Bush Goes to Court to Deny Mental Care for Veterans

Apr. 28, VCS Lawsuit in the News: Bush Goes to Court to Deny Mental Care for Veterans

Peter Collorafi


American Chronicle

Apr 28, 2008

April 25, 2008 - A wise President, who was also a veteran of multiple wars, once said: "The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they preceive the veterans of earlier wars were Treated and Appreciated by their nation."

The issue of veterans affairs has seen an upsurge of interest in the past few weeks, as Dr. Ira Katz, an official in the Veteran's Affairs Department, is coming under fire from Congress, after giving misleading information to a CBS reporter, who was researching for a story about sucide rates among veterans.

During an interview given in November for the original CBS story, Dr. Katz told reporter Armen Keteyian that "There is no epidemic in suicide in the VA, but suicide is a major problem." When pressed for an answer to explain the VA's inability to come up with any suicide statistics among veterans, Katz replied "That research is ongoing."

However, "After a public records request, the VA provided CBS News with data that showed there were a total of 790 attempted suicides by VA patients in the entire year of 2007." This number does not match up at all with a private email sent by Dr. Katz to a colleague in which he states that the VA has identified "about 1000 suicide attempts a month in patients we see at are medical facilities," a far cry from his public estimate of 790 a year.

Compared with the number of suicide attempts, the number of actual suicides is monstrous in comparision. CBS news identified a total of 6,256 suicides in 2005 among veterans of the "war on terror" [VCS Note: this should read 6,256 suicides among all veterans], double the national average, although that number does not include the 5 states who refused to provide their suicide statistics for the CBS report.

As he did with the statistics for attempted suicides, Dr. Katz again played a two-faced persona. Katz declared that the "number is not, in fact, an accurate reflection of the rate."

Nevertheless, Dr. Katz told colleagues in another private email that "There are about 18 suicides per day among America's 25 million veterans," and "4-5 suicides per day among those who receive care from us [the VA]." Katz goes on to add that his figures are ironically "supported by the CBS numbers," which he disparaged previously in public.

In his later email titled "Shh!" Dr. Katz asks colleagues if the suicide statistics should be buried by dropping them into "a general release about our suicide prevention efforts," "before somebody stumbles onto them."
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http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.cfm/page/article/id/9953

Army Enforces Christianity?

Army Enforces Christianity? Soldier Sues Army After Recieving Threats for His Atheism
Neela Banerjee


The New York Times

Apr 28, 2008

April 26, 2008 - Fort Riley, Kan -- When Specialist Jeremy Hall held a meeting last July for atheists and freethinkers at Camp Speicher in Iraq, he was excited, he said, to see an officer attending.

But minutes into the talk, the officer, Maj. Freddy J. Welborn, began to berate Specialist Hall and another soldier about atheism, Specialist Hall wrote in a sworn statement. “People like you are not holding up the Constitution and are going against what the founding fathers, who were Christians, wanted for America!” Major Welborn said, according to the statement.

Major Welborn told the soldiers he might bar them from re-enlistment and bring charges against them, according to the statement.

Last month, Specialist Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group, filed suit in federal court in Kansas, alleging that Specialist Hall’s right to be free from state endorsement of religion under the First Amendment had been violated and that he had faced retaliation for his views. In November, he was sent home early from Iraq because of threats from fellow soldiers.

Eileen Lainez, a spokeswoman for the Defense Department, declined to comment on the case, saying, “The department does not discuss pending litigation.”
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9950

"This inter-faith shrine...will stand through long generations to teach Americans that as men can die heroically as brothers, so they should live together in mutual faith and good will."
President Harry S Truman

Rabbi Alexander Goode
Reverend George L. Fox
Reverend Clark V. Polling
Father John P. Washington
During World War II some 8,000 Army chaplains dedicated their lives and service to the fighting men of The Greatest Generation. Though these chaplains earned 2,453 high military awards for their valor, none received the Medal of Honor. Four of the seventy-seven who gave their lives in service received one of the most unusual and distinct medals in history. Ordered by special Congressional action, its intent was to carry the same weight and prestige as the Medal of Honor.
It is known simply as The Four Chaplains Medal, and calls to memory four men of God, one Jewish, one Catholic, and two Protestant, who overcame the boundaries of denomination to become brothers serving the same Father.

