Stimulus falls short for vets, lawmakers say

As if Buyer would have a clue what is needed by veterans when he had control over what made it all worse for veterans. While Filner and Buyer are correct that this spending bill does not do enough for veterans, the fact remains that there are eight years worth of catching up on. Eight years of Bush and his friends controlling the VA and even more years of the GOP with control over the committees.

Read this and then read about what Buyer had to say,,,,

Fact Sheet: VA Benefits for Filipino Veterans April 2008 Word PDF


Citizens of the Republic of the Philippines who serve today in the U.S. Armed Forces are eligible for VA benefits under the same criteria as other U.S. military veterans. However, eligibility for VA benefits for Filipino veterans who served in recognized units of the Philippine Armed Forces – especially during World War II – is not so clear-cut.



The Philippine Islands gained their independence from the United States in 1946 following a transition period that was interrupted by World War II. During World War II, Filipinos served in a variety of units, some coming under direct U.S. military control, others having no ties to the U.S. military, and still others falling somewhere in the middle. Federal law, international treaties and court cases have taken up the question of which VA benefits should be given to various groups of World War II Filipino veterans.



The United States recognizes service in four groups as qualifying for some VA benefits:

Regular, or “Old,” Philippine Scouts. Regular Philippine Scouts, or "old scouts," were members of a small, regular component of the U.S. Army that was considered to be in regular active service. Originally formed in 1901, long before any formal plan for Philippine independence, the Regular Philippine Scouts were part of the U.S. Army throughout their existence.
Commonwealth Army of the Philippines. Also known as the Philippine Commonwealth Army, these veterans were called into the service of the United States Armed Forces of the Far East (USAFFE), its members serving between July 26, 1941, and June 30, 1946.
Guerrilla Service. People in this group served as guerrillas in USAFFE in resistance units recognized by and cooperating with U.S. forces between April 20, 1942, and June 30, 1946.
New Philippine Scouts. New Philippine Scouts were Philippine citizens who served with the U.S. Armed Forces with the consent of the Philippine government between Oct. 6, 1945, and June 30, 1947.
Entitlement to VA Benefits

Filipino veterans who served with U.S. forces in the Regular Philippine Scouts before October 6, 1945, are entitled to all VA benefits under the same criteria as apply to any veteran of U.S. military service. Those benefits are paid at the full-dollar rate, and their dependents and survivors are entitled to benefits under the eligibility rules common to survivors of U.S. veterans.



Veterans of the Commonwealth Army of the Philippines, recognized guerrilla forces, and the New Philippine Scouts are entitled to compensation for service-connected disabilities. They are not entitled to disability pension for non-service-connected disabilities, nor are their survivors entitled to death pension.



Benefits for veterans of the Commonwealth Army, recognized guerrilla forces, and the New Philippine Scouts who live outside of the United States are paid at the rate of 50 cents for each dollar. However, these veterans who reside in the United States receive full-dollar rate compensation payments if they are either U.S. citizens or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens.



VA pays burial benefits to the survivors of certain veterans at the full-dollar rate for veterans who were residing in the U.S. on the date of death. Those veterans must also have been either United States citizens or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens. This covers only Commonwealth Army and recognized guerrilla service. Eligibility applies to deaths on or after Nov. 1, 2000, as this is based on legislation enacted in 2000. Burial benefits for these veterans also include interment in any national cemetery with available space, a burial flag, and a grave marker or headstone.



VA pays burial benefits to the survivors of New Philippine Scouts as well, at the full-dollar rate, if the veterans were lawfully residing in the United States on the date of death, and were United States citizens or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens. Eligibility applies to death on or after Dec. 16, 2003, based on legislation enacted in 2003.



The survivors of Commonwealth Army, recognized guerrilla forces, and New Philippine Scouts veterans who are entitled to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (for example, if the veteran died during military service) are paid at a rate of 50 cents for each dollar when residing in the Philippines. Survivors residing in the United States and who are either U.S. citizens or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens are entitled to full-dollar payment.



Health Care Benefits

Filipino Commonwealth Army Veterans, including those who were recognized by authority of the U.S. Army as belonging to organized Filipino guerilla forces, and new Philippine Scouts are eligible for VA health care in the United States on the same basis as U.S. veterans if they reside in the United States and are citizens or lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Old Philippine Scouts are eligible for VA health care benefits based upon their status as U.S. veterans.



In the Philippines, the Republic of the Philippines government provides medical care to eligible Filipino veterans. Filipino veterans are ineligible for VA health care treatment services in the Philippines although the VA does provide them examinations in connection with determining their eligibility for VA compensation and pension benefits. U.S. veterans with service-connected conditions are eligible for medical care for both service-connected and non-service-connected disabilities at the VA outpatient clinic in Manila. U.S. veterans there also are eligible for hospital care for service-connected disabilities, which is provided under VA contract.



Background
The origins of the Commonwealth Army of the Philippines are in the early 1900s when the United States assumed formal sovereignty over the Philippines. At that time, the United States was preparing for the Philippines to become a sovereign nation. Public Law 73-127, enacted in 1934, required the Commonwealth Army to respond to the call of the President of the United States under certain conditions. In fact, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the Commonwealth Army to service on July 26, 1941, and it served with the USAFFE command throughout World War II.



Public Law 79-190, enacted in October 1945, authorized recruiting 50,000 “new” Philippine Scouts in anticipation of needing local occupational forces. President Truman acknowledged the contributions of the Philippine people who fought under the umbrella of the USAFFE command to defend the Philippine Islands against occupation by the Japanese. He called for a study to determine the level of benefits appropriate to conditions in the Philippines. The reduced rate of benefits to veterans living there was based on the different economic conditions in the Philippines and the United States.



Current laws affecting these benefits date to congressional actions in 1946 that specified that the service of groups other than the Old Scouts would not be considered U.S. military service. VA officials considered that Filipino military service met the statutory definition of a U.S. veteran until Congress passed Public Laws 79-301 and 79-391 in 1946. Public Law 79-301, the First Supplemental Surplus Appropriation Rescission Act, authorized a $200 million appropriation to the Commonwealth Army of the Philippines, with the provision that service in the Commonwealth Army of the Philippines should not be deemed to have been service in the military or naval forces of the United States. Public Law 79-391, the Second Supplemental Surplus Appropriation Rescission Act enacted in 1946, provided that service in the New Philippine Scouts was not deemed U.S. military service.



The U.S. government also gave the Philippine government grants of at least $500,000 per year for more than 30 years, starting in the 1960s, to help the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City upgrade its equipment and physical plant. In addition, VA provided a total of $3 million in equipment funds to VMMC during the period from 2002 to 2005.



A VA contract with the VMMC was expanded by legislation in 1963 permitting the center to care for non-service-connected conditions of Filipino and U.S. veterans.



Legislation in 1973 permitted VA itself to provide medical treatment of service-connected conditions (and non-service-connected illnesses in certain conditions) for Philippine Army and New Philippine Scout veterans. The half rates of compensation to most Filipino veterans living in the Philippines were intended to reflect that the Philippines had a lower cost of living than the United States. Since World War II, however, many Filipino veterans and their dependents have immigrated to this country.



Legislation enacted in 2000 provided the full-dollar rate compensation payments to veterans of the Commonwealth Army or recognized guerrilla forces residing in the U.S. if they are either U.S. citizens or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens. Another 2000 law authorized payment of burial benefits on behalf of veterans in these groups where they had been U.S. citizens or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens.



In 2003, Congress passed legislation that expanded compensation benefit payments to the full-dollar rate for New Philippine Scouts residing in the U.S. if they are either U.S. citizens or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens. This legislation also expanded burial benefit payments to the full-dollar rate for New Philippine Scouts who at the time of death were residing in the U.S. and were U.S. citizens or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens. It also expanded Dependency and Indemnity Compensation benefits to the full-dollar rate for survivors of veterans who served in the New Philippine Scouts, Philippine Commonwealth Army or recognized guerrilla forces, if the survivor is residing in the U.S. and is either a U.S. citizen or a legally admitted resident alien.

http://www1.va.gov/opa/fact/filipvet.asp

Stimulus falls short for vets, lawmakers say

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Feb 16, 2009 16:46:52 EST

The Democratic chairman and the ranking Republican on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee usually don’t agree on much — but both say the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, set to be signed into law Tuesday, doesn’t do enough for veterans.

The chairman, Bob Filner, D-Calif., said the bill, HR 1, includes $1.4 billion for veterans programs and includes provisions intended to help stabilize the economy, result in job creation and provide economic development in local communities.

Filner, who voted for the bill, said he is sorry it doesn’t do more for veterans.

“I am disappointed that we could not provide more of an investment in this bill, and I will continue to work to draw attention to the growing and unmet needs of our veterans,” he said.

Steve Buyer of Indiana, the ranking Republican who voted against the bill, said he also wishes it did more for some veterans — but less for others.

