Thanksgiving night for heroes

Honoring the Fallen
Dan Rooney pays tribute to servicemen and women by sending their families to college
Aug 25, 2008 - pg. 72
As Dan Rooney's flight landed at the Grand Rapids airport on a rainy June night in 2006, the pilot made an announcement: "The body of an American hero is onboard. As a sign of respect, please remain seated." For the next 30 minutes, Rooney watched as soldiers carried the flag-draped casket of Cpl. Brock Bucklin onto the tarmac, where his 4-year-old son waited in the arms of his grandmother. Rooney, an F-16 pilot and Iraq war veteran, wept quietly, thinking of his wife and two daughters back home. "What if that were Jacqy and the girls," he thought. "I had to do something." In that brief moment, Rooney's life changed.
The Oklahoma Air National Guardsman and golf pro decided to provide college scholarships for the kids and spouses of service people killed or disabled in the line of duty. Enlisting the support of the PGA, Rooney, 35, launched Patriot Golf Day last Labor Day and raised $1 million by asking golfers at 3,400 courses to kick in an extra dollar in greens fees. Since then, through his nonprofit Folds of Honor Foundation (go to www.foldsofhonor.org for info on this year's Patriot Golf Day), he's handed out 200 scholarships. Though Ginger Gilbert Ravella received death benefits and is eligible for educational grants from the Veterans Administration for her five kids after her husband, Troy, died in Iraq, Gilbert Ravella thanks Rooney from the depths of her heart: "I don't know how I would have paid for them all."
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CNN Heroes list of the ten
Liz McCartney
Story Video Extra 1 Extra 2 Get Involved
Liz McCartney is dedicated to helping Hurricane Katrina survivors in St. Bernard Parish, a community just outside New Orleans. Her nonprofit St. Bernard Project has rebuilt the homes of more than 120 families.

Viola Vaughn
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A group of failing schoolchildren in Kaolack, Senegal, once asked Viola Vaughn to help them pass their classes. Today, her "10,000 Girls" program is helping girls succeed in school and learn business skills.
Carolyn LeCroy
Story Video Extra 1 Extra 2 Get Involved
After serving time in prison, Carolyn LeCroy started the Messages Project to help children stay connected with their incarcerated parents. She and volunteer camera crews have taped roughly 3,000 inmate messages.
Marie Da Silva
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Marie Da Silva has lost 14 family members to AIDS. Today, the Los Angeles nanny funds a school in her native Malawi -- where half a million children have been orphaned by the disease.
Maria Ruiz
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Several times a week, Maria Ruiz of El Paso, Texas, crosses the border into Juarez, Mexico, bringing food, clothing and toys for hundreds of impoverished children and their families.
David Puckett
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David Puckett started PIPO Missions to bring ongoing prosthetic and orthotic care to those in need. Since November 2000, he has helped more than 420 people in southeastern Mexico, free of charge.
Phymean Noun
Story Video Extra 1 Extra 2 Get Involved
Growing up in Cambodia, Phymean Noun struggled to complete high school. Today, she offers hundreds of children who work in Phnom Penh's trash dump a way out through free schooling and job training.
Anne Mahlum
Story Video Extra 1 Extra 2 Get Involved
Anne Mahlum used to run by homeless men each morning. Today, she's running with them, and others, as part of her "Back On My Feet" program in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Tad Agoglia
Story Video Extra 1 Extra 2 Get Involved
Tad Agoglia started The First Response Team to provide immediate help to areas hit by natural disasters. Since May 2007, he and his crew have aided thousands of victims at 15 sites across the United States -- free of charge.
Yohannes Gebregeorgis, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Moved by the lack of children's books and literacy in his native Ethiopia, Gebregeorgis established Ethiopia Reads, bringing free public libraries and literacy programs to thousands of Ethiopian children.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/11/27/heroes.show/

Father and son receive simultaneous Silver Stars

Father and son receive simultaneous Silver Stars
By KRISTIN M. HALL – 1 hour ago

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) —Jonathan Harris, a Blackhawk pilot who withstood enemy fire to save a wounded crewmember in Afghanistan, was awarded a Silver Star on Friday. Not to be outdone, his 60-year-old father was awarded a Silver Star and a Bronze Star in a simultaneous ceremony honoring his bravery in Vietnam.

The two generations watched each other through a video teleconference between Fort Campbell, where the elder Gary Harris was honored, and Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, where Jonathan is completing a tour.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser, top commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, told retired Staff Sgt. Gary Harris via video that he hoped the special ceremonies repaid the Army's failure to give him an official ceremony nearly 40 years ago.

Gary Harris, of Corbin, Ky., originally received his medals in the mail. He was officially pinned with a Silver Star by the deputy commanding general-rear for the 101st Airborne Division for gallantry in action against an armed hostile force in Vietnam. He also received a Bronze Star for meritorious achievement during his time in Vietnam.

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also from the Orlando Sentinel

Orlando-area man receives Silver Star for Vietnam heroics 40 years later
Gary Taylor | Sentinel Staff Writer
November 28, 2008

For decades, Frank Ambrose never questioned why he didn't receive a medal for a firefight in Vietnam that killed or wounded everyone in his 15-man patrol.

After all, a medal wouldn't bring back the friends he lost that day outside Da Nang when his group of Marines stumbled upon two battalions of the North Vietnamese Army.

"We didn't care about medals back then," Ambrose said. "That was the last thing on our minds."

The enemy soldiers were just as surprised as the outnumbered Americans that day -- Feb. 7, 1968 -- which might be the reason Ambrose lived to talk about the ordeal and to hold the Silver Star he was recently awarded 40 years late.


About half his patrol was killed that day, including the Marines on either side of Ambrose when a rocket-propelled grenade hit as they took cover in a roadside ditch. "It blew all three of us out of the ditch."

He was hit above the eye by shrapnel that is still there. "My face was covered with blood," he said.

"I was the only one left conscious in the front group," he said, recalling how he stood his ground with a machine gun until another group of Marines arrived, alerted by a call from the patrol's radio man just as the attack began.

Although Da Nang was attacked by the North Vietnamese Army, it was the only major city in South Vietnam that didn't suffer a major attack, and Ambrose thinks it was because his patrol interrupted the enemy as they were preparing to launch it.

click above link for the rest of this

Black Friday Wal-Mart rush killed employee

What is wrong with people? It's shopping! Is buying something so important the shoppers forgot that they are humans and not animals? I really hope buying what they wanted was worth the life of someone else and then they can go to the funeral to explain how much their purchase was worth this person's life. Top that off with a pregnant woman lost her baby in the same madness.

Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled in Black Friday stampede
BY JOE GOULD
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Updated Friday, November 28th 2008, 10:19 AM


A worker died after being trampled and a woman miscarried when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island Wal-Mart Friday morning, witnesses said.

The unidentified worker, employed as an overnight stock clerk, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.

Witnesses said the surging throngs of shoppers knocked the man down. He fell and was stepped on. As he gasped for air, shoppers ran over and around him.

"He was bum-rushed by 200 people," said Jimmy Overby, 43, a co-worker. "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too...I literally had to fight people off my back."

