Staff Sgt. David Animas-Esquivel, veteran dies at home

Brokenhearted veteran dies at home



By Dan McDonald/Daily News staff
GHS
Posted Jul 05, 2008 @ 10:39 PM

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x875596637/Brokenhearted-veteran-dies-at-home


FRAMINGHAM
Coming home from a tour of duty in Afghanistan just after Thanksgiving 2006, Marine Staff Sgt. David Animas-Esquivel returned with a broken ring finger and a few scars, but otherwise physically unscathed.

However, he would go on to wrestle with demons less tangible than terrorists.

Last Tuesday, the father of two succumbed to liver failure inside his mother's 100 Phelps Road home. He was 33.

His ex-wife, Robyn Animas, a 30-year-old former Marine, said he suffered from post-traumatic stress, as well as "severe anxiety and depression."

"He wouldn't sleep. He'd always be checking locks and he would panic in a car if he got boxed in," said Animas.

His siblings, gathered in his mother's kitchen, recalled some of the more harrowing stories he shared with them.

Eventually, strain from abusing alcohol and post-traumatic stress became too much and the two separated.

His ex-wife indicated they had attempted to enter David into an alcohol rehabilitation and in-patient programs several times, but were denied each time by the Marine Corps.

"His command was no help," she said.

Marine Capt. Leticia Reyes, while saying she did not know specifically of David's case, said rejecting such services simply "wouldn't make any sense because Marines are our greatest asset."
from
click above for more
Veterans Helping Veterans Support Group Forum

Another life gone and death that will not be included in the final accounting of those who serve. When will we count them all?

PTSD On Trial:Andrew Howard Brannan

State wants death sentence reinstated in midstate deputy's slaying
By Amy Leigh Womack - awomack@macon.com

Prosecutors are asking the Georgia Supreme Court to reinstate the conviction and death sentence for a man convicted in the 1998 shooting death of a Laurens County deputy.

Prosecutors with the State Attorney General's office are scheduled to argue today that 60-year-old Andrew Howard Brannan should be sentenced to die for killing Laurens County deputy Kyle Dinkheller, 22.

Craig Fraser, the district attorney for the Dublin Judicial Circuit District, said he stands behind Brannan's conviction. Fraser, then an assistant district attorney, prosecuted the case.

"It was a fair trial," he said, adding the trial was moved to Brunswick to escape pretrial publicity.

Fraser said the fatal shooting rocked Laurens County.

"It was a real shock to the community," he said. "I think they want to see that the verdict is carried out."

Brannan is being held at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center near Jackson, which houses death row inmates, according to prison records.

It took a jury just four hours to convict Brannan of murder and another four to sentence him to death in January 2000.

Brannan, armed with a high-powered military rifle, confronted Dinkheller Jan. 12, 1998, after the deputy had clocked Brannan driving 98 mph on Interstate 16 and given chase. The traffic stop culminated in a gunfight.
click post title for more

Dad's love may save more lives with robot

Loss of son turns dad into defense innovator

By Mark Jewell - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jul 7, 2008 6:03:52 EDT

TYNGSBOROUGH, Mass. — The knock on Brian Hart’s door came at 6 a.m. An Army colonel, a priest and a police officer had come to tell Hart and his wife that their 20-year-old son had been killed when his military vehicle was ambushed in Iraq.

Brian Hart didn’t channel his grief quietly. Committed to “preventing the senseless from recurring,” he railed against the military on his blog for shortcomings in supplying armor to soldiers. The one-time Republican teamed with liberal Sen. Edward Kennedy to tell Congress that the Pentagon was leaving soldiers ill-equipped.

And then Hart went beyond words to fight his cause. He became a defense contractor.

He founded a company that has developed rugged, relatively inexpensive robotic vehicles, resembling small dune buggies, to disable car bombs and roadside explosives before they detonate in hot spots like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now, Hart has won over the military brass he so harshly criticizes. Three years after starting Black-I Robotics Inc., Hart and his four employees won a $728,000 contract from the Pentagon in June to further develop the “LandShark” robot.

Technology to protect troops is a subject uncomfortably close to home for Hart, who says the death of his son, Army Pvt. First Class John Hart, left him in “total devastation.” Brian Hart can’t forget the call he got from his son in Iraq a week before he was killed by a gunshot Oct. 18, 2003.

“He asked me to help him: ‘Get us body armor and vehicular armor,”’ Brian Hart said. “He thought he’d be killed on the road in an unarmored Humvee. And a week to the day later, he was.”
click post title for more

PTSD:A soldier's story: Fred Doucette

A soldier's story: Fred Doucette's Bosnian war experience helped him to help others
By Kate Malloy
Fred Doucette runs a DND peer support group for soldiers with PTSD.

When Canadian soldier Fred Doucette returned from Bosnia where he had served as a UN peacekeeper in 1995, he was so full of rage that when he finally tried to get some psychiatric help, he felt like ripping out the heart of a military social worker and "shitting in the hole."

A seasoned soldier, Mr. Doucette had been with the UN peacekeeping forces in Cyprus in the 1970s and 1980s. But as a UN peacekeeper in Bosnia he was on a "transition mission" and one he says was so horrible he could never have imagined it. As a member of the UN Protection Force, he was under narrow UN orders to help maintain a peace between the warring Bosnian Serb forces from the army of the former Yugoslavia and Bosnia's Muslims and Croats.

But mostly, he says members of the force felt helpless or like "eunuchs in a whorehouse."

"There were things going on there that hadn't been seen since the Second World War, the ethnic cleansing, the atrocities, the rape camps, the concentration camps, it looked like Auschwitz. There were things that were going on and it was just overwhelming to see how they were treating each other," says Mr. Doucette in a recent interview with The Hill Times.

In 2001, Mr. Doucette was diagnosed with severe, chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, and told he could be treated with medical help and psychotherapy after his years of buried rage, nightmares, flashbacks of violence and trauma. He was medically released from the military in 2002.

Today, he works with the Department of National Defence and Veterans Affairs Operational Stress Injury Social Support program. He runs peer support groups in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island and helps members of the Canadian Forces who have operational stress injuries, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

According to Veterans Affairs Canada's numbers, reported by The Canadian Press, the number of soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress has more than tripled since Canada first deployed troops to Afghanistan, and of the 10,252 relatively young male and female veterans with a psychiatric condition, 63 per cent have a post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Operational Stress Injury Social Support group indicates 80 per cent of the operational stress injury casualties are in the Army and 80 per cent of those are from the war in Bosnia. It's estimated 20 per cent of the Canadian Forces have post-traumatic stress disorder today, but the Department of National Defence has not officially released its numbers.
click post title for more

Tucson combat vets buffeted by memories

Tucson combat vets buffeted by memories
VA expands mental health help in area
SHERYL KORNMAN
Tucson Citizen
Tucson native Javier Brito, 37, said he loved his job as a Marine sniper in Iraq.
Among his war souvenirs is the shell casing from his first enemy kill.

Nearly four years after his discharge, he and his wife, Lydia, 37, a pharmacy technician, and their sons, Javier Jr., 6, and Christopher, 18, are paying a price for his courageous and perilous military service.

The Desert View High School graduate said he still finds it hard to adjust to the tempo of life in Tucson and to the loss of his job as a sniper.

"I have too much energy. I'm hypervigilant, but I can be around larger crowds and don't get as freaked out."

"I walk into a room (filled with people) and it just feels weird. My wife can tell. I try to shake it off. I've been told I need to work on that. "

Omar Sotelo, 33, was a math and science teacher at Hohokam Middle School when he enlisted for a "try one" year of service in the Army National Guard in 2005.

He got back home from Afghanistan about three months ago after nearly two years on unexpected active duty.

Sotelo is finding the adjustment from the intensity of combat to a relatively quiet home life with his wife and young son a bit of a challenge.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is seeing more vets such as Brito and Sotelo as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue.
click post title for more

Rev. Timothy Wright hurt in car crash, wife Betty Wright killed

Car Crash Badly Hurts Gospel Star; Wife Dies

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
Published: July 6, 2008
A Brooklyn pastor and acclaimed gospel singer was critically injured and his wife was killed when their vehicle was hit head-on by a car that was headed the wrong way on a Pennsylvania highway, the authorities said.

The Rev. Timothy Wright, 61, founder and pastor of Grace Tabernacle Christian Center in Crown Heights, was in critical condition late Saturday at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa., a hospital spokesman said.

His wife, Betty Wright, 58, the church’s co-pastor, died in the accident, the police said. The couple’s grandson, D. J. Wright, 14, who was the only other passenger in the vehicle, was in the intensive care unit at Geisinger Medical Center late Saturday.
click post title for more

How does your veterans charity stack up?

Charity Fundraising Database
Ever wonder where your donations go when you give to charity by mail or over the phone? On average, commercial fundraisers deliver just 46 cents of each donated dollar to the charity. While some charities enjoy much better success, ineffective fundraisers can eat up the majority of money raised.

