Vietnam veterans gathering in Raleigh

Vietnam veterans gathering in Raleigh
By David Perlmutt
dperlmutt@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Thursday, Mar. 26, 2009
De Hillyer spent 13 months as a howitzer mechanic in Vietnam and returned home from war in February 1969 to a red-carpet greeting by World War II and Korean War veterans.

His welcome didn't last for long. At El Toro Marine Air Station in California, he and other returned U.S. troops boarded a bus to Los Angeles, where they were met by anti-war protesters.

"It was a less-than-memorable welcome. They were shouting obscenities and spitting at us," said Hillyer, now a retired United Methodist minister from Charlotte. "It was scary; I just wanted to get out of my uniform. That happened to a lot of Vietnam veterans when they came home.

"Many veterans still don't feel they've been welcomed home."

That was the intent of a resolution passed by the U.S. House earlier this week that proclaims March 29 as "Vietnam Veterans Day" -- a recognition that veterans returning from America's longest war didn't come home to parades.

But apparently the resolution came too late for this March 29. Few Charlotte-area Vietnam vets know about it.

Saturday, the N.C. Vietnam Veterans Inc. is holding its first annual "Welcome Home -- Vietnam Veterans Day" event in Raleigh at the Raleigh Elks Lodge #735. The event is from noon to 4 p.m. at Lead Mine and Millbrook roads.

All N.C. Vietnam veterans and spouses are invited. There will be fellowship, barbecue and music. Sunday, a church service will be held to honor those who served and those who didn't come home.

Hillyer had to stumble onto the event and the House resolution. He's found no one in Charlotte who knows about either. A few states such as Minnesota, Tennessee and New York have proclaimed the day as a recognition for sacrifices made by their veterans in Vietnam.
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http://www.charlotteobserver.com/breaking/story/624868.html

Orlando soldier surprises children with early return from Iraq

Orlando soldier surprises children with early return from Iraq
March 26, 2009



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Orlando soldier surprises children with early return from Iraq

President Obama urges Americans to support war vets

Just to give you some kind of idea how many "troops" that will become veterans, read this from the DOD and see what the numbers were in 2007.

From the Department of Defense
Executive Summary
2007 Demographics Report i
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Demographics Report, which was prepared for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD),presents a synthesis of demographic information describing members and families in the military community in fiscal year 20071. Active Duty Service branches include DoD’s Army,Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force; and the Reserve Components include DoD’s Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, and the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Coast Guard Reserve.

Overview of Military Personnel
The total number of military personnel is over 3.5 million strong, including Active Duty military personnel (1,365,571);
DHS’s Active Duty Coast Guard members (40,650);
DoD Ready Reserve and DHS Coast Guard Reserve members (1,088,587); and
DoD appropriated and nonappropriated-fund civilian personnel (804,770).
DoD’s Active Duty and DHS’s Coast Guard
Active Duty members comprise the largest portion of the military force (40.0%), supplemented by Ready Reserve members (31.0%) and DoD civilian personnel (22.9%).

Active Duty: Member and Family Highlights
Service Branches. The Army has the largest number of Active Duty members (517,783)
followed by the Navy (332,269), the Air Force (329,094) and the Marine Corps (186,425). There are also 40,650 Active Duty members of the DHS’s Coast Guard. At a total of 1,406,221 DoD Active Duty and DHS Coast Guard Service members, the military force of 2007 is 31.9 percent smaller than it was in 1990 (when there were 2,065,597 Active Duty members). In the past seventeen years, the number of DoD Active Duty members in each Service branch has declined by as little as 5.1 percent in the Marine Corps to as much as 42.1 percent in the Navy. The Active Duty decline from 1990 to 2007 in the Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard is 28.9 percent,38.0 percent, and 12.0 percent, respectively.

Women comprise 195,991 or 14.4 percent of the DoD Active Duty force. The percent
of women in the Active Duty population is greater in 2007 than it was in 1990 (from 11.5% of officers and 10.9% of enlisted in 1990, to 15.2% of officers and 14.2% of enlisted members in 2007). Overall, the number and ratio of female officers (33,567) to female enlisted (162,424) is one female officer for every 4.8 female enlisted members. This ratio varies across the military Services with the Air Force retaining one female officer for every 4.4 female enlisted personnel, the Army retaining one female officer for every 4.6 female enlisted personnel, the Navy retaining
one female officer for every 5.4 female enlisted personnel, and the Marine Corps retaining one female officer for every 9.3 female enlisted personnel.

Women comprise 146,914 or 17.6 percent of the Selected Reserve force. The
percent of women in the Selected Reserve has continuously increased over the past seventeen years (from 14.4% of officers and 12.8% of enlisted in 1990, to 18.0% of officers and 17.5% of enlisted in 2007). Overall, the ratio of female officers (22,395) to female enlisted (124,519) is one female officer for every 5.6 female enlisted members. This ratio varies widely across the Selected Reserve with the Air Force Reserve having one female officer for every 3.1 female enlisted personnel, the Coast Guard Reserve having one female officer for every 3.3 female enlisted personnel, the Army Reserve having one female officer for every 4.2 female enlisted
personnel, the Navy Reserve having one female officer for every 4.6 female enlisted personnel, the Air National Guard having one female officer for every 7.3 female enlisted personnel, the Marine Corps Reserve having one female officer for every 8.4 female enlisted personnel, and the Army National Guard having one female officer for every 10.3 female enlisted personnel.


