Soldiers help in rush to control Hood blaze
Staff report
Posted : Tuesday Jul 28, 2009 17:33:03 EDT
More than 100 soldiers assigned to Fort Hood, Texas, have been deployed to the post’s southern perimeter to help battle a fire that has been burning since Sunday.
Aviators with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment are providing helicopter and ground support, and several local fire departments are on the scene helping extinguish the blaze, which is burning land near Crittenberger Range and Owl Creek Assault Course, an Army news release announced Tuesday.
As of Friday afternoon, the release said, about 50 percent of the fire had been contained and soldiers were still on the scene.
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Soldiers help in rush to control Hood blaze
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
House passes bill to train, help caregivers
House passes bill to train, help caregivers
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jul 28, 2009 11:02:28 EDT
Landmark legislation to train family members to provide care for severely wounded veterans — and pay them for it — was approved by the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The bill, HR 3155, the Caregiver Assistance and Resource Enhancement Act, or CARE Act, also creates a respite care program for caregivers; expands outreach and education programs for families; extends to caregivers the right to get mental health counseling; and, for those who do not have their own health insurance, allows coverage under the Veterans Affairs Department health care program.
read more here
House passes bill to train, help caregivers
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jul 28, 2009 11:02:28 EDT
Landmark legislation to train family members to provide care for severely wounded veterans — and pay them for it — was approved by the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The bill, HR 3155, the Caregiver Assistance and Resource Enhancement Act, or CARE Act, also creates a respite care program for caregivers; expands outreach and education programs for families; extends to caregivers the right to get mental health counseling; and, for those who do not have their own health insurance, allows coverage under the Veterans Affairs Department health care program.
read more here
House passes bill to train, help caregivers
SENATE PASSES FEINGOLD EFFORTS TO HELP WOUNDED TROOPS
SENATE PASSES FEINGOLD EFFORTS TO HELP WOUNDED TROOPS; IMPROVE READINESS TO RESPOND TO CATASTROPHES AT HOME
Feingold Amendments to Defense Authorization Bill, Passed By the Senate, Help Service Members During Their Transition to Civilian Life and Ensure Forces are Prepared to Help Communities in the Event of a Catastrophe
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wounded Warrior Transition Assistance Act,
Washington, D.C. – Late last week, the U.S. Senate passed a Defense authorization bill that included two amendments authored by Senator Russ Feingold to help troops transitioning to civilian life and to ensure forces here at home are better prepared to respond to emergencies. Feingold’s first amendment, offered along with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and based on their bipartisan Wounded Warrior Transition Assistance Act, will help ensure wounded service members of the Guard and Reserves are not discharged before their injuries are treated and evaluated. Many wounded service members have been discharged prematurely and this has compromised their recovery and imposed additional hardships upon them and their families. The legislation was introduced after a young soldier from Wisconsin came to Feingold in need of assistance after being discharged before his injuries were evaluated.
“I am pleased the Senate recognized the need to help our brave men and women in uniform transition back to civilian life,” Feingold said. “Hearing the story of a young soldier from Wisconsin who fell through the cracks after serving his country was both heart-breaking and infuriating. Allowing the men and women who selflessly serve our country to be left behind is unacceptable. With passage of this amendment, we can help ensure our service members are not faced with financial hardships that can compound the already difficult transition back to their lives at home.”
Feingold and Murkowski’s legislation has broad support among military and veteran service organizations and is endorsed by Disabled American Veterans, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Military Officers Association of America, the National Guard Association of the United States, and the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States. The cost of the legislation is fully offset so as not to increase the federal deficit.
The defense bill also included an amendment by Feingold to help ensure communities across the nation are protected in the event of a catastrophe. Feingold’s amendment seeks to ensure the Department of Defense adequately funds forces needed to deal with the consequences of a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive event. Last year, the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves concluded that Department of Defense’s (DOD) failure to establish these forces in the wake of 9/11 had left an "appalling gap" in our defenses. DOD is working on establishing the needed forces but has historically failed to provide needed personnel and adequate funding. Feingold’s amendment would increase transparency over defense spending to help Congress ensure these vital units receive the resources they need.
