Second female Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan

Second female Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan
By Matthew Fisher, Canwest News Service
April 14, 2009

KABUL, Afghanistan - The second Canadian female soldier to be killed in Afghanistan died Monday when the light armoured vehicle she was patrolling in struck an improvised explosive device.

Trooper Karine Blais, who had arrived just days ago from Canada with the 12th Armoured Regiment based in Val Cartier, Que., was killed in action when her vehicle was hit by a homemade bomb.

Blais, 21, was the 117th Canadian to be killed in Afghanistan since the start of the conflict in 2002.

Four other Canadian soldiers were injured in the attack, which happened about one hour before dusk in Shah Wali Kowt, a district about 40 kilometres northwest of Kandahar City that is known to be a centre of Taliban activity.

"She was an energetic person who always gave 100 per cent," said Brig.-Gen. Jon Vance, the Canadian task force commander. "She has a great sense and truth and was remarked upon for her honesty. Frank and direct, she showed strong leadership qualities and was respected by all the members of her squadron. She will be missed."
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Second female Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan

Sgt. said ‘kill me’ as leaders lay dying

Sgt. said ‘kill me’ as leaders lay dying

By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 13, 2009 16:29:46 EDT

FORT STEWART, Ga. — The sergeant accused of killing his squad leader and his fellow team leader in Iraq shouted “just kill me” as the other men lay bleeding, according to testimony at his Article 32 hearing on Monday.

Several fellow soldiers testified Monday morning they heard Sgt. Joseph C. Bozicevich saying “kill me” after the shootings in the early hours of Sept. 14, 2008, at Patrol Base Jurf as Sahkr, south of Baghdad. Bozicevich is charged with premeditated murder in the deaths of Staff Sgt. Darris J. Dawson, 24, of Pensacola, Fla., and Sgt. Wesley R. Durbin, 26, of Hurst, Texas, who were each shot multiple times.

The soldiers were with A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. Bozicevich and Durbin were team leaders, and Dawson was their squad leader. Durbin and Dawson were counseling Bozicevich when he opened fire with his M4, Army officials have said.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/army_article32_041309w/

Police: Iraq a factor in Puerto Rico soldier's suicide

Police: Iraq a factor in PR soldier's suicide
1 hour ago

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A soldier who had told his family he did not want to return to Iraq apparently killed himself in a Puerto Rican motel days before he was to join his unit and head back to the war zone, police in the U.S. territory said Monday.

Army Spc. Nokware Rosado Munoz, 28, had been arguing with his pregnant wife about his upcoming redeployment before hanging himself Sunday, said Lt. Edilberto Rivera Santiago, director of the police homicide division in the San Juan suburb of Bayamon.

"They were having problems because he had been activated again," Rivera said.

Rosado was scheduled to rejoin his unit at Fort Bliss, Texas, this week, before moving on to Iraq.
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Police: Iraq a factor in PR soldier's suicide

Rev. Joel Hunter of Longwood FL with Obama connection

The Rev. Joel Hunter of Longwood's Northland, a Church Distributed, is greeted by President Barack Obama at the White House after the evangelical Christian pastor was appointed to the Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. (COURTESY OF THE HUNTER FAMILY / April 2, 2009)

Where Obama turns for spiritual advice: Rev. Joel Hunter of Longwood
By Jay Hamburg Sentinel Staff Writer
April 12, 2009

He doesn't thunder from the pulpit in righteous rage. He'd rather relay stories that make a moral point.

He has no catchphrases, fussy handlers or televised religious talk shows.

What the soft-spoken Rev. Joel Hunter of Longwood does have is an evangelical church of 12,000, a talent for building diverse coalitions and a prominent spiritual advisory role in the administration of President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

Not bad for a registered Republican who came to Central Florida in 1985 to take charge of a small flock that grew into one of the region's largest megachurches.

As Hunter delivers his three Easter sermons today at Northland, a Church Distributed, he holds a place in the national spotlight unmatched by any other faith leader in Central Florida.

But it wasn't something that seemed destined from the start.

The man who prayed with Obama on Inauguration Day lost his first preaching job when a United Methodist church in Indiana faced a crucial decision nearly 40 years ago: Should they buy new carpet or keep their youth minister, the motorcycle-riding evangelical called Pastor Joel?

New carpet won by a landslide.

"I wasn't that great a shakes," Hunter said.

But in the decades that followed, the hard-working pastor proved to be a formidable leader.

He has become a much-sought-after spokesman for a new brand of evangelicals who hope to tone down the rhetoric of culture wars while engaging in good works. Along the way, the 60-year-old pastor has sought alliances with Catholics, Jews and Muslims and irritated some traditional evangelicals, who worry that too much emphasis on social issues would nudge the Gospels to the sidelines.
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Where Obama turns for spiritual advice: Rev. Joel Hunter of Longwood

Female vets struggling to get treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder

Female vets struggling to get treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder
NBC News
Updated: 4/13/2009

The war in Iraq has been now been raging for six years.

It's the first war where women in the U.S. military are in combat roles.

Even years after serving in Iraq, female veterans are still adjusting to civilian life.

At a women's veterans art show in San Francisco vets say the six year anniversary of the war brings back painful memories.

"The 6 year anniversary has me thinking about the friends that I lost. And the friends that I still have who have been forever scared by the war," said Iraq war veteran Lindsey Rousseau-Burnett.

Many of the women we talked to say they are getting psychiatric help from the Veteran's Administration.

But they say the agency is behind the times.

"Because women supposedly aren't in combat they have a higher burden of proof to try and prove they have PTSD," said vet Kayla Williams.

The veteran's service organization Swords to Plowshares says female Iraq war vets are the fastest growing population of homeless.


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Female vets struggling to get treatment for post-traumatic stress ...
WBIR-TV - Knoxville,TN,USA

Official: Fort Lewis GI accidentally shot by wife

Official: Lewis GI accidentally shot by wife

The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Apr 12, 2009 15:09:18 EDT

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office says a Fort Lewis soldier is dead after being accidentally shot in the head and killed by his wife in Olympia.

Lt. Chris Mealy of the sheriff’s office told KOMO-TV the soldier was teaching his wife how to handle a handgun when he was shot early Sunday.

Mealy says deputies were called at about 1:30 a.m. He says the soldier and his wife, both 25, had been out with friends before the shooting.

Mealy says after the couple got home, the soldier decided to teach his wife how to handle the handgun.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/ap_lewis_shooting_041209/

Navy Seals kill pirates and Capt. Richard Phillips is free

Captain jumps overboard, SEALs shoot pirates, official says
Story Highlights
American captain freed after being held hostage by pirates since Wednesday

Richard Phillips is uninjured, in good condition, senior U.S. official says

Out of four pirates, three were killed, fourth taken into custody, official says

Maersk Alabama and its American crew was attacked by pirates off Somali coast

(CNN) -- The American cargo ship captain held hostage by pirates jumped overboard Sunday from the lifeboat where he was being held, and U.S. Navy SEALs shot and killed three of his four captors, according to a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the situation.

Capt. Richard Phillips was helped out of the water off the Somali coast and is uninjured and in good condition, the official said. He was taken aboard the USS Bainbridge, a nearby naval warship, and later flown to the USS Boxer, where he was "resting comfortably," the U.S. Navy said.

At the time of the shootings, the fourth pirate was aboard the Bainbridge negotiating with officials, the source said. That pirate was taken into custody.

Phillips was rescued at 7:19 p.m. (12:19 p.m. ET), according to the Navy.

Phillips, who was taken hostage Wednesday after the pirates hijacked the ship he captained, the Maersk Alabama, has contacted his family and received a routine medical exam, the U.S. Navy Central Command said in a statement.
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/12/somalia.pirates/index.html

Wall Street Journal has gone stupid!

The Wall Street Journal along with most of the GOP in office have become either very forgetful or stupid. My guess is that stupid has become contagious.