Charity, Gross, Net Return and Percentage
Help Hospitalized Veterans $16,583 ($24,960) - 150.5%

Veterans Of Foreign Wars Of The United States $86,771 ($18,070) - 20.8%

Merced Post #83 - The American Legion $44,993 $1,912 4.3%

California Disabled Veterans $126,640 $7,745 6.1%

American Veterans Relief Fund Inc $376,863 $28,870 7.7%

Vetsnictory Ensured Through Service $2,489,823 $231,273 9.3%

Tulare Amvets Post #56 $373,861 $36,928 9.9%

Tomorrow's Abundance Inc $103,932 $10,393 10.0%

Amvets Ww Ii Department Of California $3,643,944 $364,248 10.0%

Us Veterans League $1,438,576 $157,450 10.9%

California Veterans Advocacy Corporation $3,668,165 $402,029 11.0%

Purple Heart Veterans Of California $99,199 $10,911 11.0%

Veterans Of Foreign Wars District 4 $782,049 $86,025 11.0%

21St District Convention Corp American Legion Dept Of California $62,450 $7,000 11.2%

Amvets American Veterans Of Ww Ii Publications Inc $26,365,460 $3,186,695 12.1%

National Vietnam Veterans Coalition Foundation Inc $332,510 $41,691 12.5%

Disabled Veterans' Association $2,264,904 $293,056 12.9%

The Regular American Veteran $2,700,858 $364,276 13.5%

America Ex-Prisoners Of War Service Foundation Inc $644,409 $87,500 13.6%

American Veterans Relief Foundation $346,488 $47,819 13.8%

Karl Ross Post #16 The American Legion $292,570 $42,171 14.4%

Military Order Of The Purple Heart Service Foundationinc $17,512,128 $2,598,469 14.8%

Favf Regular Am-Veteran $26,709 $4,006 15.0%

American Veteran's Coalition $47,471 $7,121 15.0%

California Veterans Assistance Foundation Publicatons Inc $392,617 $58,893 15.0%

Circle Of Friends For American Veterans $3,172,124 $482,160 15.2%

Vietnow National Headquarters $1,064,654 $170,585 16.0%

American Wheelchair Veterans Association $1,067,901 $173,748 16.3%

National Veterans Services Fund Inc $1,301,866 $214,704 16.5%

Michigan Veterans Foundation Inc $867,066 $146,165 16.9%

Foundation For American Veterans Inc $1,859,829 $319,030 17.2%

American Ex-Prisoners Of War Service Foundation Inc $1,609,846 $293,750 18.3%

La Society De Quarante Hommes Et Huit Chevaux $8,600 $1,672 19.5%

Veterans Of Foreign Wars Of The United States Department Of
California $175,358 $37,704 21.5%

Beale Afb Osc $5,160 $1,128 21.9%

Bay Area Pva $278,748 $62,098 22.3%

Central Valley Homeless Veterans Assistance Program $17,811 $4,302 24.2%

Uso World Headquarters $144,723 $36,549 25.3%

American Legion Cecil Cox Post 147 $48,153 $12,540 26.0%

Enlisted Association Of The National Guard Of The Us $257,283 $74,578 29.0%

Vietnam Veterans Of America Foundation $916,324 $295,196 32.2%

American Legion Convention Committee 2001 And 2003 $82,808 $30,676 37.1%

National Coalition For Homeless Veterans $674,529 $266,078 39.5%

American Legion Department Of California $34,779 $13,815 39.7%

United States Navy Veterans Association California Chapter $1,097,105 $438,842 40.0%

American Legion Auxiliary $230,951 $101,781 44.1%

Vietnam Veterans Of California $1,698,038 $765,008 45.1%

Center For American Homeless Veterans $299,138 $155,488 52.0%

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund $32,446 $19,128 59.0%
click post title for this site

If you go here you can search by all types of charities. It is important that you know where your money is going when you donate. There is a lot of great information on this site and it is even more important to know where your money is going when, let's face it, there is less money to donate and more people needing what little you can donate.

Why doesn't the VA reach out to all veterans?

While this is a good step, what they don't want publicized is the fact they are not reaching out to all veterans. Vietnam veterans are still seeing their claims denied when all the evidence and their experiences have proven they suffered even worse treatment since they returned but have been the last ones on the list to receive the care they earned and desperately need.

VA reaches out to veterans

By JARED MILLER
Star-Tribune capital bureau Sunday, July 06, 2008

CHEYENNE -- When Mike Alverson finished his service with the Marine Corps in 1988, military doctors told him he was in great shape and wished him luck in the civilian world, he said.

It wasn’t long before he was feeling the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder and other health issues. The problem was, he didn’t know where to turn for help.

"When I got out of the Corps, I was one of the ones who dropped through the cracks," said Alverson, now 44 and living in Cheyenne.

Alverson, who subsequently served 20 years with the Wyoming National Guard, said he had a completely different experience when he returned home from 11 months of service in the Iraq war.

"The (Department of Veterans Affairs), they stepped it up," said Alverson, who plugged into his health benefits through a VA program for service members who spent time in Iraq or Afghanistan called the OEF/OIF program. "They made me aware of what their services are and what they could do for me."

The 2-year-old OEF/OIF program is so called because it was created specifically for veterans who served in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan or Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq.

The main objective is outreach. So instead of waiting for veterans to seek help, the VA now sends OEF/OIF program representatives out to meet National Guard soldiers before they set foot in Wyoming.
click post title for more

Why aren't Senator Akaka and Congressman Finler holding hearings on the fact most of the backlog claims are from older veterans still suffering without getting the help they've been waiting for even longer? How about the Gulf War veterans just about forgotten? The older veterans from Korea and the few survivors of WWII still waiting for help? What is this all about? Is one war more worthy than others? One veteran more worthy than others?

We need to take care of the new veterans as soon as possible but have they ever once looked into the eyes of a Vietnam vet carrying around their wound for over 30 years when no one bothered to take care of them with any kind of effort? Their claims are not only trapped in the backlog piles, they are being denied as well as being pushed back on VA appointments because there is not enough staff to take care of all the veterans. It's about time the advocates started fighting for all our veterans equally. We cannot just fight for the ones coming home now trying to make it look like we're accomplishing something when so many of the older veterans are suffering in silence.

Senator Akaka and Congressman Filner need to acknowledge that as the VA and the DOD have failed to provide the care the new veterans need, they have yet to address the problems the older veterans have had to endure all these years. They are not invited to hearings. Their families are never asked any questions when they have been living with all of this for over 30 years. Do they really want to know what the problems are and find solutions or do they want publicity for doing anything at all?

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
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

Soldier found dead before making it to war

Soldier found dead before making it to war
Calgary Herald - AB, Canada
Investigation launched into Camp Mirage death
Graham Thomson, Edmonton Journal
Published: Sunday, July 06, 2008
Cpl. Brendan Anthony Downey did not die in a combat zone and his death is the subject of a military investigation, but he will be honoured with a ramp ceremony to repatriate his body, Canadian Forces officials said.

Downey's body was discovered Thursday in the living quarters at Camp Mirage, a base in the Persian Gulf used as a staging area for Canadian airlifts to Afghanistan.

"The airman died on an overseas mission in support of the mission in Afghanistan and, to the military, it's irrelevant how or where somebody is killed," said Maj. Jay Janzen, spokesman for Task Force Afghanistan. "What's important is we honour and respect our fallen comrades at all times, no matter what the circumstance."
click above for more

Too bad every military leader cannot hold the same thoughts of honor and respect for all who die in service to their nation. We see this all the time here in the US as well.

Sailors on leave aid veterans' shelter near Lake Worth

Sailors on leave aid veterans' shelter near Lake Worth
Palm Beach Post - FL, United States
By BILL DIPAOLO

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Rather than cruising the mall, about two dozen Navy sailors spent their liberty time Saturday painting and landscaping a local shelter for veterans.

"It's a great honor to help these men," said sailor Ron Deau, 22, taking a break at the Stand Down House in suburban Lake Worth. "If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have America."


The cleanup was a big morale boost for the residents, said Vietnam veteran P.J. Connolly. The 59-year-old Army veteran had been homeless and living in the Everglades before he came to Stand Down seven months ago.

"We really appreciate their help. These guys could be at the beach. This means a lot," Connolly said.

The motivation for the cleanup started while the sailors were aboard the USS Doyle off the coast of Africa several weeks ago. They wanted to return the good feeling they had gotten from the care packages their families sent them. They contacted the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which put them in touch with Stand Down, said sailor Tim Clay, a 23-year-old from Madison, Wis.

"Some of these veterans think nobody cares about them. Well, we wanted to show them that people do care," Clay said during his lunch break.

The 28-bed shelter, on Davis Road near the Lake Worth Drive-In, was started in 2000 to help the growing number of homeless veterans. About 200,000 veterans nationwide are homeless, according to Veterans Affairs.

More than 19,000 live in Florida, and between 1,000 and 2,000 live in the woods and in abandoned buildings in Palm Beach County, said Casimiro Hampton-Crockett, Stand Down's administrative director.

"We already have a big homeless population here in Palm Beach County. Now we're expecting a big increase from the next generation of veterans from Iraq," Hampton-Crockett said.
click above for more

A war that won't let go: Decorated veteran recovers

Pay special attention to this part

That paranoia is part of the Thurin who came back from Iraq. Carla Thurin notices other changes, too. Her son is angrier, is not as committed to his faith as he used to be, and is less compassionate toward other people. That, more than anything, disappoints Carla.

A war that won't let go: Decorated veteran recovers from more than physical wounds
By KRISTY GRAY
Star-Tribune staff writer
Sunday, July 6, 2008 10:21 AM MDT

PINE BLUFFS -- It should have been a fairy-tale homecoming for Marine Cpl. Jay Thurin.

