Military Family Caucus has Mullen’s OK
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Nov 4, 2009 14:43:37 EST
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs said both he and his wife fully support the new Congressional Military Family Caucus, a group formed to work on child care, education, health and deployment issues.
Adm. Mike Mullen was the keynote speaker at Wednesday’s inaugural meeting of the caucus — which has 70 members and growing — formed by members of the House of Representatives to identify and try to resolve issues affecting military families.
Mullen said he and his wife, Deborah, will do everything they can for the cause.
“We are extremely grateful for your starting the caucus,” he said. “This is a big deal.”
Mullen endorsed the list of issues gaining attention from the caucus, saying it matches the feedback he has received from his wife and from meeting with military family members around the world. He urged the caucus to also listen to families.
read more here
Military Family Caucus has Mullens OK
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Veterans agency to track, assess PTSD treatments
Veterans agency to track, assess PTSD treatments
By Mary Mosquera
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
The Veterans Affairs Department wants to develop a Web-based system for tracking and analyzing clinical data about the treatment that veterans receive for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The VA has said previously that it has expanded care for the large number of soldiers returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan who suffer from the condition. The department now wants to be able to assess its treatment and outcomes.
VA published a request for proposals from vendors for the PTSD treatment monitoring tool on the Federal Business Opportunities Web site Oct. 28.
The software will run alongside VA’s VistA computerized patient record system and extract data on veterans’ PTSD care, according to the notice. The system will then generate reports for VA healthcare program managers.
read more here
Veterans agency to track, assess PTSD treatments
By Mary Mosquera
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
The Veterans Affairs Department wants to develop a Web-based system for tracking and analyzing clinical data about the treatment that veterans receive for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The VA has said previously that it has expanded care for the large number of soldiers returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan who suffer from the condition. The department now wants to be able to assess its treatment and outcomes.
VA published a request for proposals from vendors for the PTSD treatment monitoring tool on the Federal Business Opportunities Web site Oct. 28.
The software will run alongside VA’s VistA computerized patient record system and extract data on veterans’ PTSD care, according to the notice. The system will then generate reports for VA healthcare program managers.
read more here
Veterans agency to track, assess PTSD treatments
No excuse for Senator Colburn holding up bill for veterans
The "objection is cost" and he said that? The price was due and payable as soon as the first pair of boots was sent into Afghanistan and then into Iraq. Didn't they think of this when they sent them? After all, wars do not produce only coffins coming back but wounded as well. Keep in mind that there were less doctors and nurses working for the VA with two campaigns going on than there were after the Gulf War. Also keep in mind that there was nothing really being done for any of the wounded for far too long, so there is no excuse Senator Coburn can use now. This money should have been paid in full years ago. To complain now is forget what a huge role he played in all of this in the first place. He should be ashamed he does not understand that while he's complaining about money, they are suffering. They didn't make the congress wait when they were told to go so why the hell should they have to wait until Coburn finds his conscience and understands this is what we owe them now?
Sen. blocking bill: Objection is cost, not vets
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Nov 4, 2009 17:09:49 EST
The senator holding up consideration of an omnibus veterans’ health bill doesn’t hate veterans and their families, but he does hate the idea of creating new benefits without paying for them, his spokesman says.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., is using Senate rules to block a vote on S 1963, a major veterans bill, unless he has the chance to offer amendments to pay for the new benefits it creates, especially stipends, health benefits, counseling and other programs aimed at family caregivers of seriously wounded combat veterans.
Coburn spokesman John Hart said the senator has questions about the new benefit, wondering why, if it is such a good thing for families, it is limited to helping only those of Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans. But the main objection is cost.
“We are at a point in our history when we have to start paying for things,” Hart said.
read more here
Objection is cost, not vets
We've lost our legend:Staff Sgt. Olaf Schmid
We've lost our legend: Tributes for hero bomb expert Staff Sgt Olaf Schmid killed in Afghanistan
By Chris Hughes 3/11/2009
He saved countless lives as he defused 64 Afghan bombs. He died doing the job he loved.. days before he was due home
A crack bomb expert who saved scores of lives as he defused 64 Taliban devices was killed as he tried to dismantle yet another.
