Live Video Teleconference on Treating PTSD in Military Families

Join us this Thursday, Dec. 4th 12-2pm pdt For A Live Video Teleconference
Treating Post Traumatic Stress in Military Families Herbst Hall at UCSF, Mount Zion Campus 1600 Divisadero St. - 2nd floor

The impacts of war-related trauma don't reside solely in the Soldier, Marine, Sailor, Airman or woman. Because humans are wired to connect, the ripples radiate out and affect many, in particular those close to the veteran: including his or her spouse, children, siblings, parents, marital relationship, extended family, and significant others. In this training, two experts on the dynamics of post traumatic stress in military families and their treatment will provide a clear review that will help us understand and treat the impacts on couples and families of PTSD.

If you have questions related to the topic, you can have them addressed on air by sending them to: contact@cominghomeproject.net

Viewing options:
* In Person at UCSF,Mount Zion [NO REGISTRATION NECESSARY]
* Watch live online
or on Dish Network channel 9412.
* To view past programs go to UCTV's website
Part of "Treating the Invisible Wounds of War: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, Families and Care Providers" series, a collaboration among the Coming Home Project, UCSF, and UCTV.

Pfc. Joseph Dwyer to have street named after him

This is Pfc. Joseph Dwyer running to help the child.


This is the famous picture taken after.

Brookhaven Township to Name Street in Honor of PFC Joseph Dwyer
NewsLI - West Babylon,NY,USA

(Brookhaven, N.Y.) Brookhaven Township will dedicate a street to Long Island fallen hero, PFC Joseph Dwyer on Monday, December 8, 2008, at 11:00am. The street which is located at Pipe Stave Hollow Road in Mount Sinai is at the corner of Echo Avenue. PFC Dwyer’s widow Matina and daughter Meagan as well as other family members and local dignitaries will take part in the dedication ceremonies.

PFC Joseph Dwyer enlisted into the Army two days after September 11, 2001. A native of Long Island, New York, he felt it his patriotic duty to defend his country. PFC Dwyer served his country with honor, survived many battles in Iraq, to return home with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This would eventually take his life on June 28, 2008. “Joe was truly a hero deeply devoted to his family and country,” said Christopher Delaney, Founder of Hero Army PFC Joseph Dwyer whose purpose is to set up a fund for PFC Dwyer’s daughter and to assist his wife with any financial difficulties as well as to bring awareness to the public of this disease which is affecting many returning soldiers.
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Group Says Missing Marine 'Has Post-Traumatic Stress'

Group Says Missing Marine 'Has Post-Traumatic Stress'
KRDO - Colorado Springs,CO,USA


BOULDER - An anti-war group says a Boulder Iraq veteran accused of deserting from the Marines two years ago is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Lance Hering was arrested Nov. 16 in Port Angeles, Wash., on charges of desertion and contempt of court.

He disappeared in August 2006 after a staged climbing accident.

Military Families Speak Out, an organization of military families against the Iraq war, said Tuesday Hering is "dealing with the consequences of choices he made in the grips of PTSD."
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Fighting a Parallel War in Iraq, Private Contractors Are Officially Invisible

While we think we know what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, we really don't know very much. We know even less when it comes to the contractors and other civilians there. They come home wounded, often having to fight for their wounds to be taken care of through Workman's Comp, expecting the company they were employed by to do the right thing, but all too often, that doesn't happen. They die there and we don't know how many have been killed or died there. This may help to understand when it comes to the two occupations, we know hardly nothing. It would be great if the media would report on some of the contractors coming back and being abandoned by their employers but since very few reporters have bothered to report on the military, that is not very likely to happen.

Soldier of Misfortune
Fighting a Parallel War in Iraq, Private Contractors Are Officially Invisible -- Even in Death
By Steve Fainaru
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, December 1, 2008; Page C01

Adapted from "Big Boy Rules: America's Mercenaries Fighting in Iraq" (Da Capo Press, 2008)


As US Airways Flight 1860 eased into Gate 4 at Buffalo Niagara International Airport, the pilot's voice came over the intercom: "Can I please have your attention? We are carrying with us tonight the remains of a fallen American in Iraq. Please remain seated for the movement of the remains and for the American escorts to deplane."

