US Army 'war hero' outed as fraud after 40 years

A real lieutenant colonel and West Point graduate, Mark Kimey, instantly spotted there was something not quite right about McGuinn and reported him.
"They're always (Navy) SEALs or special forces," Kimey told the New York Daily News last year. "Nobody ever masquerades as a cook."

US Army 'war hero' outed as fraud
A New Yorker who for 40 years passed himself off as Vietnam war hero who had been decorated for extreme gallantry was sentenced to community service Wednesday after being outed as a fraud.

According to prosecutors, Louis Lowell McGuinn claimed to have been a lieutenant colonel in the US special forces and had used his fake military history since 1968 to get work or to win kudos at social functions.

His military records showed that McGuinn had indeed been in the US Army and served in Vietnam, but was discharged as a private without being decorated.

In 2006, McGuinn, who is now in his 60s, attended a ball in New York's glitzy Pierre Hotel wearing the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts, awarded for being wounded in action.

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Marine Col. Jenny Holbert 30 year career Marine

Holbert managed 40 military correspondents and oversaw 70 civilian reporters during the battle to control Fallujah, Iraq. (Courtesy photo)

Life in the Marine Corps full of reward, pain
By Kate Wiltrout
The Virginian-Pilot
© April 3, 2008
NORFOLK

During 30 years in the Marine Corps and reserves, Col. Jenny Holbert witnessed a revolution in women’s military service – and confronted the personal costs and professional perils of war.

When Holbert enlisted in 1978, women at Parris Island, S.C., weren’t taught to shoot – but they were educated in luncheon etiquette and how to wear gloves and apply cosmetics. They weren’t supposed to wear camouflage.

Today, Holbert finishes her post as a public affairs officer with the Marine Corps Forces Command in Norfolk. After two months at Quantico, she’ll hang up her camouflage at the end of May.

During the first Gulf War, Holbert learned what it’s like to be the spouse left behind when a parent deploys. Her husband, a Marine tank officer, was sent to Saudi Arabia after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. Then a reservist, Holbert was called up to active duty and worked 14 to 16 hours a day.

“Honestly, about the first 30 days that Lloyd had left, I was very angry with him for leaving me, because I was stuck,” she said. “It was just so difficult, trying to hold everything together and you’ve got the kids wondering what’s going on.”

“Sometimes I’d come home, and the kids had been watching TV and they wanted to know if Daddy died,” she recalled.

She remembers a surreal scene at a kids’ birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese near Twenty nine Palms, Calif. There wasn’t a single man present. The entire Marine division had been sent overseas.

Holbert and her husband eventually divorced. In 2004, her children now grown, she was sent to Iraq.

“It was my first deployment ever to a combat zone. When I was a young Marine, a female officer, women didn’t deploy. You might fly in – I was a finance officer at the time – to pay Marines, but then you’d leave again,” she said.
go here for the rest and for video
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/04/life-marine-corps-full-reward-pain

Veterans Voice Rally Unplugged

Veteran Rally Goes On – Without The Mic
By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: April 2, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Just past noon on Wednesday, John Russell walked to his Honda Accord parked in front of the old courthouse and started unloading public address equipment as Brooksville Police Chief George Turner and seven other officers from the department watched.

The day before, Russell vowed that his Veterans Voice rally would go on as planned despite warnings from Turner that it was against city code to use the PA system at the event. That policy, Russell contends, pulls the plug on his free speech rights.

For a few moments, it seemed Russell was ready to test the code – and Turner's mood – by using the PA system anyway.

Russell toted one speaker to the top courthouse step, then the other. Out came the amplifier and microphone.

Then he grabbed a can of black spray paint and a couple of old signs, turned them over and wrote "Veterans Unpluged." Even without the necessary second "g," the point was clear: the PA system had been reduced to a prop this day.

He set up a video camera and gave the handful of veterans who showed up the chance to speak.
"I was never going to violate the law," Russell told a reporter. "The veterans are free to fight and die for our country, forever altering their lives and the lives of their families, and they are free to speak as along as they say accepted things."

Russell, a Democrat who has twice run unsuccessfully for U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite's 5th Congressional seat, says he organized the rally to bring attention to problems veterans are encountering as they seek benefits and services from the Veterans Administration.

