Investigator: Soldier's electrocution 'negligent homicide'
Story Highlights
Manner of death should be changed from "accidental," Army investigator writes
U.S. soldier electrocuted while showering at his base in Iraq in 2008
Investigator: Contractor didn't ensure electricians, plumbers were qualified
No charges have been filed; soldier's family is suing contractor
From Scott Bronstein and Abbie Boudreau
CNN Special Investigations Unit
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Division investigator has recommended changing the official manner of death for a soldier electrocuted while showering at his base in Iraq from "accidental" to "negligent homicide," according to an e-mail from the investigator obtained by CNN.
The investigator blames KBR, the largest U.S. contractor in Iraq, and two KBR supervisors for the incident, saying there is "credible information ... they failed to ensure that work was being done by qualified electricians and plumbers, and to inspect the work that was being conducted."
The e-mail, written late last year, says the investigation report was being reviewed by CID headquarters for a legal opinion to determine probable cause before the case could be referred to the military court system or the Department of Justice for possible action. No charges have been filed.
Sgt. Ryan Maseth's manner of death has not officially been changed, CID spokesman Christopher Grey told CNN.
click link for more
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Tragedy hits Virginia Tech again, student decapitated
Killer decapitates Va. Tech student, police say
Story Highlights
Killing was first on campus since gunman killed 32 on April 16, 2007
Victim Xin Yang, a graduate student from Beijing, knew accused killer, police say
Haiyang Zhu, 25, taken into custody; he is charged with first-degree murder
Attack took place at restaurant in Graduate Life Center
(CNN) -- A female graduate student at Virginia Tech was killed Wednesday night when a man she knew attacked her with a knife and decapitated her, a school spokesman said.
Virginia Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski said Thursday that Xin Yang's killing was the first on the campus since April 16, 2007, when a shooter killed 32 people before turning a gun on himself.
Yang, 22, from Beijing, China, was killed at the Au Bon Pain restaurant in the Graduate Life Center at around 7 p.m., school spokesman Larry Hincker said in a written statement.
Campus police took Haiyang Zhu, 25, into custody at the scene. The Ningbo, China, native has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bail at a local jail, Hincker said.
Zhu did not say anything to the arresting officers, said campus police Chief Wendell Flinchum.
click link for more
Donations to veterans groups doubted after donations vanish
The American people do care about veterans. This is obvious every time they read a report on how the VA fails veterans. It's obvious when group after group steps up to pick up where the VA fails. This happens all across the nation. What the American people cannot tolerate more than the failure of the VA is organizations claiming to put veterans first but end up just using veterans for personal gain. This angers them more than anything else but it's not just about the group that did the swindle. Oh no, it hurts the donations for all groups. It makes people think twice about trusting anyone with their donations.
Dante Hayes raised a lot of money when he claimed to be putting on the Veterans Ball. The money vanished and so did he. We don't know what happened but according to this report, he was claiming all systems go up until people were waiting to hear about travel arrangements to the ball. The hotel had not been paid, so they naturally canceled the event. How do you cancel a reputation? How do you cancel the connect the American people have to veterans? How do you cancel the emotional cost this placed on veterans? Can we ever come close to making any of this up to them above all? Hayes did a lot more damage than to the people who donated money to him and paid for tickets. He did damage to every organizations out there that really does put veterans first.
Dante Hayes raised a lot of money when he claimed to be putting on the Veterans Ball. The money vanished and so did he. We don't know what happened but according to this report, he was claiming all systems go up until people were waiting to hear about travel arrangements to the ball. The hotel had not been paid, so they naturally canceled the event. How do you cancel a reputation? How do you cancel the connect the American people have to veterans? How do you cancel the emotional cost this placed on veterans? Can we ever come close to making any of this up to them above all? Hayes did a lot more damage than to the people who donated money to him and paid for tickets. He did damage to every organizations out there that really does put veterans first.
