We Will Remember Them
'We Will Remember Them' - Stars Record Tribute to Troops - ALL proceeds from the sale of this single will go to 'Help for Heroes' and 'The Royal British Legion.'
We Will Remember Them
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Injured veterans are stuck in limbo
Injured veterans are stuck in limbo
No longer in war zone but also not 'home,' they battle for normal
James Janega
Tribune reporter
January 3, 2010
For Mitch Chapman, recovering from broken bones and a brain injury, the mission now is treating the pain and surviving the nightmares.
For Michael Brown, who suffers from a shoulder wound and post-traumatic stress disorder, it is controlling sudden outbursts.
For Casey Church, the muscles in his left buttocks and hip gone, it is learning to walk again.
Three months after the end of the Illinois National Guard's yearlong deployment in Afghanistan, these young men are among 108 wounded soldiers who returned ahead of nearly 2,900 uninjured comrades -- but who are still fighting their bit of the war.
The 40 who suffered the worst injuries remain hospitalized at a dozen facilities that include Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas. The remainder, many suffering serious but less obvious wounds, shuttle back and forth to Veterans Affairs hospitals and rehabilitation clinics across Illinois.
read more here
Injured veterans are stuck in limbo
No longer in war zone but also not 'home,' they battle for normal
James Janega
Tribune reporter
January 3, 2010
For Mitch Chapman, recovering from broken bones and a brain injury, the mission now is treating the pain and surviving the nightmares.
For Michael Brown, who suffers from a shoulder wound and post-traumatic stress disorder, it is controlling sudden outbursts.
For Casey Church, the muscles in his left buttocks and hip gone, it is learning to walk again.
Three months after the end of the Illinois National Guard's yearlong deployment in Afghanistan, these young men are among 108 wounded soldiers who returned ahead of nearly 2,900 uninjured comrades -- but who are still fighting their bit of the war.
The 40 who suffered the worst injuries remain hospitalized at a dozen facilities that include Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas. The remainder, many suffering serious but less obvious wounds, shuttle back and forth to Veterans Affairs hospitals and rehabilitation clinics across Illinois.
read more here
Injured veterans are stuck in limbo
Help Other People Evolve
Help Other People Evolve
by
Chaplain Kathie
H O P E
Today I went to a trauma seminar at Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne FL. The speakers were wonderful but my mind drifted away from the civilians they were talking about focusing instead on the men and women in our military as well as the veterans.
We all get up in the morning not thinking today is the day our life will change forever, as a couple of the presenters pointed out. No one plans on traumatic events. It could be a car accident. It could be a fire. It could be someone deciding they wanted to obliterate co-workers they thought treated them badly. No matter how careful we are and no matter how much we don't deserve traumatic events to come into our lives, they happen usually because we are careless or because someone else caused it.
Getting over it depends on the kind of help we receive after, support from family instead of them avoiding us and the event and it also depends on our own inspiration to heal. God blessed us with the ability to overcome. All we need is already there but most of us have no clue where to look for it. Most want to return to the way they were before and when they can't this adds to the pain they carry. Any good therapist will tell them honestly there is no way possible to "return" to normal after trauma but they will also add in that the survivor can be better than they were before since every event in our lives, no matter how trivial or serious, changes us in some way.
Normal, regular people experience traumatic events in daily life even though we all try to avoid them. As bad as things can get for us, we need to stop and think about the men and women in the military serving today and the veterans we have living among us. Think of purposely going into danger and what that takes to be able to do it. Knowing someone ahead of them wants to kill them yet doing it anyway. This takes great courage to expose themselves to danger constantly in order to do their "jobs" and what deliver on what is asked of them.
We see police officers respond as they did today to the shooting in St. Louis
We know they have to do this kind of thing all the time as well as respond to everything else going on in "regular" life. What we do not see is what happens in Iraq and Afghanistan any more than we saw what really happened in Kuwait, Bosnia, Somalia, Vietnam or any of the other actions. We saw news reports but do you ever wonder what it would have been like if film was rolling 24-7 with each and every unit? It would begin to help the rest of us understand that if traumatic events can change our lives so drastically with one event, what must it be like for them with event after event after event? We know civilians end up with PTSD and we know responders do as well but somehow that does not translate into assumption of "normalcy" when it comes to the servicemen and women.
Years ago I tried to explain that PTSD is a normal reaction to abnormal events, events out of our control bringing everything in our lives into question, because we can understand the shock a family feels when someone dies unexpectedly, the shock when a fatal diagnosis is given or when someone never walks thru the door again. We have an easier time acknowledging what the survivors are going through than we do when it comes to people dealing with all of it, plus their own "normal" traumatic events the rest of us go through. An example of this came this week.
This Mom expected traumatic events in Iraq but as she faced them, the trauma came back home when her two sons died. Her life changed in an instant, yet not the kind of change, not the kind of trauma, she suspected would happen. In Iraq, in Afghanistan, they are prepared for the fact they could be in the wrong place when a bomb blows up or when a bullet has their name on it, just as they are prepared for the fact one of their friends could die, but as they face this reality, they also know something could happen back home even though they force themselves to not think about it, push it out of their minds because they have enough to worry about where they are as they face the reality they can do very little about it while they are deployed.
This is their reality.
When they are in the National Guards, they are soldiers while deployed, first responders back home facing natural disasters at the same time they worry about their families. For many, they work regular jobs, but these regular jobs often come with facing traumatic events on a daily basis while they are police officers, firefighters and emergency responders. All of this adds to what they have to heal from.
We are all humans, no matter what caused the trauma. It doesn't matter if we willingly risked our lives or not because all of our lives are at risk everyday. Most of us make it through our days without anything terrible happening, but for those touched by trauma, there is a private hell we either climb out of or sink into. For those who are able to climb out, we have a unique place in this world. We can help others find hope of being able to make it out of that pit because we are standing there.
We do not have to have PTSD to understand someone with it. We don't have to lose a limb to understand how something like that can change a life just as we don't have to lose a family member to be able to understand that. We understand better if we are survivors of the same kind of outcome, but just surviving trauma in itself helps us to be able to help them.