Nassau County Police are still investigating and would not confirm the witness accounts. The Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death. Police did say there were several injuries but weren't more specific.
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Linked from RawStory

UPDATE To this story
Cops hunt Wal-Mart shoppers after worker dies

Charges possible after Black Friday crowd tramples employee at N.Y. store

Sat., Nov. 29, 2008
NEW YORK - Police were reviewing video from surveillance cameras in an attempt to identify who trampled to death a Wal-Mart worker after a crowd of post-Thanksgiving shoppers burst through the doors at a suburban store and knocked him down.

Criminal charges were possible, but identifying individual shoppers in Friday's video may prove difficult, said Detective Lt. Michael Fleming, a Nassau County police spokesman.

Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers stepped over him and became irate when officials said the store was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.


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UPDATE to this story 12/2/08

Customers injured in crush suing Wal-Mart

Video showed that as many as a dozen people were knocked to the floor in the stampede of people trying to get into the store. The employee was "stepped on by hundreds of people" as other workers attempted to fight their way through the crowd, said Nassau County Police Detective Lt. Michael Fleming.

Story Highlights
Men suffered injuries after being carried along in rush for bargains, suit claims

Customers also filed claim against police, say they didn't maintain order

One store employee killed in post-Thanksgiving rush for bargains

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Two customers are suing Wal-Mart for negligence after being injured in a mad rush for post-Thanksgiving bargains that left one store employee dead, the men's attorney said Tuesday.

Temporary Wal-Mart worker Jdimytai Damour, 34, was crushed to death as he and other employees attempted to unlock the doors of a store on Long Island at 5 a.m. Friday.

Attorney Kenneth Mollins said Fritz Mesadieu and Jonathan Mesadieu were "literally carried from their position outside the store" and are now "suffering from pain in their neck and their back from being caught in that surge of people" that rushed into the Wal-Mart.

New York Newsday reported that the Mesadieus are father and son, ages 51 and 19.

The lawsuit alleges that the Mesadieus' injuries were a result of "carelessness, recklessness, negligence."

In a claim against the Nassau County police department, the men also contend that they "sustained monetary losses as a result of health care and legal expenses ... in the sum of $2 million."

"This is a tragic situation that could have and should have been avoided with the exercise of reasonable care. There are very simple measures that could have been put in place to avoid this, such as barriers along the line to spread people out, extra security and a better police presence," Mollins said.
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Karzai: U.S. and NATO aren’t succeeding

Karzai: U.S., NATO aren’t succeeding

By Jason Straziuso - The Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan’s president sharply critiqued the seven-year Afghan war Wednesday, complaining that U.S. and NATO troops haven’t made life better. The criticism came a day after he accused foreign forces of undermining him with a “parallel government” in the countryside.
The back-to-back barbs aimed at the international community’s handling of the fight with the Taliban and the rebuilding of Afghanistan underlined President Hamid Karzai’s increasing frustration with a conflict that has gotten bloodier each year.
“We haven’t accepted the international community so our lives would get worse. We accepted them so our lives would get better,” Karzai said Wednesday. “We can accept some destruction — even some civilian casualties — if we have hope for a future of security and peace ... but this (style of) fighting can’t be the only way forever.”
During a meeting Tuesday with a U.N. Security Council delegation, Karzai called for the international community to set a timeline for ending the war, although he didn’t mention a specific date. He asked how — given the number of countries involved and the amount of money spent in Afghanistan — “a little force like the Taliban can continue to exist, continue to flourish.”
The president expanded on that idea Wednesday during a joint news conference with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, saying he was not asking for a withdrawal date, but rather a “date for your success.”
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Police: Guardsman kept donations for families

Police: Guardsman kept donations for families


The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Nov 27, 2008 9:48:49 EST

HYDEN, Ky. — A Kentucky National Guard soldier was arrested Wednesday on charges that he kept money that he solicited as donations for the families of dead soldiers and others.

Jonathan Reed Morgan, 28, of Hyden in Leslie County, was charged with three counts of theft by deception. He was being held at the Clay County Detention Center in Manchester on $25,000 bond.

The Kentucky National Guard and state police received numerous reports from businesses and people who had been solicited for donations, police said. The money was solicited for families of dead soldiers and to buy care packages for deployed soldiers and children’s Christmas gifts, police said in a statement.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_kyguardsman_112708/

NJ official accused of falsifying military record

NJ official accused of falsifying military record
Newsday - Long Island,NY,USA
November 26, 2008
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ An official in the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs has been accused of falsifying his veteran and government records in order to receive a tax exemption and medical benefits.

William Devereaux, the department's director of veterans programs, was arrested Monday, issued a summons and released. A court hearing has not yet been scheduled.

In announcing the arrest on Wednesday, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said the 63-year-old Laurel Springs resident invented a false history of combat heroism in the Vietnam War. The prosecutor's office said its investigation was prompted by information provided by the county Office of Veterans Affairs.

Prosecutors said Devereaux falsely claimed on military benefits forms for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that he served as a paratrooper and artilleryman during the war and was injured multiple times. He also claimed to have received medals including the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star with "V" device.
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The New Team Max Cleland

The New Team Max Cleland
New York Times - United States

As he prepares to take office, President-elect Barack Obama is relying on a small team of advisers who will lead his transition operation and help choose the members of his administration. Following is part of a series of profiles of potential members of the administration.

Being considered for: Secretary of veterans affairs or senior defense post

Would bring to the job: A strong military background as a former Army captain in Vietnam, where he was gravely wounded and became a triple amputee, and federal experience in veterans affairs under President Jimmy Carter. Mr. Cleland is viewed by some people, particularly liberals, as a hero for his vocal condemnation of President Bush after an onslaught of negative Republican advertising helped cost him re-election to his Senate seat in 2002.

Is linked to Mr. Obama by: Early support for Mr. Obama’s Senate campaign in 2004, as well as for his presidential run. The relationship became awkward in July when Mr. Cleland was disinvited from an Obama fund-raiser because of his role as lobbyist, but an Obama spokesman said the campaign still had the “utmost respect” for Mr. Cleland.

Used to work as: Senator from Georgia, 1997-2003; Georgia secretary of state, 1982-1996; administrator of the United States Veterans Administration, the predecessor to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1977-1981. Mr. Cleland was appointed to the Sept. 11 Commission but resigned after accusing the Bush administration of “Nixonian” efforts to conceal crucial evidence.

In his own words: “The Bible tells me that no greater love has a man than to lay down his life for his friends. ... There is no greater act of patriotism than that.” (Introduction of Senator John Kerry at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.)