The following is just one of the things that part of the stimulus budget is going to provide, along with a very long list of military spending that is increasing along with the care of veterans. Yes, Wall Street, they are veterans because they were in the military but you must have forgotten that part. Convenient when you get right down to it considering the GOP had allowed the Bush White House to slaughter the VA budgets year after year. The cuts the Obama Administration wants to make is on defense contractors and programs that were started in repayment of support instead of supporting the troops. You know, like contracts to Blackwater and Halibuton. The difference is that this administration is about taking care, actual care of the men and women serving instead of serving self interest. It's about what they need to carry out two occupations begun under their control without wasteful money going out instead of taking care of the humans in harms way. In case they didn't notice, Americans have been paying attention even though they haven't. Did they really get so stupid they think they can lie and be believed?

Hood hospital one of many DoD stimulus projects

By Jim Tice - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Apr 12, 2009 8:30:00 EDT

Fort Hood will get a $708 million hospital that will be paid for with money from the stimulus plan. The new hospital and a supporting utility plant will be located adjacent to Darnall Army Medical Center, the existing Vietnam War-era hospital at the central Texas post.

The replacement hospital will provide comprehensive ambulatory and ancillary care services to the 55,000 soldiers and 150,000 family members and retirees projected to be in the Fort Hood area.

Keith Eastin, assistant secretary of the Army for installations and environment, said “this is really a big project, and we’re glad [the Defense Department] saw fit to put it the plan, because it will be a great service to Army folks who live on or near Fort Hood.”
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/army_stimulus_041109w/

Solider goes on alleged shooting rampage; ties to SW Florida

There will be many more people suffering, many more families grieving, many more cases like this until we finally treat all of them with the best care and end the excuses for not doing it.

Solider goes on alleged shooting rampage; ties to SW Florida
By Cristin Severance

Story Created: Apr 11, 2009 at 11:29 PM EDT

Story Updated: Apr 12, 2009 at 11:57 AM EDT

CAPE CORAL, Fla. - Nicholas Horner is accused of shooting two people inside a Subway and another man on the street in Blair County, Pennsylvania on Monday. Two people shot by Horner have died.

"I sympathize with the families and what is happening right now is horrible," said his cousin Tim Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick, who lives in North Fort Myers, says Horner is a victim too because he was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

He says they are trying to understand what happened in Altoona, Pa and what happened to Horner. He says the husband and father of two changed after he was sent back from his third deployment.
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http://www.winknews.com/news/local/42860862.html

PTSD:Iraq vet recalled to go to Afghanistan

Iraq vet recalled to go to Afghanistan

BY ROY WENZL
The Wichita Eagle

Here's what Jon Bland has done for our country so far:
After the New York towers burned on 9/11, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, qualified for officer training, and -- to the dismay of his wife and parents -- volunteered for combat duty. "I wanted to do something for my country," he said at the time.

He spent 15 months on an extended combat tour in Baghdad, leading a U.S. Army scout platoon on daily patrols, hunting for insurgents during the surge. His 20-man platoon captured more than 60 insurgents.

He lost 40 pounds walking around carrying 80 pounds of armor, rifle and bullets under the desert sun. He picked up body parts of American soldiers blown up in roadside bombings. He called in helicopter strikes on snipers.

He saw Sgt. Alex Funcheon of Wichita blown up right in front of him.

He won the Bronze Star for service in combat. He acquired what his clinical psychologist later wrote might be post traumatic stress disorder. His marriage broke up in September. "My fault," he said. "I had Iraq issues." He dreamed night after night about Funcheon and the other guys in that Humvee blowing up in a ball of flame.

A week ago Saturday, Bland -- honorably discharged from the Army eight months ago -- opened a letter outside his mailbox in Raleigh, N.C., and read that he's being called back into the Army, to fight in Afghanistan.

His hands began to shake.
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http://www.kansas.com/news/story/770151.html

Deadly Afghan battle results in 11 Silver Stars

Deadly Afghan battle results in 11 Silver Stars

By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Apr 12, 2009 8:56:28 EDT

Just days before the end of a punishing 15-month tour in some of Afghanistan’s toughest terrain, soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment faced their deadliest battle yet.

On July 13, 2008, about 45 Americans and 24 Afghan soldiers battled up to 200 enemy fighters determined to overrun the newly established Vehicle Patrol Base Kahler and Observation Post Top Side, nestled in the village of Wanat in the Waygul Valley of Konar province.

When the fighting stopped, nine paratroopers were dead and 27 were wounded.

For their actions on that day, 11 soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team in Vicenza, Italy, received Silver Stars, the third highest award for valor. An additional 17 received Bronze Star Medals with V device and 25 received Army Commendation Medals with V device.

On March 30, two of the Silver Star recipients, Capt. Matt Myer and Sgt. Michael Denton, were honored at Fort Benning, Ga., where both are now assigned.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/army_silverstars_041209w/

All five soldiers killed in Mosul bomb blast from Fort Carson

Army IDs 5 Carson soldiers killed in Iraq

The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Apr 12, 2009 11:04:51 EDT

FORT CARSON, Colo. — Military officials say five Fort Carson soldiers were killed by in improvised explosive in Mosul, Iraq.

The Department of Defense said Sunday the soldiers were in their military vehicle Friday when they were hit by a “suicide vehicle-borne” explosive. No other details were released.

The soldiers killed in the attack were

Staff Sgt. Gary L. Woods Jr., 24, of Lebanon Junction, Ky.;

Staff Sgt. Bryan E. Hall, 32, of Elk Grove, Calif.;

Sgt. Edward W. Forrest Jr., 25, of St. Louis, Mo.;

Cpl. Jason G. Pautsch, 20, of Davenport, Iowa;

Pvt. Bryce E. Gautier, 22, of Cypress, Calif.

All were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division of Fort Carson, Colo.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/ap_carson_soldiers_iraq_041209/

Geren eyes allowing anonymous drug rehab

Geren eyes allowing anonymous drug rehab

Company leaders irked at proposal, say troops’ command must know
By Brendan McGarry - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Apr 12, 2009 8:28:40 EDT

The number of soldiers in drug rehab has risen 25 percent since 2003, and Army Secretary Pete Geren is weighing whether to make it easier for soldiers to volunteer for treatment — by letting them go without their commanders’ knowledge.

Some 10,262 soldiers received clinical counseling for alcohol or drug abuse in the Army Substance Abuse Program in fiscal 2008 — 1.8 percent of the active duty force. That’s an average of more than one soldier per company.

But some experts think the rate of drug abuse is much higher, and that if soldiers could commit themselves to ASAP without risk of retribution or concern about damaging their reputations with their commanders, the numbers would be much higher.

Geren is proposing that the Army suspend “commander notification for soldier self-referrals to ASAP treatment if the soldier prefers anonymity.”

Commanders don’t like that idea.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/army_drug_abuse_041209w/

Til the last shot's fired

Trace Adkins performance with the USMA Glee Club, introduced by a true hero, 1LT Andrew Kinnard '06

1LT Andrew Kinnard said "It's not about the war. It's about the warrior." and this came from him, sitting in a wheel chair after he lost both of his legs. He knows what he's talking about.

Trace Adkins' song is about some of the wars America has fought. If you go back in history, every civilization has had wars for one reason or another. Sometimes they were waged over religious disputes, jealousy and out right greed. Other times it was for defense of their own nation or a weaker nation being invaded by a stronger one. No matter who makes the decisions or why they do, it is the men and women willing to serve their nation paying the price in body and soul.

Say what you will about Iraq but understand the troops did not get to decide if they would fight it or not. They only got to decide if they were willing to serve this nation or not. This is what we all have to remember. Thankfully the days of Vietnam veterans coming home scorned taught us a lesson on not taking out our personal views on them. We still have a lot to make up for when it comes to the Vietnam veterans, but more, we ignore what they did when they came home despite the way they were treated.

Vietnam veterans went to war with the government for all generations of warriors, determined to never let one generation become forgotten and left behind. While the wound of PTSD had existed since the beginning of recorded history under different labels, it took the Vietnam veterans efforts to have PTSD recognized as a wound born of battle. As bad as things are for our newer generation of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, imagine what it would be like had they done nothing about the wounds they carried home over thirty years ago. While there is still so much more that needs to be done, all the advances in treatment and compensation would not have been established had it not been for their efforts.

