3 Police officers dead in Oakland, 1 officer brain dead

Oakland police officer pronounced brain dead after shootings
Story Highlights
NEW: Police officer being kept on life support until decision on organs made

Three of his fellow officers killed in shootings in Oakland, California

Shootings occurred in two different locations in Oakland neighborhood

Suspect died in exchange of gunfire with police, police say

(CNN) -- An Oakland, California, police officer critically injured in one of two Saturday shootings that killed three fellow officers was pronounced brain dead on Sunday, a police spokesman told CNN.




Initially, Oakland police spokesman Jeff Thomason said John Hege, 41, was the fourth officer to die after a man being pulled over in a traffic stop opened fire and then battled SWAT officers at a nearby building Saturday.

However, Thomason clarified later Sunday that Hege was pronounced brain dead about noon Sunday, but being kept on life support until a decision is made on organ donation.

The man who police said was the gunman -- Lovelle Mixon, 26, of Oakland -- was fatally shot in a gunbattle with SWAT officers in an apartment complex Saturday.

go here for more

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/03/22/california.officers/index.html

17 killed in Montana plane crash

FAA: 17 killed in Montana plane crash
A single-engine airplane crashed close to this cemetery near Butte, Montana, on Sunday, killing at least 17 people, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said. "We drove into the cemetery to see if there was any way my husband could help someone," crash witness Martha Guidoni said. "We were too late -- there was nothing to help." full story

Army dropped Lariam finally!!

Army scales back use of anti-malaria drug

Concerns centered on soldiers with brain injury, anxiety
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Mar 22, 2009 14:53:47 EDT

The Army has dropped Lariam — the drug linked to side effects including suicidal tendencies, anxiety, aggression and paranoia — as its preferred protection against malaria because doctors had inadvertently prescribed it to people who should not take it.

Lariam, the brand name for mefloquine, should not be given to anyone with symptoms of a brain injury, depression or anxiety disorder, which describes many troops who have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

The Army’s new choice for anti-malarial protection is doxycycline, a generic antibiotic.

“In areas where doxycycline and mefloquine are equally efficacious in preventing malaria, doxycycline is the drug of choice,” Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker said in a memo dated Feb. 2.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/03/army_lariam_032209w/

Disabled veterans get legal help

27 years of saying been there done that and I'm still not there yet. I am determined more than ever to make sure the claims on file with the VA reach the level where they finally understand what a tsunami looks like!

The American people let out a shriek when they heard about the Rand Study declaring 300,000 with PTSD. They thought this would be catastrophic especially considering the VA had not been able to take care of the relatively few seeking treatment and compensation for PTSD. "You ain't seen nothin yet!"

We've already seen what an uninvolved populace coupled with an unresponsive government did when Vietnam veterans came home. We've seen the results in them, their spouses but more in the generation that came after them. We saw the incarcerations. We saw the drug overdoses. We saw the divorces, the homelessness and all that came with what Vietnam veterans brought home with them but we also saw funerals because casualties of PTSD had to end their suffering their own way with suicide. We watched them die as we made mistakes. We watched them suffer as we studied them. We asked all the wrong questions and heard what we wanted to hear. Been there and done that too many years ago.

By the time the first set of boots came back from Afghanistan, we knew what needed to be done but did not do it. Some of us were screaming before they were even sent but no one would listen. They are still not listening as hope slips away and so do their lives.

There are about a hundred other things I could be doing instead of this. I can tell you they would be a lot more fun and far more financially rewarding. The issue I have is that I know what hope looks like. I know what miracles look like. I know what is possible when they have the help they need and their families find the support they need. I know what it's like to hear a veteran, long estranged from family and friends finding that connection again as they restore relationships and bad feelings are laid to rest. To hear the sound of happy tears rejoicing because they found out how much they are loved by God and He had not abandoned them. What it's like for a father to once again hold his child and the look of love beams from his eyes.