And for a time, it was.

Thurin, 23, returned to Pine Bluffs in March 2006 to grateful friends and relatives who shook his hand and thanked him for his service. Newspapers featured the stories of his two Purple Hearts. Pine Bluffs Elementary School invited him to speak to wide-eyed kids who wanted to know everything about being a Marine in Iraq. He found a good job in a field he loved -- farming.

On July 27, 2006, he married Ashley Knaub, a girl he'd met in 4-H. Then came baby MaKenna, a beautiful daughter born on March 31 this year.

On the outside, Thurin looks strong, healthy and every bit like a young man building a life for his family. His right arm -- nearly ripped apart by shrapnel from an anti-tank mine bomb near Fallujah -- is healing after five surgeries and two years of physical therapy.

But inside -- and in the nightmares -- Thurin is still fighting the war. And he struggles to find his footing in a world that seems to be crumbling around him.

click post title for more

It was important for you to notice the first part because this is something we all need to pay attention to. For over 30 years scientists and psychiatrists have been trying to understand the wound of PTSD. For just as long, they have been looking in part, in the wrong places. PTSD does not begin with changes in the brain. That comes after the trauma. So why is it they are only looking at the brain instead of where the wound originates from?

Yesterday during the radio interview I was called a PTSD expert. That still has a hard time of resonating in my brain along with being called Chaplain. While I may be both, I have grown so accustomed to being ignored that when people pay attention to what I have to say, I'm shocked. Considering I've been at this since the age of 23 and heading into my 26th year of this work, (gee I'm getting old) there is a lot more knowledge of this wound in my ever crowded head than there is in the minds of people who just started working on PTSD. While I've learned a great deal reading about PTSD in clinic books as well as just about every news report that has come out since the Vietnam War, (thanking God for library achieves) the biggest source of knowledge came from living with one of them and talking to a lot of others.

Cpl. Jay Thurin is showing classic signs of PTSD not often enough addressed in media accounts. The paranoia of thinking the worst could happen at any moment as he guards the crib of his young baby. The nightly ritual of patrolling the perimeter of the home replacing the base, checking doors and windows obsessively, making sure weapons are in reach, because they think someone is always out there to get them and the enemy followed them home. That comes from the enemy hitching a ride back implanted in their memories. It also comes from a lack of faith that someone is watching over them.

We all feel that way when traumatic things shake our lives. We either walk away thinking God watched over us and protected us or God condemned us and like Job, has begun to take things away from us. Every detail of our lives is dissected looking for all the wrong things we've done up to that point when it feels as if God is fed up with us. We figure if God knows everything then there has to be something wrong with us, the way we lived our lives and the way we treated other people. Facts really don't play into this at all if our understanding of God is so simplistic that the real message from the Bibles we read remains hidden. If we think He's out to get us, then what's the point? We then lose faith, trust, love, joy while believing we have been cursed. Nothing noble or righteous means anything any more.

This is what most PTSD veterans face, as well as anyone who has suffered from traumatic events. It begins with the event itself and then penetrates the soul, traveling into the mind when the memories, nightmares and flashbacks come and then penetrates the body when the organs are attacked, the immune system breaks down and the heart is under assault from the stress. This is why there are miracles happening everyday when PTSD is addressed for the whole person and not just the mind, but the body and the spirit are included in the healing. If scientists would come to the point where they truly understand what a role faith plays in our lives, they will be a lot closer to understanding how to heal the whole person. They have not been able to find the answers by looking at the mind alone after all these years. You'd think they would have learned something else by now. They are still asking the same questions they've been asking since the beginning of man on the planet. Time for them to take a look at another part of the wounded and then maybe, just maybe they will begin to treat it the way it should have been treated all along.



Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
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 look at Wyoming's new veterans

A look at Wyo's new veterans
Casper Star-Tribune Online - Casper,WY,USA
By CHAD BALDWIN
Star-Tribune editor
Sunday, July 6, 2008 2:06 AM MDT

You've read and heard the reports for months: Veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are struggling with physical and psychological wounds, including traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Like so much of the national coverage of violence and death in the Middle East, these reports have become something of a blur for many of us. Unless you know a veteran who's having problems, the news about the after-effects of war tends to fly by quickly -- perhaps reinforcing your position against the war, if you're of that opinion, but not really sinking in.

The Star-Tribune has published dozens of stories about men and women from Wyoming who've served in Iraq and Afghanistan since those conflicts began. We've covered every funeral of the state's slain servicemen. We've written about and photographed several send-offs and welcome-home ceremonies for Wyoming National Guard units. We've taken a look at how their families cope while they're gone. We've done some stories about efforts to help the troops once they come home.

What we haven't done is take an in-depth look at how our servicemen and women are doing since they've returned. Until now.

Starting in today's paper, the Star-Tribune will publish a multi-Sunday series, "Back from War," examining the lives of a number of Iraq war veterans -- and what's being done to help them and others. A team of reporters and photographers has been working on the project for several months.

Our initial objective was to see if Wyoming's newly minted war veterans are having the same experiences as their counterparts across the country. We have found that is indeed the case.

Many veterans are doing fine. They've adjusted to life on the home front and have settled well back into their civilian lives. Others, however, are dealing with traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and other problems stemming from their time overseas.

Finding veterans willing to share their stories has been difficult. Staffers with the Wyoming National Guard, the Department of Veterans Affairs and other organizations have provided some help, but the search took considerable time. A number of veterans we contacted had compelling stories, but they weren't willing to tell them publicly. Others let us into their homes and their lives, and for that we are grateful.
click above for more

Judge Robert Russell, hands out justice and help to veterans

Special court for vets addresses more than crime
By CAROLYN THOMPSON
The Associated Press
Sunday, July 6, 2008; 12:22 PM

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The first clue that the Tuesday afternoon session in Part 4 of Buffalo City Court is not like other criminal proceedings comes just before it starts.

Judge Robert Russell steps down from his bench and from the aloofness of his black robe. He walks into the gallery where men and women accused of stealing, drug offenses and other non-violent felonies and misdemeanors fidget in plastic chairs.

"Good afternoon," he says, smiling, and talks for a minute about the session ahead.

With the welcoming tone set, Russell heads back behind the bench, where he will mete out justice with a disarming mix of small talk and life-altering advice.

While the defendants in this court have been arrested on charges that could mean potential prison time and damaging criminal records, they have another important trait in common: All have served their country in the military.


That combination has landed them here, in veterans treatment court, the first of its kind in the country.

Russell is the evenhanded quarterback of a courtroom team of veterans advocates and volunteers determined to make this brush with the criminal justice system these veterans' last.

"They look to the right or to the left, they're sitting there with another vet," Russell said, "and it's a more calming, therapeutic environment. Rather than them being of the belief that `people don't really understand me,' or `they don't know what it's like' _ well, it's a room full of folks who do."

If the veterans adhere to a demanding 1- to 2-year regimen of weekly to monthly court appearances, drug testing and counseling for any combination of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, substance abuse or anger management, they could see their charges dismissed, or at least stay out of jail.
click post title for more

Iraq veteran struggles with return to normalcy

Seth Hoover/The Daily ItemJohn Fromille, 23, of Middleburg, served two tours with the Army in Iraq, and was injured twice. He is deaf in one ear, partially blind in one eye and has a traumatic brain injury. His other injuries go deeper: He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. He is shown at home with wife, Amanda, and daughters Lyn, 4, and Kiersten, 2.
Seth Hoover/The Daily Item /

Iraq veteran struggles with return to normalcy


By Gina Morton
The Daily Item


MIDDLEBURG -- Two combat tours in Iraq have left John Fromille partially blind in his left eye and deaf in his left ear. He has been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. He is the recipient of two Purple Hearts. He missed the birth of both of his daughters and was separated from his wife for 18 months.


Fromille is only one of the 75,033 service men and women diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and one of the one-third total who has returned and been diagnosed with TBI.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 837,458 service men and women have left active duty and are eligible for health care since the fiscal year of 2002. Of that number, only 324,846 have sought help from a Veterans Affairs clinic.

Fromille is only 23 years old, and he does not regret a thing.

In fact, he said he would go back to Iraq in a heartbeat if he could.

Now, he finds himself trapped in a world where he can't relate to those around him, is unable to find a full-time job and suffers from the aftermath of war that seems to engulf his life.
go here for more
http://www.dailyitem.com/0100_news/local_story_187234640.html

Journalist Charges Censorship by U.S. Military in Fallujah

When asked about what the troops think, one of the biggest issues they have is that the American people are not paying attention. Sure, we pay attention or you wouldn't be reading this blog or any of the thousands out there paying attention to what is happening to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as what happens when they come home. The problem is the vast majority of the nation tuned out a long time ago. Given the fact a deplorable number of minutes focus on Iraq and even less on Afghanistan by the broadcast media, it's easy to understand why that is.

