Wounded honored at ‘Heroes’ ball
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jan 21, 2009 17:36:05 EST
From folk singers “Peter, Paul and Ben Vereen,” to funk icon George Clinton with Sly Stone, to Latin American Idol Carlos Pena — and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs — the thanks rolled in Tuesday night to wounded troops and their families honored at the Heroes Red, White and Blue Inaugural Ball.
About 300 troops from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and the National Naval Medical Center in nearby Bethesda, Md., were VIPs at the event, held at the Warner Theatre in downtown Washington.
Peter and Paul didn’t bring Mary, who is recuperating from an illness, so actor Ben Vereen filled in for her on the songs “Blowing in the Wind” and “This Land is Your Land.”
George Clinton brought on rarely seen Sly Stone with his group, and was a big hit with the troops, many of whom flocked forward to the stage.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/01/military_heroes_ball_012109w/
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Shinseki Sworn In, Vows 21st Century Service to Veterans
Recent VA News Releases
To view and download VA news release, please visit the following
Internet address:
http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel
Shinseki Sworn In, Vows 21st Century Service to Veterans
WASHINGTON (Jan. 21, 2009) - Retired Army Gen. Eric K. Shinseki took the
oath of office today as the Nation's seventh Secretary of Veterans
Affairs, assuming the leadership of the Department of Veterans Affairs
following Tuesday's confirmation by the Senate.
"The overriding challenge I am addressing from my first day in office is
to make the Department of Veterans Affairs a 21st century organization
focused on the Nation's Veterans as its clients," Shinseki said.
Shinseki plans to develop a 2010 budget within his first 90 days that
realizes the vision of President Obama to transform VA into an
organization that is people-centric, results-driven and forward-looking.
Key issues on his agenda include smooth activation of an enhanced GI
Bill education benefit that eligible Veterans can begin using next fall,
streamlining the disability claims system, leveraging information
technology to accelerate and modernize services, and opening VA's health
care system to Veterans previously unable to enroll in it, while
facilitating access for returning Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans.
Shinseki, a former Army Chief of Staff, takes the reins of a
284,000-employee organization delivering health care and financial
benefits to millions of Veterans and survivors under a $98 billion
budget authorized this year through networks of regional benefits
offices and health care facilities from coast to coast.
Born in 1942 on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, Shinseki graduated from the
U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1965. He served two
combat tours and was wounded in action in Vietnam. He served with
distinction in Europe, the Pacific and stateside, eventually becoming
the Army's senior leader from June 1999 to June 2003.
Retired from military service in August 2003, Shinseki's military
decorations include three Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts.
Shinseki succeeds Dr. James B. Peake as Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
To view and download VA news release, please visit the following
Internet address:
http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel
Shinseki Sworn In, Vows 21st Century Service to Veterans
WASHINGTON (Jan. 21, 2009) - Retired Army Gen. Eric K. Shinseki took the
oath of office today as the Nation's seventh Secretary of Veterans
Affairs, assuming the leadership of the Department of Veterans Affairs
following Tuesday's confirmation by the Senate.
"The overriding challenge I am addressing from my first day in office is
to make the Department of Veterans Affairs a 21st century organization
focused on the Nation's Veterans as its clients," Shinseki said.
Shinseki plans to develop a 2010 budget within his first 90 days that
realizes the vision of President Obama to transform VA into an
organization that is people-centric, results-driven and forward-looking.
Key issues on his agenda include smooth activation of an enhanced GI
Bill education benefit that eligible Veterans can begin using next fall,
streamlining the disability claims system, leveraging information
technology to accelerate and modernize services, and opening VA's health
care system to Veterans previously unable to enroll in it, while
facilitating access for returning Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans.
Shinseki, a former Army Chief of Staff, takes the reins of a
284,000-employee organization delivering health care and financial
benefits to millions of Veterans and survivors under a $98 billion
budget authorized this year through networks of regional benefits
offices and health care facilities from coast to coast.
Born in 1942 on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, Shinseki graduated from the
U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1965. He served two
combat tours and was wounded in action in Vietnam. He served with
distinction in Europe, the Pacific and stateside, eventually becoming
the Army's senior leader from June 1999 to June 2003.
Retired from military service in August 2003, Shinseki's military
decorations include three Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts.
Shinseki succeeds Dr. James B. Peake as Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
Critics hit Army's treatment of drug abuse
Critics hit Army's treatment of drug abuse
Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA
By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. -- Spec. Jeremiah Thomson didn't know what was worse: excruciating back pain from a combat explosion in Baghdad or the prescription drug addiction he developed trying to ease the suffering once home.