He maintains that the county had given him the OK to have the event with the PA system. But Turner, still a little new to the city, checked with the city attorney, who pointed out a chapter of the city code that disallows amplification systems for "the producing or reproducing of sound which is cast upon the public streets for the purpose of commercial advertising or attracting the attention of the public to any building or structure." There are exemptions for parades, charity events and events organized by the government.
go here for the rest
http://www2.hernandotoday.com/content/2008/apr/02/veteran-rally-goes-without-mic/

Military spouse needs to know rights with PTSD Vet

This picture of Capt. Drew Jensen and his wife shows how a spouse is by the side of a wounded warrior. The wounds can be seen, but when it comes to PTSD, you are the one who can see the wound in what they do, what they say and how they act. You need to know your rights to make sure you are included in on how your spouse is being treated.

This morning we received a call from our friend's wife. He is a Vietnam vet with PTSD. A few weeks ago I posted how she was going through hell when she called to let us know he was in the hospital again. She told us that the VA would be keeping him for a long time to get him regulated with medication. It was a relief to her. What she went through between the first call and this morning was unnecessary torture to her and her family. While I cannot get into details of this, it caused me to post some advice when dealing with the doctors on behalf of your spouse. This advice needs to also be paid attention to by the VA nurses and doctors.

As soon as you can, get a Medical Power of Attorney. You need to be able to speak to the doctors. With the privacy rules, some doctors and nurses get out of control and many will tell the spouse they have no right to know what is going on if the veteran does not want them to. This happens all the time especially if they are in the hospital and don't want to be there. They get angry at their spouse and believe that keeping them out of the loop is punishment. Rational thinking has been tossed out the window.

With the Medical Power of Attorney, they have to speak to you. This is vital! You are the one who knows them the best. You have been living with them and can see the changes in them. The doctor often has either just met them or has had limited contact with them while the veteran is on their best behavior. Most of the time they give the doctor a snow job trying to minimize what is going on inside of them. Sometimes they are unable to connect to the reality of the kind of damage they are doing to their own lives. Making irrational decisions, taking too many chances speeding or drunk driving, taking off for hours or days at a time without contacting you at all. The list goes on. They do not want to admit what they are doing or they really cannot see the damage being done to their lives.

They will act as if they are not having increased issues with their mood swings and anger. If they do not tell the doctor and he does not see it first hand, he has no way of knowing how they are acting unless someone tells him. If the Vet has told them not to talk to you, they have to listen to the Vet unless you have medical power of attorney. You would think that common sense would overrule this but it doesn't and you are left to keep out of it when you could be providing important information to the doctor so the Vet is treated appropriately as soon as possible. With it, you can speak to the doctor and the nurses. There are times when the nurses will tell you they don't have to talk to you if the Vet has told them not to. They have to honor the MPA. Tell them that. Otherwise you are left to endure needless stress not knowing what is going on and feeling frustrated the Vet is telling them one thing while you know otherwise.

You are their best advocate. You are part of the healing process. You will be the first to see changes in them. You will be the first one to understand they are in need of attention from a doctor. You have an important role in all of this and the medical community needs to understand that you are in fact not only part of the treatment they receive, you are also part of the outcome of the treatment they are given.

When dealing with the VA, most of the time they will refuse to talk to you. They will say they can only talk to the veteran. If you have the right to speak to them on behalf of your spouse, they have to talk to you. Make sure you have your spouse sign Release of Information form for you giving you the right to speak to the VA.

Power of Attorney for Health Care
Power of Attorney for Health Care for all States. This document allows an individual to designate another person to make health care related decisions on their behalf in the event they are unable to do so.
$17.95
Please select your state:

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Release of Information Form

http://www.va.gov/vaforms/medical/pdf/vha-10-5345-fill.pdf
You can type in your information, have the veteran sign it and then send it to the VA. They will put it into their system and then next time you need to get some information, they will provide it to you. It sounds ridiculous that you have to go through this as their spouse, but it is the rule.

Durable Power of Attorney

http://www.va.gov/vaforms/medical/pdf/vha-10-0137-fill.pdf
Durable Power of Attorney form so that the veteran can enable someone to make medical decisions for them when they cannot.

The best time to do this is when you do not need it. The last thing you want to do is try to do this at the same time you are dealing with a crisis. Wives have had to obtain restraining orders to provide for their safety needlessly. The Vet may talk about doing something to them because they put them in the hospital while they are thinking irrationally. If the doctor has the form in hand, he knows he is required to speak to you so that you know what is going on. There have been a lot of Vets who have gone off the deep end and lie to their spouse of family member saying the hospital is releasing them or making all kinds of false claims just to freak you out. You have no way of knowing what is real or made up in revenge unless someone at the hospital is telling you the truth.

You have to keep in mind when they are in a crisis state, they are not thinking rationally at all and most of the time what they say is not what they really feel deep inside. You need to remember who they really are under PTSD. Their character is still there buried under the things they are doing and saying.