“The Department of Defense must no longer drag its feet in committing resources to these forces, which would be absolutely critical in the event of a catastrophic incident,” Feingold said. “This amendment creates the transparency in the defense budget necessary to ensure these forces are funded and able to respond to emergencies.”
Feingold has consistently worked to ensure domestic readiness for a terrorist attack. Feingold is the author of a law requiring each state and U.S. territory be equipped with at least one WMD-Civil Support Team, National Guard units that would provide the initial response to a chemical, biological or nuclear disaster. These teams are now up and running in every state in the union.
http://feingold.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=316238
Feingold Amendments to Defense Authorization Bill, Passed By the Senate, Help Service Members During Their Transition to Civilian Life and Ensure Forces are Prepared to Help Communities in the Event of a Catastrophe
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wounded Warrior Transition Assistance Act,
Washington, D.C. – Late last week, the U.S. Senate passed a Defense authorization bill that included two amendments authored by Senator Russ Feingold to help troops transitioning to civilian life and to ensure forces here at home are better prepared to respond to emergencies. Feingold’s first amendment, offered along with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and based on their bipartisan Wounded Warrior Transition Assistance Act, will help ensure wounded service members of the Guard and Reserves are not discharged before their injuries are treated and evaluated. Many wounded service members have been discharged prematurely and this has compromised their recovery and imposed additional hardships upon them and their families. The legislation was introduced after a young soldier from Wisconsin came to Feingold in need of assistance after being discharged before his injuries were evaluated.
“I am pleased the Senate recognized the need to help our brave men and women in uniform transition back to civilian life,” Feingold said. “Hearing the story of a young soldier from Wisconsin who fell through the cracks after serving his country was both heart-breaking and infuriating. Allowing the men and women who selflessly serve our country to be left behind is unacceptable. With passage of this amendment, we can help ensure our service members are not faced with financial hardships that can compound the already difficult transition back to their lives at home.”
Feingold and Murkowski’s legislation has broad support among military and veteran service organizations and is endorsed by Disabled American Veterans, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Military Officers Association of America, the National Guard Association of the United States, and the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States. The cost of the legislation is fully offset so as not to increase the federal deficit.
The defense bill also included an amendment by Feingold to help ensure communities across the nation are protected in the event of a catastrophe. Feingold’s amendment seeks to ensure the Department of Defense adequately funds forces needed to deal with the consequences of a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive event. Last year, the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves concluded that Department of Defense’s (DOD) failure to establish these forces in the wake of 9/11 had left an "appalling gap" in our defenses. DOD is working on establishing the needed forces but has historically failed to provide needed personnel and adequate funding. Feingold’s amendment would increase transparency over defense spending to help Congress ensure these vital units receive the resources they need.
“The Department of Defense must no longer drag its feet in committing resources to these forces, which would be absolutely critical in the event of a catastrophic incident,” Feingold said. “This amendment creates the transparency in the defense budget necessary to ensure these forces are funded and able to respond to emergencies.”
Feingold has consistently worked to ensure domestic readiness for a terrorist attack. Feingold is the author of a law requiring each state and U.S. territory be equipped with at least one WMD-Civil Support Team, National Guard units that would provide the initial response to a chemical, biological or nuclear disaster. These teams are now up and running in every state in the union.
http://feingold.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=316238
Program aims to curb Marine suicides
Program aims to curb Marine suicides
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Faced with a rise in suicides among Marines, the service is ordering training for all immediate supervisors — sergeants and corporals — to become more involved and knowledgeable about the intimate details of the lives of their young charges.
"We as Marines always try to do the hard thing," Master Sgt. James Dinwoodie says in a training video aimed at promoting sensitivity to emotional problems Marines may be suffering. "Well, sometimes you need to do the soft thing."
