U.S. Marine Corps, 1 suicide every two days, attempted ones, every 2 hours!

Staff Photo by Dan Henry Ben Crary stands in front of a dedicated USMC wall in his Collegedale residence Monday afternoon. Mr. Crary suffers from post traumatic stress disorder from the time he spent in the military.

The U.S. Marine Corps reports that a service member dies by suicide every two days, and one attempts suicide every two hours.

Chattanooga: The burden of war


By: Lauren Gregory

In his dreams, Ben Crary was always falling. So on the day he said he was ready to die, it felt right to plan one last plunge.

The Walnut Street Bridge would finally free him from the sickening reality in which the former Marine lance corporal lived.

It was a mid-winter day about a year ago and, like every other day, the film reel in his head looped through scenes of sand, spattered brains and lost limbs. One boy in particular haunted him. He could feel the baby’s cracked skull in his hands, and he could hear the child’s Iraqi parents pleading with him and his fellow Marines for help.

That memory came back regularly while he was still deployed, cultivating a death wish that he said prompted him to shed his body armor often and walk around like an open target in hopes an enemy sniper would end his misery

go here for more

http://timesfreepress.com/news/2009/feb/26/chattanooga-burden-war/

Mom: Deployment leaves no one to care for kids

Mom: Deployment leaves no one to care for kids
By MITCH WEISS – 11 hours ago

DAVIDSON, N.C. (AP) — When Lisa Pagan reports for duty Sunday, four long years after she was honorably discharged from the Army, she'll arrive with more than her old uniform. She's bringing her kids, too.

"I have to bring them with me," she said. "I don't have a choice."

Pagan is among thousands of former service members who have left active duty since the Sept. 11 attacks, only to later receive orders to return to service. They're not in training, they're not getting a Defense Department salary, but as long as they have time left on their original enlistment contracts, they're on "individual ready reserve" status — eligible to be recalled at any time.

Soldiers can appeal, and some have won permission to remain in civilian life. Pagan filed several appeals, arguing that because her husband travels for business, no one else can take care of her kids. All were rejected, leaving Pagan with what she says is a choice between deploying to Iraq and abandoning her family, or refusing her orders and potentially facing charges.

Then she hit on the idea of showing up Sunday at Fort Benning, Ga., with her children in tow.

click link for more

I'm just back from the dedication ceremony and will have a post tomorrow on that but I had to put this post up. I can't believe this is still going on. If one more person passes this off as "well she signed up" instead of this is so wrong, they can never be the type of person able to put themselves in someone else's shoes and to tell you the truth, I don't want heartless people reading this blog.

Obama Bringing Troops Home: Are We Ready to Welcome Them?

Paul Rieckhoff
Exec. Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)
Posted February 27, 2009 10:20 AM (EST)

Obama Bringing Troops Home: Are We Ready to Welcome Them?


President Obama traveled to Camp Lejeune today to announce the eventual drawdown of combat troops in Iraq. There's sure to be a lot of discussion about the details of the timeline, and a lot of politics getting in the way of any coherent military analysis.

But whether it is 16 months or 19 months or 23 months, whether the residual force is 10,000 or 50,000 troops, the president's new plan will create a surge of new veterans coming home in 2009 and 2010. We need to be ready.

Our duty to these brave men and women doesn't end when they leave the battlefield. Military families have borne a tremendous strain through more than eight years of conflict, and our troops are returning to the worst economy we've seen in decades. No veteran's 'welcome home' should come in the form of an unemployment check.
click link for more

The answer is, no. Not even close.

Tomorrow I'll be off line most of the day. The dedication for the memorial at the Nam Knights is tomorrow. Glad this day is finally here because I've been making beads for the last couple of months instead of posting most of the day,,,,just not enough hours in the day to do it all. I'll have plenty of pictures to post and will have a lot of information to share. Check back on Sunday or late tomorrow, depending on when we finally get back home.

Oprah makes friends at Walter Reed

We have a new President setting the tone for the rest of the nation to follow. To Obama, supporting the troops is more than just words, simply because he really does care. Aside from increasing the size of the military, increasing pay, he is also addressing the dire needs of them when they become veterans.

Saying patriotic things as Oprah did in the show, once was not so easy. When Bush was President supporting the troops was very complicated because he would regard the support of the troops as support for himself. This nation has had our heart tugged by the suffering of so many of our wounded warriors. This nation, the people of this nation, will rise to the challenge with the right leadership. After all, look how much average people have done even with the wrong leadership! Look across the country and see there are people stepping up all the time to try to give them what they need when the government had not. The troops and our veterans deserve every bit of support we can give them but it has to come from a place too many in this country have yet to find. Their own hearts. If you love them, really love them, then prove it by helping them even if it is just by sending a letter to your Congressman to make sure they are given what they need.

