Groundhog Day for Danny Claricoates, the warrior with invisible wounds
Tom Coghlan
As Danny Claricoates was walking past some roadworks last week, a workman switched on a tarmac-flattening machine. He froze. Sweat began to pour off him and his heart started to race with shock.
He could hear the unmistakable sound of an incoming Chinook helicopter. He was back in Afghanistan on November 12 last year as the vehicle in front of him blew apart, then weeping as he carried the bodies of two close friends to a waiting helicopter.
Danny is trapped in a dystopian version of Groundhog Day. Particular sounds trigger the same flashback, and though the experience is always the same, it never loses any of its horror.
It is deeply debilitating. He is perpetually on edge and unable to shake off deep feelings of guilt.
What makes Danny unusual, however, is that not only is he willing to talk openly about the still-taboo subject of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), of which he now has a diagnosis, but that he is also a winner of one of Britain’s highest awards for gallantry: the Military Cross.
In 2007, aged 27, he spent seven months in Helmand. All but five weeks of that time was spent on the front line. He was awarded the MC for his exceptional courage under fire on three occasions.
When Danny returned from Afghanistan he was, his mother said, a different person. He was troubled, above all, by a sense of guilt. There had been a moment when a Marine was hit beside him and Danny didn’t stop to help him. The man was only shot in the wrist but Danny always blamed himself.
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Groundhog Day for Danny Claricoates
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Medal of Honor, Vietnam Vet Col. Robert Lewis Howard passed away
Decorated Army colonel, MoH recipient dies
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Dec 24, 2009 8:46:38 EST
WACO, Texas — Retired Col. Robert Lewis Howard, a man considered to be the country’s most decorated soldier, died Wednesday. He was 70.
Howard was battling pancreatic cancer and died about noon at a hospice, his friend Benito Guerrero, a Vietnam veteran and retired sergeant major, told the San Antonio Express-News.
The Army veteran died in Waco, according to Oak Crest Funeral Home. At the time of his death he was the most decorated American soldier, the funeral home obituary said. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. No date has been set, the funeral home said.
Howard grew up in Opelika, Ala., and served in the Army from 1956 to 1992. He was part of the U.S. Army Special Forces, known as the Green Berets, and ran cross-border operations in Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam. He was wounded 14 times in Vietnam and was awarded eight Purple Hearts.
He was nominated three times for the Medal of Honor, the nation’s most prestigious award for combat veterans. President Richard M. Nixon presented him with the honor at the White House in 1971 for his bravery in Vietnam during a mission to rescue a missing soldier in enemy territory.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_colonel_dies_122309/
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Dec 24, 2009 8:46:38 EST
WACO, Texas — Retired Col. Robert Lewis Howard, a man considered to be the country’s most decorated soldier, died Wednesday. He was 70.
Howard was battling pancreatic cancer and died about noon at a hospice, his friend Benito Guerrero, a Vietnam veteran and retired sergeant major, told the San Antonio Express-News.
The Army veteran died in Waco, according to Oak Crest Funeral Home. At the time of his death he was the most decorated American soldier, the funeral home obituary said. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. No date has been set, the funeral home said.
Howard grew up in Opelika, Ala., and served in the Army from 1956 to 1992. He was part of the U.S. Army Special Forces, known as the Green Berets, and ran cross-border operations in Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam. He was wounded 14 times in Vietnam and was awarded eight Purple Hearts.
He was nominated three times for the Medal of Honor, the nation’s most prestigious award for combat veterans. President Richard M. Nixon presented him with the honor at the White House in 1971 for his bravery in Vietnam during a mission to rescue a missing soldier in enemy territory.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_colonel_dies_122309/
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Veterans find peace working on San Diego-area farm
Veterans find peace working on San Diego-area farm
The Associated Press
Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009 9:51 p.m.
When Carlos Rivera returned from fighting in Iraq and found work as an electrician, he felt co-workers who knew about his military experience were gawking at him. He went home angry each day.