Buyer, who was committee chairman when Republicans controlled the House, was critical of the inclusion in the final bill of a controversial provision that provides $198 million in payments to Filipino veterans who served in World War II alongside U.S. forces.
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Stimulus falls short for vets, lawmakers say

No such thing as a memory-erasing pill

One more example of not posting everything I read. The last couple of days filled the blog world with post saying they found a memory erasing pill but when you read this, it turned out to be a lot of hype.

No such thing as a memory-erasing pill
BMJ Group, Tuesday 17 February 2009
The headlines have been full of news about a pill that can 'erase bad memories', leading to fears about mind-control. Looking at the research, it's clear that the pill doesn't wipe out bad memories. However, it may make them less upsetting, which could offer help to people suffering long-term trauma.

What do we know already?
Researchers are investigating whether propanolol, a type of drug called a beta blocker, could be used to help people avoid post-traumatic stress disorder.

Propanolol has been used for many years to slow down the heartbeat for people with high blood pressure. Beta blockers block some of the effects of adrenaline, a hormone whose function is to prepare the body for 'flight or fight' and which causes symptoms of anxiety, such as sweating and palpitations (when you can feel your heart beating faster than normal). Some doctors prescribe beta blockers for people suffering stress or anxiety.

A study in 2004 looked to see whether giving people a course of propanolol within 6 hours of a traumatic event (such as a car crash) could stop them from getting post-traumatic stress disorder. But the study was small and the results were inconclusive.

In this new study, researchers tested whether propanolol could interfere with the way the brain processed the emotions attached to memory when people were reminded of a stressful event.
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No such thing as a memory-erasing pill

Slain actress found dark side of Hollywood dream

Slain actress found dark side of Hollywood dream
Juliana Redding was an aspiring actress who had moved to southern California to chase the Hollywood dream. She wound up as the victim in a real-life murder mystery -- one few people are talking about. Police haven't made any arrests and say they have no suspects. CNN.com and Nancy Grace are working together to bring fresh eyes to cold cases. full story

Fort Lewis:Girl, 16, found dead, another taken to hospital

Girl, 16, found dead in Fort Lewis barracks
Staff report
Posted : Monday Feb 16, 2009 21:09:23 EST

A 16-year-old girl has died and another was in stable condition after they were found unresponsive Sunday in a barracks on Fort Lewis, Wash., according to a press release.

Emergency response personnel responded to a 911 call about 3:30 a.m. Sunday to a barracks on post.
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Advocates for veterans need to network for a reason

An interesting exchange of emails caused this posting. It was from another dedicated advocate for veterans. Apparently there is confusion on the fact advocates do not always agree on everything. While we all agree the troops and veterans need a lot more help than the government is providing, we do not always agree on all the services they need.
We agree they need mental health professionals and medication for the most part but some advocates push for different programs that have helped them personally. While this does not mean the treatment will work on all veterans, it works for some. That's the point we all seem to miss.
They are as different as we are. What works on you may not work for someone turning to you for help. You need to be aware of all options and not just the one you seem to favor. Have a network of services available. Listen to the veteran and find out what comes with them. Ask them questions if you are not sure. Then try to direct them to where they can get what they need.
If they are a spiritual person, then direct them to someone that is dealing with the mind-body-spirit connection. You do not want to send them to someone that has no understanding just as you do not want to send an atheist to a minister. Keep them in their comfort zone.
While I get request for help from all walks of life, I struggle with this on a daily basis. The temptation to share the spiritual beliefs I have is strong but avoided as best as I can. In the cases of veterans with no faith, I must address the need as a human so they understand that PTSD is a human wound and a normal reaction to what they've been through. Most of my videos address a general population but I have a few on the spiritual connection. While I find it more helpful to incorporate every aspect of what makes them "them" I have to listen to where they are and let them lead the way.
There have been times over the years when they have returned to a faith in God and reconnected. These veterans were from many different faiths. While I've made an effort to study different faiths, my understanding of them is limited. I try to find others doing this work within the faith the veteran has a relationship with. If the veteran is not comfortable with this then I try to find the answer they need from a network of other advocates. Other advocates refer Christians to me because I address the need of all denominations with more understanding than I have for other faiths. We all fill a need.
While treatment is not one size fits all in the medical community, advocates need to acknowledge this as well. We cannot be all to all veterans just as one medication may work on some but fail for others. Just as you wouldn't send someone without legs to a podiatrist just because they need to see a doctor, you wouldn't send someone to anyone they do not need. We need to work together for their sake.

Study finds ‘Battlemind’ is beneficial?

Sorry but I just choked on my coffee.

Col. Carl Castro should have known better when he developed this program. From what is said about this program and the evidence, this program does more harm than good. Not that any of these people would ever listen to me or the veterans or the BBC investigation that showed the troops arriving in Afghanistan with 11 1/2 minutes of BattleMind training crammed into two straight days of briefings. There are parts of this program that are good and should be used but they begin with telling the troops that they can "toughen" their minds, which translates to them that if they end up with PTSD, it's their fault because they didn't get their brain tough enough. Try telling that to a Marine.

They can say whatever they want, but when you see the suicide rate go up every year, see them still not wanting to seek help, still not being treated for this as if they have nothing to be ashamed of, then there is a problem. You cannot begin by telling them they can train their brain and then tell them it's ok if they failed to do it. While they may be able to prepare for combat what they cannot do is change the fact they are human, exposed to abnormal events in combat situations and have normal reactions of stress after as a normal human! No matter what the cause, people get wounded by PTSD. The difference between civilians and the troops is that the troops are exposed to it over and over and over again when they deploy into combat. Telling them they just didn't do a good enough job to toughen their minds is the wrong way to begin what could have been a really great program. Again it's just my opinion and based on 26 years of all of this. Plus add in the fact that the Montana National Guard had to come up with their own program along with a lot of other units. That should have been an alarm bell right there, but no one heard it that is in charge.

Col. Carl Castro, Ph.D. – Fort Detrick, MD
Col. Castro was most recently appointed Director of Military Operations,
Medicine Research Program, Headquarters, US Army Medical Research and
Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, Maryland. He formerly served as the chief of
military psychiatry at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and was the
Commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Unit-Europe in Heidelberg,
Germany. In addition to serving in multiple deployments to Bosnia, he has been
chief and program manager of several different medical research programs. He
is a graduate of Wichita State University and holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in
psychology from the University of Colorado. He is the author of over 50 scientific
publications, including a major study published in the New England Journal of
Medicine. The study, which involved 6,200 soldiers and Marines and was
conducted by a team at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, is the first
attempt to understand the psychological effects of a U.S. war while it is ongoing.
Most of the participants were screened within three or four months of returning
from battle. The result, Combat Duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mental Health
Problems, and Barriers to Care (Charles W. Hoge, M.D., Carl A. Castro, Ph.D.,
Stephen C. Messer, Ph.D., Dennis McGurk, Ph.D., Dave I. Cotting, Ph.D., and
Robert L. Koffman, M.D., M.P.H.) is a seminal study in the effects of combat on
mental health.
http://www.smith.edu/ssw//admin/documents/CarlCastro.pdf

Study finds ‘Battlemind’ is beneficial
Stars and Stripes - Washington,DC,USA
Training to reduce post-combat stress has made strides
By Nancy Montgomery, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, February 17, 2009
HEIDELBERG, Germany — New training intended to reduce post-combat psychological distress provides "small but significant" improvements in soldiers’ mental health, according to a study.

Among soldiers who returned from Iraq and participated in "Battlemind Training," fewer reported sleep problems, and there were less-severe post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, compared with soldiers who had received either no post-deployment mental health training or a briefing about stress, according to research psychologists with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

"We’ve completed three groups of randomized trials which have demonstrated that Battlemind training has a positive impact on soldiers’ mental health months later," said Amy Adler, a lead researcher on the project. "The effects are not huge. We’re not curing disorders."

The study found that in soldiers who had seen extensive combat, Battlemind training resulted in a 14 percent reduction in severity of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.

And while 60 percent of soldiers without the training reported sleep problems, just 30 percent of those who’d had the Battlemind class said they were having trouble sleeping after returning home. click link for more

What if Jesus were with you?

Another great piece from Papa Roy

Suppose Jesus to be in your company!

SIR Isaac Newton, a seventeenth-century scientist, is renowned for having discovered the law of gravity. What some people don't know is that he was a dedicated Christian. In fact, while at the height of his career in physics and mathematics, he decided to turn his attention toward studying God's Word. When a colleague tried to lure him back to the field of science, Newton replied, "I do not want to be trifling away my time, when I should be about the King's business." Although he retained his interest in science, he made theological pursuits his top priority. (F B Meyer)

Luke 2:44 But supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances.

