in heart problems with them. Ever hear of this many 20 year olds having heart attacks? There are a lot of non-combat deaths that are signed off as "natural causes" that could be linked to something much more. They were scared to death.