Get informed of what PTSD is, what causes it and the changes you need to look out for. Watch the videos I've done on the right side of this blog.

Last night I was on Stardust radio speaking with Mike from Point Man Ministries. We were talking about my book and how I got through all of this. Take my life and go from there. You don't have to live through 25 years to get to where I am. You can do it in a few hours. The book is written simply and unfortunately shows the dark side of me going through all of this. We all need to understand that while we need to be an advocate for them, we also need to remember we are still just humans going through the abnormal would of warfare. My husband and I found what works for us and to us, this is a normal life. We managed to find peace with the life we have together and it's our own kind of normal.

While we still have days when I can't stand the way he's acting, it helps to know why he is acting the way he is. I've learned when to walk away, when to not overreact or take it personally. Oh sure, there still times when I want to fight back but then I realize that it does no good to try to be rational when frankly, they are not "all there" while standing in front of you.

None of us are going to perfect in any of this but with the knowledge in hand, you have the tool you need to cope with all of it. Your marriage does not have to end and your children do not have to wonder what they did wrong when your spouse is bouncing off the wall. There will be days that no matter how much you know, you need to find help for yourself as well.

It took me ten years of living with all of this before I called a psychologist for myself. The frustration was eating away at me to the point where I was actually feeling the anger. That is out of my character. I knew I needed some help. I needed to talk to someone who knew what PTSD was and what I was dealing with just to vent the frustration. If there is a support group in your area, go there! I cannot tell you how much of a gift it is for yourself to find people going through the same things you are. If there is not a support group, then ask your spouse's doctor how you can get in touch with other wives and start one. There was a time when all VA mental health facilities had support groups for the spouse. Unfortunately the VA forgot how beneficial they were in caring for the veteran to take care of the spouse as well. As with anything else, if enough people ask for something, the VA will pay attention knowing what the need is.

The last piece of advice I can give you as a spouse is to also take care of your own mind-body-spirit connection. Go to church or whatever religious structure you feel comfortable with. Fellowship with others helps to feed your soul. Prayer is an energy boost and meditation is calming the nerves. If you are under too much stress, seek professional help to help you deal with what you are going through. You will be helping your relationship at the same time and keep things from getting out of control. Living with stress can damage your own health. Take care of your body as well. Eat a good balance of food and yes, if you need it, eat sweets and deserts as long as you do not eat an unhealthy portion of them. We are too often the last ones we take care of at the same time we are taking care of everyone else. Go for walks! Get back in touch with nature. Ride a bike. Go swimming. The same advice I give to veterans applies to you as well. You may not have gone to war, but it is your battle to fight for the sake of your spouse and your family. You need all the ammunition you can get your hands on to keep it all together.

If your marriage has already ended or your family member is no longer alive, you also need to know why things were the way they were. It isn't your fault it turned out the way it did. The majority of people in the world have no clue what PTSD is and you had no way of dealing with any of this. Understanding what caused it can bring forgiveness for yourself and often you will be able to forgive the veteran as well. I've seen many relationships restored once they understand where it all came from. Children end up finally understanding that none of it had anything to do with them and they in turn heal as they forgive.

If you have any questions, just email me anytime.




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

Marine Retreat Aids War-Strained Couples

Marine Retreat Aids War-Strained Couples
By CHELSEA J. CARTER | Associated Press Writer
7:08 AM EDT, April 2, 2008

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Fighting in Iraq took a heavy toll on Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Patrick, damaging his hand, injuring his brain and causing him to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

But Patrick's body wasn't the only thing hurt by combat. His relationship with his wife was wounded, too. The couple got married shortly after he returned, yet Patrick refused to talk to her about the war. Sometimes he yelled at her.

So the pair marked their first anniversary this past weekend at a Marine Corps retreat that took a decidedly un-military approach to saving marriages: Combining classes in communication with massage therapy, yoga and meditation. It's an effort by the military to ease the strain on married couples when soldiers return to civilian life after long, repeated deployments.

Navy Chaplain Dwight Horn came up with the idea after returning from Fallujah, where he witnessed some of the fiercest fighting in the war.

"It just opened my eyes. I began to see a lot of issues that needed to be addressed," said Horn, a member of the Marine Corps chaplains' program that organized the retreat. He also had trouble resuming life with his wife after coming back from Iraq.

"We're seeing some warriors having a hard time readjusting ... and their spouses are confused by it."

The first-of-its kind program is called "Warrior Couple Readjustment Retreat." Joining the Patricks were 12 other couples, mostly wounded Marines and their spouses from Camp Pendleton.

Pentagon statistics released last year showed the divorce rate in the military holding steady at 3.3 percent, but the numbers say nothing about troubled marriages.