Think of Jesus on this side of the counter along with you who sell, and on that side of the counter along with you who buy. You both need His Presence, for the buyer is generally quite as intent upon cheating as the seller! He wants the goods for less than they are worth and the seller, therefore, baits the hook for him. They are both deceivers but the blame is not all on one. When persons must have goods far below the price for which they can be produced, they must not marvel if they find that they are sold an inferior article which looks well enough but turns out to be worthless. Oh, that you Christian people would always suppose Jesus to be in your company! (C. H. Spurgeon)



Pray for our nation

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.



In God we trust: Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! (Psalm 46:10)

Papa Roy

One last thought: No matter what we do for a living, we must be dedicated to serving God in and through our daily occupation.

US Marine who committed suicide served in Iraq

US Marine who committed suicide served in Iraq
The Associated Press
By CHARMAINE NORONHA – 2 days ago

TORONTO (AP) — A U.S. Marine who fatally shot himself after sneaking into Canada had served two terms in Iraq, officials said Saturday.

Timothy Scott, 22, had been wanted by the military for abandoning his unit. He turned a pistol on himself Thursday outside his mother's home in Nova Scotia after police tried to talk him out of firing the gun.

A statement released by Camp Lejeune in North Carolina said Scott had been deployed to Iraq for eight months in 2007 and for seven months in 2008.

The Marine rifleman, who was assigned to headquarters and the support battalion at Camp Lejeune, had joined the Marine Corps in 2005, the statement said.
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1 dead, 1 ill with meningitis at Fort Leonard Wood

1 dead, 1 ill with meningitis at Leonard Wood
By Jim Salter - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Feb 16, 2009 15:07:21 EST

ST. LOUIS — Meningitis cases at Fort Leonard Wood have left a soldier dead and another “very seriously ill,” according to officials at the southern Missouri Army base.

Fort Leonard Wood officials announced the meningitis cases in a news release Sunday. Few details were released, including names of either victim. Calls on Monday to a media spokesman at the base were not returned.

Meningitis is an infection of the fluid of the spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain. It kills about 300 people in the U.S. each year.

At Fort Leonard Wood, both illnesses involved noncontagious forms of meningitis, authorities said. The two soldiers were members of the same unit, but no connection has been found between the cases.

“Although difficult to comprehend, all clinical data show these cases are unrelated and purely coincidental,” Lt. Col. John Lowery, deputy commander for clinical services at Fort Leonard Wood, said in a written statement.

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UPDATE

2nd soldier at Leonard Wood dies of meningitis

By Jim Salter - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Feb 17, 2009 15:57:26 EST

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — A second soldier stationed at the Army’s Fort Leonard Wood has died of meningitis, officials said Tuesday.

Leonard Wood officials said Pvt. Randy Stabnick, 28, of South Bend, Ind., died Tuesday at a hospital in Springfield.

Another soldier from the base died Feb. 9. His name has not been released.

“The soldiers and their families continue to be in our prayers today,” Maj. Gen. Gregg Martin, commanding general of Maneuver Support Center and Fort Leonard Wood, said in a statement.

Base officials said both soldiers had a non-contagious form of meningitis.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/02/ap_meningitis_leonard_wood_021709/

PTSD: ‘Not enough is being done’

PTSD: ‘Not enough is being done’
Temple Daily Telegram - Temple,TX,USA
by Bryan Kirk Killeen Writer
Published: February 15, 2009
FORT HOOD - Matthew Muff isn’t in the Army anymore. He hasn’t been since Jan. 30, when he was administratively discharged for twice going AWOL.

But a pattern of misconduct detailed by his leaders may not have been behind his departure from Fort Hood last month but a series of cries for help resulting from post traumatic stress disorder.

“The first time was right after he was diagnosed with PTSD after his return from Iraq. He was having problems with alcohol,” said Chuck Luther, a former 1st Cavalry Division soldier who now works as a caseworker for Military Spouses of America. “He just wanted to drown out all the bad things. I know what he went through.”

The command saw neither that first offense nor his PTSD as serious, Luther said.

“Muff said he needed help, and they wouldn’t give it to him,” he said.

So Muff, who lives in Gatesville, went AWOL again.

This time, however, he left the post to get treatment at Scott & White Memorial Hospital because he couldn’t get what he needed at Fort Hood, Luther said.
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Yale University PTSD Study Proves I'm Right!

After all these years, I'm finally proven right when it comes to heroes being born the way they are. It didn't take blood tests or a university to come to the conclusion I made years ago. All it took was listening to them.
Watch my videos and know what I've been saying in case you have not been an avid reader of this blog. There are over 5,000 posts on this blog and over 10,000 on my older blog. I do not have a degree. I am not a psychiatrist, psychologists or professor but I would match what I've learned about veterans over the last 26 years against any of them simply because to me, this is all very personal.
The only thing Deane Aikins should have done was take a look at their soul. Had this been done, what would have been discovered is that the basis of their core from birth is that the heroes developing PTSD are all sensitive to other people's pain. Sensitivity and concern for other people has been behind most of what they end up doing in life. It takes a great deal of courage to enter into the military, police departments, fire departments and National Guards but it also takes a concern for other people. The more deeply they care, the more deeply they are wounded by what they go thru in order to be of service. This is not a guess. It's a fact. Just as science has now proven that heroes are born that way, one day they will also take into account what makes these people so uniquely qualified to risk their lives also uniquely wounds them.

Natural born heroes?
Ian Sample, Chicago
guardian.co.uk,
Monday 16 February 2009 12.59 GMT
People who stay cool in a crisis may be natural born heroes, according to psychiatrists investigating how soldiers behave in stressful situations.

Blood tests on war veterans showed that a minority were almost oblivious to stress and were able to think clearly in spite of the dangerous situations they found themselves in.

The research has led to a test that can predict which people will respond well in a stressful situation and those who are more likely to panic.

Deane Aikins, a psychiatrist at Yale University, said the remarkable composure of US Airways Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who made an emergency landing on the Hudson river last month, showed how well some people can cope with extremely stressful situations. The pilot's actions led to headlines referring to "grace under pressure" – Hemingway's description of heroism.

"I think some people are born with it," Aikins said. "We would all be ready to scream in our chairs, but there are certain individuals who just don't get as stressed."

In a study, Aikins took blood samples from soldiers before and after they took part in survival training exercises designed to test their skills at evading capture and enduring interrogation. In the majority of men, levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, increased sharply during the exercise.

But Aikins found a few men whose stress levels hardly changed during the exercise. They performed best because they were able to stay calm, he told the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Chicago yesterday. click link for more

Contract workers say KBR knew of exposure

Contract workers say KBR knew of exposure
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Feb 15, 2009 15:23:23 EST

HOUSTON — Ten contractors, hired by Houston-based KBR to make repairs at a Basra water plant during the Iraq war, and dozens of National Guardsmen say the company knowingly allowed them to be poisoned by cancer-causing chemicals.

The allegations from the workers, six of whom live in or near Houston, are documented in a federal arbitration complaint pending in Houston and a related federal lawsuit filed in December by the guardsmen in Indiana, the Houston Chronicle reported Sunday.

Most of the KBR contractors were sent to Iraq around April 2003 as part of Operation Restore Iraqi Oil, a no-bid U.S. contract. They were hired to make repairs at the water plant to keep Iraq’s oil fields operating during the war. Members of the U.S. Army National Guard, most from Indiana, escorted and guarded the workers.

KBR officials have acknowledged that a dangerous anti-corrosive chemical was stored and spilled at the Qarmat Ali water plant just outside Basra. Under Saddam Hussein’s regime, the chemical was used to keep pipes free of corrosion as river water from the plant was pumped to oil fields miles away.
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Rep. wants probe of VA psychologist firing

Rep. wants probe of VA psychologist firing
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Feb 15, 2009 15:16:10 EST

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Tennessee congressman has intervened in the case of a psychologist who was fired from the Memphis Veterans Medical Center for her handling of a phone call from a distraught Iraq war veteran.

Rep. Steve Cohen sent a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki asking for an investigation into the firing of clinical psychologist Sidney Ornduff, The Commercial Appeal in Memphis reported.

Cohen, a Memphis Democrat, compared Ornduff’s popularity to that of Florence Nightingale, the 19th-century nurse known for advising and comforting wounded soldiers.

“I want him to investigate and see what happened, to look into that case and, if possible, encourage her to come back because I think she’s a star,” he said.

Cohen said it’s wrong for the administration and veterans to lose Ornduff as a resource.

Memphis VA spokeswoman Willie Logan released a statement late last week saying the agency wasn’t aware of Cohen’s letter but would respond to any request made by Shinseki.

Cohen’s letter marks the latest development in a nearly two-year ordeal that began in the early morning hours of April 2, 2007, when veteran Jared Rhine called the Memphis VA and demanded to speak to Ornduff.

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Soldier's family speaks out about stress after battle

Ursula Polignone is comforted by her daughter-in-law, Kristi Polignone. Ursula's son, Martin, killed himself after returning home from serving in the Army in Iraq. The family is speaking publicly about their pain in the hopes of helping others.

