Army 9 month review of healthcare, worse

When the Bush Administration closed their eyes to all of this, and congress just played along, it all got worse for the soldiers and their families. Right now the infuriating part is that I keep hearing so many people say they don't want "socialized healthcare" but no one seems to be talking about the kind of healthcare the troops should be getting under tax payer funded healthcare. The VA has its own share of problems as well. The problem is not that these programs don't work, because they do, but the people in charge have to actually be in charge and know what is going on.

When congress had the chance to do something to prepare, they closed their eyes and complained that fully funding the medical end of the DOD and the VA would cost too much at the same time they had no problem finding the funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Why? Why were they allowed to get away with any of this?

If you want to blame the Obama Administration, you're way too late since all of this began long before he arrived in office. The question is, can he fix this fast enough? Can congress fix it fast enough? They have a lot to catch up on because for all the time they take to get things fixed, the troops and their families wait for what they should have never had to wait for.

Records: Health needs of soldiers not met

By Gregg Zoroya - USA TODAY
Posted : Thursday Jul 30, 2009 22:11:54 EDT

WASHINGTON — The number of Army medical centers and clinics that provide timely access to routine medical care has hit a five-year low, Army records show, often forcing soldiers and their families to seek treatment off base.

About 16 percent of Army patients, particularly family members, can’t get appointments with their primary physicians and are sent to doctors off the installation, according to the results of a nine-month Army review finished late last year. Some of those patients end up in emergency rooms or urgent care centers, says the study, which the Army provided to USA TODAY.

Army records show that 26 of its medical centers, hospitals and clinics are unable to meet the Pentagon standard requiring that 90 percent of patients get routine care appointments within seven days. Those are the worst results since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That’s a 13 percent increase from 2005 in the number of medical facilities unable to meet the standard.
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Health needs of soldiers not met

PTSD on Trial: Nathan James Keyes

Iraq War vet gets 3 years
By CHAD SMITH
July 31, 2009

Jamie Keyes held her son's decorated Army jacket Thursday as she told a judge how war changed her boy, hoping for leniency before he was sentenced for shooting at a sport utility vehicle occupied by a man and his 6-year-old daughter on a busy St. Augustine street last summer.

Her son, Nathan James Keyes, had nightmares, suffered from depression and withdrew from family when he came back from Iraq the first time, in July 2004, she said, fighting off tears as she read from a letter to the judge.

When he came back the second time, it was worse.

Every day she's reminded of the "indescribable horrors of war" her son lives with when she sees the bullet hole in her trailer's ceiling from the time he tried to kill himself.

Circuit Judge Wendy Berger said she appreciated Nathan Keyes' military service and agreed that the government did not do enough to help him readjust.

"It doesn't mean, though, that you shouldn't be held accountable," Berger said. "Does it mitigate your sentence? Maybe."

She sentenced Keyes to three years in prison, in the middle of the 18-to-54-month range agreed to in a plea deal, and four years on probation, during which time he will have to get counseling for post-traumatic stress at a center in Kissimmee and take anger management courses.
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Iraq War vet gets 3 years

The Enemy Within: US Army Suicide

The Enemy Within: US Army Suicide
By Alice Massimi

Published: July 30, 2009

Improvised Explosive Devices, Suicide Bombers, and Insurgents were once the most common enemy.

But as the violence decreases in Iraq, another enemy comes into clearer focus… suicide.

Since the War in Iraq erupted in March of 2003, the number of army suicides has drastically increased, surpassing the rate of the general population.

According to the U.S. Army, last year alone 140 soldiers committed suicide…. a sixty percent increase from 2003.

This year may surpass that…. with 82 reported suicides already.

In a Special Report - News Three’s Military Reporter Alice Massimi has more on the Army’s latest foe, whose startling numbers have the army sitting up and taking notice.

Suicide much like Post Traumatic Stress was not really discussed until some could say it was almost too late. But suicide is now an issue that can not be ignored. Soldiers will tell you its bad enough to lose a comrade in action, but to lose someone stateside is a whole other matter.
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The Enemy Within US Army Suicide

Does Hospital's 'Virtual Iraq' helps PTSD sufferers face their fears

Reports about Virtual Iraq have been out for a while but I have yet to see any data, any figures about how well this program is working. What is more troubling is that none of the veterans I've talked to have been involved with this program. If it worked, don't you think there would be many veterans pushing for this therapy to help other veterans?

Experts have said over and over again since Vietnam, veterans need to avoid war movies and even news reports about combat. How could this be a good thing? Does it really work? Has it worked short or long term? Are there follow up studies done? These are questions that need to be answered.