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Thankful for the Montana National Guard and Major General Randy Mosley

I am thankful for President Elect Obama going to meet with Matt Kuntz and see the outstanding work being done there to help the Guardsmen with PTSD. Major General Mosley is also a hero in my book. Because of the suicide of Chris Dana, they are moving mountains out of the way and came up with their own program. Here are just a few of the stories on the work being done. Click the links if you want to read more.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Obama promises to repeat Montana's National Guard PTSD work nation wide
Obama Pledges Nationwide Use of PTSD Program
Eric Newhouse
Great Falls Tribune
Aug 28, 2008August 28, 2008 - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promised Wednesday to expand Montana's pilot program to assess the mental health of combat vets nationwide, if elected.The Montana National Guard has developed a program to check its soldiers and airmen for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder every six months for the first two years after returning from combat, then once a year thereafter. The program exceeds national standards set by the U.S. Department of Defense.The pilot program was created in response to the suicide of former Army Spc. Chris Dana of Helena, who shot himself on March 4, 2007, days after being given a less-than-honorable discharge because he could no longer handle attending drills following a tour in Iraq."He (Obama) told me he understood why we need to have additional screenings for PTSD," said Matt Kuntz, Dana's stepbrother, who was among a small group invited to meet with Obama on Wednesday in Billings. "And he told me when he is elected president, he will implement Montana's pilot program nationwide."Kuntz, who recently gave up his job as a lawyer in Helena to advocate for the mentally ill and their families, said he was invited to brief Obama on how Montana had become a national model for assessing the mental health of its combat vets.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Matt Kuntz of Montana NAMI took up PTSD cause after death of stepbrother
Fighting for proper care - State NAMI head took up cause after losing stepbrother to PTSD, suicideBy MARTIN J. KIDSTON of the Helena Independent RecordHELENA - As a child, Matt Kuntz lost a friend to an eating disorder. When he entered Capital High School as a teen, he lost classmates to suicide.Mental illness had always been there; it was always something he'd seen. But it wasn't an issue Kuntz stopped to consider for very long.Then last spring, he watched helplessly as his stepbrother, Chris Dana, lost a battle with post-traumatic stress disorder and ended his life in suicide. That, Kuntz said, changed everything.More than 17 months into his unplanned but energetic campaign to improve mental health care in Montana, Kuntz is working to change the way mental illness is perceived by the public.

Spc. Chris Dana's story told to Obama by step brother
Stepbrother tells guardsman's story to Obama Helena soldier took his own life after tour of duty in IraqBy LAURA TODEOf The Gazette StaffMontana National Guard Spc. Chris Dana will never know the impact his life and ultimately his death may someday have on the lives of veterans nationwide.Dana took his life in March 2007, less than two years after returning from a tour in Iraq. His family believes he was a victim of post-traumatic stress disorder, brought on by his combat experience.Since Dana's death, his stepbrother Matt Kuntz has campaigned for more awareness of the costs of untreated post-traumatic stress syndrome in Iraq war veterans.Wednesday, he was invited to meet with Sen. Barack Obama to share the message he's been spreading statewide for more than a year. At a quiet picnic table at Riverfront Park, Obama sat across from Kuntz, his wife, Sandy, and their infant daughter, Fiona. click post title for more

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Montana National Guard Maj. Gen. Randy Mosley moving mountains
I think I have a crush on Maj. Gen. Randy Mosley of the Montana National Guard. I love to post about what he is doing on PTSD. Spc. Chris Dana's suicide caused massive changes instead of just talking about "doing something" and much of it is owed to Mosley. I think above all, the frustration that comes with the fact taking care of the troops and the citizen soldiers should have been a guarantee. With some of the best minds in this country when it comes to waging war, you'd think they'd be able to put that kind of brain power behind taking care of the wounded caused by war, but they didn't think of any of this. The warriors are the ones who have been paying for it simply because they survived. I know I've been proven wrong before when I found hope in what some commanders have said they would do only to find they have done nothing more than talk about it but this time, Mosley has earned it already.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Montana National Guard, Picking Up The Pieces
Picking up the Pieces (PDHRA)
This is the link to the video the Montana National Guard is showing. I've been posting about it for a couple of days now and it is very important that it not only be seen, but duplicated across the country.
Guard stresses PTSD symptoms at meetingsBy ERIC NEWHOUSE • Tribune Projects Editor • May 21, 2008
LEWISTOWN — Montana's National Guard expanded its PTSD outreach efforts this week, hosting a series of 20 public meetings in armories across the state.As part of its effort to familiarize the public — and veterans in particular — with post-traumatic stress disorder, it played a video produced at Fort Harrison entitled "Picking Up the Pieces." That had Tiffany Kolar wiping her eyes."It raised a lot of questions for me," Kolar said after Monday night's meeting. "I have a brother who served with the Idaho National Guard and who later committed suicide. Now I'm learning a lot about what must have been happening."

Thankful for General Carter Ham

I am thankful for all of the men and women serving this country and those who served coming forward to talk about PTSD. All these years later after the first studies were done, there are now so many that soon no one will ever wonder again what PTSD is. There are literally hundreds of their stories on this blog but the most magnificent thing about all of them is that they were willing to talk about it no matter how much others wanted to stigmatize them. Their courage is a testament of the human spirit.

When commanding officers are willing to say they have PTSD because of their service, it sets and example for all others to follow. Because of General Ham, his willingness to face this wound without any kind of shame will allow all others to come forward to seek the help they need to heal.

Thankful story two belongs to General Carter Ham. As you read his story think of all the others coming forward and know we all owe them a debt of gratitude.

PTSD:General's story highlights combat stress
Gen. Carter Ham, to call him a hero would be putting it mildly. He's a hero to the troops not just because he's a high ranking officer, but because he is willing to speak out on having PTSD. That is a kind of courage very few in his position are willing to do.When men like my husband came home from Vietnam, they knew something had changed inside of them but they didn't know what it was. They suffered in silence just as generations before them suffered. When PTSD was first used in 1976 with a study commissioned by the DAV, news was slowly reaching the veterans. While they fought to have it recognized as wound caused by their service, it was very difficult to talk about. The perception that there was something wrong with them kept too many from even seeking help to heal.

Thankful for Brenden Foster, 11 year old angel opened eyes and hearts

11 year old Brenden Foster's dying wish, feed the homeless
Brenden Foster said he wants to be an angel so that he can help the homeless from Heaven. Get ready to cry for this sweet child when you watch this video. He's proof there are angels here on earth already. He's one of them.

This is the first post on this giving thanks day. Brenden Foster was the first wonderful story that came to mind. While some will read this story and think of how this child died at the age of eleven from Leukemia, they need to see how wonderful Brenden was and be thankful for him coming into this world as an earthly angel and for his Mom Wendy who gave him the love he needed so when it came time for his dying wish, he thought of others.

Brenden managed to care about people we so often find it so easy to avoid. The homeless people he saw, were not people to turn away from. They were people to turn to help. His unselfishness was a lesson to people around the world. This first post on Brenden brought in the most hits out of almost 5,000 posts on this blog. It received as of this posting 75 comments. Truly beautiful postings from people touched by his compassion.

Of all the stories I've posted on this year, Brenden's is was the most rewarding spiritually. Many conversations I've had over the years have come from people who see the world and what God has not done, children dying and suffering as innocents, crimes and acts of pure greed. I will remind them that those are the reason good people were created. They we sent into this world to offer kindness, mercy, gentleness and compassion. God cannot overrule freewill by His own rules but what He did was send into this world others who can show the love God has. How can anyone read about Brenden's story and not find love there? How can anyone read what his gesture changed for the forgotten and not see miracles?

Read the rest of the posts on Brenden but then click back on the link to this first post and read some of the comments there. They will help you to believe in miracles again.

11 year old Brenden Foster sees his dying wish come true
This is the third post on this little angel. He's only been here for 11 years and has already managed to change this nation and how we look at homeless people. To think this wonderful child could have asked for anything for himself and it would have been given, he asked that we take care of the homeless and feed them. There are angels among us!I was in the site for KOMO looking for an update and discovered this.Go to the Problem Solvers donation page and select "Brenden Foster Food Drive" from the donation options list.