Missing promoter leaves ball sponsors angry
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jan 22, 2009 15:20:46 EST
The promoter who failed to hold a promised Veterans Inaugural Ball on Tuesday has left behind a trail of angry corporate sponsors and charities who contributed to the event, disappointed performers who were booked for entertainment, and 17 to 25 beauty queens who were told they would be ambassadors for their states at the ball and help raise up to $10 million for veterans’ causes.
Debbie Slater, mother of 17-year-old Miss Teen Montana Galaxy Nikki Slater, said in a Wednesday interview that her daughter had told all of her friends she was coming to Washington for the inaugural, and there even was an article about the trip in a local newspaper.
In e-mails, promoter Dante Hayes promised three or four “action-filled” days highlighted by the black-tie ball that Obama supposedly would visit because veterans were such an important cause.
“Honestly, if a veterans’ organization contacted me right now asking for my support, I wouldn’t trust them because of this experience,” Slater said, adding that her family had spent money buying gowns and tuxedos for the many events and had even made a contribution to the cause because they were such big believers. click link for more
USA Together lets you directly help a veteran, one at a time
USA Together/
You've served your country well, now allow your country to give back to you.
At USA Together, our mission is to use the power of the Internet to help the men and women of the US military who have suffered life-altering injuries in service to their country.
By publishing specific needs for goods, financial assistance and services, we hope to connect injured service members and their families with those who are willing and able to assist them.
We are a group of people, some with military background, others without, that have come together to help this amazing group of Americans.
We are based in Silicon Valley and think that there is a power that the internet can bring to solving this problem.
We have no political, religious or other affiliation or agenda and represent a variety of backgrounds.
We believe that all who have served our country in the military have shown a level of care and commitment to America that is to be respected and commended. Those who have gotten injured during that service deserve a corresponding level of care and commitment from their fellow citizens. That is the social contract that we all have with those who serve. This is our way to support the troops.
We believe that there is a desire on the part of many Americans to help, but they just don't know how. This project is designed to allow each person to find someone they can help in a way that suits them. We think that people helping each other directly has a power and sense of community that is unique.
We think this is the right thing to do.
The USAtogether team
Dave Mahler - Founder and President of USA Together
Dave has been involved in high technology business in silicon valley since 1978. Dave was most recently a venture consultant for Accel Partners, where he spent 4 years evaluating and working with startups and has been a Board Director on a number of them. He has served as Interim CEO at several startups during their venture investment period. Prior to joining Accel, Dave co-founded Remedy Corporation (acquired by BMC), where he served in several executive posts, including: VP of Marketing and Sales. Prior to co-founding Remedy, Dave spent 13 years at Hewlett Packard, where he held a variety of management positions in R&D and Marketing. He holds a B.S.E.E. degree from Case Western Reserve University. Dave has also been on the Board of Directors for various non-profits in the education and Search and Rescue fields.
Dave can be reached at dave@usatogether.org.
Eric Bergan - Founder
Most recently, Eric has been an angel investor, consultant to startups, and Tech Partner at El Dorado Ventures. Eric held several positions at Remedy Corporation, including VP of Engineering, VP of Strategic ISVs, and CIO. Previously, Eric was Director of Engineering at NetLabs, a network management software company, and Director of Databases, Applications Engineering and Software Quality Assurance for Pyramid Technology. Eric has also worked at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and CDC. Eric received a BS in Computer Science and a BA in Philosophy from the University of Kansas and an MS in Computer Science from The John Hopkins University.
Eric can be reached at eric@usatogether.org.
Beth Braun - Founder, VP, Service Member Support
Beth has over 20 years in the customer service field, most recently as the VP Customer Service at Centerbeam, Inc. Prior to that, she held various positions in the customer service area at Remedy Corp. as well as at Hewlett Packard and Lockheed. Beth has a father in law who is a former Marine and brings that sensitivity to her work at USA Together. She is also on the Board for several local sports organizations in the Bay Area. Beth received a BS in Computer Engineering from Boston University.
linked from the previous story from NPR
You've served your country well, now allow your country to give back to you.