While I've seen the devastation and heartbreak, I've also seen how the human spirit of these men and women can come out on the other side, changed but more alive than they were before. This is what I want to flood the VA with. This is the tsunami they have been trying to hold off with a beach shovel. I'm not greedy. I want to share and spread the love. I want every family to have what I ended up having. I want every veteran with PTSD to end up wanting to be alive instead of wanting to die. We've all heard the expression of the "I got mine screw you club" when people feel as if only they are entitled to be happy but since I have mine, I want everyone else to have their's. If I didn't feel this way, I never would have become a Chaplain because there would have been no reason to be doing any of what I do.

Now please read the following and know that along with the hundreds of others stories on this blog, there are armies gearing up to take on this fight and will not give up until we finally get this all right!

Disabled veterans get legal help
Sunday, March 22, 2009
BY CHRIS STURGIS
Special to the Times
Three lawyers, two of whom are disabled, are joining forces to help veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars get what is due them from the Veterans Administration.

To that end, Lawyers C. Patterson McKenna, Melissa A. Gertz and Lisa A. Turowski last week held an open house at the Community Justice


"There is a backlog of 750,000 cases before the VA of people seeking disability benefits, primarily for post traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury," said McKenna, who has been blind since age 5.

And the problem is likely to grow, McKenna said.

Gertz said post-traumatic stress disorder cases are complicated by the fact that seeking treatment carries a stigma in the military.

"Patients don't want to seek treatment for fear of the stigma in case they want to re-enlist," she said.

Often they apply after several years have passed and they have had trouble functioning in civilian life, she said.

More veterans are surviving traumatic brain injuries than ever before because of life-saving advances in medicine, she said. However, they need assistance in living with the resulting disabilities, she said.
click link for more

Killeen Police officer shoots, kills Fort Hood soldier

Police officer shoots, kills Hood soldier

The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Mar 21, 2009 16:34:55 EDT

KILLEEN, Texas — A Killeen police officer early Saturday morning fatally shot a Fort Hood soldier driving an sport utility vehicle after authorities said the officer was dragged through a parking lot as he tried to detain a man while others inside the vehicle were trying to pull the man inside.

The name of the 21-year-old soldier was being withheld until his family was notified, authorities said.

The officer, whose name also was not disclosed, was able to free himself from the SUV and fell to the ground. He was treated at a hospital and released and was placed on administrative leave.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_hood_soldier_shot_032109/

About 15 percent of Oregon's deploying soldiers are on stop-loss

Stop loss hits home
by The Oregonian Editorial Board
Saturday March 21, 2009, 11:09 AM
About 15 percent of Oregon's deploying soldiers are on stop-loss, roughly twice the military average



The 41st Brigade Combat Team patch
When Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced last week that the Army will end its practice of extending soldiers' contracts beyond their end dates, he said such stop-loss orders "break faith" with service members.

But the deployment next month of Oregon's 41st Brigade Combat Team will include 479 soldiers affected by stop-loss, according to the Oregon Military Dept. That means that about 15.3 percent of the brigade could be deployed involuntarily. That's a rate a little more than twice that of stop-lossed troops currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nobody likes stop loss, the policy that allows the Army to order soldiers to active duty when they would otherwise be able to leave the service. The people it hurts most are families and soldiers who intended to serve one or two hitches, then quit. For some, this stop loss order will force some to drive the highways of Iraq for the next year rather than working or attending school in Oregon. For them, stop-loss is, indeed, a policy that "breaks faith" with volunteer soldiers.

To be sure, some portion of Oregon's stop-lossed component includes soldiers who have every intention of re-enlisting when they get to Iraq, knowing retention bonuses are tax-free. Others among the stop-lossed may not deploy for medical reasons. But the fact remains that Oregon's ratio of stop-lossed soldiers is substantially higher than typical.
go here for more
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/03/stop_loss_hits_home.html

Gary Sinise Commentary: We can't do enough for our veterans

Commentary: We can't do enough for our veterans
Story Highlights
Gary Sinise: I agreed to help produce a film made by man with two brothers in military

He says "Brothers at War" shows side of military rarely seen

Sinise: We can't do enough to honor military for sacrifices on our behalf

By Gary Sinise
Special to CNN

Editor's note: Actor and director Gary Sinise has appeared on film in "Forrest Gump," "Truman" and "Apollo 13" and on television in "CSI: NY." He co-founded the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago.