Dying boy inspires goodwill in people near and farWatch the story By KOMO StaffWatch the story BOTHELL, Wash. -- An 11-year-old boy's dying wish to feed the homeless has taken on a life of its own, sparking a movement to help the hungry nationwide. Doctors gave Brenden Foster two weeks to live. His time was up last Wednesday. "I should be gone in a week or so," he said last Friday. On Monday, groggy and medicated, Brenden was having a rough day. "Tired," he said, visibly weak. "(You) need some more medicine," said his mother, Wendy Foster, stroking his head. Leukemia halted the young life of Brenden, who once dreamed of becoming a marine photographer. Brenden has relapsed for the last time.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

11 year old Brenden Foster: 'I could have done more'"
Brenden Foster: 'I could have done more' Watch the story The local boy whose dying wish to feed the homeless inspired thousands across the world has taken a turn for the worse. Brenden Foster is growing weaker. His body is failing, his skin yellowing. His mother is trying to decide on the wording for his grave marker. BOTHELL, Wash. -- The local boy whose dying wish to feed the homeless inspired thousands across the world has taken a turn for the worse. Brenden Foster is growing weaker, but his message is growing stronger. His body is failing, his skin yellowing. His mother is trying to decide on the wording for his grave marker. "B-Man is his nickname, or Mr. B. But most people call him B-Man," said Wendy Foster. The end is near, and Brenden has one question for God. "Why at so young an age? I could have done more. But if it has to be now, it has to be now," he said.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Angel to homeless, Brenden Foster died in his mom's arms
May the Good Lord comfort Wendy and Brenden's family. This little angel changed the world for the better.Brenden Foster: 'I had a great time'Brenden Foster, who inspired countless people around the world with his wish to feed the homeless, died early Friday in his mother's arms. He was 11. Read more »By Elisa Jaffe BOTHELL, Wash. -- The day I met Brenden Foster, I met an old soul in an 11 year old's body."I should be gone in a week or so," he said calmly.When I asked him what he thought were the best things in life, Brenden said, "Just having one."I didn't understand how this child, who was a year younger than my own son, could be so courageous facing death."It happens. It's natural," Brenden told me.

Today's blog posts devoted to giving thanks

For today there will be no posts on trauma or tragedy. I have the other 363 days of the year to do that because I don't plan on posting them on Christmas day either. I'm doing this because while it is so easy to find things to complain about, stories the media covers under the rule of "if it bleeds it leads" and tragedies around the world, it is often hard to find the hopeful stories. There are many I've found this year and I'll be re-posting them today.

I can't take credit for this idea. I was watching CNN and saw the promo for the Hero's night for broadcast tonight.

CNN HEROES
Tonight at 9 ET on CNN
Grammy winners Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys and John Legend perform for CNN Heroes

I thought of how wonderful it was they picked tonight to do this honor for wonderful people. Pop back in often today and read some of the stories that were covered this year on this blog. Then try to remember when your feast is over as you lay down in bed tonight to give thanks for what is good in your life but also what is good in this world.

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

L.A. County mental health chief says he will try to rely less on police

L.A. County mental health chief says he will try to rely less on police

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:35:14 AM

Marvin J. Southard's office can't force crowded hospitals to accept its emergency patients, so it sends them to law enforcers who can. He tells county supervisors he's looking for other options.
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
November 26, 2008
Los Angeles County's chief mental health official said Tuesday that he is working to reduce the number of times his staff forwards emergency assistance calls involving the mentally ill to police, a practice that has grown over the last year as fewer hospital beds have been available to treat such patients.

Marvin J. Southard, called before the Board of Supervisors after news reports highlighted the problem, told the board he is in talks with county health officials to find better options.

"This issue is really an issue of indigent care at the county hospitals," Southard told Supervisor Mike Antonovich during questioning. "We contract with private hospitals to provide indigent care, but there are some patients only county hospitals will accept."

Mental health workers have increasingly turned to law enforcement officials to handle emergency calls because hospitals are required by law to take emergency mental health patients transported by police. If a county mental health worker brings people in for treatment, facilities are not compelled to accept them.

As of last month, there were 2,562 beds available for mental health patients in Los Angeles County, records show, and only about 200 of them were at county hospitals, which are required to admit poor and uninsured patients.
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Disney worker dies from accident injuries

Disney worker dies from accident injuries
Scott Powers | Sentinel Staff Writer
11:04 AM EST, November 26, 2008
An electrical power technician working for Walt Disney World has died from injuries sustained in a power maintenance accident earlier this month.

Douglas Howell, 54, of Rockledge, died earlier this week from injuries sustained in a Nov. 5 accident at a substation near the Walt Disney Swan and Dolphin Resort. The Orange County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration were notified at the time of the accident and OSHA is investigating.

Non-combat death in Iraq

DoD Identifies Army Casualty


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

1st Lt. William K. Jernigan, 35, of Doraville, Ga., died Nov. 24 in Baqubah, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to Headquarters Company, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.
http://icasualties.org/oif/

Scores die in India rampage with hostages held

Scores die India rampage; hostages held
Gunmen have targeted nine locations in south Mumbai, including two luxury hotels. A state spokesman put the death toll at 78. Gunmen are holding hostages at the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, police said. One witness told reporters gunmen had tried to find people with U.S. or British passports. developing story
iReport.com: Are you there? Send photos
Mumbai hotel 'under siege' Videos
Truck opens fire; bystanders duck Photos
Witness: 'I was splattered with blood'

Lawsuit: Police forced vets to lick ground

Lawsuit: Police forced vets to lick ground

The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Nov 26, 2008 13:59:29 EST

MADISON, Wis. — Two Iraq war veterans allege in a federal lawsuit they were forced by small-town Wisconsin police officers to lap up what was thought to be urine.

Wisconsin National Guardsmen Anthony Anderson and Robert Schiman filed the suit against the city of Wisconsin Dells, its police chief and three officers last week in U.S. District Court in Madison.

The guardsmen, both of whom have served two tours of duty in Iraq, were in the Dells for weekend training. Two police officers stopped them in the early morning of June 1.

The suit says officers Wayne Thomas and Collin Jacobson accused the guardsmen of urinating in public and pointed out a wet spot in an alley that they thought was urine. The guardsmen denied having relieved themselves there.

In order to prove that it was not their urine and avoid citations, the officers made Anderson and Schiman lick the ground, the lawsuit claims. Schiman also was made to eat a plant that was drenched in the liquid, it states.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_lickgroundlawsuit_112608/

UK PTSD:Coping with the trauma of warfare

Coping with the trauma of warfare
BBC News -

By Caroline Wyatt Defence correspondent, BBC News

"I started drinking, I started fighting and I was more aggressive - but I didn't care. I couldn't sleep, my chest felt tight, I felt sick - and then there were the flashbacks.

"I got diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder by my unit's medical officer - and that was it.


"There was no treatment. And they still sent me to fight in Iraq."


Ian, a 27-year-old veteran of Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Northern Ireland and Iraq, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 1999, but went on to fight in several more campaigns.