Hospital's 'Virtual Iraq' helps PTSD sufferers face their fears
By JOANNA RICHARDS
TIMES STAFF WRITER
FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2009

SYRACUSE — Upstate Medical University on Thursday unveiled a new treatment option for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Virtual Iraq" offers an interactive, multisensory experience — like an enhanced video game — allowing soldiers to confront and gradually conquer their fears in a safe, private and controlled environment.

"The young vets seem more likely to take to this kind of therapy," said Robbi T. Saletsky, director of the university's Cognitive Behavior Program for Depression and Anxiety Disorders. "There's less stigma attached to it; it seems cool."

Ms. Saletsky demonstrated a treatment session in her office for the press. Volunteer Cristy L. Samuel, an Iraq war veteran and pre-medical student at Syracuse University, simulated the role of a patient. She is not a victim of PTSD, but said she would recommend the treatment for veterans with the condition.
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Hospital Virtual Iraq helps PTSD sufferers face their fears

Navy Destroyer named after Medal of Honor Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham

FILE - This undated family photo shows U.S. Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham, who died April 22, 2004, after sustaining a head injury from a shrapnel wound, April 14, 2004, in Iraq. He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. A Navy destroyer will be christened in his honor Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009, at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. (AP Photo/The Wellsville Daily Reporter, courtesy Dunham family, File)

Warship honors Marine who died protecting comrades
By DAVID SHARP (AP)

BATH, Maine — Marines flushing out Iraqi insurgents after an ambush came upon a column of vehicles. A van with a father and son. A pickup truck. A tractor. A BMW with a couple of sheiks. And a Toyota Land Cruiser with four young men, all of them insurgents.

As Marines began searching the vehicles, the driver of the Land Cruiser jumped out and attacked Cpl. Jason Dunham. The two men tumbled onto the dirt road. Two Marines ran up to assist but Dunham cried out, "No, no, no, watch his hand!"

A grenade exploded, rocking the narrow street.

Dunham, 22, of Scio, N.Y., mortally wounded as he saved his comrades that day, will be honored Saturday at the christening of the Navy's newest destroyer, the USS Jason Dunham. The young corporal who threw his Kevlar helmet and his body onto the grenade became the first Marine since the Vietnam War to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military honor.

His mother, Deb Dunham, said she can't think of a greater tribute.
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Warship honors Marine who died protecting comrades

Cpl. Benjamin Kopp passed away at Walter Reed

Funeral services Aug. 1 for Cpl. Benjamin Kopp, Rosemount
Thursday, 30 July 2009
The funeral details for Cpl. Benjamin S. Kopp, 21, of Rosemount have been announced. Cpl. Benjamin Stephen Kopp of Rosemount died July 18, 2009, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., from wounds suffered on July 10 in Afghanistan.

Funeral services Aug. 1 for Cpl. Benjamin Kopp

Bruce Rossmeyer Killed In Motorcycle Accident in Wyoming

Bruce Rossmeyer Killed In Motorcycle Accident
Thursday, July 30, 2009 9:10:54 PM



Daytona Harley-Davidson at Destination Daytona
Destination Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH -- Bruce Rossmeyer, an icon in the motorcycle community and known for donating millions to charities, is dead.

Rossmeyer, who was instrumental in getting the bike events, such as Bike Week, that are so important to Volusia County's economy reportedly died Thursday in a motorcycle accident in Wyoming.
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Bruce Rossmeyer Killed In Motorcycle Accident

UPDATE

Bruce Rossmeyer, Harley-Davidson empire builder, dies in motorcycle crash in Wyoming
"World's Largest" Harley-dealership owner Bruce Rossmeyer killed in motorcycle accident on way to Sturgis biker rally

Ludmilla Lelis

Sentinel Staff Writer

July 31, 2009
Bruce Rossmeyer staked his claim as the world's largest Harley-Davidson dealer, amassing an empire of 15 dealerships and stores across the nation, including his crown jewel, Destination Daytona off Interstate 95.

He made his face and name synonymous with motorcycles on TV commercials and massive highway billboards. Using his blockbuster persona, he promoted Daytona Beach's Bike Week and his favorite charities.

On Thursday, Rossmeyer died on a Harley, riding a Wyoming highway with a pack of friends on his annual trip to Sturgis, the biker mecca in South Dakota.

Rossmeyer, 66, lived in Ormond Beach. He is survived by his wife, Sandy; five children; and several grandchildren.

"He was in that moment that he lived for. He was doing what he loved to do," said Richie Supa, a fellow biker and musician who performed at Rossmeyer's charity events. "How ironic it is for him to be on a motorcycle in one of the most beautiful riding territories in the U.S.
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Bruce Rossmeyer Harley-Davidson empire builder

Man jailed by dog, released by DNA

Fake scent-tracking dog sends man to prison for 26 years

Posted: 06:28 PM ET

Randi Kaye Bio
AC360° Correspondent

A Florida man who was convicted of murder in part because of the work of an allegedly infallible scent-tracking dog, is free now, because the dog and the dog’s owner has been exposed as a fraud. Unfortunately for Bill Dillon he had to spend 26 years in prison before the error in his case was rectified.