There is no kind of trauma that has not touched my life and perhaps that is why I was able to understand my husband better. He's the combat veteran and I am a veteran of trauma. My traumatic experiences began the day I was born with an violent alcoholic father who stopped drinking when I was 13. Before I was 5 I almost died because of what someone else did. Another child pushed me off a slide. I landed on my head, cracked my scull and had a concussion, but my life was placed in greater danger because the x-ray was read wrong and I was sent home. This was followed by a car accident, being beaten by my ex-husband, miscarriage and then almost dying after my daughter was born and an infection turned my system septic. With all of this and more, I was able to understand that trauma changes everyone. I also knew being a survivor was not anything to be ashamed of or feel hopeless about.
We can always offer hope to someone else. We can help other people evolve from darkness, feeling lost, frightened and alone into someone able to see that they can come out on the other side stronger too. We do this with experience, compassion and living an example of the continuation of living a full life by overcoming that which we cannot heal. Some trauma survivors have had serious bodily injuries they may never be able to fully recover from but that is not what has trapped them. It is what they have living inside of them trapping them from healing. You can help them find the power to heal and help them make peace with the fact the event changed them but does not have to destroy them.
When you read stories like the ones above, remember that most of the people on this planet will experience something out of the ordinary finding it hard to find someone as a role model to find hope from. Be there for them. Try contacting others online and share what you did to heal. If you are not healed yet, reach out to someone else and heal each other. None of this is impossible as long as there is still compassion in your heart from someone walking in your well worn shoes.
by
Chaplain Kathie
H O P E
Today I went to a trauma seminar at Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne FL. The speakers were wonderful but my mind drifted away from the civilians they were talking about focusing instead on the men and women in our military as well as the veterans.
We all get up in the morning not thinking today is the day our life will change forever, as a couple of the presenters pointed out. No one plans on traumatic events. It could be a car accident. It could be a fire. It could be someone deciding they wanted to obliterate co-workers they thought treated them badly. No matter how careful we are and no matter how much we don't deserve traumatic events to come into our lives, they happen usually because we are careless or because someone else caused it.
Getting over it depends on the kind of help we receive after, support from family instead of them avoiding us and the event and it also depends on our own inspiration to heal. God blessed us with the ability to overcome. All we need is already there but most of us have no clue where to look for it. Most want to return to the way they were before and when they can't this adds to the pain they carry. Any good therapist will tell them honestly there is no way possible to "return" to normal after trauma but they will also add in that the survivor can be better than they were before since every event in our lives, no matter how trivial or serious, changes us in some way.
Normal, regular people experience traumatic events in daily life even though we all try to avoid them. As bad as things can get for us, we need to stop and think about the men and women in the military serving today and the veterans we have living among us. Think of purposely going into danger and what that takes to be able to do it. Knowing someone ahead of them wants to kill them yet doing it anyway. This takes great courage to expose themselves to danger constantly in order to do their "jobs" and what deliver on what is asked of them.
We see police officers respond as they did today to the shooting in St. Louis
8 people shot, 3 fatally, at St. Louis factory, police say
January 7, 2010 2:50 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Suspect identified as Timothy Hendron; no word whether he's among those killed
Police doing room-by-room search at plant; interstate, surface streets closed
Of 8 shot, 3 are dead, 3 critically injured, two in fair condition, officials say
St. Louis, Missouri (CNN) -- Three people were killed and five others wounded Thursday in a shooting at a St. Louis, Missouri, transformer manufacturing company, police said.
It was unclear whether the suspect was among those killed at ABB Inc., St. Louis Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
A law enforcement official identified the suspect to CNN as Timothy Hendron.
The shooting occurred just before 6:30 a.m. Arriving officers were told that a man had entered the building with a rifle and a handgun, and that several people had been shot, police said.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/07/factory.shootings/index.html
We know they have to do this kind of thing all the time as well as respond to everything else going on in "regular" life. What we do not see is what happens in Iraq and Afghanistan any more than we saw what really happened in Kuwait, Bosnia, Somalia, Vietnam or any of the other actions. We saw news reports but do you ever wonder what it would have been like if film was rolling 24-7 with each and every unit? It would begin to help the rest of us understand that if traumatic events can change our lives so drastically with one event, what must it be like for them with event after event after event? We know civilians end up with PTSD and we know responders do as well but somehow that does not translate into assumption of "normalcy" when it comes to the servicemen and women.
Years ago I tried to explain that PTSD is a normal reaction to abnormal events, events out of our control bringing everything in our lives into question, because we can understand the shock a family feels when someone dies unexpectedly, the shock when a fatal diagnosis is given or when someone never walks thru the door again. We have an easier time acknowledging what the survivors are going through than we do when it comes to people dealing with all of it, plus their own "normal" traumatic events the rest of us go through. An example of this came this week.
Mom serving in Iraq hears two young sons died in house fire back home
Sons die in fire while mom's in Iraq'SHE'S DEVASTATED' Father pulls boys, ages 2 and 5, from room as smoke billows out window
January 5, 2010
BY STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporter
If the dreaded news comes, it's supposed to arrive stateside with a knock at the front door and a visit from two somber soldiers.That tragedy played out in reverse Monday when a Lansing soldier serving in Iraq was told her two small children had perished in a fire while napping at home."She's devastated, and she is trying to hold on," said Clint Towers, who is Areah Brown-Towers' father-in-law and grandfather to the two victims -- Joshua, 2, and Jeremiah, 5.Clint Towers said the American Red Cross was making arrangements Tuesday to bring the grieving mother home -- perhaps as soon as Thursday.
read more here Sons die in fire while mom in Iraq
This Mom expected traumatic events in Iraq but as she faced them, the trauma came back home when her two sons died. Her life changed in an instant, yet not the kind of change, not the kind of trauma, she suspected would happen. In Iraq, in Afghanistan, they are prepared for the fact they could be in the wrong place when a bomb blows up or when a bullet has their name on it, just as they are prepared for the fact one of their friends could die, but as they face this reality, they also know something could happen back home even though they force themselves to not think about it, push it out of their minds because they have enough to worry about where they are as they face the reality they can do very little about it while they are deployed.