At USA Together, our mission is to use the power of the Internet to help the men and women of the US military who have suffered life-altering injuries in service to their country.
By publishing specific needs for goods, financial assistance and services, we hope to connect injured service members and their families with those who are willing and able to assist them.
We are a group of people, some with military background, others without, that have come together to help this amazing group of Americans.
We are based in Silicon Valley and think that there is a power that the internet can bring to solving this problem.
We have no political, religious or other affiliation or agenda and represent a variety of backgrounds.
We believe that all who have served our country in the military have shown a level of care and commitment to America that is to be respected and commended. Those who have gotten injured during that service deserve a corresponding level of care and commitment from their fellow citizens. That is the social contract that we all have with those who serve. This is our way to support the troops.
We believe that there is a desire on the part of many Americans to help, but they just don't know how. This project is designed to allow each person to find someone they can help in a way that suits them. We think that people helping each other directly has a power and sense of community that is unique.
We think this is the right thing to do.
The USAtogether team
Dave Mahler - Founder and President of USA Together
Dave has been involved in high technology business in silicon valley since 1978. Dave was most recently a venture consultant for Accel Partners, where he spent 4 years evaluating and working with startups and has been a Board Director on a number of them. He has served as Interim CEO at several startups during their venture investment period. Prior to joining Accel, Dave co-founded Remedy Corporation (acquired by BMC), where he served in several executive posts, including: VP of Marketing and Sales. Prior to co-founding Remedy, Dave spent 13 years at Hewlett Packard, where he held a variety of management positions in R&D and Marketing. He holds a B.S.E.E. degree from Case Western Reserve University. Dave has also been on the Board of Directors for various non-profits in the education and Search and Rescue fields.
Dave can be reached at dave@usatogether.org.
Eric Bergan - Founder
Most recently, Eric has been an angel investor, consultant to startups, and Tech Partner at El Dorado Ventures. Eric held several positions at Remedy Corporation, including VP of Engineering, VP of Strategic ISVs, and CIO. Previously, Eric was Director of Engineering at NetLabs, a network management software company, and Director of Databases, Applications Engineering and Software Quality Assurance for Pyramid Technology. Eric has also worked at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and CDC. Eric received a BS in Computer Science and a BA in Philosophy from the University of Kansas and an MS in Computer Science from The John Hopkins University.
Eric can be reached at eric@usatogether.org.
Beth Braun - Founder, VP, Service Member Support
Beth has over 20 years in the customer service field, most recently as the VP Customer Service at Centerbeam, Inc. Prior to that, she held various positions in the customer service area at Remedy Corp. as well as at Hewlett Packard and Lockheed. Beth has a father in law who is a former Marine and brings that sensitivity to her work at USA Together. She is also on the Board for several local sports organizations in the Bay Area. Beth received a BS in Computer Engineering from Boston University.
linked from the previous story from NPR
Veterans Turn To Online Strangers For Financial Help
If you've been paying attention, a report like this will not surprise you. The problem is, most people, well, they haven't paid attention at all. This is what happens when the government does not think "have they done enough" instead of just doing what they are forced to do.
Veterans Turn To Online Strangers For Financial Help
NPR - USA
by Daniel Zwerdling
Listen Now
Morning Edition, January 22, 2009 · When Robert Sprenger's Humvee blew up in Iraq, the Army specialist was burned black over large swatches of his body.
After the Army transported him to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, Sprenger spent months lying in his bed, wrapped in gauze, almost like a mummy.
When he was released, he moved back home with his mother to the farm town of Sleepy Eye, Minn., where they made a troubling discovery.
The government compensated him, but his mother says the money wasn't anywhere near enough to cover his family's expenses. So Sprenger and his family swallowed their pride, as a growing number of veterans have done, and went cyberbegging: They posted their story on a Web site and asked strangers to help.