The Army was quick to prescribe Percocet, Vicodin, Oxycontin and similarly powerful painkillers to Thomson and other injured soldiers at Fort Leonard Wood, Thomson testified in a court-martial hearing. He's now serving a three-year sentence for illegally buying prescription drugs - the sellers included a former commanding officer in Iraq - and selling the pills to eight other soldiers.
As more troops return home with war injuries, the Army is prescribing more pain medication to treat those wounds. But a military system that relies on discipline as well as treatment is drawing fire from some prominent critics, including those inside the system.
"It's a terrible problem," said Barbara McDonald, a civilian social worker and Army drug abuse counselor, describing a recent surge in prescription drug abuse and the Army's handling of the problem.
Legal painkiller use by injured troops has increased nearly 70 percent since the start of the Iraq war six years ago, according to Army records. Surveys show that more soldiers are struggling with prescription drug addiction - and seeking help from Army doctors and counselors.
click link for more
Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA
By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. -- Spec. Jeremiah Thomson didn't know what was worse: excruciating back pain from a combat explosion in Baghdad or the prescription drug addiction he developed trying to ease the suffering once home.
The Army was quick to prescribe Percocet, Vicodin, Oxycontin and similarly powerful painkillers to Thomson and other injured soldiers at Fort Leonard Wood, Thomson testified in a court-martial hearing. He's now serving a three-year sentence for illegally buying prescription drugs - the sellers included a former commanding officer in Iraq - and selling the pills to eight other soldiers.
As more troops return home with war injuries, the Army is prescribing more pain medication to treat those wounds. But a military system that relies on discipline as well as treatment is drawing fire from some prominent critics, including those inside the system.
"It's a terrible problem," said Barbara McDonald, a civilian social worker and Army drug abuse counselor, describing a recent surge in prescription drug abuse and the Army's handling of the problem.
Legal painkiller use by injured troops has increased nearly 70 percent since the start of the Iraq war six years ago, according to Army records. Surveys show that more soldiers are struggling with prescription drug addiction - and seeking help from Army doctors and counselors.
click link for more
Memorial for fallen Iraq soldier stolen in Jones Creek Texas
Bronzed memorial to soldier stolen
Houston Chronicle - United States
JONES CREEK, Texas — A memorial that topped the grave of a 21-year-old soldier killed in Iraq two years ago has been stolen.
Thieves last week hauled away a battle cross created for Cody Ford's grave — his bronzed jump boots, bronzed assault rife and a bronzed helmet like the one he wore in Iraq. Authorities said even the bronzed base that supported the battle cross in Gulf Prairie Cemetery was stolen.
"I don't know if they hated the family that much, or if they hated Cody that much — why would you do something like that?" said Ford's father, Philip Ford.
The bronzed boots are the same jump boots that Cody Ford, a U.S. Army specialist and member of the 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry (Airborne), wore when he graduated from paratrooper school. The boots were filled with concrete before they were mounted on his grave.
The thieves also kicked around flowers and other items at the grave and stole the soldier's dog tags.
click link for more
Houston Chronicle - United States
JONES CREEK, Texas — A memorial that topped the grave of a 21-year-old soldier killed in Iraq two years ago has been stolen.
Thieves last week hauled away a battle cross created for Cody Ford's grave — his bronzed jump boots, bronzed assault rife and a bronzed helmet like the one he wore in Iraq. Authorities said even the bronzed base that supported the battle cross in Gulf Prairie Cemetery was stolen.
"I don't know if they hated the family that much, or if they hated Cody that much — why would you do something like that?" said Ford's father, Philip Ford.
The bronzed boots are the same jump boots that Cody Ford, a U.S. Army specialist and member of the 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry (Airborne), wore when he graduated from paratrooper school. The boots were filled with concrete before they were mounted on his grave.
The thieves also kicked around flowers and other items at the grave and stole the soldier's dog tags.
click link for more
Florida 81-year-old community theater actor was shot in the head
Sarasota actor injured by loaded gun during rehersal
Reported by: Sunde Farquhar
Email: sfarquhar@abcactionnews.com
Last Update: 9:30 am
BRADENTON, FL -- An actor with the Sarasota Senior Theater was hospitalized Monday night, after a bullet grazed his ear during a play rehearsal.
Bradenton police say Bill Bordy had borrowed a .32-caliber Smith and Wesson from a cast member to use in a scene of "Of Mice and Men." Bordy was following the play's script when he pointed the gun at the back of the head of another actor.
He pulled the trigger and a bullet flew out of the gun, grazing actor, Fred Kellerman in the left ear.