The cabin fell silent. No one moved as the two men seated in the first row rose to gather their belongings. They were the white-gloved master sergeant who had accompanied Jonathon Coté's body from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and the American drug enforcement agent who, after a 16-month search, had recovered the headless corpse in southern Iraq.

The two men were led down to the tarmac, and the master sergeant climbed up into the belly of the plane. He draped an American flag over the silver casket and made sure that Coté's body was placed feet-first on the conveyor belt.

There was a light drizzle, the temperature at 40 degrees. A bitter wind blew off Lake Erie, snapping a half-dozen flags held by members of the Patriot Guard Riders of New York, a biker group that supports the families of fallen Americans. Police flashers and a Buffalo TV crew's equipment threw light and shadows over the plane. From the ground you could see the passengers, still frozen in their seats in the lighted cabin, and the baggage handlers, waiting off to the side in fluorescent orange vests and knitted caps.

I stood with Jon's family beneath the wing, buffeted by the freezing wind. Five men and one woman from New York's 107th Air National Guard lifted the casket from the belt and slowly marched it across the tarmac to an idling hearse.


Anyone watching might have thought they were witnessing the somber homecoming of an American hero killed in Iraq. That was technically true: Jonathon Coté had fought in the U.S. Army. He was killed in Iraq.

But it was far more complicated than that.
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linked from
http://icasualties.org/oif/

Brenden Foster's selfless act empowers cancer patient

When Brenden Foster lived long enough to see the start of his last wish coming true, he had no idea how far this would have gone so fast. Now, he's making a difference for children and a cancer patient who has been earning his own angel wings. Then add in this big hearted man's tumor is now shrinking. Talk about a Christmas miracle~!

Brenden Foster empowers cancer patient
Watch the story
Every year Karr holds a holiday bash for the kids at his farm appropriately named the Farm Ministries. But this year, he considered calling off his annual holiday party for the first time and for good reason. "Nobody knew if I'd still be alive," he said

SNOHOMISH, Wash. -- A beloved angel has come to the aid of hundreds of homeless children who nearly had to skip Christmas this year.

For countless holiday seasons the homeless kids have warmed the heart of youth minister Bruce Karr.

"For the first time in their lives they came to a place that accepted them just the way they were," he said.

Every year Karr holds a holiday bash for the kids at his farm appropriately named the Farm Ministries. But this year, he considered calling off his annual holiday party for the first time and for good reason.

"Nobody knew if I'd still be alive," he said.

A tumor had eaten away at Karr's spine. Chemo wiped out his energy and bank account. Sick and worn by cancer, Karr gave up on the annual celebration, the street kids and his passion.

That is until he heard about Brenden Foster's dying wish to help the homeless.

"I'll never forget that how I thought I was tough compassionate and he made me look so wimpy," he said.

So the Christmas party is back on, but with very little money and time left.

"We've got the stockings covered, dinner covered. I don't think we have enough presents," said Vicki Karr of Farm Ministries.

But the party will go on however it can. Come Sunday hundreds of homeless kids bussed in from three counties will gather for a party.They'll be greeted by hundreds of people in Santa hats, applauding their entry.

"This whole place will be full of children," said Vicki.

The Karrs are hoping for a miracle on 92nd Street.

And things are already looking up. Test results Bruce received on Monday showed his tumor is shrinking.
They're now hoping the party, in turn, will grow before Sunday. To help buy toys for the Farm Ministry, call 425-238-0200.
To help, click on above link and watch the video on KOMO.

Giants put Burress on non-football injury list, ending his season

He had a really bad night. First he shoots himself and no one notices, then he ends up arrested for an illegal gun and now, he's suspended.