This is their reality.
When they are in the National Guards, they are soldiers while deployed, first responders back home facing natural disasters at the same time they worry about their families. For many, they work regular jobs, but these regular jobs often come with facing traumatic events on a daily basis while they are police officers, firefighters and emergency responders. All of this adds to what they have to heal from.
We are all humans, no matter what caused the trauma. It doesn't matter if we willingly risked our lives or not because all of our lives are at risk everyday. Most of us make it through our days without anything terrible happening, but for those touched by trauma, there is a private hell we either climb out of or sink into. For those who are able to climb out, we have a unique place in this world. We can help others find hope of being able to make it out of that pit because we are standing there.
We do not have to have PTSD to understand someone with it. We don't have to lose a limb to understand how something like that can change a life just as we don't have to lose a family member to be able to understand that. We understand better if we are survivors of the same kind of outcome, but just surviving trauma in itself helps us to be able to help them.
There is no kind of trauma that has not touched my life and perhaps that is why I was able to understand my husband better. He's the combat veteran and I am a veteran of trauma. My traumatic experiences began the day I was born with an violent alcoholic father who stopped drinking when I was 13. Before I was 5 I almost died because of what someone else did. Another child pushed me off a slide. I landed on my head, cracked my scull and had a concussion, but my life was placed in greater danger because the x-ray was read wrong and I was sent home. This was followed by a car accident, being beaten by my ex-husband, miscarriage and then almost dying after my daughter was born and an infection turned my system septic. With all of this and more, I was able to understand that trauma changes everyone. I also knew being a survivor was not anything to be ashamed of or feel hopeless about.
We can always offer hope to someone else. We can help other people evolve from darkness, feeling lost, frightened and alone into someone able to see that they can come out on the other side stronger too. We do this with experience, compassion and living an example of the continuation of living a full life by overcoming that which we cannot heal. Some trauma survivors have had serious bodily injuries they may never be able to fully recover from but that is not what has trapped them. It is what they have living inside of them trapping them from healing. You can help them find the power to heal and help them make peace with the fact the event changed them but does not have to destroy them.
When you read stories like the ones above, remember that most of the people on this planet will experience something out of the ordinary finding it hard to find someone as a role model to find hope from. Be there for them. Try contacting others online and share what you did to heal. If you are not healed yet, reach out to someone else and heal each other. None of this is impossible as long as there is still compassion in your heart from someone walking in your well worn shoes.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
We were warned about what they carry home with them
The warning bells rang before the first troops were sent into Afghanistan but few heard them. They began to ring after Vietnam and grew louder every year as more and more veterans we asked much of were forgotten about when they were no longer of use to this nation. Some hard hearts will say that when a veteran is homeless it is his/her own fault because they cannot open their eyes and see the truth of the wound carried deeply in the soul of the men and women we send into combat. The things they carry home are our duty to tend to but when we don't this is what comes after they come home.
Year in Review: The Things Veterans Carry
By: GRITtv Saturday January 2, 2010 11:17 amIt’s 2010, and we’re still at war in Iraq and Afghanistan–and there are some who seem to think that adding a new war would be a great idea. It’s often pointed out that those who are willing to rush into wars are often not the people who fight in them. Back in May, we held a discussion on veterans’ issues. We wrote then:
More than one million soldiers have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan over the last eight years. Close to 4,500 have died in Iraq and nearly 20 percent of those who return have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Well over 100,000 Iraqis have been killed. As Memorial Day approaches how will soldiers, families of soldiers, and the rest of our society reflect on the dead and those still living with the trauma of war?
Today on GRITtv Darren Subarton a veteran who served in the Army’s 101st Air Borne Division, Joshua Kors who has written extensively on the experience of veterans returning from war, Dan Lohaus director of When I Came Home, and Nada Michael a student in Social Work at Smith College discuss the challenges veterans face, dealing with the VA, and what likely won’t be discussed Memorial Day.
For additional information on organizations and websites that support veterans you can visit Wounded Warriors Family Support, Community of Veterans, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Support Your Vet.
PTSD posts open up healing
Thirty years ago something like this was not possible, then again, there were very few even talking about PTSD openly at all.
This post came from a friend of a veteran's son but opened up a lot of other people as they shared their own stories. Some also have PTSD or have someone in their life with it. They are talking and this is a wonderful thing as heartbreaking as some of the posts are to read.
We've come a long way since the early days of discovering what wounds came home with the veterans. It's not a matter of the wounds being new because they are as old as man, but no one wanted to talk about it. Veterans were sent to mental institutions or, as with my husband's uncle, sent to live on a farm to be "taken care of" until they died. These veterans suffered just as much as the families had no one to talk to about any of it. It was the well kept secret of the family.
This changed when Vietnam veterans came back and fought for research and treatment at the same time their own suffering was taken care of by using alcohol and drugs, usually resulting in broken families and incarcerations. Still even they didn't want to talk about the suicides among them either. Families searched frantically for help, advice and support but knew that would all be impossible to find if no one wanted to talk about it. If they were lucky, someone they know would mention something from time to time and discussions would breakdown the loneliness they felt.
Veterans would seek out other veterans, soon starting their own groups and they began to finally talk. They learned how to lean on each other the same way they did in battle but this time fighting a battle to heal.
Twenty years ago, the ability of the Internet opened up even more conversations as people were able to reach out across the country and share. Things changed for the better, the isolation and loneliness was replaced by a common bond and today we see posts like this.
The person did not have a PTSD veteran but was exposed to the reality they live with because he cared.
I witnessed my friend's Dad have a PTSD attack this weekend... it has really messed me up.
This post came from a friend of a veteran's son but opened up a lot of other people as they shared their own stories. Some also have PTSD or have someone in their life with it. They are talking and this is a wonderful thing as heartbreaking as some of the posts are to read.
We've come a long way since the early days of discovering what wounds came home with the veterans. It's not a matter of the wounds being new because they are as old as man, but no one wanted to talk about it. Veterans were sent to mental institutions or, as with my husband's uncle, sent to live on a farm to be "taken care of" until they died. These veterans suffered just as much as the families had no one to talk to about any of it. It was the well kept secret of the family.