Bill Dillon, was 22 when he was sentenced to life in prison in 1981, for killing a man in Canova Beach on the eastern coast of the state.

During the trial, Dillon was adamant that he had not committed the crime. But a man named John Preston testified in court that he and his scent-tracking German-Shepherd connected Dillon to the killer’s bloody t-shirt. Preston said his dog, “Harrass 2,” even tracked Dillon’s scent repeatedly in later tests.

Dillon expected to remain in prison for the rest of his life – all because of “Harrass 2,” and his handler, Preston, who billed himself around the country as a so-called scent -tracking expert.

But nearly three decades later, in 2007, DNA testing proved that Dillon’s DNA did not match the DNA on the killer’s shirt. The dog was wrong. Just eight months ago, after 26 years behind bars, Bill Dillon walked out of prison a free man.
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Fake scent-tracking dog sends man to prison for 26 years

Will the Army ever stop better than nothing approach?

“You don’t have to act on your emotions,” the instructor said, adding, “Emotions don’t make you weak. You need to develop emotional control.”

This is the part that concerns me the most. It indicates the Army still does not understand PTSD. Controlling their emotions is not the problem. They do this quite well especially when they are faced with someone trying to kill them, bombs waiting to blow them up and never knowing who the enemy really is.

Understanding their emotions is what they should focus on as well as understanding what PTSD is and knowing when they need help. If the Army does not do this the numbers will keep going up on the suicides as well as attempted suicides. Perhaps even more troubling is the consequences of sending them home with PTSD taking control. Just read some of the crimes that have been committed and know that anger is the one emotion they will allow themselves to have. Other people pay the price for this absence of real leadership.

Trying to get the troops to "control their emotions" while trying to prevent PTSD is like telling a dog it can't have the bone. You may restrain him but you have one angry dog on a very short leash.

PTSD causes the mind to build walls around it so that more emotional pain cannot penetrate it. Anger is the only emotion allowed to get out. Anything else causes more pain. This is why they become detached from people they used to care about. This is why they appear to be emotionally dead inside. Will the Army ever understand this?

In times like this I am glad I am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist because they know a lot more about diagnosing and medications to use, but they don't know the men and women they are taking care of because they never really listen. They never really hear the words they say or know what is behind those words.

I've been talking and listening to them long enough to know what is behind what they do and how they feel and that's why I know what it is they need to know to heal. All this mumbo jumbo about toughening anything is a load of crap.

They are tough already. They are trained. They are able, willing and ready to face whatever is asked of them. They endure endless days of waiting for the next bullet to be fired or bomb to blow up. They have more than enough courage to do what is asked of them. Anyone saying anything other than these facts does not know them. They do not know them anymore than they know what is needed to be done. Lives are on the line while the people in charge are at grade school level in understanding any of this.

This isn't about tooting my own horn but tooting the horns of the experts I've trusted all these years. People that have spent the greater part of their lives dedicated to this work. This is tooting the horn of veterans that have pushed themselves to contact me and open up. I learned from the best of them. I also learned from my own husband simply because I cared enough to listen but not just with my brain. I listened with my heart since PTSD is an emotional wound.

Casey: Stress programs to be added to basic

By Susanne M. Schafer - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jul 30, 2009 17:54:59 EDT

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Army’s top general says basic training will soon include anti-stress programs as part of a broader effort to help soldiers deal with the aftereffects of combat and prevent suicides.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey told reporters during a visit to inspect training Thursday that the new program will begin Oct. 1. It will be part of a soldier’s first week in basic and continue through all levels of Army education for officers and enlisted men and women.

“This is something that will serve the soldiers in whatever environment they are in — at war, at home, and frankly in their personal lives,” Casey said.

The Army has struggled to curb a surge in suicides. Casey says he is frustrated by the numbers and feels the Army hasn’t done enough to give soldiers preventive skills to fight stress, both in combat and when they return home.

“A year or so ago when we began thinking about this, we saw the suicide rates climbing and I remember the futility of sitting there and talking about, what could we have done differently, why didn’t we see this?” Casey said. “I thought we need to focus more on giving soldiers the tools that they need and never got.”

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Stress programs to be added to basic

PTSD on Trial:Marine pleads not guilty in California attacks

Marine pleads not guilty in California attacks
(AP) – 1 day ago

FRESNO, Calif. — An attorney for a U.S. Marine accused of attacking his estranged wife and two of her relatives says his client suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from combat.

Twenty-six-year-old Sgt. Dejon Baskin, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, is being held on $3.75 million bail.
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Marine pleads not guilty in California attacks