Sitting in a conference room at a Los Angeles-area hotel, Navy Corpsmen Aaron Seibert, 35, and his wife listen to a therapist encouraging couples to open up to one another before their frustrations explode.

The couples discuss the emotional distance that military duty and, in some cases, combat injuries have put between them.

Robin Seibert, 38, nods as she listens. After seven years of marriage, she knows the frustration that comes with a military marriage. But nothing prepared her for her husband's three consecutive deployments, including the one that ended in April 2006 when a mortar round riddled his body with 100 pieces of shrapnel.

"The injuries were extremely tough. I was thinking first, 'Is he going to live?' Then it was, 'Is he going to recover?' Then it was, 'What are we going to do? Is he going to have a job?'" she said.

Meanwhile, Aaron Seibert, of Riverton, Wyo., was battling the mood swings and flaring temper that come with PTSD.
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TORONTO:Reservists claimed right to kill 'bums,' court hears

Reservists claimed right to kill 'bums,' court hears
Shannon Kari , Canwest News Service
Published: Wednesday, April 02, 2008
TORONTO - The key prosecution witness in the trial of three Canadian Forces reservists accused of fatally beating a homeless man testified Wednesday that two of the defendants were enraged and claimed to have the right to kill "bums" and "drug addicts" while their colleague appeared to be a reluctant participant.

"I was told we were all useless pieces of skin," said Valerie Valen, who tried to intervene and stop the brutal attack against Paul Croutch, a 59-year-old homeless man who was killed on August 31, 2005 while trying to sleep on a park bench in downtown Toronto.

Jeffrey Hall, 24; Mountaz Ibrahim, 25 and Brian Deganis, 23, are all charged with second-degree murder and assault causing bodily harm for allegedly beating Valen.


The defendants, who were members of the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada which has its headquarters in an armoury in the park where Croutch was beaten, have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Valen was returning to visit a friend at a nearby residential shelter when she saw the attack
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Orlando bomb suspect not same since being in Iraq

Kevin Brown, 32, is charged with attempting to carry an explosive or incendiary device on an aircraft. (SEMINOLE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE)

Family: Bomb suspect not same since being in Iraq

Jim Leusner and Sarah Lundy Sentinel Staff Writers
3:24 PM EDT, April 2, 2008

Although authorities say Kevin Brown tried to take bomb material onto a plane at Orlando International Airport, his former mother-in-law said this afternoon that he is not a terrorist.

"This is not him," Karen Holt said today from South Carolina. "It has to be a mental issue for him. I know if they looked through his medical records...I'm sure they will see."

Brown and Holt's daughter, Kamishia, 25, married about three years ago. The couple met while serving in the U.S. Army, Holt said. About a year later, the two separated, and Holt doesn't know what Brown has been up to since then.

Her daughter told her that Brown wasn't the same since returning from Iraq. He was put on medication for depression, Holt said.
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also
Man detained at OIA Photos
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Suspect in Orlando airport bomb case held without bail
Apr 02, 2008 15:25 -0400
generateDate('Apr 02, 2008 15:25 -0400', '3:25 PM');

Updated: 3:25 p.m.
Judge criticized feds during Orlando airport bomb case hearing
Apr 02, 2008 15:32 -0400
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Updated: 3:32 p.m.

Clearwater Florida "Taliban Tom" murder suicide

Police: Man acted erratically before killing family, self
By Times Staff Writer
Published Wednesday, April 2, 2008 3:10 PM


CLEARWATER — In the days after Oliver Thomas Bernsdorff murdered his family, acquaintances said they were stunned that a man who talked about how much he loved his children could shoot them in cold blood.

But Clearwater police investigative records released today show that Bernsdorff, 36, showed signs of increasingly erratic behavior in the weeks and days leading up to the Dec. 14 shootings:

• Bernsdorff, a GED teacher for Pinellas County schools for 13 years, was disliked by his coworkers and apparently hated women, according to a school district employee interviewed by police. In the last weeks of his life, Bernsdorff began dressing all in black, sometimes wearing robes and head wrappings. That prompted coworkers to start referring to him as "Taliban Tom."

• Bernsdorff dated a woman he met online during the final 2 1/2 to 3 months of his life. After an incident where he kicked his ex-wife while picking up the children from a visitation, he became paranoid that police would come for him, according to the girlfriend, Melissa Redding. At one point, he also told her that he had two options: to take the children and flee the country, or to kill them, his ex-wife, her new girlfriend and himself. Then, three days before the shooting, he seemed to have had a breakthrough and seemed calm and happy.