Ian - not his real name - left the Army after Iraq, but he is sure many more British troops are silently suffering mental anguish from Iraq and Afghanistan than official figures suggest.

click link for more

"True Life: I Have PTSD” on MTV

I was sent this by email and it is an amazing thing to watch. This is what they are going through and not enough is being done to help them. When they have PTSD, the tears come because the wall that was protecting them from harm is being broken down. When you watch him break down, understand that he in the process of healing from great emotional turmoil.

Here is a clip from the episode that you can share with your readers:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0POxbds4do



And here is a description of the episode:



5pm - “True Life: I Have PTSD”- One in five veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan report symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a mental illness that causes depression, inability to trust, constant alertness, nightmares and fits of rage. If untreated, severe PTSD can last a lifetime and make it impossible to hold down a job, form a lasting relationship, stay sober or lead a satisfying life. Yet only half of veterans with symptoms seek treatment. In this episode of MTV’s “True Life,” viewers will see what it’s really like to live with PTSD through three young veterans who are struggling to get their lives back on track.

The Think Community at think.mtv.com will help educate and connect viewers with content and provide them with the necessary help with issues featured in the "True Life: I Have PTSD” episode. Viewers will also be able to comment on the show and the issues on think.mtv.com.

My new PTSD web site is almost done

http://www.namguardianangel.com/ is just about finished. The videos are up and running. It still needs a bit more work and more features are being added.



There are only a couple more videos to put up.

Features will have PowerPoints on two often requested videos, Wounded Minds and Death Because They Served. Both of these videos are long and the tiles contain important information for people doing presentations. Soon Wounded Minds will have translated tiles into Spanish for Power Point. A doctor in Argentina requested the tiles so that he can translate them and he'll be sending the Spanish version.

My book will also be available on the site, as well as on this blog.

There is a forum ready to go, but bear with me on that one because I'm still not too sure how it works.

I've done this because of YouTube and Google videos. The main reason is that the troops cannot access either one of them and they are missing the information in these videos. Plus considering how many videos there are on both sites, mine, well, let's just say they get buried. People are shocked once they finally find them and wish they found them a couple of years ago when I first started to do them.

There are two videos for female soldiers and veterans. Women At War and The Voice, Women At War.

There are two videos on the other causes of trauma as well for civilians because they also end up wounded by abnormal events. Those are PTSD After Trauma and IFOC Chaplain Army of Love.

There is a video for the citizen soldiers, the National Guards and Reservist, who end up coming back and going back to work for the police and fire departments across this country as well as back to regular jobs.

There are several videos for the Vietnam Veterans because they have been tugging at my heart since 1982. Naturally there are videos for the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Two videos are for the family members who need to know what PTSD is and when the veteran needs more help than just love can give. Learn the signs and you'll be able to help them heal.

There is also a special video, PTSD Not God's Judgment. This video was created because of what veterans have found very hard to come to terms with. They want to know if God can forgive them. Yes, there is really no reason for them to feel that way, but when you consider what they go thru it's not that hard to understand. This video was also made after a very long argument I had with God. I get the ideas for the videos, find the music and the pictures to go with the message I feel is important. This one, kept nagging at me. I kept finding reasons to not do it. Reluctantly I put it together, put it up on YouTube and let the Good Lord take over from there. He did. When I was at the IFOC conference in Ohio, I found out that it has been used to help police officers and firefighters to heal by therapists. Amazing! I did not intend it to be used with them, but evidently God had other plans.

The work I do on this blog will still go on and trying to find out the best way to incorporate it with the new site, but Wounded Times is not going anywhere.

So, until the DOD blocks my site from being viewed by the troops, let them know the videos are there and more will be added. Tell the families and friends so they can understand what PTSD is as well. One more thing. Consider how many we're talking about. RAND Corp put the number at 300,000, but with all I know about PTSD after all these years, they are not even close. By 1978 there were already 500,000 Vietnam Veterans with PTSD. We have over 7 million people in the USA with PTSD from other causes. Too many suffer because they don't know what it is. Help me to help them. Spread the word about the videos if you can.

You won't be able to download them from the site but you can download them from Google and YouTube for now. If you need a DVD copy of one email me and I'll burn you one for a small donation.

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

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

Widow settles VA hospital suit

Widow settles VA hospital suit
Her husband died after '07 surgery in Marion facility
By Deborah L. Shelton Tribune reporter
November 25, 2008
A widow who sued the U.S. government over her husband's death at the Marion VA Medical Center has accepted a settlement of almost $1 million.

Robert Shank III of Murray, Ky., died in the hospital after gallbladder surgery last year. His widow, Katrina, sued this year, alleging medical negligence and accusing the government of failing to adequately check the background of her husband's surgeon, Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez, before hiring him."It was a combination of negligence in the way he did the surgery and post-operative care, and institutional negligence for allowing him to practice there," her Chicago attorney, Dr. Stanley Heller, said Monday.

The suit was settled Nov. 13.
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Chaplains visit Anaheim Hills and Yorba Linda after Freeway Complex fire

Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times
Chaplain Keith Stiles, right, of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team, consoles Vivian Vargas, left, after she lost her home on Aviemore Drive in Yorba Linda in the Freeway Complex fire. Stiles gave them a Bible and prayed with them.

Chaplains visit Anaheim Hills and Yorba Linda after Freeway Complex fire
By Duke Helfand
Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:33:32 PM

When they respond to disasters, chaplains from the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team usually encounter throngs of desperate victims.

So the evangelical Christians were surprised Monday as they searched deserted, mountainous neighborhoods of Anaheim Hills and Yorba Linda that had been charred by the Freeway Complex fire.


The chaplains were awed by the panoramic views from Orange County's sloping suburbs, but struck by the absence of victims and eager to apply their ministerial hands.

The seven men, led by a retired police chief from North Carolina, had received just 15 requests for help since their arrival last week, their third deployment to Southern California since 2003 in response to wildfires.

A much larger contingent of chaplains received several hundred requests for help during last year's Witch fire in northern San Diego County.
click above link for more

Giving Thanks In Troubled Times

Growing up in a Greek/Scottish household, we were always surrounded by family. There were five members of my immediate family, aunts, uncles and cousins all gathered around for holidays. Thanksgiving was always huge for my family. It was a wonderful day with cherished memories no matter how the rest of the year was going. Nothing else mattered that day except to spend time together with the people that mattered the most.

Four years ago when I moved to Florida, there were two less members of my family. My father passed away in 1987. Ten years ago, one of my brothers passed away at the age of 42. Uncles and aunts were gone as well as another cousin, also passed away at a young age. My husband's family had all passed away in thirteen months between 1993 and 1994. The first Thanksgiving here in Florida was hard, but friends of ours came from back home. They have a winter place in St. Petersburg. Having them here made it better for us. They repeated it the following year. Last year, it was hard because it was just the three of us. It was very lonely and my mother had passed away that February. This year will be especially hard because my brother Nick passed away last month, less than a week after he was laid off from his job. I've been out of work since January when I was let go because my job as Administrator of Christian Education was eliminated. It's been a rough year financially especially considering it seems to be costing me more and more to be a Chaplain. Between training, membership and traveling, it's been more out of my pocket than in. But there has been a trade off that you cannot put a price tag on.