Kellerman was taken to Manatee Memorial Hospital and was in stable condition Monday night.
click link for more
Reported by: Sunde Farquhar
Email: sfarquhar@abcactionnews.com
Last Update: 9:30 am
BRADENTON, FL -- An actor with the Sarasota Senior Theater was hospitalized Monday night, after a bullet grazed his ear during a play rehearsal.
Bradenton police say Bill Bordy had borrowed a .32-caliber Smith and Wesson from a cast member to use in a scene of "Of Mice and Men." Bordy was following the play's script when he pointed the gun at the back of the head of another actor.
He pulled the trigger and a bullet flew out of the gun, grazing actor, Fred Kellerman in the left ear.
Kellerman was taken to Manatee Memorial Hospital and was in stable condition Monday night.
click link for more
KBR, Indiana National Guard and Lung Cancer?
Iraq Veterans Poisoned: War Contractors Knew But Concealed
Dr. Phillip Leveque Salem-News.com
Phillip Leveque has spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Physician, Pharmacologist and Toxicologist.
(MOLALLA, Ore.) - The Oregonian Newspaper headlined Oregon Troops exposed to toxic chemicals by Julie Sullivan January 9th 2009. She wrote that KBR, a Haliburton company, disregarded and downplayed the extreme danger especially of lung cancer.
The chemical was Hexavalent Chromium Salts best exemplified by various Dichromate salts usually used to remove ALL traces of organic material by chemically burning them from any other material.
This corrosive action also acts on human skin where it causes severe irritation and especially the nose, trachea and lungs where it causes nosebleeds, coughing, pain on breathing and headaches, but especially lung cancer.
click link for more
Dr. Phillip Leveque Salem-News.com
Phillip Leveque has spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Physician, Pharmacologist and Toxicologist.
(MOLALLA, Ore.) - The Oregonian Newspaper headlined Oregon Troops exposed to toxic chemicals by Julie Sullivan January 9th 2009. She wrote that KBR, a Haliburton company, disregarded and downplayed the extreme danger especially of lung cancer.
The chemical was Hexavalent Chromium Salts best exemplified by various Dichromate salts usually used to remove ALL traces of organic material by chemically burning them from any other material.
This corrosive action also acts on human skin where it causes severe irritation and especially the nose, trachea and lungs where it causes nosebleeds, coughing, pain on breathing and headaches, but especially lung cancer.
click link for more
Suicide prevention bill prevents veterans from getting help
by
Chaplain Kathie
I did a presentation the other day for a group of veterans about PTSD. After I was done talking there was plenty of time for questions. The question most on their minds was the right to carry a gun at the same time they were getting help.
The Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Bill is a wonderful thing, but yet again Congress was not thinking. What this ended up doing is raise the awareness PTSD veterans need help at the same time they were begin deterred from getting it.
Would you want a PTSD veteran needing help with a gun and getting it, or would you want one with a gun and not getting it? Seems to be the question our elected should have been asking before they wrote it the way they did.
While guns are the means of choice when it comes to suicide, and there is the domestic violence issue, they can and do find other ways. When they are trained to go into combat, they are trained to rely on their weapon as their friend. When they come home with the war inside of them, many want that friend right by their side. Many veterans with PTSD go into police and defense jobs. Taking away their gun is taking away their incomes. This leaves us with a huge problem on top of the one we've had for too many years. At the same time they hear, "go for help to heal" they are told "your right to carry a gun will go away" if you do. Ever tell a combat veteran they are no longer able to carry a gun when they did it in combat?
There is no easy answer on this when it comes to preventing suicides and domestic violence when the root cause is PTSD. Awareness is wonderful and much more of it needs to be done when two thirds of the American public have no clue what it is. Educating the communities around the nation is wonderful as well as opening Veterans' Centers but if you do not get them to go for help, none of it will do much good at all.
If this part of the bill is not removed then we will keep losing more and more veterans to suicide and see their lives slip away. One more thing if you still don't understand what this did. Some troops deployed into Iraq and Afghanistan have PTSD. They have guns. Some police officers have PTSD and serve on the streets everyday. They have guns. Do you think they could do their jobs without them? Do you see them all committing suicide or domestic violence with them? Taking away guns when they seek help is an easy answer to a very complex problem and was in fact the wrong answer.
I was worried about this and heard from a lot of veterans when the bill was signed. It took a good friend of mine to point this issue out when I was thinking the other way. Then more and more veterans contacted me with this concern. Now, I know for sure, it has kept them from getting help. Most of the veterans said it was their number one reason for not going for help. They've come to terms with the stigma being stupid now they have to deal with a catch in a bill to help them being stupid.