The stigma of PTSD began to erode when they began to understand it is a wound of war. They began to talk about it, establish support groups for the veterans and their families, push for Veterans centers separated from the established hospitals and clinics. They took over the established veterans organizations and used the power of their numbers to cause changes in the system at the same time they were suffering within the system. When they could not get an accounting of their POW-MIA's they pushed for it even though all other wars left behind many more missing in action. When they came home with the illnesses caused by the spraying of Agent Orange, they fought to have testing established and compensation for the illness they carried within them as well as transferring to their own children. To this day the VA is still linking more and more illnesses associated to Agent Orange.

The last shot has not been fired in Iraq or Afghanistan but it has not been fired with Vietnam veterans either. They are still fighting. Still fighting to have their wounds treated and compensated for. More, they are still fighting for every generation of veterans that came before them and who will come after them.

They still hear the echoes from their time in Vietnam and the spirits of all veterans passed away on foreign lands. They are joined in spirit with all warriors from every generation defending what they loved with everything they had to give but as we line streets for parades to honor them, we continue to dishonor their legacy when we do not take care of the wounded warriors with as much urgency as we had when we sent them to risk their lives, with unlimited funding we had when the war was being planned equally matched when it came to the wounded created by it and with the notion of patriotism we had when we waved the flags to send them away but walked away when they returned in need of us.

Airman from Fort Hood suffers non-combat death in Afghanistan

04/11/09 : DoD Identifies Air Force Casualty
Airman 1st Class Jacob I. Ramsey, 20, of Hesperia, Calif., died April 10 of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident in Kabul Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 712th Air Support Operations Squadron, Fort Hood, Texas.
http://icasualties.org/oef/

VA to return equipment seized from reporter

VA to return equipment seized from reporter

By Hope Yen - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Apr 11, 2009 16:54:34 EDT

WASHINGTON — Amid protest from a reporters group, the Veterans Affairs Department agreed late Friday to return a radio journalist’s recording equipment that it had seized four days earlier as he attempted to interview an injured veteran about VA health care.

In a written statement to The Associated Press, VA spokeswoman Katie Roberts said the department “regrets this incident occurred” and as a result would hand back the flash drive that it took from WAMU reporter David Schultz at the VA Medical Center in Washington. WAMU is a National Public Radio affiliate in the capital.

“After reviewing all the facts surrounding the incident of April 7th and actions since, VA has arranged the return of the flash drive to WAMU,” Roberts said. “We make every effort to protect the privacy of our patients and to ensure that they are able to make informed decisions about what information they release or discuss with the public while in a VA facility.”

“The Department of Veterans Affairs regrets this incident occurred as we appreciate the interest of the press in covering veterans’ issues,” she added.
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VA to return equipment seized from reporter

Another Vietnam Veteran Giving to New Veterans

Wounded warriors go fishing for recovery
Story Highlights
Retired Navy Capt. Ed Nicholson helps wounded servicemembers through fly-fishing
Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing aids the physical, emotional healing processes
Since 2005, Nicholson's program has grown to more than 50 locations nationwide


MADISON COUNTY, Virginia (CNN) -- Amidst the tranquility of a fishing trip at the Rose River Farm in Madison County, a wounded warrior says he almost feels "semi-normal again."


Retired Navy Capt. Ed Nicholson's Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing helps rehabilitate wounded servicemembers.

The amputee is one of about 1,000 servicemen and veterans who have reaped the benefits of the therapeutic art of fly-fishing, with the help of retired Navy Capt. Ed Nicholson.

"The demons of war, you just don't set them aside," says Nicholson, 67. "But once you get out on the river, the serenity is incredibly healing."

While recovering from cancer surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2004, Nicholson witnessed wounded and disabled men and women -- many of them amputees -- struggling with their injuries.

"Other than being in Vietnam and seeing people in the process of getting hurt, I never really had a full appreciation for the recovery part and what happened after they came home. My recovery was nothing compared to what they were facing. It planted the seed that maybe there's something I could do," Nicholson says.

The solution was obvious to Nicholson, who says being an outdoorsman is in his blood: Get them out of the hospital and into nature.

Through free classes and outings, Nicholson's organization, Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, helps rehabilitate injured and disabled servicemembers and veterans.
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Wounded warriors go fishing for recovery

Fort Riley:Religious discrimination suit should anger all

Every time this story comes up it is one more reminder of how every Christian should be angry along with every other religious/non-religious person in this country should be. Why should Christian's be angry over this? Because there are so many different denominations of Christians and they are not all being represented fairly or equally. Then add in the fact this nation was formed so that there would be the freedom of choice when it came to what form of worship they decided on, even if it meant no worship at all.

Look at this like this. You happen to believe in the Holy Trinity, that Christ was God in the flesh. You believe in the Saints, that common people have risen above circumstances in order to serve God to the highest degree. You believe in good works and following the Sermon on the Mount as a guide to how to live your life. Yet with what you believe you are told that Christ was not God in the flesh, that we are all chosen and there are no saints to pray to and greed is just cherishing what God wanted you to have. Everything you don't believe in, you are being told by an officer that this is what you should believe and you are ordered to accept it.

There are many different Christian denominations/branches off the same tree, but they are not all alike and the differences are startling.

If you find no problem with this evangelizing going on in the military, then what if your faith was viewed as wrong?

Now, let's say that you were raised with no faith at all. Would you suddenly worship because you were forced to? Would you have expected Christ to force anyone to worship Him? After all, God didn't. God gave man freewill to decide on their own. So why are some in the military deciding they are in control over the soul of the men and women serving in the military? Why would they assume a right God Himself did not take?

The military is paid with our tax dollars, all of our dollars no matter what faith we claim as our own. Yet some in power have decided they have the right to push their own faith on the people they command. Among the divisions in Christianity alone, there are many other faiths of the men and women serving and to force any to covert is against what this nation stood for. The very foundation of our Constitution the men and women serve to defend is being challenged because a few decide they can hide under the banner of Christianity without anyone noticing this is not just about being Christian, but about one particular form of it against all other faiths. This is not what the founding fathers intended so to use them as a basis to challenge the suit holds no weight at all. If we are not all free to worship as we will, then no one is.

Government seeks dismissal of religion lawsuit

By John Hanna - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Apr 11, 2009 9:13:44 EDT

TOPEKA, Kan. — Government lawyers are seeking the dismissal of a federal lawsuit in Kansas alleging widespread religious discrimination within the military, arguing many of its claims are only “general grievances” and not wrongs against specific soldiers.

The Justice Department also contends a former Fort Riley soldier who joined the Military Religious Freedom Foundation in filing the lawsuit did not pursue his complaints aggressively enough with superiors first.

But Mikey Weinstein, president of the Albuquerque, N.M.-based foundation, said Friday that the government’s response contains “nothing meritorious.”

The lawsuit, filed last year in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., named Defense Secretary Robert Gates as the defendant. It alleges a pervasive bias within the military in favor of evangelical Christianity, even allowing its personnel to attempt to convert Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/ap_military_religion_041009/

PTSD On Trial:Iraq Veteran's Dad Blames Arrest on War Stress

Officer's Dad Blames Arrest On War Stress
Corrections Officer Jailed After Crash, Chase

A county corrections officer was arrested on suspicion of running down deer and fleeing from law enforcement officers, but Matthew Hagen's family and friends said his behavior was a result of what happened to him in Iraq.

"What he did was wrong," said his father, Daniel Hagen. "We're not debating that. But there is an explanation."

Matthew Hagen's family said his behavior isn't characteristic of the decorated military man and committed corrections officer they know.

Daniel Hagan said his son has been struggling to overcome post-traumatic stress disorder after returning from Iraq 21 months ago.

"His job classification was a .50-caliber sniper," Daniel Hagen said. "Matthew came back from Iraq a different individual than when he left."

He said he knew that his son was experiencing post-traumatic stress.

"He saw things and heard things, and he still relives some of those things," Daniel Hagen said.

Sgt. Dustin Bray, one of Matthew Hagen's closest friends, said he saw signs of post-traumatic stress, too. He spoke to KETV News Watch 7 from Fort Stewart, Ga.