When my mother was getting on in years, she tended to focus on what was wrong instead of what was right. I used to remind her that she needs to see what is good instead of only looking at what is bad in her life. It helps me get through really hard times and a very, very stressful time covering trauma on this blog. I read so many horrible stories about suffering, accidents, families falling apart, people dying and especially the people suffering from trauma that it could very well send me into a deep dark depression of my own. While I tend to think that I've just gotten to the point when I can tolerate it all better, the truth is, it never really does get easier.

A strange thing happened this year above all the other years. My faith in human kindness is fully restored because of some of the wonderful stories I've read this year. People making a difference for others by sharing their own pain. People deciding that since they know how it feels, they want to make sure others find some comfort at the very least. People who decide to rise above their own pain to do whatever they can to help total strangers. I've met them as Chaplains, as outreach workers and as average people, all trying to make things better and asking nothing in return, expecting nothing more than the feeling they get when they help someone else.

I remember being infuriated that a post I did on a Marine on YouTube tossing a puppy off a cliff managed to get more hits than a story of a veteran committing suicide because he had PTSD. That made me think that the importance some people place on the shocking mattered more than sorrowful. That all changed with an 11 year old boy named Brenden Foster.

Brenden was dying when he made a wish the beginning of November. He could have asked for anything he wanted for himself. After all, who would turn down the dying wish of a child? While Brenden could have asked for anything as leukemia was taking days of his life away, Brenden saw some homeless people and made the wish that would change the world. He wanted to feed the homeless people.

I tracked the story of this earthly angel and felt blessed just to be able to share his story. The miracle came when the comments started to roll in. One by one, people were talking about how this child changed their minds and warmed their hearts. Today by 4:00 this post has pushed my daily hit count over 1,200. That's how important this child's story is. It has gained more comments than anything else I've posted since this blog began last year.

When we have troubles in our own lives, it's very easy to close our eyes to the needs of someone else. (I'm guilty of that as well. There are days when I don't even want to turn on the PC. ) This year, with all I have to think about that has not been very good, Brenden's example will cause me to do the blessing this year with a restored faith in God's bounty. There is so much for me to be grateful for. While our house needs a new roof we cannot afford to replace, we still have one when so many have lost their's. While my extended family is a lot smaller, the survivors are very close emotionally. While I don't have a paycheck anymore, I have a rewarding calling that is filling more than the big paychecks I used to get back in Massachusetts. While I could look at what I can no longer buy, I am looking at what money cannot buy and that is love. Love, prayers, compassion from total strangers coming into my life to help me, offering support and friendship. What I also have to be very grateful for this year is how many other people across the nation who have taken on helping our veterans with PTSD. This is a miracle as well. I've never had so much hope in my life that things will get better for them and their families.

If you have had a bad year, open your heart and then your eyes and you will find what you are truly blessed with. It's not that hard to do. You will find what really matters in your life instead of what you want out of life. Brenden did that and if an 11 year old child can do that facing death, so can you. Brenden first came into the media spotlight three weeks before he passed away and no one will ever be the same again.



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

Boy, 9, commits suicide

My heart just sunk deeply in my chest. We hear about people committing suicide at all different ages and it never really makes sense. What causes people to be faced without any hope of a better day the next day? Yet when it is such a young child, it leaves a hole in all of us. A family is left to grieve the loss and wonder why it happened, what they could have done or said. It will not comfort them that all too often, there is really nothing they could have done differently. Please pray for this family after this tragedy.

Boy, 9, commits suicide

By Camille C. Spencer and Molly Moorhead, Times staff writers
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
NEW PORT RICHEY — Saturday was a typical evening in the Tyree household.

Jacqueline Tyree fixed cabbage, sausage and rice for dinner. Her 9-year-old son, Efrem, took his bath after dinner, then went to put on lotion while Jacqueline fixed her 7-year-old daughter's hair.

After a few moments of silence in her son's room, Jacqueline went to check on him and made a horrifying discovery:

Efrem was hanging from his closet shelf by two leather belts.

Jacqueline screamed, unlaced the belts and began CPR. A neighbor and paramedics tried to revive him, too, but it was too late.

Efrem, a fourth-grade honor roll student who earned his gold belt in karate this summer, was pronounced dead at Morton Plant North Bay Hospital.

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office has called the case a suicide. An autopsy is pending, but "preliminary results point to death by hanging," said sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll.
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Family parenting "expert" arrested for domestic violence

Tampa family therapist jailed

By Alexandra Zayas, Times Staff Write
Monday, November 24, 2008

TAMPA — Tired of your child's defiance, arguing, and disrespectful attitude?

Having problems with your child at home, in school, or out in public?

Family therapist Michael Anthony Holder poses these questions on his Web site, and offers an answer:

His "Dynamic Parenting System," an intensive series of in-home consultations designed to help parents correct their children's negative behaviors.

But Saturday night, Holder's own parenting tactics landed him in jail.

Holder, 39, was arrested on two domestic battery charges, including battery on his 15-year-old stepson, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office reports.

Holder is accused of grabbing the boy by the neck during a dispute, choking him and inflicting several cuts on the boy's arms and face and a bruise on his left arm, an arrest report said
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Tampa Marines returning from Iraq today

Tampa Marines returning from Iraq today
Nov 25, 2008
November 25, 2008
Tampa Marines returning from Iraq today
TAMPA -- About 70 Marine reservists are returning home to Tampa today after seven months in Iraq.

The Marines, part of the 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, fly in to Tampa International Airport and head to the Marine Reserve Training Center on Gandy Boulevard in Tampa between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., where family will be waiting to greet them.
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Student wrecks car on snowy road, disappears

Maura Murray and William Rausch were college sweethearts and had just gotten engaged.

Student wrecks car on snowy road, disappears
Story Highlights
Maura Murray told her professors there had been a death in the family

There was no death, relatives say

Car was found crashed into a tree along snowy New Hampshire roadway

A $40,000 reward is offered. Tips? Call 603-271-2663

By Rupa Mikkilineni
Nancy Grace Producer
CNN

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Every weekend for more than four years, Fred Murray has walked the road where his daughter, Maura, vanished. Family, friends and volunteers help him look in the woods and mountains near Haverhill, New Hampshire, for clues to what happened to her.

Maura Murray, a 21-year-old nursing student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, disappeared on a cold and snowy night in February 2004. She was last known to be driving from Massachusetts through New Hampshire. It is still unclear where she was heading in her black 1996 Saturn.

The car was found abandoned, its front end crashed against a tree. It apparently had skidded off a road at a sharp curve.

Shortly after the accident, a passing bus driver stopped and asked Murray if she needed help. She said no.

Ten minutes later, police arrived. Inside the crumpled Saturn, they found some of Murray's belongings -- school books, running gear, snack foods and alcohol -- police won't say what kind.

But Murray was gone, along with her car keys and a backpack she always carried.

There was nothing to hint she'd be motivated to run away, according to her fiancé, William Rausch, and her father, Fred Murray.
Watch why this cold case is a true mystery »

go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/25/grace.coldcase.murray/index.html

VA and Louisiana State University join forces

Recent VA News Releases

To view and download VA news release, please visit the following
Internet address:
http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel



VA and Louisiana State University
Announce Site Selections for New Orleans Medical Center Projects

WASHINGTON (Nov. 25, 2008) - In a public event held today in New
Orleans, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the State of
Louisiana jointly announced the selection of adjacent downtown sites for
construction of their replacement medical center projects. The two
projects, called the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Louisiana
State University Academic Medical Center, restore greatly needed health
care capability lost in New Orleans during flooding after Hurricane
Katrina in late August 2005.

