Oklahoma City vets’ claims being rejected
Many armed forces veterans in Oklahoma are having trouble receiving disability payments
BY ANN KELLEY The Oklahoman
Published: January 10, 2010
Four times Gary Endsley has applied for disability compensation for health problems he thinks are related to exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. Each time Endsley has been turned down by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
With each rejection letter he’s flooded with more disappointment and frustration, and feels that he’s "being called a liar” about his military record, he said.
"I’m beginning to feel like I had been better off going to Canada and skipping the war,” said Endsley, 65, of Oklahoma City.
Endsley is one of many armed forces veterans living in Oklahoma and wrangling with Veterans Affairs over disability compensation.
Nationally, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs processed more than 1.1 million claims in 2009, including 25,396 for Oklahoma, said Jessica Jacobson, spokeswoman for the agency’s regional office in Dallas.
The Oklahoman requested the number of Oklahoma veterans denied disability compensation for 2009, but Jacobson Friday said those numbers were not available.
She said the caseload has increased 50 percent since 2000, with Afghanistan and Iraq military servicemen and women returning home and the aging population of other war veterans, as well as the initiation of new U.S. Department of Defense benefits and recent court rulings.
Read more: Oklahoma City vets’ claims being rejected
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Oklahoma City vets’ claims being rejected
None of this is new, it is just worse than it was. My husband's claim took six years to have approved and a friend of his saw his claim rejected for 19 years. While some will say the claim was finally granted, what it takes to get from admitting they need help, especially with PTSD claims, to getting them is more hell than anyone would ever put up with in civilian life, but the veterans are all expected to just deal with the system and wait. Wait for money when they can't work because they were wounded in service? This isn't right and never has been right, never will be right making them wait for what they need from us.
A story by an Army wife is not from a TV show
Real military life is not what you see on TV.
The lives of veterans after war become America's secret. The civilians are under the impression all is well until a report comes out proving everything they think they know about how this country treats veterans has been wrong. Usually reports about what is really going on cause such an outrage by the American people, the government manages to make swift changes because voters will not let our veterans be mistreated by anyone. While the bureaucracy in Washington manages to muck things up, the American people are fiercely loyal to the troops when they serve and to the veterans they become.
Things changed since Vietnam veterans came home mistreated but they changed for all generations of veterans because these Vietnam veterans refused to surrender to the powers of the government and they forced them to act on addressing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as well as Agent Orange and the rest of what was wrong with the way our veterans were treated. Things also changed because the Internet linked them together so they no longer felt isolated, discovering the power of their united numbers could move mountains and those mountains did in fact move.
Fast forward thirty years and we find reports online about PTSD, suicides, homeless veterans, divorces, suffering and we also read about healing because they shared their stories and made it all personal to the rest of the population. Things changed because they had the courage to speak out. The current members of the military and their families however, do not have the same ability to speak out without paying a price for it.
Carissa Picard spoke out and paints a picture of military life few others will ever know. Do all marriages end up like her's? No but considering the divorce rate in the military it's obvious these marriages are in trouble for more than just the usual reasons people have when getting divorced. They have to live where they are told to live for however long they are told to live there. Their kids end up going through different schools in different states so often they have a hard time making friends because they think they'll end up moving again. Wives end up not being able to work because there are only so many jobs they can hold close to base allowing them to be able to pick their kids up from school while their spouse is deployed. Yes, it's even hard when both parents are in the military.
Maybe things will change in the military because people like Carissa show there is a big difference between watching TV shows making us think we know what military life is about. Lord knows they need more support than they are getting and this can come when we are able to understand some of what they really face.
Please read what she has to say about her life as a real Army Wife.
"The Unit" (2006) Covert warriors. Unsung heroes. Plot:Hour long show which looks at the life of American super-secret operators.
"Army Wives" (2007) The army has its code... the wives have their own.
Plot:
About a woman who marries a soldier and moves her family onto an Army base, where she becomes friends with other women whose husbands are in the military.
The lives of veterans after war become America's secret. The civilians are under the impression all is well until a report comes out proving everything they think they know about how this country treats veterans has been wrong. Usually reports about what is really going on cause such an outrage by the American people, the government manages to make swift changes because voters will not let our veterans be mistreated by anyone. While the bureaucracy in Washington manages to muck things up, the American people are fiercely loyal to the troops when they serve and to the veterans they become.
