When government fails, blame media

What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and ....
"I still like and admire George W. Bush," writes Scott McClellan, ..... Scott McClellan was given information to relay to the press about the Valerie Plame
http://www.amazon.com/What-Happened-Washingtons-Culture-Deception/dp/1586485563

McClellan's book is ranked 11. Not bad considering he was part of the problem with trying to convince the media the Bush administration was not lying, then turned around and blamed the media for not doing their job uncovering the facts. We all know how I feel about the media. At least part of the media when they decide to cover anything but the troops and the veterans no matter what news is breaking about what is happening to them. Print media is doing a better job of informing the public than broadcast media does. I suppose it's not very entertaining to film a family at the grave site of a veteran who committed suicide because the wound inflicted in combat was never taken care of. If this was reality, then how can you explain reality TV ratings? They just use it as an excuse to cover useless self gratifying celebrities acting like idiots instead.

Years after the first stories began to be printed in the Washington Post and Hartford Courant regarding the deplorable conditions the PTSD wounded were returning to, there are some in this country preferring to attack the media for reporting on this. The government failed the veterans and their families but instead of facing this fact, people on the loyalist right spend countless hours attacking the media instead of the cause of the suffering they report about. What does this serve? Does it serve the veterans or does it serve the White House?

When organizations join together to get to the bottom of what happened they are also attacked for doing it. Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth joined forces and filed a law suit against the VA to provide care for the wounded veterans and get some accountability. This law suit uncovered emails from Dr. Katz regarding suicide and attempted suicide data they knew about but were releasing other figures instead of factual ones. When these emails supported the CBS report, CBS was attacked and so were the two organizations suing the government to provide the care they should have done automatically.

CREW, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, and VoteVets teamed up and filed a Freedom of Information Act order discovering the email sent by Norma Perez from Temple Texas VA to the mental health staff about the need to provide diagnosis other than PTSD then added in the issue of the cost associated with caring for PTSD veterans. Again, the organizations were attacked along with the media reporting on what happened.

We've read the editorials in the newspapers across the country and in hundreds of blog headlines, all attacking the reports instead of the problems. Do these people think the suffering is not real? Do they think the facts reported on are not supported by evidence? Do they think the VA and the DOD would be making all kinds of changes following these reports if the reports were not the truth?

This weekend I heard all of this attacked instead of the problem itself. One speaker at a conference said he spoke with Dr. Katz and the CBS report was wrong. Another speaker at the conference said that there were enough psychologist and psychiatrist in Central Florida as far as he knew, but he was speaking to a lot of people who have been having problems with getting appointments at the VA for mental health care. While most of the speakers in the sessions were telling the truth and facing the facts so that the problems could be corrected, others were attempting to minimize all of it. If there were enough psychologist and psychiatrists, then you would not have the need of private psychologists and psychiatrists donating their time free of charge as part of Give An Hour.

Psychiatr News May 16, 2008Volume 43, Number 10, page 11© 2008 American Psychiatric Association

APA Teams With Give an HourAPA has announced its partnership with Give an Hour, a national network of mental health professionals who volunteer their services to members of the military, veterans, and their families. APA urges members to visit <http://www.giveanhour.org/> and fill out a brief form to join the Give an Hour network. Once accepted, psychiatrists are asked to commit to giving one hour a week to an individual or family seeking help through the program for at least a year.
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/43/10/11-b

Keep in mind this was a NAMI convention and all about mental health. American Psychiatric Association joined forces with Give An Hour for a reason. The reason they are willing to give up money they usually receive for this time every week would not be happening if the VA and the DOD were doing their jobs and had no problems delivering care. This mental health convention was filled with consumers, a classy term for patients, and professional mental health care providers, yet some of these professionals are either way behind on data and information, or they were lying. I want to believe they are just uninformed. There could be no reason for defending the government otherwise.

Attacking Congress for funding the VA would make no sense otherwise. It would increase research and increase the funds to provide more time and mental health workers into the system. So why defend this not being done unless they really believe what the administration has been telling them all these years? I cannot find it easy to understand someone working in mental health defending harm being done when they have made their careers in providing care. The professionals at the top of the food chain have a reason to cover up what they did because not carrying out the agenda of the administration would have cost them their jobs and now they got caught for what they did in following their orders to do it. People lower on the food chain have no reason to cover up for the higher ups unless they simply don't know the facts. We have no idea what kind of information their bosses are giving them. We have no idea what other publications they read but apparently they are not reading anything from the APA.

Back to the defenders attacking the media in daily life, again, we have no idea what they are reading but they cannot be reading any of the obituaries. They cannot be watching CSPAN when it covers the hearings in Washington. They cannot be living with this everyday. If the media they do pay attention to are not providing them with the facts, then they are under the delusion the rest of the media has been lying.

One case in point which infuriates me to this day is Bill O'Reilly and Retired Col. Hunt on FOX, No Spin Zone. I was sent a copy of the show when O'Reilly and Hunt were denying the fact PTSD diagnosed troops were being sent back into combat on medications. They not only denied this was happening they were making fun of the fact this would be a harmful thing to do to the rest of the troops. O'Reilly and Hunt managed to inform the viewers of this popular show that none of this was happening while the rest of us were hearing from the DOD the admission it was being done. Not only did O'Reilly and Hunt come off like idiots, so did their viewers. Were they uninformed or were they lying? Was O'Reilly uninformed about homeless veterans when he denied there were homeless veterans or was he lying? It is his job to be informed. The facts came out of the government he was defending and telling his viewers this was not real. O'Reilly then had to admit there were homeless veterans, but passed off this condition as a matter of drug addicts and alcoholics, in other words, putting out the "who cares" attitude they deserve to be the way they are.

When suicides began to be reported because families trying to save the lives of others came forward to tell their stories, they were attacked. Their suffering was diminished to being a tiny fraction of the troops and not worth paying attention to. PTSD veterans and active military were attacked and blamed for what was happening to them. Some attacked them for trying to get out of service, being cowards and not wanting to serve, anything that would reduce the emotional tug at the heart for the rest of the nation. It never entered their mind that most of the men and women who committed suicide did it back home, when they were out of the dangers of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Perhaps the best indication of attacking the media was after the Washington Post reported on the conditions of Walter Reed. Hundreds of blog posts popped up attacking the Post instead of facing the fact these reports were real. So real in fact that the DOD was forced to do something about it. When it comes to facts, some people in this country would rather be uninformed so they can go off on their merry way believing the government is doing their jobs and the media, when they do bother to do these investigations are on some kind of witch hunt. In other words, when the government fails, blame the media. Don't try to fix what's wrong unless you happen to need it.


Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
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

Policy change would benefit disabled vets

Policy change would benefit disabled vets
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, June 18, 2008



WASHINGTON — About 20,000 veterans forced out of the military early by a combat-related injury could be eligible for hundreds in special compensation pay under new rules outlined by the services this month.

The change, mandated by Congress last year, makes veterans who served less than 20 years eligible for Combat-Related Special Compensation payments from the Defense Department.

Those funds are designed to restore money deducted from troops’ military retirement accounts because they also receive veterans’ disability payouts. The offset can trim a significant portion of the military retirement pay, and veterans groups have lobbied for years to end the deductions.

Army spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Moose said that since 2002, servicemembers with 20 years of military service and a combat-related injury have been receiving monthly Combat-Related Special Compensation, but those with fewer years were not eligible.

Now, the new change is effective back to Jan. 1 of this year, making all combat veterans eligible to apply for six months of retroactive payments and future monthly compensation, he said.
go here for more
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=55614

Two more non-combat deaths in Iraq

DoD Identifies Army Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. 1st Class Gerard M. Reed, 40, of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., died June 11 in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries sustained in a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 86th Combat Support Hospital, Fort Campbell, Ky.

This incident is under investigation.

DoD Identifies Army Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Pvt. Eugene D. M. Kanakaole, 19, of Maui, Hawaii, died June 11 in Balad Iraq, of injuries sustained in a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 87th Engineer Company, 8th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas.

The incident is under investigation.

http://icasualties.org/oif/

This makes three posted today alone

Jacksonville Police hearing on PTSD and a Police Sgt.

Surratt disability hearing goes into the night

Former JPD Sgt. Kelly Surratt and his wife testify for nearly four hours Tuesday.
June 17, 2008 - 6:19PM
BY MARIA NAGLE
Journal-Courier
Former Jacksonville Police Sgt. Kelly Surratt and his wife, Jeannie, spent four hours Tuesday testifying that a 1999 shooting incident involving the officer led him to abuse alcohol and depression.