This changed when Vietnam veterans came back and fought for research and treatment at the same time their own suffering was taken care of by using alcohol and drugs, usually resulting in broken families and incarcerations. Still even they didn't want to talk about the suicides among them either. Families searched frantically for help, advice and support but knew that would all be impossible to find if no one wanted to talk about it. If they were lucky, someone they know would mention something from time to time and discussions would breakdown the loneliness they felt.
Veterans would seek out other veterans, soon starting their own groups and they began to finally talk. They learned how to lean on each other the same way they did in battle but this time fighting a battle to heal.
Twenty years ago, the ability of the Internet opened up even more conversations as people were able to reach out across the country and share. Things changed for the better, the isolation and loneliness was replaced by a common bond and today we see posts like this.
The person did not have a PTSD veteran but was exposed to the reality they live with because he cared.
I witnessed my friend's Dad have a PTSD attack this weekend... it has really messed me up.
Hero's ashes found in trash end up with proper burial because teenagers cared
Ashes Found in Trash Led to Proper Burial
January 05, 2010
St. Petersburg Times
The two teenagers got to the cemetery first. He wore his dark green dress uniform from the National Guard. She wore a long black dress. They stood on the edge of the road, across from rows of matching military headstones, waiting for the funeral of the man they had never met.
Mike Colt, 19, and his girlfriend, Carol Sturgell, 18, had driven more than an hour from their Tampa homes last month to be at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.
They weren't really sure why they had come. They just knew they had to be here.
"It's kind of sad, huh?" asked Sturgell, scanning the sea of white gravestones.
Colt nodded. "Yeah, but it feels kind of important."
January 05, 2010
St. Petersburg Times
The two teenagers got to the cemetery first. He wore his dark green dress uniform from the National Guard. She wore a long black dress. They stood on the edge of the road, across from rows of matching military headstones, waiting for the funeral of the man they had never met.
Mike Colt, 19, and his girlfriend, Carol Sturgell, 18, had driven more than an hour from their Tampa homes last month to be at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.
They weren't really sure why they had come. They just knew they had to be here.
"It's kind of sad, huh?" asked Sturgell, scanning the sea of white gravestones.
Colt nodded. "Yeah, but it feels kind of important."
She pulled it out, brushed off the dust. Across the top, bold letters said, "Department of Defense." Inside, she found retirement papers from the U.S. Army; a citation for a Purple Heart issued in 1945; and a certificate for a Bronze Star medal "for heroism in ground combat in the vicinity of Normandy, France ... June 1944." In the center of the certificate there was a name: Delbert E. Hahn.
read more here
Free housing deals for Salvation Army officers?
Stunned by this report? Wondering how is it that the Salvation Army is paying for houses? Do they look at it the same way churches do and they supply housing for their clergy? I doubt anyone would have a problem with that as long as the property was in the name of the organization and not the person living there. It happens all the time but we never think of it.
The more expensive home away from where the Majors and Commander live seem just wrong when you think about the need increasing for people to be helped and many of the people seeking help of the Salvation Army have lost their homes along with everything else, plus add in people usually able to donate are seeking help for themselves now, the Salvation Army is under attack for something that was probably a practice they had for many years when times were better.
Don't let this report take away from the rank and file workers of the Salvation Army doing this work.
The more expensive home away from where the Majors and Commander live seem just wrong when you think about the need increasing for people to be helped and many of the people seeking help of the Salvation Army have lost their homes along with everything else, plus add in people usually able to donate are seeking help for themselves now, the Salvation Army is under attack for something that was probably a practice they had for many years when times were better.
Don't let this report take away from the rank and file workers of the Salvation Army doing this work.
Free housing deals for Salvation Army officers create image problem
Mitch Lipka
Jan 5th 2010 at 10:00AM
Probably at the bottom of the list of things the millions of donors to the Salvation Army expect of those running the charity's programs would be arrogance and a cushy lifestyle.
If you're one of those donors, the purchases of two homes in Massachusetts for Salvation Army officers and the comments by a resident of one might change that perspective.
The Salvation Army, a religious organization best known for helping the homeless and addicted, does not lavish great wealth upon its officers. But as part of its compensation package, it does provide them with housing.
A story by the Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette done in conjunction with Boston University's New England Center for Investigative Reporting showed the practice can create some serious image problems at a time when charities are battling over a shrunken pool of donations.
First, we'll start with Divisional Commander Major William Bode. He and his wife Major Joan Bode (Salvation Army officers share the same ranks as their wives, who also serve the organization) live in a $900,000 home in Needham, Mass. Nice.
Then there's Major Michael Copeland, who, by his own account, repeatedly pushed property limits set for him in the Worcester area until settling on a four bedroom, two and a half bath home in suburban Holden, Mass., for $350,000 (pictured above). When the basement and garage are added in, the home's 3,800 square feet exceeds the 3,000 square foot cap permitted by the Salvation Army's own rules.
read more here
Free housing deals for Salvation Army officers
Mom serving in Iraq hears two young sons died in house fire back home
Sons die in fire while mom's in Iraq
'SHE'S DEVASTATED' Father pulls boys, ages 2 and 5, from room as smoke billows out window
January 5, 2010
BY STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporter
If the dreaded news comes, it's supposed to arrive stateside with a knock at the front door and a visit from two somber soldiers.
That tragedy played out in reverse Monday when a Lansing soldier serving in Iraq was told her two small children had perished in a fire while napping at home.
"She's devastated, and she is trying to hold on," said Clint Towers, who is Areah Brown-Towers' father-in-law and grandfather to the two victims -- Joshua, 2, and Jeremiah, 5.
Clint Towers said the American Red Cross was making arrangements Tuesday to bring the grieving mother home -- perhaps as soon as Thursday.
read more here
Sons die in fire while mom in Iraq
'SHE'S DEVASTATED' Father pulls boys, ages 2 and 5, from room as smoke billows out window
January 5, 2010
BY STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporter
If the dreaded news comes, it's supposed to arrive stateside with a knock at the front door and a visit from two somber soldiers.