Today they would have to add a Muslim Chaplain to the picture of those serving.

This whole thing is very troubling. I am working on a new video for Point Man Ministries and rediscovered some history of Chaplains in the military. They came from every faith in every war. The role of the Chaplains was to take care of the spiritual needs of people, not just the ones who practiced the same faith or people they wanted to covert.

I am a Christian and I am a Chaplain. I will help no one if I ask them to show me their baptism certificate before I help them. I will help no one if I only take care of Christians or if I only take care of people of faith. Christ didn't pick and choose people out of a crowd and He didn't tell any of His followers to do it either. He said to take care of them all.

Admittedly I don't understand atheists, but they still have a spirit and they still have needs as any other human does. To do this to a soldier who does not believe in God under any banner of faith is an assault against the soldiers who have no faith but have lives, hearts, minds and risk their lives serving in the military. What is happening in the military by a handful of people is appalling.

If I drive down the road and come up on an accident, I am required to help if I can do it without getting in the way. If I do my job correctly, the victims will feel calmer and know someone cares about them as a human. The same must be done in times of war as well.

Chaplain Kathie Costos

News has been replaced by gossip

When it comes to the political battle between Obama and Clinton, I've tried to stay out of it. Politics is something I have to keep up on because it is the politicians that will either take care of the veterans or not. To me, personally, I don't care if they are Democratic or Republican if they do not take care of the veterans. Yes, I've supported some Republicans who do in fact take a strong stand for the sake of veterans but there are very few who actually do it instead of talking about it. The only purpose for posting this latest political round is what the media has been avoiding reporting on.

Last night I put on CNN getting ready for bed. Tornados struck Virginia and there were over 200 wounded and massive destruction. Normally, the media would have had something like that covered from every channel. When I turned on CNN, they were talking about Obama's pastor Wright, instead of the tornadoes. Anderson Cooper did end up talking about the tornadoes but he gave that topic about three minutes, then went back to Wright.

I was wondering who is supporting Wright? Where is he getting the money to travel all over the place and who is acting as his publicist? After all, you don't get that kind of attention for just being captured in a You Tube video. He's one of thousands of pastors across the country who say a lot of things that their parishioners do not agree with. Most people go to church for the sake of going to church and fellowship and if they go for the sake of Christ, then they already know what is right or wrong. In my own life I have heard many religious representatives of Christ and raised my eyebrows many times over things they said. So is Wright getting the attention for what he said or the fact one of the members of his congregation happens to be running for the presidency?

No one would really care if Obama was not a member of the church he preached at. Yet this "story" should have died a long time ago because it really doesn't matter to the rest of us. Obama didn't say God damn America or anything else even like it. He is the one running for the office and should only be held accountable for what comes out of his mouth and what comes out of his works. Who is behind the attention Wright is getting?

What is wrong with the media when they do this kind of gossip work instead of reporting on the tornadoes and the lives destroyed by them along with all the wounded instead of gossip? What is wrong with them when they give hardly no reports at all on the lives of the troops in two occupations, their deaths, their wounds and the fact there are so many suicides and attempted suicides? Where are the reports on the law suit Veterans For Common Sense filed against the VA and the discovery of the data that had been hidden from the public all this time? Where are the reports of the money, tax payer money, blown in Iraq on construction projects that have never been completed but we paid for anyway?

When and who decided that the news would be reduced to a tabloid with an occasional report on actual news? This nation has a heap load of troubles facing us. Seems to me that what one pastor has to say does not really match up with what is being reported on. Instead of reporting on the fact that a lot of members of the Virginia National Guard just got back from Iraq and then faced with the catastrophic emergency like what the tornadoes left behind would be a lot more important to report on that what Obama's ex-pastor had to say.