Last night on the Military Channel Wounded Warriors program they covered the story of Pvt. Channing Moss.
http://military.discovery.com/video/wounded-warriors.html

By RICHARD HALICKS, MIKE LUCKOVICH

The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 05/21/06
RICK MCKAY/Staff
Pvt. Channing Moss of Gainesville is assisted by technician Cameo Atkins in a recent physical therapy session. Pvt. Channing Moss stood in the gun turret of the Humvee, wary and watchful. His truck was No. 5 in a column of five Humvees rumbling through the eastern mountains of Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border.It was about 10:30 a.m. on March 16, a Thursday. Staff Sgt. Eric Wynn, sitting in the front seat, checked out the ridgeline above them and judged it perfect for an ambush. "I would have used it myself," he said later.The Taliban came at the Americans with AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.Moss, 23, had a wife and a family back home in Gainesville; in Afghanistan he had a Mark 19 grenade launcher, a vicious weapon that can fire more than 300 grenades per minute. Moss began raining hell on their attackers.Up front, Wynn was trying to get his troops out of the kill zone. "A bullet hits my windshield," he said, recounting the attack nearly two months later. "Then the RPGs came in. Three of them. One hit my door and two hit my windshield."

Something tore away half of Wynn's upper lip and left it hanging down over his mouth. The tip of his nose was blown off, and he was bleeding heavily. "I'm like, 'What the hell happened?' I start to look around the truck. It was then that I see Moss."Moss was down, blood erupting from his middle. But he was conscious, and he couldn't quite believe what was going on in his own gut.An RPG had hit him in the left side just above the hip, plowed across his abdomen and was poking out the skin at his right hip. It had snapped off a piece of hip bone, fractured his pelvis, lacerated his colon. The only thing it hadn't done was the one thing it was meant to do: explode."I could see the tail fins sticking out of me," Moss said weeks later from his hospital bed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. "I was thinking: I am going to die this way."

Finally, the battered Humvee lumbered out of the kill zone. Moss was pulled from the vehicle and laid out on the ground. He had the thought that someone might "sandbag" him, he said — move him a safe distance away and just let him bleed out and die. He had become UXO — unexploded ordnance — dangerous to himself and anyone nearby.But a medic worked hard to stabilize Moss. He stripped off the tall private's body armor — "everything except my helmet" — gave Moss a morphine shot and covered the RPG with tape.

go here for more of this

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=81648

The bravery of the men in his unit, the flight crew taking him to receive medical care and the sheer courage of the medics, was simply amazing. With the RPG embedded in the Moss, they were fully aware they could all be blown up at any minute but they didn't care. All they cared about was that Moss could die if they did not act. This is what America is missing.

Combat is horrific, but within the horrifying carnage, there are moment of magnificence. We cannot dismiss this fact. While the great majority of the American people still fully support the troops despite the fact we no longer support the Bush Administration, they have no right to stop the public from being aware of the actions of the men and women we do support. The events they endure must be made public if we are ever going to approach being able to understand them and what they have gone through.

Some will argue that it was the nightly coverage of the Vietnam War behind the lack of support the Vietnam Veterans received when they came home. Others will argue this was precisely the reason for the public to become aware of the abysmal attitude we took toward them. We are no longer that nation simplistically lumping in those we send to fight with the people in charge giving the orders.

On this blog, as posting of their suffering is brought to the attention of the readers, within the post are stories of courage, loyalty to their brothers and sisters and acts of human kindness. While most of us are fully aware of the excuses used to send the troops into Iraq and the ambivalence of the Administration toward those they send, as well as the suffering of the Iraqi people, we do not look at Iraq or Afghanistan through blinders unable to see the amazing actions our troops display on a daily basis. Still these stories are hard to find.

When the media, the few remaining in Iraq and Afghanistan, are censored, it keeps the public detached from the heroic efforts like the story of Pvt. Moss, as well as the bad news. Is it the intention of the Administration to have us detached from both occupations? Do they really want us to be unaware of all the stories of the men and women risking their lives?

Read the following and think about what is being censored.



Received by email

IRAQ: Journalist Charges Censorship by U.S. Military in Fallujah
By Dahr Jamail
SAN FRANCISCO, Jul 3 (IPS) - U.S. journalist Zoriah Miller says he was censored by the U.S. military in the Iraqi city of Fallujah after photographing Marines who died in a suicide bombing.

On Jun. 26, a suicide bomber attacked a city council meeting in Fallujah, 69 kms west of Baghdad, between local tribal sheikhs and military officials.

Three Marines, Cpl. Marcus Preudhomme, Capt. Philip Dykeman, and Lt. Col. Max Galeai, were assigned to 2d Battalion, 3d Marines, 3rd Marine Division, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

The explosion also killed two interpreters and 20 Iraqis, including the mayor of the nearby town of Karmah, two prominent sheikhs and their sons, and another sheikh and his brother. All were members of the local "awakening council," one of the U.S.-backed militias that have taken up arms against al Qaeda in Iraq, according to U.S. and Iraqi authorities.

Miller was embedded with Marines on a patrol one block from the attack when it occurred. He had originally turned down the option of going to report on the city council meeting that was bombed.

Miller ran with the Marines he was with to the scene of the attack. "As I ran I saw human pieces...a skull cap with hair, bone shards," he told IPS during a telephone interview from the so-called Green Zone in Baghdad. "When we arrived at the building it was chaotic. There were Iraqis, police and civilians running around screaming. Bodies were being pulled out of the building."

"I went in and there were over 20 people's remains all over the place," Miller continued, "Of the Marines I jogged in with, someone started to vomit. Others were standing around, not knowing what to do. It was completely surreal."

"At that moment I realised this was far beyond anything I'd experienced, and I realised I wanted to focus and make sure I could capture what it felt like, and the visual horror," Miller explained.

"I thought, 'Nobody in the U.S. has any idea what it means when they hear that 20 people died in a suicide bombing.' I want people to be able to associate those numbers with the scene and the actual loss of human life. And to show why soldiers are suffering from PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder]," Miller told IPS.

Miller was taken out of the building by Marines, but then allowed back inside where he took one last photo of the carnage before they closed the scene to him.

"We spent most of the rest of the day as Marines picked up body parts and put them in buckets and bags," he said.

In an Iraqi Police station in Karmah, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) was brought in to investigate the bombing. Millers' photos were the only ones of the scene, so the NCIS team asked for them.

"I made them copies, but then one of the Marines came in and told me to delete my memory card after I give them the photos, and I refused," Miller told IPS, "I told the NCIS that if they forced me to delete them, I would stop sharing them. So they stopped pressing that issue."

Miller said that he was following the rules for embedded journalists. "That evening, during the debriefing, the guys [Marines] I was with told me that the higher-ups had said I was a stand-up guy and behaved well and to treat me well. The guys I was with were all very much on my side."

Miller explained to IPS that he meticulously showed his photos to the Marines he was with to make sure he was not going to show any photos that would upset the family members of the deceased Marines. "They were all okay with them, so then about 96 hours after the bombing I published the photos on my blog."

Then things got interesting.

"Tuesday [Jul. 1] I awoke to a call in their combat operations centre, and the person on the phone told me they were a PAO (Public Affairs Officer) at Camp Fallujah, and he wanted me to take my blog down right away," Miller told IPS. "I asked them why, and was told then called back after five minutes by a higher ranking PAO who claimed I had broken my contract by showing photos of dead Americans with U.S. uniforms and boots."

Miller said the PAO claimed he was not allowed, by the embed contract, to show dead or wounded U.S. citizens or soldiers in the field. "I never signed any contract for that," Miller said.

He was called back after another five minutes and told his embed was terminated and they would send him back to Baghdad on the next flight. He was then taken back to Camp Fallujah where he said, "Everyone was extremely angry and fired up at me."

Nevertheless, the lower ranking Marines he had embedded with "were on my side, and they told me they thought that what was happening was wrong."

Miller explained that he grew nervous when the flight was cancelled due to a sandstorm, and then a security guard was assigned to him.

"I started to feel uncomfortable with this," Miller explained. "The next day, Gen. Kelly, [Major General John Kelly, who is the Commanding General of the I Marine Expeditionary Force] wanted to have some words with me. I was to meet with him at 3 pm, and we sat outside in the sun for two hours and he never showed."

Miller was told he would be flown out that night, but he was deleted from the flight and told that General Kelly wanted to see him, so he waited again until Thursday, Jul. 3. Again the general did not appear, so Miller was given an official letter about the grounds for the termination of his embed, signed by Gen. Kelly, and flown to Baghdad.

"Now, as I think about it, I think they needed the extra time to figure out what they were going to say about my dismissal," Miller said. "Their original reason ended up being bogus, so they had to figure something else out."

The letter he was given stated reasons for his dismissal as "you photographed the remains of U.S. soldiers", "you posted these images along with detailed commentary", and "by posting the images and your commentary you violated 14 H and O of the news media agreement you signed".

In addition, the letter, which Miller read to IPS, stated, "By providing detailed information of the effectiveness of the attack and the response of U.S. forces to it, you have put all U.S. forces in Iraq at greater risk for harm."

Miller feels the reason for his dismissal is otherwise.

"The bottom line is that the thing they cited as the reason for my dismissal was 'information the enemy could use against you'. They realised, probably from keeping track of my blog, that I was not showing identifiable features of a soldier...and they couldn't find a reason to kick me out. Because it was a high ranking person who got killed, they were all fired up."

Miller concluded, "Up to that point they said it was because I showed pictures of bodies with pieces of uniform and boots. The letter, though, doesn't mention that at all. I checked the document I had about ground rules for media embeds, and I followed them."