Through July 16, there have been 30 confirmed or suspected Marine suicides this year. There were 42 during 2008, the highest since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There have also been 89 attempted suicides this year, compared with 146 attempts in all of 2008.
read more here
Program aims to curb Marine suicides
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Faced with a rise in suicides among Marines, the service is ordering training for all immediate supervisors — sergeants and corporals — to become more involved and knowledgeable about the intimate details of the lives of their young charges.
"We as Marines always try to do the hard thing," Master Sgt. James Dinwoodie says in a training video aimed at promoting sensitivity to emotional problems Marines may be suffering. "Well, sometimes you need to do the soft thing."
Through July 16, there have been 30 confirmed or suspected Marine suicides this year. There were 42 during 2008, the highest since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There have also been 89 attempted suicides this year, compared with 146 attempts in all of 2008.
The video includes footage of Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Workman, who received the service's second-highest award for valor, the Navy Cross, for heroism in Iraq, discussing his post-traumatic stress disorder and his own suicide attempt in 2006.
read more here
Program aims to curb Marine suicides
Casualties of War, Part II: Warning Signs
Casualties of War, Part II: Warning Signs
Monday 27 July 2009
by: Dave Philipps Visit article original @ The Colorado Springs Gazette
After coming home from Iraq, 21-year-old medic Bruce Bastien was driving with his Army buddy Louis Bressler, 24, when they spotted a woman walking to work on a Colorado Springs street.
Bressler swerved and hit the woman with the car, according to police, then Bastien jumped out and stabbed her over and over.
It was October 2007. A fellow soldier, Kenneth Eastridge, 24, watched it all from the passenger seat.
At that moment, he said, it was clear that however messed up some of the soldiers in the unit had been after their first Iraq deployment, it was about to get much worse.
read more here
http://www.truthout.org/072809C
read more of this series here
Related Stories/Links
Casualties of War, Part I: The hell of war comes home
EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution
Fort Carson report: Combat stress contributed to soldiers' crimes back home
Fort Carson report (.pdf document 126 pages)
Complete military coverage
Audio: Interview with Kenneth Eastridge
John Needham letter alleging war crimes
You are either thinking we have a serious problem or this is just media hype. If you think it's hype, your dead wrong and history proves that. It was easier to ignore all of the price paid by those we send when we were talking about Vietnam or any of the earlier wars in our history. The difference is the Internet. You can't hide much of it anymore.
While it was easier to hide the truth, it was a lot harder to deal with any of it even though it was all there. It was also much harder to live with feeling as if you no longer existed to the rest of the nation turned obliviously against you while you suffered in silence. You were no longer a soldier and thus obsolete. It was easy to ignore the suffering of so many so because it was easy to hide all of it from the attention of the general public.
You may be reading this and think "ok well there have been 1.7 million sent into Iraq and Afghanistan, so what's a few "criminals" to worry about?" The problem is, they were not criminals before they were sent into combat and the likelihood of them committing crimes had they not been deployed into combat, then not taken care of properly, the odds are against them ever committing crimes at all. So when you look at it that way, you finally understand that while they fulfilled their obligation to this nation as they are often reminded of the fact "they volunteered" you need to notice that we did not live up to our obligation to them any better than we did the generations before them. Not such a pretty picture to hold in your mind now is it?
The real issue we need to be discussing is the fact that none of the men or women in the military since the Vietnam war were drafted and forced to go. Think of what that requires of all of them. Think of what kind of person it takes to be willing to put their own lives on the line. Then think about what they go through. Wouldn't you expect them to change? Wouldn't you change?
If we helped them recover with the same kind of understanding we seem to have when we send them to risk their lives, I doubt there would be many suicides or crimes associated with deployment. The fault is not their's entirely. It is partly our's. Yes they decided to commit the crimes but we decided to ignore their problems in the first place.