• The day Bernsdorff picked up the 9mm semiautomatic pistol used in the murders, he declined the pawn shop owner's offer of a gun lock and pamphlet on gun safety and children, leaving them both on the counter.

•Bernsdorff told one of his co-workers, Nancy Hopp, that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder about a year ago. A doctor put him on medication, but Bernsdorff didn't like the way it made him feel and stopped taking it after three weeks, she said.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article440759.ece

also
Bernsdorff's twisted letter plots family's murders

Army counselors in short supply in war zones

Army counselors in short supply in war zones

By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Wednesday Apr 2, 2008 7:15:22 EDT

WASHINGTON — Soldiers in hard-to-reach outposts in Iraq and Afghanistan lack timely access to mental health care, according to Pentagon officials and a recent survey. The problem comes as the Army is struggling to hire enough professionals to counsel its troops.

About one-third of soldiers in these areas say they can’t see a counselor when they need to, according to results of a survey conducted last year and released last month.

In Iraq, mental health professionals must travel in armed convoys to reach troops stationed in embattled neighborhoods. In Afghanistan, it can take an average of 40 hours for a psychologist to visit soldiers, the Army study says.

The Army surveyed 3,168 soldiers in its study. Today, there are 157,000 soldiers in Iraq and 31,000 in Afghanistan. As part of President Bush’s troop escalation in Iraq last year, many soldiers were moved to isolated outposts.

“They [mental health counselors] can’t be in every place at the same time,” says Lt. Col. Sharon McBride, an Army psychologist and researcher.

When counselors reach combat troops, they make a difference, says Lt. Col. Jim Carter, chaplain for the 4th Infantry Division in Iraq. In four months, the division has suffered only one suicide, he says. Last year, the Army reported a record number of suicides.

The Army, recognizing the need for more counseling, said nine months ago that it would hire 200 additional mental health professionals by May. It later raised the number to 288, about a 25 percent increase in staff. So far, 158 slots are filled.

Army Capt. Bryan Shea, 41, of Canton, N.Y., is a reservist and psychologist with a state psychiatric facility. He will soon go to Iraq for a third deployment.

Shea says he is eager to help soldiers, but that deployments have shattered his personal life. He says he is in the midst of a bitter divorce and that he lost custody of his two daughters, ages 10 and 15, because of his deployment.

“They got to keep recycling those of us who are in, and it gets tiring pretty fast,” says Shea, whose offer to resign from the Army has not been accepted.

go here for the rest

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/gns_army_counselors_040108/

Endglewood Florida has three heroes today

Two pull man from flaming car while third follows a suspect

By Kate Spinner
Published Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.

ENGLEWOOD — Witnesses to a fatal crash on South McCall Road on Monday immediately jumped into the roles of rescue workers and law enforcement, resulting in the arrest of a man now charged with manslaughter, drunken driving and fleeing the scene of an accident.

William Tyson, 77, of Englewood died in the wreck on Monday, but not before Michael McCurry, 22, and Jeff Holland, 19 pulled him out of his burning car.

The accident occurred about 1:05 p.m. -- when Tyson steered his Crown Victoria into the right, westbound land of South McCall Road, near the intersection of Ibis Drive. Behind him, William Solomon, 43, was driving a Ford Taurus at high speed and switching lanes, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report.

Solomon slammed on the brakes, leaving skid marks in the roadway and crashing into Tyson's car. The impact was so powerful that Tyson was thrown into the back seat and a streak of fire followed the car, igniting it before it hit a power pole, according to an account by McCurry.

Meanwhile, McCurry and Holland, who had stopped at the nearby Citgo to buy drinks before heading to Englewood Beach, saw Solomon flee, leaving behind his seriously injured passenger, Monica Brown, 47, of North Port, according to the FHP.

McCurry and Holland also noticed that the driver of the burning car was not getting out. They rushed to the car and pulled Tyson from the back seat just as emergency crews arrived.

Tyson later died at Englewood Community Hospital.

Meanwhile, a woman that witnesses said was in her late 50s or early 60s had followed Solomon and used a borrowed cell phone to report that he had entered Oscar's Pizza.

"I'm really thankful that she actually did that," McCurry said, appalled that Solomon left his passenger alone beside a burning car.


go here for the rest
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080402/NEWS/804020322/1018/news02

Wal-Mart sued for not giving job back to Airman

Business briefs

Published Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.

ORLANDO

Wal-Mart sued over former airman

The Department of Justice has sued Wal-Mart Stores on behalf of a former airman, claiming the company did not give him his job back after he was discharged from the military. The lawsuit on behalf of Sean Thornton, a former airman with the U.S. Air Force, alleges Wal-Mart violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act of 1994 by failing to reinstate him as a cashier at an Orange City store after he was discharged. The Justice Department filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Orlando.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080402/BUSINESS/804020315/1537

They did the wrong thing here.