That tragedy played out in reverse Monday when a Lansing soldier serving in Iraq was told her two small children had perished in a fire while napping at home.
"She's devastated, and she is trying to hold on," said Clint Towers, who is Areah Brown-Towers' father-in-law and grandfather to the two victims -- Joshua, 2, and Jeremiah, 5.
Clint Towers said the American Red Cross was making arrangements Tuesday to bring the grieving mother home -- perhaps as soon as Thursday.
read more here
Sons die in fire while mom in Iraq
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Dover Air Force Base to expand care with Center for Families of fallen
Dover facility will serve families of war dead
By Randall Chase - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jan 5, 2010 12:55:06 EST
DOVER, Del. — The military mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, where U.S. war casualties from overseas are brought home, will open a new facility Wednesday to serve families who travel there to witness the return of their loved ones’ remains.
The Center for Families of the Fallen will be staffed by counselors and support specialists who will assist families awaiting the return of their loved ones to the nation’s largest military mortuary. Families also will be able to meet with casualty assistance officers who are assigned to them.
Officials said the new center will be more convenient both for families and mortuary officials than the space now shared by the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center at Dover with the base’s active duty and reserve wings.
“Sadly, as the death toll has grown in Afghanistan and Iraq, we find we need a larger facility,” said Maj. Shannon Mann, a spokeswoman for AFMAO.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/ap_dover_new_mortuary_010510/
By Randall Chase - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jan 5, 2010 12:55:06 EST
DOVER, Del. — The military mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, where U.S. war casualties from overseas are brought home, will open a new facility Wednesday to serve families who travel there to witness the return of their loved ones’ remains.
The Center for Families of the Fallen will be staffed by counselors and support specialists who will assist families awaiting the return of their loved ones to the nation’s largest military mortuary. Families also will be able to meet with casualty assistance officers who are assigned to them.
Officials said the new center will be more convenient both for families and mortuary officials than the space now shared by the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center at Dover with the base’s active duty and reserve wings.
“Sadly, as the death toll has grown in Afghanistan and Iraq, we find we need a larger facility,” said Maj. Shannon Mann, a spokeswoman for AFMAO.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/ap_dover_new_mortuary_010510/
Landmark CBS Investigation and Veterans for Common Sense
Veterans for Common Sense and Paul Sullivan are proving a point. When people care beyond politics, speak the truth and fight to change things, things change. It is basic common sense. They are fighting for our veterans to receive the care they thought they were promised as anyone working a job would assume.
The rest of us go to work in the civilian world expecting that if we're hurt on the job, workman's comp will take care of our injury as well as the lost income when we cannot work. That's the rest of us and we'd be pretty angry if anyone prevented us from getting it. There would be people lining up in every newspaper office around the country demanding action because it would be simply wrong to not pay when we ended up hurt just doing our jobs. So why isn't this happening when it is men and women serving this country in one of the most dangerous jobs anyone could do?
These men and women agree to risk their lives everyday they are deployed. They agree to do jobs not many others would be willing to do. They are not just sent to another state to fill in gaps in manpower, they are sent into nations around the world and since 2001, they have been sent to a couple of the most dangerous places on earth to provide for what this nation needs.
They don't play politics. They don't get to decide to go into combat or not. They don't get to decide who to fight or how long it goes on. They don't even get to quit when they just don't want to do it anymore unless their enlistment time is up. They also have to leave their families behind when they are deployed for a year or, more often, longer than a year.
What do they ask of the rest of us? The same thing we expect out of our own employers and nothing more.
We hear all the talk about the backlog of claims but we tend to forget that number is a veteran usually along with an entire family waiting for us to do the right thing for them. We show up to send them off and we show up to welcome them home but then we pull a vanishing act as if our job is done and we don't need to care anymore.
The way our veterans are treated is not unique to the world. No nation really lives up to taking care of any of their servicemen and women properly but you'd think since we spend the bulk of the world's defense spending, we'd have at least a higher standard when it came to taking care of them men and women in the military. Why is it that we never think of them this way?
For years we've heard politicians say no amount of money is too much for this nation's defense. We were told that hundreds of billions of dollars had to spent to pay for Iraq and Afghanistan but did we hear the same cry for necessity when it came to talking care of the people we depend the most on? No. When it came to them some politicians were on the floor of congress whining about tight budgets with two wars to pay for.
The time to do the right thing was before they were sent. All of the wounded should have been planned for ahead of time and not when it was too late to save so many. To lose more after combat than we do during it is simply wrong and we didn't have to see so many die by their own hand but the DOD and the VA were not prepared to take care of all of them. We need to make sure this never happens again.
The other factor is as the newly wounded were waiting in line for help, the older wounded were getting into the same line and no one planned for them either. This all got worse very, very fast but until we get things right, it will keep getting worse at the same time we ask more and more out of the servicemen and women. Taking care of them is not just common sense, it's common decency.
The rest of us go to work in the civilian world expecting that if we're hurt on the job, workman's comp will take care of our injury as well as the lost income when we cannot work. That's the rest of us and we'd be pretty angry if anyone prevented us from getting it. There would be people lining up in every newspaper office around the country demanding action because it would be simply wrong to not pay when we ended up hurt just doing our jobs. So why isn't this happening when it is men and women serving this country in one of the most dangerous jobs anyone could do?
These men and women agree to risk their lives everyday they are deployed. They agree to do jobs not many others would be willing to do. They are not just sent to another state to fill in gaps in manpower, they are sent into nations around the world and since 2001, they have been sent to a couple of the most dangerous places on earth to provide for what this nation needs.
They don't play politics. They don't get to decide to go into combat or not. They don't get to decide who to fight or how long it goes on. They don't even get to quit when they just don't want to do it anymore unless their enlistment time is up. They also have to leave their families behind when they are deployed for a year or, more often, longer than a year.
What do they ask of the rest of us? The same thing we expect out of our own employers and nothing more.