Mr. Surratt resigned from the police force in November amidst allegations he was twice under the influence of alcohol on duty. He is requesting disability pay based on his claim that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder arising from his job as a police officer.

Based on the evidence presented at the disability hearing, the five members Jacksonville Police Pension Board will decide whether to grant or deny Mr. Surratt’s request for disability pay.

Prior to recessing at 5:20 p.m. for a dinner break, the Surratts testified that following the shooting incident, Mr. Surratt turned to alcohol to help him sleep, because prescription medication was not helping him do so. The couple claimed that, after the shooting, Mr. Surratt began experiencing and continues to have nightmares and panic attacks.
go here for more
http://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/police_18677___article.html/surratt_disability.html

Another non-combat death in Iraq

06/16/08 DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
Lance Cpl. Javier Perales Jr., 19, of San Elizario, Texas, died June 11, from a non-hostile incident in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

4,101 total US killed in Iraq
http://icasualties.org/oif/

PTSD takes A Different Kind of Courage

I am an American Soldier.

I am a Warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.

Add this to it.

They are fallen comrades who have been wounded. Don't leave them behind!

Military Program: Overview
Now available: A Different Kind of Courage, a new video to encourage help-seeking for psychological health
View the promo of our new video (4 minutes)
View the full length version of our new video (25 minutes)
Press release for A Different Kind of Courage
Video order form
For a DoD overview of the program, please visit: www.pdhealth.mil/mhsa.asp
The Mental Health Self-Assessment Program® (MHSAP) offers service personnel and their families the opportunity to take anonymous, mental health and alcohol use self-assessments online, via the phone, and through special events held at installations. The self-assessments are a brief series of questions that, when linked together, help create a picture of how an individual is feeling.
The program is designed to help individuals identify their own symptoms and access assistance before a problem becomes serious. The self-assessments address posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, generalized anxiety disorder, alcohol use, and bipolar disorder. After completing a self-assessment, individuals receive referral information including services provided by TRICARE, Military OneSource and Vet Centers.
The program, part of the Department of Defense continuum of care, is fully funded by Force Health Protection and Readiness, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Health Affairs.
To take a free, anonymous self-assessment, visit http://www.militarymentalhealth.org/ or call 1-877-877-3647.

Battlemind needs to be replaced with this video. It's honest and makes PTSD real. If you really want to help them, play this video from coast to coast, when you deploy them and when they are coming home.

Linked from Veterans for Common Sense

When a Soldier Attacks a Comrade

When a Soldier Attacks a Comrade


By PAUL von ZIELBAUER
Published: June 15, 2008
Fragging. The term sounds like some medieval form of punishment, but actually is quite modern. A fragging is an attack on one soldier by another, most commonly an enlisted man turning on his commanding officer. The weapon most frequently used in such attacks has been a fragmentation grenade, hence the term.


Once an unfortunately routine occurrence in Vietnam, the attacks have been rare during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But this summer, Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez, of the New York National Guard, is expected to face court-martial on charges that he murdered two members of his unit, Capt. Phillip Esposito and First Lt. Lou Allen , only the second such episode recorded during this war.

To understand the history and psychology of such attacks, we asked Paul J. Springer, a history professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, to address some questions on a topic he has long studied, including the Army's response to such attacks, the reasons for their decline and whether certain types of soldier-on-soldier attacks should qualify for the label. Here is an edited transcript of that conversation with Dr. Springer.
go here for more
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/nyregion/16guard.springer.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Military faces after effects of combat

Chattanooga: Military faces after effects of combat
Chattanooga Times Free Press - Chattanooga,TN,USA
By: Lauren Gregory (Contact)

After a year of defending himself against ambushes in Vietnam, Roger Rahor couldn’t get out of high-alert mode.

He was physically and mentally edgy — so much so that he had trouble sitting through a meal.

“I brought a girl home for dinner when I had first come home, and I was real jumpy and nervous at the table,” recalled Mr. Rahor, a Signal Mountain resident who turns 60 today and was 23 when he returned from a yearlong tour with a U.S. Army transportation company in 1972.

He was in denial about his condition, and his family downplayed it, too, he said.

“My mom said to my date, ‘Don’t pay any attention to Roger. He’s just nervous from the service,’ which was how they related to it in World War II,” Mr. Rahor said. “ ‘Nervous from the service’ was acceptable.”

Since the term post-traumatic stress disorder was coined in the wake of Vietnam, public and military acceptance of the disorder has grown, even to the extent that debate about whether sufferers should be awarded the Purple Heart has emerged.

However, stigmas surrounding the disorder persist, said Dr. John Fortunato, a Vietnam veteran and clinical psychologist who runs the U.S. Army’s new Restoration and Resilience Center for PTSD sufferers at Ft. Bliss, Texas.
click above for more

Marine Lieutenant General Keith Stalder sounds alarm on suicide

Suicide Numbers Raise Alarm for Marine Lieutenant General Keith Stalder
Jennifer Hlad


Jacksonville Daily News

Jun 16, 2008

June 16, 2008 - Ten Marines assigned to II Marine Expeditionary Force have died in Iraq and Afghanistan since Oct. 1. Twelve have taken their own lives in the United States. Those statistics are troubling for Lt. Gen. Keith Stalder, commander of II MEF.

"My intuition tells me that we've seen a significant increase, in at least attempts and ideations, and maybe in suicides themselves," said Stalder, who pours through every agonizing detail of every II MEF death - whether from combat, a traffic wreck or the Marine's own hand - in an effort to prevent future losses.

"I don't know, statistically, if (the number of suicides in this fiscal year) compares with last year. I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about trying to understand if we can do something to knock this out," Stalder said. "It breaks your heart when you lose a Marine."

Though suicide data provided by the Marine Corps shows no consistent up or down trend within the service since January 2003, the rate of suicides in calendar year 2007 was significantly higher than 2006 - with 16.5 suicides for every 100,000 Marines, or a total of 33 suicides. In 2006, the rate was 12.4 suicides per 100,000 Marines, or 24 total suicides.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/10401

Kristofer Goldsmith: Stop Loss Killed Me

Mental Health and the Military Mindset

Aamer Madhani


Los Angeles Times

Jun 16, 2008

June 15, 2008, Bellmore, NY - Kristofer Goldsmith was so distressed about the prospect of returning to Iraq that he decided he was willing to kill himself to avoid serving a second tour.

The Army had mandated an extension of his three-year contract, which had been set to expire, as his unit was set to deploy to Baghdad as part of the troop surge. The day before he was to ship out in May 2007, he washed down a dozen Percoset with more than a liter of vodka.

Soon after he was admitted to the Winn Army Community Hospital at Ft. Stewart, Ga., a top noncommissioned officer from his brigade's rear detachment visited the young sergeant, along with an Army psychologist, to discuss discharging him from the military.

"We all agreed that it was for the best that my Army career come to an end then," said Goldsmith, who added that he'd scrawled the words "stop-loss killed me" in marker on his body before his suicide attempt. "It was a few days later when they told me that they were going to come at me for faking a mental lapse."

The rear commander of his unit, Maj. Douglas Wesner of the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division, quickly initiated an administrative punishment known as an Article 15 against Goldsmith for malingering -- that is, feigning a mental lapse or derangement or purposely injuring oneself -- in order to avoid being deployed to Iraq.

Eventually, his commanders dropped the Article 15, but not before removing the 22-year-old from the service on a general discharge. Because he did not receive an honorable discharge, Goldsmith was stripped of his Montgomery GI Bill benefits, which he'd been counting on to help pay for his college education.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/10400

MilitaryConnection.Com Joins Forces with America Supports You

This is something all sides should get behind. It's about them!

MilitaryConnection.Com Joins Forces with America Supports You
Contact:Debbie Gregory800-817-3777 ext. 124
Michelle Shortencarrier (ASY)(562) 608-8751
Release Date: 5/5/2008
For Immediate Release
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. – MilitaryConnection.com (www.militaryconnection.com) is proud to announce that they have become a corporate supporter of the Defense Department’s America Supports You program. The relationship continues to benefit the military community through alliances and partnerships with a number of the nonprofit organizations that are part of the America Supports You program.

“At MilitaryConnection.com, we are committed to supporting those who serve, past and present, and their families,” said Debbie Gregory, president and chief executive officer of MilitaryConnection.com. “It is our pleasure to join forces with many fine nonprofits and assist with programs that contribute to the welfare of our nation’s Armed Forces.

MilitaryConnection.com is embraced by the military community, which contributes to our extraordinary traffic and high rankings.”