SI: Giants end season of player who shot self
Giants put Burress on non-football injury list, ending his season
Story Highlights
Plaxico Burress reported to Giants Stadium today as mandated
Burress shot himself in the thigh at a Manhattan nightclub
Police have charged Burress with illegal gun possession
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Super Bowl hero Plaxico Burress is done for the year.

The New York Giants fined and suspended Burress on Tuesday for four games -- the rest of the regular season -- after he accidentally shot himself in the right thigh over the weekend at a Manhattan nightclub. The team also placed him on the reserve non-football injury list, which means the wide receiver couldn't come back for playoffs, either.

The team punished Burress a day after he was charged with illegal weapons possession, which carries a penalty of 31/2 to 15 years in prison if he's convicted. Burress is due back in court again on March 31, unless he reaches a plea agreement.

Burress arrived Tuesday morning at Giants Stadium, and met individually with Giants president John Mara, general manager Jerry Reese and coach Tom Coughlin. He left for a medical test and returned in the afternoon for another brief session with team officials.
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PTSD:Resilience, recovery, reintegration and Shakespeare

"Lamentable neglect" is a great choice of words to use. It's not as if they didn't know what would come. Reminds me of a movie I watched,

Something Wicked This Way Comes (novel) - Wikipedia, the fre...
Something Wicked This Way Comes is a 1962 novel by Ray Bradbury. It is about two thirteen-year-old boys, Jim Nightshade and William Halloway

Later I read the book. There were warnings about PTSD, or to put it properly, the tsunami alarm was screeching coast to coast but the Bush administration had their fingers stuck in their ears afraid to look at what they had created with taking on two military campaigns. As the experts began to speak out the claim of the quick conclusions was dripping thru the media channels and it became clear no matter what facts had been known from the history of both nations, no one thought to acknowledge any of it.

William Halloway and Jim Nightshade tried to warn the people of Green Town about this but no one would listen. As the townspeople began to change, they tried even harder to get the adults to pay attention.

"Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show," a traveling carnival with many wonders and delights

The "Cooger" in this case is the administration and they were oblivious with deadly results. The "Dark" in this case is the darkness the men and women of the armed forces were forced to be vanquished to in an unending nightmare game of "catch me if you can" while they fell thru the cracks instead of being helped.

When lip service and programs slapped together like using the cartoon of The Epic Of Gilgamesh to address PTSD was followed by BattleMind, another program that clearly didn't work because the rate of attempted suicides went up along with successful suicides, time was wasted, veterans were betrayed by insulting them with half-baked amateur productions passed off as brilliant. Just for an example, this was posted on my other blog before I started this one.

Sunday, December 31, 2006
VA AND DoD USING CARTOON VIDEOS

http://www.vawatchdog.org/
VA AND DoD USING CARTOON VIDEOS AS TEACHING TOOLS FOR EMPLOYEES
(12-30-06)The "Epic of Gilgamesh" cartoons used to teach Clinical Practice Guidelines for Post-Deployment Health Evaluation and Management.

Larry Scott of VAWatchdog.org just did it again. He never fails to shock me. This is just one more of the incredible reports he finds. The VA are up to their old ticks of offering cartoons instead of help.

I really wonder how much they paid to have this three part cartoon made.

One of the biggest things I noticed was when the "Doctor" suggested what to do while he was still trying to find a reason was for the "veteran" to get exercise and change their lifestyle. What is done to the veteran in the process is without a diagnosis by the VA along with a disability rating, the veteran is "non-service connected" for the disability and as such they are not treated for free for the wound they received from combat. Congress passed the rule change which allows the VA to bill for treatment for any veteran without their rating and a recognized service connected disability. In other words, until the VA puts a label on a veteran, it doesn't matter to them where the wound came from. They could be sitting in a wheel chair without the legs that got blown off in Iraq and all the VA will see is the service connected disability rating in the system. No rating, they pay. Nice isn't it?

Then when you take a veteran discharged a year or so before showing up complaining of the symptoms of PTSD and they will make them pay for the treatment unless the VA finally gives the determination of a service connected condition.Go watch the videos and then email your congressmen the link. Let them see what the VA is doing with the money they don't have to spend on our veterans. After all it is a new congress coming in now. The one who funded this kind of crap were voted out!