"Restoring a full capability medical center for our veterans in New
Orleans and southeastern Louisiana is one of the Secretary's highest
priorities," said Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gordon H.
Mansfield. "Site selection is a key milestone in the project delivery
process."

"VA selected the downtown site because it offers the best solution for
our veterans, today and into the future," Mansfield added. "The site,
located within a robust medical district with affiliate health care
teaching universities, promotes long term operational synergy and
efficiency. The selected site aligns with the City of New Orleans and
State of Louisiana Hurricane Katrina recovery and redevelopment plans."

An agreement between VA and the City of New Orleans obligates the city
to acquire the land for the new facility, prepare the site for
construction and turn over the site to VA within one year.

"I understand this site selection creates near term impact on the
directly affected and surrounding neighborhoods," Mansfield continued.

"We have been working cooperatively with federal, state, city and
neighborhood partners to develop a robust package of treatment measures
to mitigate the negative impacts and invest in new local opportunities."


"Constructing this state-of-the-art medical complex near downtown New
Orleans follows through on the Administration's commitment to fully
support recovery efforts," he said.

The announcement follows a nearly one-year process of extensive study of
site alternatives, including analysis of the potential impacts on the
environment and historically significant structures.

"Today is of great significance for the City of New Orleans and for the
veterans of the Gulf Coast. The announcement by my colleagues at the
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs brings to closure a collaborative
and inclusive process involving Federal, state and local government, as
well as stakeholders who determined the location of the new veterans
hospital," said retired Maj. Gen. Douglas O'Dell, federal coordinator
for Gulf Coast rebuilding.

"The hospital is a key component of the city's vision of a revitalized
downtown area and a world class medical campus," O'Dell added.

"Further, this decision advances the goal President Bush and Secretary
Peake established of better access to quality health care for the needs
of current and future veterans,"

Dr. John Lombardi, LSU System President, said that building these
hospitals in close proximity to each other assures the future of top
quality health care, research, and medical education not only for the
New Orleans area but for the entire state for many years to come. "This
is a major milestone in constructing these joint academic medical
centers that are destined to be models of health care reform for the
nation in creating thousands of jobs while delivering cost-efficient
medical treatment and disease management," he said.

New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin, who hosted today's news conference where
the announcement was made, said, "The new VA hospital in downtown New
Orleans will provide needed medical care for veterans throughout the
region and will serve as a key economic driver for our future. Along
with the new LSU hospital, it will serve as the centerpiece of our
biomedical district, generating thousands of jobs and enabling our city
to compete with communities that are known for their medical services
and research."

More information on the VA and LSU medical center projects is available
at http://www.valsumedcenters.com

Post-Combat Coping Methods Vary, Troops Say

Post-Combat Coping Methods Vary, Troops Say
By AmericasNewsTodayCom


By AmericasNewsToday.Org staff




Methods of coping with combat and its after effects vary as greatly as the effects themselves, six warriors participating in a conference panel in Washington said.

The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury hosted the "Warrior Resilience Conference: Partnership with the Line." Combat veterans who spoke at the conference described a range of effects and needs in becoming resilient.

Army Maj. Stephen Williams was the head nurse with an outpatient unit of the 3rd Medical Command’s 28th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad when the base was hit with mortars July 10.

Since then, Williams has dwelled not on what he saw or did that day, but on what he couldn’t do -- save his battle partner, Army Capt. Maria Ortiz.

"I couldn’t provide assistance to my comrade who was actually lying next to me and ended up passing away," said Williams, who was seriously wounded in his leg with a severed femoral artery.

Dealing with the reality that he couldn’t help Ortiz was just one piece of a larger puzzle for Williams. He also had to face how his injuries would affect him and his family. When he returned home to convalesce, he said, his young children wouldn’t touch him, for fear they would hurt him.

"In hindsight, I didn’t know enough to say, ‘Hey, we need to talk to them more [deeply] on this," he said. "So, I think there’s something more that we could do for the families out there [to] let them come to grips with these situations."

An Army couple at the conference, the Blackledges, also know how crucial it is to have family support during the healing process and just how important it is to come to grips with what’s happened.
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Young Veteran fights against homelessness and PTSD

A young Vets fight against homelessness
WTNH - New Haven,CT,USA


Young Vet fights against
homelessness
Last Edited: Tuesday, 25 Nov 2008, 12:06 AM EST
Created On: Monday, 24 Nov 2008, 11:10 PM EST

Alan Cohn
Bridgeport (WTNH) - One young solider says his life was going well until he signed up to serve his country. After surviving the danger of war, he came back to the states and found his real battle is surviving a new reality of homelessness.

It's estimated about 300,000 service members who served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 suffer from Post Traumatic Stress. And, a growing number of them are winding up on the street. One of them is named Joe Johnson.

It took a little more than a year. Johnson went from returning hero, greeted by Governor Jodi Rell when his National Guard Unit returned home, to down on his luck and out on the street.

"It's difficult coming back from that situation and never thinking you're going to be homeless at some point and there it happens," he said.

Johnson was a member of the Branford-based Delta Company, of the 102nd Infantry, spending a year in Afghanistan just steps from Pakistani border.

"A 107 rocket flew over my head 20 feet up in the air and exploded about 50 feet behind me," Johnson said. "That was a scary moment; the scariest moment of my life."

It was a year he had one foot on the battlefield and one foot at home.

"The phone calls were very difficult," Johnson said. "My three-year-old daughter over there, 'Daddy when are you coming home from Afghanistan? I want you home daddy.'"

click link for more

PTSD:General's story highlights combat stress

Gen. Carter Ham, to call him a hero would be putting it mildly. He's a hero to the troops not just because he's a high ranking officer, but because he is willing to speak out on having PTSD. That is a kind of courage very few in his position are willing to do.

When men like my husband came home from Vietnam, they knew something had changed inside of them but they didn't know what it was. They suffered in silence just as generations before them suffered. When PTSD was first used in 1976 with a study commissioned by the DAV, news was slowly reaching the veterans. While they fought to have it recognized as wound caused by their service, it was very difficult to talk about. The perception that there was something wrong with them kept too many from even seeking help to heal.

After 26 years of doing outreach work and 24 years of marriage, my husband finally reached the point when he was ready for me to actually use my married legal name. Up until now it was almost as if he was ashamed to be wounded. Imagine that! What gave him the comfort was not anything I did. It came from seeing reports on the news and people he knows coming out, talking about it without any shame whatsoever. Hearing the courageous words from others is what brought him peace with PTSD. Because of great care from the VA, after a long battle with them, he's living a life instead of just existing in one slowly dying inside.

General Ham does not realize what he's just done by being willing to talk about this wound and normalize it. He's normal but combat and all other trauma related events are not part of normal life. It's all a normal reaction to abnormal events. Simple as that.

While there are still some commanders in the military today dismissing PTSD, calling it anything other than what it is, still exist and injure their troops, General Ham has shown what true care and leadership is. Plan on seeing a lot more veterans coming forward seeking help because of General Ham.