Times Herald-Record/TOM BUSHEY

Soldier's family speaks out about stress after battle
Times Herald-Record - Middletown,NY,USA
Goal: Stem rising tide of military suicides
By Steve Israel
Times Herald-Record
Posted: February 15, 2009 - 2:00 AM
To his mother, he'll always be Martin, the little boy who dressed up as a policeman on Halloween, like his father, a New York City cop. To his young wife, he'll always be Marty, the snowboarding, guitar-playing, Metallica lovin' teen who grew up to look her in the eyes and sing, "In my life, I'll love you more."

To his 3-year-old daughter, Kyla, he's still daddy, whose strong hands, bigger than her chest, held her when he took her to see the monkeys, lions and bears at the Bronx Zoo.

But Martin Polignone of Central Valley was not the man anyone knew after he came home from fighting in Iraq.


When he looked inside himself, he saw someone possessed by demons even those who loved him couldn't see. He saw himself as a soldier — a machine gunner in Kirkuk — who burst into a home to find a father and his 5-year-old boy pointing guns at him.

Marty Polignone — father, son and husband — had to kill that little boy and his father.

Marty Polignone looked inside himself and saw brains splattered on an Iraqi street.

Marty Polignone looked inside himself and pictured a 16-year-old girl lying dead, shot by his buddy, his sergeant, himself the father of a little girl.

Marty Polignone looked inside himself until he could look no more.

One winter night about a year ago — three years after he came home from Iraq — he shot himself dead.

He was 24.

Marty Polignone and his family are the hidden casualties of the Iraq war.

He's one of at least five veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom from Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties who have killed themselves, either during active duty or after they've returned, according to estimates of local veterans organizations.

This tally is even more staggering because it represents almost a third of the local veterans — 18 — who have been killed during the war. The number of suicides might be even higher since Polignone's family is the only one so far that wants to speak out publicly.

They hope what they've learned can spare at least one other soldier and his family unbearable pain.
click link for more

VA needs a Wizard to escape from Oz

by
Chaplain Kathie

When Dorothy traveled to Oz with a nightmare for a travel agent, there was a witch doing everything in her power to get in the way of Dorothy finding a way to get back home. Along the way Dorothy found help from other hurting creatures, all seeking help for what they lacked. It wasn't the Scarecrow's fault he was stuffed without a brain. It wasn't the Tin Man's fault he was without a heart. It wasn't the Lion's fault he lacked courage. All of these things, while they were created without parts of them, they ended up finding what they needed was within them all along. The Wizard offered them an opportunity to find what they were looking for.

The VA has a bureaucratic wicked witch getting in the way of employees dedicated to providing the veterans what they need to recover and heal. These employees, for the most part, are wonderful and care deeply for the veterans. The problem is there has been no real leadership for far too long. The Veterans are shown a shining castle at the end of a road paved with red tape instead of yellow bricks. It breaks the VA employees' hearts to stand helplessly watching veterans suffer because some paperwork was not done right, claims were denied when they know the veteran is suffering because of their service and they can't do anything about it. Rules are rules after all but there was an idiot guarding the gate.

A friend of mine is a Vietnam Veteran. She has a claim that has been tied up for years. She was exposed to Agent Orange, has PTSD and has been tortured by the system. She turned to organizations to help her but they have provided poor advocacy. Recently she was told that her claim number was tied to someone else's name when the claim number was typed in instead of her social security number. When her social security number was typed the claim number popped up but if they went to the claim number itself, it wasn't her name. Think about that kind of screw up happening to you! Recently we read that there has been all kinds of outsourcing to contractors instead of VA employees. This is a huge problem because contractor employees don't really care about what they're doing. These claims are just a bunch of numbers to them, not veterans that served their country and have wounds because of it. They don't take a personal interest to make sure that every document is on the right claim. They are the flying monkeys data entering clicking away on keys and not checking what they are doing.

The solution is in the VA itself. When the leadership actually understands why people work for the VA, why they wanted to work for them VA instead of private companies, then they will understand that what they need is right there and has been all along. The answer is not contractors doing a job for a paycheck instead of dedication.

As for PTSD and the suicides, if they got this extra nightmare out of the way of the veterans finding the healing they need, they would reduce the suicide rate of veterans. Dealing with PTSD and all that comes with it is extremely stressful but adding to that kind of stress having to prove what is wrong with you is because of your service to the nation is sending too many over the edge.

Another issue that cannot be dismissed is the suicide prevention act that takes guns away from veterans with "mental health issues" because these veterans do not want to give up their weapons. They were taught by the military to rely on their weapons and it's a lesson they carry with them everyday. Would you rather have a veteran with PTSD and a gun seeking help or would you prefer to have one with a gun and avoiding the diagnosis and treatment? Common sense tells you that this bill is deterrent to far too many.

I wrote that I had been addressing a group of veterans on PTSD and the Q & A session was all about this ruling. Some of the veterans have jobs requiring guns. Ever think of a police officer keeping their job without a gun or a DEA agent? Having PTSD does not limit all veterans from working. PTSD has different levels and some veterans are capable of holding down jobs. We cannot be so blind to the fact some of those jobs require firearms. Can you think of the Tin Man without his oil can or the Lion without teeth?

Start by getting these two things out of the way. Hire people to work for the VA to process claims and stop outsourcing the work to contractors. Because of the backlog of claims over 800,000, honor the claims there are and then weed them out after. Tackle the backlog of appeals and straighten out the mess they are in. Get rid of the rule that takes guns away from veterans because it keeps them from getting help to heal. If we do not dump water on these two problems the witch wins!

Mental-health care is top priority for our veterans
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin - Walla-Walla,WA,USA

The loss of three psychiatrists in this region's VA health system is unacceptable. Strong leadership is needed to improve health care.

By the EDITORIAL BOARD of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

Day after day soldiers return home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with serious wounds — psychological as well as physical.

Sadly, the Department of Veterans Affairs is still not prepared to adequately address the mental health concerns of veterans living in Southeastern Washington, Northeastern Oregon and Western Idaho. Walla Walla’s Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center is losing the services of three psychiatrists.

Dr. Mohammad Khan, a full-time psychiatrist in Walla Walla, is taking another job within the VA system. Psychiatrists based in Lewiston and Yakima, who served under the Wainwright administration, are also relocating to other facilities.

“The work environment isn’t something they were happy with,” said Brian Westfield, director of the Wainwright Medical Center. Westfield has been on the job since September.

Lack of leadership is apparently at the root of the lousy work environment. Debbi Bernasconi, president of the employees’ union that represents VA professional staff, said the problems began prior to Westfield’s tenure.

“A lot of doctors have left because of a lack of leadership,” Bernasconi said. “We cannot get a straight answer who is in charge of what. We have no organizational chart (with which) to take problems to a chain of command.”click link for more

Camp Lejeune Marines get help online for toxic water exposures

Welcome to Form95Help.com/index.html, designed to offer you information and assistance with filing a claim for injury, death or potential future illnesses that may have been caused by being exposed to the toxic water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Welcome to Form95Help.com, designed to offer you information and assistance with filing a claim for injury, death or potential future illnesses that may have been caused by being exposed to the toxic water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Anyone, whether you were in the military or not and regardless of whether you lived on the base, should file a claim to protect your interest if you were exposed to the highly toxic waters of camp Lejeune prior to 1986. You can also file a claim on behalf of a relative who died and had any illness related to the contaminated waters of Camp Lejeune.

Your claim must be filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) if you intend on seeking money damages. The first step is to complete and file a properly completed Form 95 claim. Form 95 claims are routinely denied on all sorts of technical grounds so it is extremely important that you have your claim reviewed by an attorney. This review can take place even if you have already filed a claim to see if any amendments need to be made. Failure to file a Form 95 in a timely manner will bar you from seeking damages against the United States Military.

Remember, never settle a case without having it reviewed by an experienced FTCA lawyer. There is no dollar limitation on liability under the FTCA and once you agree to settle your claim, your claim is over even if the amount you received was unfair. For further information about the water contamination at Camp Lejeune, please visit www.tftptf.com

At the Front, When Veterans Come Home

When you let the fact we lose more soldiers after war than during it, it only makes sense to consider PTSD an enemy that needs to be defeated but no one really counts the numbers of lives lost to PTSD. Too many are never reported on because they go home quietly suffering in silence with families that have no clue what they brought home deep inside of them. The military has done a lousy job of facing this enemy head on.

At the Front, When Veterans Come Home
New York Times - United States
By KEVIN COYNE
Published: February 13, 2009
THE old vets and the young sit side by side in the waiting room at the veterans center here, facing the “Welcome Home” sign and the framed Purple Heart, and if you close your eyes sometimes and listen as they talk it’s hard to tell which war was whose. They fought on different sides of the world, but their battles are the same.