Chaplain Kathie Costos


"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

Coming Home From Combat To Cop

Cops returning from war zones: 6 keys to easing back to the street

10-8: Life on the Line
with Charles Remsberg

Editor's Note:

This series deals with the potential problems of LEOs attempting to reintegrate into domestic policing after serving military combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our reporting is based on the presentations of experts at a unique, invitation-only symposium for law enforcement and mental health professionals at the Washington (D.C.) Metropolitan Police Academy, organized by Dr. Beverly Anderson, clinical director and administrator of the Metropolitan Police Employee Assistance Program. PoliceOne was the only communications agency permitted to attend.

In Part 1, we explored the battlefield culture, the mental injuries war commonly inflicts, and the fact that returning veterans will inevitably be changed, sometimes in negative ways, by what they have experienced. Part 2 outlined a variety of post-combat symptoms frequently evidenced after vets reach home that may negatively impact their performance in policing if not recognized and resolved.

Most law enforcement agencies seem to have given little formal thought to how best to reintegrate combat veterans back into domestic street assignments. Those that have addressed the problem have put measures in place that run from the simplistic to the sophisticated.


At one end of the spectrum, a chief in South Carolina is alleged to have said that he simply doesn't bring any officer veteran onto his force until he or she has been back from a war zone for at least three years. Period. On the other hand, the Los Angeles County (Calif.) Sheriff's Dept. processes returning personnel through a four-day "repatriation" program, developed under the agency's chief psychologist, Dr. Audrey Honig.(For a day-by-day description of LASD's program, go click here.)

Another psychologist, Dr. Ellen Marshall, a traumatic stress researcher and criminal justice instructor at Delaware Technical & Community College and the Union Institute and University, attended the Washington symposium as part of her research in assisting the Delaware State Police to design a cutting-edge reintegration program. The symposium's organizer, Dr. Beverly Anderson, is updating and expanding procedures and services for the Washington Metropolitan Police Dept., which already offers confidential debriefing and therapy to returning cops and their families.

And a fourth psychologist, Dr. Laura Zimmerman, who researches police issues for the consulting firm Applied Research Associates/Klein Associates Division, is collaborating with the International Assn. of Chiefs of Police on a project aimed at fully exploring the issues involved in hiring or reintegrating combat vets. The goal is to make recommendations for future research and training and to provide resources to veterans and agencies confronting reintegration challenges.

"Reintegration procedures should be part of an on-going comprehensive plan that all law enforcement agencies put in place to take care of their officers," Anderson told PoliceOne. "Short-term strategies produce only limited results and high officer turnover. An effective, well-implemented, long-term post-deployment program is what's needed. Started today, it will help prevent problem behavior in the future."

Whatever the details end up being, the seminar presenters offered six fundamental concepts that should be considered when formulating a reintegration plan:

1. Pre-briefing/debriefing. Preparing an officer to return to the streets should begin even before he leaves for combat duty, advised Maj. David Englert, chief of the Behavioral Analysis Division of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

Among other things, in addition on realistic information on what to expect in the war zone, the officer can be referred to CDs and websites that offer practical instruction on stress management. Family members should be included in pre-briefings so their concerns can also be surfaced and addressed.

On return, the officer should be debriefed in a process similar to that which occurs after a critical incident. ("If being in Iraq is not a critical incident, I don't know what is," one speaker observed.) "The debriefing should include specific education on post-traumatic stress disorder and on other potential problems encountered by returning combat vets," said Dr. William Bograkos, a colonel who heads the Warrior Transition Division of the military's North Atlantic Region Medical Command.