I'm very glad someone with the popularity of Oprah did this show.





Major Bruce Gannaway Tests his new leg by dancing with his wife
Specialist Robert Andrzejczak Takes his first steps since losing part of his leg
Specialist Nicholas Koulchar Describes his pelvic replacement
Sgt. Paul McAlister Explains how he lost both of his legs searching for explosives
Army National Guard Sgt. Travis Ryan Wood Tells Oprah how he lost his leg
Sgt. First Class Johnathan Holsey Talks about his recovery process

Soldier convicted in gang beating death of sgt.

Soldier convicted in gang beating death of sgt.
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Feb 26, 2009 14:16:52 EST

BERLIN — A U.S. soldier has been found guilty of participating in gang initiation rituals that caused the beating death of another soldier near a base in Germany.

Pvt. Bobby D. Morrissette was also convicted on charges of impeding an investigation, impeding a trial by court-martial and willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer, the military said in a statement Thursday. He was sentenced to 42 months in confinement and a bad conduct discharge.

The charges relate to the beating death of Sgt. Juwan Johnson, of Baltimore on July 4, 2005, at a park pavilion in Kaiserslautern, where U.S. forces have a base.
click link for more

President's 2010 Budget Request Strongly Supports VA Programs

Recent VA News Releases



To view and download VA news release, please visit the following
Internet address:

http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel






President's 2010 Budget Request Strongly Supports VA Programs

Funding Plan Improves Access, Modernizes Technology



WASHINGTON (Feb. 26, 2009) - President Obama's first proposed budget for
the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) expands eligibility for health
care to an additional 500,000 deserving Veterans over the next five
years, meets the need for continued growth in programs for the combat
Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, and provides the resources to deliver
quality health care for the Nation's 5.5 million Veteran patients.



The 2010 budget request is a significant step toward realizing a vision
shared by the President and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki to transform VA into an organization that is people-centric,
results-driven and forward-looking.



"Our success must encompass cost-effectiveness," Shinseki said. "We are
stewards of taxpayer dollars, and we will include appropriate metrics to
accurately gauge the quality of our care and the effectiveness of our
management processes."



If accepted by Congress, the President's budget proposal would increase
VA's budget from $97.7 billion this fiscal year to $112.8 billion for
the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2009. This is in addition to the $1.4
billion provided for VA projects in the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009.



The 2010 budget represents the first step toward increasing
discretionary funding for VA efforts by $25 billion over the next five
years. The gradual expansion in health care enrollment that this would
support will open hospital and clinic doors to more than 500,000
Veterans by 2013 who have been regrettably excluded from VA medical care
benefits since 2003. The 2010 budget request provides the resources to
achieve this level of service while maintaining high quality and timely
care for lower-income and service-disabled Veterans who currently rely
on VA medical care.



The new budget provides greater benefits for Veterans who are medically
retired from active duty, allowing for the first time all military
retirees to keep their full VA disability compensation along with their
retired pay. The President's budget request also provides the resources
for effective implementation of the post-9/11 GI Bill -- providing
unprecedented levels of educational support to the men and women who
have served our country through active military duty.



The new budget will support additional specialty care in such areas as
prosthetics, vision and spinal cord injury, aging, and women's health.
New VA Centers of Excellence will focus on improving these critical
services.



The proposed fiscal year 2010 budget also addresses the tragic fact of
homelessness among Veterans. It expands VA's current services through a
collaborative pilot program with non-profit organizations that is aimed
at maintaining stable housing for vulnerable Veterans at risk of
homelessness, while providing them with supportive services to help them
get back on their feet through job training, preventive care, and other
critical services.



Finally, the President's budget request provides the necessary
investments to carry VA services to rural communities that are too often
unable to access VA care. The President's budget expands VA mental
health screening and treatment with a focus on reaching Veterans in
rural areas in part through an increase in Vet Centers and mobile health
clinics. New outreach funding will help rural Veterans and their
families stay informed of these resources and encourage them to pursue
needed care.

Oprah Show to feature wounded warriors

Oprah Show to feature wounded warriors
United States Army (press release) - USA
Feb 25

By Carol E. Davis

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Feb. 25, 2009) - The Oprah Winfrey show scheduled to air Thursday will feature interviews with wounded warriors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

On Jan. 21, Oprah and a film crew visited with wounded warriors and family members in the Military Advanced Training Center which is a rehabilitation facility supporting amputees and others at Walter Reed.

