Apr 7, 2008
Jailed Wisconsin Veteran Sent to Solitary Confinement
An innocent and reportedly depressed Navy Airman Keith Roberts (1968-71) suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and serving a four-year sentence for wire fraud since March 2007, has for reasons unclear been moved and caged in solitary confinement in a federal prison in Minnesota for almost a month, according to the veteran's wife.Roberts was targeted by the US Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA) in 2003-05, and became the central figure in an Alice-in-Wonderland tale, after U.S. Attorney Stephen Biskupic of Wisconsin and top VA officials schemed to convict Roberts’ of fraudulently receiving VA benefits (by wire transfer as the VA requires).
Despite hostility from high quarters of the VA, Roberts may be again granted the benefits for which he is federal prison for receiving.
U.S. Atty Biskupic is the same U.S. Atty who infamously prosecuted an innocent Wisconsin woman in a political prosecution, and several innocent Wisconsin citizens for voter fraud in apparent service to the needs of the national GOP.
click above for the rest
Monday, April 7, 2008
Bob Woodruff Wins a Peabody Award
Bob Woodruff Wins a Peabody Award
ABC News
April 2, 2008 - Award Recognizes Woodruff's Documentary "To Iraq and Back," as well as
Reports on "World News with Charles Gibson" and "Nightline"
ABC News' Bob Woodruff and team have won a Peabody Award, the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication announced today. The Peabody Board, who made the selections, said the winners represent "the best in electronic media for 2007."
Woodruff and team were honored for "Wounds of War - The Long Road Home for Our Nation's Veterans," which includes his hour-long documentary, "To Iraq and Back: Bob Woodruff Reports," and a series of reports on "World News with Charles Gibson" and "Nightline." These comprehensive reports examined traumatic brain injuries in Iraq war veterans -- a topic all too familiar to Woodruff. Less than a year after sustaining serious injuries in a roadside attack while reporting in Iraq, he returned to the air with "To Iraq and Back." This special documented his remarkable recovery and the experiences of other soldiers who have returned from war with traumatic brain injuries. Determined to keep the nation focused on this issue, Woodruff has followed up the special with a series of reports on wounded veterans, while also highlighting the struggles their families face as they adapt to life with a severely injured husband or father.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9751
ABC News
April 2, 2008 - Award Recognizes Woodruff's Documentary "To Iraq and Back," as well as
Reports on "World News with Charles Gibson" and "Nightline"
ABC News' Bob Woodruff and team have won a Peabody Award, the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication announced today. The Peabody Board, who made the selections, said the winners represent "the best in electronic media for 2007."
Woodruff and team were honored for "Wounds of War - The Long Road Home for Our Nation's Veterans," which includes his hour-long documentary, "To Iraq and Back: Bob Woodruff Reports," and a series of reports on "World News with Charles Gibson" and "Nightline." These comprehensive reports examined traumatic brain injuries in Iraq war veterans -- a topic all too familiar to Woodruff. Less than a year after sustaining serious injuries in a roadside attack while reporting in Iraq, he returned to the air with "To Iraq and Back." This special documented his remarkable recovery and the experiences of other soldiers who have returned from war with traumatic brain injuries. Determined to keep the nation focused on this issue, Woodruff has followed up the special with a series of reports on wounded veterans, while also highlighting the struggles their families face as they adapt to life with a severely injured husband or father.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9751
Rural, Minority, and Underserved Veterans need help
Senator Akaka Introduces Bill Requiring VA-Community Partnerships to Reach Rural, Minority, and Underserved Veterans
Apr 07, 2008
April 4, 2008, Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, introduced S. 2796 earlier this week, to establish partnerships between the Department of Veterans Affairs and community organizations to connect with underserved veterans. In selecting the community organizations that would partner with VA, priority would be given to those reaching out to rural veterans, minority veterans, and other underserved populations.
“While VA helps countless veterans every day, too many remain out of reach, particularly rural and minority veterans. My bill would help VA do more for these veterans who may feel the system is out of touch,” said Akaka.
Chairman Akaka noted that mental health advocacy organizations, such as Mental Health America, have called attention to the greater need for the type of outreach services authorized by this bill, such as phone hotlines, help with applications for VA benefits, and assistance to transitioning service members and veterans in need of health care. Akaka also noted that in his home state of Hawaii, community organizations such as Helping Hands Hawaii are well positioned to apply for the types of outreach partnerships outlined in S. 2796.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9748
Apr 07, 2008
April 4, 2008, Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, introduced S. 2796 earlier this week, to establish partnerships between the Department of Veterans Affairs and community organizations to connect with underserved veterans. In selecting the community organizations that would partner with VA, priority would be given to those reaching out to rural veterans, minority veterans, and other underserved populations.
“While VA helps countless veterans every day, too many remain out of reach, particularly rural and minority veterans. My bill would help VA do more for these veterans who may feel the system is out of touch,” said Akaka.
Chairman Akaka noted that mental health advocacy organizations, such as Mental Health America, have called attention to the greater need for the type of outreach services authorized by this bill, such as phone hotlines, help with applications for VA benefits, and assistance to transitioning service members and veterans in need of health care. Akaka also noted that in his home state of Hawaii, community organizations such as Helping Hands Hawaii are well positioned to apply for the types of outreach partnerships outlined in S. 2796.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9748
$3 Trillion Cost Estimate for Iraq War Fiasco May Be Too Low
Apr. 6: $3 Trillion Cost Estimate for Iraq War Fiasco May Be Too Low
Linda Bilmes and Joseph Stiglitz
Guardian (United Kingdom)
Apr 06, 2008
VCS Note: The military reports 73,500 unplanned Iraq and Afghanistan war battlefield casualties, and VA reports 300,000 unexpected Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran patients, yet the Bush Administration has not provided the public with the full long-term costs of caring for our casualties and veterans. Professors Stiglitz and Bilmes use facts to estimate the cost of the Iraq War at $3 trillion - and growing - a conservative estimate.
$3 Trillion May be Too Low
April 6, 2008: - President Bush has tried to give the impression that the $3 trillion dollar estimate of the total cost of the war that we provide in our new book may be exaggerated.
We believe that it is in fact conservative. Even the president would have to admit that the $50 to $60 billion estimate given by the administration before the war was wildly off the mark; there is little reason to have confidence in their arithmetic. They admit to a cost so far of $600 billion.
Our numbers differ from theirs for three reasons: first, we are estimating the total cost of the war, under alternative conservative scenarios, derived from the defence department and congressional budget office. We are not looking at McCain's 100-year scenario - we assume that we are there, in diminished strength, only through to 2017. But neither are we looking at a scenario that sees our troops pulled out within six months. With operational spending going on at $12 billion a month, and with every year costing more than the last, it is easy to come to a total operational cost that is double the $600 billon already spent.
Second, we include war expenditures hidden elsewhere in the budget, and budgetary expenditures that we would have to incur in the future even if we left tomorrow. Most important of these are future costs of caring for the 40% of returning veterans that are likely to suffer from disabilities (in excess of $600 billion; second world war veterans' costs didn't peak until 1993), and restoring the military to its prewar strength. If you include interest, and interest on the interest - with all of the war debt financed - the budgetary costs quickly mount.
Finally, our $3 trillion dollars estimate also includes costs to the economy that go beyond the budget, for instance the cost of caring for the huge number of returning disabled veterans that go beyond the costs borne by the federal government - in one out of five families with a serious disability, someone has to give up a job. The macro-economic costs are even larger. Almost every expert we have talked to agrees that the war has had something to do with the rise in the price of oil; it was not just an accident that oil prices began to soar at the same time as the war began.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9747
Linda Bilmes and Joseph Stiglitz
Guardian (United Kingdom)
Apr 06, 2008
VCS Note: The military reports 73,500 unplanned Iraq and Afghanistan war battlefield casualties, and VA reports 300,000 unexpected Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran patients, yet the Bush Administration has not provided the public with the full long-term costs of caring for our casualties and veterans. Professors Stiglitz and Bilmes use facts to estimate the cost of the Iraq War at $3 trillion - and growing - a conservative estimate.
$3 Trillion May be Too Low
April 6, 2008: - President Bush has tried to give the impression that the $3 trillion dollar estimate of the total cost of the war that we provide in our new book may be exaggerated.
We believe that it is in fact conservative. Even the president would have to admit that the $50 to $60 billion estimate given by the administration before the war was wildly off the mark; there is little reason to have confidence in their arithmetic. They admit to a cost so far of $600 billion.
Our numbers differ from theirs for three reasons: first, we are estimating the total cost of the war, under alternative conservative scenarios, derived from the defence department and congressional budget office. We are not looking at McCain's 100-year scenario - we assume that we are there, in diminished strength, only through to 2017. But neither are we looking at a scenario that sees our troops pulled out within six months. With operational spending going on at $12 billion a month, and with every year costing more than the last, it is easy to come to a total operational cost that is double the $600 billon already spent.
Second, we include war expenditures hidden elsewhere in the budget, and budgetary expenditures that we would have to incur in the future even if we left tomorrow. Most important of these are future costs of caring for the 40% of returning veterans that are likely to suffer from disabilities (in excess of $600 billion; second world war veterans' costs didn't peak until 1993), and restoring the military to its prewar strength. If you include interest, and interest on the interest - with all of the war debt financed - the budgetary costs quickly mount.
Finally, our $3 trillion dollars estimate also includes costs to the economy that go beyond the budget, for instance the cost of caring for the huge number of returning disabled veterans that go beyond the costs borne by the federal government - in one out of five families with a serious disability, someone has to give up a job. The macro-economic costs are even larger. Almost every expert we have talked to agrees that the war has had something to do with the rise in the price of oil; it was not just an accident that oil prices began to soar at the same time as the war began.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9747
PTSD signs in simple English
Not every traumatized person develops full-blown or even minor PTSD. Symptoms usually begin within 3 months of the incident but occasionally emerge years afterward. They must last more than a month to be considered PTSD. The course of the illness varies. Some people recover within 6 months, while others have symptoms that last much longer. In some people, the condition becomes chronic. (National Institute of Mental Health)
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Common Causes
War
Public services such as police and fire department incidences
Abuse/rape/assault and battery/violent crime
Terrorism
Natural disasters
Signs in English!
Physical and Interpersonal Symptoms
Physical effects (twitches or jumping nerves)
A lot of veterans will feel like they are loosing control of their insides. Nerves try to jump out of their skin. In a flashback, everything is as it was when the trauma hit them. Muscles are tense waiting for it to come. Their sense of smell is increased. Their eyes respond to every movement and detail. Their ears respond to every sound. They enter into an altered reality. A time trip back to the combat while they are sitting in the chair.
Fatigue, Exhaustion, Insomnia
(drained)
When they spend nights unable to sleep through the night, it leaves them feeling drained. When they have the nightmares, as real as the event itself, it is as if their life is being sucked out of them. Adrenaline pumps through them and they come down to "earth" feeling drained out.
Cardiovascular strain (fear)
There have been studies on the heart while someone is going through stress. We don't often think about what else is going on in our bodies during stress. If you pay attention you can feel your heart bump harder. You may feel a tightening of the chest. You can feel blood rushing into your head. As you get tense, your heart works harder to gear up the rest of your body in response to fear.
Startled response (enemy is coming)
Don't sneak up on a person with PTSD! They are always waiting for the enemy to come up on them and they will over react. If you drop a cup on the floor and it breaks, they will freak out. If there is an emergency in the house, like a kid getting cut and they scream or cry, the veteran will over react to this and most of the time react wrongly. They may begin to yell instead of trying to calm the child.
Hyper arousal (again waiting for the enemy)
They are always on guard. Many veterans will "patrol the perimeter" checking doors and windows over and over again. They may get to the point where their actions drive you up a wall. A lot of veterans will obsess about your safety. This comes from watching the backs of their brothers while in combat.
Increased physical pain
This one is easy to understand. They feel it more than they did before. What would have caused them to be "uncomfortable" in the past is translated into pain instead. They feel it more because they feel everything inside of them more.
Reduced immune response, Vulnerability to illnesses
Most of this comes from the above. The loss of sleep and true rest plays into this for all humans. When you go through anything that drains you, you are more likely to get sick.
Headaches, Gastrointestinal upset, Decreased appetite
Again, these are linked to the above. They are being worn down and worn out. Tension gives them headaches, upsets their digestive track and when that happens, they don't want to eat.
When they go on medication, a lot of veterans will gain weight. Some of this is caused by the medication itself and part is also caused by the change in the diet when the metabolism has been trained to survive on little food.
Decreased libido
This is one of the hardest things on them and their spouse. It is hard to connect to the body with passion when there is a barrier. Most marriages will suffer from this. Even when they do get aroused, they do not "feel" it. Passion goes out the door and they think they have to do it instead of wanting to do it. Let's put it this way, they have a lot of other things on their minds. They are dealing with all of the above and that also plays into this part.