Write to your congressmen and have them get this right right now please. They've already waited long enough to begin the healing.
Oregon moves to curb veterans' suicides
State moves to curb veterans' suicides
Associated Press - January 20, 2009 1:15 PM ET
ALBANY, Ore. (AP) - Oregon is moving to curb the rising number of suicides among the state's veterans. The director of the Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs, Jim Willis, says his agency was launching a television and print campaign to publicize a suicide-prevention lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK.
Willis said anyone should call who suspects a veteran is considering suicide.
Oregon ranks 13th in the nation for calls on the nationally run help line but is 37th in population.
click link for more
Associated Press - January 20, 2009 1:15 PM ET
ALBANY, Ore. (AP) - Oregon is moving to curb the rising number of suicides among the state's veterans. The director of the Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs, Jim Willis, says his agency was launching a television and print campaign to publicize a suicide-prevention lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK.
Willis said anyone should call who suspects a veteran is considering suicide.
Oregon ranks 13th in the nation for calls on the nationally run help line but is 37th in population.
click link for more
Decorated Iraq Veteran dies in standoff after sheriff's deputies
One more case of not enough being done fast enough to save their lives.
Suicide victim in standoff was vet, soldier at Carson
January 20, 2009 - 8:16 PM
TOM ROEDER and CARLYN RAY MITCHELL
THE GAZETTE
The man who shot himself to death during a standoff with El Paso County sheriff's deputies early Saturday was identified Tuesday as Army Spc. Larry Applegate, 27, a decorated Iraq war veteran stationed at Fort Carson.
Deputies responded to a domestic violence call at Applegate's home, 6830 Harding Drive, late Friday and found Applegate's wife outside saying her husband was in the house firing rifles.
The gunfire continued for the better part of an hour and when it ended, the SWAT team found Applegate dead inside.
Applegate, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., was a twice-deployed Iraq war veteran awarded the Purple Heart and Army Commendation Medal with Valor.
He joined the Army in 2004.
The suicide left Fort Carson officials grieving and looking for answers, the post's commander, Maj. Gen. Mark Graham said Tuesday night.
Graham, who lost a son to suicide has been a leading proponent of Army suicide-prevention efforts and is hosting a pilot program for prevention training at the post this week.
"We have to let them know that it's a sign of strength not weakness to come forward and seek help," he said.
The soldier was in the post's Warrior Transition Unit, which is designed to assist soldiers with war-related medical or mental health problems.
"He was a good, young soldier," Graham said. "Just a good young soldier. It's tragic. We're all taking it hard." click link for more
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
In Afghanistan, Illinois Guard troops soak up historic moment
In Afghanistan, Illinois Guard troops soak up historic moment
By Kim Barker Tribune correspondent
3:57 PM CST, January 20, 2009
KABUL, Afghanistan - For two hours Tuesday night, the war on terror paused here, a brief moment when most soldiers in the Camp Phoenix cafeteria watched TV, ate cake decorated with a presidential seal and gave a standing ovation to their new commander in chief.
President Barack Obama was, after all, one of them, a man who had made Illinois his home, even if he wasn't born there. And so the room of 200 people, mostly soldiers from the recently deployed Illinois National Guard, erupted several times during the special inauguration viewing, shown on a large TV in the mess hall.
They are at the center of one of the biggest foreign policy challenges facing the new administration. Obama has said the real front line of the war on terror is in Afghanistan and Pakistan, not Iraq, and as many as 30,000 new U.S. troops will be sent to Afghanistan in the coming months, almost doubling the U.S. forces in the country.
"We've been excited all day," said Spec. Tiffany Givens, 22, a college student from Chicago's West Side, who shouted "Go-Bama, Go-Bama" when Obama first appeared on TV. "It's even better being in Afghanistan, because at least here, we're doing something positive."
In recent years, Taliban-led insurgents have gained strength in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Last year was the deadliest for U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan since the 2001 ouster of the Taliban, who are blamed for sheltering Al Qaeda leaders after the Sept. 11 attacks.
About 3,000 National Guard troops from Illinois, the largest deployment since World War II, arrived in Afghanistan recently to train Afghan police and soldiers.
Already, there have been casualties. Two soldiers died in a September blast; another died in an October suicide bombing. On Saturday, a suicide attacker injured five Illinois soldiers near a base in Kabul, one seriously. Another U.S. service member was killed; another injured.
click link for more
By Kim Barker Tribune correspondent
3:57 PM CST, January 20, 2009
KABUL, Afghanistan - For two hours Tuesday night, the war on terror paused here, a brief moment when most soldiers in the Camp Phoenix cafeteria watched TV, ate cake decorated with a presidential seal and gave a standing ovation to their new commander in chief.