That's not a problem at his current job working alongside other combat veterans picking avocados, mixing organic fertilizers and gathering basil amid northern San Diego County's undulating ochre hills.
"I'm outdoors, not stuck inside somewhere feeling suffocated," said Rivera, 25, who returned from Iraq in 2007 after four years as a Marine. "There's always someone to talk to, someone there to understand."
Rivera works at Archi's Acres, a 3-acre high-tech organic farm owned by Colin Archipley, who served three tours in Iraq and is trying to help other combat vets shake the trauma of war by turning swords to plowshares.
Working the earth has long been recognized as good therapy for war veterans. About 20 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs centers have gardening programs, said Anthony Campinell, the VA's national director for work therapy programs. He said Archi's Acres is the only fully commercial enterprise of which he was aware.
Veterans have grown fruits, vegetables and flowers on a 12-acre parcel at the VA hospital in west Los Angeles since 1986. They sold their produce at farmers markets until April, when administrators had them take a break while they work out a deal for a nonprofit group to take over the commercial parts of that program.
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Veterans find peace working on San Diego area farm
The Associated Press
Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009 9:51 p.m.
When Carlos Rivera returned from fighting in Iraq and found work as an electrician, he felt co-workers who knew about his military experience were gawking at him. He went home angry each day.
That's not a problem at his current job working alongside other combat veterans picking avocados, mixing organic fertilizers and gathering basil amid northern San Diego County's undulating ochre hills.
"I'm outdoors, not stuck inside somewhere feeling suffocated," said Rivera, 25, who returned from Iraq in 2007 after four years as a Marine. "There's always someone to talk to, someone there to understand."
Rivera works at Archi's Acres, a 3-acre high-tech organic farm owned by Colin Archipley, who served three tours in Iraq and is trying to help other combat vets shake the trauma of war by turning swords to plowshares.
Working the earth has long been recognized as good therapy for war veterans. About 20 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs centers have gardening programs, said Anthony Campinell, the VA's national director for work therapy programs. He said Archi's Acres is the only fully commercial enterprise of which he was aware.
Veterans have grown fruits, vegetables and flowers on a 12-acre parcel at the VA hospital in west Los Angeles since 1986. They sold their produce at farmers markets until April, when administrators had them take a break while they work out a deal for a nonprofit group to take over the commercial parts of that program.
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Veterans find peace working on San Diego area farm
Homeless female vets find few services
Homeless female vets find few services
By Kimberly Hefling
The Associated Press
Updated: 12/18/2009
Long Beach, Calif.
The $15,000 that former Army Pvt. Margaret Ortiz had in the bank when she left Iraq is long gone, spent on alcohol and cocaine.
By the time she found her way to a program run by the nonprofit U.S. Vets for homeless female veterans in this Southern California city, she had slept in San Diego on the beach or anywhere she could find after a night of partying. One morning, she woke up behind a trash bin, her pants torn, with no memory of what happened.
Instead of helping her forget her six months in Iraq, where she said she faced attacks on her compound and sexual harassment from fellow soldiers, the alcohol and drugs brought flashbacks and raging blackouts. She said she tried to kill herself.
"You knew something was wrong with you, but you didn't know what was wrong with you. Nobody knew, and so you couldn't really handle it," said Ortiz, 27, from atop her twin bed in a plain dorm-style room, a black 4th Infantry Division ball cap on her head.
Ortiz is one of the new faces among America's homeless veterans.
They're younger than homeless male veterans and more likely to bring children. Their number has doubled in the past decade, and there are an estimated 6,500 homeless female veterans on any given night -- about 5 percent of the total homeless veterans population.
read more here
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14030471
By Kimberly Hefling
The Associated Press
Updated: 12/18/2009
Long Beach, Calif.
The $15,000 that former Army Pvt. Margaret Ortiz had in the bank when she left Iraq is long gone, spent on alcohol and cocaine.