Staff Sgt Olaf Schmid, 30, paid the ultimate sacrifice just a week before he was due home on leave.
Yesterday, he was hailed as "a legend" as senior officers paid tribute to the nerveless courage that had prevented casualties on countless occasions.
His CO, Lt Col Robert Thomson of 2 Rifles Battle Group, said: "He saved lives in 2 Rifles time after time and for that he will retain a very special place in every heart of every rifleman in our Battle Group. Superlatives do not do the man justice. Better than the best."
read more here
Tributes for hero bomb expert Staff Sgt Olaf Schmid
By Chris Hughes 3/11/2009
He saved countless lives as he defused 64 Afghan bombs. He died doing the job he loved.. days before he was due home
A crack bomb expert who saved scores of lives as he defused 64 Taliban devices was killed as he tried to dismantle yet another.
Staff Sgt Olaf Schmid, 30, paid the ultimate sacrifice just a week before he was due home on leave.
Yesterday, he was hailed as "a legend" as senior officers paid tribute to the nerveless courage that had prevented casualties on countless occasions.
His CO, Lt Col Robert Thomson of 2 Rifles Battle Group, said: "He saved lives in 2 Rifles time after time and for that he will retain a very special place in every heart of every rifleman in our Battle Group. Superlatives do not do the man justice. Better than the best."
read more here
Tributes for hero bomb expert Staff Sgt Olaf Schmid
UK "Rambo" pulled out bullet and kept on fighting Taliban
Hero Afghanistan soldier: I dug Taliban bullet out of my arm... and carried on fighting
By Rod Chaytor 4/11/2009
His extraordinary heroics sound like something out of a Rambo movie.
When Grenadier Guardsman Lewis Coulbert, 22, was shot in the left arm during a Taliban firefight he refused to quit the battlefield.
Bloodied and in agony, he poked around the wound with his fingers before plucking out the bullet.
He then applied a bandage, resumed his position and started shooting at the insurgents again.
What makes Guardsman Coulbert's actions even more amazing is that it was his first gun battle and tour of duty in Afghanistan.
read more here
I dug Taliban bullet out of my arm
linked from
http://www.icasualties.org/OEF/index.aspx
By Rod Chaytor 4/11/2009
His extraordinary heroics sound like something out of a Rambo movie.
When Grenadier Guardsman Lewis Coulbert, 22, was shot in the left arm during a Taliban firefight he refused to quit the battlefield.
Bloodied and in agony, he poked around the wound with his fingers before plucking out the bullet.
He then applied a bandage, resumed his position and started shooting at the insurgents again.
What makes Guardsman Coulbert's actions even more amazing is that it was his first gun battle and tour of duty in Afghanistan.
read more here
I dug Taliban bullet out of my arm
linked from
http://www.icasualties.org/OEF/index.aspx
Shinseki Announces Veterans' Stories Posted on VA's Web Page
Shinseki Announces Veterans' Stories Posted on VA's Web Page
Countdown to Veterans Day with Library of Congress
WASHINGTON (Nov. 4, 2009) - Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki announced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will join
with the Library of Congress to host a "Veterans History Countdown" on
the VA Web site - www.va.gov- featuring the oral
histories of Veterans from every state and U.S. territory.
"VA has partnered with the Library of Congress to honor our Veterans,
preserve their histories and ensure that their service, sacrifice and
heroism will never be forgotten," said Secretary Shinseki. "We want to
encourage Americans to record the oral histories of Veterans for future
generations."
Each day, beginning Nov.1, VA's Web feature will introduce new personal
histories, culminating on Veterans Day when a Veteran's history from
each state and U.S. territory will be available simply by clicking on
the U.S. map in the display.
As Veterans Day approaches, the VA Web display will urge Americans to
"Honor our Veterans. Record their Histories!" The display will link to
the library's Veterans History Project Web site -- www.loc.gov/vets --
which provides background about the program, a guide for volunteers to
follow in recording and submitting Veterans' oral histories and to
access the project's extensive digital archive.