Capt. Aaron Krenz, a criminal justice-trained reintegration operations officer and Iraq veteran with the Minnesota National Guard, recommended discussing in detail what he called the "reintegration cycle." This consists of six phases that combat veterans may transition through as they adjust from battlefield to home front:

• The Honeymoon
• Disillusionment
• Alienation (including frustration and anger)
• Re-engagement
• Acceptance
• The New Normal.
While not every returning officer will necessarily struggle through this cycle, many will, and it helps to know that these are normal reactions to the abnormal circumstance of being in war.
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Storms leave 200 injured in Virginia, officials say

Storms leave 200 injured in Virginia, officials say
Story Highlights

NEW: Injuries in Suffolk, where a tornado destroyed homes and businesses

A second tornado struck Colonial Heights injuring at least 18, an official said

Video shows roofs torn off, cars flipped, trees snapped in half

An emergency shelter will be open by Monday night, an official says



(CNN) -- At least three tornadoes caused massive damage in Virginia and injured more than 200 people on Monday, officials said.

At least 200 were injured in Suffolk where a twister destroyed several homes and businesses, said Bob Spieldenner of the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.

The storm hit the 138-bed Sentara Obici Hospital, though Spieldenner said the facility was still operational and accepting patients.

A second tornado struck Colonial Heights -- about 60 miles northwest, near Richmond -- injuring at least 18 people, he said.

A third twister damaged several homes near Lawrenceville, about 70 miles south of Richmond, said Bryan Jackson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, which confirmed all three tornadoes.

Gov. Tim Kaine declared a Virginia-wide state of emergency as hazardous weather continued through the central part of the state.

The Suffolk twister touched down just before 4 p.m. ET and plowed its way east into Norfolk, damaging scores of homes, stores and cars and downing dozens of trees and power lines, Jackson said.


Video footage from the scene showed roofs torn off homes, cars flipped over, trees snapped in two and a caved-in section of a newly constructed shopping center.

Furniture, fences and mounds of other debris were tossed in streets, parking lots and lawns. Watch the storm's massive destruction from the air »

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http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/28/tornado.virginia/index.html

also on this

Local Headlines

"My Kitchen Window Blew Out"

Suffolk Public Schools Closed Tuesday

UPDATE - Mandatory Neighborhood Evacuation

Tornado Photos From Hampton Roads

More Viewer Storm Pictures

Storm Cloud Photos From Hampton - Langley Air Force Base

Storm Shots In Pungo - See The Pictures

Tornado Damage - Photos Sent In By Viewers

Tornado Pictures Near Obici Hospital in Suffolk

Tornado Spotted Near King's Fork High School
http://www.wtkr.com/default.asp

April 23, 2008

Virginia Defense Force- ready to respond in 2008

Courtesy of the Virginia Defense Force

RICHMOND — National Volunteer Week will be celebrated April 27 to May 3. It recognizes the many volunteers in our state that contribute individual time and efforts that benefit the citizens of the Commonwealth. This effort is exemplified by many organizations in communities throughout the state. The Virginia Defense Force is just one of many volunteer organizations involved in support to our citizens.
The Virginia Defense Force is an all volunteer force that is a member of the Virginia Department of Military Affairs. It provides support after disasters, specifically when authorized to assist citizens throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia whenever and wherever relief is needed in support of the Virginia National Guard under the command of Maj. Gen. Robert Newman, the Adjutant General.

The volunteer members are located in over 38 Virginia Army National Guard installations throughout the Commonwealth. They support the Virginia National Guard in performing state missions to provide interoperable communications, less-than-lethal security, emergency medical triage, traffic control, fix-wing aviation flights, and general manpower support as specified by the Governor of Virginia.

The division headquarters is located in Richmond and there are three operational brigades- Lafayette, located in the Tidewater area; Black Horse, located in Northern Virginia; and the High Land in Roanoke. Two new battalions will be activated on the Eastern Shore and in Northern Virginia in this year.

The division currently has a total of over 700 members and in 2007 they contributed over 7,500 mandays of volunteer service. This resulted in a financial contribution to the Commonwealth of over $1,000,000. The future trend is for the VDF to exceed the past year’s mandays for volunteer service to the state based on the increase in new members throughout the Commonwealth. The long term goal is to have 1,200 volunteers in four to five brigades and 12 to 15 battalions.