Senior Chaplain Kathie "Costos" DiCesare
International Fellowship of Chaplains
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.com coming soon!
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

Then-Col. Gary Patton salutes during a service for Staff Sgt. Thomas Vitagliano, Pfc. George Geer and Pfc. Jesus Fonseca. The men died Jan. 17, 2005, in Ramadi.
By Joe Raedle, Getty Images

General's story highlights combat stress
USA Today - USA

By Tom Vanden Brook

Gen. Carter Ham was among the best of the best — tough, smart and strong — an elite soldier in a battle-hardened Army. At the Pentagon, his star was rising.

In Iraq, he was in command in the north during the early part of the war, when the insurgency became more aggressive. Shortly before he was to return home, on Dec. 21, 2004, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mess hall at a U.S. military base near Mosul and killed 22 people, including 14 U.S. troops. Ham arrived at the scene 20 minutes later to find the devastation.

When Ham returned from Mosul to Fort Lewis, Wash., in February 2005, something in the affable officer was missing. Loud noises startled him. Sleep didn't come easily.

"When he came back, all of him didn't come back. … Pieces of him the way he used to be were perhaps left back there," says his wife, Christi. "I didn't get the whole guy I'd sent away."

Today, Ham, 56, is one of only 12 four-star generals in the Army. He commands all U.S. soldiers in Europe. The stress of his combat service could have derailed his career, but Ham says he realized that he needed help transitioning from life on the battlefields of Iraq to the halls of power at the Pentagon. So he sought screening for post-traumatic stress and got counseling from a chaplain. That helped him "get realigned," he says.

"You need somebody to assure you that it's not abnormal," Ham says. "It's not abnormal to have difficulty sleeping. It's not abnormal to be jumpy at loud sounds. It's not abnormal to find yourself with mood swings at seemingly trivial matters. More than anything else, just to be able to say that out loud."

The willingness of Ham, one of the military's top officers, to speak candidly with USA TODAY for the first time about post-traumatic stress represents a tectonic shift for a military system in which seeking such help has long been seen as a sign of weakness.

It's also a recognition of the seriousness of combat stress, which can often worsen to become post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Sgt 1st Class Miguel A. Wilson died while trying to save another soldier

DoD Identifies Army Casualty


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

Sgt 1st Class Miguel A. Wilson, 36, of Bonham, Texas, died Nov. 21 in Abu Sayf, Iraq, of injuries sustained during a rescue attempt of another soldier while their unit was conducting a dismounted reconnaissance mission. He was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas.

The incident remains under investigation.

http://icasualties.org/oif/

IIT student died after doing 'whippets'

IIT student died after doing 'whippets'

New details in IIT student's death
November 24, 2008 at 12:10 PM Comments (0)
The 19-year-old Illinois Institute of Technology student who was found dead in his fraternity house Saturday died of asphyxia from inhaling nitrous oxide from a whipped cream container, authorities said today.

The body of Benjamin Collen, a sophomore biomedical engineering major from Lincolnwood, was discovered Saturday night in a storage room in the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity house on campus.

Small cylinders containing nitrous oxide from whipped cream containers, known casually as "whippets," were found near Collen's body, said Mitra Kalelkar, Cook County deputy chief medical examiner.

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Wounded told "It's not a combat wound."

With so many in congress also being lawyers, it boggles the mind how they can write these rules without understanding what the language they choose actually means and how it will be interpreted.

This is not the first time they did something because it sounded good at the time only to but our veterans through torture. In the 90's they managed to come up with a rule to allow the VA to collect for any treatments they did for "non-service connected" medical needs. That sounded good but what this rule allowed was for veterans with a claim tied up or on appeal to be charged for even conditions caused by their service. A PTSD veteran with a claim tied up is charged for his treatment and tests until the claim is approved. A veteran with Agent Orange poisoning is charged for his treatments until he can prove it happened because of his/her service. The list goes on and on because the congress did not understand the way the VA works. Any claim that is not approved as "service connected" is not service connected until they give the claim their stamp of approval. The veteran is charged until they prove it because no one paid attention.

Now our new veterans are being wounded in rollovers and accidents, but they are told that was not combat related. Excuse me! If it happened in Iraq or Afghanistan, were they there on vacation? These are military campaigns for Heaven's sake! A roadside bomb blows up and a soldier ends up with TBI from the blast and it's pretty much up in the air if the DOD regards it as "combat" wound.

Injured veterans engaged in new combat
Dixon Family
Marine Cpl. James Dixon in Iraq.
In a little-noticed regulation change, the Pentagon's definition of combat-related disabilities is narrowed, costing some wounded veterans thousands of dollars in lost benefits.
By David Zucchino
5:56 PM PST, November 24, 2008
Marine Cpl. James Dixon was wounded twice in Iraq -- by a roadside bomb and a land mine. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, a concussion, a dislocated hip and hearing loss. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Army Sgt. Lori Meshell shattered a hip and crushed her back and knees while diving for cover during a mortar attack in Iraq. She has undergone a hip replacement and knee reconstruction and needs at least three more surgeries.


In each case, the Pentagon ruled that their disabilities were not combat-related.

In a little-noticed regulation change in March, the military's definition of combat-related disabilities was narrowed, costing some injured veterans thousands of dollars in lost benefits -- and triggering outrage from veterans' advocacy groups.

The Pentagon said the change was consistent with Congress' intent when it passed a "wounded warrior" law in January. Narrowing the combat-related definition was necessary to preserve the "special distinction for those who incur disabilities while participating in the risk of combat, in contrast with those injured otherwise," William J. Carr, deputy undersecretary of Defense, wrote in a letter to the 1.3-million-member Disabled American Veterans.


The group, which has called the policy revision a "shocking level of disrespect for those who stood in harm's way," is lobbying to have the change rescinded.
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Crowd gathers to turn scrawlings of hate into messages of hope

"This is a place where intolerance is not tolerated," Malmberg said.

Crowd gathers to turn scrawlings of hate into messages of hope
About 200 join to show support of Newton temple
By John S. Forrester
Globe Correspondent / November 24, 2008
NEWTON - Responding to swastikas spray-painted outside two places of worship last week, about 200 people gathered outside Temple Shalom in Newton yesterday to condemn the incidents and spread a message of hope and tolerance.

A swastika was found on a sign outside Temple Shalom on Nov. 15 as members arrived for a bar mitzvah and a bat mitzvah, rites of adulthood for a boy and girl. Another swastika was found Wednesday on a curb outside of Eliot Church, a United Church of Christ affiliate.

"We've wiped away the hateful symbol, but it is our presence here as one community that enables us to say no to hate," said Rabbi Eric Gurvis of Temple Shalom, as he began yesterday's rally.

Gurvis thanked the Newton Police Department, residents, and community leaders for their support after the vandalism.

"I know that out of something very bad, we're going to make something good," said Newton Mayor David Cohen. Addressing residents' potential safety concerns, Cohen urged the crowd not to be afraid and "to be whoever you are."

"We have to reaffirm our commitment to diversity," he said.

Reverend Richard Malmberg of the Second Church in Newton, former chairman of the Newton Interfaith Clergy Association, highlighted his church's more than 50-year relationship with Temple Shalom and denounced the painting of the swastika on the sign as a "cowardly and vulgar act of vandalism."

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