"That was the most horrible-est thing," says Robert's mother, Vicky Sprenger. But she says they had no choice. "I wouldn't ever cut the Army down for any reason whatsoever," she says. "I just think ... it kind of stinks, you know, that we do have to struggle the way we do."
“If the VA is meeting [its] obligations to America's veterans, why is there a need for any other nongovernmental organizations or veterans service organizations to provide any level of assistance?”
Peter Gaytan, director of national veterans affairs, the American Legion
click link for more
Epilepsy drugs to treat PTSD
Epilepsy drugs to treat PTSD
guardian.co.uk - UKBMJ Group, Friday 7 November 2008 Article history
Do they work?
We don't know. Some doctors have tried using drugs for epilepsy as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But this treatment is still experimental. There's no good-quality research yet to say whether drugs for epilepsy can help people with PTSD.
What are they?
There are several drugs that doctors use to treat epilepsy. Some of the ones that have been tried for PTSD are:
carbamazepine (brand name Tegretol)
tiagabine (Gabitril)
topiramate (Topamax)
valproate (Epilim).
You usually take these drugs as tablets.
Drugs have been available to treat epilepsy for years, but they have only just started to be used for PTSD. There's still not much information on how well they work, so they're not used very often. Your doctor might suggest you take an epilepsy drug if you've tried other treatments and they haven't helped.
How can they help?
We don't know if they can help. There hasn't been any good-quality research looking at whether epilepsy drugs can help people with PTSD. A few small, lower-quality studies have had promising results.[1] [2] But we need more research before we can say what the benefits and risks of these drugs are for people with PTSD.
Why should they work?
Epilepsy drugs seem to help stabilise people's moods. This may mean you get fewer symptoms of PTSD. Or, if you're less agitated and irritable, you might find your other symptoms easier to cope with.
click link for more
guardian.co.uk - UKBMJ Group, Friday 7 November 2008 Article history
Do they work?
We don't know. Some doctors have tried using drugs for epilepsy as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But this treatment is still experimental. There's no good-quality research yet to say whether drugs for epilepsy can help people with PTSD.
What are they?
There are several drugs that doctors use to treat epilepsy. Some of the ones that have been tried for PTSD are:
carbamazepine (brand name Tegretol)
tiagabine (Gabitril)
topiramate (Topamax)
valproate (Epilim).
You usually take these drugs as tablets.
Drugs have been available to treat epilepsy for years, but they have only just started to be used for PTSD. There's still not much information on how well they work, so they're not used very often. Your doctor might suggest you take an epilepsy drug if you've tried other treatments and they haven't helped.
How can they help?
We don't know if they can help. There hasn't been any good-quality research looking at whether epilepsy drugs can help people with PTSD. A few small, lower-quality studies have had promising results.[1] [2] But we need more research before we can say what the benefits and risks of these drugs are for people with PTSD.
Why should they work?
Epilepsy drugs seem to help stabilise people's moods. This may mean you get fewer symptoms of PTSD. Or, if you're less agitated and irritable, you might find your other symptoms easier to cope with.
click link for more
Army recruiter suicides finding, nope, no PTSD connection
The Army claims that none of the soldiers were diagnosed with PTSD. The key word here is "diagnosed" and we need to keep in mind that this does not mean they did not have PTSD. Sgt. Henderson did not have flashbacks because of "other issues" but had them from combat.
Do people commit suicide when they do not have PTSD? Regular people commit suicide for all kinds of reasons but these are not "regular people" they are a rarity. It's time for the military to acknowledge the difference between those willing to lay down their lives in defense of this nation, serving this nation and what it asks of them and the majority of the American people who depend on them. They do not take their personal lives above everything else. For them, their families, their friends, their outside lives come secondary to service. They know they can be deployed, sent away from their families and their "regular lives" at a moments notice. It doesn't matter if their wife is pregnant and they will miss the birth because they have to go. It doesn't stop them from going when adult children get married and they will not be able to walk their daughter down the isle because they are deployed into combat. This is their life and it's high time the military acknowledges that fact and pays tribute to it. They fail the men and women willing to lay down their lives if they do not understand the basis of these lives.