Fort Campbell plans event to honor Vietnam veterans
Here's an important request from me. If you go to this, could you please take some pictures or write about it? My husband was with the 101st 1970-1971 in Vietnam on Camp Evans and then Camp Eagle. On August 16th we are going to a going away party for a friend's daughter heading back to college. He was with my husband part of the time in Vietnam and while they lost touch for a long time, in 1999, I tracked him down. We get together as much as possible and the two of them act as if they have lost no time at all. So there are two veterans with you in spirit anyway but cannot go to this event.
Fort Campbell plans event to honor Vietnam veterans
By: John Brannon Messenger Staff Reporter
Posted: Monday, July 27, 2009 9:05 pm
By JOHN BRANNON
Messenger Staff Reporter
A recent announcement from the commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky., seeks to right a great social wrong from the 1970s.
Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser stated a Welcome Home ceremony for Vietnam veterans will be held at the fort at 2 p.m. Aug. 16.
Vietnam veterans from all units, branches and services are invited to participate in a special ceremony.
Ed Southern of Union City, a Marine Corps veteran who served two tours in Vietnam, is delighted that after all these years — the Vietnam war was officially ended April 30, 1975 — veterans of the conflict will be properly praised and publicly thanked for their service, at least at Fort Campbell. “It’s a long time coming,” he said.
Joe Alexander, president of the 101st Airborne Division Association, said Vietnam veterans will have the rare privilege of receiving the same welcome home that every member of the 101st receives when they return from the war on terrorism.
“To participate, everyone is to enter Fort Campbell at Gate 7 Aug. 16 and assemble in casual patriotic attire no later than 2 p.m. at the Freedom Fighter gymnasium near the 4th Basic Combat Training (BCT) headquarters,” Alexander said.
Buses will be available at the gymnasium to ferry everyone to and from Hangar 3 at the airfield.
“Vietnam veterans will be greeted by our new commanding general, Maj. Gen. John Campbell,” Alexander said. “What a memorable moment. I am a veteran of the Vietnam war and it touches me deeply to know that our commanding general has made this special effort to include the Vietnam veteran in the same honors given to our active duty soldiers.”
After the Hangar 3 ceremony, buses will ferry everyone back to the gymnasium for a free barbecue meal for Vietnam veterans. Each such veteran is allowed one guest.
read more here
http://www.nwtntoday.com/news.php?viewStory=29475
CNN Barbara Starr writes about two soldiers lives she took personally
Behind the Scenes: Triumph and tragedy for two wounded soldiers
Story Highlights
CNN's Barbara Starr celebrated a victory and mourned a loss on July 15
An injured Marine was celebrating getting into Harvard Law School
On same night, a warrior with a traumatic brain injury was found dead in his car
Men's stories are linked -- both pleaded with the government to aid injured soldiers
By Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Where were you on the night of July 15? You may not even remember, but for me it was an extraordinary evening, an evening of unimaginable triumph and unbearable tragedy.
But I would not actually know everything that happened until the night was long over.
A couple of weeks before July 15, a friend who works with injured troops emailed me to say it was time for Andrew's going away party.
Andrew Kinard is a young Marine I first met a few years ago at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington where he was recovering from a devastating IED attack in Iraq. He had stepped on the roadside bomb and lost his entire body below the hips.
The party being arranged was Andrew's farewell to D.C. Andrew is off to the rigors of Harvard Law School. He's says he's itching to get into a courtroom.
You need to remember the name Andrew Kinard. Many of his friends believe Andrew is such an amazing man that he will become president of the United States. If I had to bet, I'd say it could happen.
I wouldn't have missed the party for the world. I was touched that this tight-knit community of wounded warriors had included me in this very special, very intimate evening.
There was a display of photos of Andrew serving in Iraq. I suddenly realized I never knew how tall he was before the war. There were a few sniffles and wiping of eyes in the room for a Marine whose dream of service to his country ended within a few months of getting to Iraq. But sniffles didn't last long and the evening became one of hugs, laughter and good wishes (and more than a few beers) for a young Marine who had triumphed over what the war had dealt him.