"The hardest thing he's ever seen, the hardest thing he's ever done is watch his buddy die," said Bray.

Matthew Hagen's friends and family said he tried to ignore his feelings. They said his work as a corrections officer, Army reservist and husband overloaded his plate.
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http://www.ketv.com/news/19153878/detail.html

Lame Deer soldier dies at Fort Benning

Lame Deer soldier dies in Ga.
Montana's News Station - Missoula, MT,USA
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer has ordered all federal and state flags to be flown at half-staff on Friday to honor a Lame Deer soldier who died last weekend at Fort Benning, Ga.



Lame Deer Soldier Funeral
By Stephanie Domurat
Story Published: Apr 10, 2009


LAME DEER - Sergeant Kellum's family says they had the option to bury their son in Arlington, but instead they chose to bring his body home. He was laid to rest Friday in Lame Deer. "He was a well known young man, not only through the military but as a young boy he was involved in everything. He was a traditional dancer, participated in sports and participated in everything. He was well liked by many." says his uncle Steve Littlebird.

Family members say Sergeant Kellum wanted to be a soldier since he was a young boy. He enlisted in 2004, and since has served in Germany and Iraq.

"He was really enjoying it and made lot of friends in the military," says Littlebird. Fellow soldiers and family members spoke in remembrance, saying he was in many ways a hero.
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http://www.kulr8.com/news/local/42828287.html

Habitat to build free house for another soldier

Habitat to build free house for another soldier
Darryl E. Owens | Sentinel Staff Writer
April 10, 2009
Before his second Iraq deployment, U.S. Army Spc. Marcus Griffin shared a somber premonition with his wife, Andrea:

He had a feeling that he wouldn't make it home.

A close encounter last November with a booby-trapped house nearly made him a prophet. Though the blast left him forever worse for wear, the 24-year-old did make it home.

Now, West Orange Habitat for Humanity hopes to give him a home to call his own. On the heels of "Home At Last," its pilot project that built a house last year for Army Sgt. Joshua Cope, who lost his legs to a roadside bomb in Iraq, the group has tapped Marcus to star in its home-building sequel.

"We do ... feel a special responsibility to support veterans of our local Central Florida community who were severely injured and disabled in the service of our country," said Bill Criswell, an organization spokesman. "Marcus' injuries may not be as evident as Josh Cope's, but he, like so many other of our returning veterans, has paid a heavy price serving our country."

More than $300,000 in cash and in-kind donations helped construct the Cope home — a goal Criswell knows may be tough to reach in this economy.
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Wounded Warrior Project focused on investigation by Salon.com

Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) Concerned by Stigma of PTSD and Mental Illness in Military

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., April 9 /PRNewswire/ --
In response to recently released information, Wounded Warrior Project again cited their grave concerns with the manner in which mental health and PTSD are perceived and dealt with within the military. One specific article on Salon.com highlighted concerns that military doctors are being pressured to not diagnose PTSD in returning military personnel and specifically brought to light such a situation in Fort Carson, Colorado.

"Unfortunately there is a major cultural stigma within the military against PTSD or seeking mental health care treatment," said Steve Nardizzi, WWP CEO. "These types of situations and reports reinforce the institutional barriers to seeking mental health care and serve as a deterrent to the warrior from seeking vitally needed care."

According to recently released military data, U.S. Army suicides outnumbered all combat deaths in January of this year. 2008 was also the fourth year in a row in which suicides among soldiers rose.

"Post traumatic stress disorder is very serious," said Nardizzi. "We call on the military to prioritize the reduction of this stigma against seeking care and to foster unfettered access to mental health services, regardless of cost."

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can result following a traumatic event and is quite prevalent among combat veterans. PTSD can manifest itself in numerous ways, including upsetting memories of the event, flashbacks, nightmares and intense physical reactions to reminders of the traumatic events. Warriors may experience a pounding heart, rapid breathing, nausea, muscle tension and sweating. WWP urges any warrior in an emergency to get help immediately by calling 911. For those not facing an emergency situation, WWP offers services to help work through other readjustment issues.

Wounded Warrior Project's Project Odyssey brings together veterans with combat stress and post-traumatic stress disorder and gets them involved in outdoor activities that offer healthy support in the healing process. The ultimate goal is for each participant to return home with a range of coping skills to help them move forward in their recovery process. Private and group sessions with trained therapists are an integral part of the Project Odyssey experience.
About Wounded Warrior Project

Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to honor and empower wounded warriors. WWP serves to raise awareness and enlist the public's aid for the needs of severely injured service men and women, to help severely injured service members aid and assist each other and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs. For more information, please call 877 TEAM WWP (832-6997) or visit www.woundedwarriorproject.org.

Greatest thing to fear about PTSD is not today

My greatest fear is not for today. It's for five years from now because of today.

Hospital takes proactive approach to post-traumatic stress disorder
By Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/09/2009 01:07:04 AM PDT


From the time Jay M. Otero was 4, he knew he wanted to be a doctor.

Now a psychiatrist, Otero is chief of Behavioral Medicine Service at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veteran's Administration Medical Center in Loma Linda, supervising a staff of 150.

In that role, he supervises other psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurse practitioners, psychiatric nurses and others.

His position as a supervisor of divergent mental health service providers is not standard in the VA system. Sometimes psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers function autonomously in their own departments, each with their own boss.

That was the case at the Loma Linda VA in 1997, when Otero took over the hospital's psychiatric service.

"That was inefficient," he said. It meant that the heads of the three mental health services had to agree before resources could be moved.

"The government wants to avoid some of the mistakes made subsequent to the Vietnam War when a lot of Vietnam veterans were disenfranchised for many years." he said. "A lot of harm was done to their lives.

"The field of psychiatry has changed over the past 30 years. There were a lot of misdiagnosis; many of the veterans' experiences with the VA didn't go well, because post-traumatic stress disorder was not well understood."

Some veterans got proper treatment 20 or 30 years after the issue should have been recognized, he said.

go here for more
http://www.sgvtribune.com/living/ci_12101941

Maybe it's been too many years of doing this, but my fear is growing even though today I have more hope than I did when I first got into working with veterans suffering from PTSD. Unlike the 70's and 80's, the media has been doing more reports over the last few years, and that's a good thing. Back then veterans and their families had to rely on the luck of the draw to find others going thru the same thing. No one was talking about it. As Vietnam veterans began to form groups, the inner circle provided the knowledge finally that they were not alone. Sooner or later another wounded veteran would see a twitch or the thousand mile stare in another veteran and know, they had it too.

In 1982, I was going to the library and book stores finding whatever I could about Vietnam and PTSD. Back then, the Vietnam veterans were already chronic, meaning they would have PTSD the rest of their lives but had they been treated back then, most of what they've been going thru would not have gotten worse. There were a lot of mild cases of PTSD mixed with catastrophic cases but as time went on, more traumas came and mild PTSD was sent on a trip from hell as the secondary stressor made mild PTSD become like a demon on steroids. They suffered. Their families suffered and too many fell apart. Like the newer veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, there were too many suicides. While we may never know the true number of deaths by their own hands, two studies put the figure between 150,000 and 200,000, which is probably accurate considering in 1986 they knew there were 117,000. Imagine what the Vietnam Memorial Wall would look like with their names added in among the dead that were recognized.

For the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, my greatest fear is what is coming for them if we do not treat their wounds right here, right now. Too many suicides already and far too many attempted suicides. Too many reports of improper diagnosis of PTSD being passed off as personality disorders and anxiety. They are being shoved out the door with a bleeding soul and no matter how much the government talks about what is being done, there are still horrible reports coming out showing that whatever accomplishments being made are not taking away the suffering of thousands of our veterans being mistreated.

What if we don't get this right, right here, right now? How many do you think we will bury because they took their own lives? How many will end up homeless? How many will end up behind bars? How many families will be destroyed in the process? If you think all of this is bad now, this is just the beginning of all of it and unless we get this right, they will be suffering longer and deeper than they are today.

Two killed in Michigan college shooting

Two killed in Michigan college shooting
Story Highlights
Man, woman found dead in classroom building at Henry Ford Community College

Dearborn police say shots were fired at college, scene is contained

No word on whether anyone is in custody
(CNN) -- Two people were shot and killed Friday at a community college in Dearborn, Michigan, an official said.