Interpersonal Effects
Increased relational conflict (seems like they are looking for an argument)
Social withdrawal (wanting to stay home, not wanting to talk, not trusting anyone, thinking that someone will be out to get them)
Reduced relational intimacy (again, they don't feel it)
Alienation (they loose the connection they had with people they love)
Impaired work performance, Impaired school performance (this can come from short term memory loss and the sense of distrust) It's very hard to concentrate when you have all of the above going on.
Decreased satisfaction (can't feel happy over anything)
Distrust (everyone is out to get them) They will question irrationally and obsessively.
Externalization of blame (it's always someone else's fault)
Feeling abandoned or rejected (they cannot connect to others and they think it's because others are judging them)
Over protectiveness (gets back to the patrolling the parameter when they think they have to protect everyone from harm.
Emotional and cognitive
Emotional effects
Shock (while we feel startled)
Terror (while we may feel a little afraid)
Irritability (as if they are looking for a fight)
Blame (it's all their fault or it's all your fault)
Anger (will react as if it was the worst thing that could be done or said to them when we would have just let it go)
Guilt (they deserve to feel the way they do, they shouldn't have survived when someone else did not or God judged them)
Grief or sadness (always looking for what to feel bad about because nothing is worth feeling good about)
Emotional numbing (they cannot feel anything but pain and then they self medicate to stop feeling the pain)
Loss of pleasure (nothing makes them feel better, no longer able to feel joy or love)
Difficulty feeling happy (they really can't feel happy but they may often act as if they are, it shows in their eyes.)
Difficulty experiencing loving feelings (again, passion and intimacy is gone, they are not worth loving)
Cognitive effects
Impaired concentration (short term memory loss, zoning out and shutting down)
Impaired decision making ability (making bad decisions like buying things they cannot afford, driving too fast, not being able to deal rationally with choices they have to make)
Disbelief (they cannot trust easily)
Nightmares (more real than what we have, more vivid and intense)
Decreased self-esteem (they can't do anything right or they deserve to be going through what they are going through)
Decreased self-efficacy (cannot fight for themselves and one of the biggest reasons they need help to file a claim for their treatment with the VA. They want to give up because the fight has gone out of them.)
Intrusive thoughts and memories (flashbacks, feeling as if someone is out to get them and not trusting what they are told, looking for what you are not saying and thinking the worst)
Worry (if they do not have something to worry about, they'll find something)
Dissociation (cannot feel connected to the people around them)
Dreamlike or spacey feeling (zoning out)
These are what happens to most of them but they will not all experience the same symptoms at the same level. If the "out of character" signs go on for more than 3 months without showing any signs of easing up, or getting more intense instead, they should think about getting professional help. If this lasts 6 months, get them to go for help, no if, ands or buts about it. Get them to go for help. Help them to understand that these are normal reactions for any human who has been in an abnormal event. I've said it before and will keep saying it until everyone understands this, "Combat is not normal but they are!" It is not a sign they are weak, lack courage or are "defective" individuals. They are strong because they endured it. They are courageous because they were willing to go into combat. They are not defective and because they are feeling what comes after all they live through, they are capable of feeling. There is nothing defective about not being able to walk away the same way after going through what they go through. Even those who do not develop PTSD will change. No one walks away from trauma untouched if they are able to feel anything.
Over the years most veterans I've come into contact with or read reports about all indicate they have the capacity to feel things very strongly. Being sensitive is not a defect and has nothing to do with bravery. It just makes them more human.
We all forget these are men and women when we use the term "troops" and some of us get the impression they are "soldiers" and should be like some kind of killing machines instead of humans. We need to see them all as humans exposed to abnormal events and help them to heal from the events most of us will never know because they were willing to put their lives on the line.
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
"When you get a lot of adrenaline going, you just get up and keep fighting.”
Posted on Sun, Apr. 06, 2008
S.C. Guard Helmet saves soldier’s life
But firefight leads to death of man’s leader, friend
By CHUCK CRUMBO - ccrumbo@thestate.com
CAMP PHOENIX, Afghanistan — Even though it now is useless, Spc. Riddick Hiott III has become attached to his combat helmet.
A chunk of flying shrapnel made a deep gouge on the front of the helmet, just above the right eye.
“It saved my life,” the S.C. National Guardsman said, showing his helmet to a visitor.
Hiott, a Walterboro member of the Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team, got the battlefield souvenir during an Oct. 30 firefight in Kandahar Province. During that firefight, Hiott was the gunner on a Humvee that insurgent fighters ambushed.
Staff Sgt. James David Bullard, 28, a guardsman from Marion, died in the ambush.
Hiott and Bullard, members of a police mentoring team, were part of a convoy escorting Afghan officers to a command post.
Three armored Humvees and two pickups were in the convoy. The soldiers knew there could be a firefight, said the 25-year-old Hiott, who had been with the team since July.
“We had been in a pretty good number of TICs,” Hiott said, using Army lingo for troops in contact, “so you get used to being shot at. You kind of expect it and know what to look for.”
Reports also indicated the route to the command post could be laced with land mines or bombs buried in the sandy roadway or along the shoulder.
At one point, the route became so “soft,” or sandy, that Bullard and two other soldiers got out of their Humvees and walked ahead of the convoy, checking for mines and bombs, Hiott said.
Suddenly, gunfire erupted.
‘OUR LEADER ... OUR FRIEND’
Humvee gunner Hiott started firing to protect Bullard and the other soldiers as they tried to get back to the Humvees.
“As Sgt. Bullard was coming back to my Humvee, he told me I was doing a good job,” Hiott said. “That was the last thing he said to me.”
Just then, a rocket-propelled grenade struck Bullard, who had reached Hiott’s Humvee.
The blast killed Bullard and sent shrapnel in all directions.
One chunk hit Hiott in the head.
The blow knocked him unconscious for about 30 seconds, Hiott said. “I got back up on the gun. When you get a lot of adrenaline going, you just get up and keep fighting.”
A gunner in another Humvee also momentarily was knocked out, Hiott said.
go here for more
http://www.thestate.com/local/story/367128.html
This is how traumatic brain injury happens. This South Carolina soldier told more in that one quote than a volume of books could say.
S.C. Guard Helmet saves soldier’s life
But firefight leads to death of man’s leader, friend
By CHUCK CRUMBO - ccrumbo@thestate.com
CAMP PHOENIX, Afghanistan — Even though it now is useless, Spc. Riddick Hiott III has become attached to his combat helmet.
A chunk of flying shrapnel made a deep gouge on the front of the helmet, just above the right eye.
“It saved my life,” the S.C. National Guardsman said, showing his helmet to a visitor.
Hiott, a Walterboro member of the Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team, got the battlefield souvenir during an Oct. 30 firefight in Kandahar Province. During that firefight, Hiott was the gunner on a Humvee that insurgent fighters ambushed.
Staff Sgt. James David Bullard, 28, a guardsman from Marion, died in the ambush.
Hiott and Bullard, members of a police mentoring team, were part of a convoy escorting Afghan officers to a command post.
Three armored Humvees and two pickups were in the convoy. The soldiers knew there could be a firefight, said the 25-year-old Hiott, who had been with the team since July.
“We had been in a pretty good number of TICs,” Hiott said, using Army lingo for troops in contact, “so you get used to being shot at. You kind of expect it and know what to look for.”
Reports also indicated the route to the command post could be laced with land mines or bombs buried in the sandy roadway or along the shoulder.
At one point, the route became so “soft,” or sandy, that Bullard and two other soldiers got out of their Humvees and walked ahead of the convoy, checking for mines and bombs, Hiott said.
Suddenly, gunfire erupted.
‘OUR LEADER ... OUR FRIEND’
Humvee gunner Hiott started firing to protect Bullard and the other soldiers as they tried to get back to the Humvees.
“As Sgt. Bullard was coming back to my Humvee, he told me I was doing a good job,” Hiott said. “That was the last thing he said to me.”
Just then, a rocket-propelled grenade struck Bullard, who had reached Hiott’s Humvee.
The blast killed Bullard and sent shrapnel in all directions.
One chunk hit Hiott in the head.
The blow knocked him unconscious for about 30 seconds, Hiott said. “I got back up on the gun. When you get a lot of adrenaline going, you just get up and keep fighting.”
A gunner in another Humvee also momentarily was knocked out, Hiott said.
go here for more
http://www.thestate.com/local/story/367128.html
This is how traumatic brain injury happens. This South Carolina soldier told more in that one quote than a volume of books could say.
"When you get a lot of adrenaline going, you just get up and keep fighting.”
UK:Welsh soldier dies from Ecstasy use
Pal’s drug warning after soldier dies
Apr 6 2008 by Staff Reporter, Wales On Sunday
A SOLDIER who had apparently taken Ecstasy died after going AWOL from a Welsh army base at the centre of two drugs scandals.
Rifleman Sam Watterson, 19, failed to return to Beachley Barracks in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, after he had gone home and was said to be unhappy with Army life.
He died at a friend’s house after it is believed he had taken the Class A drug Ecstasy.
Close friends last night spoke of a “fun-loving, really genuine person” who had never been happy in the Army.
But they insisted Mr Watterson was not a regular drug user.
click post title for more
While Ecstasy is being looked at as a treatment for PTSD, it is unwise to use this drug as part of your own self-medication. I support the trials but I do not support using this because you are unhappy. This soldier was unhappy with Army life. It ended his life.
Apr 6 2008 by Staff Reporter, Wales On Sunday
A SOLDIER who had apparently taken Ecstasy died after going AWOL from a Welsh army base at the centre of two drugs scandals.
Rifleman Sam Watterson, 19, failed to return to Beachley Barracks in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, after he had gone home and was said to be unhappy with Army life.
He died at a friend’s house after it is believed he had taken the Class A drug Ecstasy.
Close friends last night spoke of a “fun-loving, really genuine person” who had never been happy in the Army.
But they insisted Mr Watterson was not a regular drug user.
click post title for more
While Ecstasy is being looked at as a treatment for PTSD, it is unwise to use this drug as part of your own self-medication. I support the trials but I do not support using this because you are unhappy. This soldier was unhappy with Army life. It ended his life.
Sgt. Nicholas A. Robertson died of wounds from Afghanistan
Injured Bragg soldier dies a day later
FayObserver.com - Fayetteville,NC,USA
A staff report
Robertson
A Fort Bragg soldier died Thursday in Germany from wounds he sustained during combat in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Nicholas A. Robertson, 27, was taken to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center after he was injured in the Zahn Khan District, Ghazni Province in Afghanistan on Wednesday.
He was a cryptologic linguist with the Headquarters Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group. He was serving as a Special Operations assistant team sergeant when he died.
This was his second deployment to Afghanistan.
Robertson enlisted in May 2005 in Portland, Maine, after graduating from the University of Maine with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
He is survived by his parents, David and Nancy, who live in Venice, Fla., and two brothers, Doug and Todd.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
I took today off, 5 soldiers died
I didn't post today because my husband and I met some friends at Epcot. It rained most of the day but it was a lot of fun enjoying the day with good friends. I needed it. I spent the time we were gone not thinking about Iraq or Afghanistan, not thinking about the pain and the burdens the soldiers and their families are dealing with and not thinking about the devastation across this nation the wounded veterans are dealing with. The news was shut off at 8:30 am and my PC was shut down at 9:30 am. I am just getting done with the emails to go through and now it dawns on me even more than normal how easy it is to shut out the two occupations, shut out the hurting and shut out the pain so many are going through all across this country.
North, south, east and west, pick a state and you'll find them. You'll find the soldier's wife with a couple of kids trying to survive yet one more deployment wondering how it is she never thought of herself as a single Mom when she became a military wife. You'll find the father who just sent his wife off to Iraq for another deployment and he's left to raise the kids and spend yet one more night wondering if she is safe. You'll find a young solider who planned on spending the rest of his life in the military and joined right out of high school only to have been driving the Humvee that managed to find the IED and now wondering if he will ever be loved, ever find a job and ever find the reason to keep waking up in the morning. You'll find the veteran who noticed that while his body came back in one piece from the combat he lived through, he never really came back all the way. A part of him died there and the part that replaced it, is a stranger to him.
The problem is, you won't find them unless you look for them but they are all around you.
They are the couple of Vietnam veterans that just walked by you at Epcot. One came back fine and the other came back with the ghosts of Vietnam chasing him all these years. They became friends in Vietnam but lost track of each other until one tenacious wife trying to learn more tracked the other one down. That phone call ended up being years before the two veterans would talk on the phone. Another couple of years before they actually saw each other and shared a meal, memories and glances only the two of them understood. They were just two more pals who managed to act as if they see each other all the time because while both went on with their lives, a part of them stayed the same young kids who left their homes for Vietnam.
It's easy to escape what is going on and forget about all of it when we are trying to live our own lives, deal with our own pain, our own problems and seek our own goals. It's too easy to shut the news off, flip the channel or go out and do something fun. It's easy to bypass all the news online and find what we are interested in, delete the update we received because we just don't have time for it.