“MilitaryConnection.com’s work and their commitment to ASY nonprofit organizations truly demonstrates what the America Supports You program is all about,” said Allison Barber, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and founder of America Supports You. “By connecting with nonprofit groups to share their time and resources, Debbie and her team are strengthening Americans’ ability to provide support to our military members and their families.”
MilitaryConnection.com, a portal of all things military, takes great pride in providing a multitude of resources for our nation’s military audience. “MilitaryConnection.com is widely accepted as the ‘go to’ site for getting things accomplished for troops and their families,” said retired Brig. Gen. James P. Combs, USAR. “The efforts of this company have resulted in an improved quality of life for thousands of troops.”

MilitaryConnection.com specializes in connecting those seeking employment with outstanding government and civilian employers. All areas of the website are free to users, including the Directory of Employers with over 30,000 employers and the brand new Scholarship Directory featuring thousands of scholarships. They continue to develop new resources and are excited about the forthcoming launch of MilitaryConnection.com’s improved job board with a section that allows users to advertise on the site at no charge, items for sale such as cars, motorcycles, computers, etc. Also coming soon is a directory of veteran-owned businesses with free listings.
First introduced to the Defense Department program when they co-sponsored the 2006 America Supports You Freedom Walk in Simi Valley, Calif., MilitaryConnection.com joins forces with other outstanding America Supports You groups on a regular basis.

Last summer MilitaryConnection.com, along with several nonprofits, produced a free concert headlined by country music super star Phil Vassar for thousands of Marines and their families at Camp Pendleton. They also work with Soldier’s Angels on numerous programs including securing and delivering comfort items for deployed troops. MilitaryConnection.com is proud to work with ThanksUSA and also funded a scholarship this year. "We have found MilitaryConnection.com to be a terrific gateway for communicating with military families far and wide about our scholarships for the kids and spouses of active duty personnel," said Bob Okun, CEO of ThanksUSA."

About MilitaryConnection.com
Offering one of the most comprehensive directories of military resources and information on the web, MilitaryConnection.com specializes in connecting members of the military community with top government and civilian employers. With something for everyone, this web site offers a directory of commissaries, a directory of over 30,000 employers, pay charts and calculators, a virtual job fair, a job board and more. MilitaryConnection.com assists hundreds of military organizations and nonprofits by featuring their press releases, newsletters and special events. You will find directories for each branch of service, articles of interest, benefits, forms, DoD news, valuable columns, Centcom, videos, music and more. When the next tour is back home, it’s on MilitaryConnection.com.

About America Supports You
America Supports You is an ongoing, nationwide program organized by the Department of Defense to showcase Americans’ support for the men and women of the Armed Forces and their families. Since its launch in November of 2004, the America Supports You program has welcomed nearly 360 homefront organizations and more than 35 corporations to the program. Many America Supports You supporters help the troops through letter writing, care packages, helping the wounded when they return home, assisting military families, sending an email or kind gesture—to learn more about how you can support military personnel please, visit www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil.

Veteran's Village of healing

Here's a link to a film my brother and I made recently for Veteran's Village, a charity founded by Nadia McCaffrey, mother of fallen American soldier Patrick McCaffrey.

Roughly 30% of American soldiers are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD. Veteran's Village is a healing oasis to help vets reintegrate into society.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q7cTlRjGeU

If you look over on the side bar, you'll see this video up for about a week or so.

It's hard to believe this much time has come and gone since I was first made aware of Nadia.

One Mother's War
Robert Durell / LAT
Nadia McCaffrey, who now operates a nonprofit grief counseling program and has become a leader in the Northern California antiwar movement, has been a lifelong pacifist and opposed her son's enlistment from the beginning.
By Jeff Nachtigal, Special to the Times
January 30, 2005
TRACY, Calif. -- On the day her son Patrick McCaffrey died on a blacktop farm road in northern Iraq, Nadia McCaffrey's war began.

Her first act was to invite the press to the Sacramento Airport when her 34-year-old son's flag draped-coffin was brought home at the end of June 2004.
http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/magazine/la-tm-guard30jan30-sb,1,3668041.story?coll=la-home-magazine&ctrack=1&cset=true

Since then my admiration for her has only grown deeper. While she gets attention for the Veteran's Village, what her life's mission is, is something she does very quietly. She is changing lives. You won't hear her tell you of this one or that one who had their lives transformed because she thought waving a flag and slapping a yellow magnet to the back of a car was just not enough to support the veterans enough and did something about it, but you will hear it in her voice how much she really cares about all of them. You can hear it in this video. A remarkable woman indeed~

Nadia has been helping a friend of mine I care deeply for. No one will know his story or how much she has helped him. No one will know most of the stories of the lives placed into Nadia's loving hands or how they have gone from seeing lives and things destroyed to feeling love's healing grace and watching things grow on organic farms. They will not know how many have cried on her shoulder or thrived on a hug from this woman who has adopted all of them as if they were her own children. What no one will hear is precisely the reason she does it. No one would have been there to help them the way she has. Her reward is beyond a price tag. You cannot put a price on a life that may have ended had Nadia not been there doing this work.

While her work is priceless to those she helps, it is very expensive to operate. Veteran's Village needs donations. She needs you to support her so she can support them. If you've finally come to the point in your life where you are aware that waving a flag seems insignificant and a yellow ribbon on an SUV seems really stupid, donate to the work Nadia is doing to really welcome them home and to a home where they can feel as if they are a part of this beautiful land. Help them find a peaceful place to recover from the wounds they carry in their soul.

We know that when the mind, body and spirit are addressed in unison, there are miracles happening everyday. Nadia understands this. Do you? Veteran's Village is non-political and all she cares about is them. It doesn't matter if they agree with what is being done in Iraq or not. All she cares about is that they were willing to serve their country and they are now in need for doing so.



I am proud to call Nadia my friend and I hope one day to be able to meet her, but I have a feeling we already met in another time and another place. Should we not meet on this earth face to face, we'll meet later soul to soul.

DAV claims DOD violates law on severance

Vets group claims DoD violates severance law

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jun 17, 2008

At the end of a boisterous House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing in which lawmakers lambasted Veterans Affairs Department and Pentagon officials for not meeting various deadlines for improving care for wounded combat troops, Disabled American Veterans dropped a quiet bombshell.

The Pentagon “knowingly violated the law and ignored the intent of Congress” in implementing a provision of the 2008 Defense Authorization Act that lawmakers designed to enhance disability severance pay for wounded and injured service members, wrote Kerry Baker, associate national legislative director for DAV.

Baker argued that Congress created Section 1646 of the 2008 Defense Authorization Act with the intent that service members injured in combat, in a combat zone, or performing tasks related to combat — such as training — would not have to pay back any disability retirement severance pay they receive from the Defense Department before becoming eligible for VA disability compensation, as has been the case under long-standing policy.

But Baker said David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, sent out a “directive-type memorandum” March 13 instructing that only those injured in a combat zone in the line of duty or as a direct result of armed conflict do not have to pay back their severance money.

“This action has intentionally read ‘hazardous service,’ ‘conditions simulating war,’ and ‘instrumentality of war’ completely out of the law,” Baker wrote.

Chu’s action, he wrote, “forces one to question his true resolve to care for those he sends into battle, or orders to train for battle.”

Baker said he believes the decision was purely monetary.

“We can think of no other conceivable reason … to circumvent the law as he has done here,” Baker wrote. “To answer the question of ‘why,’ Congress need only determine in whose budget the disability compensation is deposited once offset by VA. We believe the answer to that question is the [Defense Department] budget.”

Defense Department spokeswoman Eileen Lainez said that was not Chu’s intent.

“Rest assured that saving money was not the driver in the implementation,” she said in an e-mail. “The statutory intent of [the law] clearly and appropriately focuses the ‘enhanced disability severance’ to those service members where the unfitting condition is a result of direct participation and performance of duty in the war effort.”
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/military_severance_061708w/

When it comes to PTSD help heal it or get out of the way!

One more case of "but"

Military Update: Treating mental combat wounds
BY TOM PHILPOTT Daily Press
June 16, 2008

Rep. Bob Filner, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, alleged on Wednesday that Bush administration officials were continuing to downplay the mental trauma and brain injuries suffered by veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Filner, D-Calif., said an April RAND Corp. study — "Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery" — justified a 10-fold jump in the U.S. casualty count, compared with the figure of 33,000 American dead and wounded used by the Pentagon.