A man and woman were found dead in a classroom building on the campus of Henry Ford Community College, said Dearborn Fire Department Battalion Chief John Hay.

Dearborn police confirmed that shots were fired at the college and that the scene was contained. They declined to say whether anyone was in custody.

A woman who answered the phone in the office of the school's president, Gail Mee, said that the shootings occurred in the Fine Arts Building and that the campus was in lockdown.
check back with CNN as news comes out
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/10/mich.college.shooting/index.html

5 U.S. soldiers killed in northern Iraq blast

5 U.S. soldiers killed in northern Iraq blast

By Hamid Ahmed - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Apr 10, 2009 11:58:28 EDT

BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden truck into a sandbagged wall Friday in northern Iraq, killing five American soldiers and two Iraqi policemen in the single deadliest attack against U.S. forces in more than a year.

A sixth American soldier and 17 Iraqi policemen were wounded in the blast that took place near the national police headquarters in southwestern Mosul, Iraq’s third-largest city and al-Qaida’s last urban stronghold.

Suicide bombings — a hallmark of al-Qaida’s attack style — continue to threaten the city, which U.S. troops must leave by June 30 under an agreement with the Iraqis. The approaching deadline
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5 U.S. soldiers killed in northern Iraq blast

Hardest Times You Could Imagine

The hardest times you could imagine should never be when female soldiers come home, but they are. After leaving their families and friends, often leaving young children behind, they deploy into combat zones with their "brothers" in arms. They risk their lives facing the enemy, trying to heal the wounded, driving dangerous roads facing IEDs and enemy attacks, but they also face being attacked in their own units.

While PTSD strikes them the same as the males they serve with, they also have to fear being attacked by the males they serve with. Summer is approaching again and that means high heat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Summers past are a greater dangerous time for women at war because they risk their health by avoiding drinking fluid in the afternoon. They don't want to have to risk going to the latrine at night out of fear.

When they report attacks, too often they are still being treated as if it was their fault instead of being treated as a victim of the ultimate betrayal.

Yet this is not the end of their suffering for having served. When they come home, instead of being treated like a wounded warrior, they face denied claims and injustice. Again, they find the enemy is not just on foreign lands but right here in their own country. We have to stop the attacks and we have to stop their attackers from getting away with it. This is a crime!

We must make sure their claims are honored so their service to the nation is fully honored.

Watch the Hardest Times You Could Imagine and if you are not moved to contact your congressmen, nothing will move you to honor those who serve this nation.

"I believe that I did have PTSD"

"I believe that I did have PTSD"
Matthew Marino was sent back to Afghanistan for a second tour of duty after the Army diagnosed him with "anxiety disorder" instead of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Editor's note: Read about "Sgt. X" and his secret tape of an Army psychologist (and listen to the recording) here; read about the Army's investigation of that tape -- and the Senate's failure to act -- here. Learn why the Army might have incentives not to diagnose PTSD here.

By Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna


April 10, 2009 Matthew Marino served five years in the Army and was deployed to fight in Afghanistan twice. He began to suffer from symptoms typical of post-traumatic stress disorder following his first tour. After returning to Fort Drum, N.Y. in late 2004, he couldn't lose the hyper-alertness he'd developed in Afghanistan. He had thoughts of suicide, was nervous, had nightmares, couldn't sleep, and stayed away from family and friends.

Despite his symptoms, however, the Army diagnosed the first lieutenant with anxiety disorder instead of PTSD. He was also diagnosed with depression and given antidepressants. The Army then "stop-lossed" Marino, to prevent him from leaving the Army although his time was up. He was shipped back to Afghanistan for a second tour in 2006. A diagnosis of PTSD might have kept him from being redeployed and sent back into combat; a diagnosis of anxiety disorder did not.

In two stories published this week, Salon has described how a soldier secretly taped an Army psychologist named Douglas McNinch saying that the Army was exerting pressure on him not to diagnose soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder. According to McNinch, the Army preferred that he diagnose soldiers with anxiety disorder instead -- the same diagnosis Marino received. Marino's experience is a case study in what happens when Army medical care is influenced by the need to keep soldiers on the battlefield and the need to hold down the cost of long-term disability payments.


Marino returned to the States from his second tour in Afghanistan at the beginning of 2007 with symptoms nearly identical to those he'd experienced after his first tour. But the Army processed him out by Feb. 10, 2007 without a real medical examination. Marino recalls filling out a written questionnaire and then being discharged. "They didn't spend any time checking me when I went out the door."
go here for more
I believe that I did have PTSD

What motive does the Army have to misdiagnose PTSD?

What motive does the Army have to misdiagnose PTSD?
A reluctance to diagnose post-traumatic stress disorder could be about the money, and about the need for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Editor's note: Read the story of Matthew Marino, who was diagnosed with anxiety disorder instead of PTSD and sent back into combat in Afghanistan, here. Read about "Sgt. X" and his secret tape of an Army psychologist (and listen to the recording) here; read about the Army's investigation of that tape -- and the Senate's failure to act -- here.

By Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna
April 10, 2009 In two stories published this week, Salon has described how a soldier secretly taped a psychologist saying that the Army was exerting pressure not to diagnose soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder. Psychologist Douglas McNinch of Fort Carson, Colo., twice states on the recording that the Army discourages PTSD diagnoses.

If what McNinch says on the tape is true, why is it happening? Why would the Army purposely diagnose soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder with something other than PTSD? Combat stress is as real as your big toe. Why would the Army want to deny, or at least minimize, a known consequence of combat? The truth might rest in math.

Soldiers with PTSD present the Army with two problems, both involving scary numbers. First, soldiers suffering serious combat stress should not be returned to combat, and if they cannot fight they represent a significant manpower loss for an already stretched military. A recent Rand Corp. study estimates that nearly 20 percent of those Army troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan might suffer from PTSD or major depression. If they were all barred from the battlefield, the Army could lose as many as one out of every five combat troops while trying to fight two wars.


Second, if soldiers are identified as suffering from PTSD and thus disabled, the Army may have to separate those soldiers from the military and pay benefits -- benefits that are extensive and can last a lifetime. The direct costs to the Army for treating soldiers with PTSD are potentially astronomical.

If you are a soldier who is officially disabled, you are entitled to collect a percentage of your base pay each month. The percentage depends upon your level of disability. Though this doesn't happen in every case, the proper disability rating for PTSD is 50 percent, according to an Army memo that is now part of a class-action lawsuit by the National Veterans Legal Services Program. So let's say, for example, that a 25-year-old private first class was discharged from the Army because of combat-induced PTSD and lived to be 75 years old while collecting benefits at the proper rate of 50 percent. The PFC would receive $784 a month, or half of $1,568 base pay (based on 2009 pay levels) for 50 years. That's $470,400.

go here for the rest of this

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/04/10/ptsd/

Focus on this part of the story for now and think about it.

Last month, the Army announced that the trend continues. Forty-eight soldiers have already killed themselves this year. If that pace is not slowed, at least 225 soldiers will be dead by their own hands by the end of 2009.

It is more than "they are expendable" when they are useful to fulfill the needs in a time of war. Should they perish by the hands of an enemy bullet or bomb, they are laid to rest and the duty of the nation ends with the widows and orphans. If they should die because of the wound they carry within their body, the wound of PTSD, then there are all kinds of steps they take to avoid taking responsibility for being the cause of this wound. When we are talking about soldiers willing to lay down their lives for the sake of this nation, it should never be translated into the minds of the brass they are willing to die because of what this nation fails to do.

When they end up suffering because of this wound, they are betrayed by the same nation that sent them into combat. This betrayal compounds the residue of war because had they not served the nation, they would not have been wounded by PTSD. PTSD is the result of an outside force and does not begin with the mind. It is called an anxiety disorder because mental health professionals have yet to fully grasp the heart and soul of the soldier. PTSD attacks all that makes us human. The military however uses them like machines.