Life went on here as if nothing important was going on. We lost 5 soldiers today.
04/06/08 LATimes: Five Americans, up to 22 Iraqis killed
Three American soldiers died from rocket attacks in Baghdad today, while fighting between Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and U.S.-led forces paralyzed the capital's Sadr City neighborhood and left up to 22 Iraqis dead.
At some point today there was a door bell ringing in five houses today. Five families got the news no military family ever wants to hear, "We regret to inform you" your family member is gone. How many of these soldiers had parents still alive, wives and kids? We'll never know unless we go looking for the news reports to know who these soldiers left behind. We'll never know what kind of dreams they had of how they wanted their lives to be, why they joined or how many people cared for them unless we look to find the reports.
For the families left behind, no one will know what happened to them, if they got on with their lives ok or not.
Rocket attacks ended the stories of five of our soldiers today and I didn't know when I was walking around Epcot thinking about how long it would take standing in line waiting for a ride. I didn't know when I was complaining about the rain and feeling miserable with my feet wet. I didn't know when I was sitting in China and eating with chopsticks. While I was on Space Ship Earth, the ride that accounts how technology has linked the world's people to each other, a family was being torn apart, a unit back in Iraq was grieving the loss of these soldiers and wondering when it would be their turn or how long they had to last one more day, week or month before going home.
We'll never know if they will end up being two long lost friends 30 years from now who can catch up in a moment of time as if they have never been apart. Strange how things work out for some but we'll never know unless we know them.
The problem is most of us will never know any of them. We won't know their stories. We won't know what happened from day to day unless we pay attention. But we live in a nation where it's just too easy to take the time off, shut the news off, shut the two occupations off and act as if nothing was going on at all. Most of us don't know anyone serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. Most of us haven't a clue if someone in our office has a son or a daughter over there or a kid who goes to school with our kids spent another night praying for their parent over there. Most of us won't know because it's too easy to not ask, not wonder, and to not even really care.
Today, as with "play days" with my husband are much needed so that I can do what I do the rest of the week. These are the times I don't think about them over there or what happens when they come home. Rare times for me and so many others across the nation who do invest the time to learn what is going on. Readers of this blog are among those who do care of they wouldn't spend their time reading a blog that is mostly depressing when it comes to the wounds they carry. We are rare though when you think about the blogs and sites that get the most hits. All in all I feel sorry for them because they have spent so much time never knowing any of these men or women or the families. As for me right this moment, I'm getting ready to go to bed and feeling guilty about the time I took for myself today when I didn't think about them or the five we lost today or the families who got the news, someone they love is gone.
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
North, south, east and west, pick a state and you'll find them. You'll find the soldier's wife with a couple of kids trying to survive yet one more deployment wondering how it is she never thought of herself as a single Mom when she became a military wife. You'll find the father who just sent his wife off to Iraq for another deployment and he's left to raise the kids and spend yet one more night wondering if she is safe. You'll find a young solider who planned on spending the rest of his life in the military and joined right out of high school only to have been driving the Humvee that managed to find the IED and now wondering if he will ever be loved, ever find a job and ever find the reason to keep waking up in the morning. You'll find the veteran who noticed that while his body came back in one piece from the combat he lived through, he never really came back all the way. A part of him died there and the part that replaced it, is a stranger to him.
The problem is, you won't find them unless you look for them but they are all around you.
They are the couple of Vietnam veterans that just walked by you at Epcot. One came back fine and the other came back with the ghosts of Vietnam chasing him all these years. They became friends in Vietnam but lost track of each other until one tenacious wife trying to learn more tracked the other one down. That phone call ended up being years before the two veterans would talk on the phone. Another couple of years before they actually saw each other and shared a meal, memories and glances only the two of them understood. They were just two more pals who managed to act as if they see each other all the time because while both went on with their lives, a part of them stayed the same young kids who left their homes for Vietnam.
It's easy to escape what is going on and forget about all of it when we are trying to live our own lives, deal with our own pain, our own problems and seek our own goals. It's too easy to shut the news off, flip the channel or go out and do something fun. It's easy to bypass all the news online and find what we are interested in, delete the update we received because we just don't have time for it.
Life went on here as if nothing important was going on. We lost 5 soldiers today.
04/06/08 LATimes: Five Americans, up to 22 Iraqis killed
Three American soldiers died from rocket attacks in Baghdad today, while fighting between Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and U.S.-led forces paralyzed the capital's Sadr City neighborhood and left up to 22 Iraqis dead.
At some point today there was a door bell ringing in five houses today. Five families got the news no military family ever wants to hear, "We regret to inform you" your family member is gone. How many of these soldiers had parents still alive, wives and kids? We'll never know unless we go looking for the news reports to know who these soldiers left behind. We'll never know what kind of dreams they had of how they wanted their lives to be, why they joined or how many people cared for them unless we look to find the reports.
For the families left behind, no one will know what happened to them, if they got on with their lives ok or not.
Rocket attacks ended the stories of five of our soldiers today and I didn't know when I was walking around Epcot thinking about how long it would take standing in line waiting for a ride. I didn't know when I was complaining about the rain and feeling miserable with my feet wet. I didn't know when I was sitting in China and eating with chopsticks. While I was on Space Ship Earth, the ride that accounts how technology has linked the world's people to each other, a family was being torn apart, a unit back in Iraq was grieving the loss of these soldiers and wondering when it would be their turn or how long they had to last one more day, week or month before going home.
We'll never know if they will end up being two long lost friends 30 years from now who can catch up in a moment of time as if they have never been apart. Strange how things work out for some but we'll never know unless we know them.
The problem is most of us will never know any of them. We won't know their stories. We won't know what happened from day to day unless we pay attention. But we live in a nation where it's just too easy to take the time off, shut the news off, shut the two occupations off and act as if nothing was going on at all. Most of us don't know anyone serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. Most of us haven't a clue if someone in our office has a son or a daughter over there or a kid who goes to school with our kids spent another night praying for their parent over there. Most of us won't know because it's too easy to not ask, not wonder, and to not even really care.
Today, as with "play days" with my husband are much needed so that I can do what I do the rest of the week. These are the times I don't think about them over there or what happens when they come home. Rare times for me and so many others across the nation who do invest the time to learn what is going on. Readers of this blog are among those who do care of they wouldn't spend their time reading a blog that is mostly depressing when it comes to the wounds they carry. We are rare though when you think about the blogs and sites that get the most hits. All in all I feel sorry for them because they have spent so much time never knowing any of these men or women or the families. As for me right this moment, I'm getting ready to go to bed and feeling guilty about the time I took for myself today when I didn't think about them or the five we lost today or the families who got the news, someone they love is gone.
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
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Army Worried by Rising Stress of Return Tours to Iraq
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned of the toll the Iraq war could take on the military.
Army Worried by Rising Stress of Return Tours to Iraq
By THOM SHANKER
Published: April 6, 2008
WASHINGTON — Army leaders are expressing increased alarm about the mental health of soldiers who would be sent back to the front again and again under plans that call for troop numbers to be sustained at high levels in Iraq for this year and beyond.
Among combat troops sent to Iraq for the third or fourth time, more than one in four show signs of anxiety, depression or acute stress, according to an official Army survey of soldiers’ mental health.
The stress of long and multiple deployments to Iraq is just one of the concerns being voiced by senior military officers in Washington as Gen. David H. Petraeus, the senior Iraq commander, prepares to tell Congress this week that he is not ready to endorse any drawdowns beyond those already scheduled through July.
President Bush has signaled that he will endorse General Petraeus’s recommendation, a decision that will leave close to 140,000 American troops in Iraq at least through the summer. But in a meeting with Mr. Bush late last month in advance of General Petraeus’s testimony, the Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed deep concern about stress on the force, senior Defense Department and military officials said.
click post title for more
Linked from ICasualties.org
Again redeployments increase the risk of PTSD by 50%.
UK:Families fight plan for secret inquests non-combat deaths
Lance Corporal Matty Hull was killed when an American pilot mistakenly opened fire on his convoy in Iraq. Photograph: Bruce Adams/PA
Families fight plan for secret inquests in friendly-fire deaths
Gaby Hinsliff, political editor
The Observer, Sunday April 6 2008
Army families fear that the truth about the deaths of soldiers killed in friendly fire or other controversial incidents will be concealed under proposed government powers to hold secret inquests without a jury.
The plan to allow evidence to be assessed in private where national security or international relations are jeopardised follows controversy over cases such as that of Lance Corporal Matty Hull, killed when a US pilot mistakenly opened fire on his convoy in Iraq.
The Americans refused to provide cockpit video of the incident - relenting only after a copy was leaked to the media - or make their pilots give evidence. The Defence Secretary, Des Browne, has also recently gone to court to try to restrict the comments made by coroners on army deaths after a string of cases where verdicts highlighted failings in their kit.
Geoff Gray of the campaign group Deepcut and Beyond, whose 17-year-old son Geoff was found dead on guard duty at the now notorious Deepcut barracks, said the families of servicemen and women were entitled to all the information about how they died. 'To have an inquest in secret would be horrendous for the families: you are desperate for information about how people have died. And you have got the bigger picture, for instance in friendly fire incidents such as that of Matty Hull. The public must be aware of what's going on.'
go here for more
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/apr/06/military.iraq
Iraqi Contractor Charged Under New Law
In 2006, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., added a measure to a defense spending bill that made civilians working for the U.S. military in a "contingency operation" subject to courts martial.
The provision was intended to close the legal loophole that made it difficult to successfully prosecute such individuals in conflicts were Congress had not formally declared a state of war.
There are more than 160,000 contractors working in Iraq and some 36,000 in Afghanistan _ about the same number of troops in those regions. They perform numerous tasks including supplying food and water, building barracks, providing armed security and gathering intelligence.
By SLOBODAN LEKIC
The Associated Press
Saturday, April 5, 2008; 3:24 PM
BAGHDAD -- A civilian contractor working for the U.S. military in Iraq was charged with aggravated assault under military law, the first such prosecution since the Vietnam War, the U.S. command said Saturday.
Alaa "Alex" Mohammad Ali, who holds dual Iraqi-Canadian citizenship, is the first person facing criminal charges since Congress in 2006 gave the military authority to prosecute crimes committed by civilians working for the armed forces, a U.S. statement said.
Ali, a U.S. Army translator, is accused of stabbing another contractor during a fight on Feb. 23 at a base near Hit, a town 85 miles west of Baghdad in Anbar province, the statement said. The victim was wounded in the chest and sternum.
Ali, who was assigned a military lawyer, has been in detention since Feb. 29 at a stockade near Baghdad International Airport. A hearing has been scheduled for Thursday, the statement said.
click post title for more
Linked from ICasualties.org
Why does this not apply to KBR and Halliburton and what they have allowed to happen to the women who were raped?
Acinetobacter Alley:Did they cure it or bury it?
It's been a few months since the last report on this super bug came out. The question is, did they cure it or bury the reports on it? We have a lot more wounded since then and I doubt they are all free of this.
Deadly mystery disease follows troops home
Infections seen in military hospitals in Iraq spread to U.S.
Jia-Rui Chong, Los Angeles Times
Sunday, October 7, 2007
The young American Army medic would not stop bleeding.
He had been put on a powerful regimen of antibiotics by doctors aboard the hospital ship Comfort in the Persian Gulf. But something was wrong.
He was in shock and bleeding from small pricks where nurses had placed intravenous lines. Red, swollen tissue from an active bacterial infection was expanding around his abdominal wound. His immune system was in overdrive.
How odd, thought Dr. Kyle Petersen, an infectious disease specialist. He knew of one injured Iraqi man with similar symptoms and a few days later encountered an Iraqi teenager with gunshot wounds in the same condition.
Within a few days, blood tests confirmed that the medic and the two wounded Iraqis were infected with an unusual bacterium, Acinetobacter baumannii.
This particular strain had a deadly twist. It was resistant to a dozen antibiotics. The medic survived, but by the time Petersen connected the dots, the two Iraqi patients were dead.
It was April 2003, early in the Iraq war - and 41/2 years later, scientists still are struggling to understand the medical mystery.
The three cases aboard the Comfort were the first of a stubborn outbreak that has spread to at least five other American military hospitals, including Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and the Army's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
Hundreds of patients - the military says it has not tabulated how many - have been infected with the bacterium in their bloodstream, cerebrospinal fluid, bones or lungs. Many of them were troops wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan; others have been civilians infected after stays in military hospitals.
At least 27 people have died in military hospitals with Acinetobacter infections since 2003, although doctors are uncertain how many of the deaths actually were caused by the bacteria.
The rise in infections has been dramatic. In 2001 and 2002, Acinetobacter infections made up about 2 percent of admissions at the specialized burn unit at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas. In 2003, the rate jumped to 6 percent, and then to 12 percent by 2005. Other military hospitals have reported similar levels.