But my warm feelings didn't last long. The next day another source in the wounded troop community came to me in the Pentagon hallway with another tale.
"You have to do something about the story of Ray Rivas," he said.
In the very hours we were celebrating Andrew in Washington, tragedy was unfolding in Texas. Lt. Col. Raymond Rivas, a 53-year old civil affairs officer who had dedicated his career to rebuilding war torn countries, was found dead in his car in the parking lot of Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio Texas.
Colleagues of Ray's said prescription pills and notes he wrote to his family and wife, Colleen, were found. A military source told me all indications are Ray took his own life.
read more here
Triumph and tragedy for two wounded soldiers
Story Highlights
CNN's Barbara Starr celebrated a victory and mourned a loss on July 15
An injured Marine was celebrating getting into Harvard Law School
On same night, a warrior with a traumatic brain injury was found dead in his car
Men's stories are linked -- both pleaded with the government to aid injured soldiers
By Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Where were you on the night of July 15? You may not even remember, but for me it was an extraordinary evening, an evening of unimaginable triumph and unbearable tragedy.
But I would not actually know everything that happened until the night was long over.
A couple of weeks before July 15, a friend who works with injured troops emailed me to say it was time for Andrew's going away party.
Andrew Kinard is a young Marine I first met a few years ago at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington where he was recovering from a devastating IED attack in Iraq. He had stepped on the roadside bomb and lost his entire body below the hips.
The party being arranged was Andrew's farewell to D.C. Andrew is off to the rigors of Harvard Law School. He's says he's itching to get into a courtroom.
You need to remember the name Andrew Kinard. Many of his friends believe Andrew is such an amazing man that he will become president of the United States. If I had to bet, I'd say it could happen.
I wouldn't have missed the party for the world. I was touched that this tight-knit community of wounded warriors had included me in this very special, very intimate evening.
There was a display of photos of Andrew serving in Iraq. I suddenly realized I never knew how tall he was before the war. There were a few sniffles and wiping of eyes in the room for a Marine whose dream of service to his country ended within a few months of getting to Iraq. But sniffles didn't last long and the evening became one of hugs, laughter and good wishes (and more than a few beers) for a young Marine who had triumphed over what the war had dealt him.
But my warm feelings didn't last long. The next day another source in the wounded troop community came to me in the Pentagon hallway with another tale.
"You have to do something about the story of Ray Rivas," he said.
In the very hours we were celebrating Andrew in Washington, tragedy was unfolding in Texas. Lt. Col. Raymond Rivas, a 53-year old civil affairs officer who had dedicated his career to rebuilding war torn countries, was found dead in his car in the parking lot of Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio Texas.
Colleagues of Ray's said prescription pills and notes he wrote to his family and wife, Colleen, were found. A military source told me all indications are Ray took his own life.
read more here
Triumph and tragedy for two wounded soldiers
Extreme sports used to help war veterans
Extreme sports used to help war veterans
By Gregg Bell - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jul 28, 2009 14:09:33 EDT
FORT LEWIS, Wash. — Sgt. Sylvia Portillo went first.
Secured with elastic cords to a railroad bridge more than 200 feet over a gorge south of Mount St. Helens, Portillo's mission was to dive over the edge. She pretended to throw up, getting a nervous laugh out of the troops behind her. Then, keeping her own anxiety in check, she bungee-jumped into the lush green below.
Dozens of soldiers in the 2nd Battalion, 12th Field Artillery Regiment and the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team took the plunge that day last fall. Most had been recently deployed in Iraq. Few had bungee-jumped before.
As he stood at the edge, Sgt. Steve Damron felt a mix of trepidation and adrenaline that he likened to patrols through Baghdad. "It's a chance to calm our brothers down," he said, "to push that adrenaline out."
That's the idea.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/ap_extreme_sports_072809
By Gregg Bell - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jul 28, 2009 14:09:33 EDT
FORT LEWIS, Wash. — Sgt. Sylvia Portillo went first.