RAND researchers extrapolated from a survey they conducted of 1,965 vets to conclude that nearly 300,000 service members and vets of Iraq and Afghanistan were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder — PTSD — or major depression. Filner told the pair of researchers, who summarized their findings for his committee, that their work probably understated the problem.

"I personally think these are low estimates, just from my own studies," Filner said. "But if you take even the 300,000, (it's) 10 times the official casualty statistics from the Pentagon. Shouldn't this 300,000 be included?"

Lisa H. Jaycox, a senior behavioral scientist and clinical psychologist who co-directed the RAND study, embraced Filner's argument.

"Well, they are (suffering) an injury condition resulting from combat deployment, and so it's a different kind of casualty," Jaycox said, "but, yes, they are very important numbers."

The three-hour hearing also included testimony from retired Navy Rear Adm. Patrick W. Dunne, assistant secretary for policy and planning for the Veterans Benefits Administration.

At the same hearing, Michael L. Dominguez — principal deputy undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness — said RAND gathered solid data from its survey but drew the wrong conclusions. The study, Dominguez said, "did not, and cannot, definitively say that there are 300,000 cases of clinically diagnosed cases" of PTSD or depression among vets who served in the two theaters.

Filner angrily interrupted him, telling Dominguez that RAND didn't say it showed 300,000 clinically diagnosed cases of PTSD or depression.

"It was an extrapolation to the possibility" of 300,000 cases, Filner said.

With more than 1.6 million U.S. service members having served in Iraq or Afghanistan, Dominguez said, a finding that 300,000 vets "have experienced some kind of mental health stress is very consistent with our data. And those people do need to be discovered (and) to get help."
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http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/military/dp-local_milupdatenew_0616jun16,0,6743686.story

Over 30 years ago, when people who got into this before I did, there was very little known about PTSD and it had just received that title because Vietnam Veterans fought for it. Five years later, I got into this because of my husband. By then a lot more was known. One of the things was that there were 500,000 with PTSD and this came from a study funded by the DAV. This study was published in 1978 before most of the people being quoted as "experts" today were even born. This is not a new illness. This is not a changing illness because humans are pretty much still made up of all the same parts of their original design.

At the NAMI convention in Orlando this weekend, we heard a lot about a lot of people suffering. A great deal of the people attending were consumers, otherwise known as patients and their families. They sat in the conference rooms right next to people who have working on helping them ranging from simple advocates like me all the way up to psychiatrists and psychologist. Why would people like us get together for 4 days of talking? Simply to provide understanding, knowledge and support to keep trying to fight for all of them. I heard a lot of heartbreak from some of the families dealing with PTSD in their own families.

Every time there was a denial of what is going on, people got up and walked out of the room. Frankly I was wondering why some of them were there are all at the head of the room instead of sitting in back and listening. No one is such an expert they have nothing to learn about this. This is why having conferences is so important for anyone living with or working in mental health needs to participate in events like this whenever and wherever possible.

Throughout the years I've come up on many articles trying to diminish the magnitude of the suffering. Whenever this happened the only question in my mind was focused on why anyone would try to do this instead of listening, learning and being quiet until they knew the answers.

While I post about medications taken totally out of the report I read, I never discuss medication when helping veterans other than to tell them they may need it, to stop self-medicating and to talk to their doctor if they feel like their medication is not working. I have very little to offer on this subject because I am not a doctor and I just don't have enough knowledge to know I am helping instead of harming with the limited knowledge I do have on this subject. In other words, a little knowledge can do a lot of harm so I keep my mouth shut on this and won't step over the line using guess work.

Why can't "experts" do the same when it comes to PTSD? If they are experts with other issues, then they should stay where they are, focus on what they know and stop pretending to be experts on what they know very little about. Why can't they except history for what it is and stop trying to stand in the way of new data drawn from history? The numbers from the Rand Study did not shock me or surprise me at all because all I had to do was pay attention in the first place to the data from Vietnam veterans to know the Rand Study is a lot closer to reality than the VA and DOD numbers are. One more thing jumping out from all of this is the fact the VA and the DAV are jumping around like their hair is on fire trying to cope with all of this. If the numbers are only about 30,000, they would be fully capable of dealing with them otherwise. They are not so inept that 30,000 would totally overwhelm them.

Just open your eyes and know what real is and what an illusion is. If you don't know what the hell you are talking about then go sit in the back of the room and open your ears as well as your mind. Otherwise, you are standing in the way of healing and that is not helping!

The following are in response to some of the things I heard during the conference which caused me to walk out of the room.

FACT: Dr. Katz did conceal the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides. The emails did not just suddenly show up on Senator Akaka's desk. The Katz emails were discovered because of the law suit brought about by Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth. The emails were what he sent because he was trying to cover up the data CBS found with their own research work. The emails were about harmful conditions attempting to be covered up after we already saw too many suicides.

FACT: Norma Perez email about not doing a diagnosis of PTSD, was what it was. No it was not a poor choice of words because of what she followed up this with and mentioned cost cutting and how they "didn't have time" to do a thorough diagnosis. This email did not suddenly show up but was discovered because of a Freedom Of Information Act filed by CREW and VoteVets.

While we are reading horrible stories about suicides and suffering of our troops and veterans, we would not be reading them if they were not happening. This is obvious! How could any of the service organizations be taking on the VA and the DOD if there were not problems that enabled them to be taken on? The DOD and the VA heads will defend everything they are doing no matter what harm is being done as long as they can get away with it. It's all as simple as that. If they were just simply mistaken on what they did, then why were they not willing to correct the harm done and leave it at that instead of defending what they did and their right to keep doing it?

Folks, this is really simple. If there is damage being done and no one is addressing it, the damage will continue and nothing will be fixed. We will keep reading more and more stories about suffering instead of less and less. This blog alone has over 2,000 posts on it and I doubt there are two hundred good stories on it. That's really sad when you consider that PTSD has been known for over 30 years and reported in humans since King David's time.




You can read more about NAMI here.

NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness
The mission of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill is "to eradicate mental illness and improve the quality of life

Stop Loss soldier refuses to report for active duty in Iraq

US soldier refuses to report for active duty in Iraq


WASHINGTON (AFP) — A month after US army reservist Matthis Chiroux publicly refused to deploy to Iraq, the former sergeant on Sunday set himself up for possible prosecution by failing to report for active duty with his unit in South Carolina.

"Tonight at midnight, I may face further action from the army for refusing to reactivate to participate in the Iraq occupation," Chiroux told reporters in Washington.

"I stand here today in defense of those who have been stripped of their voices in this occupation, the warriors of this nation...", Chiroux read from a statement as his father Rob, who had travelled to Washington from Alabama to support his son on Father's Day, stood beside him.

Last month, Chiroux rejected an order calling him back to active duty in Iraq, saying he considers the war "illegal and unconstitutional."

Chiroux served five years in the army, with tours in Afghanistan, Japan, Germany and the Philippines.

He was honorably discharged last year and was placed in the Individual Ready Reserves (IRR), a pool of former soldiers who can be "reactivated" in a national emergency or war.
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http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jlR6Ky_n9NjGaMqzy4Ks9bk-PThw

Bliss soldier charged with intoxicated manslaughter

Bliss soldier charged with intoxicated manslaughter

Posted: June 14, 2008 09:27 PM EDT


EL PASO -- A Fort Bliss soldier is behind bars and one woman is dead after an early-morning crash Saturday.

Rodriguez Kemp, 19, allegedly plowed into four women with his pick-up truck as they were leaving the Chit Chat Lounge near the intersection of Dyer and Truman in Central El Paso.

Kemp -- a soldier stationed at Fort Bliss -- is charged with intoxicated manslaughter and two counts of intoxicated assault.

Police officials said the collision happened shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday.

According to Investigators, the four women were crossing Dyer right in front of the bar when they were struck by the soldier.

Claudia Lopez, 28, of the 12000 block of Saint Lawrence, was rushed to William Beaumont Army Medical Center. She died moments later.

Erika James, 26, of the 12000 block of Roadhouse; and Licia Kim, 28, of the 1900 block of Ratner were taken to Thomason Hospital with serious injuries.

Lashanda Delaney, of the 10000 block of Bob Stone, received non-life threatning injuries.

"When he realized he hit them, he came out with his hands up, he sat on the ground and that's when the police took him inside the club," said Leon Holt, who was walking the women to their cars across the street.

Holt told ABC-7 he kept on repeating the early-morning scene in his mind throughout the day.