In the early days of the war, there were so many infections in an intensive care unit on the Comfort that a nurse posted a sign: "Acinetobacter Alley." In two months, the bacterium was found in 44 of the 211 patients wounded in battle.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/07/MNEUSGV3A.DTL&feed=rss.news
Worrisome Infection in Wounded US Military
November 19, 2004 -- A bacterium named Acinetobacter baumannii is a relatively uncommon cause of infection, except among people with AIDS and other types of immune deficiency and in ICUs. Now there is a worrisome increase in the number of bloodstream infections due to this bacterium in US military hospitals where service members injured in Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan are being treated.
Comments: During the Vietnam War, this bacterium was also the most common microorganism of its type (gram-negative bacteria) in traumatic wounds of the arms and legs, suggesting that environmental contamination of wounds is the likely source of the infection. This bacterium is common in both water and soil. Treatment of these infections can be difficult because the bacterium has intrinsic resistance to certain antibiotics and has acquired resistance to many others.
Everyone in Iraq and Afghanistan today faces risks not only of death and injuries but also severe life-threatening infections from this bacterium. If US military hospitals are having difficulty treating it, we cannot begin to imagine the situation for civilians injured and hospitalized in Iraq or Afghanistan. War brings with it the scourge of disease.
Barbara K. Hecht, Ph.D.Frederick Hecht, M.D.Medical Editors, MedicineNet.com
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=40718
Soldiers in Iraq recall Medal of Honor recipient’s valor
Jasmine Chopra / U.S. Army Soldiers salute during a ceremony Friday in Baghdad to remember Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during a 2003 attack in which he was killed.
Soldiers in Iraq recall Medal of Honor recipient’s valor
Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, April 6, 2008
In the same courtyard where, five years ago to the day, Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith was killed, soldiers who were with him that day gathered to remember the Medal of Honor recipient Friday.
Along with some 200 other servicemembers and military dignitaries, the group held a remembrance ceremony to mark the day.
Smith, who was with Company B, 11th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, was setting up a prisoner of war holding area at the Baghdad International Airport when his unit was attacked. Manning a .50-caliber machine gun on an armored personnel carrier, Smith held off the attackers until his unit could evacuate their wounded and mount a counterattack.
Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, April 6, 2008
In the same courtyard where, five years ago to the day, Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith was killed, soldiers who were with him that day gathered to remember the Medal of Honor recipient Friday.
Along with some 200 other servicemembers and military dignitaries, the group held a remembrance ceremony to mark the day.
Smith, who was with Company B, 11th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, was setting up a prisoner of war holding area at the Baghdad International Airport when his unit was attacked. Manning a .50-caliber machine gun on an armored personnel carrier, Smith held off the attackers until his unit could evacuate their wounded and mount a counterattack.
go here for more
Super Bugs and Green Tea
Tea Up
Green tea is thought to be a cancer-preventing superfood;
now researchers say it may also be a weapon against deadly superbugs like MRSA.
By Daniel Stone Newsweek Web Exclusive
Apr 2, 2008 Updated: 1:45 p.m. ET Apr 2, 2008
There are a lot of reasons to drink green tea. Study after study links the antioxidant-rich drink to a host of health benefits. Now researchers at Egypt's University of Alexandria point to a new reason to brew up some green: it boosts the effectiveness of antibiotics in fighting harmful bacteria and drug-resistant superbugs like MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).
Egyptian researchers tested green tea in combination with antibiotics against 28 disease-causing microorganisms belonging to two different classes: green tea enhanced the bacteria-killing activity of the antibiotics in every case. The study, presented this week at a meeting of the Society for General Microbiology in Edinburgh, Scotland, showed that green tea made one in five drug-resistant bacteria susceptible to one of the cephalosporin antibiotics (a class of antibiotics that some strains of bacteria have mutated to resist).
The boost in antibiotic effectiveness may become a welcome weapon in the fight against a growing number of antibiotic-resistant infections in hospitals and community settings. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 2 million people in the U.S. are affected each year by antibiotic-resistant infections caused by bacteria, like MRSA, which survive by mutating to avoid the effects of antibiotics.
go here for more
http://www.newsweek.com/id/130117
Green tea is thought to be a cancer-preventing superfood;
now researchers say it may also be a weapon against deadly superbugs like MRSA.
By Daniel Stone Newsweek Web Exclusive
Apr 2, 2008 Updated: 1:45 p.m. ET Apr 2, 2008
There are a lot of reasons to drink green tea. Study after study links the antioxidant-rich drink to a host of health benefits. Now researchers at Egypt's University of Alexandria point to a new reason to brew up some green: it boosts the effectiveness of antibiotics in fighting harmful bacteria and drug-resistant superbugs like MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).
Egyptian researchers tested green tea in combination with antibiotics against 28 disease-causing microorganisms belonging to two different classes: green tea enhanced the bacteria-killing activity of the antibiotics in every case. The study, presented this week at a meeting of the Society for General Microbiology in Edinburgh, Scotland, showed that green tea made one in five drug-resistant bacteria susceptible to one of the cephalosporin antibiotics (a class of antibiotics that some strains of bacteria have mutated to resist).
The boost in antibiotic effectiveness may become a welcome weapon in the fight against a growing number of antibiotic-resistant infections in hospitals and community settings. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 2 million people in the U.S. are affected each year by antibiotic-resistant infections caused by bacteria, like MRSA, which survive by mutating to avoid the effects of antibiotics.
go here for more
http://www.newsweek.com/id/130117
The War's Expiration Date 2009
The War's Expiration Date
By Bruce Ackerman and Oona Hathaway
Saturday, April 5, 2008; 12:00 AM
A crucial yet overlooked deadline looms over the Iraq debate: Unless further action is taken, the war will become illegal on Jan. 1, 2009.
Despite protestations to the contrary, Congress clearly understood that it was authorizing the president to intervene militarily when it passed its joint resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq in October 2002. But it did not give him a blank check. It allowed for the use of force only under two conditions.
The first has long since lapsed. It permitted the president to "defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq." This threat came to an end with the destruction of Saddam Hussein's government. It makes no sense to say that it continues today, or that our "national security" is "threatened by" the Iraqi government headed by Nouri al-Maliki.
Instead, U.S. military intervention is authorized under the second prong of the 2002 resolution. This authorizes the president to "enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq." This has allowed the Bush administration to satisfy American law by obtaining a series of resolutions authorizing the United States to serve as the head of the multinational force in Iraq.
But here's the rub. The most recent U.N. resolution expires on Dec. 31, and the administration has announced that it will not seek one for 2009. Instead, it is now negotiating a bilateral agreement with the Iraqi government to replace the U.N. mandate.
Whatever this agreement contains, it will not fill the legal vacuum. That's because the administration is not planning to submit this new agreement to Congress for its explicit approval. Since the Constitution gives the power to "declare war" to Congress, the president can't ignore the conditions imposed on him in 2002 without returning for a new grant of authority. He cannot substitute the consent of the Iraqi government for the consent of the U.S. Congress.
This simple point hasn't yet gained the attention it deserves. While the presidential candidates debate whether we should be in Iraq for the next two years or the next 100, nobody is focusing on the next few months.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration continues to support its unilateral expansion of war aims with inadequate arguments. At a recent congressional hearing, David Satterfield, the administration's coordinator for Iraq, claimed that the 2002 resolution authorized the continuing use of force against al-Qaeda in Iraq. But al-Qaeda only came into Iraq as a result of U.S. intervention. Congress only authorized the use of force to defend against the "continuing threat" posed by Iraq, not all threats that might someday exist in Iraq.
click post title for more
By Bruce Ackerman and Oona Hathaway
Saturday, April 5, 2008; 12:00 AM
A crucial yet overlooked deadline looms over the Iraq debate: Unless further action is taken, the war will become illegal on Jan. 1, 2009.
Despite protestations to the contrary, Congress clearly understood that it was authorizing the president to intervene militarily when it passed its joint resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq in October 2002. But it did not give him a blank check. It allowed for the use of force only under two conditions.
The first has long since lapsed. It permitted the president to "defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq." This threat came to an end with the destruction of Saddam Hussein's government. It makes no sense to say that it continues today, or that our "national security" is "threatened by" the Iraqi government headed by Nouri al-Maliki.
Instead, U.S. military intervention is authorized under the second prong of the 2002 resolution. This authorizes the president to "enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq." This has allowed the Bush administration to satisfy American law by obtaining a series of resolutions authorizing the United States to serve as the head of the multinational force in Iraq.
But here's the rub. The most recent U.N. resolution expires on Dec. 31, and the administration has announced that it will not seek one for 2009. Instead, it is now negotiating a bilateral agreement with the Iraqi government to replace the U.N. mandate.
Whatever this agreement contains, it will not fill the legal vacuum. That's because the administration is not planning to submit this new agreement to Congress for its explicit approval. Since the Constitution gives the power to "declare war" to Congress, the president can't ignore the conditions imposed on him in 2002 without returning for a new grant of authority. He cannot substitute the consent of the Iraqi government for the consent of the U.S. Congress.
This simple point hasn't yet gained the attention it deserves. While the presidential candidates debate whether we should be in Iraq for the next two years or the next 100, nobody is focusing on the next few months.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration continues to support its unilateral expansion of war aims with inadequate arguments. At a recent congressional hearing, David Satterfield, the administration's coordinator for Iraq, claimed that the 2002 resolution authorized the continuing use of force against al-Qaeda in Iraq. But al-Qaeda only came into Iraq as a result of U.S. intervention. Congress only authorized the use of force to defend against the "continuing threat" posed by Iraq, not all threats that might someday exist in Iraq.
click post title for more
Bill Baird getting Kentucky National Guardsmen Home
Cash gift lets Ky. Guard members come home
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Apr 5, 2008 17:17:25 EDT
STURGIS, Ky. — A cash gift from a western Kentucky businessman will give a group of Kentucky National Guard soldiers a little time at home before their deployment.
The 500 members of the 201st Engineer Battalion are training in Wisconsin before a 10-month deployment to Afghanistan.
A donation of $49,000 by Bill Baird to a charity fund for the soldiers will allow them to go home for six days.
Baird is the founder and owner of Saturn Machine and Welding Co. in Union County.
His gift along with the donations already raised will provide the $60,000 needed to bus the unit’s 500 soldiers from Wisconsin home to Kentucky on April 25. The Army does not pay for pre-deployment trips.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_cashforguard_040508/
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Apr 5, 2008 17:17:25 EDT
STURGIS, Ky. — A cash gift from a western Kentucky businessman will give a group of Kentucky National Guard soldiers a little time at home before their deployment.
The 500 members of the 201st Engineer Battalion are training in Wisconsin before a 10-month deployment to Afghanistan.
A donation of $49,000 by Bill Baird to a charity fund for the soldiers will allow them to go home for six days.
Baird is the founder and owner of Saturn Machine and Welding Co. in Union County.
His gift along with the donations already raised will provide the $60,000 needed to bus the unit’s 500 soldiers from Wisconsin home to Kentucky on April 25. The Army does not pay for pre-deployment trips.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_cashforguard_040508/
Widow fights in-law for soldier’s sperm
Widow fights in-law for soldier’s sperm
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Apr 5, 2008 17:14:03 EDT
COLUMBUS, Ga. — The widow of a soldier killed in Iraq this week is in a fight against time and her mother-in-law to harvest her husband’s sperm before he is embalmed.
Army Sgt. Dayne Darren Dhanoolal was killed on Monday when a roadside bomb tore through the Husky mine-detecting vehicle he was driving in Iraq. The 26-year-old combat engineer was assigned to Fort Benning’s 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment and was scheduled to come home just weeks before his death.
Upon his return, his wife, Kynesha Dhanoolal said they planned to start a family. In November, she had surgery to remove uterine fibroid tumors to clear the way for conception.
“Having kids is all we talked about,” Dhanoolal told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. “I want to look at this child knowing that’s him.”
On Friday, Kynesha Dhanoolal got a federal court order restraining her husband’s mother from embalming the body until she can get his sperm, which she hopes to use to have a child through artificial insemination.
According to her attorney, Frank Myers, the procedure was done on Friday and the sperm will be preserved and maintained by a medical representative until further order of the court.
“We know that the technology is there,” Myers said. “We don’t know for an actual fact that it’s going to work.”
Not claiming the sperm before Darren Dhanoolal’s body was embalmed would cause the sperm to be lost. His wife was made temporary administrator of his estate on Wednesday, but he died without a will.
Darren Dhanoolal designated his mother as the person authorized to handle his remains upon death. His body was sent to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del., on Wednesday.
Kynesha Dhanoolal also wants her husband to have a full military burial at Fort Benning. Currently, plans are for his remains to be sent to Texas, where his mother will handle the funeral arrangements.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_soldiersperm_040508/
It's normal to worry about them coming back or not, but it is one more example of how the wives/husbands need to make sure that everything is in order before they go in case they come back so wounded they cannot make their own decisions or, in this case, have made their wishes clear but their lives changed after. This soldier did not do a will before he died and left his mother in charge of what happens to him in case the worst happened. Young soldiers are not indestructible and it is very important they get things in order in case the worst happens. Now the wife has to go up against the mother-in-law.