By the time she found her way to a program run by the nonprofit U.S. Vets for homeless female veterans in this Southern California city, she had slept in San Diego on the beach or anywhere she could find after a night of partying. One morning, she woke up behind a trash bin, her pants torn, with no memory of what happened.
Instead of helping her forget her six months in Iraq, where she said she faced attacks on her compound and sexual harassment from fellow soldiers, the alcohol and drugs brought flashbacks and raging blackouts. She said she tried to kill herself.
"You knew something was wrong with you, but you didn't know what was wrong with you. Nobody knew, and so you couldn't really handle it," said Ortiz, 27, from atop her twin bed in a plain dorm-style room, a black 4th Infantry Division ball cap on her head.
Ortiz is one of the new faces among America's homeless veterans.
They're younger than homeless male veterans and more likely to bring children. Their number has doubled in the past decade, and there are an estimated 6,500 homeless female veterans on any given night -- about 5 percent of the total homeless veterans population.
read more here
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14030471
At Fort Hood, a 'sense of sorrow' clouds holidays
At Fort Hood, a 'sense of sorrow' clouds holidays
By Donna Leinwand and Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY
For the first time in 22 years, Sheryll Pearson won't put up a Christmas tree. Suddenly, the holiday she's always loved is "horrible."
Pearson's son, Mikey — Army Pfc. Michael Pearson, 22, who specialized in defusing bombs — is dead, gunned down last month in the rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, that killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others. Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, is charged with the slayings.
For families of the victims, for the injured and for the many who call the post at Fort Hood home, the Nov. 5 tragedy remains a fresh, stinging wound in what should be a joyous holiday season. Injured soldiers are wrestling with rehab as their units deploy overseas. Soldiers who live at Fort Hood have put on a brave face as they regain their sense of security. Professional counselors and chaplains are trying to help everyone make sense of it all.
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At Fort Hood, a 'sense of sorrow' clouds holidays
By Donna Leinwand and Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY
For the first time in 22 years, Sheryll Pearson won't put up a Christmas tree. Suddenly, the holiday she's always loved is "horrible."
Pearson's son, Mikey — Army Pfc. Michael Pearson, 22, who specialized in defusing bombs — is dead, gunned down last month in the rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, that killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others. Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, is charged with the slayings.
For families of the victims, for the injured and for the many who call the post at Fort Hood home, the Nov. 5 tragedy remains a fresh, stinging wound in what should be a joyous holiday season. Injured soldiers are wrestling with rehab as their units deploy overseas. Soldiers who live at Fort Hood have put on a brave face as they regain their sense of security. Professional counselors and chaplains are trying to help everyone make sense of it all.
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At Fort Hood, a 'sense of sorrow' clouds holidays
Friends, neighbors pray for wounded Pierce Co deputies
Friends, neighbors pray for wounded Pierce Co deputies
By KOMO Staff
EATONVILLE, Wash. -- With candles in hand, dozens of local residents gathered on Tuesday night to pray for the two Pierce County deputies who were shot at a home near Eatonville on Monday night.
Pierce County sheriff spokesman Ed Troyer said Deputy Kent Mundell and Sgt. Nick Hausner ran into trouble after responding to a domestic violence call.
Investigators said David E. Crable was concealing a gun in clothes he was holding and fired about 10 shots at the two deputies from just a few feet away. Mundell, 44, was hit multiple times, but managed to shoot back and kill Crable, Troyer said.
By KOMO Staff
EATONVILLE, Wash. -- With candles in hand, dozens of local residents gathered on Tuesday night to pray for the two Pierce County deputies who were shot at a home near Eatonville on Monday night.
Pierce County sheriff spokesman Ed Troyer said Deputy Kent Mundell and Sgt. Nick Hausner ran into trouble after responding to a domestic violence call.