The center is part of a network established by the federal government in the years after an earlier war, when too many veterans came home from Vietnam to find too few places to talk about what had happened to them there. But the centers have been pressed into duty now for the veterans of a new war, more of whom are arriving home — and arriving here, too — each day from Iraq and Afghanistan.

“This is the front lines, right here,” James Gordon said as he walked through the suite of conference rooms and offices he oversees as the team leader here. Known as the Trenton Vet Center, this facility — one of four in New Jersey that offers counseling and other services outside the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital system — had 3,300 visits from veterans in 2003, the first year of the Iraq War; it had 7,300 visits last year. “It’s coming now, and it’s going to keep coming, and each of those people is going to have tentacles reaching to kids and family and other people.”

The tentacles grow slowly, as Mr. Gordon, 64, knows from his own war. He came home from Vietnam in 1966 with a Bronze Star, a habit of sleeping with the lights on, and a restless mind populated with memories of friends who had died in those patrols and battles near Pleiku.
click link for more

Army probes Alaska death of Brooklyn soldier

Army probes Alaska death of Brooklyn soldier
New York Daily News - New York,NY,USA
BY Christina Boyle
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, February 13th 2009, 12:27 AM

An Army investigation is underway after a Brooklyn soldier was found dead at his base in Alaska.

The body of Sgt. Naquan Reinaldo Williams was discovered Sunday night in the motor pool building of the Fort Richardson facility in Anchorage.

The 32-year-old was a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear scientist and had been assigned to the base for nearly three years, the Army said.
click link for more

Coming home: The conclusion

Salon reporters Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna did a fantastic job on this series. When you read about the troops we've failed, consider that along with failing them, we also failed their families. We failed their friends. We failed their communities. We faced a problem that existed since the beginning of time but we shut our eyes, stuck our fingers in our ears and refused to speak. PTSD is not new nor is it a sudden conditioned faced only by Iraq and Afghanistan forces. We knew what would come but the government was allowed to ignore the warnings from history. Had we taken care of them as soon as symptoms of PTSD began, it would have saved lives, marriages and perhaps billions of dollars. Had they been treated in the beginning when PTSD was mild, it would have been stopped from getting worse. Much like an infection, PTSD stops getting worse as soon as it is treated. Could you imagine what was possible with the data we had on PTSD if they took any of this seriously in the beginning?

Coming home: The conclusion
Salon - USA

In the final article in Salon's series, we ask what President Obama will do about the rise of suicide and murder among U.S. soldiers returning from combat.
Editor's note: This is the conclusion to Salon's weeklong "Coming Home" series on preventable deaths at Fort Carson. You can read the introduction to the series here.

By Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna


Feb. 14, 2009 | Two days after the election, the investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, released a list of the 13 issues requiring "urgent attention and continuing oversight" from the new administration and Congress. Listen to any politician. Surf the Web. Open a newspaper. You can probably draw up a list yourself pretty quickly, given the recession, two wars and killer peanut butter.

After scanning the headlines, you probably would not jot down the first agenda item on the GAO list of issues "needing the attention of President-elect Obama and the 111th Congress." The first issue on their list: "Caring for Service Members."

Four years ago, Salon exposed inadequate mental healthcare at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, unraveling the first threads in what eventually became part of a national scandal. Today, the grind of multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan translates into scores of damaged soldiers coming home. The trend far outstrips the raft of good-sounding military programs -- seemingly invisible at some Army posts -- the Pentagon set up to help these desperate troops. Forget about moldy barracks or mouse droppings in the hallways. People are dying unnecessarily.

Over the past week, Salon has published a dozen stories and sidebars about the healthcare problems at just one Army post among the many Army installations worldwide, Fort Carson, Colo. Salon dug up 25 cases of suicide, prescription drug overdoses or murder involving Fort Carson-based soldiers since 2004. In-depth study of 10 of those cases exposed a string of preventable deaths. In most cases, deaths seemed avoidable if the Army better identified and then appropriately treated soldiers' combat stress or brain injuries from explosions. In others, the Army, under pressure to deploy more troops in Iraq, brought into the ranks mentally damaged soldiers and then sent them to war. After combat had exacerbated their preexisting problems, the Army set them loose on the streets with deadly consequences.

Untreated, combat stress can cause bad behavior -- insubordination, substance abuse, violent outbursts. The Army was quick to crack down on soldiers for misbehavior but showed little interest in figuring out the underlying cause. Our reporting suggests that saying there is a "stigma" in the Army associated with seeking mental healthcare is an understatement. Harassment or punishment of those soldiers who show signs of mental strain or "weakness" seems like a more accurate description. One mock official Army document at Fort Carson asked soldiers seeking mental health help to pick one of the following explanations for their "Hurt Feelings": "I am a pussy," "I am a queer," "I want my mommy." In that environment, some troops opted to self-medicate with alcohol or drugs, making their problems worse.
click link for more

2 Billion cut for Veterans Hospital construction

Winners and losers in the final stimulus bill
CNN - USA
Losers
Veterans: Nearly all items for Veterans Affairs were reduced and the $2 billion the Senate wanted for VA construction was wiped out altogether. The VA did get one thing: $1 billion for medical facilities renovation and retooling.

When Angels Come Too Late

50 killed in plane crash near Buffalo
A Continental Airlines plane crashed into a house near Buffalo, New York, late Thursday, killing all 49 people on the plane and a person in the home, authorities said. Four people were injured at the crash site, including a mother and daughter inside the house that was hit. developing story

50 people died with this plane crash. Passengers and crew died. A husband died in his home. A wife and daughter escaped.

Fires ripped through Australia and over 170 people died.

Tornadoes, hurricanes, mudslides, traffic accidents, crimes, illness and suicides. Whenever tragedies strike we're left asking why. Why didn't God stop it? Why did it happen? Why me?

The worst thing well meaning people can do is try to answer these questions. No matter what you try to say, it will come out wrong. If you tell the wife and daughter that survived the plane crash they were saved by God or angels were watching over them, they will end up asking why the father was not saved or why the plane picked on their house. If you tell a neighbor they were being watched over and that's why the plane didn't hit their house, they will wonder why it hit their neighbor's house. If you tell the families of the people on the plane that it was God's will, their time to die, or anything else, they will not be comforted. Don't try to explain what you do not know. None of us know why one person dies but another is saved. All we know is what comes after.

After tragedies, people change. Some for better but some for worse. All we can do is be there to listen to them and stay by their side to support them. Ask them what they need that they cannot do for themselves. Find out if they need help making phone calls, preparing meals, doing laundry, walking the dog, simple things that end up helping them. If they want to talk, listen. If they want to cry, hold their hand. If they want to vent anger, let them blow it off without trying to calm them down unless they are getting out of control. Understand how much pain they are in and that people do not all react the same way. One member of the household may be in shock, another one may just take control, one angry, one weeping or one may seem out of touch with all of it. The way they are reacting is "normal" for them. Let them lead the way on how you react to them. Don't try to fix them or try to get them to respond "appropriately" according to what you think.

None of us really know why angels arrive too late by our judgment but we are comforted by the thought they do in fact arrive to take the soul back to heaven. The saying that "God only gives us what we can handle" is not something that offers any comfort because it tells them that it was done by God's will and He did it to them. If you have to say anything at all, tell them that God will give them what they need to get through it. God sent you to help them, surrounded them with people that care and then pray with them that they receive all the comfort they need to overcome a pain only they know. While you may know your own pain from a similar tragedy, you are not them. You do not know the exact level of their pain, if they are dealing with any guilt on top of the loss. Often the last thing said was said in anger to the person they lost, or maybe the relationship was strained. Do not compare what you went through to them. It's not a contest. You can share the fact that you lost someone too, but do not compare your loss with their's.

Just being there offers them comfort but let them lead the way on what you can do to help. It's one of the hardest things to do but it's what they need you to do. In this way, you are the earthly angel God sent to help them in their time of need.

"That young man never should have come into the Army"

Salon"That young man never should have come into the Army"
Salon - USA
Kenneth Eastridge had PTSD before he ever donned a uniform or did two tours of duty in Iraq. Now he's in prison for his part in the murder of a fellow soldier.

Editor's note: This is the fourth installment in a weeklong investigative series called "Coming Home." You can look at Kenneth Eastridge's MySpace page here, and read the story of Robert Marko here. Marko was sent to Iraq despite psychological problems and is now awaiting trial for murder in Colorado. You can also read the introduction to the series, and the first, second and third installments, which appeared Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

By Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna

Feb. 13, 2009 FORT CARSON, Colo. -- Late on the night of March 11, 2006, Kenneth Eastridge got in a fight with his girlfriend. It ended with his arrest for a felony.

The Kentucky native, an Army soldier stationed at Fort Carson, between deployments in Iraq, had fallen asleep after drinking when his girlfriend began to pound on his apartment door. She wanted inside, and she wanted to talk.

