March / April 2009
ANNUAL COMMITTEE REPORT:
Homeless Veterans
BY SANDY MILLER, CHAIR
HTF-1-07 Homeless Veterans as a “Special Needs Population”: To be continued. Nationally, 23-30 percent of the homeless population, or approximately 194,000, are veterans. While federal agencies acknowledge these statistics, they have yet to identify these veterans as a “special needs population.” They are due a fair share of the available federal dollars for programs and services funded in the United States.
Resolution HTF-1-07 urges the Presidential Interagency Council on Homelessness to recognize homeless veterans as a Special Needs Population. Further, we urge Congress to require all entities and agencies that receive or utilize federal program funding dollars to report statistics on the veterans they serve. Additionally, VVA supports legislation that would incorporate a fair-share dollar approach for the federal funding of homeless programs and services to specifically target homeless veterans.
HTF-4-07 Homeless Veteran HUD Transitional and Supportive Services Only Funding: To be retired.
HTF-5-07 Homeless Veteran HUD/VA Supportive Housing Funding: To be retired as fulfilled.
HTF-6-07 VA Homeless Grant and Per Diem Funding: To be continued. The VA HGPD Program is an effective tool in addressing veteran homelessness.
Resolution HTF-6-07 urges the VA HGPD Program to provide payment for services rather than the reimbursement for services it presently provides. Additionally, VVA supports and seeks legislation to establish Supportive Services Assistance Grants for VA HGPD Service Center Grant Awardees.
The committee is working on three new resolutions:
HUD Shelter Plus Care Housing Programs To Receive Supportive Service Dollars: The HUD Shelter Plus Care grants provide no funding for administrative or staffing support to provide the supportive services to veterans in Shelter Plus Care beds. HUD Supported Housing Program grants do provide for these services.
Support for Continued Funding and Oversight of the HUD/VASH Program: Continued funding for the existing HUD/VASH voucher program, as well as the proposed additional $75 million for 10,000 more vouchers, is key to ending homelessness among our nation’s veteran population. Oversight of the HUD/VASH program and its processes will be an invaluable tool in the continuance and expansion of this program.
Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program To Remain at the U.S. Department of Labor and Be Fully Funded at $50 Million: Job readiness training and reeducation are congressionally mandated functions and responsibilities of the Department of Labor.
The Homeless Veterans Committee: Sandy Miller, Chair; Marsha Four, Vice Chair; Jack Devine, Chair of Chairs. Members: Tom Berger, Pat Bessigano, Cheryl Beversdorf, Ed Chow, TP Hubert, and John Neuman. Also: Melvin Colston, Homeless Liaison; Kathleen Aylward-Barnes, Special Advisor; Suzanne Blohm-Weber, AVVA Liaison; and Jim Grissom, VSF Liaison. Staff Liaison: Sharon Hodge.
VVA.org Homeless Veterans
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Vietnam Wall replica comes to Apalachicola
Vietnam Wall replica comes to Apalachicola
By Josh Bennett • DEMOCRAT WRITER • April 29, 2009
A 300-person motorcade Tuesday escorted the traveling replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., into Veterans Memorial Plaza in Apalachicola.
The display is part of a four-day event Thursday through Sunday in memory of the 58,000 soldiers who never returned from the Vietnam War.
The plaza, which is home to the recently built "Three-Soldier Statue South" war memorial, will host a wide array of public events, including a memorial service on Saturday. Volunteers will read the names of all 58,000 deceased or missing soldiers.
"This unique event is the first of its kind ever," said Tom Brocato, a volunteer coordinator and Vietnam veteran. "No where outside of Washington, D.C., have these two memorials been in the same location."
More than 500 volunteers will lend a hand to make these four days a reality.
"The most important part of this event is to honor our veterans and educate the public about the many issues that they faced when coming back from Vietnam," said Dan Scheck, program director of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, an organization that focuses on Vietnam War veteran awareness. Soldiers back then weren't given the respect and honor that these soldiers get today."
go here for more
Vietnam Wall replica comes to Apalachicola
By Josh Bennett • DEMOCRAT WRITER • April 29, 2009
A 300-person motorcade Tuesday escorted the traveling replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., into Veterans Memorial Plaza in Apalachicola.
The display is part of a four-day event Thursday through Sunday in memory of the 58,000 soldiers who never returned from the Vietnam War.
The plaza, which is home to the recently built "Three-Soldier Statue South" war memorial, will host a wide array of public events, including a memorial service on Saturday. Volunteers will read the names of all 58,000 deceased or missing soldiers.
"This unique event is the first of its kind ever," said Tom Brocato, a volunteer coordinator and Vietnam veteran. "No where outside of Washington, D.C., have these two memorials been in the same location."
More than 500 volunteers will lend a hand to make these four days a reality.
"The most important part of this event is to honor our veterans and educate the public about the many issues that they faced when coming back from Vietnam," said Dan Scheck, program director of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, an organization that focuses on Vietnam War veteran awareness. Soldiers back then weren't given the respect and honor that these soldiers get today."
go here for more
Vietnam Wall replica comes to Apalachicola
Murder of Former Marine Sparks Anxiety Among the Homeless
The Dom in Orlando VA Hospital is one place taking care of veterans like Todd Hill. I've visited there a few times and each time as I looked at the "residents" all I could see was the fact they all were willing to risk their lives for this country, home of the brave, but ended up having to call a shelter home. Just doesn't seem right.
Back in Boston, the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans is an amazingly large building with several floors housing male and female veterans. The cafeteria is filled with veterans from all generations.
While I feel for all our homeless men, women and yes, we even have whole families homeless, it is the veterans tugging at my heart the most. I think of it as if we can't take care of the people willing to defend this nation, the odds of taking care of the civilians is not very good at all. There has got to be a better way.
Mental illness is a huge part of the homelessness in this country. There was a time when they were sent to secure hospitals until they were able to stand on their own two feet. While there were many problems with these hospitals, at least they had a place to live. When they were closed across the nation, it left them all out to fend for themselves, unable to be taken care of by their families or abandoned by them, they had no place to go. If you go to see the movie The Soloist, keep that in mind and remember there are homeless people in every state.
When it comes to homeless veterans, there are many reasons they are homeless. For most their plight can be directly linked to PTSD. They sought drugs and alcohol to kill off feelings they could no longer cope with. Some are alcoholics on top of having PTSD, which is a deadly mixture.
These men and women are viewed as heroes when they serve but when they need the nation, they are forgotten about simply because they survived war but could not survive coming home.
How is it that this nation cannot or will not take care of the "least among" us when we talk so much about being a "Christian nation" when it suits our desires but we never seem to live as if the vast majority of us are Christians, supposedly following the teachings of Christ?
Support your local veterans shelter and if you do not have a veterans shelter, support the homeless shelters for all of our countrymen. If you happen to be a veteran standing in judgment of the homeless remember that "There but for the grace of God go I."
Back in Boston, the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans is an amazingly large building with several floors housing male and female veterans. The cafeteria is filled with veterans from all generations.
While I feel for all our homeless men, women and yes, we even have whole families homeless, it is the veterans tugging at my heart the most. I think of it as if we can't take care of the people willing to defend this nation, the odds of taking care of the civilians is not very good at all. There has got to be a better way.
Mental illness is a huge part of the homelessness in this country. There was a time when they were sent to secure hospitals until they were able to stand on their own two feet. While there were many problems with these hospitals, at least they had a place to live. When they were closed across the nation, it left them all out to fend for themselves, unable to be taken care of by their families or abandoned by them, they had no place to go. If you go to see the movie The Soloist, keep that in mind and remember there are homeless people in every state.
When it comes to homeless veterans, there are many reasons they are homeless. For most their plight can be directly linked to PTSD. They sought drugs and alcohol to kill off feelings they could no longer cope with. Some are alcoholics on top of having PTSD, which is a deadly mixture.
These men and women are viewed as heroes when they serve but when they need the nation, they are forgotten about simply because they survived war but could not survive coming home.
How is it that this nation cannot or will not take care of the "least among" us when we talk so much about being a "Christian nation" when it suits our desires but we never seem to live as if the vast majority of us are Christians, supposedly following the teachings of Christ?
Support your local veterans shelter and if you do not have a veterans shelter, support the homeless shelters for all of our countrymen. If you happen to be a veteran standing in judgment of the homeless remember that "There but for the grace of God go I."
Murder of Former Marine Sparks Anxiety Among the Homeless
Posted on April 29, 2009 by assteditor
By ERICK GALINDO
MIAMI — Lured by sunshine and balmy seas, Todd Hill came to Miami from his native Oregon three years ago looking for a fresh start.
After battling homelessness for 10 years, Hill, 41, a decorated Marine who fought in the first Gulf War, found an apartment and a job as a security guard. But his newfound stability did not last. Eight months after receiving a promotion, he was back on the streets. And on Nov. 26, on the bench he had come to call home, he was beaten severely with a tire iron, and pronounced dead at the hospital.
Hill lived his last moments surrounded by junkies sleeping on used garbage bags, in the shadow of the condominiums he’d helped build as a homeless laborer.
“Todd didn’t deserve to die like that,” said former Marine Samuel Hall, 62, who lived on the streets with Hill. “It was just senseless. He was homeless, but he always was willing to help others out.”
Hill was one of two homeless veterans recently beaten to death here. Ernest Holman, 67, a Vietnam veteran, was killed two weeks after Hill. No arrests have been made in his death. Secrecy Singleton, 29, also homeless, was charged in Hill’s murder.
The killings have heightened concern among the more than 250 homeless veterans in Miami-Dade, representatives for the local Veteran Affairs office said, and prompted a demonstration by dozens of homeless veterans in downtown Miami on New Year’s Eve.
Charles Buford, founder of VetsUnited.org, which is dedicated to feeding and rehabilitating homeless veterans, led the protesters in their demand for more federal money for homeless programs and shelters. There are an estimated 200,000 homeless veterans around the country, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. At least 400 are new veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
go here for more
Murder of Former Marine Sparks Anxiety Among the Homeless
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Counselor who helped others is gunned down
Counselor who helped others is gunned down
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Marlon Mayorga was a social worker at UCSF who dedicated his life to counseling victims of violent crime and helping those who were struggling to kick drugs. The native of Nicaragua had insight into such problems, having gone through recovery years ago.