If they lose a limb, then they manufacture one to replace it. The soldier is still useful to them because the mind is intact, able to function like a machine programmed to react. Should they decide to return to civilian employment, then the military does not have to pay for a full disability claim. They only have to pay for the body part lost. How do they pay for a life for the rest of their lives? They don't have to if they claim it was not because of the service given to the nation.

This betrayal is as bad as when the seven deadly sins listed sloth among them. The ancient Greeks knew this was not a sin but more a part of illness.

Sloth (Latin, acedia)
Main article: Sloth (deadly sin)
More than other sins, the definition of sloth has changed considerably since its original inclusion among the seven deadly sins. In fact it was first called the sin of sadness or despair. It had been in the early years of Christianity characterized by what modern writers would now describe as melancholy: apathy, depression, and joylessness — the last being viewed as being a refusal to enjoy the goodness of God and the world God created. Originally, its place was fulfilled by two other aspects, acedia and sadness. The former described a spiritual apathy that affected the faithful by discouraging them from their religious work. Sadness (tristitia in Latin) described a feeling of dissatisfaction or discontent, which caused unhappiness with one's current situation. When Thomas Aquinas selected acedia for his list, he described it as an "uneasiness of the mind", being a progenitor for lesser sins such as restlessness and instability. Dante refined this definition further, describing sloth as being the "failure to love God with all one's heart, all one's mind and all one's soul." He also described it as the middle sin, and as such was the only sin characterised by an absence or insufficiency of love. In his "Purgatorio", the slothful penitents were made to run continuously at top speed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins

All this week, the History Channel has been focused on the Seven Deadly Sins. Last night it was sloth. There was a time when mental illness was considered a "sin" and even today, there are "healers" treating it as a demonic possession. In a way, it was easy to jump to this conclusion because when someone has PTSD, it is like living in hell. What makes all of this worse is when another sin by the government, bearing false witness, is their answer to this wound. That is exactly what they are doing when they know the truth, know the full extent of what suffering the veteran of combat is carrying within them and what caused it but deny any responsibility for it.

The loss of hope is what kills the PTSD wounded. Take away hope of healing and hope of being able to provide for themselves and their families while they know exactly what the truth is and this betrayal is causing the suicides and attempted suicides of ten thousand veterans per year. Ever wonder what would cause a combat veteran to take their own lives? Think about the fact they were in danger during their deployment and fought to stay alive as well as protect the lives of the men they served next to. Out of danger, out of harms way supposedly, they end their own life. The DOD has removed hope, dishonored their service and devalued their lives. The VA has been doing the same thing when claims are denied that should have been honored. When does this suffering end for them? How many more will feel so hopeless, so betrayed, they take their own lives?

VA Budget Adds Mental-Health Services for Returning Combat Vets

VA Budget Adds Mental-Health Services for Returning Combat Vets

Written by Press Release
Thursday, 09 April 2009 22:17

WASHINGTON--(ENEWSPF)--April 9, 2009 – The proposed Department of Veterans Affairs funding request will provide more post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury services to combat veterans, as well as other mental-health care and services for wounded warriors, President Barack Obama said today.
“The nightmares of war don't always end when our loved ones return home,” Obama said. “Untold thousands of servicemen and -women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or other serious psychological injury.”

The president called the growing incidence of suicide among active-duty servicemembers and returning combat veterans “disturbing.”

“Sometimes the deadliest wounds are the ones you cannot see, and we cannot afford to let the unseen wounds go untreated,” he said. “And that's why this budget dramatically increases funding for mental-health screening and treatment at all levels.”

The proposed budget represents the largest single-year increase in VA funding in three decades. “All told, we will increase funding by $25 billion over the next five years,” the president said.

Obama recognized that thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have suffered from traumatic brain injury, and said the budget will provide improved services for these cognitive injuries.

“Many with TBI have never been evaluated by a physician,” he said. “And because such injuries can often have long-term impacts that only show up down the road, this funding will help ensure they received the ongoing care they need.”
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VA Budget Adds Mental-Health Services for Returning Combat Vets

Support the The Post Deployment Health Assessment Act of 2009

This is the moment it happened. Most of the media was not around but that was not what was important to then, Senator Obama. What he wanted to know, was what was working to help the warriors wounded by PTSD to heal and get the help they needed. After all, he was serving on the Veterans Affairs Committee, one more thing the media didn't seem too interested in. But you dear reader are smarter than the media and you care a lot more than far too many of them do. No, I'm not slamming everyone in the media because some have been doing some fantastic reports because they care. Right now though I feel I should point out something about this day in Montana when Obama promised to take the guard's program national if he ended up being elected.

I've tracked all of this since 1982. Over the last few years, spare time has turned into a 70 hour or more work week for free. I've read some of the most horrible stories you could imagine and lost too many people in my life. I take all of this very personally because of my own husband and too many of his friends, but above all, his nephew, another Vietnam veteran out of hope, so deeply in pain that he took his own life. The Montana National Guards program is one that I had been very hopeful with and you can read most of the posts I've done on this since they first began it. I am also a member of NAMI, on the Veterans' Council. There were programs all over the country when they came up with this, so Obama had plenty of programs to support if he only wanted to appear to care. When he decided that this program was so vital he wanted to focus on it and take it national, he did it because he not only cared, but the man paid attention. PTSD was no passing thought in his mind. He made sure he knew what he was talking about. He did not try to support programs that were not working. Had he done so, that would have shown us that he really didn't think it was important enough to pay attention.

With all the horrible posts I've done, even with them, I have more hope than ever that we will someday soon get to where the troops and veterans need us to be.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Support the The Post Deployment Health Assessment Act of 2009
Matt Kuntz, the keynote speaker at our upcoming Annual Education Conference, has asked us to take a few minutes to contact our Congressional Representatives and Senators to ask them to support comprehensive mental health screenings for our returning soldiers.
Two years ago, Matt, the Executive Director of NAMI Montana and one of President Obama's "18 Ordinary Americans Making an Extraordinary Difference," lost his step-brother Chris Dana to a post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) induced suicide sixteen months after he returned from Iraq.
The events around Chris’s death led Governor Brian Schweitzer and the Montana National Guard to develop the premier program in the country for caring for National Guard members suffering from PTSD. Matt says, "The foundation of this successful system is a series of five face-to-face mental health screenings that every returning service member must complete upon their return home from combat."
This broad screening program overcomes the traditional barriers that have kept service members from receiving treatment for PTSD. Over forty percent of the individuals that have completed the screening asked for help in dealing with their combat stress injuries.
Senator Max Baucus introduced “The Post Deployment Health Assessment Act of 2009” to implement this common sense screening program throughout our fighting force. The Act would require face-to-face screening before deployment, upon return home, and then every six months for two years. This basic and effective program will help safeguard the mental health of our entire fighting force for approximately the same price tag as a single F-22 Fighter. The Act is supported by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the National Guard Association, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).
Please take a few minutes out of your day to contact your Congressional Representatives and Senators to ask them to support this critical legislation. Our military suicide rates are at record levels and climbing. We can’t afford to wait any longer to help our heroes get the care they deserve. You can follow this link to find your Representatives’ and Senators’ contact information: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/.

Hardball and the Salon.com PTSD story

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Volusia County gets blame firefighter's death

Volusia County gets blame firefighter's death
By Helen Eckinger Sentinel Staff Writer
April 9, 2009

A Volusia County firefighter died in a 2007 accident because of insufficient training and inadequate safeguards, according to a new report from the State Fire Marshal's Office.

The report blames Volusia County Fire Services for the failures during a wildfire-fighting training exercise at a training center near Daytona Beach on Nov. 27, 2007.

John Curry, 30, was killed at the Volusia County Fire Training Center when firefighters chopped down a tree and it fell in an unexpected direction, striking Curry in the head.