For more information about the Virginia Defense Force go to www.vdf.virginia.gov; or contact by e-mail at vdfinfo@vdf.virginia.gov; or call the Division Headquarters in Richmond at 804-228-7018 or 866-791-9164.

Will the National Guard be able to respond?

April 22, 2008

Charlottesville, Leesburg and Woodstock area Va. Guard Soldiers return from Iraq

Soldiers from infantry companies headquartered in Charlottesville, Leesburg and Woodstock assigned to 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team returned to the United States April 20 and 21 after serving in Iraq and Kuwait since September 2007. The Soldiers flew into the demobilization station of Camp Shelby, Miss., and will conduct a number of different administrative activities to transition from active duty back into traditional National Guard status prior to returning back to Virginia. Approximately 150 Soldiers are assigned to each company.

The units will spend four or five days at Camp Shelby, but the exact arrival date for their return back to Virginia has not been determined at this time. The Virginia National Guard Public Affairs Office will issue a follow up advisory once the return date has been set.

All three infantry companies were assigned to convoy escort duty in Iraq and had numerous enemy engagements via improvised explosive devices, small arms fire and complex ambushes. A and B Companies operated in Al Anbar Province or Multinational Division West. A Company operated and in some of the most dangerous areas in Iraq to include Fallujah and Ramadi, and B Company operated in hot spots west of the Euphrates River and the far western portions of Iraq near the Syrian border.

C Company provided convoy escort in Multi-National Division North and operated in some of the more recent danger areas around Mosul and Kirkuk. Nine of the 10 Soldiers wounded in action from the battalion were from C Company. The battalion had no fatalities.

In addition to the three infantry companies, the Battalion is made up of approximately 100 Soldiers from the Winchester-based Headquarters Company, approximately 125 Soldiers from Fredericksburg-based D Company and approximately 125 Soldiers from Fredericksburg-based F Company, 429th Brigade Support Battalion. These three units will return to the USA in the coming weeks. Additional information about their return will be provided once the units have landed at their demobilization station.
http://vko.va.ngb.army.mil/VirginiaGuard/

Two Vietnam veterans, one from Pasco, reunite 40 years later

Two Vietnam veterans, one from Pasco, reunite 40 years later

Published Sunday, April 27, 2008 8:56 PM


PORT RICHEY — They had cleared this path the day before, so they expected no trouble. It was the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, the Hail Mary pass for America to try to win the war, and these Marines were boys, most just out of high school. Many were the sons of World War II veterans and enlisted because they believed it was the right thing to do. They knew each other by nicknames and, during lulls, talked of their hometowns and families. They read letters out loud and talked of their dreams.

As the voting age was 21 then, most had never voted. They'd never been able to legally buy a drink. Many had never yet been in love. Most of these men never knew each other's last names, but those who survived would later say these were the best friends they ever had.
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http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article476000.ece

Swindling disabled Vietnam vet lands woman in prison

Swindling disabled vets lands woman in prison
LARGO – A St. Petersburg woman was sentenced to three years in prison Monday for swindling more than $100,000 from a disabled Vietnam veteran. Helga Scott, 59, pleaded no contest to a felony charge of exploiting a disabled adult. She will serve 15 years of probation after she is released from prison.

Scott befriended 56-year-old Cary Gammon in 2004 after the veteran had to move from an assisted living facility that was closing. Scott gained power-of-attorney over Gammon and nearly drained his bank account.

She used the money to buy a house and furniture and pay bills, authorities said. Scott put Gammon, who had a mental disorder, in another ALF while she lived in the house purchased with his money.

“It was victimizing our most vulnerable of veterans,” Prosecutor Bill Burgess said. “She drained his money. He never lived a day in the house.” While police investigated, Gammon was found dead in a lake on Christmas morning 2005.

Police said he had wandered from his ALF and drowned. Police said there was no connection between the drowning and the fraud case. Scott must pay $55,000 in restitution to Gammon’s estate after her release from prison.