Actor Gary Sinise says we can't do enough for veterans who sacrifice to protect America.

(CNN) -- A while back, a friend of mine suggested that I take a look at a film that a buddy of his had made about his two brothers serving in Iraq.

Having spent some time there myself, I was eager to see it. Once I did, I wanted to do all I could to help the filmmakers find a distributor and get this wonderful film into the theaters.

I was honored to be asked to come on board as executive producer of the film, "Brothers at War," an honest and inside look at our military service members. It's told through the point of view of one brother who is in search of answers as to why his two younger brothers are serving in Iraq and what they and their families are doing during these long deployments.

I got involved with the film "Brothers at War" because I believe it shows a side of our military that is rarely seen. The call to duty that many of our military members share is depicted in the film through Isaac and Joe Rademacher.
go here for the rest
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/21/sinise.military/index.html

Borat star fools Ala. Guard into training stint

Borat star fools Ala. Guard into training stint

By Jay Reeves - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Mar 17, 2009 20:28:00 EDT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The actor best known as “Borat” tricked the Alabama National Guard into allowing him onto a post, giving him a military uniform and briefly letting him train — all, supposedly, for a German TV documentary.

The ruse, which included comedian Sacha Baron Cohen exposing his thong underwear while changing clothes, was going well until a young cadet recognized Cohen and notified older officers who weren’t familiar with the actor.

“It’s an embarrassment to the Alabama National Guard,” Staff Sgt. Katrina Timmons said Monday. “Since then we have put in protocols to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

A film crew pulled the stunt Feb. 13 at the Alabama Military Academy, which trains officer candidates from across the nation. The school is located at the Army’s old Fort McClellan in Anniston, about 65 miles east of Birmingham.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_borat_guardsmen_031609/

NH Gov. Lynch wants to cut suicide prevention when National Guards need it the most

Vet suicide prevention program faces big cuts

The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Mar 20, 2009 16:41:04 EDT

CONCORD, N.H. — A nationally recognized suicide prevention program for soldiers may take a financial hit because of New Hampshire’s severe budget crunch.

Gov. John Lynch has proposed cutting state funding for the Connect-Frameworks Suicide Prevention Program, which helps the New Hampshire National Guard provide mental health support to soldiers and their families.

State health officials are trying to restore some of the funding, but program director Kenneth Norton says any cut would hurt training efforts.

Since 2005 the program has trained more than 4,000 police officers, educators and mental health workers in suicide prevention for young adults. It started working with the National Guard last year.

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_vets_suicide_prevention_032009/

Vets Can Find Hope in Pointman Ministries

Local Vets Can Find Hope in Pointman Ministries
by Michelle Ventress on March 20, 2009

in News


Rancho Cordova has long been heavily influenced by military service. As many family members and friends of vets and active duty soldiers know, the veterans who come home are rarely the men and women who originally left. Often times, this can lead to a troubled life shadowed by addiction, mental illness, and homelessness. But this doesn’t have to be the case, and those of Point Man International Ministries are intervening and rehabilitating vets who need help adjusting after they’re home.

The Point Man International website says the organization began when “Seattle Police Officer and Vietnam Veteran Bill Landreth noticed he was arresting the same people each night, he discovered most were Vietnam vets like himself that just never seemed to have quite made it home.” Landreth began meeting these vets regularly in coffee shops and learned their stories. Point Man Ministries was created out of the fellowship these meetings allowed, and soon became a staple of the Seattle area.