He was holding one of the women by the hand and then she was no longer with him. "When I looked up, she let my hand go. So I don't know what's going on," said Holt, "I look to see what's going on or where she went. When I looked up, she was flying down the street."
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http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=8492767&nav=AbBzdY6a

PTSD on trial:Iraq war vet sent to prison

Iraq war vet sent to prison
BY DAN HORN DHORN@ENQUIRER.COM

Randy Koon’s friends say the U.S. Marine reservist suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder when he fired a gunshot at his girlfriend’s car last year.

They say his tour of duty in Iraq left him depressed and unable to cope with daily life and relationships.

“When he came back from Iraq, he was not the same Randy,” Staff Sgt. Charles Siegel told a judge Monday.

The judge said he sympathized with Koon’s struggles, but he still sentenced the Marine to six years in prison on charges of felonious assault.

“It’s clear that at the time of the offense you were suffering from mental illness,” said Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Ralph “Ted” Winkler. “But at the same time, you shot at the person you loved the most. Thank God you didn’t hit her.”

Koon, who was a top-rated sheriff’s deputy before the shooting incident last August, pleaded guilty to the assault charge earlier this year.

Prosecutors say he fought with his girlfriend, Jessica Barber, in his Colerain Township home and shot at her while she attempted to drive away. The shot shattered the driver’s side window. Koon then fled to Chicago, where he was caught a few days later.

A pre-sentence mental health evaluation and letters from fellow Marines indicate Koon suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, Winkler said. Part of Koon’s job in Iraq was to assist in detecting roadside bombs.

Assistant Prosecutor Gwen Bender said Koon’s service to his country and community were admirable, but his conduct last August “brought dishonor to both.”
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http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080616/NEWS0107/306160053/1077/COL02

Sounds like the Judge and Prosecutor need to talk to some NAMI people, like the other judges who are using their brains and not putting these veterans in jail instead of treatment.

Bill seeks more counseling to prevent PTSD

Bill seeks more counseling to prevent PTSD

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jun 17, 2008 5:42:20 EDT

Fort Carson, Colo., and Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., would become test beds for predeployment counseling programs aimed at reducing the risk of combat stress under legislation sponsored by two Colorado lawmakers.

Reps. Mark Udall and John Salazar, both Democrats, are urging the creation of pilot programs at the two Army bases to try to prevent post-traumatic stress disorder in combat troops, and to provide early detection and treatment for PTSD when it happens.

“Providing prompt and effective treatment to our returning troops can help prevent many of the negative effects related to PTSD and depression,” Udall said. “It is the least we can do to repay them for the sacrifices they have made.”

The bill they introduced June 12, HR 6268, also gives active-duty service members access to readjustment and mental health counseling from veterans centers, provide grants for nonprofit groups who provide counseling services for the survivors of service members or veterans, extends military survivor benefits to families of service members who commit suicide after a history of combat-related health problems, and creates a new scholarship program to train behavioral health specialists about mental health treatment for service members and veterans.

The wide swath of initiatives complicates passage. The bill was referred to the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, but its provisions fall under the jurisdiction of two other panels — the Armed Services Committee that is responsible for military benefits, and the Ways and Means Committee that oversees grants for nonprofit groups.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/military_ptsd_counselingtests_061608w/

Disabled veterans suffer when the check is not in the mail

Troops risk ruin while awaiting benefit checks

By Michelle Roberts - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jun 17, 2008 6:02:28 EDT

SAN ANTONIO — His lifelong dream of becoming a soldier had, in the end, come to this for Isaac Stevens: 28, penniless, in a wheelchair, fending off the sexual advances of another man in a homeless shelter.

Stevens’ descent from Army private first class in 3rd Infantry Division began in 2005 — not in battle, since he was never sent off to Iraq or Afghanistan, but with a headfirst fall over a wall on the obstacle course at Fort Benning, Ga. He suffered a head injury and spinal damage.

The injury alone didn’t put him in a homeless shelter. Instead, it was military bureaucracy — specifically, the way injured service members are discharged on just a fraction of their salary and then forced to wait six to nine months, and sometimes even more than a year, before their full disability payments begin to flow.

“When I got out, I hate to say it, but man, that was it. Everybody just kind of washed their hands of me, and it was like, ‘OK, you’re on your own,’ ” said Stevens, who was discharged in November and was in a shelter by February. He has since moved into a temporary San Antonio apartment with help from Operation Homefront, a nonprofit organization.

Nearly 20,000 disabled soldiers were discharged in the past two fiscal years, and lawmakers, veterans’ advocates and others say thousands could be facing financial ruin while they wait for their claims to be processed and their benefits to come through.

“The anecdotal evidence is depressing,” said Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y., who heads a subcommittee on veterans disability benefits. “These veterans are getting medical care, but their family is going through this huge readjustment at the same time they’re dealing with financial difficulties.”

Most permanently disabled veterans qualify for payments from Social Security and the military or Veterans Affairs. Those sums can amount to about two-thirds of their active-duty pay. But until those checks show up, most disabled veterans draw a reduced Army paycheck.

The amount depends on the soldier’s injuries, service time and other factors. But a typical veteran and his family who once lived on $3,400 a month might have to make do with $970 a month.

Unless a soldier has a personal fortune or was so severely injured as to require long-term inpatient care, that can be an extreme hardship.
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read more here

When you hear of the delay in claims being approved and the time it takes between the return of the wounded and the time they get their claim approved, this is what happens to them. It's not just about time. It's about our wounded veterans suffering because they got wounded. It's wrong and it has to change today.

VA $30 lab rats and Chantix

VA testing drugs on war veterans
Experiments raise ethical questions
Audrey Hudson (Contact)
Tuesday, June 17, 2008

The government is testing drugs with severe side effects like psychosis and suicidal behavior on hundreds of military veterans, using small cash payments to attract patients into medical experiments that often target distressed soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, a Washington Times/ABC News investigation has found.

In one such experiment involving the controversial anti-smoking drug Chantix, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) took three months to alert its patients about severe mental side effects. The warning did not arrive until after one of the veterans taking the drug had suffered a psychotic episode that ended in a near lethal confrontation with police.



ROD LAMKEY JR./THE WASHINGTON TIMES Veteran James Elliott arrives at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington for his scheduled substance-abuse class in April. Mr. Elliott, a chain smoker, served 15 months in Iraq as an Army sharpshooter and suffers post-traumatic stress disorder.


ROD LAMKEY JR./THE WASHINGTON TIMES Iraq war veteran James Elliott opted for a government clinical trial for a smoking-cessation drug for $30 a month, starting in November. Two weeks later, the FDA informed the VA of serious side effects.


ROD LAMKEY JR./THE WASHINGTON TIMES STILL SMOKING: Iraq war veteran James Elliott smokes on his porch in Silver Spring as he talks about his experiences in war and dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. Mr. Elliott suffered a psychotic episode while taking the anti-smoking drug Chantix.

James Elliott, a decorated Army sharpshooter who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after serving 15 months in Iraq, was confused and psychotic when he was Tasered by police in February as he reached for a concealed handgun when officers responded to a 911 call at his Maryland home.


Mr. Elliott, a chain smoker, began taking Chantix last fall as part of a VA experiment that specifically targeted veterans with PTSD, opting to collect $30 a month for enrolling in the clinical trial because he needed cash as he returned to school. He soon began suffering hallucinations and suicidal thoughts, unaware that the new drug he was taking could have caused them.

Just two weeks after Mr. Elliott began taking Chantix in November, the VA learned from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the drug was linked to a large number of hallucinations, suicide attempts and psychotic behavior. But the VA did not alert Mr. Elliott before his own episode in February.

In failing to do so, Mr. Elliott said, the VA treated him like a "disposable hero."

"You're a lab rat for $30 a month," Mr. Elliott said.

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http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/17/va-testing-drugs-on-war-veterans/

PTSD and Purple Heart requires knowledge

American soldiers who suffer post traumatic stress disorder would be awarded Purple Heart medals, usually given to those who are wounded in action, under a controversial plan being actively considered by the Pentagon. 40,000 American troops have been diagnosed with PTSD since 2003.

By Tim Shipman

Nine decades after soldiers were executed for "cowardice" brought on by what was then called shellshock during the First World War, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan may be the first to have their mental injuries treated the same as battlefield wounds.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has urged Pentagon advisers responsible for battlefield awards to study the proposal after Army psychologists said widening the criteria for a Purple Heart would increase the acceptance of soldiers suffering from PTSD, and persuade more to seek help for their problems.

Pentagon figures show that 40,000 troops have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress since 2003 but it is classified as an illness not an injury, making it ineligible for a Purple Heart under current rules...




Officials say one in eight combat troops in Iraq and one in six of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants like Prozac or sleeping pills.