We hear all the talk about the backlog of claims but we tend to forget that number is a veteran usually along with an entire family waiting for us to do the right thing for them. We show up to send them off and we show up to welcome them home but then we pull a vanishing act as if our job is done and we don't need to care anymore.
The way our veterans are treated is not unique to the world. No nation really lives up to taking care of any of their servicemen and women properly but you'd think since we spend the bulk of the world's defense spending, we'd have at least a higher standard when it came to taking care of them men and women in the military. Why is it that we never think of them this way?
For years we've heard politicians say no amount of money is too much for this nation's defense. We were told that hundreds of billions of dollars had to spent to pay for Iraq and Afghanistan but did we hear the same cry for necessity when it came to talking care of the people we depend the most on? No. When it came to them some politicians were on the floor of congress whining about tight budgets with two wars to pay for.
The time to do the right thing was before they were sent. All of the wounded should have been planned for ahead of time and not when it was too late to save so many. To lose more after combat than we do during it is simply wrong and we didn't have to see so many die by their own hand but the DOD and the VA were not prepared to take care of all of them. We need to make sure this never happens again.
The other factor is as the newly wounded were waiting in line for help, the older wounded were getting into the same line and no one planned for them either. This all got worse very, very fast but until we get things right, it will keep getting worse at the same time we ask more and more out of the servicemen and women. Taking care of them is not just common sense, it's common decency.
Landmark CBS Investigation
The landmark news segment by reporter Byron Pitts and Producer David Schneider at "60 Minutes" revealed many new pieces of information because it was the first-ever major investigation into VBA.
* CBS reported the fact that more than 400,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans have already filed disability claims against VBA. This information was obtained by VCS using the Freedom of Information Act.
* CBS embarrassed VBA into admitting VBA's disability claim form is an insane 23 pages long. We want to know when VBA will use a shorter, veteran-friendly form.
* CBS mentioned that VBA will be issuing new claim processing rules for PTSD. This an effort initiated and led by VCS since 2007 worth an estimated $5 billion for our disabled veterans.
VBA didn't dispute any of the facts presented by VCS and broadcast by CBS. Top on the list is the fact VBA has one million backlogged claims. Our lawsuit uncovered the long and outrageous waits veterans endure - six months for an initial decision and four years for an appealed decision.
Your Turn to Act
Now, today, it is your turn to call local newspapers, TV stations, and your local Congressman and demand immediate reform at VBA. We also need more investigations into VBA. For example, VBA illegally shredded veterans' claims, VBA improperly backdated computer records, and VBA paid top leaders huge cash bonuses while the claim backlog grew larger and veterans waited longer.
VBA urgently needs pro-veteran leaders, a pro-veteran culture, streamlined rules, and VBA claims staff to help veterans in every Veterans Health Administration medical facility.
VA could have saved, in 2004, about $1.4 billion over 5 years
Most people assume since the men and women veterans in this country, served this one country, their care as veterans would be the same regardless of where they live. It is appalling when they find out this assumption is totally wrong.
If you live in an area of the country, like Boston, there are many facilities to go to including clinics, but if you live in the Orlando area, the only place to go is the VA Clinic in Winter Park. If you need to have surgery along with many other procedures, you have to travel to Tampa. There is a hospital being built in Lake Nona. The ground breaking was in October of 2008 but the hospital won't be open until 2012. (If you're guessing it was because it was an election year, you guessed right.) If you live in rural area of the country, then your services are even harder to get to.
That's the biggest problem of all. When they are in the military, they are assigned to various bases and they receive the same kind of care no matter where they are from. All of them are treated equally until they leave the military. Then it does depend on where they live. Their claims are processed depending on where they live with some parts of the country harder to have claims approved and the rating decisions are different. Some parts of the country are more able to treat PTSD than others are just as some are better equipped to take care of serious illnesses better than others. Then you have to add in the communities as well. When the VA can't take care of all the needs of the veterans, most of the time they rely on the facilities in the area to take care of what is needed. Some communities are better than others.
Just as this report points out, some VA's do their own thing when it comes to being able to make purchases, leaving some of us scratching our heads wondering why they are not all the same no matter where they happen to be.
If you live in an area of the country, like Boston, there are many facilities to go to including clinics, but if you live in the Orlando area, the only place to go is the VA Clinic in Winter Park. If you need to have surgery along with many other procedures, you have to travel to Tampa. There is a hospital being built in Lake Nona. The ground breaking was in October of 2008 but the hospital won't be open until 2012. (If you're guessing it was because it was an election year, you guessed right.) If you live in rural area of the country, then your services are even harder to get to.
That's the biggest problem of all. When they are in the military, they are assigned to various bases and they receive the same kind of care no matter where they are from. All of them are treated equally until they leave the military. Then it does depend on where they live. Their claims are processed depending on where they live with some parts of the country harder to have claims approved and the rating decisions are different. Some parts of the country are more able to treat PTSD than others are just as some are better equipped to take care of serious illnesses better than others. Then you have to add in the communities as well. When the VA can't take care of all the needs of the veterans, most of the time they rely on the facilities in the area to take care of what is needed. Some communities are better than others.
Just as this report points out, some VA's do their own thing when it comes to being able to make purchases, leaving some of us scratching our heads wondering why they are not all the same no matter where they happen to be.
Clear Need for Procurement Reform at VA
House Committee Taking Steps to Fight Fraud, Abuse and Waste
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 16, 2009
Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday, December 16, 2009, the House Veterans’ Affairs Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, led by Chairman Harry Mitchell (D-AZ), conducted a hearing to examine the processes and needs of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) acquisition system and procurement structure. The Subcommittee reviewed recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) and VA Inspector General (IG) reports that detail unfairness and inefficiency in VA contracting.
“We all know that the acquisition system within the Department of Veterans Affairs has failed to develop a process that is both transparent and fiscally responsible,” said Chairman Mitchell. “Our hearing will hopefully determine the extent of the reform needed in order to ensure that the acquisition process within the VA is one that is fair, fiscally responsible, and effective. And, most importantly, serves veterans.”