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Marlon Mayorga was a social worker at UCSF who dedicated his life to counseling victims of violent crime and helping those who were struggling to kick drugs. The native of Nicaragua had insight into such problems, having gone through recovery years ago.
"He was an absolutely amazing person. It's particularly devastating for us to have someone like Marlon, who was so good at working with victims of violence, become another casualty on the streets of Oakland," said Alicia Boccellari, director of the trauma recovery center at UCSF, where Mayorga worked for the past five months.
As part of the program, Mayorga went to San Francisco General Hospital to meet with victims of crimes such as sexual assault and domestic violence. "He poured his heart and soul into his work," Boccellari said.
go here for more
Counselor who helped others is gunned down
Soldier's letters give first-hand look at Spanish flu pandemic
Soldier's letters give first-hand look at Spanish flu pandemic
Story Highlights
U.S. soldier survived Spanish flu pandemic not once, but twice
1918 Spanish flu ravaged military camps where soldiers trained for WWI
Letter says camp put "under quarantine to prevent an epidemic of Spanish influenza"
Martin "Al" Culhane in letter told his brother to keep infection secret from rest of family
By Larry Shaughnessy
CNN Pentagon producer
Editor's note: With fears of a swine flu pandemic rising daily, CNN Pentagon producer Larry Shaughnessy remembered a batch of letters from his grandfather, a World War I soldier who battled the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- "I'm coming, I'm coming
For my head is bending low
I hear those gentle voices calling
Old Black Joe"
As World War I rages in Europe, fresh U.S. Army soldiers pass the time on a train ride to to Camp Forrest, Georgia. "The boys are just starting to sing," Martin Aloysius Culhane wrote on September 6, 1918, to his friend back home. "They've gotten back to 'Old Black Joe' so far."
Stephen Foster's classic song from the Civil War is about the death of slaves who had become his friends. But Culhane, known as "Al," and the soldiers who sang along could not know how much death would hunt the recruits on that train, most of whom never made it to Europe to fight in the Great War.
They would find themselves in the deadliest influenza pandemic in history.
Culhane's letters to his older brother Frank and his long-time "chum" Clif Pinter are a young soldier's firsthand account of life as a draftee private and how he coped with a disease that would haunt Army camps around the United States and eventually infect people around the world. Some estimates say as many as 50 million people were killed by what's called the Spanish influenza in 1918 and 1919, far more than the number killed in combat during the war.
Three weeks after the train trip to Georgia, Culhane, a 21-year-old clothing salesman from Chicago, Illinois, writes again. Already the flu occupies his thoughts.
go here for more
Soldier's letters give first-hand look at Spanish flu pandemic
Story Highlights
U.S. soldier survived Spanish flu pandemic not once, but twice
1918 Spanish flu ravaged military camps where soldiers trained for WWI
Letter says camp put "under quarantine to prevent an epidemic of Spanish influenza"
Martin "Al" Culhane in letter told his brother to keep infection secret from rest of family
By Larry Shaughnessy
CNN Pentagon producer
Editor's note: With fears of a swine flu pandemic rising daily, CNN Pentagon producer Larry Shaughnessy remembered a batch of letters from his grandfather, a World War I soldier who battled the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- "I'm coming, I'm coming
For my head is bending low
I hear those gentle voices calling
Old Black Joe"
As World War I rages in Europe, fresh U.S. Army soldiers pass the time on a train ride to to Camp Forrest, Georgia. "The boys are just starting to sing," Martin Aloysius Culhane wrote on September 6, 1918, to his friend back home. "They've gotten back to 'Old Black Joe' so far."
Stephen Foster's classic song from the Civil War is about the death of slaves who had become his friends. But Culhane, known as "Al," and the soldiers who sang along could not know how much death would hunt the recruits on that train, most of whom never made it to Europe to fight in the Great War.
They would find themselves in the deadliest influenza pandemic in history.
Culhane's letters to his older brother Frank and his long-time "chum" Clif Pinter are a young soldier's firsthand account of life as a draftee private and how he coped with a disease that would haunt Army camps around the United States and eventually infect people around the world. Some estimates say as many as 50 million people were killed by what's called the Spanish influenza in 1918 and 1919, far more than the number killed in combat during the war.
Three weeks after the train trip to Georgia, Culhane, a 21-year-old clothing salesman from Chicago, Illinois, writes again. Already the flu occupies his thoughts.
go here for more
Soldier's letters give first-hand look at Spanish flu pandemic
DoD issues new GI Bill family transfer rules
DoD issues new GI Bill family transfer rules
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Apr 29, 2009 17:23:07 EDT
Defense and service officials have settled on final rules that will allow career service members to share Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits with their immediate families beginning Aug. 1.
In general, service members — officer, warrant officer or enlisted personnel — must be on active duty Aug. 1 and must have completed a minimum of six years of service, with a commitment to serve four more, in order to share their new Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.
For most students, the benefits will cover full tuition and fees at any four-year public college or university at in-state tuition rates for undergraduate studies.
Defense officials expect to begin accepting requests to transfer benefits in June. But payments could not begin before Aug. 1, the start date of the new GI bill program.
Special rules have been approved for people who are eligible to retire before Aug. 1, 2012, or who have at least 10 years of service and are prevented by high-year tenure, mandatory retirement or other personnel rules or laws from completing the four years of additional service needed to earn transfer rights.
go here for more
DoD issues new GI Bill family transfer rules
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Apr 29, 2009 17:23:07 EDT
Defense and service officials have settled on final rules that will allow career service members to share Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits with their immediate families beginning Aug. 1.
In general, service members — officer, warrant officer or enlisted personnel — must be on active duty Aug. 1 and must have completed a minimum of six years of service, with a commitment to serve four more, in order to share their new Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.
For most students, the benefits will cover full tuition and fees at any four-year public college or university at in-state tuition rates for undergraduate studies.
Defense officials expect to begin accepting requests to transfer benefits in June. But payments could not begin before Aug. 1, the start date of the new GI bill program.
Special rules have been approved for people who are eligible to retire before Aug. 1, 2012, or who have at least 10 years of service and are prevented by high-year tenure, mandatory retirement or other personnel rules or laws from completing the four years of additional service needed to earn transfer rights.
go here for more
DoD issues new GI Bill family transfer rules
Florida Gator prefers Toyota and shakes things up at car lot
Visit by big alligator shakes up Pasco car lot
By Erin Sullivan, Times Staff Writer
NEW PORT RICHEY — Something moved in the shadows. Denise Anderson peered close and then froze. Next to the used Toyota Sequoia she planned to test drive was an alligator.
"I saw its eyes. Mouth. Its jaws. Its teeth," said Anderson, 33.
It measured 8 feet 7 inches.
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Visit by big alligator shakes up Pasco car lot
By Erin Sullivan, Times Staff Writer
An alligator measuring 8 feet 7 inches is corralled by a trapper at Sun Toyota on Tuesday. “I was shaking,” said Denise Anderson, the first person to see the gator. Courtesy of Michael Chaparro
NEW PORT RICHEY — Something moved in the shadows. Denise Anderson peered close and then froze. Next to the used Toyota Sequoia she planned to test drive was an alligator.
"I saw its eyes. Mouth. Its jaws. Its teeth," said Anderson, 33.
It measured 8 feet 7 inches.
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Visit by big alligator shakes up Pasco car lot
National Convention for Veterans
You are cordially invited to attend and participate in the National Convention for Veterans to be conducted in the distinguished Reserve Officers' National Headquarters, a block from the US Capital in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, May 13th & Thursday, May 14th.
The Convention will advance a comprehensive veterans' platform and raise the priority for veterans in our nations' agenda. The two day program will feature the following:
* National Veterans' Leaders from Around the Country
* Leading Members of the United States Congress
* Highly Credentialed and Outspoken Speakers & Panel Members on the Subjects Veterans' Advocacy, National Defense and Budgetary/Spending Reform
* Continuous Media Opportunities with Nation & Regional Outlet's, Especially Live National Talk Radio
Complimentary morning and afternoon passes each day are issued until the hall is booked up. Complimentary tickets for Veterans' Leaders Luncheon on Wednesday May 13th, Congressional Leaders' Luncheon on Thursday May 14th and cocktail receptions are available to those with personal and institutional standing in support of American Veterans, a fiscally sound budgeted economy and a strong national defense.
Confirmation numbers for all tickets will be issued until all events are filled.
To RSVP to This Event Click Here:
http://vetsvision.org/registration.html
The Convention will advance a comprehensive veterans' platform and raise the priority for veterans in our nations' agenda. The two day program will feature the following:
* National Veterans' Leaders from Around the Country
* Leading Members of the United States Congress
* Highly Credentialed and Outspoken Speakers & Panel Members on the Subjects Veterans' Advocacy, National Defense and Budgetary/Spending Reform
* Continuous Media Opportunities with Nation & Regional Outlet's, Especially Live National Talk Radio
Complimentary morning and afternoon passes each day are issued until the hall is booked up. Complimentary tickets for Veterans' Leaders Luncheon on Wednesday May 13th, Congressional Leaders' Luncheon on Thursday May 14th and cocktail receptions are available to those with personal and institutional standing in support of American Veterans, a fiscally sound budgeted economy and a strong national defense.
Confirmation numbers for all tickets will be issued until all events are filled.
To RSVP to This Event Click Here:
http://vetsvision.org/registration.html
Having problems registering online? Contact us at (800) 528-5385 and we will register you personally.
For More Information Regarding the Circle of Friends for American Veterans Visit Our Website at www.vetsvision.org.
Our nation is as strong as the core. Veterans are the core. We take care of the veterans and we take care of the core. My God Bless American Veterans and Continue to Bless Our Great Country.
Children exposed to violence have PTSD symptoms
If you happen to be among the few in this country saying too much money is spent on PTSD research and treating our soldiers and veterans, consider this. Whatever the government spends on trying to get a grip on PTSD is a benefit to the entire country. PTSD is real and it comes after traumatic events striking humans. The troops, veterans, police officers, firefighters, emergency responders, families living with all of the people wounded by PTSD and regular civilians. Now read this about children exposed to traumatic events and understand there should never be a limit on what the government spends until we find the best way to treat this. The spending however should never include doing studies they have repeated over and over and over again over the last 30 years. In that case, it's just wasted time and money when it could be used on finding something new.
Children exposed to violence have PTSD symptoms
Wed Apr 29, 2009
By Joene Hendry
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Among children showing high levels of stress in reaction to exposure to community violence, researchers found stress hormone responses similar to children diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms include attention or sleep problems, intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, and other symptoms of psychological distress.