Eastridge responded with a string of obscenities and then flung the door open. He pointed a loaded pistol at his girlfriend. She looked at him like he was crazy, then turned and ran. Eastridge didn't fire. He stood motionless, stunned by his own reaction.


Eastridge recounts the episode from a gray plastic table inside Kit Carson Correctional Center, an island of concrete and razor wire in eastern Colorado's flat ocean of wheat. Now 25, he admits that by the time of his arrest in 2006 for felony menacing, he was already a "runaway train." But the train would keep going for another year, through a second deployment to Iraq, a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, and then the death of a fellow soldier. Eastridge is among 13 current or former Fort Carson soldiers to return from the Iraq war and then be accused or convicted of involvement in murder since 2005.
click link for more

Army recruiters describe nightmare of job

Army recruiters describe nightmare of job
By LINDSAY WISE Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Feb. 12, 2009, 11:46PM

Staff Sgt. Daren Stewart remembers driving down a rural road in Arkansas and thinking how easy it would be to jerk the wheel and flip his car into a ditch.

The 27-year-old Iraq war veteran says he wasn’t suicidal. He just figured that injuring himself was the only way he could get any time off from his job as an Army recruiter.

“I would rather spend three years straight in Iraq, without coming home, without a break, than ever be a recruiter again,” said Stewart, who recruited in Hot Springs, Ark., from 2005 to 2008.

Five-hundred miles away in Houston, the suicides of four Army recruiters from a single battalion have focused lawmakers and veterans advocates on the enormous stress endured by soldiers tasked with refilling the ranks of the all-volunteer military during wartime.

In response to the deaths, the Army will suspend all recruiting nationwide Friday to focus on leadership training, suicide prevention and the health of its 8,900 recruiters. The Army Inspector General also is examining working conditions throughout U.S. Army Recruiting Command.

In interviews with the Houston Chronicle, current and former recruiters and their relatives from 10 of the Army’s 38 recruiting battalions detailed their own experiences in a job long considered one of the military’s toughest. They said the exhausting hours, degrading treatment and toxic command climate reported in Houston were not isolated incidents, but deep-rooted, widespread problems that have affected recruiters across the country for years.

At the strip mall in Hot Springs where Daren Stewart worked, however, most of the recruiters were on antidepressants or antianxiety medication.

They worked 12- to 14-hour shifts, six or seven days a week, Stewart said. Commanders cursed, humiliated and screamed at soldiers who fell short of monthly quotas, threatening to ruin their careers or withhold time off with loved ones, he said. click link for more

Possible Salmonella Poisoning for Our Troops?

Possible Salmonella Poisoning for Our Troops?
MSNBC - USA
WTMJ-TV and JSOnline.com
updated 12:54 a.m. ET, Wed., Feb. 11, 2009
The West Side Soldiers Aide Society was just trying to help Marines fighting in Afghanistan, but they soon learned the care packages they sent were likely filled with contaminated food.

MILWAUKEE - "We just wanted to pack, nutritious, helpful items," Patricia Lynch of the West Side Soldiers Aide Society said about sending care packages to Marines in Afghanistan. When the group got word the troops were losing weight, they packed 50 boxes full of high protein food, including peanut butter crackers and peanut butter granola bars. "Almost a third were those kind of items," Lynch said. That was before the holidays, and before the salmonella outbreak. The group says Sam's Club, where they bought the items in bulk, emailed and called their members to let them know the products they bought were among the batches that were likely contaminated with salmonella after peanut butter products were recalled.
click link for more

Once were warriors

Once were warriors
After the horrors of war, many servicemen and women find themselves facing another battle: post-traumatic stress disorder. But a radical programme involving t'ai chi, meditation and Hawaiian "forgiveness" therapy is helping many of them find peace

• This article appears in Sunday's Observer Magazine
Louise Carpenter The Observer, Sunday 1 February 2009
Peter Stone was approaching the end of a long career in the army when he witnessed an event in Croatia in 1995 that was to ruin the next decade of his life. Walking through a village, he came across three Croatian children, aged 11, nine and seven. A father of four himself, Stone's instinct was to talk to them. He even reached into the pocket of his uniform and offered them some chocolate. Later, passing back through the village, he saw them again. They were lying in pools of their own blood by the roadside, their throats cut - punishment for speaking to the enemy.

Stone was an experienced soldier. He had served in Northern Ireland, the Falklands and Croatia. He had seen death and despair, and he had endured and pulled through explosions himself. And yet it was this singular, horrific event that was to be his unravelling. "Those children were innocent," he says, his voice faltering, "and I could not get the memory of them out of my mind, I could not get the thoughts to go [away] that I was responsible, that if it were not for me, they would still be alive today."

Years later, Stone was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a common problem that usually becomes apparent in soldiers years after the experienced trauma. It is often triggered by a second, unrelated trauma. In Stone's case, it was the death of his son in a car crash, two weeks before his son's 21st birthday, in 2001. He had been out of the army for a year then, his marriage having broken down due to the stresses of his job.
click link for more

Dead rodents in peanut butter plant lead to recall

Dead rodents in peanut butter plant lead to recall
The Texas Department of State Health Services on Thursday ordered the recall of all products ever shipped from the Peanut Corporation of America's plant in Plainview, Texas, after discovering dead rodents, rodent excrement and bird feathers in the plant.

Story Highlights
Texas orders recall of products shipped from Peanut Corporation of America plant

Order applies to all products shipped since plant opened nearly four years ago

Order comes day after dead rodents, rodent excrement, bird feathers found in plant

Plant officials voluntarily stopped operations Monday night
(CNN) -- The Texas Department of State Health Services on Thursday ordered the recall of all products ever shipped from the Peanut Corporation of America's plant in Plainview, Texas, after discovering dead rodents, rodent excrement and bird feathers in the plant.

full story

Judges plead guilty in sending kids to lockup

Judges plead guilty in sending kids to lockup
Pair accused of taking $2.6 million in payoff to put away young offenders
SCRANTON, Pa. - Two Pennsylvania judges charged with taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send youth offenders to privately run detention centers pleaded guilty to fraud Thursday in one of the most stunning cases of judicial corruption on record.

Prosecutors allege Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan took $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in lockups run by PA Child Care LLC and a sister company, possibly tainting the convictions of thousands of juvenile offenders.

The judges pleaded guilty in federal court in Scranton to honest services fraud and tax fraud. Their plea agreements call for sentences of more than seven years in prison. They were permitted to remain free pending sentencing.
click link for more,,,,,unbelievable but true.

Nightmare on Elm Street when veterans need help

by
Chaplain Kathie

If you took the best talent producing some of the best horror movies and locked them in a room, they could not come close to what is happening on every Elm Street USA. Take Nightmare on Elm Street for a start. I remember seeing the first one. The terror always came when they were asleep. They were terrified to fall asleep. This movie left me going out to my car and searching the back seat to make sure no one was there. But it's not a movie for the troops coming home and it certainly hasn't been entertainment for the veterans finally figuring out what has been wrong with them all these years after combat had ended for them.

He woke up last night with another nightmare but Freddy wasn't there to haunt his dreams. Today he woke up drained as they tried to steady the hand reaching for the coffee pot. He looked at his wife sitting across from them wondering why she didn't say a word to him as she turned away instead of looking at him. He knew what his wife was thinking. She's thinking of leaving just like every other day. He can't blame her but somehow he also knows she shouldn't blame him.

It wasn't his fault he was sent into combat and it certainly wasn't his choice to change or have to face what he's been facing ever since. He's done everything in his power to make it right, do better, be less angry, apologize faster and try harder to go over her family's house the way they always used to do. He also knows that all he needs is a break. That someone in the VA will find his file and actually read it this time knowing the truth about what happened to him is in there if someone would bother to look instead of denying his claim.

This was us. No, it wasn't last night but it was us up until 1999 when the VA finally approved my husband's claim. It didn't take someone at the VA to find the error but the nightmare was the same as they are going thru today. The only difference between now and then is that there are no more excuses for it to still be going on today.

You've read my blog and watched my videos. Is any of this right? Should there still be one more suicide of a soldier that needed help? Should there be one more veteran ending up dying on the street tonight because he ended up homeless? Should there still be one more wife not knowing why her husband came home changed? No. That's the point. Congress can hold all the hearings they want but until they just figure out it's time to do the right thing and give the veterans whatever they need, there will be many more horror stories all over this country.

"Kill yourself. Save us the paperwork"

It feels as if I've spent most of my life reading stories like this. It could be because I've spent over half my life reading these stories and knowing that any one of them could have been my husband. That's the biggest problem in all of this. They are someone's husband, someone's son, someone's friend, but too few pay attention to any of this.

"Kill yourself. Save us the paperwork"
Pfc. Ryan Alderman, now deceased, sought medical help from the Army. He got a fistful of powerful drugs instead.