The local Point Man Ministry Outpost is led by Thomas Potts. Potts bravely served our country over seas from December, 1967 through June, 1969. He became involved in Point Man Ministries in 2005 as he saw the need for intervention for our veterans steadily growing. Some of the veterans Potts works with he only counsels through one telephone call. Often times, they just need to know they aren’t alone. Others have gone on to become fully functioning members of society from lives of homelessness and addiction due to the encouragement and services Potts was able help provide.
go here for more
Local Vets Can Find Hope in Pointman Ministries


To see more about Point Man Ministries, please watch my video

Point Man Ministry Serving Those Who Served - watch more videos

USS Hartford, USS New Orleans collide near Arabian Peninsula

U.S. Navy vessels collide near Iran
Story Highlights
NEW: Nuclear propulsion plant on submarine not damaged, Navy says

USS Hartford, USS New Orleans collide near Arabian Peninsula

15 sailors on Hartford injured, returned to duty

Fuel tank on New Orleans ruptures, spilling 25,000 gallons of fuel

(CNN) -- A U.S. Navy submarine collided with a Navy amphibious ship Friday in the Strait of Hormuz, mildly injuring 15 sailors, according to the commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet.


The submarine USS Hartford and amphibious ship USS New Orleans are shown in Navy photos.

The submarine, the USS Hartford, collided with the USS New Orleans about 1 a.m. in the strait, which runs between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. It is one of the busiest commercial routes for oil tankers.

Fifteen aboard the Hartford were injured but returned to duty, according to a news release.

Both vessels are operating on their own power.

click link for more

Race-car drivers get peek at Army life

Race-car drivers get peek at Army life
By Will Graves - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 19, 2009 19:10:37 EDT

FORT KNOX, Ky. — You’d think since Tony Stewart doesn’t blink while going 180 mph at NASCAR tracks every weekend that he wouldn’t be impressed by a vehicle that tops out at 45 mph.

Then again, Stewart doesn’t drive an Army tank.

Stewart admits he got a little trigger happy while in a tank simulator during a visit Thursday to Fort Knox, firing shells at random targets in the western Kentucky base’s Close Combat Tactical Trainer Facility.

Stewart — who co-owns the No. 39 Sprint Cup car co-sponsored by the Army — and NHRA driver Tony Schumacher spent a few hours with soldiers, getting a taste of Army life that hardly resembled the battles Stewart would wage with green plastic Army men in his parent’s garden growing up.

The drivers took a glimpse at the cramped seat used by the tank drivers and marveled at how they can handle the massive machines without so much as a rearview mirror.
click link for more

Jobless rate at 11.2% for veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan

Jobless rate at 11.2% for veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan


By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The economic downturn is hitting Iraq and Afghanistan veterans harder than other workers — one in nine are now out of work — and may be encouraging some troops to remain in the service, according to Labor Department records and military officials.
The 11.2% jobless rate for veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and who are 18 and older rose 4 percentage points in the past year. That's significantly higher than the corresponding 8.8% rate for non-veterans in the same age group, says Labor Department economist Jim Walker.

Army records show the service has hit 152% of its re-enlistment goal this year. "Obviously the economy plays a big role in people's decisions," says Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, an Army spokesman.

Some soldiers are re-enlisting specifically because of the poor civilian job market, says Sgt. 1st Class Julius Kelley, a career counselor at Fort Campbell, Ky. "It's job security (in the Army), and I try to sell that all the time," he says. "You don't have to worry about getting laid off in the Army."

The market is tough outside the Army. Unemployment among the youngest of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, those ages 20 to 24, reached 15% in February, records show.
go here for more
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-03-19-jobless-veterans_N.htm

Something We Can All Agree On: Voluntary Assistance to Veterans

Something We Can All Agree On: Voluntary Assistance to Veterans
Huffington Post - New York,NY,USA

Robert S. McElvaine
Posted March 19, 2009 | 08:49 PM (EST)

Today we mark the sixth anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq. Recent reports indicate that the situation there has improved considerably. The focus is shifting back to Afghanistan. President Obama has made good on his campaign promise to set a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. The question remains, though, with a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and uncertainty in the surrounding region, whether our troops will actually come home or whether they will be redeployed to Afghanistan or elsewhere.

We have lost nearly 5000 American men and women who, we can all agree, regardless of our personal feelings about the wars, bravely served our country. More than 33,000 Americans have been severely wounded. Beyond these horrifying numbers are the psychological toll these wars are taking on our service members and their families with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries, as well as the everyday, but very serious, stress and strain that deployments and separations can have on marriages and families. Sadly, these problems are not going to disappear when the wars ever end. Studies show that post-traumatic stress never truly goes away but it can be managed. These studies also show that in order for the normal reactions-stress that one would expect anyone to have after experiencing combat and other terrifying situations-not to become a full-blown disorder, professional mental health services should be accessed quickly.