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Apr 5, 2008 17:14:03 EDT
COLUMBUS, Ga. — The widow of a soldier killed in Iraq this week is in a fight against time and her mother-in-law to harvest her husband’s sperm before he is embalmed.
Army Sgt. Dayne Darren Dhanoolal was killed on Monday when a roadside bomb tore through the Husky mine-detecting vehicle he was driving in Iraq. The 26-year-old combat engineer was assigned to Fort Benning’s 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment and was scheduled to come home just weeks before his death.
Upon his return, his wife, Kynesha Dhanoolal said they planned to start a family. In November, she had surgery to remove uterine fibroid tumors to clear the way for conception.
“Having kids is all we talked about,” Dhanoolal told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. “I want to look at this child knowing that’s him.”
On Friday, Kynesha Dhanoolal got a federal court order restraining her husband’s mother from embalming the body until she can get his sperm, which she hopes to use to have a child through artificial insemination.
According to her attorney, Frank Myers, the procedure was done on Friday and the sperm will be preserved and maintained by a medical representative until further order of the court.
“We know that the technology is there,” Myers said. “We don’t know for an actual fact that it’s going to work.”
Not claiming the sperm before Darren Dhanoolal’s body was embalmed would cause the sperm to be lost. His wife was made temporary administrator of his estate on Wednesday, but he died without a will.
Darren Dhanoolal designated his mother as the person authorized to handle his remains upon death. His body was sent to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del., on Wednesday.
Kynesha Dhanoolal also wants her husband to have a full military burial at Fort Benning. Currently, plans are for his remains to be sent to Texas, where his mother will handle the funeral arrangements.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_soldiersperm_040508/
It's normal to worry about them coming back or not, but it is one more example of how the wives/husbands need to make sure that everything is in order before they go in case they come back so wounded they cannot make their own decisions or, in this case, have made their wishes clear but their lives changed after. This soldier did not do a will before he died and left his mother in charge of what happens to him in case the worst happened. Young soldiers are not indestructible and it is very important they get things in order in case the worst happens. Now the wife has to go up against the mother-in-law.
Kissimmee weclomes Quilt Of Tears April 19
They are called the "Quilt of Tears" for the many tears that have been shed by & for these victims.
Both living and dead, they have been forgotten by our government and this is our way to give them the honor and respect they so richly deserve. The Quilts have a life of their own and speak for themselves, adorned with victim's pictures, their service information, their Agent Orange health status, etc, etc. Love, pain and sorrow can be seen in each block. One veteran stated that "The "Quilts of Tears" was the most moving piece of art he had seen since the WALL in Washington, D.C.
See The Quilt Of Tears in KissimmeeApril 19th & 20th, 2008
America’s Best Value Inn Hotel Maingate will be hosting the Quilt of Tears in the hotel’s conference room Saturday April 19th from 10am to 10 pm and on Sunday April 20th from 10am to 6pm. Address is 7514 West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway (US 192), Kissimmee, FL.
Military rate for normal rooms will be $34.95 plus tax and resort fee
Visit the Quilt Of Tears Website
Veteran Support A Phone Call Away, Says Gayle Kagen
Veteran Support A Phone Call Away, Says Gayle Kagen
(GREEN BAY, WI) — Continuing their work to find ways to improve veterans’ lives, Gayle Kagen and the Brown County United Way today spread the word about 2-11 call centers serving as a single national point of contact for veterans and their families seeking counseling and other services.
“We are working hard to make sure that those who have served our country bravely and their families receive the benefits they deserve,” Mrs. Kagen said. “Brown County United Way and Brown Country Veterans Services provide incredible support for our local veterans. With 2-11, that support is just a phone call away.”
Mrs. Kagen was joined at the Aging and Disability Resource Center in Green Bay by Lisa Clark from the Brown County United Way.
Gayle Kagen, the wife of Congressman Steve Kagen, is president of the Freshman Congressional Spouses Class of the 110th Congress. After visiting Walter Reed Hospital, she brought together the United Way and the National Military Families Association to discuss how 2-11 could provide resources for veterans and their families.
“I’m very excited to be part of a program that’s helping the families of our service personnel get access to the help they need,” said Ms. Clark, 2-11 manager for the Brown County United Way. “This is exactly what 2-11 is all about, providing an easy gateway to services in our community.”
2-11 is an easy-to-remember, nationwide, non-emergency telephone number that connects people with community services and volunteer opportunities. Mrs. Kagen and the Freshman Congressional Spouses are promoting the Military Families Program as part of the menu of services available through Brown County 2-11. A subsection of the local 2-11 website is also dedicated to offering services for military personal and their families and can be seen at http://www.get211.org/.
Congressman Steve Kagen, M.D. Applauded the efforts of his wife and the other spouses, as well as local advocates like the Brown County United Way.
“Our community here in Northeast Wisconsin does an incredible job of working together to meet the needs of our veterans and their families,” Dr. Kagen said. “Dialing 2-11 is an easy way to connect our soldiers with these much needed resources.”
(GREEN BAY, WI) — Continuing their work to find ways to improve veterans’ lives, Gayle Kagen and the Brown County United Way today spread the word about 2-11 call centers serving as a single national point of contact for veterans and their families seeking counseling and other services.
“We are working hard to make sure that those who have served our country bravely and their families receive the benefits they deserve,” Mrs. Kagen said. “Brown County United Way and Brown Country Veterans Services provide incredible support for our local veterans. With 2-11, that support is just a phone call away.”
Mrs. Kagen was joined at the Aging and Disability Resource Center in Green Bay by Lisa Clark from the Brown County United Way.
Gayle Kagen, the wife of Congressman Steve Kagen, is president of the Freshman Congressional Spouses Class of the 110th Congress. After visiting Walter Reed Hospital, she brought together the United Way and the National Military Families Association to discuss how 2-11 could provide resources for veterans and their families.
“I’m very excited to be part of a program that’s helping the families of our service personnel get access to the help they need,” said Ms. Clark, 2-11 manager for the Brown County United Way. “This is exactly what 2-11 is all about, providing an easy gateway to services in our community.”
2-11 is an easy-to-remember, nationwide, non-emergency telephone number that connects people with community services and volunteer opportunities. Mrs. Kagen and the Freshman Congressional Spouses are promoting the Military Families Program as part of the menu of services available through Brown County 2-11. A subsection of the local 2-11 website is also dedicated to offering services for military personal and their families and can be seen at http://www.get211.org/.
Congressman Steve Kagen, M.D. Applauded the efforts of his wife and the other spouses, as well as local advocates like the Brown County United Way.
“Our community here in Northeast Wisconsin does an incredible job of working together to meet the needs of our veterans and their families,” Dr. Kagen said. “Dialing 2-11 is an easy way to connect our soldiers with these much needed resources.”
Rep. Ellison: Public, media ignore Afghanistan
This is something I've been screaming about on my other blog. We need to pay attention to this and yes, make a big deal out of it to the media so they pay attention too.
Development News from Afghanistan
Rep. Ellison: Public, media ignore Afghanistan
Posted in Uncategorized by afghandevnews on April 5th, 2008
March 26, 2008
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The war in Afghanistan is not a top issue in the U.S. presidential race because of a lack of interest among the American public and the media, a U.S. congressman said during a visit to the Afghan capital Wednesday.
Keith Ellison, a Democrat from the U.S. state of Minnesota, said he believes America’s three leading presidential candidates are paying attention to the conflict in Afghanistan but the issue is not garnering wider interest.
“Either because of the public interest or the press, it’s not a hot debate item, but I think it should be,” Ellison said. “It’s clear the focus in the presidential debate is on Iraq policy, but I wish the press would ask more questions about Afghanistan, what could or should be done to make sure Afghanistan’s future is secure.”
Ellison said he thinks that after the U.S. election in November any of the three top candidates — Republican John McCain or Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama — will pay more attention to Afghanistan than the Bush administration has.
Ellison is one of six U.S. congressional members who wrapped up a two-day visit to Afghanistan on Wednesday. The group met with President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Gen. Dan McNeill, the top NATO general in charge of the international military mission here.
click above for more
Not Our Father's War
For the last six years, I've been listening to what they have to say. I keep trying to tell people that the Vietnam Veterans are the greatest generation because they reached back to say, "come with me" to the new generation of veterans. They said that never again would they leave other veterans behind and they meant it. This is for them.
Not Our Father's War
by
Nam Guardian Angel
They say it's not our father's war
but somehow most of it is as before
While they came home from Vietnam alone to jeers
we're coming home in groups to cheers.
Aside from that, the wounds are the same
and you wonder what all these years have gained
when it comes to taking care of those who don't come back the same.
Our fathers came home with the war inside their soul
get over it they were told
by their fathers who had been before
but they knew it wasn't their fathers war.
While they came home from Korea and WWII in groups to cheers
their sons came home alone to jeers
and in the silent suffering with bitter tears they shed
some wondered if they'd be better off dead.
While the Wall has over 58,000 names engraved
too many managed to put themselves in a grave.
They say the couple of hundred thousand taking their own lives with suicide
was just a part of war and part of the war buried deep inside.
But we know it's not our fathers war
because we know so much more than we knew before.
We know this all because of them
and the chance they gave us to live again.
The battles they fought when they came home,
made sure we'd never have to fight our own alone.
They decided that never again
one generation would abandoned another again
and they made sure the battle after war
didn't turn out like their fathers war.
They made sure the battles they fought here at home would be ones that would take care of every generation of veterans, or at least they would die trying. They are still fighting to make sure this happens. We wouldn't know anything about PTSD if they did not fight for it. Had they just sucked it up and settled for "get over it" there would be no accomplishments in treating PTSD or trying to bring understanding of what PTSD is. The stigma would be even stronger than it is. While there is so much further to go with this wound of war, further to go on how we treat those we send, we owe what has been done to the Vietnam veterans.
Have you hugged a Vietnam vet lately and said thank you?
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
Women Veterans finding help from peers
Women Veterans Returning Home From the War are Finding Help from Their Peers
Posted:
April 4, 2008 08:08 PM EDT
Women Veterans Returning Home From the War are Finding Help from Their Peers
KOLD News 13 News Anchor Dan Marries
As the struggle to win the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continues, so does the road to recovery for returning veterans. More than 1.5 million men and women have served on the battlefields over there and this weekend some of them are finding help in Tucson. Close to 191,000 U.S. troops are currently on the ground in the Middle East. More than 4,000 have paid the ultimate price, and nearly 30,000 have been wounded. Abel Moreno from Vets 4 Vets says for some of those who do make it home, the battle scars aren't always visible, "war is difficult and the reintegration process is just as difficult."
Moreno knows; he served seven years in the Army's 82nd Airborne. Two of those years were in Iraq and Afghanistan, "myself being a veteran and understanding that I think it's just as hard or even harder for women veterans who return back into society, and that's where our organization takes precedence." That organization is Vets 4 Vets. A group dedicated to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. This weekend the group's sponsoring a workshop for women veterans in Tucson, "I am a veteran and a mother," Astin Tedford, an Iraq combat veteran says proudly, "so I take pride in being both and I work hard everyday at being the best in both worlds. It's definitely a struggle, and it's a healing process that will take a long time."
You might be surprised at the number of war time women. According to Vets 4 Vets, so far 182,000 women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, 16,000 of them are single mothers, 8,000 are homeless, and 3,800 are homeless, "so part of Vets 4 Vets is we have the camaraderie," says U.S. Navy veteran Tia Christopher, "we get to laugh and come together and horse back ride and relax in the sun but also we can talk about some of the challenging issues we might not feel comfortable talking about with everybody but we can talk about it with our peers." Vets 4 Vets is a non profit organization and it does not charge veterans for these weekend workshops. You can help out by making a monetary donation.
If you'd like to do so or just want more information here's the link
http://www.vets4vets.us/.
You can also e-mail Vets 4 Vets at vets4vets@gmail.com
or call (520) 319-5500.
Posted:
April 4, 2008 08:08 PM EDT
Women Veterans Returning Home From the War are Finding Help from Their Peers
KOLD News 13 News Anchor Dan Marries
As the struggle to win the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continues, so does the road to recovery for returning veterans. More than 1.5 million men and women have served on the battlefields over there and this weekend some of them are finding help in Tucson. Close to 191,000 U.S. troops are currently on the ground in the Middle East. More than 4,000 have paid the ultimate price, and nearly 30,000 have been wounded. Abel Moreno from Vets 4 Vets says for some of those who do make it home, the battle scars aren't always visible, "war is difficult and the reintegration process is just as difficult."
Moreno knows; he served seven years in the Army's 82nd Airborne. Two of those years were in Iraq and Afghanistan, "myself being a veteran and understanding that I think it's just as hard or even harder for women veterans who return back into society, and that's where our organization takes precedence." That organization is Vets 4 Vets. A group dedicated to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. This weekend the group's sponsoring a workshop for women veterans in Tucson, "I am a veteran and a mother," Astin Tedford, an Iraq combat veteran says proudly, "so I take pride in being both and I work hard everyday at being the best in both worlds. It's definitely a struggle, and it's a healing process that will take a long time."