In previous research in children, Dr. Shakira Franco Suglia, at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, identified a disruption of the stress hormone, cortisol, among those with PTSD. Suglia and colleagues have now found "similar effects among children living in urban communities who have not been diagnosed with PTSD," Suglia told Reuters Health.
The study involved 28 girls and 15 boys, 7 to 13 years old. Forty-six percent were Hispanic, 54 percent were white. Forty-two percent of the children had mothers with less than a high-school education, Suglia and colleagues report in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine.
The researchers assessed mothers' reports of their children's exposures to hearing gunshots or witnessing other forms of community violence, and mother's and children's reports of symptoms typical of PTSD.
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Children exposed to violence have PTSD symptoms
Queen Latifah daughter of Vietnam Vet with PTSD
April 29th, 2009
Queen Latifah reveals experience with PTSD
Queen Latifah’s special appearance on Seasame Street.
"My father actually suffered from PTSD. He was a veteran of Vietnam and I know he’s helped a lot of his friends from Vietnam and from other wars to try to get treatment and get help… it was very challenging for us as a family, so I can kind of relate to what the kids have gone through because it can challenge your relationships… [My father] just really explained that he saw a lot very difficult things that were hard to deal with and it was hard for him to deal with them emotionally and psychologically. I started to understand it. Luckily he sought treatment…and it really made a big difference because it helped him to recognize what was going on."
go here for more
http://www.hvpress.net/news/122/ARTICLE/6801/2009-04-29.html
Queen Latifah reveals experience with PTSD
Queen Latifah’s special appearance on Seasame Street.
"My father actually suffered from PTSD. He was a veteran of Vietnam and I know he’s helped a lot of his friends from Vietnam and from other wars to try to get treatment and get help… it was very challenging for us as a family, so I can kind of relate to what the kids have gone through because it can challenge your relationships… [My father] just really explained that he saw a lot very difficult things that were hard to deal with and it was hard for him to deal with them emotionally and psychologically. I started to understand it. Luckily he sought treatment…and it really made a big difference because it helped him to recognize what was going on."
go here for more
http://www.hvpress.net/news/122/ARTICLE/6801/2009-04-29.html
'Furious' Obama orders review of NY plane flyover
I didn't jump on this story when it happened simply because I, like everyone else, did not know exactly what happened or where to direct my anger. Now we know. Louis Caldera made a terrible mistake and I'm sure he feels bad about it, but I think he should resign over this. Make no mistake about this. He caused more trauma than he ever could have imagined if he bothered to think at all. The horrors of 9-11 will never go away and it wasn't just the people in New York that day suffering from the trauma caused by the attacks. It was people across the entire nation, especially combat veterans having PTSD escalate. Wasn't he advised to not do this? Didn't anyone in the military tell him how harmful this would be? Anyone in the position Caldera has needs to be fully aware of what they are doing and the ramifications of his actions. We just had 8 years of no one being held accountable for anything and keeping Caldera on the job after this is not a good way to change the way this country behaves. Caldera said he "approved the mission" but we also need to know who started it in the first place and hold them accountable as well.
'Furious' Obama orders review of NY plane flyover
Story Highlights
NEW: 911 call: "There's a plane falling, there is a big aircraft falling like 9-11"
Sen. John McCain "profoundly disturbed," requests investigation
Air Force source: Planned photo shoot over D.C. monuments cancelled
YouTube video shows New Yorkers scrambling as plane screams overhead
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A "furious" President Obama has ordered a review of the decision to fly a Boeing 747 frighteningly close to the lower Manhattan skyline, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday.Louis Caldera, director of the White House Military Office, quickly apologized for Monday's incident after the planes prompted workers and residents to evacuate buildings in New York and New Jersey. Watch Townsend slam Caldera »
"Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision," Caldera said. "While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it's clear that the mission created confusion and disruption."
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/28/low.flying.plane/index.html
Konami Corp pulls Fallujah video game!
Score one for respect! War is not a game and turning Fallujah into one is the biggest insult to the service of the troops and lives lost.
Company pulls plug on 'Fallujah' war video game
By BARBARA ORTUTAY
AP Technology Writer
The publisher behind a video game based on one of the Iraq war's fiercest battles has pulled the plug on the title, called "Six Days in Fallujah."
A spokeswoman for Japanese game company Konami Corp. confirmed Tuesday the company is no longer publishing the game, which was set to go on sale early next year.
The game, which was still in development, sought to re-create the November 2004 Fallujah battle from the perspective of a U.S. Marine fighting against insurgents. Fallujah had been an insurgent holdout until U.S. forces stormed it in one of the war's most intense ground battles.
"Six Days" was developed by another company, Atomic Games, with input from more than three dozen Marines. Before deciding not to publish the game, Konami had advertised it as a realistic shooting game "unlike any other," combining "authentic weaponry, missions and combat set against the gripping story of the U.S. Marines on the ground."
But the game was criticized by some veterans, victims' families and others who called it inappropriate.
go here for more
http://www.kansascity.com/811/story/1167553.html
Marine found dead in barracks ID'd as Miramar mechanic
Marine found dead in barracks ID'd as Miramar mechanic
UNION-TRIBUNE
6:49 p.m. April 28, 2009
MIRAMAR – A Marine who was found dead Thursday in his barracks at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station has been identified as Pvt. Jeffrey D. Ghen.
Ghen was a native of Fairfax Station, Va., and enlisted in the Marine Corps in August 2006, a Marine Corps spokesman said. He had been working as a mechanic with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing on the base.
His decorations include a National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, NATO Medal and a Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.
The Marine Corps said the cause of death was still being investigated.
Mark Arner: (619) 542-4556; mailto:mark.arner@uniontrib.com
Veterans study legacy of Iowa in Vietnam War
Veterans study legacy of Iowa in Vietnam War
By DANIEL P. FINNEY • dafinney@dmreg.com • April 29, 2009
The topic was the Vietnam War, but there were few war stories.
More than 50 people gathered in a Drake University classroom for the first of a five-part course on Iowa's legacy in the divisive Southeast Asian conflict during which nearly 59,000 U.S. soldiers died.
Yet the mood was less lecture and more reunion bonding - a long-awaited, sometimes emotional coming-together of old soldiers from all wars, each with a yearning to understand their collective service experiences.
By DANIEL P. FINNEY • dafinney@dmreg.com • April 29, 2009
The topic was the Vietnam War, but there were few war stories.
More than 50 people gathered in a Drake University classroom for the first of a five-part course on Iowa's legacy in the divisive Southeast Asian conflict during which nearly 59,000 U.S. soldiers died.
Yet the mood was less lecture and more reunion bonding - a long-awaited, sometimes emotional coming-together of old soldiers from all wars, each with a yearning to understand their collective service experiences.
"You know what veterans love most about war?" Moon said. "Other veterans." go here for more Veterans study legacy of Iowa in Vietnam War
Command Sgt. Maj. Benjamin Moore Jr. known for wisdom
Schofield soldier known for wisdom
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
Command Sgt. Maj. Benjamin Moore Jr. was the senior enlisted man in his battalion in Iraq, and he was the "lifeline" of his large family back in Georgia, his sister said.
Moore, 43, an Army veteran of 26 years with service in South Korea, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq, died Friday at Contingency Operating Base Speicher in northern Iraq of non combat related injuries, the Army said.
With Moore's death, three Schofield Barracks soldiers with the 3rd Brigade have died from non combat causes since the 3,500-soldier unit deployed in October and November. Three other soldiers with the brigade have died in combat.
Moore was the "baby" of the family of 10 sisters and five brothers, said one of those sisters, Teresa Brakes.
"He's the glue that held the family together when we used to go through crises and stuff," said Brakes, who lives in Waycross, Ga. "He was the one that we went to and he would sit down and put it to us in a way we could understand, and just give us good advice. And the advice that he gave us, it was usually the right thing to do."
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
Command Sgt. Maj. Benjamin Moore Jr. was the senior enlisted man in his battalion in Iraq, and he was the "lifeline" of his large family back in Georgia, his sister said.
Moore, 43, an Army veteran of 26 years with service in South Korea, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq, died Friday at Contingency Operating Base Speicher in northern Iraq of non combat related injuries, the Army said.
With Moore's death, three Schofield Barracks soldiers with the 3rd Brigade have died from non combat causes since the 3,500-soldier unit deployed in October and November. Three other soldiers with the brigade have died in combat.
Moore was the "baby" of the family of 10 sisters and five brothers, said one of those sisters, Teresa Brakes.
"He's the glue that held the family together when we used to go through crises and stuff," said Brakes, who lives in Waycross, Ga. "He was the one that we went to and he would sit down and put it to us in a way we could understand, and just give us good advice. And the advice that he gave us, it was usually the right thing to do."
He had served in Operations Desert Storm in 1991, she said. Moore earned 55 medals over his 26-year career, including a Bronze Star with Valor, the Army said.
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Schofield soldier known for wisdom
100 Days On Veterans: A Reason To Hope
In 1982 I met a Vietnam Veteran and my life changed. Totally unaware of what the Vietnam War was all about, without a clue what PTSD was, I managed somehow to fully research it so that I could help veterans like my husband and their families. Keep in my at the time Jack was in Vietnam, I was only 11. This has been my mission and my ministry ever since. I've researched it and tracked it as if my life depended on. So now you know where what I am about to write comes from, aside from my heart.
When President Obama was running for the office, as a US Senator, he was on the Veteran's Affairs Committee. He was on that committee when most of the monumental changes and improvements were made to make lives better for our veterans. That gave me some hope. I was still on the fence about how serious he was until he made a stunning judgment.
There are hundreds of programs across the country to address PTSD and suicides. One of the best ones has been what the Montana National Guard came out with. They developed this program after the suicide of Spc. Chris Dana. With all the programs Obama could have picked to support, he picked this program. To me, that was the most telling moment in what he would do as President. Keep in mind that I've researched all of this since 1982, so for me to come across this program was nothing odd, but for a man with so many other things on his mind and issues to face to zone in on this showed he was fully invested in our veterans. It showed he did not just care with words, but serious attention and action. President Obama did this quietly and that sense of seriousness along with compassion touched my heart to the point where I had hope again. I still do.