The DoD and VA are making an effort to address the issue, but they also seem to be moving at the normal speed of government, rather than the sort of accelerated government speed the financial crisis has produced. We must look to the private sector to step in to ensure that help is available when and where it is needed.

This anniversary of the war is an appropriate time to take note of the work of Give an Hour (www.giveanhour.org), a nonprofit organization that has created a national network of mental health professionals who are providing free counseling to military personnel, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, and their families. The Give an Hour network has nearly 4,000 professional volunteers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
click link for more

CNN False Outrage Is Not The Change We Need

by
Chaplain Kathie


$165 million in bonuses? Is this just something to jump on so that CNN and the rest of the media can fill time with instead of reporting on things that we really need investigated? While I do not want to just focus on CNN because all news stations are guilty of false outrage, CNN attracts viewers across political lines.

There are bigger issues dealing with a lot more tax payer funds and American lives that should have been reported on at least as much as the AIG story, but they were not. They were dropped soon after they were reported on and there were no resolutions, no public outrage, no justice and no accountability. This is just one case;

Thursday, March 06, 2008

KBR making money off taxpayers but not paying their's
Top Iraq contractorskirts US taxes offshore
Kellogg Brown & Root, the nation's top Iraq war contractor and until last year a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp., has avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies based in this tropical tax haven. (By Farah Stockman, Boston Globe)

When hundreds of billions of tax payer funds were missing in Iraq, how much reporting was done on it? Did we ever get an answer on who was responsible or held accountable? Did anyone repay the money or go to jail? What about Hallibuton and KBR? Did anyone get to the bottom of how much they ripped off the tax payers? Even more important was anyone ever charged with the damage they caused the troops in Iraq? Think about this;

Friday, October 12, 2007

Did Your Soldier Come Home Sick From Iraq?
Halliburton provided contaminated water to Soldiers

Al Asad Airbase is the focus of the video I just added to this blog. It wasn't such a big secret considering it has been played across the country to the "liberals" who cared enough to see it. Ben Carter, worked for KBR/Halliburton as a water purification specialist.In the video, he talks about the fact the water at Al-Asad was contaminated. Chlorine was not found in the water supply that was supposed to be added to it. We've heard horrible stories about cholera outbreaks in Iraq, along with super bugs, as water is not fit to drink or bathe in. Yet our government contracted with companies and then provided no oversight to make sure the troops were provided with everything they were paying for.

You can find more about KBR reports here.
KBR search on Screaming In An Empty Room

And then we have the burn pits in Iraq as well as Afghanistan. Where are the reports on this? Does CNN or any of the other stations have any time to spend reporting on this? How many are sick because of this or died because of this? Any reporting on the troops that we are supposed to care about?

Friday, December 12, 2008

In Eustis, wife seeks answers about Iraq veteran's deadly tumor

Amy C. Rippel Special to the Sentinel
December 12, 2008
EUSTIS - When Kevin Wilkins died suddenly in April from a brain tumor, there was nothing his wife, Jill, could do.Within days of being diagnosed, he was dead. There was no time to react. No time to help. No time to say goodbye.But now Jill Wilkins is questioning whether his tumor might have been because of exposure to chemical clouds when he served in Iraq, and she has taken matters into her own hands. Time is on her side now. And she wants answers.She has launched a one-woman campaign to find out if her husband's contact with the smoke from burn pits was the reason for his brain tumor. In Iraq, where Kevin Wilkins served two tours, trash is burned in pits. Everything from chemicals to plastics is burned, releasing toxins into the air, according to one report.The U.S. Air Force recently said that the burn pits pose no long-term health risks. However, an earlier Air Force report said the pits were a "health concern."The Eustis woman said if her husband's death is related to his military service, she and her children -- a 17-year-old son and a 16-year-old daughter -- don't stand to gain a lot financially. Mostly, she's pursuing it this she could possibly help other families, she said.click above for more