The Pentagon would not comment on the story when contacted by IPS, saying they had no information on Miller's case beyond what Central Command had already posted.

(END/2008)

While reports like this are censored, there are many more as well. The DOD claims to be reporting all the casualties and fatalities, yet if you look on ICasualties.org, these deaths are not counted. They use the information from the DOD to track the deaths of the troops.

Spc. Estell L. Turner succumbs to wounds from bomb blast
4th BCT soldier dies in Afghan IED blast
Clarksville Leaf Chronicle - Clarksville,TN,USA
The Leaf-Chronicle • July 4, 2008A 101st Airborne Division soldier with 4th Brigade Combat Team died Wednesday of injuries suffered in Afghanistan.Spc. Estell L. Turner, 43, of Sioux Falls, S.D., died at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., of wounds suffered June 28 in Malikheyl, Afghanistan, when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device, according to a news release today from the Department of Defense.

Spc. Joseph Patrick Dwyer dies after PTSD struggle
Soldier in photo dies after PTSD struggle
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writerPosted : Thursday Jul 3, 2008 15:56:51 EDT
During the first week of the war in Iraq, a Military Times photographer captured the arresting image of Army Spc. Joseph Patrick Dwyer as he raced through a battle zone clutching a tiny Iraqi boy named Ali.The photo was hailed as a portrait of the heart behind the U.S. military machine, and Doc Dwyer’s concerned face graced the pages of newspapers across the country.

But rather than going on to enjoy the public affection for his act of heroism, he was consumed by the demons of combat stress he could not exorcise. For the medic who cared for the wounds of his combat buddies as they pushed toward Baghdad, the battle for his own health proved too much to bear.

On June 28, Dwyer, 31, died of an accidental overdose in his home in Pinehurst, N.C., after years of struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. During that time, his marriage fell apart as he spiraled into substance abuse and depression. He found himself constantly struggling with law, even as friends, Veterans Affairs personnel and the Army tried to help him.

Or this story of Sgt. Webster who was in the Warrior Transition unit.

Sgt. Sean K. Webster found dead at Camp Pendleton
VA Marine Killed (10:31 pm)CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) - Marine Corps authorities investigating the death of an Iraq combat veteran at Camp Pendleton say they have not ruled out the possibility of homicide. The Marine Corps said the body of 23-year-old Sergeant Sean K. Webster of Fairfax, Virginia, was discovered Saturday. Webster was twice awarded the Purple Heart.

As of today, only one death has been attributed to the occupation of Iraq for this month.

07/06/08 MNF: MNC-I Soldier dies of non-battle related causes
A Multi-National Corps - Iraq Soldier died of non-battle related causes in Baghdad July 5. An investigation into the cause of death is under way.

Why aren't all the deaths counted? Why aren't the deaths of the ones who make it home counted in the numbers the DOD releases? What about the ones who die as a result of the wound of PTSD when they take their own lives because of the enemy they have within them? Thousands of them are not included in the true accounting of the lives lost because of service to this country. Their stories are not on the nightly news. The stories of their families suffering are not the focus of any of the media or daily talk shows.

Are they hard stories to cover? Absolutely but they are harder to live through. While various day time shows focus on teenage sex or if a man is actually the father of a child, they will not cover something as important as what is happening to the troops when they come home wounded. While the radio talk shows love to focus on trivial matters like Senator Obama wearing a flag pin or Cindy McCain plagiarizing a cookie recipe, they ignore the suicides of our veterans or the fact we already have a reported 2,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans homeless joining the ranks of the older veterans without any place to live. They ignore the fact we have military families on food stamps and National Guards and Reservists families struggling to make ends meet when they have to go without the incomes from civilian jobs these families base their budgets on. The very fact we have women deployed into Iraq and Afghanistan being sexually assaulted to the point where they are stopping themselves from taking in fluids just to avoid having to use the latrine at night out of fear has left people in shock when they learn of this.

While the media may tout the Warrior Transition Units and the suicide prevention hot line, none of them are reporting on the failures of either program when they still die of drug overdoses, car accidents and motorcycle crashes or when they call the suicide prevention hotline only to be told to call back in the morning. While there are successes and the VA as well as the DOD have been making changes in the way they treat the troops, they still have far to go but with the lack of true reporting, the public assumes the problems are fixed when they are in fact far from it.

Preventing the media from reporting all of this prevents awareness of all of it. It's time the muzzles came off and time for the public to demand reporting, the bad as well as the good, for the sake of the men and women, our countrymen risking their lives on foreign lands. It is the only way the ambivalence will end.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
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

Orlando:Independence Day Edition - Local Veterans Issues

Saturday, July 05, 2008
Independence Day Edition - Local Veterans Issues
Join the People Power Hour as we discuss the issues local veterans have returning to American society -- such as PTSD, medical problems, employment, etc. Guests include Barry Stanley and Fanita Jackson-Norman of the Orlando VA Hospital; Kathie Costos; a local advocate for veterans issues as well as a chaplain; and Ginger Davis and Elizabeth Jackson, central Florida vets featured in Monday's Orlando Sentinel front page article. Make sure to tune in for this one, and remember to call in on (407) 273-1190 or (888) 300-3776!

You can hear a repeat of the show here.
http://www.peoplepowerhour.com/

George Grossley, Joe Miranda and John Hamilton put on quite the show. Considering PTSD is such a hard topic to discuss, they broke the show up with a lot of laughs. Ginger was the only guest I had not met before. I was amazed when Elizabeth recognized me and then mentioned the NAMI convention in Orlando. She's very active in her area of Daytona. Fatina and Barry seem to be everywhere these days and they are both dedicated to the veterans. I know I come down very hard on the VA but as I always write, it's not the people who work with the veterans I have a problem with. It's the people who make the rules and set the goals I have a huge problem with.

Fatina and Barry didn't know about the suicide hotline telling veterans to call back in the morning. The problem is, there is really no way of them knowing what a lot of problems are considering the VA is very reluctant to let them know. They work with the veterans but I work for the veterans and there is the difference right there. I have to pay attention to what is happening all over the nation, not just in Orlando, but all over and I track it all as if my life depended on it. Simply put, my life does depend on it. Their jobs keep them busy enough and they cannot be expected to track all of this. It takes me about 16 hours a day and I miss a lot of it. When you see posts on this blog, they come from alerts, searches in newspapers across the country, veterans sites and from an army of friends making sure I don't miss much at all.

People like Fatina and Barry give me a lot of hope that one day we will finally be able to live up the claim of taking care of the veterans. Without them, no matter what I did or how much time I put into this work, it would do no good if we didn't have people like them working for the VA. I give all the credit in the world to the psychologist and psychiatrists donating their time to our veterans as part of Give An Hour, but the VA are the experts of PTSD from combat. My husband had seen several private providers before he was finally treated at the VA, so I do speak with some knowledge of this.

There are a lot of problems with the VA and while things are getting better, there is a lot more work that needs to be done. If the VA is telling the people working for them everything is hunky dory, they have no way of knowing it's not.

We need the entire country to really step up and help take care of these veterans now, today, because tomorrow there will be a lot more needing help and standing in line. How long are we going to allow this line to grow while we loose more of them everyday? How many suicides will be enough? How many broken marriages and homeless veterans will it take before we get this right?

If you are a member of any service organization, push them to get involved in this. The time of selling beer at the bar only has come and gone and it's one of the biggest reasons memberships are down instead of up. Some service organizations are doing a fantastic job but there are very few of them stepping up.

If you belong to a church, make sure your clergy get involved. PTSD is also a wound of the soul and it's about time the clergy stopped ignoring this. If while you are trying to explain it to them their eyes glaze over, have them read about King David for a little refresher course in what they learned in the Seminary.

Reminder of Vietnam

1.6 million active zones

500,000 diagnosed with PTSD by 1978

117,000 suicides by 1986

300,000 homeless veterans

No counting on how many families were torn apart. Most veterans with PTSD had several families.

Pump in the fact redeployments increase the risk of PTSD by 50% for each time back and factor in some on their 5th tour and you see how serious all of this is.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos

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

UK: Seven stories after 7-7

Seven stories 7/7: three years on

Bombs set off by Islamist extremists in the capital three years ago killed 52 people and the four suicide bombers. Many of those affected are still scarred by the experience. Seven of them tell Emily Dugan how they are trying to rebuild their lives

Sunday, 6 July 2008


Elaine Young, 49: caught up in the Edgware Road bombing


"Until February this year I coped fine. It was very much: 'I was in it, I got out, I'm OK.' I'm in the pull-your-socks-up brigade, so I felt it was lesser people who got stressed and didn't want to admit how I was feeling. That's not been a good thing.

One day in February I just collapsed. I had worked myself to death, doing 80 hours a week just to shut it out [Elaine suffered minor physical injuries but was left deeply traumatised by the sight of so many people dying around her]. The day it happened I was at work and there was a big bang outside my window – probably just a crane dropping a skip – but it triggered something. I jumped up and ran to the loo, staying in the cubicle for ages and ages. I'm a master of pretending everything's fine, but when I got back from work that night I thought, 'I'm not getting the train again'. I haven't been back to work since.

I get an awful lot of flashbacks and nightmares, and I often get several panic attacks a day. I've been trying to get counselling for my post-traumatic stress disorder but there's nothing there for people like me. There was a fund for victims of the bombs, but when I tried to get it in February the money had run out.