Editor's note: This is part of the second installment in a weeklong series called "Coming Home." Read Ryan Alderman's sworn statement, written a week before his death, here, and a description of three other suicides of Fort Carson-based soldiers here. See the introduction to the series here.

By Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna

Feb. 10, 2009 FORT CARSON, Colo. -- It was unseasonably warm for November in Colorado as Heidi Lieberman approached the door of the Soldiers' Memorial Chapel at Fort Carson. She walked past a few of the large evergreens that dot the chapel grounds and then entered the blockish, modern beige and brown chapel topped with a sharp, rocketlike steeple.

Inside, the chapel was hushed. Camouflage-clad, crew-cut young men packed the pews. Up in front, an empty Army helmet hung on the butt of an upright M16. A pair of brown combat boots sat below, as if they had been tucked under a bunk. A soldier handed Heidi a program for a memorial service. On the front was the image of a soldier, kneeling in prayer below an American flag and illuminated by a beacon of light from above. The inscription just below the kneeling soldier read, "Lord, grant me the strength ..."


It had been five days since Heidi's son Adam, 21, a soldier at Fort Carson, swallowed handfuls of prescription sleeping pills and psychotropic drugs in the barracks, trying to die. With a can of black paint, Adam brushed a suicide note on the wall of his room. The Army, Adam wrote, "took my life." (Read Adam Lieberman's story here.)

Adam had lived. Pfc. Timothy Ryan Alderman wasn't so lucky. Alderman had been found dead of a similar drug overdose in his room in the barracks at Fort Carson in the early-morning hours of Oct. 20, 10 days before Adam Lieberman made his suicide attempt.

Heidi, who was at Fort Carson to deal with the aftermath of her own son's suicide attempt, had decided to attend Alderman's funeral although neither she nor her son had known him. She sank into a pew and tried to reconcile two warring thoughts.
click link for more of Part Two.....Part three follows


"You're a pussy and a scared little kid"
John Needham returned from Iraq, suffering from combat stress. If he had received proper care, would he be standing trial for murder?

Editor's note: This is the third installment in a weeklong investigative series called "Coming Home." Read a note written by John Needham here. You can also read the introduction to the series, and the first and second installments, which appeared Monday and Tuesday.

By Michael de Yoanna and Mark Benjamin
Feb. 12, 2009 FORT CARSON, Colo. -- Fellow soldiers in Iraq called John Wiley Needham "Needhammer" for his toughness. They also saw him as somehow charmed, because the tall blond Army private from Southern California always seemed to be just far enough away from danger. People died next to Needham; Needham survived.

But "Needhammer" was not indestructible after all. He struggled with the aftereffects of the explosions he'd dodged. He survived a suicide attempt while in Iraq, and, after being shipped out of the country in 2007, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and a brain injury. He took so many prescription meds he could barely hold his head up. According to Needham's father, Mike, the Army's response to the soldier's problems was punishment rather than treatment.

Last year, just weeks after his discharge, he allegedly beat 19-year-old aspiring model Jacqwelyn Villagomez to death in his California condo.


A Salon investigation has identified several trends involving Fort Carson soldiers who became homicidal. There are failures by healthcare workers and commanders to provide proper care to soldiers struggling with hidden wounds such as PTSD and brain injuries. There is a tendency to overmedicate soldiers struggling with stress or other injuries. Behind it all is an Army culture that punishes problematic soldiers instead of aiding them.
click link above for more of this

VA Identifies Problem with a Transcription Services Contract

Since when does the VA hire contractors to handle veteran's care? How many other contactors are hired for what VA employees used to do? Has anyone else understood that the records of our veterans, their personal information has been in the hands of contractors instead of VA employees only?

VA Identifies Problem with a Transcription Services Contract

WASHINGTON (Feb. 12, 2009) - During a routine internal inspection, the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) discovered a contractor providing
medical transcription services who was not following the Department's
rules for protecting medical information.



Although there is no evidence that any patient information was disclosed
as a result of the violation, VA has suspended the contractor from
receiving any sensitive information from the Department until the
contractor guarantees compliance with VA's standards for information
technology (IT) security.



"VA insists that contractors, as well as our own personnel, adhere to
the highest standards for protecting personal information," said
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "When we detect a
problem, as happened in this case, we will quickly fix it, and we will
ensure such problems are not happening elsewhere."



The issue involves a contractor whose employees create written
transcripts of recordings made by health care professionals while
performing physical examinations, reporting on surgeries, and taking
patients' histories. VA officials found the contractor's employees used
computers that do not adhere to government policy on security.



Based on this incident, the Secretary has launched an intensive
examination of all VA's contracts to ensure all contractors properly
safeguard information about VA patients, Veterans and employees.

Ore. Guard tells of possible chemical exposure

Ore. Guard tells of possible chemical exposure
By Joseph B. Frazier - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Feb 12, 2009 5:15:25 EST

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Oregon National Guard has written to 433 of its soldiers to say they may have been exposed to a toxic, carcinogenic chemical at an Iraqi water pumping plant shortly after the war began.

Guard spokesman Maj. Mike Braibish said three companies of the 162nd Infantry Battalion were deployed in Kuwait, and the troops were sent, about 50 at a time, into Iraq to escort employees of Houston-based KBR, which was inspecting oil facilities.

He said no symptoms indicating exposure have been reported to the Oregon Guard.

“That doesn’t mean they won’t be,” Braibish said Wednesday. “Some may have been treated by the Veterans Administration, and we don’t know about it. It’s a possibility.”
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Our troops need more time between deployments

Our troops need more time between deployments

A Marine is reunited with his family at Twentynine Palms after a fifth tour of duty to Iraq. (Lance Iversen / The Chronicle)

Ellen Tauscher

Thursday, February 12, 2009
Having fought two wars on two fronts for more than seven years, our troops are tired and our military's equipment is worn out.

The demands of multiple deployments in quick succession have taken a toll on our troops, who suffer on a personal level, experiencing higher rates of suicide, divorce and post-traumatic stress disorder. This has hampered the military's ability to respond to another crisis somewhere else in the world to protect America's interests.

That's why Congress must pass legislation making sure the military services guarantee "dwell time," a period of time to rest and regroup, for our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.

Active-duty troops should have at least a month of rest for every month they were deployed in a combat zone. Reservists and National Guardsman should have at least three months of rest for each month of deployment.

The pace of deployments needed to sustain combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has taken a toll on our servicemen and servicewomen, who silently endure emotional fatigue and distress. They have missed their children's births, their parents' funerals and learned of divorces on blogs and Web sites.
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Iraq Vets Storm the Hill, Congress Rapidly Responds

Paul Rieckhoff
Exec. Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)
Posted February 12, 2009 01:56 AM (EST)

Iraq Vets Storm the Hill, Congress Rapidly Responds
Earlier this week, I told you about an amazing group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans that were coming to Capitol Hill for a historic trip to Congress, to advocate on behalf of their fellow vets. Today, I want to tell you just one of their extraordinary stories.

Rey Leal served as a Marine in Fallujah during some of the heaviest fighting, earning a Bronze Star with valor as a Private First Class, an almost unheard of accomplishment for a soldier of his rank. But when he returned to southern Texas, he needed help coming home from war. Instead of having resources at his fingertips, his closest VA hospital was over five hours away. Rey’s a tough Marine, and a boxer, but he shouldn’t have to fight to get care at a veterans’ hospital. And at his nearest outpatient clinic, there was just one psychologist, taking appointments only two days a week.

The psychologist only works two days because that Texas clinic, like many VA clinics and hospitals, has to stretch its’ funding to make sure the money lasts the whole year. They don’t know how much funding they’ll have next year because the VA budget is routinely passed late. In fact, 19 of the past 22 years, the budget has not been passed on time. As a result, the VA is forced to ration care for the almost 6 million veterans that depend on its services.

For the millions of veterans like Rey, we must fix this broken VA funding system.

Imagine trying to balance your family’s budget without knowing what your next paycheck will be. That’s what we’re asking of the largest health care provider in the nation to do. And it doesn’t work.

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Number of cadets seeking mental health care at West Point rises

West Point addressing recent suicides
By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Feb 11, 2009 21:46:59 EST

WASHINGTON — Following four suicides at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, officials said Wednesday they are emphasizing to cadets that seeking help for mental health problems won’t jeopardize their military careers.

In the last seven months, two cadets, a faculty member and a staff member at the academy have taken their lives. The suicides were the first at the school in upstate New York since 1999.

They are part of a larger trend as the strained military wages war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army had its highest rate of suicide on record in 2008 and is investigating a spike in the number in January.

He said three times the number of cadets are seeking mental health help, which leaders view as a positive sign that the stigma associated with getting assistance has been reduced.

Brig. Gen. Michael Linnington, commandant of cadets, said there is a misconception among cadets that seeking help will jeopardize their military careers, so leaders have aggressively emphasized that’s not the case. click link for more

DoD leaders seek clues to Army suicide spike

These are the same people able to develop all kinds of means to kill. Aren't they? Then how is it these same people cannot figure out what advocates already know? Too bad they don't read my blog or any of the others out there that have the answers they're looking for. If they turn to the same people that already "advised" them, they will only get the same answers.