VA has collaborated with the Veterans History Project since its
implementing legislation was signed into law on Oct. 27, 2000. VA
Voluntary Service has made oral history recording part of its program.
VA offers Veterans the opportunity to record their histories at its
facilities and special events. These collections of first-hand accounts
are archived in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
"We hope the Veterans History Countdown will serve as a call to action
for volunteers to record the first-hand stories of the Veterans they
know-relatives, neighbors, friends," said Bob Patrick, director of the
Veterans History Project.
The Veterans History Project collects and preserves the remembrances of
American war Veterans and civilian workers who supported them.
The recordings make accessible the first-hand remembrances of American
wartime Veterans from World War I through the current conflicts in Iraq
and Afghanistan so that future generations may hear directly from
Veterans and better understand the realities of war. Approximately
65,000 individual stories comprise the collection of the Veterans
History Project.
The project relies on volunteers to record Veterans' remembrances using
guidelines accessible at www.loc.gov/vets
Volunteer interviewers may request information at vohp@loc.gov
or the toll-free message line at (888)
371-5848.
Countdown to Veterans Day with Library of Congress
WASHINGTON (Nov. 4, 2009) - Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki announced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will join
with the Library of Congress to host a "Veterans History Countdown" on
the VA Web site - www.va.gov
histories of Veterans from every state and U.S. territory.
"VA has partnered with the Library of Congress to honor our Veterans,
preserve their histories and ensure that their service, sacrifice and
heroism will never be forgotten," said Secretary Shinseki. "We want to
encourage Americans to record the oral histories of Veterans for future
generations."
Each day, beginning Nov.1, VA's Web feature will introduce new personal
histories, culminating on Veterans Day when a Veteran's history from
each state and U.S. territory will be available simply by clicking on
the U.S. map in the display.
As Veterans Day approaches, the VA Web display will urge Americans to
"Honor our Veterans. Record their Histories!" The display will link to
the library's Veterans History Project Web site -- www.loc.gov/vets --
which provides background about the program, a guide for volunteers to
follow in recording and submitting Veterans' oral histories and to
access the project's extensive digital archive.
VA has collaborated with the Veterans History Project since its
implementing legislation was signed into law on Oct. 27, 2000. VA
Voluntary Service has made oral history recording part of its program.
VA offers Veterans the opportunity to record their histories at its
facilities and special events. These collections of first-hand accounts
are archived in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
"We hope the Veterans History Countdown will serve as a call to action
for volunteers to record the first-hand stories of the Veterans they
know-relatives, neighbors, friends," said Bob Patrick, director of the
Veterans History Project.
The Veterans History Project collects and preserves the remembrances of
American war Veterans and civilian workers who supported them.
The recordings make accessible the first-hand remembrances of American
wartime Veterans from World War I through the current conflicts in Iraq
and Afghanistan so that future generations may hear directly from
Veterans and better understand the realities of war. Approximately
65,000 individual stories comprise the collection of the Veterans
History Project.
The project relies on volunteers to record Veterans' remembrances using
guidelines accessible at www.loc.gov/vets
Volunteer interviewers may request information at vohp@loc.gov
371-5848.
Soldiers look to ATV rides to beat stress of returning
Soldiers look to ATV rides to beat stress of returning
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Last week, they used the same type of four-wheeled motorcycles to blow off steam after returning home.
Hohenfels Outdoor Recreation recently purchased 20 ATVs, helmets, body protection, gloves and goggles with a $150,000 seed grant to set up a riding program at the sprawling training facility in southern Germany, said Outdoor Recreation ATV instructor Brian Witty.
The daylong safety course and trail ride is part of Warrior Adventure Quest — a program that aims to help soldiers beat post-deployment stress through adventure sports.