Reports indicate that VA does not consistently acquire the best available price at a detriment to the taxpayers and veterans for several reasons. Most notably, most medical centers have negotiated and purchased medical healthcare services through contracts that individual VA medical centers have negotiated. This erodes the federal government’s leverage of its tremendous buying power. A 2004 GAO report stated that though VA had implemented policies and procedures that required medical centers to purchase medical products and services through VA’s contract programs, a VA IG report found that the medical centers continued to make many less cost efficient purchases from local suppliers. The VA IG estimated that, with improved procurement practices at medical centers, VA could have saved, in 2004, about $1.4 billion over 5 years.
read more here
Clear Need for Procurement Reform at VA
Man taken into custody after threats at VA Hospital
Man threatening himself, others, taken into custody
By CHRIS LEONARD
Staff Writer
WOOSTER -- A man outside of a mental health clinic who threatened suicide and said he would shoot police officers if he saw them was arrested without incident Monday morning.
Police officers were called to the 120 block of Walnut Street after receiving a call at 8:44 a.m. from the Veterans Affairs Mental Health Clinic in Mansfield notifying them there was a male outside its Wooster office threatening to commit suicide with a gun.
"He made a comment if he saw any police officers, he would shoot them," Chief Steve Glick said.
read more here
http://www.the-daily-record.com/news/article/4741439
By CHRIS LEONARD
Staff Writer
WOOSTER -- A man outside of a mental health clinic who threatened suicide and said he would shoot police officers if he saw them was arrested without incident Monday morning.
Police officers were called to the 120 block of Walnut Street after receiving a call at 8:44 a.m. from the Veterans Affairs Mental Health Clinic in Mansfield notifying them there was a male outside its Wooster office threatening to commit suicide with a gun.
"He made a comment if he saw any police officers, he would shoot them," Chief Steve Glick said.
read more here
http://www.the-daily-record.com/news/article/4741439
Monday, January 4, 2010
Army tries to train soldiers on how to be mentally, emotionally tough
They will never get it~
Barbara Ehrenreich pointed out that the message the troops are getting is that if they end up with PTSD, it's their fault. This has been my biggest problem with the latest programs the DOD has come out with for this reason alone. It's not that the programs are bad, they just start badly.
The message the soldiers and especially the Marines are getting is they are responsible to "train their brains" like they train their bodies and if they don't then whatever happens is their fault. Whatever the programs have to say after that point, it's too late. The message has already been delivered and they shut off anything else.
When a big tough ex-Marine cries on a Chaplain's shoulder and apologizes because "he's a Marine" we have a huge problem.
The other issue is that they are still misunderstanding what courage and compassion are. They think if they have compassion, they cannot be courageous. Please tell me what good it does to care and have no courage? What good would it do to see a kid in the middle of the street without having the courage to rush out and save her? What good would it do to want to serve in the military, training to do it, being able to accept the fact you could die doing it but have no compassion? You'd be a machine ready to gun down anything that moves and not feel anything. You would also end up being the type of person no one touches in regular life either. There is a type of compassion that requires courage and this type goes into the military, into law enforcement, into fire departments and enter into other jobs where they are emergency responders. Their ability to feel is the basis of why they do what they do but they couldn't do it without courage.
So what the military gets wrong is trying to get them to kill off the best part about them instead of honoring it. They could work with the servicemen and women on that basis and I'm sure they would find they would get a lot more to understand what PTSD is and get them help right off the bat heading off PTSD, but that would be asking too much. After all, it's what the rest of the people in this country get when a traumatic event hits them and crisis teams rush in but that must be just too coddling for the military. Try telling that to some of the police officers and firefighters after the Twin Towers came down they were too soft to not need help. I bet they'd get a good laugh out of that one. Yes, crisis teams went in to help them heal right after the towers fell and as they were digging up the bodies of their buddies from the rubble.
Whenever you read reports about what the military is trying to do, what you see is the suicide and attempted suicide rate go up, not down. You see the divorce rate go up and then you wonder what they really know about PTSD because I have yet to hear a report they have been clued in that PTSD is a wound and strikes the compassionate because they walk away with their own pain and the pain of others. The military should know the root of PTSD if they ever plan on really addressing it instead of trying to kill it. They can heal it if they understand it and they can keep servicemen and women from dropping out when they want to stay in. These men and women can be healed even if they cannot be cured but they can also come out on the other side better than they were before the event itself.
Barbara Ehrenreich pointed out that the message the troops are getting is that if they end up with PTSD, it's their fault. This has been my biggest problem with the latest programs the DOD has come out with for this reason alone. It's not that the programs are bad, they just start badly.
The message the soldiers and especially the Marines are getting is they are responsible to "train their brains" like they train their bodies and if they don't then whatever happens is their fault. Whatever the programs have to say after that point, it's too late. The message has already been delivered and they shut off anything else.
When a big tough ex-Marine cries on a Chaplain's shoulder and apologizes because "he's a Marine" we have a huge problem.
The other issue is that they are still misunderstanding what courage and compassion are. They think if they have compassion, they cannot be courageous. Please tell me what good it does to care and have no courage? What good would it do to see a kid in the middle of the street without having the courage to rush out and save her? What good would it do to want to serve in the military, training to do it, being able to accept the fact you could die doing it but have no compassion? You'd be a machine ready to gun down anything that moves and not feel anything. You would also end up being the type of person no one touches in regular life either. There is a type of compassion that requires courage and this type goes into the military, into law enforcement, into fire departments and enter into other jobs where they are emergency responders. Their ability to feel is the basis of why they do what they do but they couldn't do it without courage.
So what the military gets wrong is trying to get them to kill off the best part about them instead of honoring it. They could work with the servicemen and women on that basis and I'm sure they would find they would get a lot more to understand what PTSD is and get them help right off the bat heading off PTSD, but that would be asking too much. After all, it's what the rest of the people in this country get when a traumatic event hits them and crisis teams rush in but that must be just too coddling for the military. Try telling that to some of the police officers and firefighters after the Twin Towers came down they were too soft to not need help. I bet they'd get a good laugh out of that one. Yes, crisis teams went in to help them heal right after the towers fell and as they were digging up the bodies of their buddies from the rubble.