Investigators said David E. Crable was concealing a gun in clothes he was holding and fired about 10 shots at the two deputies from just a few feet away. Mundell, 44, was hit multiple times, but managed to shoot back and kill Crable, Troyer said.
Friends say Hausner served in the U.S. Marine Corps before joining law enforcement.
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Veterans Still Waiting For GI Bill Payments, Colleges Unpaid
Veterans Still Waiting For GI Bill Payments, Colleges Unpaid
KIMBERLY HEFLING 12/22/09
WASHINGTON — Universities and colleges are still waiting for tuition payments for thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who attended school last fall under the new GI Bill, leaving the veterans panicked that they'll be unable to return to class in January.
Veterans Affairs Department officials promise to get them back into the classroom. The VA says the number of veterans with claims unprocessed is now fewer than 5,000 – down from tens of thousands – and the goal is to have them all processed by the end of the year.
"We continue to work on a daily basis with schools to make sure that no student is denied attending class as a result of delayed tuition payments," Katie Roberts, a VA spokeswoman, said Tuesday. "It's a top priority for VA to make sure that students can focus on their studies rather than their bank accounts."
But after being besieged by delays and financial hardship last semester that left them struggling to make rent payments and pay for textbooks, many veterans are frantically contacting veterans service organizations such as the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America for guidance.
Clay Hunt, a former Marine corporal who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, attends Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He said he and his wife have racked up about $4,000 in credit card debt because his university won't release student loans he needs for living expenses until tuition is fully paid. Hunt, 27, said under the GI Bill the school is still owed about $6,000 and he personally is owed about $1,700 for housing and books.
"I am disappointed about it," Hunt said. "I'm very disappointed about the way it was implemented. I feel like the VA had ample time to figure out how they were going to disperse these payments and make sure this transition to the new GI Bill went smoothly, and they definitely failed to do that."
read more here
Veterans Still Waiting For GI Bill Payments
KIMBERLY HEFLING 12/22/09
WASHINGTON — Universities and colleges are still waiting for tuition payments for thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who attended school last fall under the new GI Bill, leaving the veterans panicked that they'll be unable to return to class in January.
Veterans Affairs Department officials promise to get them back into the classroom. The VA says the number of veterans with claims unprocessed is now fewer than 5,000 – down from tens of thousands – and the goal is to have them all processed by the end of the year.
"We continue to work on a daily basis with schools to make sure that no student is denied attending class as a result of delayed tuition payments," Katie Roberts, a VA spokeswoman, said Tuesday. "It's a top priority for VA to make sure that students can focus on their studies rather than their bank accounts."
But after being besieged by delays and financial hardship last semester that left them struggling to make rent payments and pay for textbooks, many veterans are frantically contacting veterans service organizations such as the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America for guidance.
Clay Hunt, a former Marine corporal who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, attends Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He said he and his wife have racked up about $4,000 in credit card debt because his university won't release student loans he needs for living expenses until tuition is fully paid. Hunt, 27, said under the GI Bill the school is still owed about $6,000 and he personally is owed about $1,700 for housing and books.
"I am disappointed about it," Hunt said. "I'm very disappointed about the way it was implemented. I feel like the VA had ample time to figure out how they were going to disperse these payments and make sure this transition to the new GI Bill went smoothly, and they definitely failed to do that."
read more here
Veterans Still Waiting For GI Bill Payments
VA clerk's bright idea leads to White House visit
VA clerk's bright idea leads to White House visit
President Obama meets with winner of contest on how to reduce federal government waste
By Doug Beizer Dec 22, 2009
A Veterans Affairs Department clerk met with President Barack Obama at the White House Dec. 21 as a reward for her idea on how the VA can save money.
Nancy Fichtner, a support clerk at the VA hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., won the Securing Americans Value and Efficiency (SAVE) Award for her idea on how to cut waste at VA medical centers, according to the White House.