I also just found this on Army Times.
Petraeus: Military studying burn pit fumesBy Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Dec 12, 2008 17:10:38 EST
In response to a question about the burn pit at Joint Air Base Balad, Gen. David Petraeus, the chief of U.S. Central Command, said the need for burn pits will continue, but the military is trying to minimize exposure to possible toxins.“Much effort has gone into locating/relocating pits in remote areas of the operating bases to minimize exposure, training personnel on proper operation, developing/circulating operating procedures and assessing burn pit operations to include corrective action,” Petraeus wrote.After Military Times investigated possible chemicals and dioxins troops may have been exposed to in Afghanistan and Iraq from giant open-air pits that were burning everything from plastic bottles to used petroleum products, Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., wrote a letter to Petraeus asking if the burn pits were being investigated.Petraeus said thousands of air, water and soil samples have been tested. However, Military Times has learned that the Balad is the only base where the burn pit specifically has been checked.A military report found toxin levels in the plume at acceptable levels; however, data on testing for particulate matter in that plume has not yet been released.More than 100 service members have contacted Military Times saying they became sick with asthma, sleep apnea, heart palpitations, bronchitis, and lymphoma or leukemia while at Balad. click link in this section for more

What about PTSD and the attempted suicides as well as the successful suicides? How about the steps the military was supposed to be taking to address them when the numbers were going up every year proving once again the military just produced a "better than nothing" program to address the suffering of thousands of our troops. The rate of suicides in the military has gone up every year. There are over 10,000 attempted suicides every year. Where are the stories on them or what happened to their families after?

What about the backlog of claims in the VA and what fighting the VA does to a veteran wounded in service to the nation, forced to fight to have their claim honored and what kind of suffering they go thru waiting? Have any idea how many families fell apart because of this? Do you have any idea how many children ended up blaming themselves for the way their parent acted because they had no clue what PTSD was?

What about the troops dishonorably discharged with a false diagnosis of "personality disorder" instead of being treated for PTSD and compensated for this wound? How many loved the military and would have stayed in, serving with dedication if they were treated honorably? What ever happened to them? What happened to their families? Was anyone ever held accountable for doing this to them?

The we have stories of veterans taking their own suffering and turning that understanding into advocacy for other veterans. Where are their stories? It's not as the media would have to search very hard for their stories or any of the others because they are reported on across the nation by the local media. Wouldn't it be great to put some focus on them for a change?

A dear friend of mine, Capt. Agnes "Irish" Bresnahan, a Vietnam Era veteran suffered with Agent Orange illnesses and PTSD for years. On March 9, 2009, she had another hearing on her VA claim in Washington DC. That is where she passed away because a bleeding ulcer made her lose pints of blood and her heart could take no more. She fought the VA for herself, but was a tireless advocate for her brothers and sisters also suffering for serving. Do you think that CNN could value a human interest story like that? Do you think any of the national news stations think any of these stories are worthy of the kind of attention AIG bonus money has received?


Feeding the outrage over AIG, while it is an important story and we do deserve answers, does not excuse the lack of reporting on stories involving a lot more tax payer funds and a lot more lives. We can say we support the troops all we want but if the media does not spend any time on them or what they are going thru, they are empty words. We know the public has their hearts tugged by the troops and our veterans. When the reports came out on Walter Reed the response from the American people was fantastic and proved how much they do care about those serving this nation. Isn't it time that CNN and the rest of the national media stations realized this? This is the kind of change the troops and our veterans need. This is the kind of change tax payers need. This is the kind of reporting we need if we are ever going to get any of this right for their sake.

web site
http://www.namguardianangel.com/
blog
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Head trauma is nothing to be taken lightly

March 19, 2009

Head trauma is nothing to be taken lightly
Posted: 05:39 PM ET
By Val Willingham
CNN Medical Producer

The death of actress Natasha Richardson is tragic. A beautiful, vital 45-year-old goes for a ski lesson and falls. She gets up, declines medical care and goes back to her hotel. From there, the story takes a terrible turn. She becomes ill, and is transported to one hospital, then another and then finally to a third hospital near her home, where she dies two days later from brain injuries caused by an epidural hematoma. Her family, friends and fans are shocked. How can something so innocent kill you? Because, neurologists say, the brain, although complex, is a delicate organ. It’s very vulnerable and it needs to be taken seriously. And even a bump on the head can take its toll. Unfortunately, I know this all too well.