Curry was survived by his wife, Kristen, and young son, Owen. He was the first Volusia County firefighter to die in the line of duty, as well as the first firefighter to die at the training center.
go here for the rest
Volusia County gets blame firefighter's death

Russell Dunham, WWII Medal of Honor Veteran, passes away at 89

Medal of Honor recipient Russell Dunham dies
The Associated PressPosted : Thursday Apr 9, 2009 15:51:18 EDT

GODFREY, Ill. — An Illinoisan who recieved the Medal of Honor after killing nine German soldiers and taking two others captive while wounded during a World War II battle has died.
Gent Funeral Home in Alton says Russell Dunham was 89 when he died of heart failure Monday at his home in the southwestern Illinois community of Godfrey. He moved there just weeks ago from Jerseyville.
Dunham recieved the nation’s highest military honor for his heroics during a January 1945 battle near Kayserberg, France. The Army says Dunham was shot in the back but managed to fire 175 rounds of carbine ammunition and throw 11 grenades while charging a hill.
Services for Dunham will be at 11 a.m. Friday at the Alton funeral home, with burial in Godfrey’s Valhalla Memorial Park.
See more information on Dunham:
Military Times Hall of Valor

Missing in America Project seeks out the forgotten vets

Missing in America Project seeks out the forgotten vets
Illinois Valley News - Cave Junction,OR,USA
Missing in America Project seeks out the forgotten vets
From our weekly issue dated April 8, 2009

By Michelle Binker
IVN Staff Writer




MIAP began in Oregon three years ago, and has spread to 44 states. Its mission is to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed cremated remains of U.S. veterans through the joint efforts of private, state and federal organizations. So far almost 600 veterans have been identified, and close to 400 interred.
click link for more

Tale of the secret Army tape

Salon reporters Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna may have ended up finally giving justice to our troops and veterans. Think about what has been going on, what the men and women coming home with PTSD have been going thru, while it seemed as if no one would ever make any of this right for them. You've read too many of their stories on this blog and you've also read what is still happening to Vietnam veterans still owed a debt that should have been paid over 30 years ago. Back then, it seemed no one really cared but the Vietnam veterans and their own families. Today, the nation has a chance to prove they care by forcing congress and the military to get this right, punish the people behind all the wrong that was done so that the sacrifices of the men and women are truly honored, above all, provide justice for the wounded we allowed all of this to happen to.

Tale of the secret Army tape
After a soldier taped a psychologist saying he'd been pressured not to diagnose PTSD, the Army launched an investigation. Read the details of how the Army declared itself innocent.

Editor's note: Read about Sgt. X's tape -- and listen to a segment of it -- in the first story in this series, "I Am Under a Lot of Pressure to Not Diagnose PTSD." Read a summary of the Army's internal investigation, in which it determined that it was not exerting such pressure, here.

By Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna

April 9, 2009 In a story published yesterday, Salon reported on a surreptitious tape recording of an Army psychologist telling a patient last June that he had been pressured not to diagnose soldiers as having post-traumatic stress disorder. The soldier, whom Salon dubbed Sgt. X to protect his identity, recorded the Fort Carson, Colo., psychologist, Douglas McNinch, twice describing pressure to label soldiers with "anxiety disorder" instead of PTSD. The diagnosis of anxiety disorder could result in improper treatment and lower disability payments if the Army discharges a soldier from the military. "It's not fair," McNinch said on the tape. "I think it's a horrible way to treat soldiers."

But neither the U.S. Senate nor the Army apparently agrees with McNinch's assessment of the treatment that returning soldiers are receiving. By early July, news of the tape recording had made its way to both the Senate Armed Services Committee and the upper reaches of the Pentagon. Despite prodding from Sen. Kit Bond, the Senate Armed Services Committee declined to investigate the tape's implications. A veterans' advocacy group then had a combative July 14 meeting at the Pentagon with the Army's vice chief of staff, at which the vice chief was reportedly dismissive. Two weeks later, the Army issued the results of an internal investigation and absolved itself of any wrongdoing.

Today's article describes the contentious meeting at the Pentagon, how the tape got to the Senate and the secretary of the Army in the first place, and which Senate aide determined it was not worth investigating. It also details how the individuals assigned by the Army to investigate the tape were connected both to the individual who had allegedly pressured McNinch not to diagnose soldiers as having PTSD and to earlier questionable in-house investigations of Army medical care.

Georg-Andreas Pogany and Maj. Gen. Mark Graham
Pogany told Salon that he found the tape shocking. On July 2, he handed it over to the Fort Carson's post commander, Maj. Gen. Mark Graham.

In a telephone interview, Graham refused to name Pogany as the man who gave him the tape, but confirmed that he had received it and that it set off alarms. "Anytime anyone brings me information regarding the health and welfare of our soldiers, I take it very seriously, as I did this," Graham said, adding that he has not yet seen the results of Army's internal investigation.

After receiving the tape, Graham forwarded it up the Army chain of command, where it ultimately wound up in the hands of Gen. Richard Cody, then the Army's vice chief of staff.

......................It appears, however, that investigators did not question the Army officer who Douglas McNinch said had pressured him not to diagnose PTSD. In an interview with Salon, McNinch said the pressure to misdiagnose soldiers came from the psychiatrist who used to head the Department of Behavioral Health at Fort Carson. "His name was Steve Knorr," McNinch said. When asked if he told Army investigators this information, McNinch responded, "Yes, I did." Though the extensive redaction makes it difficult to say for certain, there is no sign in the report that Knorr was contacted or interviewed by Army investigators.

McNinch also said he was afraid to talk. He himself suffers from medical issues and, as a civilian employee of the Army, is going through the process of getting government benefits. "I am going through a disability process right now," he said, "and quite frankly, I would not put it past the Army to, you know, fuck me over, to be blunt."

McNinch's naming of Knorr is particularly intriguing, given that Knorr's name has come up before in connection with internal investigations of possibly questionable Army medical care. In a 2007 article for the Nation, journalist Joshua Kors documented a shocking coverup of Army misdiagnoses. The Army was apparently diagnosing soldiers as having "personality disorders" instead of combat-related stress. Since "personality disorders" supposedly preexist military service, they cannot be attributed to combat, meaning veterans are potentially ineligible for proper benefits. Kors reported that Knorr conducted a review of cases on behalf of the Army's acting surgeon general and determined that no one in the Army had done anything wrong. Within a year, in response to the Nation article, the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, released a report questioning why 2,800 war veterans had been diagnosed as having "personality disorders."

Contacted by Salon, Knorr said, "I don't talk with media. Good day," and hung up.

Salon has learned that one of the officers conducting the investigation of the tape is a junior officer to Knorr at their shared Army post. Lt. Col. Kris Peterson, chief psychiatrist at Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, Wash., assisted Col. Bruce Crow in the investigation of the tape. Knorr is now a health consultant at Madigan.

Crow, meanwhile, was also implicated in the "personality disorder" scandal. As Knorr was writing up his review back in 2007, the Army dispatched Crow to Congress to "set the record straight," as he told the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs on July 25, 2007. Crow said the Army would study soldiers dismissed with personality disorders but suggested the Army was doing nothing wrong. He said soldiers with a diagnosis of personality disorder only "feel" they have been wrongly separated from the Army. "I want to assure the Congress that the Army Medical Department's highest priority is caring for our warriors and their families," he told the panel.
go here for more
http://www.salon.com/news/special/coming_home/2009/04/09/ptsd/index.html
Tomorrow: Salon explores the possible motivations for the Army to avoid recognizing the size and scope of psychiatric injuries among American ground troops, and examines the case of one soldier the Army seems to have misdiagnosed.

President Obama "The Care They Were Promised and Beneifts They Have Earned

Thursday, April 9th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
“The Care They Were Promised and the Benefits That They Have Earned”
Days after visiting our troops in Iraq, today the President unveiled a step to make sure that the gratitude he expressed to them – and to all who served before them – would not ring hollow.

Before an audience of Wounded Warriors, he began his remarks commending Specialist Jake Altman and Sergeant Nathan Dewitt, two soldiers he met in Iraq who refused to let severe injuries stand between them and returning to their units. He singled out Tammy Duckworth, his nominee for Assistant Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, who lost her legs in Iraq and came home to continue service as a vibrant advocate for veterans care. Having told the audience of his inspiration, he then went on to announce the policy at hand:

It's time to give our veterans a 21st-century VA. Over the past few months we've made much progress towards that end, and today I'm pleased to announce some new progress.