John Fortunato, a military psychologist at Fort Bliss, Texas first suggested Purple Hearts for PTSD last month. "These guys have paid at least as high a price as anybody with a traumatic brain injury, as anybody with shrapnel wound," he said.

Mr Gates immediately proclaimed it an "interesting idea" that needed to be looked into." But the plan has sparked a fierce and impassioned debate among the US military, with a flurry of comments in the pages and on the websites of publications like Stars and Stripes and the Army Times.

Ray Kimball, an Army major who helped found the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America support group, is a strong supporter. He believes the move would have "huge impacts on the perception of mental health issues in both the Armed Forces and society as a whole".

He said: "PTSD is a combat wound. We already treat it as such for the purposes of medical evacuation, readiness for combat, and post-service disability assessments. So let's take it one step further."

But an anonymous Army intelligence officer told Army Times: "It's an insult to those who have suffered real injury on the battlefield."

The veterans group whose mission is to help those who have won the Purple Heart is opposed to the proposal because the medal is supposed to be awarded to those wounded as a result of enemy action. Jack Leonard, of the Military Order of the Purple Heart who won the medal in Vietnam, told Stars and Stripes that there would always be confusion about the origins of post traumatic stress.

"Did it occur in boot camp? Did it occur because of the rough air flight into theatre? Or did it occur because an individual saw the results of the Taliban massacre of a village? I can't answer that," he said.

Mr Leonard said that his own father suffered from PTSD fighting in the Second World War and again in Korea and was close to suicide at the end of his life but he insisted it was right that his father did not receive a Purple Heart. "There's no physical manifestation that he ever shed blood," Leonard said.

Older veterans groups like the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars agree. For the most part it is those with experience of fighting the war on terror that are pushing for a change.

But even some older veterans have been convinced. Marine Master Sergeant Jack Perry told Marine Times: "I have suffered from PTSD every day for the past 35 years. I am a Vietnam vet, I'm 58 and I have been clinically diagnosed with PTSD. I never once thought I should have received the Purple Heart.

"But after reading the article and knowing and understanding what I have lived with and went through, I am appalled at anyone who believes PTSD is not a war wound and does not deserve to be awarded the Purple Heart."

Earlier this month Col. Lorree Sutton, an Army psychiatrist who runs a new facility to treat PTSD, revealed that she has persuaded senior military officers to record video testimonies of the their own emotional struggles after combat. The videos will be posted on YouTube and MySpace later this year to try to reduce the stigma of PTSD.
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http://www.veteranstoday.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3106


I've been posting on this for a while now and as I always point out, trauma is Greek for wound! Knowledge of what PTSD is key to addressing this issue. The Purple Heart was not created for a wound, but was changed to be given for being wounded in combat. Can you think of anything else more traumatic than combat? So what's the issue here? Lack of knowledge of what PTSD is, what causes it and to stop treating PTSD as a wound of a lesser degree.

Vets returning from Iraq turn to war protesters for help

Vets returning from Iraq turn to war protesters for help
By AUDREY PARENTE
Staff writer

DAYTONA BEACH -- Three months after his advanced infantry training in the Army Reserves, Mike Gianfriddo was deployed to Iraq.

His military occupational specialty: administrative assistant. His job in Iraq: tower guard.

He served in Iraq from September 2005 for a year, then returned to his Minnesota home. He won't talk about what he saw, except to say that once home, he felt out of place and found ordinary life hard to handle emotionally.

Recently he found help in an unexpected place: the corner of International Speedway Boulevard and Nova Road during a peace demonstration where he met members of Central Florida Veterans for Peace and Military Families Speak Out. Those groups join CodePink of Central Florida, a women's peace movement that organizes daily demonstrations in Volusia and Flagler counties.

While these Iraq war protesters may be very visible to passing motorists, their whole mission may not be apparent. Seeking peace and an end to the war, they also help returning servicemen and women readjust.

Not all who pass by honk in support of the demonstrators or agree with their protest, including Carmine Fragione of New Smyrna Beach, a former Connecticut probation officer. His opinion opposes the protesters' philosophies.

"I see them on the street corners with signs. I trust that the anti-war group is from a wide background, but I think they are misguided," he said. "But I think in the time of war, we support our president and fight to win."

But Gianfriddo saw the protesters in a different light, and that led him to folks who understand his troubling issues.

"I don't like to talk about the war," Gianfriddo said in an interview at a Daytona Beach restaurant. He declined to be photographed. "When I came home, I didn't initially know what to do. I had basically been in the VA (Veterans Administration) in Minnesota since the problems started."

He tried to go to school but didn't do well in that setting. He was hospitalized for a time.

"I ended up coming to Florida, still having service-related health issues," said the 25-year-old. He now is in the reserves based in Daytona Beach. He lives in Port Orange, works at a laundry and struggles to fit in.

"I came down here and started treatment at the VA and have tried to put my life back together," he said.

Among the organizations demonstrating on the busy street corner, some are branches of national groups made up of former military people, relatives of active military personnel and civil activists who oppose the war in Iraq.

They do more than protest, Gianfriddo said. They offered him help.
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http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD01EAST061608.htm

Civilian sex assaults by Afghan soldiers ignored

Don't look, don't tell, troops told

Civilian sex assaults by Afghan soldiers ignored

Jun 16, 2008 04:30 AM
Rick Westhead
Staff Reporter

Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan have been ordered by commanding officers "to ignore" incidents of sexual assault among the civilian population, says a military chaplain who counsels troops returning home with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The chaplain, Jean Johns, says she recently counselled a Canadian soldier who said he witnessed a boy being raped by an Afghan soldier, then wrote a report on the allegation for her brigade chaplain.

In her March report, which she says should have been advanced "up the chain of command," Johns says the corporal told her that Canadian troops have been ordered by commanding officers "to ignore" incidents of sexual assault. Johns hasn't received a reply to the report.

While several Canadian Forces chaplains say other soldiers have made similar claims, Department of National Defence lawyers have argued Canada isn't obliged to investigate because none of the soldiers has made a formal complaint, says a senior Canadian officer familiar with the matter.

"It's ridiculous," the officer says. "We have an ethical and moral responsibility to pursue this, not to shut our eyes to it because it would make it more difficult to work with the Afghan government.

"We're supposed to be in Afghanistan to help people who are being victimized."
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http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/443954

VA Care for Women found lacking…

VA Care for Women found lacking…
June 15, 2008 ·

Study sees discrepancies in VA care for men, women
By KIMBERLY HEFLING – 1 day ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Health care for female military veterans lags behind the care offered to male vets at many VA facilities, an internal agency report says, even as women are serving on front lines at historic levels.

There are clear needs for more physicians trained in women’s care and more equipment to meet women’s health needs, said Friday’s review by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

It did add that strides are being made, such as creating onsite mammography services and establishing women’s clinics at most VA medical centers. The department also is attempting to recruit more clinicians with training in women’s care.

For now, female veterans aren’t getting the same quality of outpatient care as men in about one-third of the VA’s 139 facilities that offer it, the report said. That appeared to validate the complaints of advocates and some members of Congress who have said more emphasis needs to be placed on women’s health.

Women make up about 5 percent of the VA’s population, but that is expected to nearly double in the next two years.

Paul Rieckhoff, founder of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said women veterans have complained about the lack of women’s restrooms and private changing areas in some VA centers. Others have complained about the scarcity of women-only group counseling options.

“There’s a definite feeling of isolation,” Rieckhoff said. “There’s a definite feeling that they’re a minority and that big Army and big VA are still trying to understand their issues.”
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http://www.corpsman.com/2008/06/va-care-for-women-found-lacking/

Mystery deepens about homeless man

Mystery deepens about homeless man on bench at Friendly Center
Sunday, Jun. 15, 2008 3:00 am
To thousands of motorists passing by him daily at Friendly Center, he was a street person on a bench, a man who appeared one day in 2001 and left just as abruptly in mid-May.

To Kimberly Bono, however, Mark Hoffmann is more than that. He is her father, and the last time she saw him was in 1989. She was 8.

"He was taking us back to my mom's house, and he was crying," Bono, 27, recalled of Hoffmann's last joint-custody visit with her and two younger sisters. "I don't know if he left for noble reasons, or if he realized the mental illness was taking over. I never saw him again, and all this time, I wondered what happened to him."

Bono, a technical writer who lives in Stroudsburg, Pa., with a husband and newborn daughter, said she was therefore "flabbergasted" when a relative back in North Carolina recently sent her a News & Record story.