Thirteen years ago, my husband, daughter and I were in a terrible car accident on the Florida Turnpike. On our way to Orlando, our vehicle was hit by a driver who had fallen asleep at the wheel. Although we all had our seat belts on, our car swerved and hit a bridge embankment. My husband’s head went out the side window, hitting the windshield and the concrete. When EMS workers got to us, it looked as if a battle had taken place: burning cars, debris. And because my husband had a major slice to his head, blood was everywhere. I was not hurt, and my daughter had a minor cut from flying glass. They loaded us into ambulances and took us to two different hospitals, my husband headed for the local trauma unit. He stayed two days in the hospital. They stitched up his forehead and sent him home, mentioning that he may want to see his doctor once he got back to Washington, D.C. And although the whole thing was terribly traumatic, we left Florida three days later, with my husband behind the wheel of a rental car.

Because he felt fine and there seemed to be no urgency to his injuries, my husband went back to work and made an appointment with his doctor to have a CT scan two months later. When he got off the table, the radiologist asked him to sit down and immediately called a neurologist. As the doctor viewed the images, his face turned pale and he asked my husband how long had it been since he was in the accident. My hubby shrugged and said, “A couple of months.” The physician then told him not to move — he was going to schedule surgery immediately. It seemed my husband had developed a subdural hematoma that covered his entire brain. According to MayoClinic.com it’s usually formed from head trauma that causes the brain to be shaken severely. Many children who suffer from shaken baby syndrome have these type of injuries. And unlike epidural hematomas, which bleed in the brain fairly quickly, my husband’s injury developed slowly, causing a massive bruise to form. One false move could have given him a stroke, or caused permanent brain damage.
click link for more

Desperate Japanese head to 'suicide forest'

Desperate Japanese head to 'suicide forest'
Story Highlights
Forest with stunning views of Mount Fuji is also known as place to die

Counselors now roam Aokigahara Forest, hoping to help the desperate

Suicides in Japan were 15 percent higher in January than a year earlier

Officials fear more people will kill themselves amid the tough economy

By Kyung Lah
CNN

AOKIGAHARA FOREST, Japan (CNN) -- Aokigahara Forest is known for two things in Japan: breathtaking views of Mount Fuji and suicides. Also called the Sea of Trees, this destination for the desperate is a place where the suicidal disappear, often never to be found in the dense forest.


Japan's Aokigahara Forest is known as the "suicide forest" because people often go there to take their own lives.

Taro, a 46-year-old man fired from his job at an iron manufacturing company, hoped to fade into the blackness. "My will to live disappeared," said Taro. "I'd lost my identity, so I didn't want to live on this earth. That's why I went there."

Taro, who did not want to be identified fully, was swimming in debt and had been evicted from his company apartment. He lost financial control, which he believes to be the foundation of any stable life, he said. "You need money to survive. If you have a girlfriend, you need money. If you want to get married, you need it for your life. Money is always necessary for your life."

Taro bought a one-way ticket to the forest, west of Tokyo, Japan. When he got there, he slashed his wrists, though the cut wasn't enough to kill him quickly.

He started to wander, he said. He collapsed after days and lay in the bushes, nearly dead from dehydration, starvation and frostbite. He would lose his toes on his right foot from the frostbite. But he didn't lose his life, because a hiker stumbled upon his nearly dead body and raised the alarm. Watch report on "suicide forest" »

Taro's story is just one of hundreds logged at Aokigahara Forest every year, a place known throughout Japan as the "suicide forest." The area is home to the highest number of suicides in the entire country.

Japan's suicide rate, already one of the world's highest, has increased with the recent economic downturn.

There were 2,645 suicides recorded in January 2009, a 15 percent increase from the 2,305 for January 2008, according to the Japanese government.