One of the Company B soldiers riding an ATV last week was Pfc. Christopher Gist, 20, of Union, S.C. Gist said he and his buddies just returned from Forward Operating Base Baylough, a platoon-size outpost high in the mountains of Zabul province, Afghanistan.
read more here
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=65836
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Last week, they used the same type of four-wheeled motorcycles to blow off steam after returning home.
Hohenfels Outdoor Recreation recently purchased 20 ATVs, helmets, body protection, gloves and goggles with a $150,000 seed grant to set up a riding program at the sprawling training facility in southern Germany, said Outdoor Recreation ATV instructor Brian Witty.
The daylong safety course and trail ride is part of Warrior Adventure Quest — a program that aims to help soldiers beat post-deployment stress through adventure sports.
One of the Company B soldiers riding an ATV last week was Pfc. Christopher Gist, 20, of Union, S.C. Gist said he and his buddies just returned from Forward Operating Base Baylough, a platoon-size outpost high in the mountains of Zabul province, Afghanistan.
read more here
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=65836
White River's VA hospital grows for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
White River's VA hospital grows for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
By Gregory Trotter
Valley News of Lebanon
Published: Wednesday, November 04, 2009
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. — The White River Junction Veterans Affairs Medical Center is expanding and evolving to help a new generation of soldiers returning from war.
The first physical proof is the metal frame of the new office building, visible from Route 5, which will eventually house the Executive Division of the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
After its slated March 2010 completion, the PTSD center will provide evidence-based research and expert access for VA hospital administrators and regional directors trying to stay abreast of the most effective ways to help soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The center will also inform the care at the White River facility, as more young men and women in military uniform begin to populate the campus.
“This is about meeting the needs of patients like this young man,” said Andy LaCasse, spokesman for the VA Medical Center, nodding toward a young soldier in full dress bustling past. “Until two years ago, the majority of our patients were World War II veterans but we’re going to start seeing more young people like him.”
There are about 4,000 veterans from Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraq Freedom in Vermont, according to a PTSD center news release. That number stands to increase after the National Guardsmen and others return. Vermont and New Hampshire will each have approximately 1,800 young men and women deploying by the end of the year.
read more here
http://sentinelsource.com/articles/2009/11/04/features/health_fitness/free/id_377694.txt
By Gregory Trotter
Valley News of Lebanon
Published: Wednesday, November 04, 2009
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. — The White River Junction Veterans Affairs Medical Center is expanding and evolving to help a new generation of soldiers returning from war.
The first physical proof is the metal frame of the new office building, visible from Route 5, which will eventually house the Executive Division of the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
After its slated March 2010 completion, the PTSD center will provide evidence-based research and expert access for VA hospital administrators and regional directors trying to stay abreast of the most effective ways to help soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The center will also inform the care at the White River facility, as more young men and women in military uniform begin to populate the campus.
“This is about meeting the needs of patients like this young man,” said Andy LaCasse, spokesman for the VA Medical Center, nodding toward a young soldier in full dress bustling past. “Until two years ago, the majority of our patients were World War II veterans but we’re going to start seeing more young people like him.”
There are about 4,000 veterans from Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraq Freedom in Vermont, according to a PTSD center news release. That number stands to increase after the National Guardsmen and others return. Vermont and New Hampshire will each have approximately 1,800 young men and women deploying by the end of the year.
read more here
http://sentinelsource.com/articles/2009/11/04/features/health_fitness/free/id_377694.txt
Man shot by police a Iraq three tour veteran
Man shot by police a veteran
The father of a 26-year-old Lake Stevens man who was fatally shot by police on Sunday, says his son returned from three deployments in Iraq an angry man.
By Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times staff reporter
When John LaBossiere returned from his third tour in Iraq this summer, he was an angry man, according to his father.
"I'm not saying that all of his issues were war-related," Phil LaBossiere said on Tuesday. "But it seems to me that the service just used him and spit him out."
John LaBossiere, 26, was fatally shot by a Lake Stevens police officer on Sunday after he reportedly forced his way into a home where his wife and three children were staying with friends. Investigators found one handgun near him and another on his body, according to Sgt. Robert Goetz, a spokesman for the Snohomish County Multi-Agency Response Team (SMART), which is investigating the shooting.