Were there mistakes made by his advisers? Sure but they all make mistakes but the important thing is what the intent is. The intent is to once and for all prove the slogan "grateful nation" is true in this country and with him leading the way, we may just catch up to what other nations are doing for their veterans and then lead the way once more.
If you hear a veteran slam Obama for anything over the first 100 days, ask them where they were all these years when the veterans were betrayed and used. Ask them where their anger was when the VA was cut under President Bush or when there were less doctors and nurses working for the VA with two active military campaigns than there were after the Gulf War. Ask them where they were when Secretary Nicholson was returning funds at the same time veterans were coming back from Iraq and committing suicide because they could not get the care they needed from the VA. The list of things they ignored for political reasons caused so much damage to the veterans suffering and fighting for care, they cannot be forgiven for remaining silent. When it comes to our veterans, politics should never, ever come first. They should since they put the nation first everyday. They are Democrats, Republicans, Independents, all serving side by side. They come from red states and blue states. They come from cities and towns across the nation and they do not serve just one party with their lives, but the entire nation including the people they do not agree with. As a nation we need to all come together and support the veterans with whatever they need because they earned it!
100 Days On Veterans: A Reason To Hope
Jon Soltz
Co-Founder of VoteVets.org, served as a Captain in Operation Iraqi Freedom
Posted April 29, 2009 09:01 AM (EST)
There's only so much a President can do in 100 days, and we don't know what a President will do in the remaining 4-years-minus-100 days, so it is hard to say a whether a President has been a success or failure. However, when looking at the needs of veterans at the end of the Bush administration, and whether those needs have been fulfilled, it's tough to say that President Obama's first 100 days haven't been incredibly encouraging.
When it comes to veterans care, most issues fell under three categories as the President took office - funding, confusion, and lack of access. In all three areas, while there's a ton to still do, there's been dramatic improvement in the first 100 days.
FUNDING OF VETERANS CARE
This area, above all, is the shame of the Bush administration. The Department of Veterans Affairs was consistently underfunded by the Bush Administration. The low-point came when then-Secretary Jim Nicholson had to come groveling to Congress for more than a billion dollars in emergency funding, admitting that the administration had not prepared for the boom in returning veterans in need of care, as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The underfunding had dramatic consequences across the board - from research and treatment into Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to the shameful commonplace practice of veterans having to duct tape their prosthetic limbs, because the VA couldn't get them decent ones.
President Obama's budget for the VA errs on the side of caution - funding the department over the amount determined adequate by the Independent Budget (the budget offered by the nation's Veterans Service Organizations), and increases funding by $25 billion over the next five years.
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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
VA advance funding one step closer to reality
VA advance funding one step closer to reality
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Apr 28, 2009 17:41:35 EDT
There is good news for military and veterans’ organizations in the 2010 budget agreement reached Monday night by House and Senate negotiators.
The budget, which includes $606 billion for the Defense Department and $106.5 billion for the Veterans Affairs Department next year, also creates a window of opportunity for passage of some high-priority issues this year.
For example, the agreement opens the door for the top priority of veterans’ organizations, providing money for veterans’ health care one year in advance. The key language, in this case, is a provision preventing a point of order being raised against legislation to provide a 2011 VA health funding bill this year.
Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawaii, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman and a sponsor of advanced appropriations legislation, said the provision “brings us closer to our goal of providing on-time funding for veterans’ health care, allowing VA to plan ahead and make better use of taxpayer money.”
Raymond Dempsey, national commander of Disabled American Veterans, called the budget “good news for our nation’s veterans.”
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VA advance funding one step closer to reality
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Apr 28, 2009 17:41:35 EDT
There is good news for military and veterans’ organizations in the 2010 budget agreement reached Monday night by House and Senate negotiators.
The budget, which includes $606 billion for the Defense Department and $106.5 billion for the Veterans Affairs Department next year, also creates a window of opportunity for passage of some high-priority issues this year.
For example, the agreement opens the door for the top priority of veterans’ organizations, providing money for veterans’ health care one year in advance. The key language, in this case, is a provision preventing a point of order being raised against legislation to provide a 2011 VA health funding bill this year.
Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawaii, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman and a sponsor of advanced appropriations legislation, said the provision “brings us closer to our goal of providing on-time funding for veterans’ health care, allowing VA to plan ahead and make better use of taxpayer money.”
Raymond Dempsey, national commander of Disabled American Veterans, called the budget “good news for our nation’s veterans.”
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VA advance funding one step closer to reality
Nine burn-pit lawsuits filed against KBR
Nine burn-pit lawsuits filed against KBR
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Apr 28, 2009 17:25:00 EDT
Lawyers filed seven class-action lawsuits in seven states on behalf of service members and civilians who say they were sickened by the open-air burn pits on U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The lawsuits, including a wrongful death suit, were filed against contractor KBR Inc., as well as its parent company, Halliburton, after a Military Times story that ran last October showed that the burn pit at Joint Base Balad, the biggest U.S. base in Iraq, burned everything from petroleum products to dioxin-releasing plastic water bottles to amputated limbs.
Two more lawsuits are expected to be filed Wednesday
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Nine burn-pit lawsuits filed against KBR/
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Apr 28, 2009 17:25:00 EDT
Lawyers filed seven class-action lawsuits in seven states on behalf of service members and civilians who say they were sickened by the open-air burn pits on U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The lawsuits, including a wrongful death suit, were filed against contractor KBR Inc., as well as its parent company, Halliburton, after a Military Times story that ran last October showed that the burn pit at Joint Base Balad, the biggest U.S. base in Iraq, burned everything from petroleum products to dioxin-releasing plastic water bottles to amputated limbs.
Two more lawsuits are expected to be filed Wednesday
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Nine burn-pit lawsuits filed against KBR/
The Soloist, a lesson in fixing ourselves
There were times tonight as I watched this movie, I had tears. The plight of Fox's character and the need of Downey's character to "fix" Fox, was what got to me the most. The scenes of homeless people in LA made me think that among many of the homeless, there are veterans, much like my husband. While he only came close to becoming homeless during his darkest days, we managed somehow to stay together. Most of that came from understanding what PTSD was and the Grace of God changing my mind every time I wanted to walk away.
I kept remembering when I thought I could "fix" my husband. If I were loving enough, calm enough, strong enough, smart enough, if I were enough at all for him, he would be the way I wanted him to be instead of the way he was. When I faced the truth that I could only "fix" myself, then I was happier and so was he.
I learned to live my life by myself, doing what made me happy and what I enjoyed to do, with him or without him, without holding any resentment toward him for not being able to go with me. I learned to stop wanting what I could not have but to tell the truth, it still hurt to have to walk away from conversations when other people were complaining about such trivial matters in their own lives when I was living with PTSD. Over time, knowing my marriage would be the way it is was a choice I made to stay and I stopped blaming others unable to stay in their own marriages.
That was the lesson of this movie. I highly recommend anyone living with someone with a mental illness or PTSD to go and see this movie. It's heartwarming and transforming. It shows a side of life few others really see with their hearts. While this is a movie about schizophrenia, there are many parts of it that can apply to living with PTSD as well. What we want to give to others is sometimes not what they need from us. Sometimes it comes down to just caring about them that matters the most of all.
I kept remembering when I thought I could "fix" my husband. If I were loving enough, calm enough, strong enough, smart enough, if I were enough at all for him, he would be the way I wanted him to be instead of the way he was. When I faced the truth that I could only "fix" myself, then I was happier and so was he.
I learned to live my life by myself, doing what made me happy and what I enjoyed to do, with him or without him, without holding any resentment toward him for not being able to go with me. I learned to stop wanting what I could not have but to tell the truth, it still hurt to have to walk away from conversations when other people were complaining about such trivial matters in their own lives when I was living with PTSD. Over time, knowing my marriage would be the way it is was a choice I made to stay and I stopped blaming others unable to stay in their own marriages.
That was the lesson of this movie. I highly recommend anyone living with someone with a mental illness or PTSD to go and see this movie. It's heartwarming and transforming. It shows a side of life few others really see with their hearts. While this is a movie about schizophrenia, there are many parts of it that can apply to living with PTSD as well. What we want to give to others is sometimes not what they need from us. Sometimes it comes down to just caring about them that matters the most of all.
The Soloist, starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.
Synopsis
Academy Award-nominated Atonement director Joe Wright teams with screenwriter Susannah Grant to tell the true life story of Nathaniel Ayers, a former violin prodigy whose bouts with schizophrenia landed him on the streets after two years of schooling at Juilliard. Steve Lopez (Robert Downey, Jr.) is a disenchanted journalist stuck in a dead-end job. His marriage to a fellow journalist having recently come to an end, Steve is wandering through Los Angeles' Skid Row when he notices a bedraggled figure playing a two-stringed violin. The figure in question is Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a man whose promising career in music was cut short due to a debilitating bout with mental illness. The more Lopez learns about Ayers, the greater his respect grows for the troubled soul. How could a man with such remarkable talent wind up living on the streets, and not be performing on stage with a symphony orchestra? Later, as Lopez embarks on a quixotic quest to help Ayers pull his life together and launch a career in music, he gradually comes to realize that it is not Ayers whose life is being transformed, but his own. - Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-soloist/30936/synopsis?flv=1
Minnesota House should be ashamed cutting veterans funds
Is this why so many Republicans think the Democratic party does not support veterans? While the vast majority of Democrats really support veterans, the Minnesota House Democrats have decided that it's a good idea to cut back on funding for veterans in a time when there are reports across the nation screaming how much help they need to heal from the wounds they received in service to this nation. Are they out of their minds?
I said a long time ago that when it comes to the troops and our veterans, political party should be secondary. This is why when a Republican does something right, I fully support them no matter what party they belong to and when Democratic Party members get it wrong, I fully slam them. This is one of the worst times to cut back on veterans because their needs have been growing and will keep growing with two active military campaigns going on and finally an awareness reaching older veterans about what has been wrong with them when it comes to PTSD. What good does it do to make them aware of what can be done for them and what caused their agony when their own state does not think they are worthy of funding?
I said a long time ago that when it comes to the troops and our veterans, political party should be secondary. This is why when a Republican does something right, I fully support them no matter what party they belong to and when Democratic Party members get it wrong, I fully slam them. This is one of the worst times to cut back on veterans because their needs have been growing and will keep growing with two active military campaigns going on and finally an awareness reaching older veterans about what has been wrong with them when it comes to PTSD. What good does it do to make them aware of what can be done for them and what caused their agony when their own state does not think they are worthy of funding?