President Barack Obama was, after all, one of them, a man who had made Illinois his home, even if he wasn't born there. And so the room of 200 people, mostly soldiers from the recently deployed Illinois National Guard, erupted several times during the special inauguration viewing, shown on a large TV in the mess hall.
They are at the center of one of the biggest foreign policy challenges facing the new administration. Obama has said the real front line of the war on terror is in Afghanistan and Pakistan, not Iraq, and as many as 30,000 new U.S. troops will be sent to Afghanistan in the coming months, almost doubling the U.S. forces in the country.
"We've been excited all day," said Spec. Tiffany Givens, 22, a college student from Chicago's West Side, who shouted "Go-Bama, Go-Bama" when Obama first appeared on TV. "It's even better being in Afghanistan, because at least here, we're doing something positive."
In recent years, Taliban-led insurgents have gained strength in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Last year was the deadliest for U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan since the 2001 ouster of the Taliban, who are blamed for sheltering Al Qaeda leaders after the Sept. 11 attacks.
About 3,000 National Guard troops from Illinois, the largest deployment since World War II, arrived in Afghanistan recently to train Afghan police and soldiers.
Already, there have been casualties. Two soldiers died in a September blast; another died in an October suicide bombing. On Saturday, a suicide attacker injured five Illinois soldiers near a base in Kabul, one seriously. Another U.S. service member was killed; another injured.
click link for more
Troops in Iraq cry, cheer for inauguration
Maya Alleruzzo / The Associated Press Command Sgt. Maj. Julia Kelley, left, of the 229th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, weeps as she watches the inauguration of President Barack Obama at Camp Liberty in Baghdad on Jan. 20.
Troops in Iraq cry, cheer for inauguration
By Maya Alleruzzo - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jan 20, 2009 18:51:00 EST
CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq — Army Sgt. James Bishop wiped away tears while he watched Barack Obama take the presidential oath Tuesday and wished his mother had lived to see a fellow black assume their nation’s highest office.
“My mother always wanted to be here,” said Bishop, 39, from Washington, D.C., who watched the ceremony on TV at Camp Liberty on the western edge of Baghdad.
“She always wanted this to happen, and she said it was going to happen one day,” he added. “Unfortunately, she passed before this time came.”
Across Iraq, many of the 140,000 U.S. military personnel watched the inaugural ceremony on television sets in dining halls and break rooms or over the Web at large installations with Internet service.
click link for more
Non-combat death in Afghanistan
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Staff SSgt. Joshua R. Townsend, 30, of Solvang , Calif. , died Jan. 16 in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan , of injuries sustained in a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg , N.C.
The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.
Marines buy cows for widows in Fallujah
Marines trying dairy diplomacy around war-torn Fallujah
Cow purchases may help rebuild industry in Iraq
By Tony Perry
Los Angeles Times / January 18, 2009
ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq - As US forces work to revive Iraq's tattered farming economy, they seem to have found an effective new weapon: cows.
At the suggestion of an Iraqi women's group, the Marine Corps recently bought 50 cows for 50 Iraqi widows in the farm belt around Fallujah, once the insurgent capital of war-torn Anbar province.
The cow purchase is seen as a small step toward reestablishing Iraq's once-thriving dairy industry, as well as a way to help women and children hurt by the frequent failure of the Iraqi government to provide the pensions that Iraqi law promises to widows.
The early sign is that the program is working.
click link for more
linked from
http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx
Cow purchases may help rebuild industry in Iraq
By Tony Perry
Los Angeles Times / January 18, 2009
ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq - As US forces work to revive Iraq's tattered farming economy, they seem to have found an effective new weapon: cows.
At the suggestion of an Iraqi women's group, the Marine Corps recently bought 50 cows for 50 Iraqi widows in the farm belt around Fallujah, once the insurgent capital of war-torn Anbar province.
The cow purchase is seen as a small step toward reestablishing Iraq's once-thriving dairy industry, as well as a way to help women and children hurt by the frequent failure of the Iraqi government to provide the pensions that Iraqi law promises to widows.
The early sign is that the program is working.
click link for more
linked from
http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx
Airman from MacDill Air Force Base dies in Iraq
DoD Identifies Air Force Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of an Airman who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Senior Airman Omar J. McKnight, 22, of Marrero, La., died Jan 17 as a result of a non-hostile incident in Balad, Iraq. He was assigned to the 6th Security Forces Squadron, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.
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