While I was one of the first bloggers to pick up on it after Larry Scott posted it, if you go looking for it now, my post is buried under the list of "experts" I never heard of. Anyway, it gives you some idea of what they were doing instead of investing in the time, finding the right talent and getting it right. But then again you'd also have to forget people like Sally Satel were advising Bush on mental health care and she was one of the "foremost experts" on how PTSD was a false illness used by frauds out for a free ride and trying to suck off the system.

At least now they appear to be serious. What it took to get this far were people finally thinking outside of the box they were given. All this time lost though while people like me were treated like Jim and William by the people of Green Town. It's really too bad no one listened to them or us when a lot of suffering could have been avoided.

At least this time they're using quotes from Shakespeare. By the information in this article, Brig. General Loree K. Sutton has her act together and just may be able to prevent something even more wicked from happening. We've lost too much time and lives already. I have to rank this one as hopeful.

Marching toward wellness
Ann Geracimos THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Wednesday, December 3, 2008

The military finally is getting ahead in the head business - tackling the psychological health and traumatic brain injuries of soldiers and their families in a comprehensive way.

It's happening at the moment under the leadership of an energetic, Shakespeare-quoting Army psychiatrist, Brigadier Gen. Loree K. Sutton.

Gen. Sutton holds a medical degree from Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, Calif. She completed her internship and residency in psychiatry at Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco.


Gen. Sutton, 49, is director of the year-old Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE), an arm of the Department of Defense dealing with health matters. The concept is to find the means of caring for troops and their leaders before, as well as after, service members and their relations suffer the debilitating effects of trauma.

The game plan focuses on building up what is being called "resilience" among the military's many warrior volunteers as well as providing more and better treatment options for visible and invisible injuries of this type in a totally integrated program for recovery and reintegration. Gen. Sutton describes it as a network "like the Internet - a collaborative global network" functioning in a partnership, which is expected to take four years to put fully in place.

The plan, and its three R's - resilience, recovery, reintegration - had a big workout at a recent three-day DCoE symposium, titled Warrior Resilience Conference: Partnering With the Line and attended mainly by service members involved in health matters. Billed as the first of its kind, the event at the Fairfax Marriott at Fair Oaks typified what the organization sees as its mandate: promoting a shift of emphasis in the military away from what is known, in jargon terms, as an "illness-based medical model" toward a "wellness-centric resilience continuum."

The latter phrase is a mouthful, with good reason, covering as it does a range of approaches that almost directly counter traditional military culture and practices.

"It's ironic how the military trains us to overcome discomfort but not how to deal with invisible injuries," Gen. Sutton notes. "As soldiers, we keep a lid on our feelings while we do our job. But nobody tells us when to take the lid off or how to deal with it when we do."

At some point, too, she feels compelled to quote Hamlet on his deathbed, addressing his friend Horatio: "If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, absent thee from felicity awhile and enter my harsh world and draw my breath in pain to tell my story." This is Gen. Sutton's way of emphasizing the necessity of bringing soldier-warriors' stories to light.

Such a shift acknowledges what has been lamentable neglect and often superficial understanding of the wounds of war that have proved to be different in different eras. Some degree of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is known to affect hundreds of thousands of today's military serving overseas, along with the mental and physical impacts felt by the prevalence of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
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New homeless: families in bind

New homeless: families in bind
By Cristina Silva, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 2, 2008


ST. PETERSBURG — Ethan Hite sits on the twin bed he shares with his 2-year-old brother and cuts coupons for PlayStation games.

"Can I have these two games for Christmas?" the 7-year-old calls to his mother. "This one is $10 and this one is $7."

Mary Hite, her husband and their three children live in an efficiency apartment in a homeless shelter. Neither parent has a full-time job.

But Mary Hite doesn't tell her oldest any of that. She tucks the coupons into her pocket and embraces him.

The Hites are among the Tampa Bay area's fastest-growing homeless population: parents and children.