Letter: Hamilton disappointed in House Democrats
On a party-line vote, the Minnesota House of Representatives has approved a finance proposal that reduces funding for agriculture, veterans, and military needs across the state. All House Republicans opposed the measure because it does not fairly fund veterans, military affairs and farm programs.
By: Dist. 22B Rep. Rod Hamilton, R-Mountain Lake, Worthington Daily Globe
On a party-line vote, the Minnesota House of Representatives has approved a finance proposal that reduces funding for agriculture, veterans, and military needs across the state. All House Republicans opposed the measure because it does not fairly fund veterans, military affairs and farm programs.
As Vice-Chair of the committee that approved the bill, I am outraged by the priorities set by House Democrats in this budget-setting process.
The House majority gave this committee a funding target that was ridiculously low, and our veterans and our farmers will suffer because of it. Instead of refusing to take a stand against funding dog parks and practice hockey arenas, the majority forced farm programs to be gutted in order to increase funding for our veterans.
Special needs requests from suffering veterans across the state are increasing at an alarming rate. So far in 2009, the Department of Veterans Affairs has already spent 15 percent more on medical requests than at this point in 2008. Special needs applications for veterans have also increased by 25 percent, which is why additional funding is needed in this area.
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http://www.dglobe.com/event/article/id/21729/
Scientists find genetic variations linked to autism
Autism research: Scientists find genetic variations linked to autism
By Trine Tsouderos Tribune staff reporter
12:00 PM CDT, April 28, 2009
Researchers have found that many people with autism share common genetic variations, a discovery that may improve diagnosis and offers the promise of developing treatments for the frustratingly mysterious disorder.
Their findings, published in the journal Nature, compared the genomes of thousands of autistic people to those of thousands of people without the disorder--a massive task that new technology has only recently made possible. The genome is the complex system of DNA coding that builds and runs the human body.
The review showed that most autistic people have a genetic variation in a portion of their DNA that affects the way brain cells connect with one another. Scientists also reported a link between autism and small "mistakes" in another DNA segment involved with cell communication.
Both reports add weight to the idea that autism is related to problems with the way brain cells connect.
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Scientists find genetic variations linked to autism
By Trine Tsouderos Tribune staff reporter
12:00 PM CDT, April 28, 2009
Researchers have found that many people with autism share common genetic variations, a discovery that may improve diagnosis and offers the promise of developing treatments for the frustratingly mysterious disorder.
Their findings, published in the journal Nature, compared the genomes of thousands of autistic people to those of thousands of people without the disorder--a massive task that new technology has only recently made possible. The genome is the complex system of DNA coding that builds and runs the human body.
The review showed that most autistic people have a genetic variation in a portion of their DNA that affects the way brain cells connect with one another. Scientists also reported a link between autism and small "mistakes" in another DNA segment involved with cell communication.
Both reports add weight to the idea that autism is related to problems with the way brain cells connect.
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Scientists find genetic variations linked to autism
Young adults are most likely to switch churches or stop going
Churches need to figure out what is Christ's message to the world and start living up to it and maybe, just maybe, people will return to a time when they wanted to go to church. Too many people standing up in front of the congregations have no clue what Christ taught and it doesn't matter if they are called Father, Reverend, or Pastor. They say one thing, preach from the same Bible but then what Christ said is all but forgotten as soon as they start their sermon.
For many of us, faith is in flux
Young adults are most likely to switch churches -- or stop going, study finds
Jeff Kunerth Sentinel Staff Writer
April 28, 2009
A member of the Holy Family Catholic Church congregation sits by a stained-glass window. ( GARY W. GREEN, ORLANDO SENTINEL / February 25, 2009)
About half of all American adults have changed religious affiliation, most often because they felt spiritually unfulfilled or found a church they liked better, according to a study released Monday.
Young adults are most likely to switch churches or stop going to church altogether. Those who leave the religion of their childhood are most likely to do so before they reach age 24, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey.
The religious "churn" suggests that many Americans, even those who don't attend church, are constantly looking for religious fulfillment, said John Green, a researcher on "Faith in Flux: Changes in Religious Affiliation in the U.S."
"There is a real demand side of the religious marketplace that complements the supply side. There are people who are ready, willing and able to change faiths if they find one that appeals to them," Green said.
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For many of us, faith is in flux
Suicide death of friend leads journalist to understand PTSD
We must help our returning warriors
By Scott Krahling
For the Sun-News
Posted: 04/28/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
My friend Kyle was a colleague at work and a neighbor, as well. For over a year, I considered him one of my closest friends, and the time I spent with him helped me realize many things. His death — by suicide — helped me realize many more.
Unlike Kyle, I am not a veteran of military service. Even so, I always assumed I understood veterans' issues and that I could empathize with their experiences by extrapolating from my own. I was wrong.
Nothing I have done in my life could have helped me understand how being in battle changed Kyle emotionally and psychologically. After his death, I delved further into the topic of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I wanted to know what killed a man who survived service in the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division.
Part of my research led me to the Las Cruces Vet Center, where Guy McCommon and his staff work daily with warriors who have served our country and have come back changed by the experience. Changed by the reality of killing. Changed by the reality of being hunted. Changed by the memories of blood, bone and bodies — men, women and children. Changed by ghosts. Changed by nightmares that we who have not been to war cannot imagine.
Kyle tried his best to come back home and fit in, but his personal universe was so manifestly altered by his experiences that what we call "society" was chimera to him. He knew how thin the veil of civilization is, and he knew the savagery of which humans are capable toward one another. There was no going back. There was only slogging forward, trying to adapt alone to a new reality that even his closest friends could not grasp. Empathy is an empty word for a warrior amid civilians.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It sounds clinical and clean to those of us who are uninitiated. This is not the stress of a job lost or even the funeral for a friend.
It is a messy, complicated, jagged and relentless reality for those who experience traumatic events in war or in life. It is shards of glass on the nerves. It is live electricity against bare flesh. It is savage enough to drive a good man to a silent, peaceful grave.
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http://www.scsun-news.com/ci_12239846
By Scott Krahling
For the Sun-News
Posted: 04/28/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
My friend Kyle was a colleague at work and a neighbor, as well. For over a year, I considered him one of my closest friends, and the time I spent with him helped me realize many things. His death — by suicide — helped me realize many more.
Unlike Kyle, I am not a veteran of military service. Even so, I always assumed I understood veterans' issues and that I could empathize with their experiences by extrapolating from my own. I was wrong.
Nothing I have done in my life could have helped me understand how being in battle changed Kyle emotionally and psychologically. After his death, I delved further into the topic of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I wanted to know what killed a man who survived service in the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division.
Part of my research led me to the Las Cruces Vet Center, where Guy McCommon and his staff work daily with warriors who have served our country and have come back changed by the experience. Changed by the reality of killing. Changed by the reality of being hunted. Changed by the memories of blood, bone and bodies — men, women and children. Changed by ghosts. Changed by nightmares that we who have not been to war cannot imagine.
Kyle tried his best to come back home and fit in, but his personal universe was so manifestly altered by his experiences that what we call "society" was chimera to him. He knew how thin the veil of civilization is, and he knew the savagery of which humans are capable toward one another. There was no going back. There was only slogging forward, trying to adapt alone to a new reality that even his closest friends could not grasp. Empathy is an empty word for a warrior amid civilians.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It sounds clinical and clean to those of us who are uninitiated. This is not the stress of a job lost or even the funeral for a friend.
It is a messy, complicated, jagged and relentless reality for those who experience traumatic events in war or in life. It is shards of glass on the nerves. It is live electricity against bare flesh. It is savage enough to drive a good man to a silent, peaceful grave.
go here for more
http://www.scsun-news.com/ci_12239846
CT: Fresh Strategies Recommended for PTSD
"That guy has shell shock!" Those were the words my father used when I asked him what he thought about Jack. My father was a disabled Korean veteran. Back then I was just learning about PTSD and while research had been going on since the 70's, in 1982 there was not that much known. I had no idea PTSD in my husband would get worse. I thought it was as bad as it could get and we tried to just deal with it. Back then we had plenty of excuses because addressing it was all knew. The wound itself was as ancient as mankind but all generations before never did anything about it. It was because of Vietnam veterans coming back and forcing the nation to treat it, acknowledge it as a service connected disability and take care of all generations wounded by it.
People like me have lived with it for over 30 years, researched it, learned about it and decided that with our expertise others could benefit by our own heartache. The problem is, no one would listen. Being "alone" with no one understanding what PTSD was lead to well meaning people offering one piece of advice, "Walk away and get on with your own life." when it came to my marriage. They couldn't understand anyone causing that much pain to someone else. My view was that had it been cancer instead of PTSD, I doubt they would have given the same advice. There was an awareness of what cancer was and most people understood the changes in a patient facing a deadly illness. What they didn't understand was that PTSD was a deadly wound leaving the veterans dying a very slow death.
Too many years have passed by and very little has been done on educating people about PTSD. This is what I've been trying to do since 1982 because I knew it had to be done. Not just for the veterans and their families to understand it, but to give them the tools they needed to live with it and find their own kind of "normal" living with it. This is not all bad as long as you know where it all comes from. As a matter of fact, there are parts of PTSD that can be quiet amusing instead of causing anger when there is awareness of where it is coming from.
My heartache comes from the fact all these years of experience I and other spouses have is all there for the newest generation to learn from, well within their reach so they can learn from us as easily as possible but they are not asking. They lack the basic knowledge to even know what to ask for. As communities around the nation face a tsunami of wounded veterans needing help and support, they are also reluctant to even begin to face it leaving veterans and their families to suffer needlessly in isolation while they scream for help.
The other issue is that mental health professionals able to treat the veterans will not listen either. While they have experience in addressing it from a professional standpoint, they do not know what it is like to live with it and we have great insight on what they can never see.
What Connecticut is doing with this is a good step in the right direction and is desperately needed.
People like me have lived with it for over 30 years, researched it, learned about it and decided that with our expertise others could benefit by our own heartache. The problem is, no one would listen. Being "alone" with no one understanding what PTSD was lead to well meaning people offering one piece of advice, "Walk away and get on with your own life." when it came to my marriage. They couldn't understand anyone causing that much pain to someone else. My view was that had it been cancer instead of PTSD, I doubt they would have given the same advice. There was an awareness of what cancer was and most people understood the changes in a patient facing a deadly illness. What they didn't understand was that PTSD was a deadly wound leaving the veterans dying a very slow death.