I went to the GP, who referred me to the local hospital, which then referred me elsewhere. Now I've got an appointment to see if I'm eligible for counselling and then I'll be on another waiting list. It's been months of waiting. I'm not hopeful. All I want is to be able to get back to doing things the way I did before."
go here for more
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/seven-stories-77-three-years-on-860868.html

Pfc. puts life in shambles by taking war spoils

Pfc. puts life in shambles by taking war spoils

By Billy Cox - Special to the Times

Posted : Saturday Jul 5, 2008 7:26:12 EDT

SARASOTA, Fla. -- After nearly three weeks of desert combat and enough death to jangle his brain for a lifetime, Pfc. Earl Coffey arrived in Baghdad in April 2003 thinking he had discovered an oasis.

It was Palace Row, one of the most exclusive tracts of real estate in Iraq, and not even major bomb damage could dim the luster of a tyrant's decadence. Coffey was among the first U.S. troops to secure Saddam Hussein's inner sanctum, the postwar "Green Zone" now hosting diplomats and government authorities. Its allure was intoxicating.

Coffey recalled his awe at seeing gold-rimmed toilet seats, 30-foot wide chandeliers, and Swarovski crystal collections. Over the next few days, he sampled one revelation after another: the Dom Perignon champagne, the Monte Cristo Cuban cigars, even the lion's roar of captive pet carnivores.

He watched as a Bradley Fighting Vehicle rammed and collapsed the wall of a windowless bunker just outside Saddam's palace. The building concealed bundles of U.S. currency stacked floor-to-ceiling and wrapped in binding that read "Bank of America."

To a man who had grown up in the bleak shadows of Kentucky's coal mines, staring down all that money "was like hitting the lottery," Coffey said.

His career was about to drown in a flood of American dollars.

The family business

Today, adrift and troubled in Sarasota, the 34-year-old is worlds away from what he once was -- a trained sniper who took his first shot with a .22-caliber rifle his father gave him when he was 7 or 8 years old in rural Harlan County. At first, he practiced on tin can lids nailed to a fence post 80 yards away. When that got too easy, he began targeting the nails. And other things.



Struggling back home

Homeless, jobless, struggling with drugs, delinquent on child support payments, and spinning in the revolving door of Sarasota courtrooms and jail cells, Earl Coffey said he is hamstrung by civilian life.

And, in an echo of the post-traumatic stress disorder that contributed to the recent death of 24-year-old Marine Eric Hall in nearby Charlotte County, Fla., Coffey claims the combat flashbacks from the invasion have debilitated him.

"Fighting war's not hard; living with it afterwards is hard," said Coffey, who maintains a military-tight haircut. "It keeps coming back on you. For a long time, I was afraid to go to sleep because I knew what I'd see. You get exhausted by the flashbacks and you feel like you're in a trance all the time, like a zombie, like you're just existing."

Ineligible for Veterans Affairs assistance because of his bad-conduct discharge, Coffey said he turned to Oxycontin, a narcotic he purchased illegally on the streets, to dull the jagged edges of memory.

He said he got "a little carried away," completed detox through the Salvation Army, and insists he is drug-free today. But neither his father nor his wife believe it.

Soldier returns to Saugus just in time for 4th

Alyssa Carmody with her husband SPC Jason Carmody. The soldier arrived at Camp Curtis Guild Wednesday with his National Guard military police unit 972 after serving for a year in Iraq.

Soldier returns to Saugus just in time for 4th


By Chris Stevens / The Daily Item

SAUGUS - Families across America will barbeque for the holiday weekend but few celebrations will be as meaningful as the Carmody family's, who will gather to welcome home SPC Jason Carmody.

Carmody has been serving with the Military Police in Iraq the past year. Alyssa Carmody, his wife of two years, admitted she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard he had touched down stateside. She was, however, beside herself Tuesday knowing she would see Jason soon-even if she didn't know exactly when.

"It's been a rollercoaster," she said. "I stand by his decision (to go) and I'm very proud."

A civilian dispatcher with the police department, Carmody along with Patrolman Anthony Gaieski returned home to Fort Dix last week and returned to Saugus Wednesday.

Alyssa said Thursday that her husband still had to go to Camp Curtis in Wakefield to fill out additional paperwork but would be home for the Fourth of July celebration that will include several family barbeques.
click post title for more

Mother in cancer case lost custody of older child

Mother in cancer case lost custody of older child

By Chris Cassidy and Julie Manganis
Staff writers


SALEM — The Salem mother charged with failing to give her 8-year-old son his cancer medications has a history of involvement with the Department of Social Services and police and lost custody of an older child, officials confirmed yesterday.

Kristen Anne LaBrie, 36, is also the mother of a 16-year-old child, her lawyer, Kevin James, said during her arraignment Monday on a child endangerment charge.

The older child was removed from LaBrie's custody at the request of DSS several years ago and now lives with a relative, a DSS spokeswoman confirmed yesterday. Allison Goodwin said she could not go into details of the earlier case and could not comment on why the older child was removed.

LaBrie has pleaded not guilty in the current case and is free on personal recognizance. Her lawyer has said she denies the charges.

LaBrie is accused of failing to give her son Jeremy Fraser his chemotherapy at home and canceling appointments for hospital treatments for his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Prosecutors allege that as a result Jeremy's condition has declined and is now terminal.

Police and prosecutors have not offered a motive and say they've never seen a case like this one.

click post title for more
speechless.

Warrant Details Doctor's Alleged Non-Reporting Of Abuse

Warrant Details Doctor's Alleged Non-Reporting Of Abuse
By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY | Courant Staff Writer
July 4, 2008
A mother suspecting her son was being sexually abused told the family doctor she had found her son naked and asleep beneath the man.

But the South Windsor doctor, Raymond C. Kurker, didn't report the mother's suspicions to the state. He still wasn't sure if the boy had been abused, according to the warrant for his arrest.

The warrant was released Thursday in Superior Court in Manchester, where Kurker, 55, was arraigned on a charge of failing to report the alleged abuse.

Doctors, police officers and teachers are among the "mandated reporters" who must notify the state Department of Children and Families of suspected child abuse "as soon as is practical" but not more than 12 hours after the incident, said South Windsor police Sgt. Scott Custer. The mandated reporter is not required to gather evidence.

click post title for more

Domestic dispute in NW Houston ends in fatal shooting

July 5, 2008, 4:21PM
Domestic dispute in NW Houston ends in fatal shooting


Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle


A man was fatally shot by the father of his sister's child in northwest Houston early this morning, authorities said.

Police responded to the shooting around 2:50 a.m. in the 10000 block of West Montgomery, where they found the man, estimated to be about 30 years old, dead.

The incident began after the victim's sister told him that the father of her child had physically assaulted her, authorities said. The victim went to meet with the man to talk about the alleged assault and was shot, authorities said.

The victim's identity was withheld pending an autopsy by the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office.

The suspect is in police custody. His identity has not yet been released.

No further information was immediately available.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5873107.html

Boston:USS Bataan Navy sailors get a star-spangled salute

Navy sailors get a star-spangled salute
USO fetes Bataan crew in North End
By Tania deLuzuriaga
Globe Staff / July 5, 2008
The men and women stationed on the USS Bataan couldn't celebrate Independence Day with their own families yesterday, but the volunteers of the United Service Organizations New England wanted them to feel at home nonetheless.


The USO hosted the crew, along with local active and reserve military personnel from every branch, at its annual Fourth of July celebration at the US Coast Guard base in the North End.

In a flag ceremony during the event, Jean Eastman, the USO's executive director for New England, thanked the service members present for their service.

"We owe you more than thanks," she said. "You exemplify what it means to be Americans."

As "America the Beautiful" and "The Star Spangled Banner" were sung, an honor guard silently unfolded and refolded a soot-covered American flag that flew at the World Trade Center when it was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.

For Commander Brenda Bradley Davila, the chaplain on the USS Bataan, the opportunity to see the birthplace of the American Revolution "put the meat on the bones" of history.
click post title for more

37 injured in Iowa fireworks misfire

37 injured in Iowa fireworks misfire
Story Highlights
Fireworks shell misfires, sending a fireball skidding into a crowd

Most of those treated suffer minor injuries, says Fire Department spokesperson

Ohio police say a man lost part of his leg when fireworks went off inside his car

New York girl suffers second-degree burns when fireworks land in her lap
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A Fourth of July fireworks shell misfired in a northern Iowa town, sending a fireball skidding down a street into a crowd of spectators and injuring 37 people, officials said Saturday.

Most of the people treated after the Friday night accident in Charles City suffered minor injuries, city Fire Department spokesman Eric Whipple said.

It appears there was a misfire involving 13 racks of firework tubes during the finale of the city-sponsored show, Assistant Fire Chief Dave Beamer said Saturday.

Officials didn't yet know why the fireworks malfunctioned, Beamer said. Inspectors from the state fire marshal's office in Des Moines visited Charles City on Saturday.

"It appears they went horizontally across the ground, some of them," Beamer said of the fireworks.