They did the wrong thing here too but pubic pressure got them to do the right thing this time.

Wal-Mart Drops Fight Against Woman
Posted: Wednesday 04/02/08 07:18 AM EDT
Filed Under: Business News, Nation News
'They DidThe Right Thing'
1 of 6
Reversing itself, Wal-Mart has given up its fight against Debbie Shank, a former employee who suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident. Shank, 52, received about $470,000 from the retailer's health plan for medical expenses, and the the company had sued to get the payout back after she won money in a settlement.

Maj. Gen. Robert Scales Jr:U.S. has “run out of military options”

U.S. must leave Iraq, retired generals say

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Apr 2, 2008 13:53:39 EDT

Setting a withdrawal timetable from Iraq might be a shaky strategic move, but it would provide a morale boost for service members and their families, a former Army War College commandant said Wednesday.

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Scales Jr., testifying before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee about U.S. military strategy in Iraq, said he has no doubt that a major withdrawal of combat forces is coming because the U.S. has “run out of military options” and cannot indefinitely sustain troop levels.

“Regardless of who wins the election and regardless of conditions on the ground, by summer the troops will begin to come home,” said Scales, who headed the war college in 1997. “The only point of contention is how precipitous will be the withdrawal and whether the schedule of withdrawal should be a matter of administration policy.”

Scales testified along with two other retired Army generals, Gen. Barry McCaffrey and Lt. Gen. William Odom, who also agreed a withdrawal of U.S. combat troops early in the next president’s administration is inevitable.

“We face a deteriorating political situation with an over-extended Army,” said Odom, who served as director of the National Security Agency in the Reagan administration.

“The only sensible strategy is to withdraw rapidly but in good order,” Odom said. “Only that step can break the paralysis now gripping U.S. strategy in the region.”

McCaffrey, a former chief of U.S. Southern Command and commander of the 24th Infantry Division in the 1991 Gulf War, predicted a withdrawal of U.S. forces within three years or less because there is “no U.S. political will to continue” and because allies “have abandoned us.”

“It is over,” McCaffrey said.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/military_iraqwithdrawal_040208w/

Veterans for Common Sense:VA fails at PTSD care

VA fails at PTSD care, lawsuit charges

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Apr 2, 2008 14:06:14 EDT

Veterans for Common Sense is suing the Department of Veterans Affairs because, the group says, VA is so thoroughly bogged down with a backlog of 600,000 benefits claims that Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder are not receiving the care they need.

The trial begins April 21 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The lawsuit, which names VA Secretary Dr. James Peake as defendant, — is a class action filed by a large group of veterans who allege “a system-wide breakdown” in the way the government treats veterans with PTSD. They say several suicidal veterans have unsuccessfully sought VA mental health care.

Representatives from veterans service organizations, VA and mental health experts are expected to testify.

According to Gordon Erspamer, an attorney representing the veterans pro bono, the lawsuit challenges a backlog in handling claims, “appellate delays of five to 10 years” for disability ratings, waiting lists and the “inadequacy of VA care for PTSD.”

The suit asks for immediate medical help, as well as screening for suicidal thoughts, for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/military_veteransaffairs_lawsuit_040208w/

PTSD mind, body and spirit connection

PTSD and Older VeteransFrom the time of Homer's ancient story of the battle between the Trojans and the Greeks, and the times of the Bible and Shakespeare, military personnel have been confronted by the trauma of war. Recent books and movies have highlighted the impact of war trauma on veterans of the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War. However, the traumas faced by veterans of World War II and the Korean conflict have been publicly acknowledged in the media less often and less clearly. The recent movie, "Saving Private Ryan," showed the reality of war trauma during World War II. World War II was terrifying and shocking for hundreds of thousands of American military personnel. For most World War II veterans, memories of the war can still be upsetting more than 50 years later, even if the memories arise only occasionally and for brief periods. For a smaller number of World War II veterans, the war trauma memories still cause severe problems, in the form of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

(UPDATE, the link was updated January 2020)


Each of them go into combat with their past life in their minds. They know the mistakes they've made, sins committed, people they've hurt, words they said and regret. In other words like the rest of us, they have baggage. They may have joined from the most noblest of reasons, defending the nation, or for a combination of that along with selfish reasons of paying for college. Each one enters in with their own purpose and at different levels. I happen to think they were born heroes and would have done something for society no matter what they chose to do with their lives.