Too many years have passed by and very little has been done on educating people about PTSD. This is what I've been trying to do since 1982 because I knew it had to be done. Not just for the veterans and their families to understand it, but to give them the tools they needed to live with it and find their own kind of "normal" living with it. This is not all bad as long as you know where it all comes from. As a matter of fact, there are parts of PTSD that can be quiet amusing instead of causing anger when there is awareness of where it is coming from.
My heartache comes from the fact all these years of experience I and other spouses have is all there for the newest generation to learn from, well within their reach so they can learn from us as easily as possible but they are not asking. They lack the basic knowledge to even know what to ask for. As communities around the nation face a tsunami of wounded veterans needing help and support, they are also reluctant to even begin to face it leaving veterans and their families to suffer needlessly in isolation while they scream for help.
The other issue is that mental health professionals able to treat the veterans will not listen either. While they have experience in addressing it from a professional standpoint, they do not know what it is like to live with it and we have great insight on what they can never see.
What Connecticut is doing with this is a good step in the right direction and is desperately needed.
New Research Identifies PTSD, Other Problems for Returning Veterans; Fresh Strategies Recommended
New research for veterans identifying significant rates of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and other compelling problems for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan has been released by the Center for Public Policy & Social Research (CPPSR) at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). Based on the data, CPPSR has made policy recommendations to help these veterans better readjust to civilian life and stands ready to assist other states in doing the same.
New Britain, CT (PRWEB) April 28, 2009 -- New research has identified significant rates of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and other compelling needs of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The Center for Public Policy & Social Research (CPPSR) at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) and the Connecticut Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) recently released their needs assessment of returning Connecticut veterans. Based on the data, CPPSR has recommended fresh strategies to help veterans readjust to civilian life, and hopes to share its new research model with other VA departments nationwide.
The report, authorized by Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell and DVA
Commissioner Linda Spoonster Schwartz, explored the significant medical, psychosocial and economic needs of these veterans, as well as the existing barriers veterans face in meeting those needs. It concluded with a series of recommendations, based on the research data, to optimize readjustment to civilian life for these veterans.
DVA Commissioner Schwartz said, "We relied on the expertise of the Center for design, data collection and analysis of the first ever Connecticut Veterans Needs Assessment… which serves as a guide for the development of legislation, programs and services." By doing this, she said, "CPPSR has improved our responsiveness to the needs of veterans…"
Conducted by Dr. Marc Goldstein and Dr. Jim Malley of CCSU, the assessment integrated data from meetings with veterans' service providers, focus groups with veterans, and a survey mailed to 2,050 veterans.
Some of the key findings include: almost 22% of veterans screening positive for PTSD; nearly 20% reporting difficulty in relating to their civilian friends; and over 10% reporting difficulty in connecting emotionally with family members. Additionally, veterans most in need of support are the least likely to seek it out. This reflected either distrust of the VA establishment or concerns about being stigmatized or de-normalized by seeking mental health treatment. These veterans are at particular risk of slipping into a downward spiral of marital and family problems, employment problems, substance abuse and problems with the law.
Among the primary recommendations are: to initiate a public awareness campaign to inform and educate on these issues, targeting the veterans and their families, the general public and non-military caregivers; to develop an early identification and outreach system for those returning veterans most at-risk for serious readjustment difficulties, who may need assistance; and to avoid stigma for veterans seeking help by creating an integrated network of mental health support services in non-clinical sites that veterans find comfortable, such as Vet Centers and veteran support programs.
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http://www.prweb.com/releases/PTSD/new_research/prweb2349904.htm
Vietnam MIA's family given medal for his heroism
Family given soldier's medal for heroism
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., April 27 (UPI) -- It took 42 years, but the family of a U.S. Army Green Beret major missing in action in Vietnam has been given the Distinguished Service Cross he earned.
At a ceremony in Fayetteville, N.C., last Wednesday, the story was told how on March 24, 1967, Maj. Jack T. Stewart was last seen providing cover fire for his comrades as they evacuated their position at Bu Dop in Phuoc Long province near the Cambodian border while under attack from an overwhelming North Vietnamese force, American Forces Press Services said Monday.
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Family given soldier's medal for heroism/
Approximately 4,000 Florida Army National Guard soldiers could be deploying
Army National Guard Prepares Soldiers and Families For Upcoming Deployment
Posted: 8:41 PM Apr 27, 2009
Last Updated: 8:41 PM Apr 27, 2009
Reporter: Vanessa Nguyen
Email Address: vanessa.nguyen
Approximately 4,000 Florida Army National Guard soldiers could be deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan during the next twelve months.
Military officials say it will be the largest mobilization in state history.
The deployment could include a majority of Panama City's 153rd Calvary Regiment.
For the last several months, commanders of the 153rd Calvary Regiment have been preparing their soldiers and their families for possible deployment.
Army National Guard Major Joseph Lyon says, "you don't mobilize any soldier. You mobilize their family. Now when I say that, you have to prepare the family to be able to stand alone on their own two feet."
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http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/43834087.html
Posted: 8:41 PM Apr 27, 2009
Last Updated: 8:41 PM Apr 27, 2009
Reporter: Vanessa Nguyen
Email Address: vanessa.nguyen
Approximately 4,000 Florida Army National Guard soldiers could be deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan during the next twelve months.
Military officials say it will be the largest mobilization in state history.
The deployment could include a majority of Panama City's 153rd Calvary Regiment.
For the last several months, commanders of the 153rd Calvary Regiment have been preparing their soldiers and their families for possible deployment.
Army National Guard Major Joseph Lyon says, "you don't mobilize any soldier. You mobilize their family. Now when I say that, you have to prepare the family to be able to stand alone on their own two feet."
go here for more
http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/43834087.html
Monday, April 27, 2009
Lightning Strike Kills Man on Motorcycle
Lightning Strike Kills Man on Motorcycle
Lawrence Journal-World
Troy Gentzler, 45, was volunteering for Bikers Against Child Abuse when he died.
(April 27) -- A Lawrence, Kan., man died Saturday after he was struck by a bolt of lightning as he and six companions rode their motorcycles through a rainstorm, the Lawrence Journal-World reported.
Troy Gentzler, 45, was killed shortly after visiting an abuse victim for the northeast Kansas chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse.
The bolt struck as the group was traveling between the towns of Grantville and Perry.
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Lightning Strike Kills Man on Motorcycle
Command Sgt. Major Benjamin Moore Jr passes away in Iraq
Decorated Scofield soldier dies in Iraq
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 27, 2009 11:38:11 EDT
ALBANY, Ga. — A decorated Army soldier from south Georgia has died in Iraq.
The Department of Defense said Command Sgt. Major Benjamin Moore Jr. of Waycross died Friday of injuries that were not combat-related.
He was 43.
Moore was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Combat Brigade Team, 25th Infantry Division, based at Scofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Moore earned 55 medals and had served in the Army since June 1983.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Decorated Scofield soldier dies in Iraq
Del. Guardsman charged with raping soldier
Del. Guardsman charged with raping soldier
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 27, 2009 12:47:12 EDT
GEORGETOWN, Del. — A member of the Delaware Army National Guard has been charged with raping a fellow soldier at the Georgetown Armory and sexual extortion.
Georgetown police say Staff Sgt. Theodoric Dixon, 36, was arrested Friday and charged with first-degree rape, unlawful imprisonment, sexual extortion, coercion and official misconduct. He has since been released.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/ap_del_guard_rape_charge_042709/
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 27, 2009 12:47:12 EDT
GEORGETOWN, Del. — A member of the Delaware Army National Guard has been charged with raping a fellow soldier at the Georgetown Armory and sexual extortion.
Georgetown police say Staff Sgt. Theodoric Dixon, 36, was arrested Friday and charged with first-degree rape, unlawful imprisonment, sexual extortion, coercion and official misconduct. He has since been released.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/ap_del_guard_rape_charge_042709/
Second suicide at Shoot Straight in Casselberry FL
Report: Person shoots, kills self at Casselberry gun range
Apr 27, 2009 06:17 PM
A person has fatally shot him self at Shoot Straight, the same Casselberry gun range where a murder-suicide took place earlier this month, according to WFTV.com.
UPDATE April 28, 2009
Winter Springs man killed himself on second trip to gun range
Gary Taylor Sentinel Staff Writer
1:08 PM EDT, April 28, 2009
CASSELBERRY - Jason Kevin McCarthy, 26, was at Shoot Straight on U.S. Highway 17-92 about 11 a.m. Monday and asked about renting a gun, Casselberry police Officer Joseph Nas said in a report that has just been released. McCarthy was handed paperwork to fill out, "but he stated he had something to do first and left the store," Nas wrote.
He came back about 5:40 p.m. and that time he filled out the paperwork and rented a 9mm handgun.
No one saw McCarthy shoot himself, but the suicide was verified by a surveillance video, police said. Employee Adam Schulman told police he instructed McCarthy on how to safely use the gun and watched him shoot at his target on a monitor for about five minutes before turning to wait on a customer.
He said he realized something was wrong when another customer pounded on the glass and told him McCarthy had shot himself.
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Winter Springs man killed himself on second trip to gun range
Apr 27, 2009 06:17 PM
A person has fatally shot him self at Shoot Straight, the same Casselberry gun range where a murder-suicide took place earlier this month, according to WFTV.com.
UPDATE April 28, 2009
Winter Springs man killed himself on second trip to gun range
Gary Taylor Sentinel Staff Writer
1:08 PM EDT, April 28, 2009
CASSELBERRY - Jason Kevin McCarthy, 26, was at Shoot Straight on U.S. Highway 17-92 about 11 a.m. Monday and asked about renting a gun, Casselberry police Officer Joseph Nas said in a report that has just been released. McCarthy was handed paperwork to fill out, "but he stated he had something to do first and left the store," Nas wrote.
He came back about 5:40 p.m. and that time he filled out the paperwork and rented a 9mm handgun.
No one saw McCarthy shoot himself, but the suicide was verified by a surveillance video, police said. Employee Adam Schulman told police he instructed McCarthy on how to safely use the gun and watched him shoot at his target on a monitor for about five minutes before turning to wait on a customer.
He said he realized something was wrong when another customer pounded on the glass and told him McCarthy had shot himself.