You might be surprised at the number of war time women. According to Vets 4 Vets, so far 182,000 women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, 16,000 of them are single mothers, 8,000 are homeless, and 3,800 are homeless, "so part of Vets 4 Vets is we have the camaraderie," says U.S. Navy veteran Tia Christopher, "we get to laugh and come together and horse back ride and relax in the sun but also we can talk about some of the challenging issues we might not feel comfortable talking about with everybody but we can talk about it with our peers." Vets 4 Vets is a non profit organization and it does not charge veterans for these weekend workshops. You can help out by making a monetary donation.
If you'd like to do so or just want more information here's the link
http://www.vets4vets.us/.
You can also e-mail Vets 4 Vets at vets4vets@gmail.com
or call (520) 319-5500.
IAVA Todd Bowers Testifies On PTSD
April 4, 2008
IAVA Testifies Before HVAC
Filed under: PTSD, Testimony, VA, Washington — Todd Bowers @ 5:18 pm
On April 1st, I testified before the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health. The hearing focused on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder treatment and research. In case you missed the hearing, you can now watch the webcast here.
Below is my testimony:
Mr. Chairman, ranking member and distinguished members of the committee, on behalf of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and our tens of thousands of members nationwide, I thank you for the opportunity to testify today regarding this important subject. I would also like to point out that my testimony today is as the Director of Government Affairs for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and does not reflect the views and opinions of the United States Marine Corps.
During the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, American troops’ mental health injuries have been documented and analyzed as they occur, and rates are already comparable to Vietnam. But thanks to today’s understanding of mental health screening and treatment, the battle for mental health care fought by the Vietnam veterans need not be repeated. We have an unprecedented opportunity to respond immediately and effectively to the veterans’ mental health crisis.
Mental health problems among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are already widespread. The VA has given preliminary mental health diagnoses to over 100,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. The VA’s Special Committee on PTSD concluded that:
“15 to 20 percent of OIF/OEF veterans will suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder… Another 15 to 20 percent may be at risk for significant symptoms short of full diagnosis but severe enough to cause significant functional impairment.”
These veterans are seeking mental health treatment in historic numbers. According to the VA, “OEF/OIF enrollees have significantly different VA healthcare utilization patterns than non-OEF/OIF enrollees. For example OEF/OIF enrollees are expected to need more than eight times the number of PTSD Residential Rehab services than non-OEF/OIF enrollees.” With this massive influx of veterans seeking mental health treatment, it is paramount that we ensure the treatment they are receiving is the most effective and will pave a path to recovery.
But before I speak about the specifics of PTSD treatment and research, I’d like to talk about two of the barriers that keep veterans from getting the proper treatment in the first place.
The first step to treating PTSD is combating the stigma that keeps troops from admitting they are facing a mental health problem. Approximately 50 percent of soldiers and Marines in Iraq who test positive for a psychological problem are concerned that they will be seen as weak by their fellow service members, and almost one in three of these troops worry about the effect of a mental health diagnosis on their career. Because of these fears, those most in need of counseling will rarely seek it out. Recently, my reserve unit took part in completing our Post-Deployment Health Reassessment, which includes a series of mental health questions. While we underwent the training, one of my Marines asked me about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He said: “If there is nothing wrong with it, then why is it called a Disorder?” I could not have agreed with him more. To de-stigmatize the psychological injuries of war, IAVA has recently partnered with the Ad Council to conduct a three-year Public Service Announcement campaign to try and combat this stigma, and ensure that troops who need mental health care get it. Our goal is to inform service members and veterans that there is treatment available and it does work.
Once a service member is willing to seek treatment, the next step is assuring that they have convenient access to care. On this front, there is much more that must be done, particularly for rural veterans. More than one-quarter of veterans live at least an hour from a VA hospital. IAVA is a big supporter of the Vet Center system, and we believe it should be expanded to give more veterans local access to the Vet Centers’ walk-in counseling services.
The problems related to getting troops adequate mental health treatment cannot be resolved unless these two issues – stigma and access — are addressed. However, once a service member suffering from PTSD has access to care, we also need to ensure they receive the best possible treatment.
Currently, a variety of treatments are available. Psychotherapy, in which a therapist helps the patient learn to think about the trauma without experiencing stress, is an effective form of treatment. This version of therapy sometimes includes “exposure” to the trauma in a safe way – either by speaking or writing about the trauma, or in some new studies, through virtual reality. Some mental health care providers have reported positive results from a similar kind of therapy called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).
In addition, there are medications commonly used to treat depression or anxiety that may limit the symptoms of PTSD. But these drugs do not address the root cause, the trauma itself. IAVA is very concerned that, in some instances, prescription medications are being seen as a “cure-all” that can somehow “fix” PTSD or replace the face-to-face counseling from a mental health professional that will actually help service members cope effectively with their memories of war.
Everyone knows that counseling and medication can be effective in helping psychologically wounded veterans get back on their feet, and IAVA encourages any veteran who thinks they may be facing a mental health problem to seek treatment immediately. But we are also aware of the limitations of current research into the treatments of PTSD.
A recent Institute of Medicine study, entitled “Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: An Assessment of the Evidence,” outlined the many gaps in current research. Among the problems they identified:
• “Many studies lack basic characteristics of internal validity.” That means too many people were dropping out of these studies, the samples were too small, or follow-up was too short.
• The IOM committee also identified serious issues with the independence of the researchers. “The majority of drug studies were funded by pharmaceutical manufacturers,” and “many of the psychotherapy studies were conducted by individuals who developed the techniques.”
• Finally, the committee concluded that there were serious gaps in the subpopulations assessed in these studies. Veterans may react differently to treatment than civilians, but few of the studies were conducted in veteran populations. There’s also not enough research into care for people suffering from co-morbid disorders, such as TBI or depression.
The solution is more and better research. To respond to the IOM findings, IAVA wholeheartedly supports more funding for VA research into PTSD and other medical conditions affecting Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
http://www.iava.org/blog/?p=12420
April 1, 2008 at 10 a.m.Subcommittee on Health Hearing“PTSD Treatment and Research: Moving Ahead Toward Recovery”
http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/hearing.aspx?NewsID=188
I just watched the hearing. The only thing I learned that I did not already know is that it will get worse than I thought it would. Over the years I've posted about the need to provide education on what PTSD and what the cause is. I've posted on the need to remove the stigma and have tried a thousand different ways to do this. The most successful attempt has been the videos I’ve done. There have been a great number of emails coming in telling me how much they helped get the stigma out of the way. I plan on doing many more of them. I am saddened that there is not more watching these videos. They are easy to understand and as I became more proficient in how to create them, they also became easier to view.
This is the rest of the hearing with the most important remarks I think need to be paid attention to.
Col. Hoge testimony
Sent back with PTSD
They are given prescription medicine like Prozac, may be put on suicide watch and then when they are taken off suicide watch, they end up killing themselves.
Higher access to firearms.
Gunshot wounds are treated without their permission but PTSD is not.
Desire has to be there to recover from PTSD. You cannot force them to get help.
Therapy works when there is an alliance between provider and soldier.
Mandatory counseling? Will not work and will be a drain on resources without providing enough benefit.
May force them to rebel against it.
Most do not recognize they have a problem.
Options, Military One Source
Chaplains
Veteran Centers
Outside doctors are not being paid in a timely manner by the VA to provide outsourced services when the VA cannot. They are more reluctant to treat veterans.
Within DOD mental health task force looked at resources in remote operational areas and found very troubling challenges with trained professionals able to treat soldiers.
Employers reluctant to hire veterans because of PTSD. Great need to educate the general public on what PTSD is.
National Guard-Reservists vs Military
Military One Source is available to them. Yet there is not enough to support these families.
Multiple deployments
12% on 1st deployment
20% on 2nd deployment
30% on 3rd deployment
These are those who have been diagnosed.
TBI and PTSD have shown half cases of TBI are connected to PTSD and are misdiagnosed.
12 month dwell time not enough to reset.
Mental Health Assessment
6 month assessment shows 2-3 fold increase of diagnosed cases.
Individual therapy seems to work best than group therapy.
Research is that BattleMind does not work as well as they hoped it would. They are developing a more advanced version of it.
Problems to getting treatment
Limited ability to get them to want help.
Stigma still remains on getting mental health treatment.
Accessibility to find help.
Change in psychologist when they begin to get treatment and then the psychologist is deployed or moved, replace by another and the process of learning to trust begins again.
Stigma prevents over half not seeking help.
Perceptions of how they will be regarded by fellow service people and commanders.
The greatest need is to de-stigmatize the wound.
Chemical changes in the brain.
PTSD comes with changes in the body from stress and leads to physical problems. More pain, more headaches, heart problems and immune problems. Normal biological processes that are needed in combat. Hyper-alert, sleep depravation, and other changes that are necessary to survive the combat environment. Much of which are retained while back home. The body is conditioned to react in times of stress and much of this is retained when it is not needed.
Dr. Baum
VA staffing problems.
It is necessary to reach out to the communities and professionals to fill in the gaps.
Occupational therapists
Expand the student loan to those working for the VA.
Salaries in VA are lower than outside. Average salary in California $20,000 lower than outside professionals.
Need to treat everyday issues the veterans and the families face.
Volume problem and vacancy problems in the VA increase the need for Occupational Therapists
Dr. Matchbar
Institute of Medicine
Committee assessment
Inconsistent results on drug studies
Exposure therapy seemed to have better results.
All PTSD is not the same depending on the cause and the sub groups need to be studied.
Sub population needs to be studied differently.
Substance abuse, physical disabilities and other sub groups, like ethnic and social classes.
Dr. Wiederhold
Virtual Reality Medical Center
12 years with 92% success rate
Exposure therapy
Regulate system to reduce flight or fight reaction
Used on different causes of PTSD
Brain imaging shows changes
Nero inhibitors, biochemical changes occur in PTSD and may be able to be blocked.
Blind study and Marines with PTSD and mild TBI, treated group did better in 12 weeks.
Dr. Thomas Berger
Vietnam Veterans of America
No one really knows how many will be affected by PTSD.
23% to 40% seek treatment. The rest do not even after being found positive because of the stigma.
Female veterans find it harder to get treatment.
Access to and availability of is still problematic.
Western and rural states are particularly troublesome.
Most treatment means have not proven effective accept exposure therapy.
Reduce the stigma
Increase social roles
Provide treatment
Help them get their lives back together with helping them live with the symptoms that do remain.
Intervention
There is the first key to healing and that is to get the stigma out of the way! Every expert I have read or listened to over 25 years has said this over and over again. So when are we going to do this?
Combat cuts deeper because they are part of the trauma and the events happen over and over again. So when will we address the need to debrief them in field? We do this with police officers and fire fighters. Why don't we do this with the warriors?
Again, I think that awarding a medal for these kind of wounds is a huge step in the removal of the stigma of having a combat wound. Please support the Wound Chevron and provide these wounded veterans with one more hand up out of the pit of the stigma that should have been done away with a long time ago. It's a wound! It's a normal reaction to an abnormal event. Can you think of anything more abnormal than combat? How many of us go into the military and how many of us are exposed to the things they are? Combat is not normal! They are!
IAVA Testifies Before HVAC
Filed under: PTSD, Testimony, VA, Washington — Todd Bowers @ 5:18 pm
On April 1st, I testified before the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health. The hearing focused on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder treatment and research. In case you missed the hearing, you can now watch the webcast here.
Below is my testimony:
Mr. Chairman, ranking member and distinguished members of the committee, on behalf of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and our tens of thousands of members nationwide, I thank you for the opportunity to testify today regarding this important subject. I would also like to point out that my testimony today is as the Director of Government Affairs for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and does not reflect the views and opinions of the United States Marine Corps.
During the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, American troops’ mental health injuries have been documented and analyzed as they occur, and rates are already comparable to Vietnam. But thanks to today’s understanding of mental health screening and treatment, the battle for mental health care fought by the Vietnam veterans need not be repeated. We have an unprecedented opportunity to respond immediately and effectively to the veterans’ mental health crisis.
Mental health problems among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are already widespread. The VA has given preliminary mental health diagnoses to over 100,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. The VA’s Special Committee on PTSD concluded that:
“15 to 20 percent of OIF/OEF veterans will suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder… Another 15 to 20 percent may be at risk for significant symptoms short of full diagnosis but severe enough to cause significant functional impairment.”
These veterans are seeking mental health treatment in historic numbers. According to the VA, “OEF/OIF enrollees have significantly different VA healthcare utilization patterns than non-OEF/OIF enrollees. For example OEF/OIF enrollees are expected to need more than eight times the number of PTSD Residential Rehab services than non-OEF/OIF enrollees.” With this massive influx of veterans seeking mental health treatment, it is paramount that we ensure the treatment they are receiving is the most effective and will pave a path to recovery.