Things changed since Vietnam veterans came home mistreated but they changed for all generations of veterans because these Vietnam veterans refused to surrender to the powers of the government and they forced them to act on addressing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as well as Agent Orange and the rest of what was wrong with the way our veterans were treated. Things also changed because the Internet linked them together so they no longer felt isolated, discovering the power of their united numbers could move mountains and those mountains did in fact move.
Fast forward thirty years and we find reports online about PTSD, suicides, homeless veterans, divorces, suffering and we also read about healing because they shared their stories and made it all personal to the rest of the population. Things changed because they had the courage to speak out. The current members of the military and their families however, do not have the same ability to speak out without paying a price for it.
Carissa Picard spoke out and paints a picture of military life few others will ever know. Do all marriages end up like her's? No but considering the divorce rate in the military it's obvious these marriages are in trouble for more than just the usual reasons people have when getting divorced. They have to live where they are told to live for however long they are told to live there. Their kids end up going through different schools in different states so often they have a hard time making friends because they think they'll end up moving again. Wives end up not being able to work because there are only so many jobs they can hold close to base allowing them to be able to pick their kids up from school while their spouse is deployed. Yes, it's even hard when both parents are in the military.
Maybe things will change in the military because people like Carissa show there is a big difference between watching TV shows making us think we know what military life is about. Lord knows they need more support than they are getting and this can come when we are able to understand some of what they really face.
Please read what she has to say about her life as a real Army Wife.
Invisible Casualties of an Invisible War
Carissa Picard
http://sites.google.com/site/carissapicard/
War never ends for those we send
War never ends for those we send
by
Chaplain Kathie
No matter when all the troops are pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan, when there are no more wars to fight and no more dying in combat, there will still be casualties of war being added. This we must all understand and prepare to fight a new kind of war during peacetime.
If you need a better idea of what happens when they come home, read any story about a Vietnam veteran still trying to come all the way home, or a Korean veteran or talk to some of the remaining WWII veterans, and you will see it in their eyes as they think about their days while they risked their lives. They were once civilians just like the rest of us, but when they were sent to fight our military battles, they became veterans of war. While they may have returned physically the same, they knew they were different, unlike everyone else they live with because so few have ever experienced what they survived.
We may have thought it was all over when we stopped sending them into other nations, when we stopped paying for the deployments and weapons, when we stopped feeding and clothing them as well as training them, but for those we send, wars never really end. They are part of them.
As high as the numbers are of the PTSD wounded, the fact is, less than half seek help for PTSD, which means, we really don't know how many more there are. We don't know how many more are carrying torment PTSD but are trying to hide it, how many have mild PTSD believing they will just "get over it" instead of being aware not treating it is like having a time bomb ready to blow with another traumatic event in their life or how many will end up so severely wounded, their family ends up with PTSD as well from living with the mood swings, angry outbursts, overblown responses and nightmares so harsh the whole family is losing sleep. What is worse is that we don't know how many could have been spared most of it had they received help in time.
We read about suicides yet we never seem to come to terms with the fact the only reason people commit suicide is they have no reason to hope. Once hope is gone, hope of a better day, hope that the pain they feel will go away, hope for anything better, there is no reason to carry on. We all live with hope in our hearts or none of us would do anything at all.
If they were all helped as soon as they came home, you would see less suicides, less divorces, less domestic violence, less drug and alcohol arrests, less crime and less homelessness. Imagine if the older veterans were helped when they came home what their lives would be like today as well as the lives of their families for generations. Families carry on the burden of what their veteran brought home but no one really talks about this either. Each generation carries on what they live with. For most of them, they have no idea of what "it" is. Dismissing what they never understood, what they never paid attention to is easy. They view what the veteran does without understanding it and then blame the veteran instead of wondering what was behind all of it. Wives blame the veteran and then they blame themselves. Kids blame the parent and then blame themselves. These thoughts are carried on into every relationship they have and it is all carried onto the next generation.
Talk to the children of veterans as they have grown up with no understanding and you will hear about the father that didn't care, the mean dad, the drunk, the coldness and how nothing they did was ever good enough. They see how their parent acted but never understood why they acted the way they did. All they knew about war was what was written in history books because they never heard any real life experiences from their parent or grandparent. They are detached from it while living with it.
When the military leaves Iraq, when the military leaves Afghanistan, they will come home with these nations in them. We have yet to treat all the veterans of the past wars and these newer veterans will be added to the secret casualty count along with their families. Communities will be dealing with the result of many PTSD veterans for generations to come unless they come together to help the veterans heal.