The details matched what she knew about her father, now 51 — his date of birth, the spelling of his name, the fact that he graduated from Lehigh University and had been an accountant at Duke. All doubt was removed when Bono sent family photographs.

Though the man in the pictures looks more than 20 years younger — especially without the raw, weathered look of seven winters and summers outdoors — he has the same strawberry-blond hair and bright blue eyes.

The revelation that her father had been in plain sight for so many years, just an hour from where she grew up, held mixed emotions for Bono.

Was he, then, homeless "by choice"?

"Choice denotes rational thought," said McGee, who shares Haworth's concern for the potential danger and the physical toll chronic homelessness has taken on Hoffmann. "It's already telling. Look how old he looks already."

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http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20080615/NRSTAFF/817984475/-1/news1802

Cop-shock and awful

We all know about the National Guards and Reservists being deployed into Iraq and Afghanistan, over and over again, while we expect them to just go back to work in between deployments. We know of the strain it puts on them and their families, their financial problems caused because they have to give up their incomes on their regular jobs and businesses, but what we don't talk about is when they are also cops.

From every state, the member of the National Guard and Reservists are coming in with PTSD rates hovering about 50%. A lot of them are cops, which in itself can cause PTSD depending on where they are from, the level of violence and other demographics. While some department heads are also veterans of combat, fully aware of the wounds caused by trauma, there are too many who are not aware at all. This is changing.

At the NAMI convention, while I found things to complain about, I also found much to be hopeful for. Since this was a mental health convention, privacy has to be protected. The person I spoke to regarding the cop/combat forces, shall be called "Spartan" until I have permission to tell his story fully. He's traveling back home today so hopefully, I can get his permission sometime this week. He's a fascinating man.

"Spartan" is head of a police department. He's fully invested in taking care of his men and very aware of the PTSD issue they are coming back with. He's making sure the rest of his department is trained to understand them as well as the people in their community they serve. Keep in mind, that when they become a cop, they do so with the same ideals of protecting and serving the same way the members of the regular military members do only they are going to war against criminals, placing their lives on the line on a daily basis. When they also happen to be members of the National Guard or Reserves, deployed into Iraq and Afghanistan, cycled back to their police uniform then cycled back into their combat gear, this adds to the stress they are under.

"Spartan" is fully aware of the sexual trauma in the military and he's doing what he can to learn more about it as well as what he can do for them. We spoke several times during the convention simply because the first time he saw me, he saw the IFOC badge from a distance and thought I was a cop as well. He wanted to learn as much as possible about teaching the people in his command as well as how to raise awareness in his community. "Spartan" has only been involved with this for less than a year and in that time he has learned a great deal. This was one of the most hopeful moments of the convention for me. He's so involved in this, I was surprised he has not been doing this work for years.

There are wonderful things being done in communities across the nation. Police commanders are opening their minds and their hearts to get not only their own into treatment for PTSD but are training their departments to respond with wisdom, being able to look at a "suspect" as a person in need of help or a person in need of jail.

Judges are now developing treatment programs instead of sending the wounded and mentally ill to jail where they are only cycled back to society and then back to jail with no one addressing their illness sending them into contact with the police in the first place. These judges are not just sending them into treatment, they are requiring the "defendant" to show they are doing what they are supposed to be doing, preparing probation officers to address these individuals differently when they do not report with the full knowledge of the mental health issues instead of criminal inclinations.

Taking an active, fully invested attitude is moving mountains within the police force itself and in these communities.

What is found is that the jails are no longer used to house the mentally ill. It is not only morally right, it is financially right as well. It is good use of tax payer funds to treat these people instead of locking them up.

As the awareness became an issue to address the needs of the cop/combat forces, it also raised awareness of the needs of the community. Judges and police officers are joining NAMI, not just to learn but to become advocates. Changes are happening and these are truly wonderful times we are entering.

I keep saying that I search daily for some positive news coming out. I get tired of posting problem after problem, heartache after heartache. It feels good to be able to post on something that is being done right. "Spartan" is a hero to me with what he's doing for his department and the community he lives in.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
International Fellowship of Chaplains
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
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

A note to experts on mental health

It's been a long 4 days but well worth the time for the most part. I met a lot of fantastic people dedicated toward making lives better because they care. PTSD was my focus during the convention and what is going on with the VA. Lots to post tomorrow but I'm really exhausted. The convention ended with Jane Pauley getting an award for her public "outing" of her less than "normal" life she had always been known by and her battle with Bipolar.

For right now the most important thing I want to post on is the fact that while we do have some heroes as professionals in mental health trying to move some mountains out of the way, there seems to be a lot more being done by regular people who live with all of this on a daily basis instead of just listening to other people's problems. There was a guesstimate of 1,800 people at this convention. It could have been a good guess since there were people who participated part of the time but did not stay for the whole 4 days. NAMI should have the figure up when they update their site on the weekend.

Some people need to pay attention to what I'm about to say and take it very seriously. I am addressing people who want to regard themselves as "experts" because of their position alone and not dedication to the work. This is not supposed to be a job when you are dealing in mental health, this is supposed to be something you are called to do and most do it because they are living with it. So here it goes.

Do not stand in front of people who live with PTSD or any other kind of mental health issue and tell them what is not true. If you believe something that is not true they will disregard everything else you have to say. I walked out of several sessions. I was not alone. What happened after was that we congregated outside and talked about what we just heard. Keep in mind, there were at least 20 sessions going on at the same time so I believe that the few who gave false information or opinions were a rarity at this convention. This has not just been my passion for over 25 years or my calling, it's been my life. I take it all very seriously. So seriously that it is as if my life depends on the answers because it does. Don't stand up there and tell us what we know is not true. If you are not sure, then ask someone who knows or don't say a word about it or it will blow whatever else you have to say.

If a person asks you a question, listen to what the question is. Do not translate it into something that has nothing to do with the question but will fit into whatever kind of spin you want to put on it. It obliterates whatever qualifications you had that put you in front of the room. Do not try to answer the question if you do not know the answer. Honesty here and a bit of humbleness will go a long way. No one expects you to have all the answers. Give the question to someone else of the panel or simply say you don't know. As an expert, you are expected to know more than the people asking the questions. You are who we turn to in order to learn. We are not children. We are dealing with and living with what you have studied to learn. Treat us like that. You may read it in a book but we live it. We are the people you read about in your books!

I don't know much about other mental health issues because I do not live with them and have not studied them. I have not invested as much time or energy on them. I can only address PTSD because that has been a part of my life. I do however have a better understanding of what other people are going through with their own brand. It's hard. It's very hard to live with and we are all looking for knowledge. While we may pray for a magic pill people we love can just take and end up "normal" again like the "rest of us" we know that is not going to happen. We only want facts and we can get our own hope but what we cannot do is get our own facts. For over 25 years PTSD has been what I live with and know like the back of my hand because living with my husband has opened the door to the other veterans I come in contact with and there have been hundreds of them over the years. Because of them, this has taken me to a world faced by all others dealing with PTSD so don't stand there and tell me something I know is not true.

At the end of the day, after you are done talking and "treating" patients, you get to go home to your normal home life but we get to go home to what has become normal in our lives and it is nothing that would resemble normal to you. You know you can go home to a family that is in one piece and the usual problems "normal" people deal with while we get to go home to those problems along with a crisis you will only read about in a book. Some of us spend years not knowing what we will go home to. We don't know if our house will be destroyed by an outburst or a bad day that will cause havoc. We don't know if someone we love will be having a good day or a day from hell or if may say just the wrong word setting off an explosion. We don't get to say we are tried and just want to relax when they are suffering. I spent enough of those years never knowing what I would come home to, if my husband would be alive, sober, angry, or if he would be there or not. I thank God those dark days were long ago but there are a lot more families going through those same kind of days today and it breaks my heart. So please remember the last thing we want from you is telling us what we know is not the truth.

I'll post more on this and the rest of the convention tomorrow. I just had to get this out before I try to fall asleep.

The Human Consequences of War

The Human Consequences of War


Brett Schwartz


Center for Defense Information

Jun 14, 2008

June 13, 2008 - Winston Churchill once said, “Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter.” The consequences of these tides and hurricanes often times remain with the soldier long after he or she returns home from the battlefield. Sometimes the effects are physical, forcing a veteran to adapt to life in a wheelchair or learn to function with a missing limb. However, in many cases, soldiers return home with what a recent RAND report describes as the “invisible wounds of war.” These are the psychological wounds resulting from experiencing firsthand the horror and dangers of combat. They are “often invisible to the eye, remaining invisible to other servicemembers, family members, and society in general,” states the report, released in April.