But before I speak about the specifics of PTSD treatment and research, I’d like to talk about two of the barriers that keep veterans from getting the proper treatment in the first place.
The first step to treating PTSD is combating the stigma that keeps troops from admitting they are facing a mental health problem. Approximately 50 percent of soldiers and Marines in Iraq who test positive for a psychological problem are concerned that they will be seen as weak by their fellow service members, and almost one in three of these troops worry about the effect of a mental health diagnosis on their career. Because of these fears, those most in need of counseling will rarely seek it out. Recently, my reserve unit took part in completing our Post-Deployment Health Reassessment, which includes a series of mental health questions. While we underwent the training, one of my Marines asked me about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He said: “If there is nothing wrong with it, then why is it called a Disorder?” I could not have agreed with him more. To de-stigmatize the psychological injuries of war, IAVA has recently partnered with the Ad Council to conduct a three-year Public Service Announcement campaign to try and combat this stigma, and ensure that troops who need mental health care get it. Our goal is to inform service members and veterans that there is treatment available and it does work.
Once a service member is willing to seek treatment, the next step is assuring that they have convenient access to care. On this front, there is much more that must be done, particularly for rural veterans. More than one-quarter of veterans live at least an hour from a VA hospital. IAVA is a big supporter of the Vet Center system, and we believe it should be expanded to give more veterans local access to the Vet Centers’ walk-in counseling services.
The problems related to getting troops adequate mental health treatment cannot be resolved unless these two issues – stigma and access — are addressed. However, once a service member suffering from PTSD has access to care, we also need to ensure they receive the best possible treatment.
Currently, a variety of treatments are available. Psychotherapy, in which a therapist helps the patient learn to think about the trauma without experiencing stress, is an effective form of treatment. This version of therapy sometimes includes “exposure” to the trauma in a safe way – either by speaking or writing about the trauma, or in some new studies, through virtual reality. Some mental health care providers have reported positive results from a similar kind of therapy called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).
In addition, there are medications commonly used to treat depression or anxiety that may limit the symptoms of PTSD. But these drugs do not address the root cause, the trauma itself. IAVA is very concerned that, in some instances, prescription medications are being seen as a “cure-all” that can somehow “fix” PTSD or replace the face-to-face counseling from a mental health professional that will actually help service members cope effectively with their memories of war.
Everyone knows that counseling and medication can be effective in helping psychologically wounded veterans get back on their feet, and IAVA encourages any veteran who thinks they may be facing a mental health problem to seek treatment immediately. But we are also aware of the limitations of current research into the treatments of PTSD.
A recent Institute of Medicine study, entitled “Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: An Assessment of the Evidence,” outlined the many gaps in current research. Among the problems they identified:
• “Many studies lack basic characteristics of internal validity.” That means too many people were dropping out of these studies, the samples were too small, or follow-up was too short.
• The IOM committee also identified serious issues with the independence of the researchers. “The majority of drug studies were funded by pharmaceutical manufacturers,” and “many of the psychotherapy studies were conducted by individuals who developed the techniques.”
• Finally, the committee concluded that there were serious gaps in the subpopulations assessed in these studies. Veterans may react differently to treatment than civilians, but few of the studies were conducted in veteran populations. There’s also not enough research into care for people suffering from co-morbid disorders, such as TBI or depression.
The solution is more and better research. To respond to the IOM findings, IAVA wholeheartedly supports more funding for VA research into PTSD and other medical conditions affecting Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
http://www.iava.org/blog/?p=12420
April 1, 2008 at 10 a.m.Subcommittee on Health Hearing“PTSD Treatment and Research: Moving Ahead Toward Recovery”
http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/hearing.aspx?NewsID=188
I just watched the hearing. The only thing I learned that I did not already know is that it will get worse than I thought it would. Over the years I've posted about the need to provide education on what PTSD and what the cause is. I've posted on the need to remove the stigma and have tried a thousand different ways to do this. The most successful attempt has been the videos I’ve done. There have been a great number of emails coming in telling me how much they helped get the stigma out of the way. I plan on doing many more of them. I am saddened that there is not more watching these videos. They are easy to understand and as I became more proficient in how to create them, they also became easier to view.
This is the rest of the hearing with the most important remarks I think need to be paid attention to.
Col. Hoge testimony
Sent back with PTSD
They are given prescription medicine like Prozac, may be put on suicide watch and then when they are taken off suicide watch, they end up killing themselves.
Higher access to firearms.
Gunshot wounds are treated without their permission but PTSD is not.
Desire has to be there to recover from PTSD. You cannot force them to get help.
Therapy works when there is an alliance between provider and soldier.
Mandatory counseling? Will not work and will be a drain on resources without providing enough benefit.
May force them to rebel against it.
Most do not recognize they have a problem.
Options, Military One Source
Chaplains
Veteran Centers
Outside doctors are not being paid in a timely manner by the VA to provide outsourced services when the VA cannot. They are more reluctant to treat veterans.
Within DOD mental health task force looked at resources in remote operational areas and found very troubling challenges with trained professionals able to treat soldiers.
Employers reluctant to hire veterans because of PTSD. Great need to educate the general public on what PTSD is.
National Guard-Reservists vs Military
Military One Source is available to them. Yet there is not enough to support these families.
Multiple deployments
12% on 1st deployment
20% on 2nd deployment
30% on 3rd deployment
These are those who have been diagnosed.
TBI and PTSD have shown half cases of TBI are connected to PTSD and are misdiagnosed.
12 month dwell time not enough to reset.
Mental Health Assessment
6 month assessment shows 2-3 fold increase of diagnosed cases.
Individual therapy seems to work best than group therapy.
Research is that BattleMind does not work as well as they hoped it would. They are developing a more advanced version of it.
Problems to getting treatment
Limited ability to get them to want help.
Stigma still remains on getting mental health treatment.
Accessibility to find help.
Change in psychologist when they begin to get treatment and then the psychologist is deployed or moved, replace by another and the process of learning to trust begins again.
Stigma prevents over half not seeking help.
Perceptions of how they will be regarded by fellow service people and commanders.
The greatest need is to de-stigmatize the wound.
Chemical changes in the brain.
PTSD comes with changes in the body from stress and leads to physical problems. More pain, more headaches, heart problems and immune problems. Normal biological processes that are needed in combat. Hyper-alert, sleep depravation, and other changes that are necessary to survive the combat environment. Much of which are retained while back home. The body is conditioned to react in times of stress and much of this is retained when it is not needed.
Dr. Baum
VA staffing problems.
It is necessary to reach out to the communities and professionals to fill in the gaps.
Occupational therapists
Expand the student loan to those working for the VA.
Salaries in VA are lower than outside. Average salary in California $20,000 lower than outside professionals.
Need to treat everyday issues the veterans and the families face.
Volume problem and vacancy problems in the VA increase the need for Occupational Therapists
Dr. Matchbar
Institute of Medicine
Committee assessment
Inconsistent results on drug studies
Exposure therapy seemed to have better results.
All PTSD is not the same depending on the cause and the sub groups need to be studied.
Sub population needs to be studied differently.
Substance abuse, physical disabilities and other sub groups, like ethnic and social classes.
Dr. Wiederhold
Virtual Reality Medical Center
12 years with 92% success rate
Exposure therapy
Regulate system to reduce flight or fight reaction
Used on different causes of PTSD
Brain imaging shows changes
Nero inhibitors, biochemical changes occur in PTSD and may be able to be blocked.
Blind study and Marines with PTSD and mild TBI, treated group did better in 12 weeks.
Dr. Thomas Berger
Vietnam Veterans of America
No one really knows how many will be affected by PTSD.
23% to 40% seek treatment. The rest do not even after being found positive because of the stigma.
Female veterans find it harder to get treatment.
Access to and availability of is still problematic.
Western and rural states are particularly troublesome.
Most treatment means have not proven effective accept exposure therapy.
Reduce the stigma
Increase social roles
Provide treatment
Help them get their lives back together with helping them live with the symptoms that do remain.
Intervention
There is the first key to healing and that is to get the stigma out of the way! Every expert I have read or listened to over 25 years has said this over and over again. So when are we going to do this?
Combat cuts deeper because they are part of the trauma and the events happen over and over again. So when will we address the need to debrief them in field? We do this with police officers and fire fighters. Why don't we do this with the warriors?
Again, I think that awarding a medal for these kind of wounds is a huge step in the removal of the stigma of having a combat wound. Please support the Wound Chevron and provide these wounded veterans with one more hand up out of the pit of the stigma that should have been done away with a long time ago. It's a wound! It's a normal reaction to an abnormal event. Can you think of anything more abnormal than combat? How many of us go into the military and how many of us are exposed to the things they are? Combat is not normal! They are!
Injuries of war extend from soldiers to families
His girlfriend called to me and pointed out this "stranger" as my brother.Bud Whiteye is a member of the Walpole Island First Nation and is a communications consultant for the Heritage Centre at Walpole Island.
I had to look closely at his face to verify it was him. I didn't know what else to do. He was about 200 pounds when he left for war. When I found him he was 88 pounds. I just couldn't recognize him. But he was well. He was playing cards with others who could.
Injuries of war extend from soldiers to families
As a war veteran, it's hard for me not to notice the United States has lost 4,000 young soldiers and not say a word about it.
Canada's mortality rate in the same "war on terror" is rising as well.
Whether it's a teenager just out of high school or a seasoned staff sergeant or officer, one death from war tears apart many homes. Mom's and dad's home, his aunt's and uncle's homes, his cousin's, his brother's and his girlfriend's homes and perhaps, most sad, the home of his children.
Each death brings at-home survivors to their knees in uncontrollable screams, each person with a terrible want to say one more thing to their lost child, husband, wife or father. So many caring parents mourn silently over what could have been, having known full well their child's plans and dreams, and most of all, their plans to come home safe and proud that they answered the call Canada asked of them.
War also sends home young men and women with injuries. How hard it must be for doctors to try to tell the parents and loved ones a prognosis. In too many cases the injured have to learn life skills, from walking to reading, all over again. Mothers remember bringing up the child, sitting up nights through sicknesses as their baby turned from toddler to teenager.
First visits to the injured loved one are the worst. Relatives don't know what to expect.
go here for more
http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=970631
Friday, April 4, 2008
Got to laugh:Orlando Police capture monkey with banana
Diaper-clad monkey nabbed with banana in west Orlando
Walter Pacheco Sentinel Staff Writer
5:45 PM EDT, April 4, 2008
A diaper-wearing monkey named Prada chased after residents at a west Orlando apartment complex today before animal control workers tricked him into a cage with their secret weapon - a banana.
But Prada's future is up in the air now because his owner did not have the permit required by Florida law to maintain a primate at home.
"The monkey is temporarily at the Back to Nature Wildlife Refuge in Bithlo," Vanessa Bouffard-Fehl of Orange County Animal Services said. "But because the owner did not have the necessary permit, he'll be turned over to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission."
The Orlando Sentinel could not reach the staff at the refuge for comment.
The police report shows that at about 9:20 a.m., a resident at the Parc Studio Condominiums, located in the 5500 block of Conroy Road, flagged down an officer to report a monkey that had escaped from its cage and running loose.
Officer Safwat Shaheed entered the complex and spotted the 4-year-old capuchin monkey, similar to the lovable primate in the television series Friends, perched on top of a wall and wearing a brown and gray diaper.
Prada was "charging citizens as they were attempting to capture it," the report shows. Residents fleeing from the hostile primate were running into the street and into oncoming traffic.
Walter Pacheco Sentinel Staff Writer
5:45 PM EDT, April 4, 2008
A diaper-wearing monkey named Prada chased after residents at a west Orlando apartment complex today before animal control workers tricked him into a cage with their secret weapon - a banana.
But Prada's future is up in the air now because his owner did not have the permit required by Florida law to maintain a primate at home.
"The monkey is temporarily at the Back to Nature Wildlife Refuge in Bithlo," Vanessa Bouffard-Fehl of Orange County Animal Services said. "But because the owner did not have the necessary permit, he'll be turned over to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission."
The Orlando Sentinel could not reach the staff at the refuge for comment.
The police report shows that at about 9:20 a.m., a resident at the Parc Studio Condominiums, located in the 5500 block of Conroy Road, flagged down an officer to report a monkey that had escaped from its cage and running loose.
Officer Safwat Shaheed entered the complex and spotted the 4-year-old capuchin monkey, similar to the lovable primate in the television series Friends, perched on top of a wall and wearing a brown and gray diaper.
Prada was "charging citizens as they were attempting to capture it," the report shows. Residents fleeing from the hostile primate were running into the street and into oncoming traffic.
Army medical unit leaves St. Petersburg for Iraq
Army medical unit leaves St. Petersburg for Iraq
By Dagny SalasTimes Staff Writer
Published Thursday, April 3, 2008 11:41 PM
If you've been watching Bad Voodoo's War, or any of the other documentaries on the serial deployments in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan, by now you are aware, the troops are tired and their families are tired. Tired of seeing them go and come back, only to be sent back again.