According to Goetz, officers were called to a "domestic disturbance" that involved a weapon at about 8 p.m. in the 10400 block of 25th Street Southeast near Lake Stevens in unincorporated Snohomish County. Two Lake Stevens officers arrived and almost immediately got into an "altercation" with LaBossiere that ended in LaBossiere's death, Goetz said.
The father of a 26-year-old Lake Stevens man who was fatally shot by police on Sunday, says his son returned from three deployments in Iraq an angry man.
By Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times staff reporter
When John LaBossiere returned from his third tour in Iraq this summer, he was an angry man, according to his father.
"I'm not saying that all of his issues were war-related," Phil LaBossiere said on Tuesday. "But it seems to me that the service just used him and spit him out."
John LaBossiere, 26, was fatally shot by a Lake Stevens police officer on Sunday after he reportedly forced his way into a home where his wife and three children were staying with friends. Investigators found one handgun near him and another on his body, according to Sgt. Robert Goetz, a spokesman for the Snohomish County Multi-Agency Response Team (SMART), which is investigating the shooting.
According to Goetz, officers were called to a "domestic disturbance" that involved a weapon at about 8 p.m. in the 10400 block of 25th Street Southeast near Lake Stevens in unincorporated Snohomish County. Two Lake Stevens officers arrived and almost immediately got into an "altercation" with LaBossiere that ended in LaBossiere's death, Goetz said.
Phil LaBossiere, however, confirmed his son's death.
He said he believes his son was "confused and upset" by his return to the civilian world and a deteriorating marriage.read more here
United States Marine Corps met a wild stray dog
'Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine and a Miracle'
by Helena Sung (Subscribe to Helena Sung's posts)
Nov 3rd 2009 6:00PM
When Maj. Brian Dennis of the United States Marine Corps met a wild stray dog with shorn ears while serving in Iraq, he had no idea of the bond they would form, leading to seismic changes in both their lives. "The general theme of the story of Nubs is that if you're kind to someone, they'll never forget you -- whether it be person or animal," Dennis tells Paw Nation.
In October 2007, Dennis and his team of 11 men were in Iraq patrolling the Syrian border. One day, as his team arrived at a border fort, they encountered a pack of stray dogs -- not uncommon in the barren, rocky desert that was home to wolves and wild dogs.
"We all got out of the Humvee and I started working when this dog came running up," recalls Dennis. "I said, 'Hey buddy' and bent down to pet him." Dennis noticed the dog's ears had been cut. "I said, 'You got little nubs for ears.'" The name stuck. The dog whose ears had been shorn off as a puppy by an Iraqi soldier (to make the dog "look tougher," Dennis says) became known as Nubs.
by Helena Sung (Subscribe to Helena Sung's posts)
Nov 3rd 2009 6:00PM
When Maj. Brian Dennis of the United States Marine Corps met a wild stray dog with shorn ears while serving in Iraq, he had no idea of the bond they would form, leading to seismic changes in both their lives. "The general theme of the story of Nubs is that if you're kind to someone, they'll never forget you -- whether it be person or animal," Dennis tells Paw Nation.
In October 2007, Dennis and his team of 11 men were in Iraq patrolling the Syrian border. One day, as his team arrived at a border fort, they encountered a pack of stray dogs -- not uncommon in the barren, rocky desert that was home to wolves and wild dogs.
"We all got out of the Humvee and I started working when this dog came running up," recalls Dennis. "I said, 'Hey buddy' and bent down to pet him." Dennis noticed the dog's ears had been cut. "I said, 'You got little nubs for ears.'" The name stuck. The dog whose ears had been shorn off as a puppy by an Iraqi soldier (to make the dog "look tougher," Dennis says) became known as Nubs.
Dennis' experience with Nubs led to a children's picture book, called "Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine and a Miracle," published by Little, Brown for Young Readers. They have appeared on the Today Show and will be appearing on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien on Monday.
read more here
The True Story of a Mutt a Marine and a miracle
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