Under the leadership of Secretary Gates and Secretary Shinseki, the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs have taken a first step towards creating one unified lifetime electronic health record for members of our armed services that will contain their administrative and medical information -- from the day they first enlist to the day that they are laid to rest.

Currently, there is no comprehensive system in place that allows for a streamlined transition of health records between DOD and the VA. And that results in extraordinary hardship for a awful lot of veterans, who end up finding their records lost, unable to get their benefits processed in a timely fashion. I can't tell you how many stories that I heard during the course of the last several years, first as a United States senator and then as a candidate, about veterans who were finding it almost impossible to get the benefits that they had earned despite the fact that their disabilities or their needs were evident for all to see.

And that's why I'm asking both departments to work together to define and build a seamless system of integration with a simple goal: When a member of the Armed Forces separates from the military, he or she will no longer have to walk paperwork from a DOD duty station to a local VA health center; their electronic records will transition along with them and remain with them forever. (Applause.)

He went on to discuss his proposed budget, which includes the largest single-year increase in VA funding in three decades; an attempt to ensure veterans funding is never again caught up in appropriations politics; a dramatic expansion of coverage; an unprecedented effort to address Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury; funding for a pilot program with not-for-profit organizations to make sure that veterans at risk of losing their homes have a roof over their heads; and finally, the implementation of the new GI Bill to ensure veterans can return to broad opportunity earned by their sacrifices.

Yesterday the Vice President spoke at the Welcome Home Ceremony for the XVIII Airborne Corps in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and captured the sentiment of today’s announcement well:

Ladies and gentlemen, if we only have $10 to spend in the entire federal government, then we are convinced that we have to spend six of it caring for those who come home in need. We will spend all six before we spend it on anything else -- on the elderly, on children, on the poor, on our roads, on our security -- because this is the only genuinely sacred obligation this nation has. The service that you and thousands and thousands of others who went before you in Iraq over the last six years -- the services you've performed have come at great cost for some. Some of our warriors and their families have paid a much steeper price than others. Some had given their lives, the ultimate sacrifice, and we honor their memory.

But the best way to honor their memory, of those thousands -- over 14,000 seriously injured coming home from the wars which we are engaged in and have been engaged in -- we owe them the obligation to -- we know we can never fully repay it, but we know we owe them the obligation to provide them the absolute best medical care and service they need. Some will need that for the rest of their lives. Their life expectancies will be 35 to 40 years, and some will need care for the entirety of those lives.

(Vice President Joe Biden inspects the 18th Airborne Corps with CSM Allen and Lt. General Austin at the units' welcome home ceremonies at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Wednesday, April 8, 2009.
Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

War hero helps nab suspects in dog killing

War hero helps nab suspects in dog killing
Labrador retriever had been given to him to help heal after Afghan combat

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - A highly decorated Navy SEAL who found his beloved yellow Labrador retriever shot dead outside his home helped capture the alleged gunmen following a high-speed chase through three counties.

Marcus Luttrell stayed on the line with a 911 operator as he tried to catch the fleeing suspects during the 40-mile chase that reached speeds of over 100 mph.

"I told them, 'You need to get somebody out here because if I catch them I'm going to kill them,'" Luttrell said he told the operator, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Lone survivor of Taliban attack
Luttrell was awarded the Navy Cross for combat heroism in 2006. He is the lone SEAL team member to survive a June 2005 firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan and was given a puppy to help him heal after he returned from the war. He named it Dasy as an acronym for his SEAL team members lost in that battle.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30136615/

Man attacked with machete at church

Man attacked with machete at church
April 7, 2009
LEESBURG - A man was critically injured Sunday when he was attacked with a machete at a church, Lake County deputy sheriffs said. Christopher R. Thurlow, 41, suffered head and neck wounds and was flown to a trauma unit in Orlando. A report on his medical condition was not immediately available. According to a sheriff's report, Thurlow told deputies the attack was unprovoked but said the suspect, Raymond K. Odum, 38, was talking about demons while striking him with the machete, a kitchen knife and a pocket knife.
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Man attacked with machete at church

DOD:Non Combat Death in Afghanistan

04/08/09 : DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Spc. Adam M. Kuligowski, 21, of Arlington, Va., died Apr. 6 in Bagram, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the Special Troops Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

http://icasualties.org/oef/

Two more non-combat deaths in Iraq

04/08/09 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Sgt. Daniel J. Beard, 24, of Buffalo, N.Y., died April 3 in Al Diwaniyah, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 147th Postal Company, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, Wiesbaden, Germany.

04/08/09 DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
Lance Cpl. Stephen F. Dearmon, 21, of Crossville, Tenn., died April 3 as a result of a non-hostile incident in Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

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

Iraq: flawed wiring could cause further “catastrophic results” for the troops

Safety team: Iraq site wiring deemed risky

By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Apr 8, 2009 12:37:04 EDT

WASHINGTON — A military team sent to evaluate electrical problems at U.S. facilities in Iraq determined there was a high risk that flawed wiring could cause further “catastrophic results” — namely, the electrocutions of U.S. soldiers.

The team said the use of a required device, commonly found in American houses to prevent electrical shocks, was “patchy at best” near showers and latrines in U.S. military facilities. There also was widespread use of uncertified electrical devices and “incomplete application” of U.S. electrical codes in buildings throughout the war-torn country, the team found.

At least three U.S. service members have been electrocuted in Iraq while taking showers in the six years since the U.S.-led invasion of the country.

The highest-profile death was that of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, a Green Beret from Pittsburgh who was electrocuted while showering in his barracks early last year. Other troops and contractors have died or have been seriously injured in other electrical incidents.

A copy of the team’s Sept. 8 report to the then-commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, was obtained by The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/ap_electrocutions_iraq_safety_040809/

3 Tour Iraq veteran, "getting out on anxiety disorder" charged with shooting rampage

Two people dead, two innocent people killed and another one wounded, but that is not the only part of this story. Wonder what would have happened if this three tour Iraq veteran had been treated properly for his own wound? Wonder if he would have gone into "combat mode" if he had been given the right treatment by the DOD instead? Wonder what the families of the two dead could have been spared, or the wounded's family or even this soldier's family? Well, I have news for you. Until we finally make sure no one else gets away with the way they are treating wounded men and women in the military, this will keep happening and this war will be here for many, many more years. If it hasn't been enough for this country to demand proper treatment for them, just for their sake alone, then think of the innocent people also suffering now because we didn't~

Fellow Soldier Says Shooting Suspect Was In 'Combat Mode'
Posted: 12:53 pm EDT April 8, 2009
Updated: 5:32 pm EDT April 8, 2009

A fellow soldier said the man suspected of killing two people Monday suffered from flashbacks and was in "combat mode."

Nicholas Horner, 28, is charged in connection with the shooting deaths of two people in Altoona, a high school student working at a Subway restaurant and a man who was out getting his mail.

Horner, an Iraq War veteran, is also accused of wounding a third person during the rampage Monday afternoon in Altoona.

The suspect was living in Altoona and is a 1999 graduate of Conemaugh Valley High School in Cambria County. Police said he was arrested last month in Cresson and is awaiting a hearing there on counts of driving under the influence and possessing drug paraphernalia.

A fellow soldier who would not give his name said he has been friends with the suspect since 2006. He said Horner was a "family guy" who loved his wife and was a proud father.

On video from his MySpace.com page, Horner wrote about being back in Johnstown after three tours in Iraq. Horner said, "I think the Army may have broke me. I'm getting out on anxiety disorder but the doctors don't want to call it that."

Horner's friends said that during Horner's third trip overseas, he called to talk about flashbacks he was having from his first two tours. The friend said he knew the situation was bad when other soldiers in Iraq started calling him as well.

"A buddy of his that's a squad leader called me one time and said 'Your boy isn't doing too good over here.' They had to take his weapon a couple of times because he almost opened fire on what he thought was threats," the friend said.
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http://www.wjactv.com/news/19128187/detail.html

Previous Stories:
April 7, 2009: School Community Copes With Killing Of Student
April 7, 2009: Police Identify Altoona Shooting Suspect
April 7, 2009: Police Arrest Accused Gunman In Triple Shooting