I often wonder what is going through their heads when they hear Bush say "We will stay in Iraq" but never says what it is he thinks will be accomplished. The Iraqi forces have been proven to be not worth the training when they turned around and refused to fight Al-Sadr's militia, handed in their weapons to him, or did go up against him only to be defeated and driven back. There is Sunni, Shia, Shia Shia fighting and all sides what the troops out of there. I hear all kinds of reports on how much good the troops are doing in Iraq yet no one mentions they didn't join the armed forces to become contractors or escorts for them when all sides in Iraq, including most Iraqi police forces, wanting to kill them. Again, go watch Bad Voodoo's War and see what I mean.
What are we doing to the troops? We are not taking care of them. We are not taking care of the National Guard families who have to do without the regular income these people make back here. What exactly does "support the troops" really mean? What's our job in all of this? The most pressing issue before us is the fact that the Republicans in office seem too disinterested in any of this to even support the new GI Bill, support hearings being held on the contractors not providing good body armor to protect them and the list goes on in bloody detail of the things they are not interested in. So where are the voters who put them into office and shout the loudest about "support the troops" when it comes to supporting what Bush has been doing to them?
By Dagny SalasTimes Staff Writer
Published Thursday, April 3, 2008 11:41 PM
Nancy Reuter of St. Petersburg says goodbye to her daughter, Spc. Daphne Reuter, as Bravo Company 345 departs at the United States Army Reserve. “I’m being brave. I was okay until I saw the buses ... my only daughter ... my only child,’’ Reuter said.
ST. PETERSBURG — For the sake of the kids, Elizabeth Rogers held back her tears. There would be time for that later, she said.
Her husband Charlie and about 50 other members of Bravo Company 345, a U.S. Army medical unit, left St. Petersburg on Thursday on their way Iraq, a deployment expected to last about a year.
"It's rough, but I try to be strong for them," Elizabeth said of Emma, 4, and Ethan, 2. "It doesn't really hit until they're gone."
For his part, Charlie said he has mixed feeling about leaving for his second tour.
"I want to go but I don't want to go,'' he said. "I like what I do in the Army, but I don't want to leave my family. It's just time to go to work, do the year and come home."
But the families could take some comfort that their loved ones will probably be in less danger than combat troops, said Staff Sgt. Robert Hogg.
go here for the rest
http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article442619.ece
If you've been watching Bad Voodoo's War, or any of the other documentaries on the serial deployments in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan, by now you are aware, the troops are tired and their families are tired. Tired of seeing them go and come back, only to be sent back again.
I often wonder what is going through their heads when they hear Bush say "We will stay in Iraq" but never says what it is he thinks will be accomplished. The Iraqi forces have been proven to be not worth the training when they turned around and refused to fight Al-Sadr's militia, handed in their weapons to him, or did go up against him only to be defeated and driven back. There is Sunni, Shia, Shia Shia fighting and all sides what the troops out of there. I hear all kinds of reports on how much good the troops are doing in Iraq yet no one mentions they didn't join the armed forces to become contractors or escorts for them when all sides in Iraq, including most Iraqi police forces, wanting to kill them. Again, go watch Bad Voodoo's War and see what I mean.
What are we doing to the troops? We are not taking care of them. We are not taking care of the National Guard families who have to do without the regular income these people make back here. What exactly does "support the troops" really mean? What's our job in all of this? The most pressing issue before us is the fact that the Republicans in office seem too disinterested in any of this to even support the new GI Bill, support hearings being held on the contractors not providing good body armor to protect them and the list goes on in bloody detail of the things they are not interested in. So where are the voters who put them into office and shout the loudest about "support the troops" when it comes to supporting what Bush has been doing to them?
For Iraq Vets and Their Families, Trauma Can Be Contagious
For Iraq Vets and Their Families, Trauma Can Be Contagious
By Stacy Bannerman, Foreign Policy in Focus.
Posted March 25, 2008.
Depression and suicidal thoughts aren't limited to vets with PTSD; family members may experience it as well.
This is an excerpt from testimony before a House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health hearing held February 28, 2008, regarding the Iraq War's mental health impacts of Iraq War on the families of Guard/Reserve veterans.
I am the author of When the War Came Home: The Inside Story of Reservists and the Families They Leave Behind. I am currently separated from my husband, a National Guard soldier who served one year in Iraq in 2004-05. Just as we are beginning to find our way back together, we are starting the countdown for a possible second deployment. Two of my cousins by marriage have also served in Iraq, one with the MN Guard, a deployment that lasted 22 months, longer than any other ground combat unit. My other cousin, active duty, was killed in action.
My family members have spent more time fighting one war -- the war in Iraq -- than my grandfather and uncles did in WWII and Korea, combined. When the home front costs and burdens fall repeatedly on the same shoulders, the anticipatory grief and trauma -- secondary, intergenerational and betrayal -- is exponential and increasingly acute. Nowhere is that more obvious than in Guard and Reserve households.
Same Duties, Less Training
Our Guardsmen and Reservists perform the same duties as regular active troops when they are in theatre, but they do it with abbreviated training and, all-too-often, insufficient protection and aging equipment. It was a National Guardsman who asked then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld what he and the Army were doing "to address shortages and antiquated equipment" National Guard soldiers heading to Iraq were struggling with.
Guard families experience the same stressors as active duty families before, during, and after deployment, although we do not have anywhere near the same level of support, nor do our loved ones when they come home. Many Guard members and their families report being shunned by the active duty mental health system. Army National Guard Specialist and Iraq War veteran Brandon Jones said that when he and his wife sought post-deployment counseling, they were "made to feel we were taking up a resource meant for active duty soldiers from the base." One Guardsman's wife was told that "active duty families were given preference" when seeking services for herself and her daughters while her husband was in Iraq.
The nearly 3 million immediate family members directly impacted by Guard/Reserve deployments struggle with issues that active duty families do not. The Guard is a unique branch of the Armed Services that straddles the civilian and military sectors, serves both the community and the country. The Guard has never before been deployed in such numbers for so long. Most never expected to go to war. During Vietnam, some people actually joined the Guard in order to dodge the draft and avoid combat. Today's National Guard and Reservists are serving with honor and bravery, each and every time they're called. But when the Governor of Puerto Rico called for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq at the annual National Guard conference, more than 4,000 National Guardsmen gave him a standing ovation.
These factors are crucial to understanding the mental health impacts of the war in Iraq on the families of Guard/Reserve veterans, and tailoring programs and services to support them.
Several weeks after my husband got the call he was mobilized. There was very little time to transition from a civilian lifestyle and employment to full-time active duty. The Guard didn't have regular family group meetings, and I couldn't go next door to talk to another wife who was going through the same things I was, or who had already been there, done that. Most Guard/Reservists live miles away from a base or Armory, many are in rural communities. We are isolated and alone.
At least 20 percent of us experience a significant drop in household income when our loved one is mobilized. This financial pressure is an added stressor. The majority of citizen soldiers work for small businesses or are self-employed. Some have lost their jobs or livelihoods as a direct result of deployment. The possibility of a second or third tour makes it difficult to secure another one. Guard members have reported being put on probation or having their hours cut within a few days of being put on alert status for deployment. Some of us have to re-locate. Some of us go to food shelves. Where we once had shared parenting responsibilities, the spouse left behind is now the sole caregiver, without the benefit of an on-base child care center.
Secondary Traumatic Stress DisorderDuring deployment, we withdraw and do the best we can to survive. Anxious, depressed, and alone, we attempt to cope by drinking more, eating less, taking Xanax or Prozac to make it through. We close the curtains so we can't see the black sedan with government plates pulling into our drive. We cautiously circle the block when we come home, our personal perimeter check to make sure there are no Casualty Notification Officers around. Every time the phone rings, our hearts skip a beat. Our kids may act out or withdraw, get into fights, detach or deteriorate, socially, emotionally, and academically. There are no organic mental health services for the children of National Guard and Reservists, even though they are more likely to be married with children than active duty troops.
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See more stories tagged with: reserves, ptsd, iraq
Stacy Bannerman, M.S., is a Foreign Policy In Focus contributor and author of "When the War Came Home: The Inside Story of Reservists and the Families They Leave Behind." (2006) She's also the wife of a National Guard soldier/Iraq War veteran, Bronze Star and Combat Infantry Badge recipient.
By Stacy Bannerman, Foreign Policy in Focus.
Posted March 25, 2008.
Depression and suicidal thoughts aren't limited to vets with PTSD; family members may experience it as well.
This is an excerpt from testimony before a House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health hearing held February 28, 2008, regarding the Iraq War's mental health impacts of Iraq War on the families of Guard/Reserve veterans.
I am the author of When the War Came Home: The Inside Story of Reservists and the Families They Leave Behind. I am currently separated from my husband, a National Guard soldier who served one year in Iraq in 2004-05. Just as we are beginning to find our way back together, we are starting the countdown for a possible second deployment. Two of my cousins by marriage have also served in Iraq, one with the MN Guard, a deployment that lasted 22 months, longer than any other ground combat unit. My other cousin, active duty, was killed in action.
My family members have spent more time fighting one war -- the war in Iraq -- than my grandfather and uncles did in WWII and Korea, combined. When the home front costs and burdens fall repeatedly on the same shoulders, the anticipatory grief and trauma -- secondary, intergenerational and betrayal -- is exponential and increasingly acute. Nowhere is that more obvious than in Guard and Reserve households.
Same Duties, Less Training
Our Guardsmen and Reservists perform the same duties as regular active troops when they are in theatre, but they do it with abbreviated training and, all-too-often, insufficient protection and aging equipment. It was a National Guardsman who asked then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld what he and the Army were doing "to address shortages and antiquated equipment" National Guard soldiers heading to Iraq were struggling with.
Guard families experience the same stressors as active duty families before, during, and after deployment, although we do not have anywhere near the same level of support, nor do our loved ones when they come home. Many Guard members and their families report being shunned by the active duty mental health system. Army National Guard Specialist and Iraq War veteran Brandon Jones said that when he and his wife sought post-deployment counseling, they were "made to feel we were taking up a resource meant for active duty soldiers from the base." One Guardsman's wife was told that "active duty families were given preference" when seeking services for herself and her daughters while her husband was in Iraq.
The nearly 3 million immediate family members directly impacted by Guard/Reserve deployments struggle with issues that active duty families do not. The Guard is a unique branch of the Armed Services that straddles the civilian and military sectors, serves both the community and the country. The Guard has never before been deployed in such numbers for so long. Most never expected to go to war. During Vietnam, some people actually joined the Guard in order to dodge the draft and avoid combat. Today's National Guard and Reservists are serving with honor and bravery, each and every time they're called. But when the Governor of Puerto Rico called for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq at the annual National Guard conference, more than 4,000 National Guardsmen gave him a standing ovation.
These factors are crucial to understanding the mental health impacts of the war in Iraq on the families of Guard/Reserve veterans, and tailoring programs and services to support them.
Several weeks after my husband got the call he was mobilized. There was very little time to transition from a civilian lifestyle and employment to full-time active duty. The Guard didn't have regular family group meetings, and I couldn't go next door to talk to another wife who was going through the same things I was, or who had already been there, done that. Most Guard/Reservists live miles away from a base or Armory, many are in rural communities. We are isolated and alone.
At least 20 percent of us experience a significant drop in household income when our loved one is mobilized. This financial pressure is an added stressor. The majority of citizen soldiers work for small businesses or are self-employed. Some have lost their jobs or livelihoods as a direct result of deployment. The possibility of a second or third tour makes it difficult to secure another one. Guard members have reported being put on probation or having their hours cut within a few days of being put on alert status for deployment. Some of us have to re-locate. Some of us go to food shelves. Where we once had shared parenting responsibilities, the spouse left behind is now the sole caregiver, without the benefit of an on-base child care center.
Secondary Traumatic Stress DisorderDuring deployment, we withdraw and do the best we can to survive. Anxious, depressed, and alone, we attempt to cope by drinking more, eating less, taking Xanax or Prozac to make it through. We close the curtains so we can't see the black sedan with government plates pulling into our drive. We cautiously circle the block when we come home, our personal perimeter check to make sure there are no Casualty Notification Officers around. Every time the phone rings, our hearts skip a beat. Our kids may act out or withdraw, get into fights, detach or deteriorate, socially, emotionally, and academically. There are no organic mental health services for the children of National Guard and Reservists, even though they are more likely to be married with children than active duty troops.
1
2
3
Next page »
View as a single page
See more stories tagged with: reserves, ptsd, iraq
Stacy Bannerman, M.S., is a Foreign Policy In Focus contributor and author of "When the War Came Home: The Inside Story of Reservists and the Families They Leave Behind." (2006) She's also the wife of a National Guard soldier/Iraq War veteran, Bronze Star and Combat Infantry Badge recipient.
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