The show was filmed in front of a live studio audience Jan. 28 and show officials said the audience was moved and touched by the interviews with the warriors.

Several Soldiers will be featured, including Sgt. 1st Class Johnathan Holsey, an Army amputee who has been selected to attend warrant officer school, where he will begin training next month.

Other wounded warriors interviewed were Sgt. Kelly Keck, Sgt. Paul McAlister, Spc. Robert Andrzejczak, Navy Hospital Corpsman Thomas J. McBride, Spc. Nicholas Koulchar, Marine Lance Cpl. Justin "Nate" Knowles, Sgt. 1st Class Neal Boyd, Staff Sgt. Juan Roldan, National Guardmen Sgt. Travis Wood, Sgt. John Hoxie, Maj. Bruce Gannaway and Staff Sgt. Ramon Padilla.

80% Wounded Warrior at Walter Reed with TBI and PTSD

Torso injuries fall, brain traumas rise at Walter Reed

By Leo Shane III
Stars and Stripes



WASHINGTON — Doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center are treating fewer torso and limb injuries in troops returning from combat but more brain trauma and psychological disorders, the top Pentagon health official said Wednesday.

Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said that’s largely due to the drop in violence in Iraq, and could reverse as fighting intensifies in Afghanistan in coming months.

But he also credited better recognition of brain injuries by doctors and a lessening of the stigma associated with some psychological diagnoses. For example, physicians saw an increase in the number of patients reporting symptoms of depression over the last year.

"Guys are telling us they would still much rather be diagnosed with traumatic brain injury than post-traumatic stress disorder," Casscells said. "But we’re getting at some of that stigma. We’ve reduced it a bit.

"And as we increase dwell time, we hope to see decreases in those numbers as well."

More than 80 percent of "wounded warrior" patients at Walter Reed are dealing with traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, concussion complications and similar wounds, hospital officials said.
go here for more
http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nffeb09/nf022609-6.htm

Vietnam veterans need to stop being forgotten

by Chaplain Kathie

Kris Kristofferson introduces the song and video by Big and Rich, The 8th of November. This song is on my video Veterans Day Memories of Vietnam along with the song Some Gave All.




In the video there are men and women putting together a replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall, built by Tom and Dee Twigg of Rolling Thunder. Bringing Home The Wall was built so that it could be taken into hospitals and nursing homes so that veterans unable to go to the Wall would be able to see it, touch it and be touched by it. The video was shot in Lakeland Florida a few years ago when my husband and I were members of the Orlando Chapter. What most people don't understand when they see things like this in the newspaper is why anyone does things like this. It's called devotion.

1.6 million served in what was considered hot zones in Vietnam. There are 60 surviving Medal of Honor Recipients out of 246.

A complete and official catalog of the 246 Medal of Honor citations issued for combat actions during the Vietnam War
http://www.mishalov.com/Citations.html

There is Sammy Davis, out of the 60, attending the memorial dedication at the Nam Knights club house in Orlando on Saturday, February 28th. He is a member of the Nam Knights. I am really excited about having the chance to shake his hand.

Think about the fact we are a nation of over 300 million people and there are only about 24 million veterans, even less, combat veterans still living today. We pass them by on the street everyday and never know it until there is some kind of event to honor them. They appear when men and women that served this nation are buried from past wars and from today's wars. They never forget the fact these rare people were among the few willing to lay down their lives for this nation. "All gave some, some gave all," as the slogan goes but their giving never really seems to end.

Think about the groups across the nation headed by Vietnam veterans. The Disabled American Veterans National Commanders in recent years, veterans of Vietnam, along with many other groups. The Vietnam Veterans of America, Rolling Thunder, Patriot Guard Riders, Nam Knights along with many more were begun by Vietnam Veterans. Because of them, the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are coming home now to a lot more support than the Vietnam veterans ever dreamt of receiving. For all the complaining I do about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder not being taken care of none of what has been done would have happened had it not been for the courage and dedication to others of the Vietnam veterans coming back and fighting for it. Some view their fight to have PTSD recognized as a fight just for them, but they are missing the point these men and women continued to fight for the country because they were fighting for all generations of veterans. PTSD was not just a wound from Vietnam and has been documented throughout history but no one took it seriously until they stood up and said no more suffering in silence.