Whenever you read reports about what the military is trying to do, what you see is the suicide and attempted suicide rate go up, not down. You see the divorce rate go up and then you wonder what they really know about PTSD because I have yet to hear a report they have been clued in that PTSD is a wound and strikes the compassionate because they walk away with their own pain and the pain of others. The military should know the root of PTSD if they ever plan on really addressing it instead of trying to kill it. They can heal it if they understand it and they can keep servicemen and women from dropping out when they want to stay in. These men and women can be healed even if they cannot be cured but they can also come out on the other side better than they were before the event itself.
Army trains soldiers on how to be mentally, emotionally tough
By Nancy Montgomery, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, January 3, 2010
A class full of battle-hardened sergeants in combat boots, being taught by a bunch of loafer-clad professors. The subject, more or less: how to be happier.
“It was awkward at first,” said Sgt. 1st Class Michael Bradley, of the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment in Vilseck, Germany. “The first day, there were people who claimed it was touchy-feely.”
But as the 10 days of master resiliency training continued, those feelings faded, said Bradley, who was among the first group of NCOs to go through the first-of-its kind Army psychological course.
“A lot of people said, ‘I wish they’d had this when I came in the Army,’ ” he said. “‘I’d still be married only one time.’ ’’
The Army’s not in the marriage-counseling business, but it does try to keep soldiers alive — and failed relationships are a significant factor in the record suicide rates in the past several years. Additionally, up to 30 percent of troops are beset with PTSD and depression as soldiers have made repeated trips to war zones.But social critics, such as Barbara Ehrenreich, who wrote The New York Times best-seller “Nickel and Dimed,” say that what Seligman markets in his books and classes is, like positive thinking in general, “snake oil” with numerous downsides.
In her book “Brightsided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America,” Ehrenreich argues that positive thinking and too much optimism lead to disasters like the Iraq war and the financial meltdown. She also says the emphasis on optimism means victims end up being blamed for their own misfortunes: they weren’t positive enough.
“If optimism is the key … and if you can achieve an optimistic outlook through the discipline of positive thinking, then there is no excuse for failure,” she writes. “The flip side of positivity is thus a harsh insistence on personal responsibility: If your business fails or your job is eliminated, it must be because you didn’t try hard enough, didn’t believe firmly enough in the inevitability of your success … to be disappointed, resentful, or downcast is to be a ‘victim’ and a ‘whiner.’read more here
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=66991
Guard killed, marshal injured in Las Vegas courthouse shooting
Guard killed, marshal injured in Las Vegas courthouse shooting
January 4, 2010 4:26 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Marshals say they don't know motive for shooting
Witness says he heard 30 to 40 gunshots
Suspect shot and killed, official says
No one else was in courthouse lobby during incident
(CNN) -- A man dressed in black walked into the lobby of a federal courthouse in Las Vegas, Nevada, pulled a shotgun from underneath his jacket and opened fire Monday, killing a court security officer and injuring a deputy U.S. marshal, an FBI spokesman said.
Seven marshals and security officers returned fire as they pursued the man into the street, FBI spokesman Joseph Dickey said. One witness described the volley of gunshots as "surreal," and another, who captured the firefight on video, said it was "unbelievable."
The suspect was shot by marshals and killed.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/04/las.vegas.shooting/index.html
January 4, 2010 4:26 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Marshals say they don't know motive for shooting
Witness says he heard 30 to 40 gunshots
Suspect shot and killed, official says
No one else was in courthouse lobby during incident
(CNN) -- A man dressed in black walked into the lobby of a federal courthouse in Las Vegas, Nevada, pulled a shotgun from underneath his jacket and opened fire Monday, killing a court security officer and injuring a deputy U.S. marshal, an FBI spokesman said.
Seven marshals and security officers returned fire as they pursued the man into the street, FBI spokesman Joseph Dickey said. One witness described the volley of gunshots as "surreal," and another, who captured the firefight on video, said it was "unbelievable."
The suspect was shot by marshals and killed.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/04/las.vegas.shooting/index.html
Deployments take toll on children of soldiers
Deployments take toll on children of soldiers
By Preston Sparks - The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle via AP
Posted : Monday Jan 4, 2010 7:47:48 EST
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Marcus Carr is the first to admit it can be a bit depressing.
Both of his parents are deployed overseas in the military — his mom in Iraq, his dad in Korea. Marcus’ parents are divorced, and while his mom is away he has been living with his stepfather in Augusta, helping out with extra chores such as washing dishes, caring for the dog and helping his half-brother with his studies.
“It’s kind of depressing,” he said recently, reflecting on how as a high school senior he has achieved certain milestones that his parents have been unable to enjoy with him. “It really takes a toll on me.”
So does, Marcus added, having to move six times because of military reassignments.
“Friends, it was always hard to make because you were only there for a little time,” he said, adding that he has also had problems with records transfers, sometimes losing credit for classes.
Marcus is among the thousands of children who must cope with the sacrifices that come from having a parent in the military. And amid prolonged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a new study suggests deployments are having an effect on military children.
read more here
Deployments take toll on children of soldiers
By Preston Sparks - The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle via AP
Posted : Monday Jan 4, 2010 7:47:48 EST
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Marcus Carr is the first to admit it can be a bit depressing.
Both of his parents are deployed overseas in the military — his mom in Iraq, his dad in Korea. Marcus’ parents are divorced, and while his mom is away he has been living with his stepfather in Augusta, helping out with extra chores such as washing dishes, caring for the dog and helping his half-brother with his studies.
“It’s kind of depressing,” he said recently, reflecting on how as a high school senior he has achieved certain milestones that his parents have been unable to enjoy with him. “It really takes a toll on me.”
So does, Marcus added, having to move six times because of military reassignments.
“Friends, it was always hard to make because you were only there for a little time,” he said, adding that he has also had problems with records transfers, sometimes losing credit for classes.
Marcus is among the thousands of children who must cope with the sacrifices that come from having a parent in the military. And amid prolonged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a new study suggests deployments are having an effect on military children.
read more here
Deployments take toll on children of soldiers
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