DoD leaders seek clues to Army suicide spike
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 11, 2009 14:42:37 EST

Defense officials acknowledged Tuesday that it is the “cumulative effect” of repeated deployments that have stressed the U.S. military.

What the Pentagon now wants to determine is whether those stressors are responsible for the reported increase in Army suicides last month.

The Army, which has borne the brunt of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, announced seven confirmed suicides in January, and as many as 24 soldiers may have killed themselves. The Army also reported a 25 percent increase in suicides in 2008 over the previous year. Last year was the fourth consecutive year that the number of Army suicides rose.

“The uptick, most recently, in suicide — very troubling,” said Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, during a Pentagon news conference. “We’re trying to understand that, for the Army. This is the first time that the Army has come up to the level of its counterpart, the civilian sector, so to speak. click link for more

Another devotional from Papa Roy

What about you?

If our motive is to glorify God and benefit others, we have no reason to be ashamed of what we do for a living. Exodus 31 tells us that God gave certain people special skills to work in gold, in silver, in cutting jewels, and in all kinds of workmanship to help build the tabernacle.

If you are a construction worker, a teacher, a trash hauler, a plumber, a doctor, a carpenter, a writer, a mechanic, a scientist, an assembly-line worker, a secretary, a military person, or any other kind of worker whose occupation contributes to the welfare of others, you have a God-honoring job. In His sight it is an opportunity to serve Him in the place He has provided—just for you. (Dennis J. De Haan)

Exodus 31:3 And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.

God never calls any to any work or service of his but He qualifies for it: in all this Bezaleel was a type of Christ, who was filled with the Holy Spirit without measure; and on whom rested the spirit of wisdom and of counsel, and in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; and who, as God's righteous and faithful servant as Mediator, dealt wisely and prudently in all his administrations.

Pray for our nation

Holy Lord, You are a loving God who calls us into relationship, first with Yourself and then with one another.

In God we trust: “The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but

unoffered prayer.” _F. B. Meyer



Papa Roy

P.S. What about you? Has the Lord gifted you with craft skills which could -- and should -- be put to work in His service? Is there something you could do to improve the attractiveness of the "tabernacle" where you worship Him? Is there a home mission project on your district that could use you? Is there a Work and Witness project in another country where you could be of help? (Howard Culbertson)

Police Officer charged with beating Iraq War Vet

Walter Harvin ended up beaten while trying to get into his own apartment building. He ended up homeless after this and already had PTSD. When will police officers ever understand what PTSD is?

Officer Charged With Assault of Man He Arrested
New York Times - United States

By JOHN ELIGON
Published: February 11, 2009
Last July, Police Officer David London arrested a man in the Upper West Side building where he lived with his mother, charging him with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

But the building’s surveillance video told a different story, District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau said Wednesday.

It showed Officer London pulling the man out of an elevator Mr. Morgenthau said, and beating him 18 to 20 times with a baton. The beating continued even after the man, Walter Harvin, fell to the ground, Mr. Morgenthau said. And even after Mr. Harvin was in handcuffs, Officer London delivered another eight to 10 blows, some with his feet, Mr. Morgenthau said.

Officer London, 43, has been indicted on charges of assault and filing false records and pleaded not guilty Wednesday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. He was released without bail. If convicted he faces up to seven years in prison.

The confrontation took place on July 28, 2008, when Mr. Harvin, 29, an Iraq war veteran, was trying to get into his apartment building, a public housing project, at 93rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue, Mr. Morgenthau said. Officer London stopped him and asked for his identification. Mr. Harvin did not have any, nor did he have his key to the building, Mr. Morgenthau said, and he got into a shoving match with Officer London.

Family waits for cause of soldier's death

Matagorda soldier dies in Iraq
By Erin McKeon
The Facts

Published February 11, 2009

MATAGORDA — As tears choked her voice, Brandi Ward said her big brother was a vibrant man with an outgoing personality who always saw the glass as half full.

Army Sgt. Joshua Ward’s family was notified Monday afternoon that the 30-year-old had died in Mosul, Iraq, during his third deployment there, Brandi Ward said. Details surrounding his death are not being released until other families are notified of their loved ones’ losses, she said.

Ward’s mother, Patti, said her son was someone who loved with all his heart, and his laugh was contagious. Her sorrow is one no other mother should ever have, she said.

“I’m shocked. Numb. Mad. A little of each,” Patti Ward said. “He was happy-go-lucky, funny, laughed all the time, made you laugh all the time and he loved his family.”

When Joshua Ward enlisted in 2001, his mother said watching him leave was the hardest thing she’s had to do until now.
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linked from http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx

VA fails local vet: Soldotna Alaska man languishes due to snafu

VA fails local vet: Soldotna man languishes due to snafu
Kenai Peninsula Online - Kenai,AK,USA
By Phil Hermanek Peninsula Clarion
For more than 20 years, when the U.S. Air Force called, Richard Creary reported for duty.

Now, about 20 years after being honorably discharged, Creary is calling back, and his calls are not heard.

On Jan. 9, Creary suffered a stroke in his Soldotna home and was rushed to the hospital.

When the medical staff at Central Peninsula Hospital learned he was a retired Air Force veteran, they decided to have him flown up to the hospital on Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage for further care.

That's where he remains today, a month later, while his significant other is being run around the system trying to get him the rehabilitation therapy everyone agrees he must have, but no one wants to pay.

"They referred him to a short-term facility in Seattle, but they denied his admittance because he did not have an exit plan," said Scharlott Thomas, who has been Creary's partner since around 2001.

The short-term facility is a Veterans Administration facility, and even though Creary has not started a rehabilitation regimen anywhere, Thomas said the facility wants him to have an exit plan -- a specific date when his rehabilitation is to end.
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Off Duty Sheriff's Deputy but she fought off three thieves

Off-duty sheriff's deputy fights off 3 in theft attempt
Woman confronted suspect in parking lot before 2 others joined in scuffle
Matthew Walberg Crime scene
February 10, 2009

In nearly 16 years as a Cook County sheriff's deputy, Sgt. Nancy Kelly never once had gotten into a physical altercation.

But on Friday night, while off duty, she fought off three would-be thieves after they tried to steal her wallet.

The former elementary school teacher, 61, was having dinner with a longtime friend at a Panera restaurant on Cicero Avenue near 106th Street in Oak Lawn. After ordering a chicken sandwich, she left her purse underneath her coat in her booth while she went to get a drink.

"I wasn't more than 3 feet away from it, and when I turned around there was this woman sitting in my booth," Kelly said. She said she grabbed the woman by the arm, demanded to know what she was doing and quickly checked her purse. Her wallet was missing.
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Five-year-old girl disappears from bedroom

Five-year-old girl disappears from bedroom
Helen Eckinger Sentinel Staff Writer
1:40 PM EST, February 10, 2009

An Amber Alert has been issued for a missing Putnam County girl.

Haleigh Cummings, 5, was last seen at 10 p.m. Monday in the bedroom of the Satsuma home where she lives with her father, Ronald Cummings and his girlfriend, Misty Croslin.

Ronald Cummings was working Monday night, and Croslin woke up and realized Haleigh was missing just before he returned home at about 3:30 a.m. this morning, according to Lt. Johnny Greenwood of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office. Croslin alerted authorities while Ronald Cumming searched for his daughter, Greenwood said.

Haleigh's mother was in Georgia, where she lives, when Haleigh went missing, Greenwood said.
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Two non-combat deaths in Iraq identified

02/10/09 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Spc. Christopher P. Sweet, 28, of Kahului, Hawaii, died Feb. 6 in Kirkush, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 172d Separate Infantry Brigade, Grafenwoehr, Germany

02/09/09 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Spc. James M. Dorsey, 23, of Beardstown, Ill., died Feb. 8 in Kamaliyah, Iraq, in a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx

Ban on coverage of military coffins may be lifted

Gates open to lifting ban on casket photos
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Feb 10, 2009 16:00:34 EST

The controversial policy that bans media coverage of flag-draped caskets arriving from the war theater to Dover Air Force Base, Del., is once again being reviewed with an eye toward reversal, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday.

“If the needs of the families can be met, and the privacy concerns can be addressed, the more honor we can accord these fallen heroes, the better,” Gates said at a Pentagon news conference. “I’m ... pretty open to, to whatever the results of this review may be.”

Gates said he ordered the review after President Barack Obama said Monday night during a nationally broadcast news conference that the White House is “in the process of reviewing those policies.”

Gates said he has put a “fairly short deadline on that effort,” but was not more specific.

Gates, a Bush administration holdover who has served in the Pentagon’s top job since December 2006, said he looked into changing the policy a little over a year ago.

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