They train to kill and in the back of their minds they think it's wrong to kill. This quiet voice is hushed in training and focusing on moment. It reawakens when they are putting their training to use and have to kill someone or come into contact after or even when they see one of their friends killed.

Trauma strikes people. For victims the wound does not cut as deep it seems. For emergency responders, it cuts a bit deeper because they come into contact with traumatic situations often. For police officers, it cuts even deeper because they are participants in it doing their job and are often in a situation where they have to kill someone. For the combat forces, it cuts even deeper than all the others because they participate in it more often.

When a bomb blows up and they survive, they either survive thinking God spared their lives or God judged them for their lives and this was punishment. They may believe that God abandoned them because of what they had done in their lives or judged them because they just killed someone.

Depending on the relationship the warrior has with God and the knowledge of how He forgives, this will predict if the baggage they carry will awaken or remain asleep. What most people do not understand is that war and the traumas of war were in the Bible and throughout recorded history. War is not murder and God did not condemn the warrior. Neither did Christ. When the Roman Centurion went to Christ seeking to have his slave cured, a slave he loved, the Roman was filled with so much faith that Christ could do it, he told Christ he didn't have to go to his house in order to heal his slave. Christ, knowing the Romans were responsible for the hardships on the Hebrews and knowing they would nail Him to the Cross, healed the slave and blessed the Centurion for his faith in Him. Those who know they are forgiven for all they have done wrong, will usually leave the trauma behind them in enough of an amount they do not feel as if it has penetrated their soul. They thank God for watching over them.

For those who do not understand, most of the time they feel God either hates them and they are paying the price with the ravages of what they lived through taking over their mind or God abandoned them and they are on their own.

This is one of the biggest reasons why the healing is so much stronger when the connection between mind/body/spirit are all treated at the same time. Mind is helped by talk therapy and medication. Body is helped with exercises that do not require aggression for most, but for some they find it helps to do something like weight training. Spirit is helped when they speak to others of their faith or a spiritual counselor. Usually with a member of the clergy or a Chaplain with a strong understanding of the spiritual needs of all people. They must be non-judgmental, which is hard for a lot of members of the clergy. Chaplains get into this because they are under no church authority and are allowed to take care of the spiritual needs of all people no matter what faith they have or if they have no faith at all. Most of the time it is the act of human kindness that goes a long way in healing the spirit.

If they feel they have been abandoned by God and then by their country, this cuts the wound even deeper. Not having someone to help them as they see their lives fall apart, cuts even deeper. By they time this happens, they are seeking someone to show some compassion for them and find it very hard to receive. Now think of what it would have been like for them to go through trauma in combat and then have the ability to debrief like police and first responders do with Chaplains. How deep do you think the wound would cut if this happened?

Read the rest from the center.

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

How does war affect "normal," "healthy" military personnel?
War is a life threatening experience that involves witnessing and engaging in terrifying and gruesome acts of violence. Most military personnel also feel that participating in war is their patriotic duty, and they do so to protect and defend their country, their loved ones, their values, and their way of life. The trauma of war is the shocking confrontation with death, devastation, and violence. It is normal for human beings to react to war's psychic trauma with feelings of fear, anger, grief, and horror, as well as with emotional numbness and disbelief.

Many studies have shown that the more prolonged, extensive, and horrifying a soldier's or sailor's exposure to war trauma, the more likely it is that she or he will become emotionally worn down and exhausted. This happens to even the strongest and healthiest of individuals, and often it is precisely these soldiers who are the most psychologically disturbed by war because they endure so much of the trauma. Most war heroes don't feel brave or heroic at the time, but they do their duty, despite often feeling overwhelmed and horrified, in order to protect others.

It is, therefore, no surprise that when military personnel have had severe difficulty recovering from the trauma of war, their psychological difficulties have been described as "soldier's heart" (in the Civil War), "shell shock" (in World War I), or "combat fatigue" (in World War II). After World War II, psychiatrists realized that these problems usually were not an inborn mental illness like schizophrenia or manic depressive illness but were a different form of psychological dis-ease that resulted from too much exposure to war trauma. This form of psychological dis-ease is known as "traumatic war neurosis" or Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Although most war veterans are troubled by war memories, many were fortunate enough either to have not experienced an overwhelming amount of trauma exposure or to have immediate and lasting help from family, friends, and spiritual and psychological counselors so that the memories have become manageable. A smaller number, probably about one in twenty World War II veterans, had so much war trauma and so many readjustment difficulties that they now suffer from PTSD.