The DOD and the VA cannot keep denying the connection between known symptoms of PTSD because their is not an approved claim for it. Flashbacks of combat do not come from anything other than being in combat!
Recruiter Suicides Lead To Army Probe
Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Henderson in her home in Henderson, Texas, Nov. 20, 2008. Patrick Henderson, afflicted by flashbacks and sleeplessness after a tour in Iraq, hanged himself in a shed behind his house as his wife and her son slept.
He became, at age 35, the fourth member of the Army's Houston Recruiting Battalion to commit suicide in the past three years — something Henderson's widow and others blame on the psychological scars of combat, combined with the pressure-cooker job of trying to sell the war. click link for more
Do people commit suicide when they do not have PTSD? Regular people commit suicide for all kinds of reasons but these are not "regular people" they are a rarity. It's time for the military to acknowledge the difference between those willing to lay down their lives in defense of this nation, serving this nation and what it asks of them and the majority of the American people who depend on them. They do not take their personal lives above everything else. For them, their families, their friends, their outside lives come secondary to service. They know they can be deployed, sent away from their families and their "regular lives" at a moments notice. It doesn't matter if their wife is pregnant and they will miss the birth because they have to go. It doesn't stop them from going when adult children get married and they will not be able to walk their daughter down the isle because they are deployed into combat. This is their life and it's high time the military acknowledges that fact and pays tribute to it. They fail the men and women willing to lay down their lives if they do not understand the basis of these lives.
Army completes recruiter suicide investigation
Jan 21
By Catherine Abbott (Media Relations Division, OCPA)
The U.S. Army concluded a two and a half month investigation into the suicides of four Soldiers assigned to the Houston Recruiting Battalion.
Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, commander, U.S. Army Accessions Command, directed Brig. Gen. Frank D. Turner III, deputy commanding general and chief of staff for the U.S. Army Accessions Command, to investigate the unit that experienced the four suicides that occurred between January 2005 and September 2008.
"Each of these deaths is an absolute tragedy and our sympathies and prayers go out to their families and friends, as well as their fellow brothers and sisters with whom they served so honorably," said Freakley. "Every leader, every Soldier, at every level of our Army, must help our institution reduce the stigma associated with seeking mental health care and raise the level of awareness of suicide risk factors. Neither our nation nor our Army can accept another needless loss of life."
The investigation concluded that there was no single cause for these deaths. Relevant factors included the command climate, stress, personal matters, and medical problems. None were diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
As a result of the findings, Secretary of the Army directed a USAREC command-wide "stand down" day focused on leadership training, suicide prevention / resiliency training and recruiter wellness. Additionally, the Commanding General of Army Accessions Command has requested that the Army's Inspector General lead an external assessment of the command climate across the U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC), to which the Houston Recruiting Battalion belongs.
The Army is also reviewing recruiter screening and selection processes, the provisions of care for Soldiers who need mental health care, Army-wide suicide prevention training, and access to care and peer support networks for geographically dispersed Soldiers. It will review the current policy that allows Soldiers to waive their mandatory 90 days of stabilization after returning from deployment to ensure any personal or professional concerns are addressed prior to the recently redeployed Soldier moving into new and different work environments.
The Army will continue to focus its efforts on helping Soldiers get the assistance they need wherever they serve. For more information contact COL Michael Negard at TRADOC Public Affairs, (757) 788-3385; michael.negard@us.army.mil
The DOD and the VA cannot keep denying the connection between known symptoms of PTSD because their is not an approved claim for it. Flashbacks of combat do not come from anything other than being in combat!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Wounded honored at ‘Heroes’ ball
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/
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/
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
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