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Winter Springs man killed himself on second trip to gun range
Bill aims to protect vets’ gun rights
They don't want to hear they have nothing to fear when it comes to having to turn in their guns for PTSD treatment. It's as simple as that. They know how screwed up the system can be and they don't want to trust it. This bill needs to be passed so that I don't have to hear more veterans asking more about losing their right to have a gun than they do about PTSD itself.
As I've stated many times before, I do not own a gun and have no plans of getting one but I do not judge others or question their rights as long as they are responsible gun owners. The only thing I care about is that there are many veterans who will not go to the VA out of fear of having to give up their guns.
As I've stated many times before, I do not own a gun and have no plans of getting one but I do not judge others or question their rights as long as they are responsible gun owners. The only thing I care about is that there are many veterans who will not go to the VA out of fear of having to give up their guns.
Bill aims to protect vets’ gun rights
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 27, 2009 14:06:49 EDT
A bill aimed at protecting the gun rights of some veterans is under Senate consideration.
The Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act, pending before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, would limit the circumstances in which a veteran’s name could be added to a federal database used to do instant background checks for gun purchases.
By law, anyone “adjudicated as a mental defective,” such as people found to be a danger to themselves or others or who lack the mental capacity to manage their affairs, must be registered in the database.
The bill, S 669, which has 15 co-sponsors, would prohibit VA from submitting names to the National Instant Criminal Background Check database unless a judicial authority finds the individuals to be a danger to themselves or others.
VA has been turning over the names of veterans who have had someone else appointed to handle their financial affairs. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., ranking Republican on the veterans committee and sponsor of the bill, said VA has sent names of more than 117,000 veterans to the Justice Department since 1998 under the policy.“Although there is still no danger a veteran will lose their right to carry a firearm for seeking treatment for [post-traumatic stress disorder], we offer our support for this legislation in the hopes it will quell any fears veterans might have about seeking treatment for mental health injuries,” said Patrick Campbell, IAVA’s chief legislative counsel.
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Media interest in covering return of fallen soldiers drops
Media interest has fallen off sharply since almost 40 reporters, photographers and camera operators turned out to document the arrival of Myers’ body. At a more recent casualty arrivals, the only media representative was a lone photographer from The Associated Press.
This is really sad! All the complaints from the media about being banned from Dover, stopped from taking pictures of the flag covered caskets coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan and now this is the result? How can they possibly lose interest? Isn't it bad enough that they no longer cover what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan? Good Lord, too many people in this country have no clue what is happening in either country and they don't bother to find out. The media buries the stories in local papers and the national media seems more interested in President Obama's picture on a magazine with different colored swimming shorts!
Most families OK coverage of fallen soldiers
By Randall Chase - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 27, 2009 11:28:13 EDT
DOVER, Del. — In the weeks since the Pentagon ended an 18-year ban on media coverage of fallen soldiers returning to the U.S., most families given the option have allowed reporters and photographers to witness the solemn ceremonies that mark the arrival of flag-draped transfer cases.
Critics had warned that military families needed privacy and peace activists might exploit the images, but so far the coverage has not caused problems.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Myers of Hopewell, Va., who died April 4 in Afghanistan, was the first combat casualty whose return to American soil was witnessed by the media. He was to be buried with full military honors Monday afternoon at Arlington National Cemetery.
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Veterans are backing Jones' bill
U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones deserves a medal for this! Over 22,000 of our men and women in the military have received dishonorable, or less than honorable discharges that should have been honored when they clearly had PTSD. Too many reports came out on how the DOD and the VA were not being honest with diagnosing and treating PTSD. Too many commanders still have not come to terms with this war born wound and act as if the men and women they command suffering from this wound are not worthy of anything, including treatment and compensation, but above all, the respect of an honorable discharge. It has all been less than honorable treatment for them. Without an honorable discharge and the erroneous outrage diagnosis of a "pre-existing" mental health illness, they receive nothing. No treatment. No compensation. Most of the time, no jobs after they served. This betrayal should not be tolerated and they should be compensated if they are found to have PTSD or TBI but on top of it, compensated with retroactive payments and a public apology from the DOD for the suffering they had to go thru. They were betrayed and so were their families.
Veterans are backing Jones' bill
WILSON - Veterans groups are rallying behind U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones' bill designed to help service members suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injuries.
Jones, a Republican from Farmville, was joined this week at a press conference by representatives from the National Association for Uniformed Services, the National Military Family Association, Military Officers Association of America and Air Force Sergeants Association. All are supporting House Resolution 1701: PTSD/TBI Guaranteed Review for Heroes ActThe bill would create a special review board at the Department of Defense for service members who were less than honorably discharged. The board would be allowed to change the characterization of discharge to honorable if PTSD or TBI are found to have been contributing factors.
Also, it would mandate a physical examination board before an administrative separation proceeding for active duty service members if the service member has been diagnosed with PTSD or TBI by a medical authority.go here for more
Answers sought after Guardsman kills police officers
This is not a case of a combat veteran coming back from Iraq or Afghanistan. It's a case of domestic violence turning deadly for police officers responding. Is there anything that could have warned them of what they were facing when trying to arrest Cartwright? Is there anything that could warn them when they face anyone armed, trained and ready to kill?
Investigators said Cartwright was not a war veteran, but Spooner said the Florida National Guard soldier was interested in militia movements and weapons training.
Answers sought after Guardsman kills officers
By Melissa Nelson - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 27, 2009 8:54:57 EDT
NICEVILLE, Fla. — Two deputies from a troubled sheriff’s office in Florida had no warning a confrontation with a National Guard soldier accused of beating his wife would turn deadly, the sheriff said.
Deputies Burt Lopez and Warren “Skip” York used a stun gun to subdue Joshua Cartwright, but he was able to start shooting at them from the ground. Both Lopez and York died.
“Within seconds he sat up and began firing a weapon that came out of nowhere, it was somewhere on his body we assume,” Okaloosa County’s Interim Sheriff Ed Spooner told more than 300 sheriff’s office employees who gathered Sunday night to pray and hear an explanation of the shootings.
Cartwright was killed in a shootout at a roadblock after a car chase into a neighboring county. The deputies had gone to a shooting range to arrest him after his wife sought treatment for domestic abuse injures at an area hospital.
Spooner said the deputies had no information to make them think Cartwright would turn his weapons on them.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/ap_fla_guardsman_shooting_042709/
SpecOps soldier dies while running marathon
SpecOps soldier dies while running marathon
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 27, 2009 7:03:11 EDT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Army officials say a runner who collapsed and died after at the Country Music Marathon was a special operations aviation soldier based at Fort Campbell, Ky.
The army said in news release Sunday the runner was Staff Sgt. Benjamin “Levi” Pigman, a 25-year-old native of Hamilton, Mont.
Pigman collapsed Saturday after he completed the half-marathon at the event. He was treated at the scene and then transported to Nashville General Hospital, where he died, the release said.
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SpecOps soldier dies while running marathon
Fallujah was not a game. Video game is wrong
To say they want to show the realities of war in a video game is ridiculous! If they want to show the "reality" of war, then why turn it into a video game? They would have turned it into a documentary showing respect for the men and women serving, risking their lives, getting wounded and killed in the line of duty. A game? That is supposed to show the reality of what they went thru? There are too many video games where keyboard warriors do battle with the bad guys making all of it unreal. These real warriors deserve to have their stories told with care, respect and honor.
Support, criticism greet Fallujah video game
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 27, 2009 5:10:22 EDT
A video game based on a real battle in Iraq is drawing volleys of criticism — and it won’t even be released until next year.
But it was Marines from 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, at Camp Pendleton, Calif., who came up with the idea for a historically accurate video game based on their experiences fighting in Fallujah in November 2004.
“They want to tell their story. Video games are their medium,” said Peter Tamte, president of Atomic Games, the developer of “Six Days in Fallujah.”But before anybody has fired a shot in the game’s battles, “Six Days in Fallujah” is facing controversy.
Gold Star Families Speak Out, an organization of families with loved ones who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, say they are outraged that a video game will graphically recreate the Fallujah battle. They are part of the larger Military Families Speak Out, which opposes the war in Iraq.
Gold Star mother Tracy Miller said she was “stunned” when she heard about the video game. Her son, sniper Cpl. Nicholas L. “Nick” Ziolkowski, was killed by a sniper Nov. 14, 2004, in Fallujah.
“This is not a game. His life wasn’t a game, and the fact that he died wasn’t a game.
“I think [the game] trivializes it. And so many of these games dull sensibilities to violence,” she said.
“For every Gold Star parent, no matter how we feel about the war, what we want is that our kids be remembered. I haven’t seen this game, but I suspect they’re not going to be remembering our kids or even what happened historically.”
go here for the rest
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Mini Memorial Wall Draws Strong Emotions At Vietnam Vets Reunion
This year we managed to take a few trips to Melbourne for the reunion. As usual there were plenty of vendors selling things, camp grounds filled with different groups and a brotherhood that is hard to put into words.
The perfect picture seems to be this one. While he stands at the wall looking at the names, I was trying to take pictures quickly because people kept walking by. The names blurred and colors emerged in the photo but it was just a black wall with white lettering. It's perfect because when they think about their time in Vietnam, names may fade from memory, but faces didn't.
Talk to Vietnam veteran as they go thru their scrap book of fading pictures. They will look at each and everyone of them remembering the person in the picture, telling stories about them as if it all happened yesterday but they will struggle to remember their name.
Here are a few more I took yesterday.
The perfect picture seems to be this one. While he stands at the wall looking at the names, I was trying to take pictures quickly because people kept walking by. The names blurred and colors emerged in the photo but it was just a black wall with white lettering. It's perfect because when they think about their time in Vietnam, names may fade from memory, but faces didn't.
Talk to Vietnam veteran as they go thru their scrap book of fading pictures. They will look at each and everyone of them remembering the person in the picture, telling stories about them as if it all happened yesterday but they will struggle to remember their name.
Here are a few more I took yesterday.
Mini Memorial Wall Draws Strong Emotions At Vietnam Vets Reunion
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Reported by Margaret Kavanagh
MELBOURNE -- Strong emotions surrounded the 22nd Annual Vietnam and All Veterans Reunion this week at Wickham Park.
Roughly 80,000 people turned out to honor and remember those that gave their lives to protect the freedoms Americans enjoy here at home.
At the center of the reunion was the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall, a miniature replica of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington.