Witnesses told the Charles City Press that a large fireball veered toward the crowd gathered downtown on lawn chairs and blankets.
click post title for more

Arkansas Army National Guards tend to kids burns in Iraq

Soldiers treat Iraqi kids with severe burns

By Rick Fahr - Log Cabin Democrat via Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jul 5, 2008 15:12:02 EDT

SCANIA, Iraq — YaYa sits quietly on the table. A flowered plastic band holds back her black hair, revealing a smile that only a child’s heart musters. YaYa’s sparkle grows for a moment as a soldier walks toward her, but then she notices the tweezers and the scrub brush.

Remembering, she turns grim. The next half-hour will bring excruciating pain. There will be candy and perhaps a toy later, but the pain comes first.

Sgt. 1st Class Stanley Krupsky smiles as he reaches out to welcome YaYa back. The girl’s hand finds his shoulder. She is ready.

YaYa cries as the soldier peels and scrubs away the dead skin. She muffles her screams, and Krupsky has to gather his composure more than once. He hates to hurt the girl, but he has no choice.

“I know it hurts, but it’s got to be done,” he said.

Krupsky, a convoy escort team commander for Charlie Troop, 1st Squadron, 151st Cavalry Regiment, 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Arkansas Army National Guard, is helping YaYa recover from burns suffered in a fire more than a month ago. Two of her family members died from their wounds, and two others travel with their grandmother three days a week to Scania, to a free burn clinic where soldiers from Charlie Troop and other units volunteer.

Most of the patients are children who have suffered horrific burns, their arms and legs blistered and raw. YaYa’s burned skin is bright pink now, a good sign. She’s healing.

Krupsky and the troops in his team rearrange their mission schedules, sacrificing what little off time they might otherwise have between missions, to spend a few hours at the clinic. They do what they can to help the children and leave them with a smile — candy and toys the soldiers buy at the post exchanges or receive in the mail from home.

“We just do what we can to help,” said Krupsky, from Oregon.
click post title for more

NYPD officer serving in Afghanistan dies

NYPD officer serving in Afghanistan dies
BY SOPHIA CHANG sophia.chang@newsday.com
A New York City police lieutenant serving as a national guardsman has died in Afghanistan, police said Saturday.

Lt. Daniel Farkas, of Brooklyn, who joined the NYPD in 1988, was assigned to the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills, police said.

The date and details of the lieutenant's death were not available Saturday afternoon. An police spokesman said the military informed the department of Farkas' death on Friday.

Calls to the U.S. Department of Defense on Saturday were not returned.
go here for more
http://www.newsday.com/ny-licop0706,0,5328269.story

Brain-injured vets still not getting proper care

Twenty-one veterans, or 51 percent, reported receiving adequate counseling and support for their behavioral or emotional problems.

Brain-injured vets still not getting proper care Audit: Job assistance, counseling lacking, despite government pledges

Many Iraq war veterans with traumatic brain injury are not getting adequate health care and job assistance for their long-term recovery despite years of government pledges to do so, Veterans Affairs Department investigators say.

“Significant needs remain unmet,” according to the report released by the VA’s inspector general. It is the first to examine the Bush administration’s long-term efforts in supporting veterans with traumatic brain injury, a leading problem among soldiers struck by roadside bombs that often causes lasting emotional and behavioral difficulties.

The study tracked a group of 52 patients that received VA treatment after sustaining brain injury during a seven-month period in 2004. An initial review by the IG in 2006 found gaps in follow-up care and family counseling 16 months after the injury and urged the VA to improve long-term case management.

The VA pledged to coordinate the necessary follow-up care with the Pentagon, but the latest audit concludes that efforts are still falling short for roughly one in four patients.




It found that 10 of the 41 veterans who agreed to be interviewed said they weren’t getting needed help for health care, vocational rehabilitation, family support or housing. At least four patients specifically cited trouble in getting primary or specialty eye care, while others reported gaps with family counseling for problems such as depression and anger.

click post title for more

Canadian soldier, non-combat death in Afghanistan

Canadian soldier found dead at undisclosed Middle Eastern base


KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A Canadian soldier was found dead in the sleeping area of a Middle Eastern military base.

The death of Cpl. Brendan Anthony Downey, a military policeman based in Dundurn, Sask., had been declared non-combat-related even before investigators arrived at the base.

The Canadian base in the Arabian desert offers logistical support to the military operation in Afghanistan.
click post title for more


UPDATE
Canadian soldier found dead at Middle Eastern base a 'committed patriot': family
20 hours ago

DUNDURN, Sask. — The family of a Canadian soldier who was found dead at a Middle Eastern military base Friday describe him as a "committed patriot" who joined the military in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The military is investigating the non-combat-related death of Brendan Anthony Downey.

Downey, a military policeman based in Dundurn, Sask., was posted to a little-known Canadian base in the Arabian desert that offers logistical support to the military operation in Afghanistan.

A statement released by his family on Sunday says he was overjoyed to hear of his wife's recent pregnancy, and he will be sorely missed by his wife, his two-year-old son and the rest of his family and friends.

Downey will receive a military tribute and his name will be added to Kandahar Airfield's memorial for 85 other soldiers and one diplomat killed during the Afghanistan mission.

His death is the mission's 11th non-combat fatality.
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jf-QchKwTIXKBXOTwvlcKjL7QiAQ

El Salvador:Bus swept into river, at least 29 dead

Bus swept into river, at least 29 dead
Story Highlights
Rain-fed river sweeps bus carrying members of evangelical church off bridge

Rescue crews recover 29 bodies from Acelhuate river; at least one missing

Crews find 10 bodies as far as 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of accident site

Crash occurred in capital city of San Salvador on Thursday
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) -- Rescue crews recovered 29 bodies Friday from a raging, rain-fed river that swept a bus carrying members of an evangelical church off a bridge in El Salvador's capital.
click post title for more

Slovenia:Eight dead as canoeists sucked into turbines

Eight dead as canoeists sucked into turbines
Story Highlights
Six killed, five others missing after two canoes ran over dam in Slovenia

Three people swam ashore after boats broke up, but two later died

Accident happened near Sevnica, 90 km southeast of capital Ljubljana


LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) -- Divers pulled six bodies out of the Sava River and fought strong currents Friday to search for five other people still missing after two canoes were crushed running over a dam in southeastern Slovenia.

Three people managed to swim ashore after their boats crumpled, overturned and capsized but two of them died Friday in the hospital, raising the death toll to 8, according police spokesman Robert Perc. The third survivor remained hospitalized.

The accident happened late Thursday, when two large canoes decided to run over a dam under construction near Sevnica, a town 56 miles (90 kilometers) southeast of the capital of Ljubljana. At that section, the dam, part of a hydroelectric plant, is currently built only to about the height of the water.

The trip -- ominously dubbed "The Final Descent" -- was organized by local officials and all participants were Slovenians. It was to be the last ride down that section of the river, which will soon be blocked by the hydroelectric plant.

Two other canoes -- part of the four-boat excursion -- left the river before reaching the site.

Slovenian TV journalist Goran Rovan, who had been in one of the safe canoes, told the state-run news agency STA that the other canoes capsized and broke apart when they hit the whitewater passing through the dam gates. The occupants fell into the river and were sucked by the rapids into the underwater tunnel leading to the generator turbines.

TV in Slovenia showed chilling footage Friday of the canoes entering the dam, followed by the sound of screams. Then the kayaks broke up, overturned and capsized.
click post title for more

Ventura County 4th Celebrates with homeless veterans

Rescue Mission luncheon honors homeless veterans
Ventura County Star - Camarillo,CA,USA
Event at Rescue Mission includes meal, Seabee color guard
By Cynthia Overweg
Correspondent
Friday, July 4, 2008


With American flags flapping in the breeze and patriotic songs playing in the background, 16 homeless veterans were honored for their military service at a pre-Independence Day luncheon Thursday at the Ventura County Rescue Mission in Oxnard.

The veterans were served a home-cooked meal that included marinated tri-tip sirloin and baked potatoes as they sat underneath a canopy on the Rescue Mission's patio. About 100 other homeless men and women joined them at nearby tables.

Seabee volunteers from the Naval Construction Training Center in Port Hueneme performed the presentation of colors, prompting the homeless veterans to stand and salute.

"It's sad to see our veterans homeless. The least we can do is present the colors," said Builder 1st Class Andrew Buckingham, 30, who has served with the Seabees in Afghanistan. He was one of four volunteer members of the color guard.

"It's our way of showing our gratitude to those who've served before us," said Utilitiesman 1st Class Ryan Rygh, 27, who has served in Iraq and Kuwait.
click above for more

Las Vegas 4th celebration includes homeless veterans

"Fourth of July is all about giving. You got a place to stay and you got some homeless people who don't have a place to stay. Offer it. Offer what you have because if you believe in a higher power like I do, anything you give will come back to you," said former homeless veteran Joseph Bryant.

Las Vegas Celebrates the Fourth of July
Tedd Florendo, Reporter
July 4, 2008 09:46 PM EDT
The people we talked to say they don't mind getting up early on a holiday. To them, it's more than just a holiday. Some of the people say coming together wearing their colors shows a sign of solidarity and patriotism.

"We're here to celebrate and thank everybody for honoring our country, right? And giving us the freedom to be here today," said Roy Nelson.