Area shelter directors, homeless advocates, government officials and child welfare agencies say the rising unemployment rate, the sluggish housing market and the spiraling economy have forced an unprecedented number of families out of their homes.

And these officials aren't sure what to do about it. Limited social service funding, a dearth of affordable housing and a homeless assistance system designed for single men — the largest homeless demographic — make catering to families difficult.

"It has emerged as the next crisis in terms of housing," Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch said.

Numbers are hard to come by, but the overwhelming anecdotal evidence has pushed advocates for the homeless into action.
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http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article922647.ece

Military Spouse, do you want to save your marriage?

by Chaplain Kathie

Well do you? When my generation was welcoming home the veterans of Vietnam, we had an excuse. No one knew what PTSD was. No one had the opportunity to find the information you now have available. We didn't know what caused the roller-coaster ride of emotions, angry outbursts, sudden silence, flashbacks, nightmares, paranoia, "patrolling the perimeter" checking all the doors and windows in a nightly ritual, jumping out of their skin with the sound of something dropping or freak out with fireworks. Never mind what the sound of a helicopter did. We had an excuse to walk away from our marriages because of all that and the self-medicating with alcohol and drugs. After all, we're just as human as everyone else and we want a happy life with the person we fell in love with. When they come home with PTSD it's like looking into the eyes of a stranger.

The problem is, with this generation it's not lack of resources, it's lack of will. Let me tell you something. I've been doing this for 26 years and I would have given anything to have the kind of information all of you have now. I had to hunt for it before there were computers in every home and my butt still hurts from the library seats. I didn't have people from all over the country reaching back to me and offering support. You all have it and much more than I ever dreamt of but do you use it? Do you attend any of the presentations about PTSD, join the groups or research it? No. I can't count how many times I've heard "I have enough to worry about" because you don't want to think about what they can come home with. That leaves you totally unprepared to save your marriage, help your spouse and your kids adapt to what could have become what I have. I have a marriage that has lasted 24 years for several reasons. First, I adored my husband when PTSD was mild. He was my best friend. The bond was there when he got worse. I knew what PTSD was and that gave me what I needed to get up one day after another ready to make it from one second to the other. I also had a tremendous amount of faith and was able to hang onto hope and be able to keep forgiving instead of hanging onto the pain.

If you still don't want to know what PTSD is and what you can do to keep your marriage together, then you don't deserve them. If you can walk away without doing everything you can to understand them and help them, then you shouldn't have gotten married in the first place. Then you can face your kids and tell them that their other parent changed because they got sick and you turned your back on them "because they were too hard to live with" and explain to them why it was that you raised your kids when they were hard to live with but didn't walk away from them.

Now, I'm not saying that every marriage can be saved and frankly there are some that are beyond help. There have been some very dangerous situations when they come home and they are a danger to others. In those cases, there is the need to be safe first. I still want those families to know what PTSD is so they can explain it to their children and help them understand it had nothing to do with them. Help them find compassion and forgiveness for their sake. It will also help you to forgive yourself because you will know it wasn't your fault either.

If you love them then invest the time in understanding them. Avoiding the knowledge leads to very unhappy endings.

Senior Chaplain Kathie "Costos" DiCesare
International Fellowship of Chaplains
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
www.youtube.com/NamGuardianAngel
"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

Divorces rise among military couples
USA Today - USA
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Enlisted soldiers and Marines divorced their spouses at a higher rate in fiscal 2008 than at any time in at least 16 years, according to Pentagon data released Tuesday.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has warned that stress among military families remains intense after years of multiple combat deployments and lengthy separations.

Many soldiers saw their combat tours extended to 15 months in 2008; many of them returned for only about a year at home before facing another deployment. The strain has also been reflected in a record number of suicides in the Army, which military doctors blame largely on relationships damaged by lengthy deployments.

Mental health problems, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, are also occurring in greater numbers, according to Pentagon data. Army and Marine forces have been involved in more combat in Iraq and Afghanistan than other services branches.