As thousands of troops fight overseas, Vietnam veterans said the event was a good way to bring people together and remember the fallen war heroes.
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Mini Memorial Wall Draws Strong Emotions At Vietnam Vets Reunion
Springfield veteran a casualty of recession
Jamie Bowshier came back from Iraq to a warm welcome, but then lost his family, perhaps because of PTSD coming home with him. I don't know because this article does not address what caused his marriage to break up. This Marine did what was asked of him, ended up wounded, lost his marriage, his job and faces losing his house. Is this right? Is any of this right? Well it keeps happening. While no one really talked about what was going on after Vietnam, this was happening to a lot of the veterans. This is part of how they end up homeless. Can we finally see that we really don't take care of our veterans?
Losing everything...
Springfield veteran a casualty of recession
By Emanuel Cavallaro
Staff Writer
Updated 10:26 AM Sunday, April 26, 2009
SPRINGFIELD — Four years ago, when Jamie Bowshier came home from Iraq, he had everything he wanted in life: A wife, three kids, a job, a house. A promising future.
When he returned to his house on Seymour Street, he found that neighbors had lined the street with American Flags and tied red, white and blue balloons to the stop signs.
His active duty period with the Marine Corps was up in three months.
“At that moment in time, everything seemed like it couldn’t possible be any better,” Bowshier said in April, four years later.
“I made it back, and I was in one piece,” he said. “Everything was good. Everybody was happy to see me, and I was happy to be home.”
Bowshier, 34, is now divorced and has lost custody of his three children. His kitchen countertop is lined with a month’s worth of mail, most of it bad news: late notices, Veterans’ Affairs documents, bills he can’t afford to pay.
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Losing Everything
Soldier hit, killed on All American Freeway identified
Please pray for the family, Christine Gail Pearce and the responders.
Soldier hit, killed on All American Freeway identified
Posted: Apr. 24, 2009
Updated: Apr. 25, 2009
Fayetteville, N.C. — Military officials said that Sgt. Jason Lightfoot, 30, died after being hit by a vehicle on the shoulder of the All-American Freeway early Friday.
Fayetteville police said that Lightfoot got out of a 2000 Jeep near the Cliffdale Road exit around 3 a.m. after arguing with the driver, identified as Christine Gail Pearce, 39, of Yorktown, Va.
Initially, police said they believed that Lightfoot next started to walk on the northbound shoulder toward Fort Bragg and was then hit by the Jeep.
However, a preliminary wreck report issued Saturday says that Lightfoot was riding on the hood of the Jeep and that he fell off onto the pavement when Pearce tried to slow down.
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http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5022635/
Woman shot, killed outside daycare in murder-suicide
Please pray for the family, the child inside the car and the rest of the people involved from the day care to the police officers.
Woman shot, killed outside daycare in murder-suicide
Posted: Apr. 25, 2009
Roanoke Rapids, N.C. — A Roanoke Rapids man shot and killed his girlfriend in front of a daycare, then turned the gun on himself in a murder-suicide Friday afternoon, said Police Chief Jeff Hinton.
Authorities said that Dawn Taylor, 38, of Roanoke Rapids, picked up a young child from a daycare in the 800 block of Franklin Street and put the child in her car around 4 p.m.
Lavern Bradley Jr., 39, approached Taylor outside the car and shot her three times, then shot himself once in the head, Hinton said.
go here for the rest
http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/5023931/
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
CSM Benjamin Moore, Jr., 43, of Waycross, Ga., died Apr 24 at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq, of injuries sustained in a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 2d Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3d Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx
The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.
Sgt. Darron Mikeworth's wounds show human spirit and family's love
Injured GI gets new face – and anonymity
By Sharon Cohen - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Apr 26, 2009 8:40:57 EDT
SAN ANTONIO — His first glimpse in the mirror was largely a blur.
Sgt. Darron Mikeworth had just come out of a drug-induced coma — his mind was still in a fog and he was so weak he could barely stand.
Three weeks before, in Iraq, a suicide bomber had raced up to the right side of his Humvee, igniting a barrel of explosives that tore into the machine gunner’s face. He nearly died.
Mikeworth awoke in a hospital bed, thousands of miles away.
He was relieved he still had his arms and legs. He was thrilled, too, that his ears had survived the blast. But he had wounds he could not see, life-changing wounds. His wife, Dea, helped break the news: His face was in bad shape. His left eye was useless.
And there was more.
At first, Mikeworth was too groggy to absorb it all. He was caught up in hallucinations of basketball players shooting hoops in the hospital, of cars on the highway floating in air. He didn’t know what was fantasy and what wasn’t — until he shuffled into the physical therapy room and stood numbly before a full-length mirror.
“I just had to keep telling myself I’m NOT going to wake up out of this one,” he says. “THIS is not a dream. THIS is real.”
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Injured GI gets new face – and anonymity
By Sharon Cohen - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Apr 26, 2009 8:40:57 EDT
SAN ANTONIO — His first glimpse in the mirror was largely a blur.
Sgt. Darron Mikeworth had just come out of a drug-induced coma — his mind was still in a fog and he was so weak he could barely stand.
Three weeks before, in Iraq, a suicide bomber had raced up to the right side of his Humvee, igniting a barrel of explosives that tore into the machine gunner’s face. He nearly died.
Mikeworth awoke in a hospital bed, thousands of miles away.
He was relieved he still had his arms and legs. He was thrilled, too, that his ears had survived the blast. But he had wounds he could not see, life-changing wounds. His wife, Dea, helped break the news: His face was in bad shape. His left eye was useless.
And there was more.
At first, Mikeworth was too groggy to absorb it all. He was caught up in hallucinations of basketball players shooting hoops in the hospital, of cars on the highway floating in air. He didn’t know what was fantasy and what wasn’t — until he shuffled into the physical therapy room and stood numbly before a full-length mirror.
“I just had to keep telling myself I’m NOT going to wake up out of this one,” he says. “THIS is not a dream. THIS is real.”
go here for more
Injured GI gets new face – and anonymity
Stream of horrific crimes takes toll on town cops
And tougher than the intense work is the lull that follows, when the mask of professional composure comes down and doubts, sadness and anger come through, said Tracy police chaplain Dan Higgins.
"When they're able to focus on their jobs and do their part, they have an outlet," said Higgins. "The hard part comes later."
Stream of horrific crimes takes toll on town cops
Apr 25, 2009
By JULIANA BARBASSA, AP
TRACY, Calif. (Map, News) - Detective Nate Cogburn's last few months have been filled with the stuff of nightmares.
Neighbors charged with shackling and torturing a teenager in a Tracy home. A substitute teacher accused of molesting upward of 15 students. A surgeon arrested for the alleged sexual abuse of dozens of patients. And, most recently, a Sunday school teacher charged with kidnapping, raping and murdering 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, the playmate of her own little girl.
"I was just bombarded," said Cogburn, who grew up nearby and joined the Tracy police force after college.
"They always say don't take your cases home with you - they preach that every day from day one at the academy," said Cogburn, 28. "But I always take them home. They're with me all the time."
go here for more
Stream of horrific crimes takes toll on town cops
Police officer, suspect killed in southeast Alabama standoff
Police officer, suspect killed in southeast Alabama standoff
Posted by Associated Press April 25, 2009 1:44 PM
Categories: Crime
HEADLAND, AL -- Officers in southeast Alabama shot a suspect to death after he killed one police officer and badly wounded a sheriff's deputy, authorities said.
Police said they got a call Friday afternoon that 53-year-old Fred Davis was firing a shotgun into the air outside his trailer. Henry County Sheriff's Deputy Ted Yost was first on the scene, and Davis shot and wounded him with the shotgun, State Trooper Kevin Cook said.
Davis then shot and killed Headland Officer Dexter Hammond with a high-powered rifle before other arriving officers shot and killed him, Cook said.
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Police officer, suspect killed in southeast Alabama standoff
Wounded Soldier Keeps Giving Back
"I had some really hard times where at points I didn't have anyone to turn to," he said. "I want to be there for the guys and girls who are returning home now to lend a helping hand when they start hitting the lows that I did."
Double Dare race to benefit wounded warriors
by Mike Lesko
Associate Editor
Joseph Gross was devoted to serving in the U.S. Army. As a staff sergeant, he had seven years of active duty and was deployed twice.
His life changed in 2005 when he was wounded in Baghdad as a result of a suicide car bomb, losing his right leg below the knee, and suffering some burns and other small injuries.
Today, he is part of the Wounded Warrior Project, which oversees road races and other fundraising events including the WWP Double Dare, a 5K/10K/15K cross country race May 9 at Silver Springs Park, 5070 Stow Road, Stow. The start time is 9 a.m.
"People can run the 5K or 10K or they can take the double dare and do both, equaling 15K," Gross said.
go here for more
Marine's Home Burglarized as She Gives Birth at Hospital
Random act? Somehow I doubt it. Marine Cpl. Claire Murphy's uniforms were trashed on the floor and her pet Iguana was killed. Someone must have known she would be gone for a long time. Imagine going to the hospital to welcome into the world a new child and then returning to your home to find this world also includes people doing something like this and then imagine you were among the few willing to lay down your life for even people like this.
Marine's Home Burglarized as She Gives Birth at Hospital
By: Rowena Lugtu-Shaddox
April 26, 2009
RANCHO CORDOVA - When Claire Murphy gave birth to her daughter on Friday, it was the happiest moment of her life.
But that time also became one of sorrow after she found out someone broke into her home, while she was at the hospital giving birth.
"I've worked so hard to get everything taken care of, you know. And then this happens," said the 27-year-old new mom, who is also a corporal in the Marines.
Whoever broke into her Rancho Cordova apartment ransacked it and stole the baby's new clothes, and even baby formula. The culprit also took her camouflage uniforms out of the closet and dumped them on the floor.
go here for more
Marine's Home Burglarized as She Gives Birth at Hospital
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Two Fla. deputies killed during arrest
Two Fla. deputies killed during arrest
SHALIMAR, Fla., April 25 (UPI) -- Two Okaloosa County sheriff's deputies were shot and killed Saturday while trying to arrest a man who was killed in a subsequent shootout, police said.
Deputy Burt Lopez and Deputy Warren York were attempting to arrest Joshua Cartwright, 28, of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., in connection with a domestic abuse case early Saturday, when the suspect opened fire on the deputies just before 1 p.m. EDT, the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.
go here for more
Two Fla. deputies killed during arrest
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