Meanwhile, down at the Veterans Center on Bonanza, Congresswoman Shelley Berkeley helped sponsor a barbeque in honor of all those homeless vets here in Las Vegas. The lines were long, but every one of them got a hearty meal and a thank you for providing that freedom we live under today.
click post title for more

Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite wants Combat Action Badge retroactive

Bill calls for Army to retroactively award CAB

By Matthew Cox - mcox@militarytimes.com
Posted : Saturday Jul 5, 2008 7:27:13 EDT

Tens of thousands of veterans from conflicts dating back to World War II could become eligible for the Combat Action Badge if a Florida congresswoman gets her way.

Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Fla., recently secured language in the House version of the fiscal 2009 Defense Authorization Bill to require the Army to retroactively award the CAB to former soldiers who “participated in combat during which the person personally engaged, or was personally engaged by, the enemy at any time during the period beginning on December 7, 1941, and ending on September 18, 2001 … if the Secretary [of the Army] determines that the person has not been previously recognized in an appropriate manner for such participation.”

The version of the bill has yet to go to conference with the Senate.

The Army created the CAB in May 2005 to recognize non-infantry soldiers — eligible for a different award — who come into direct contact with the enemy. The Army has awarded 47,457 CABs to soldiers who have served in Iraq and 7,861 to soldiers for Afghanistan service.
click post title for more

Echoes of Vietnam: VA Stalls

Echoes of Vietnam: VA Stalls, Dissembles While Vets Suffer and Die

By Penny Coleman, AlterNet. Posted July 4, 2008.


The latest episode of the Department of Veterans Affairs' callous denial of veterans' suffering is a continuation of a long tradition.


On June 10, U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs back into court. Conti is presiding over a lawsuit brought by veterans against the VA, charging the agency with systematically denying veterans the services and support they so desperately need. Conti demanded that the VA explain why it had failed to produce certain critical (and incriminating) documents.

Among those documents was an e-mail written by the now-infamous Norma Perez. It read: "Given that we have more and more compensation-seeking veterans, I'd like to suggest that you refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD straight out. Consider a diagnosis of adjustment disorder, R/O [ruling out] PTSD."

Bob Filner, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said it was inconceivable that a low-level staffer like Perez could have written such an e-mail on her own authority. Barack Obama called it "unacceptable" and "tantamount to fraud." John McCain called it "not too important."

Lost somehow in the high-decibel rhetoric of the moment is a historical dimension of this story that I think deserves some attention. This is not the first time the VA has acted as adversary rather than advocate. Thirty years ago, almost to the day, Max Cleland, then head of the VA, circulated an equally directive memo to his staff that read:


In view of the remaining uncertainties on the long-term effects of the defoliants, all VA personnel should avoid premature commitment to any diagnosis of defoliant poisoning. Similarly, entries in medical records should not contain statements about the relationship between a veteran's illnesses and defoliant exposure unless unequivocal confirmation of such a connection has been established.
(The defoliants Cleland refers to were Agent Orange and other dioxin-based chemicals the United States sprayed over Vietnam.)

In the meantime, Cleland instructed VA staff to deny all Agent Orange claims. He also refused to undertake any kind of epidemiological study because, he claimed, the necessary outreach to veterans would only cause them "needless anxiety."
click post title for more

If Cleland had no clue about Agent Orange, then it was equal to his lack of clue about PTSD. He was treated for depression since Vietnam when it turned out it was PTSD.

California fires threaten Big Sur, Santa Barbara County

California fires threaten Big Sur, Santa Barbara County
Story Highlights
The Gap Fire in Santa Barbara County declared the state's top priority Friday

Fire has charred 3,000 acres, threatens town of Goleta

Some 1,400 Big Sur residents ordered to leave homes due to Basin Complex Fire

Volunteer dies north of San Francisco; more than 1,700 wildfires in last two weeks

BIG SUR, California (CNN) -- Fast-moving flames early Friday burned the steep mountainsides a mile from homes on the northern edge of Goleta, California, near Santa Barbara.


Mandatory evacuations ordered Thursday morning for mountain home communities outside Goleta were widened Thursday night as winds kicked up after sundown, making it tougher to fight the fire, a state fire spokesman said.

Farther north up the California coast, 1,400 residents of Big Sur were ordered to leave their homes because of the Basin Complex Fire, which has burned about 65,000 acres of the Los Padres National Forest in the last two weeks. At least 20 homes have been destroyed.

Besides forcing residents from their homes, the fire also is likely to deter tourists, who would usually flock to the area for the July Fourth holiday.

"I'm sure the season is just toast," Kurt Mayer, who stayed to defend his Big Sur Deli despite mandatory evacuation orders, told The Associated Press. "Usually the busiest time is July and August, so I'm sure it's just going to be zero."
click post title for more

Spc. Estell L. Turner succumbs to wounds from bomb blast

4th BCT soldier dies in Afghan IED blast
Clarksville Leaf Chronicle - Clarksville, TN,USA
The Leaf-Chronicle • July 4, 2008

A 101st Airborne Division soldier with 4th Brigade Combat Team died Wednesday of injuries suffered in Afghanistan.

Spc. Estell L. Turner, 43, of Sioux Falls, S.D., died at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., of wounds suffered June 28 in Malikheyl, Afghanistan, when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device, according to a news release today from the Department of Defense.
click above for more

Maj. Dwayne M. Kelley, Army Reserve and NJ State Trooper laid to rest

N.J. troopers join mourners at soldier's funeral
By Edward Colimore

Inquirer Staff Writer

For hours yesterday, they walked down the aisle of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Burlington City and paused at the open, flag-draped casket to say goodbye.

Family members, friends and soldiers were followed by hundreds of New Jersey state troopers. They were joined by scores of officers from police departments as far away as Illinois and Connecticut.

Maj. Dwayne M. Kelley, a state trooper and Army Reservist who died June 24 in an explosion in Baghdad, "stood alone in his devotion to duty," said Gov. Corzine yesterday from the pulpit.

He was a "great trooper, soldier and patriot," said Col. Joseph Fuentes, the New Jersey State Police superintendent.

At 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, he was a "gentle giant who walked softly and did the right thing," added Army Lt. Col. Mark Corzine, Kelley's commanding officer at Fort Dix.

Tributes to the Willingboro native, who was on his third tour in Iraq, poured in during a "homegoing" service, mixed with tearful mourning and joyful celebration.
click post title for more

280 veterans homeless in Augusta

280 veterans homeless in Augusta
Last Updated: 7:24 PM Jul 3, 2008
Reporter: Ashley Jeffery
Email Address: mailto:ashley.jeffery@wrdw.com?subject=280

July 3, 2008

AUGUSTA, Ga.---Sitting down to read the paper is something Dennis Dunbar enjoys doing, but he'd rather do it in the comfort of his own home.

"Out here in the streets, you go through so much and nobody seems to understand what you're going through. It hurts because they make me feel like I'm unwanted. When I was drafted, I was wanted, now I'm like a used commodity. They no longer need us,"said Dennis, a homeless veteran.

After spending seven years in the army, Dennis has spent the last 11 months homeless.

He went to the Garden City Rescue Mission because he had no where else to go and while many veterans have sought help from local shelters, others have had to resort to staying under underpasses to survive.

Louis Overton knows first hand about doing what it takes for survival.
go here for more
http://www.wrdw.com/homeandfamily/headlines/22872799.html

Modesto Vet Center finally was christened

Center is the state's first since 1995; facility to serve SJ Valley, Sierra foothills
By KEN CARLSON
kcarlson@modbee.com

For 10 years, organizations lobbied the federal government to put a Vet Center in Modesto.

On Thursday, the Modesto Vet Center finally was christened in an office building at 1219 N. Carpenter Road.

"It is a long time coming," said Roy Santiago, commander of the American Legion's 12th District, which oversees posts in Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced counties, and whose members wrote letters supporting the campaign.

"We have close to 30,000 veterans living in our area. The need is here for this center," Santiago said.

The Modesto center, which started counseling combat veterans in borrowed office space in December, already has assisted about 400 people, the Legion official said. The center's eight-member staff is set up to serve combat veterans and their families from the Northern San Joaquin Valley and the Sierra foothills.

Congress established the community-based centers in 1979 for Vietnam veterans who were struggling with many issues after returning home from combat.

In the 1990s, the government extended the services to combat veterans of World War II, the Korean War and Persian Gulf War. The Department of Veterans Affairs selected Modesto for one of the 23 new centers as soldiers return from Iraq and Afghanistan.

It's the first Vet Center to open in California since the Chico center opened in 1995.
go here for more
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/349796.html

The homeless veteran, the late Robert Hewitt, Vietnam Veteran

The homeless veteran
• July 4, 2008

Robert Hewitt, homeless veteran of the Vietnam War, lived a meager existence as a panhandler. Identified this week, his skeletal remains were discovered June 12 sticking out of a root cellar behind a shopping center off Route 59 in Montebello. The cause of his death, at 51, has yet to be determined, although the Rockland County medical examiner has ruled out homicide. His story, while clouded in the unknown, joins the growing lore about returning veterans who deserve more help than they ever get.

Hewitt, who was born in Sloatsburg, had been homeless and living outdoors, probably for the past 15 years, according to police. Too many of his wartime contemporaries continue to suffer the same fate. Recent conflicts add fresh tragedy to the mix. Repeated tours of duty, a military heavily reliant on reservists - they often lack the day-to-day support others receive -are among the factors experts say are contributing to a fresh onslaught of veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
click post title for more