How is it possible to have PTSD 50 years after a war?Because most World War II veterans received a hero's welcome and a booming peacetime economy when they returned to the states, many were able to make a successful readjustment to civilian life. They coped, more or less successfully, with their memories of traumatic events. Many had disturbing memories or nightmares, difficulty with work pressure or close relationships, and problems with anger or nervousness, but few sought treatment for their symptoms or discussed the emotional effects of their wartime experiences. Society expected them to put it all behind them, forget the war, and get on with their lives. But as they grew older and went through changes in the patterns of their lives-retirement, the death of spouse and friends, deteriorating health, and declining physical vigor-many experienced more difficulty with war memories or stress reactions. Some had enough trouble to be diagnosed with a delayed onset of PTSD symptoms, sometimes with other disorders like depression and alcohol abuse. Such PTSD often occurs in subtle ways. For example, a World War II veteran who had a long successful career as an attorney and judge and a loving relationship with his wife and family might find upon retiring and having a heart attack that he suddenly felt panicky and trapped when going out in public. Upon closer examination, with a sensitive helpful counselor, he might find that the fear is worst when riding in his car, and this may relate to trauma memories of deaths among his unit when he was a tank commander in World War II.

How can I help an older military veteran who may have PTSD?First, if one feels emotional about past memories or experiences some of the normal changes associated with growing older (such as sleep disturbances, concentration problems, or memory impairment), it does not necessarily mean that person has PTSD. If a World War II or Korean conflict veteran finds it important, but emotionally difficult, to remember and talk about war memories, help him or her by being a good listener, or help find a friend or counselor who can be a good listener.

Second, get information about war trauma and PTSD. The Department of Veterans Affairs' Vet Centers and Medical Center PTSD Teams offer education for veterans and families, and they can provide an in-depth psychological assessment and specialized therapy if a veteran has PTSD. Books such as Aphrodite Matsakis' I Can't Get Over It (Oakland: New Harbinger, 1992) and Patience Mason's Home from the War (High Springs, Florida: Patience Press, 1998) describe PTSD for veterans of all ages and other trauma survivors and PTSD's effect on the family.

Third, learn about the specialized therapies available at Vet Centers and VA Medical Centers. These include medications to help with sleep, bad memories, anxiety, and depression; stress and anger management classes; counseling groups for PTSD and grief (some particularly designed to bring together older war veterans to support one another in healing from war trauma or prisoner of war experiences); and individual counseling. It is important that family members be involved in the veteran's care and in their own individual care.

This fact sheet was based on:
Bonwick, R.J., & Morris, P.L.P. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in elderly war veterans. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 11, 1071-1076.

Hyer, L., Summers, M.N., Braswell, L., & Boyd, S. (1995). Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Silent problem among older combat veterans. Psychotherapy 32(2), 348-364.

Schnurr, P.P. (1991).PTSD and Combat-Related Psychiatric Symptoms in Older Veterans. PTSD Research Quarterly 2(1), 1-6.

Snell, F.I. & Padin-Rivera, E. (1997). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the elderly combat veteran. Journal of Gerontological Nursing 23(10), 13-19.
http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/ncdocs/fact_shts/fs_older_veterans.html

Rapists in the Ranks

Rapists in the Ranks

By Jane Harman , Los Angeles Times. Posted April 2, 2008.

Women in the U.S. military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire. When will Congress and the DOD take notice?

The stories are shocking in their simplicity and brutality: A female military recruit is pinned down at knifepoint and raped repeatedly in her own barracks. Her attackers hid their faces but she identified them by their uniforms; they were her fellow soldiers. During a routine gynecological exam, a female soldier is attacked and raped by her military physician. Yet another young soldier, still adapting to life in a war zone, is raped by her commanding officer. Afraid for her standing in her unit, she feels she has nowhere to turn.

These are true stories, and, sadly, not isolated incidents. Women serving in the U.S. military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq.

The scope of the problem was brought into acute focus for me during a visit to the West Los Angeles VA Healthcare Center, where I met with female veterans and their doctors. My jaw dropped when the doctors told me that 41% of female veterans seen at the clinic say they were victims of sexual assault while in the military, and 29% report being raped during their military service. They spoke of their continued terror, feelings of helplessness and the downward spirals many of their lives have since taken.

Numbers reported by the Department of Defense show a sickening pattern. In 2006, 2,947 sexual assaults were reported -- 73% more than in 2004. The DOD's newest report, released this month, indicates that 2,688 reports were made in 2007, but a recent shift from calendar-year reporting to fiscal-year reporting makes comparisons with data from previous years much more difficult.
go here for the rest
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/80995/

The men who do this are twisted but the ones who do nothing about it are worse. How could any man not put their sister in arms in an equal place as their own mother or their own sister or their own wife?