The Japanese government said suicide rates are a priority and pledged to cut the number of suicides by more than 20 percent by 2016. It plans to improve suicide awareness in schools and workplaces. But officials fear the toll will rise with unemployment and bankruptcies, matching suicide spikes in earlier tough economic times.
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German Army PTSD cases on rise

German Army PTSD cases on rise
By Marcus Klöckner, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, March 20, 2009

The number of German army soldiers being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder has tripled in the past two years, echoing a rise in such cases among the ranks of U.S. soldiers.

While their numbers still pale in comparison to reported cases of PTSD in the U.S. military, 245 German soldiers were treated for the disorder last year, up from 83 soldiers in 2006, according to statistics recently released by the German Defense Ministry. Nearly 14,000 U.S. soldiers were treated for PTSD in 2007, the most recent figures available.

There are about 3,400 German army troops in Afghanistan, where most German PTSD cases originate, the Deutsche Welle news service reported on its Web site. About 62,000 Germans have been stationed in war zones in the past three years, but the German army, in general, has not gone through as many combat situations as the U.S. military. That is one of the reasons why there is such an increase of PTSD cases in the German army.
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http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=61461

Vet groups hail Obama reversal on insurance

Vet groups hail Obama reversal on insurance
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Mar 19, 2009 17:43:02 EDT

A political blunder that made the Obama administration seem like a penny-pincher on veterans health care could end up solidifying support for the new president and his staff from some military and veterans groups.

Although the groups are not at all pleased that the administration toyed with the idea of billing veterans’ private insurance companies for treatment of service-connected conditions, the fact that President Barack Obama and his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, met with the groups, listened to their concerns and ultimately dropped the idea appears to have won them some respect.

Retired Vice Adm. Norb Ryan Jr., president of the Military Officers Association of America, was one of the representatives at two White House meetings.

“The president indicated on Monday that he was there to listen to our concerns and was willing to drop the proposal if we could not support its merits,” Ryan said. “To their credit, they listened and responded promptly, and we appreciate that.”

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Fort Hood Soldiers Battling PTSD in Texas

General Rick Lynch has a lot on his hands. Then again, so does every other general in this nation. The problem is, they all need to think outside the box. There is an army of people all across this nation, including me, ready, willing and able to help. The problem is, they won't ask.
Soldiers Battling PTSD in Texas
Last Edited: Tuesday, 17 Mar 2009, 12:30 PM CDT
Created On: Monday, 16 Mar 2009, 5:23 PM CDT

- An alarming number of soldiers - returning from war-zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, are coming home with an injury no bandage can heal. The personal and emotional crisis is not only taking a toll on military lives. Some fear a much larger public crisis is about to explode across Texas.

Writing songs, for Gary Romriell, is a way to appease the demons that torment his mind.

"Im pretty sure they are here to stay," Said Romriell.

The words are like ghosts from a life far from the Williamson County farm where he now lives. The fire fights and long patrols are over for him. But what he endured during his tour of duty in Iraq clings like the dust on his old field boots.

"You cant completely walk away from it; your subconscious mind wont let you," said Romriell.

Diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Romriell tries to focus on his new life with his fiancé and young son. However the ghosts are never far away.

"There is no understanding it, even my fiancé who I've lived with about 3 years, who lived through my fits, and anxiety attacks, nightmares and all the teeth grinding, she doesnt fully understand what it means to be a traumatized veteran," said Romriell.

According to the Department of Defense, in 2008, at least 128 soldiers committed suicide. The Marine Corps reports 41.

In May, 21-year-old Chad Oligschlaeger, a marine and former McNeil high school graduate, was laid to rest. His father, Eric, said his son took his life because of post traumatic stress.

"We have to get something in place to help these guys so they're not left out in the cold, because we can't imagine what's going on in their heads," said Eric Oligschlaeger.

Fort Hood commanding General, Rick Lynch says he understands. According to Lynch, 60% of the soldiers on the Post have gone through 3 deployments and 500 are currently diagnosed with PTSD or a traumatic brain injury. In addition, the need for help is not limited to those wearing fatigues.

"These soldiers and their family members need access to care, and right now I dont have enough on the installation to meet these needs," said General Lynch.
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