We see them marching in parades and bowing their heads with their hands over their hearts at memorial ceremonies but never stop to think what is in their head or their heart. They see what they went through and friends no longer here. They see the struggle they went through when they came home and for some, they see it as a never ending battle for justice. A justice that has eluded far too many while others seem to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Media and bloggers focus on the new veterans coming home and the struggles they have with the VA and the DOD for justice with their claims of service related injuries and illnesses, backlogged claims, suicides and everything else going on with them but yet again, the Vietnam veterans are forgotten, pushed aside and told, there just isn't enough time for them anymore. Many of the Vietnam veterans are still trying to receive the compensation for their own wounds at the same time they fight for the newer veterans, but the media, well they don't have much time for the Vietnam veterans either.

At the same time people across the country are raising the awareness of PTSD, these veterans are finally discovering what they brought home with them, finally feeling a sense of relief it is not something "wrong" with them and seeking help to heal, yet being turned away, having their claims trapped behind the newer veterans they system cannot handle and told they have to wait. Haven't they waited long enough? The information we have now was not available to them. Two thirds of the American public have no clue what PTSD is and that percentage includes many of the Vietnam veterans we sent into combat. We raise the awareness so they are able to get help but the help that they should be getting is not waiting for them. This makes no sense at all.

Max Cleland is a Vietnam vet, an amputee, became a US Senator and headed the VA but he was treated for simple depression instead of PTSD until a few years ago when he was finally rightly diagnosed. If someone in the position of Cleland could have PTSD and not even know it do you really think it's that hard to understand how your own neighbor, friend or coworker would not know?

I still wonder when we are ever going to get it right for the sake of the Vietnam veterans? Will we ever? Will the media ever understand that as bad as it is for the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, it's ten times worse for the Vietnam veterans?

We lost over 58,000 men and women during the Vietnam war but have deployed more men and women into Iraq and Afghanistan as of today with a combat death count of 4,251 in Iraq and 660 in Afghanistan according to iCasualties.org as of today. Think of those numbers. Think of the kinds of traumatic events the vast majority of the 1.6 million Vietnam veterans deployed into "hot zones" endured and then finally understand the kinds of numbers we're talking about when it comes to them.

By 1978 there were 500,000 diagnosed cases of PTSD according to a study commission by the DAV. By 1986 117,000 had committed suicide and two later studies put the numbers between 150,000 and 200,000. Over 300,000 ended up homeless with untreated PTSD being the predominate factor contributing to their plight along with self-medicating. Until every family member of Vietnam veterans fully understands what PTSD is, we will never know the final count of what the Vietnam War cost them. If they do not know what it is, they never make the connection between Vietnam and what ended up happening to their veteran. To this day there are still children of Vietnam veterans discovering why their father acted the way they did and many, many more will never understand.

It's time the media started to pay attention to this generation of American warriors and render unto them the justice they deserved so long ago. They need to bring them back into the minds of the American people so they fully understand that their sacrifice did not end when they took off their uniforms but continues to this day. Watch my video below and then know what it takes to be a hero because as of today, Vietnam veterans are still paying back with very little being asked in return.

Veterans Day Memories of Vietnam - watch more videos

We face a tsunami of veterans needing care. With the fact each redeployment increases the risk of PTSD by 50% and the numbers we already saw coming out of Vietnam, there will be at least a million new generation of veterans with PTSD and needing help. Wait, it'll get worse because while this is going on I'm doing everything in my power to make sure the Vietnam veterans know what PTSD and start to bang on the doors to have their own wounds taken care of as well. After all, they fought for it!

Patients, hospitals face shortages of some pain relief medications

Patients, hospitals face shortages of some pain relief medications
By Joe Smilor on February 22, 2009 3:00 PM
Periodic shortages of pain relief medications have caused problems in recent months for some area hospitals and the patients who rely on them.

On its Web site, the Food and Drug Administration reported the shortage of oxycodone immediate release tablets in 5, 15 and 30mg.

Erica Abbett, a spokeswoman for drugmaker Covidien, explained the shortage this way: "Currently there is an industrywide supply issue with oxycodone-related products. The situation is due to multiple factors, including two competitors' products being removed from the market because of recalls.

"Covidien has significantly increased our product output as a result of the supply issue, however we alone cannot meet the total demand for these products. We are working diligently to ensure that interruption of patient access to vital pain management products, like oxycodone, is minimized," Abbett said.
go here for more
http://www.insidesocal.com/news247/2009/02/patients-hospitals-face-shorta.html