About 4% of married enlisted troops in both the Army and Marines, or 8,842 GIs and 2,842 Marines, obtained divorces during fiscal 2008, the numbers show.
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'Idealist' tried to halt Saddam's Kurdish slaughter

When President Bush sent the troops into Iraq, first it was because of our security. Then some of the people on the right pointed out how Saddam killed the Kurds, as if it had just happened. It was the talking point of the time when the WMD claim fell flat on the face of the all involved. The truth was, when it came to a choice between people and business, business won and people died.

After the Gulf War, President Bush (41) was blamed for telling the Kurds to rise up against Saddam and they would have the backing of the America. We didn't help them at all. The only thing that was done was the establishment of the no-fly zone under the UN sanctions. By then it was too late for hundreds of Kurds.

What really gets me in all of this is that when the Kurdish north was being bombed by Turkey and Iran because of the new freedom the Kurds had, the media never really covered any of it.

Well, now can know the rest of the story if you haven't read any of the history of what went on in Iraq.

'Idealist' tried to halt Saddam's Kurdish slaughter

Scream Bloody Murder
Christiane Amanpour introduces you to the courageous few who saw evil and tried to stop the killing.December 4, 9 p.m. ET
see full schedule »

Story Highlights
Years before the first Gulf War, Saddam Hussein was slaughtering Iraq's Kurds

Peter Galbraith was one of the first Westerners to see the effects of the killing

A Senate staffer at the time, he tried to invoke the U.N. Genocide Convention

The House killed his sanctions bill with backing from the Reagan White House

By Andy Segal
CNN Senior Producer

(CNN) -- Years before the first Gulf War, Saddam Hussein was slaughtering Iraq's Kurds with bombs, bullets and gas


The Reagan White House saw it as a ruthless attempt to put down a rebellion by a minority ethnic group fighting for independence and allied with Iraq's enemy, Iran.

But Peter Galbraith thought it was something worse.

"A light went off in my head, and I said, 'Saddam Hussein is committing genocide,'" said Galbraith, who was on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the time.

An unabashed idealist, Galbraith was known for tackling unconventional issues.

"If you're going to be idealistic in life, you're going to be disappointed," he said. "But that's not a reason to abandon idealism."

Galbraith was one of the first Westerners to witness the effects of the slaughter. During a fact-finding trip for the Senate in 1987, he saw something troubling.


"When we crossed from the Arab part of Iraq into the Kurdish part of Iraq, the villages and towns that showed on our maps just weren't there," he said. Bulldozing Kurdish villages was just the first phase of Hussein's war against the Kurds. In 1988, it escalated with chemical weapons.

"Thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people were killed in those attacks, and then Iraqi troops moved into those villages and gunned down the survivors."

Galbraith wanted to invoke the U.N.'s Genocide Convention, which requires countries to prevent and punish such crimes.

"We could not stand aside and allow Saddam Hussein to commit genocide against the Kurds of Iraq."

With the support of his boss, Democratic Sen. Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island, Galbraith drafted a bill -- the Prevention of Genocide Act -- that would cut off U.S. foreign aid to Iraq and impose a trade embargo.


"That would have been an appropriate response to a dictator who is gassing his own people," Galbraith said. "I thought with a name like that it would garner a lot of support."

But the compelling name was not enough. So Galbraith went back to the region to gather more evidence.


Tens of thousands of Kurds had fled to Turkey. Survivors described blinding, burning clouds of poison gas that dropped people in their tracks.

"These people don't make up these stories. These are real stories. And if you talk to them, if you simply talk to them ... you know that they're telling the truth," Galbraith said.

His report was still not enough to persuade the White House to punish Saddam.


The Reagan administration had invested several years cultivating Iraq as an ally against Iran, their mutual enemy, and as a market for U.S. products, including more than $1 billion a year in farm exports.

The Prevention of Genocide Act would end the diplomatic courtship and hurt U.S businesses.
Read once-secret documents from the Reagan administration
go here to read more
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/11/20/sbm.iraq.galbraith/index.html