Age. Almost one fourth (23.8%) of Active Duty officers are 41 years of age or older, with the next largest age group being 26 to 30 year-olds (21.3%), followed by 36 to 40 year-olds (20.4%), 31 to 35 year-olds (20.2%), and those 25 years old or younger (14.2%). More than one half (52.5%) of Active Duty enlisted personnel are 25 years old or younger, with the next largest age group being 26 to 30 year-olds (20.1%), followed by 31 to 35 year-olds (12.1%), 36 to 40 year-olds (9.7%) and those 41 years old or older (5.6%). Overall, the average age of the Active Duty force is 28.3. The average age for Active Duty officers is 34.6, and the average age for enlisted personnel is 27.1.

Geographic Location. While the Active Duty population is located throughout the world, the three primary areas in which Active Duty members are assigned are the United States and its territories (85.3%), Europe (6.3%) and East Asia (5.7%). The ten states with the highest Active Duty military populations are California (149,586), Virginia (132,286), Texas (123,577), North Carolina (96,797), Georgia (70,012), Florida (59,543), Washington (58,693), Hawaii (43,505), Kentucky (39,041), and South Carolina (38,979).



When the uniforms come off and the battles are supposed to be over for them, they find the new battles they have to fight for their lives are with the government itself. Again, a reminder that Veterans for Common Sense issued a report stating the backlog of VA Claims is close to 900,000. We've talk about what this means to them and their families while they fight to have their claims approved. What we don't talk often enough about is the fact the American people are oblivious to most of this. It's not that they don't care but it is the media has not taken the time to focus on them. When you have MTV doing more hard hitting stories on their lives and what combat has done to them, we have a serious problem in this country. CNN, MSNBC and FOX have 24 hours to fill, 7 days a week. The rest of the national stations have daily broadcasts they need to fill but none of them are focusing on our veterans.

It's one of the biggest reasons why the communities these men and women come home, especially the National Guards and Reservists, no one has a clue what it's like for them.

Obama urges Americans to support war vets

The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 26, 2009 13:46:21 EDT

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says when it comes to making sure returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan have the support they need, government can’t do the job alone.

He says communities and churches need to reach out to veterans and celebrate their return, and that businesses need to make jobs available to them.

Obama noted that, in many cases, veterans returning from Vietnam weren’t treated well. He called that “inexcusable.”

Obama repeated his support for increased funding for veterans programs, and the treatment of health problems such as post-traumatic stress.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_obamavetsupport_032609/

New South Wales Police Officer died because no one listened

When it comes to suicide, why is it so hard to understand that if someone talks about it, there is a serious problem? How hard would it have been to talk to him and listen to him? The worst that could have happened is it turned out to be just talk instead of need for help. It happens all the time to police officers, firefighters and just regular civilians. It happens way too often to the troops and veterans. When will we ever get any of this right?

Mental health screenings urged after policeman's suicide

Posted 2 hours 13 minutes ago
The New South Wales deputy coroner has recommended senior police officers get regular mental health screenings after a Sergeant with post-traumatic stress disorder committed suicide in the Hunter Valley.

The 54-year-old man, who cannot be named, committed suicide near Maitland in June 2007. He was on sick leave from his job at a police station south of Newcastle at the time.
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/27/2527657.htm?section=justin

Caring for Vets' Diseases, Stress Could Cost Canada $11.5 Billion

While this is about Canadian Forces in Afghanistan, keep in mind that our own media has been asleep instead of covering most of what our troops are going thru.

Caring for Vets' Diseases, Stress Could Cost Canada $11.5 Billion
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

The true price of fighting in Afghanistan. First of two articles.
By Crawford Kilian

TheTyee.ca
Canada's price for fighting in Afghanistan has not yet been fully paid -- or even known. Liberal and Conservative governments have avoided reporting the cost of the war. But Carleton University researcher David Perry estimates that as of March 2009, Afghanistan has cost us $4.78 billion. By 2012, he says, the war will have cost us $7.55 billion.

Those killed in the war pay the highest price, of course, but the survivors pay too, without glory, for the rest of their lives.

This is the first in the The Real Costs of the War in Afghanistan seriesMore than 360 Canadians have come home wounded. More than 4,000 Canadian Forces veterans are receiving benefits for post-traumatic stress or "operational stress injuries." Thousands more, veterans and those currently serving, are dealing with PTSD and related problems on their own.

hepatitis A and E,
typhoid,
cholera,
malaria,
dengue,
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever,
tuberculosis,
West Nile virus,
typhus and others.
Even the dust of Kabul and Kandahar is a hazard, causing respiratory problems and skin lesions that can result in infections.

Leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease spread by sandflies, is a notably nasty illness

Pneumonia that won't quit
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http://thetyee.ca/News/2009/03/26/AfghanStress/

Showering in Iraq deadly enemy for troops

AP IMPACT: More bad wiring imperils troops in Iraq
By KIMBERLY HEFLING – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Military inspectors are racing to examine 90,000 U.S.-run facilities in Iraq with the goal of repairing electrical problems before more troops are electrocuted or shocked while showering or using appliances.

About one-third of the inspections so far have turned up major electrical problems, according to interviews and an internal military document obtained by The Associated Press. Half of the problems they found have since been fixed, but about 65,000 facilities still must be inspected, which could take the rest of this year. Senior Pentagon officials were on Capitol Hill this week for briefings on the findings.

The work assigned to Task Force SAFE, which oversees the inspections and repairs, is aimed at preventing deaths like that of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, of Pittsburgh. He died in January 2008, one of at least three soldiers killed while showering since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Scores more soldiers suffered shocks between September 2006 and July 2008, according to a database maintained by KBR Inc., the Houston-based contractor that oversees maintenance at most U.S. facilities in Iraq.

"We got a ton of buildings we know probably aren't safe and we just don't have them done yet," said Jim Childs, an electrician the task force hired to help with the inspections. "It's Russian roulette. I cringe every time I hear of a shock."
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AP IMPACT: More bad wiring imperils troops in Iraq

My Huggy Bear for deployed troops' children

MyHuggy on Montel Williams

DOD: Non combat death in Iraq

DoD Identifies Army Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. Jose R. Escobedo Jr., 32, of Albuquerque, N.M., died March 20 in Baghdad, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident the night before at Forward Operating Base Kalsu in Iskandariyah, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment in Schweinfurt, Germany.

The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.
linked from ICasualties.org

Army vet billed $3,000 for war wounds

He served the nation but his private health insurance took care of most of the bill instead of the VA. Think about that as you remember that President Obama was thinking of having private insurance pay for care. The VA wasn't paying and if he did not have a private insurance company pay, he would have had to pay the bill and then fight the VA. Think about that. While President Obama dropped thinking of private insurance getting involved, in this case they did what the government should have done.

You can close your eyes all you want about what is going on but since the VA is backlogged of claims, according to Veterans for Common Sense 900,000 claims, you would also be ignoring the fact they need treatment even while the claim is tied up. Their wounds do not fall asleep while they wait. Their PTSD does not hibernate while they wait to have the "service connected" stamp of approval from the VA on their claim. Either they are having to pay for their treatment or they are seeking private health providers to take care of them. In most cases, if it has to do with service to this nation, private insurance companies can refuse to pay stating it is the responsibility of the government. None of this is new.

In the 90's while my husband's claim was being denied and appealed he needed treatment for PTSD. Until the VA doctor put in his file it was because of Vietnam, the private insurance we had covered treatment in private practice but that stopped as soon as the VA doctor said it was service connected. The claim was denied and he needed help so the VA took our tax refund year after year to pay for his treatment. Why? Because we couldn't afford to pay because he had PTSD and because we were paying for private health insurance!

This is still happening to them when claims are denied that should have been approved and the VA takes care of their wounds as well as compensating them for lost incomes. If no one is taking responsibility for any of this, they have to. Can't you image how you would feel knowing you were wounded while serving your country and then forced to pay for it?

Army vet billed $3,000 for war wounds
Story Highlights
Wounded soldier gets billed $3,000 for wounds suffered in Iraq

"I put my life on the line ... and they're not going to take care of my medical bills?"

Army Sgt. Erik Roberts was wounded in April 2006; he's had 13 surgeries on his leg

Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio urged the VA to act; VA agrees to pay bill
by Wayne Drash
CNN

(CNN) -- Erik Roberts, an Army sergeant who was wounded in Iraq, underwent his 13th surgery recently to save his right leg from amputation. Imagine his shock when he got a bill for $3,000 for his treatment.

But in December, he says, a golf ball-sized lump appeared on his wounded leg. He says he went to a Veterans Affairs hospital and was told not to worry about it.

A few days later, he says, he went to the emergency room after the lump flared up more. A doctor there, he says, told him that the leg was badly infected and that it might have to be amputated.

Desperate for help, his mother contacted the Army surgeon who had saved her son's life two years earlier. That doctor referred him to Obremskey, the Vanderbilt surgeon.

The Robertses say the VA did not approve of them going outside the system. Erik Roberts says he had no choice -- it was have surgery or potentially lose his leg.

"I thought my leg was more important than the usual bureaucratic mess," he said.

His leg was saved. The $3,000 billed to Roberts wasn't for the surgery itself. It's a portion of the bill for six weeks of daily antibiotics to prevent the infection from coming back. His private insurance plan picked up the majority of the $90,000 in costs. click link for more

Fort Wainwright soldiers want congress to stop unfit soldiers being deployed

Soldiers say unfit troops being deployed

The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 26, 2009 12:19:14 EDT

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A group of active-duty soldiers at Fort Wainwright is accusing commanders of forcing medically unfit soldiers to deploy to Iraq.

The soldiers are gathering signatures to send a petition to Congress calling for a full investigation.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_deployment_complaint_032609/