Secured with elastic cords to a railroad bridge more than 200 feet over a gorge south of Mount St. Helens, Portillo's mission was to dive over the edge. She pretended to throw up, getting a nervous laugh out of the troops behind her. Then, keeping her own anxiety in check, she bungee-jumped into the lush green below.
Dozens of soldiers in the 2nd Battalion, 12th Field Artillery Regiment and the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team took the plunge that day last fall. Most had been recently deployed in Iraq. Few had bungee-jumped before.
As he stood at the edge, Sgt. Steve Damron felt a mix of trepidation and adrenaline that he likened to patrols through Baghdad. "It's a chance to calm our brothers down," he said, "to push that adrenaline out."
That's the idea.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/ap_extreme_sports_072809
PTSD On Trail:A Combat Soldier on Death Row?
A Combat Soldier on Death Row?
Tim King Salem-News.com
Prosecutors want to kill a three-tour combat veteran who was prescribed dangerous drugs by the same government that trained him to kill.
(ALTOONA, Pa.) - Somewhere along the way, Americans convinced themselves that you can train a soldier to kill, send him to war, then bring him home and deactivate the killer inside with a magical switch.
We learned during the Vietnam War, or re-learned more specifically, that it doesn't work that way. When you train thousands to survive in combat, a percentage will not easily shed those skills.
A highly decorated three-tour Iraq Army soldier named Nick Horner, a father of two beautiful children, snapped and did the unthinkable last year. The Iraq War vet went on an unprovoked shooting spree that left two people dead and a third injured.
read more here
A Combat Soldier on Death Row
Tim King Salem-News.com
Prosecutors want to kill a three-tour combat veteran who was prescribed dangerous drugs by the same government that trained him to kill.
(ALTOONA, Pa.) - Somewhere along the way, Americans convinced themselves that you can train a soldier to kill, send him to war, then bring him home and deactivate the killer inside with a magical switch.
We learned during the Vietnam War, or re-learned more specifically, that it doesn't work that way. When you train thousands to survive in combat, a percentage will not easily shed those skills.
A highly decorated three-tour Iraq Army soldier named Nick Horner, a father of two beautiful children, snapped and did the unthinkable last year. The Iraq War vet went on an unprovoked shooting spree that left two people dead and a third injured.
read more here
A Combat Soldier on Death Row
White House apologizes to mom of Brooklyn Marine for form-letter flap
This is one of the dangers when staffers use form letters to reply especially when the form letter they send out has nothing to do with the letter sent. It happens all the time.
I've written to politicians for years and ended up with either no response at all of replies totally ignoring what I wrote. It is not the fault of the politician but the untrained, unthinking and short-cutter staffer.
I've written to politicians for years and ended up with either no response at all of replies totally ignoring what I wrote. It is not the fault of the politician but the untrained, unthinking and short-cutter staffer.
White House apologizes to mom of Brooklyn Marine for form-letter flap
BY Corky Siemaszko
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Monday, July 27th 2009, 10:14 PM
First, the mom of a murdered Brooklyn Marine got a "form letter" response from the White House - then she got an apology.
Henryka Pietrzak-Varga was deeply upset last month when she received a standard letter from a White House aide, Michael Kelleher, that urged her to contact the White House if "you still need help with a federal agency."
The White House discovered the cold-hearted error after the Daily News asked for a reaction to the mom's disappointment, which she outlined in a Polish newspaper.
Soon after, a White House official called The News to say President Obama described the murder of Sgt. Jan Pawel Pietrzak and his wife, Quiana, as a "tragic loss" and thanked the mother "for her son's service and sacrifice for this country."
"Mr. Kelleher called Mrs. Pietrzak-Varga to apologize for the error," the official said. "Mrs. Pietrzak-Varga accepted his apology, and the two spoke for approximately half an hour."
Read more: White House apologizes to mom of Brooklyn Marine for form-letter flap
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