-- Chris Tisch, Times staff writer
http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnews/2008/04/swindling-disab.html

Orlando heartless "evicting" already homeless

Eviction from shanties leaves homeless looking for new spots
Kate Santich Sentinel Staff Writer
April 27, 2008

Darlene and Michael Downs might sound like a lot of struggling couples.

He is chronically ill; she doesn't work so she can take care of him. And now they're faced with losing their home -- a four-room place where they hang their wedding photos and snapshots of the grandkids and snuggle up before their 27-inch color TV.

Except home in this case is a shanty in the woods off John Young Parkway. And the Downses, like their neighbors amid these vine-covered oaks, have just gotten notice that they're about to be evicted.

"We're not bothering anybody," Michael Downs said. "And the doctors told me I can't take no more stress."

These days, even the woods are no haven for the homeless.

Orlando police officers, who first handed out trespass warnings in mid-April, said the crackdown stems from a nearby neighborhood group that "bombarded" police with complaints about registered sex offenders living in the woods.

"There were probably two or three out there, but even one is too many," Orlando police Lt. Robert Anzueto said. "There's no way to regulate them if they're in the woods. . . . And there is trash and debris all over the place. If I were a neighbor, I would be concerned."
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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-homeless2708apr27,0,5378271.story

4 U.S. soldiers killed in Baghdad attack

4 U.S. soldiers killed in Baghdad attack
Rocket or mortar strike kills troops around the capital

BAGHDAD - Four American soldiers were killed Monday in rocket or mortar attacks in separate volleys in Baghdad.

The attacks raised the monthly U.S. death toll to at least 44, making it the deadliest since September.


Three of the Multi-National Division — Baghdad soldiers were killed just after 1 p.m. in an eastern section of the capital, the military said.


The statement did not give an exact location for the attack, but the area has been the scene of intense fighting recently between Shiite militiamen and U.S.-Iraqi troops.


Another soldier was killed by indirect fire in western Baghdad, the military said separately, using its term for a rocket or mortar attack.


In all, at least 4,056 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24356128/

Service-related stress builds for veterans

Scott Adler, 36, of Brillion, is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm who is being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. A nationwide survey of 1,965 service members by the Rand Corp. found nearly 20 percent of those returning from war report symptoms of PTSD, but only about 50 percent seek treatment. Post-Crescent photo by Patrick Ferron

Service-related stress builds for veterans
Survey: Growing number of troops reports symptoms
By Steve Wideman • Post-Crescent staff writer • April 28, 2008


BRILLION — Scott Adler's face grew tense and his gaze distracted as his cell phone's ring tone pierced the otherwise quiet atmosphere of his living room.

Adler deliberately ignored the ringing as he talked about his experience as a military police officer in the Army.

The tenseness disappeared when the ringing stopped. A message left no doubt the caller was trying to reach a church, not Adler.

"It's a wrong number," Adler said as he smiled for the first time since telling of a July 2001 telephone call that ended with his friend and fellow military police officer committing suicide with a gunshot wound to the head.

The suicides of three fellow officers in 18 months contributed to Adler joining a growing number of military personnel, including National Guard and Reserve members, being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

A nationwide survey of 1,965 service members by the Rand Corp. found nearly 20 percent of those returning from war, or about 300,000 soldiers, report symptoms of PTSD, but only about 50 percent seek treatment.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., joined two other Democratic senators last week in introducing legislation calling on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to track how many veterans commit suicide each year.

The legislation request came after the VA disclosed that 12,000 veterans attempt suicide annually while an average of 18 war veterans kill themselves each day.

That's no surprise to Adler, 36, who served two tours of active duty, from 1990 to 1995 — when he deployed for Operation Desert Storm — and again from 2000 to 2003. Between those tours Adler served with the Wisconsin Army National Guard.

Adler was discharged in 2003 for medical reasons related to a PTSD diagnosis.
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