Partially used medical supplies, such as inhalers and eye drops, used at VA hospitals are thrown away when veterans are discharged, according to White House officials. Fichtner’s idea is to find a way to let patients to take those supplies with them after being discharged.
read more here
http://fcw.com/articles/2009/12/22/save-award-winner.aspx
President Obama meets with winner of contest on how to reduce federal government waste
By Doug Beizer Dec 22, 2009
A Veterans Affairs Department clerk met with President Barack Obama at the White House Dec. 21 as a reward for her idea on how the VA can save money.
Nancy Fichtner, a support clerk at the VA hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., won the Securing Americans Value and Efficiency (SAVE) Award for her idea on how to cut waste at VA medical centers, according to the White House.
Partially used medical supplies, such as inhalers and eye drops, used at VA hospitals are thrown away when veterans are discharged, according to White House officials. Fichtner’s idea is to find a way to let patients to take those supplies with them after being discharged.
read more here
http://fcw.com/articles/2009/12/22/save-award-winner.aspx
General Backs Off Court-Martial Threat for Pregnant Soldiers
General Backs Off Court-Martial Threat for Pregnant Soldiers
By JIM DAO
It didn’t take long. Just three days ago Stars and Stripes broke the story that the commander of United States forces in northern Iraq had threatened to court-martial military personnel under his command who became pregnant, or impregnated someone else. The order applied also to married couples who are deployed together.
But on Tuesday, the commander, Maj. Gen. Anthony A. Cucolo III, told ABC News that he would use only lesser, nonjudicial punishments to enforce the order. Courts-martial can lead to loss of all benefits and jail time.
“I see absolutely no circumstance where I would punish a female soldier by court-martial for a violation … none,” General Cucolo told ABC News.
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General Backs Off Court Martial Threat for Pregnant Soldiers
By JIM DAO
It didn’t take long. Just three days ago Stars and Stripes broke the story that the commander of United States forces in northern Iraq had threatened to court-martial military personnel under his command who became pregnant, or impregnated someone else. The order applied also to married couples who are deployed together.
But on Tuesday, the commander, Maj. Gen. Anthony A. Cucolo III, told ABC News that he would use only lesser, nonjudicial punishments to enforce the order. Courts-martial can lead to loss of all benefits and jail time.
“I see absolutely no circumstance where I would punish a female soldier by court-martial for a violation … none,” General Cucolo told ABC News.
read more here
General Backs Off Court Martial Threat for Pregnant Soldiers
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Burned Florida teen out of hospital
Burned Florida teen out of hospital
December 22, 2009 5:59 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Michael Brewer, 15, allegedly set on fire by other teens, faces more surgery
He and his family are not returning home, but to an undisclosed location
Brewers mother plans to speak to reporters on Wednesday
Fort Lauderdale, Florida (CNN) -- A 15-year-old boy who was burned over 65 percent of his body in October when he was set on fire, allegedly by a group of teenagers, was released from the hospital Tuesday, officials said.
Michael Brewer was discharged from the University of Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital Burn Center, spokeswoman Lorraine Nelson said in a written statement.
Doctors and Brewer's mother, Valerie, will speak to reporters Wednesday, Nelson said.
read more here
Burned Florida teen out of hospital
December 22, 2009 5:59 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Michael Brewer, 15, allegedly set on fire by other teens, faces more surgery
He and his family are not returning home, but to an undisclosed location
Brewers mother plans to speak to reporters on Wednesday
Fort Lauderdale, Florida (CNN) -- A 15-year-old boy who was burned over 65 percent of his body in October when he was set on fire, allegedly by a group of teenagers, was released from the hospital Tuesday, officials said.
Michael Brewer was discharged from the University of Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital Burn Center, spokeswoman Lorraine Nelson said in a written statement.
Doctors and Brewer's mother, Valerie, will speak to reporters Wednesday, Nelson said.
read more here
Burned Florida teen out of hospital
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