Due to medical advancements and improved hospital care, many more soldiers today are surviving injuries that might have killed them in past conflicts. However, the cruel irony of recovering from these wounds is that these soldiers may then face a different kind of enemy once they return home – the enemy of depression and mental trauma. Even soldiers who were not physically injured during their deployment may have experienced what researchers call “combat stressors,” scientific jargon for the all-too-real experiences facing military personnel during warfare. These may include being attacked, seeing death, and having a comrade killed or injured.

Five years ago, the term “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder” (PTSD) was perhaps familiar only to mental health experts and researchers. Today, however, it has entered our nation’s lexicon as more and more soldiers return home from Iraq and Afghanistan with mental distress. The National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder describes PTSD as an anxiety disorder that may occur following a traumatic experience, causing a victim to feel “scared, confused, or angry.” PTSD, first diagnosed by scientists in the 1970s, can be initiated by a variety of experiences besides military combat. These include experiencing physical or sexual abuse and life-threatening accidents or disasters.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/10384

Pilot Program to Cut Red Tape for Veterans' Disability Claims

VA Launches Pilot Program to Cut Red Tape for Veterans' Disability Claims
KWTX Channel 10 (Texas)

Jun 14, 2008
June 13, 2008 - The Texas Veterans Commission will assist the Department of Veterans Affairs Waco Regional Office in a pilot program aimed at faster processing of disability claims, the state Veterans Commission announced Friday.

The Waco VA Regional Office and the TVC was selected for the pilot program because “they are well known for working together with exceptional effectiveness,” the TVC said in a press release Friday.

Veterans counselors from TVC will use their unique understanding of VA claims processes to assist veterans in more quickly obtaining the evidence needed to support their claims,” said Acting Under Secretary for Benefits Patrick W. Dunne.

“Put simply, faster receipt of the evidence will result in more timely decisions for veterans.”

The program will help the agency decrease the wait for needed payments and medical services.

Officials will provide more people to process the paperwork, plus commission counselors will help veterans more quickly obtain evidence for claims.

The VA says it takes about six months for the agency to determine disability payments, on average, and the lag can get longer if a veteran appeals to get a larger amount.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/10390

What if you could save them? Would you?

The NAMI convention is still going on. Today, I had a bit of an eye opener. When it comes to mental health issues, Florida isn't as bad as I thought it was. Don't get me wrong. It isn't great and to tell you the truth it pretty much sucks the condition the mental health of Floridians is right now, but there are some great things going on. Things are changing because people are standing up and doing whatever it takes to make a difference. That was my eye opener.

One of the sessions I took today was Treatment, Not Jail: Investing in Rational Systems Change. The idea is a simple one. Why lock people up in the prisons instead of taking care of their mental health care? It doesn't make sense to toss them in jail and then after they "paid their debt to society" release them back into society still with mental illnesses and without any help addressing the illness. What you get is a bunch of people pretty much living their lives in and out of trouble and in and out of jail.

The question is, if you could save their lives would you? Think of it this way, when they are mentally ill, most of them are homeless and doing whatever it takes to survive. Some are doing drugs and drinking as addicts. Some are doing it to self-medicate. When it comes to veterans with PTSD, they are more likely to do street drugs and drink because they have been provided with no other alternative to stop feeling the way they do. This is what I want to focus on later.

Here are some numbers about Florida

Spending on Mental Health has been flat for ten years.
Florida ranks 48th in per capita spending on mental health and substance abuse
(Florida is ranked 12th when it comes to forensic spending though)
125,000 booked into jail annually who happen to have a serious mental illness.
150,000 children are involved within the Juvenile Justice system.
These figures were presented by Michelle Saunders, LCSW and executive director of Florida Partners in Crisis of Orlando.

As I sat listening to her presentation all I could think about is what I've been trying to do and how hard it is for our veterans to be dealing with PTSD, fully aware that within the numbers I heard today, many of them were veterans. Far too many of them are veterans who would not have the wound of PTSD had it not been for going into combat and serving this nation.

The other presenter was Judge Mark Speiser from Broward County/Fort Lauderdale. He was talking about what he's been doing trying to change the attitudes of the judges and the court system to send the ill for treatment and the guilty to jail. Sending people with mental illness does not make sense to him and is far from being the right thing to do. It also provides no justice. Good Lord, it's a moral thing as well as a financial choice we make. It costs a lot more to lock someone up in jail than it does to take care of their health needs.

Anyway, again my mind turned back to the veterans.

My view has always been that if they get help as soon as the signs of PTSD rear their ugly head, PTSD stops getting worse. I want to hit it head on. The only way to do this is to provide the education of what PTSD is to the general public, the troops and their families. This will tackle two of the biggest problems when it comes to PTSD. First awareness, so that the veteran will not go on getting worse while "waiting to get over it" and it is stopped before they get so inflicted by PTSD that the quality of their lives is diminished to the point they see their families fall apart, end up wounded and without any support. It will cut down on homelessness among veterans, cut down on divorce rates and if they get into the proper treatment they will not need to turn to street drugs and alcohol to do the job of what legal prescription medication and therapy can provide. In other words, crime goes down and so does the prison population as well as drunk driving accidents and deaths. We need to get them evaluated as soon as possible to keep PTSD from getting out of control and increase the quality of the veteran's life. Is that too much to ask?

What does it cost to provide education?
Travel for the educator. Gee with the price of gas that is pretty expensive but I bet we can deal with that and maybe even toss in a hybrid car to save some cash. (Make mine blue please)

Time for the educator. Face it, the rest of the country does not have people as dumb as I am and they are not all willing to work for free. They need to be paid. Hell, I'd do it for $50,000 a year which is a lot better than I'm making now which is nothing.

Material to provide the education. Got that one covered on the videos I've done and they are all for free and as far as facts and figures, most of them are on my blog and they didn't cost me anything but time to collect because they are free on the net.

Now think of this. Not only will this effort save all of the above, it will go a long way into reducing the stigma of PTSD and get them in the door faster than prolonging the suffering and also, here's the kicker, save their lives! What hope is there for them of getting better when every door is shut in their face at a time when they think there is something wrong with them in the first place? Even with the fact they know there is something wrong with them, if they don't understand what that "something" is, they will not seek help until they know and understand what it is.

Would you save their lives if you could? Then why don't you? I do it all the time and it's not as hard as you think it is to get them to understand what is going on inside of them is normal considering they survived something far beyond what is part of daily "normal" life. Now think about this. If I can save 20 lives without any money or advertising, how many lives could be saved with both of those things? How many could be saved if a lot more people were aware of what can be done and were actually doing them instead of just pointing at the problem? Now add in the money that can be saved and bingo, what Florida is finally taking a look at will pay off in the end and stop Florida from being at the wrong end of the stick. If how we can for the "lesser" among us is the measurement of who we are, then that is exactly where Florida is. Two are worse than this state. This is not a good thing! We can make it a great thing though if we listen to the people who spoke at the conference today and the rest of the people I've been listening to over the past 25 years.

More on the convention tomorrow. I'll be there all day but I'm taking my lap top with me.

PTSD: Cpl. Chad Oligschlaeger didn't get proper care

Before one of his two deployments to Iraq, Cpl. Chad Oligschlaeger showed the sly, mischievous smile he was known for.

Dead Marine's family says he didn't get proper care
Austin American-Statesman - Austin,TX,USA
Chad Oligschlaeger was struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder when he was found in barracks, parents say.
By Marty Toohey

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF


Sunday, June 15, 2008

Cpl. Chad Oligschlaeger returned from Iraq in early 2006 haunted by the memory of a fellow Marine he thought he should have saved.

He began drinking himself to sleep to dull the flashbacks and the nightmares, friends and family say. He told them he was accused by a superior of faking to avoid his next deployment.

After a second tour in Iraq, Oligschlaeger came home to Round Rock on leave and slept for days, a shell of the McNeil High School student who had pushed his friends into every kind of mischief imaginable, giggling all the way. He told his family the dead Marine was talking to him.

In the spring, two years after the nightmares began, he told his family that doctors had diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder and put him on at least six types of medication. The Marines sent him to alcohol rehab and were arranging treatment at a mental health clinic.

But weeks before his death, Oligschlaeger declined to re-enlist, and his unit left him with no supervision and nothing to do for days on end, according to family and friends, who say he called them at all hours, slurring his speech, unable to recall what medications he had taken.

He was found dead in his room at the Twentynine Palms Marine base in California on May 20. He was 21.
go here for more
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/06/15/0615marine.html