We see this in many parts of the nation but we also see how many others are still dismissing this wound of war. The Vietnam War ended in 1973 officially but the deaths went on until 1975. at least the acknowledged deaths. We still lost more after the war was declared over than we did during it. They died because of Agent Orange, this more easily acceptable than when they died from suicide and they are still dying. We lose 18 veterans a day from suicide. Another 10,000 a year attempt it. None of this has to happen as long as we all understand that just because a war is over and they are back home, too many are still fighting for their lives because they went to war.
by
Chaplain Kathie
No matter when all the troops are pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan, when there are no more wars to fight and no more dying in combat, there will still be casualties of war being added. This we must all understand and prepare to fight a new kind of war during peacetime.
If you need a better idea of what happens when they come home, read any story about a Vietnam veteran still trying to come all the way home, or a Korean veteran or talk to some of the remaining WWII veterans, and you will see it in their eyes as they think about their days while they risked their lives. They were once civilians just like the rest of us, but when they were sent to fight our military battles, they became veterans of war. While they may have returned physically the same, they knew they were different, unlike everyone else they live with because so few have ever experienced what they survived.
We may have thought it was all over when we stopped sending them into other nations, when we stopped paying for the deployments and weapons, when we stopped feeding and clothing them as well as training them, but for those we send, wars never really end. They are part of them.
As high as the numbers are of the PTSD wounded, the fact is, less than half seek help for PTSD, which means, we really don't know how many more there are. We don't know how many more are carrying torment PTSD but are trying to hide it, how many have mild PTSD believing they will just "get over it" instead of being aware not treating it is like having a time bomb ready to blow with another traumatic event in their life or how many will end up so severely wounded, their family ends up with PTSD as well from living with the mood swings, angry outbursts, overblown responses and nightmares so harsh the whole family is losing sleep. What is worse is that we don't know how many could have been spared most of it had they received help in time.
We read about suicides yet we never seem to come to terms with the fact the only reason people commit suicide is they have no reason to hope. Once hope is gone, hope of a better day, hope that the pain they feel will go away, hope for anything better, there is no reason to carry on. We all live with hope in our hearts or none of us would do anything at all.
If they were all helped as soon as they came home, you would see less suicides, less divorces, less domestic violence, less drug and alcohol arrests, less crime and less homelessness. Imagine if the older veterans were helped when they came home what their lives would be like today as well as the lives of their families for generations. Families carry on the burden of what their veteran brought home but no one really talks about this either. Each generation carries on what they live with. For most of them, they have no idea of what "it" is. Dismissing what they never understood, what they never paid attention to is easy. They view what the veteran does without understanding it and then blame the veteran instead of wondering what was behind all of it. Wives blame the veteran and then they blame themselves. Kids blame the parent and then blame themselves. These thoughts are carried on into every relationship they have and it is all carried onto the next generation.
Talk to the children of veterans as they have grown up with no understanding and you will hear about the father that didn't care, the mean dad, the drunk, the coldness and how nothing they did was ever good enough. They see how their parent acted but never understood why they acted the way they did. All they knew about war was what was written in history books because they never heard any real life experiences from their parent or grandparent. They are detached from it while living with it.
When the military leaves Iraq, when the military leaves Afghanistan, they will come home with these nations in them. We have yet to treat all the veterans of the past wars and these newer veterans will be added to the secret casualty count along with their families. Communities will be dealing with the result of many PTSD veterans for generations to come unless they come together to help the veterans heal.
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
We see this in many parts of the nation but we also see how many others are still dismissing this wound of war. The Vietnam War ended in 1973 officially but the deaths went on until 1975. at least the acknowledged deaths. We still lost more after the war was declared over than we did during it. They died because of Agent Orange, this more easily acceptable than when they died from suicide and they are still dying. We lose 18 veterans a day from suicide. Another 10,000 a year attempt it. None of this has to happen as long as we all understand that just because a war is over and they are back home, too many are still fighting for their lives because they went to war.
Vietnam veteran works to heal spiritual wounds of warfare
Vietnam veteran works to heal spiritual wounds of warfare
Friday, January 8, 2010
By Bryan Cones
By Ed Langlois Catholic News Service
PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- Gary Ascher has a good life. Amiable and bright, he's in a long-lasting marriage. His children are high-achieving. He holds down a steady job making patterns for cast metal machinery.
But for more than 40 years, Ascher has yearned to pacify his conscience. A U.S. infantryman in Vietnam between November 1967 and November 1968, this gray-haired man with intense brown eyes wonders how he can be forgiven for taking lives.
"Yes, I was defending myself, but we were the initial aggressors," said the 62-year-old member of Holy Trinity Parish in Beaverton. "We were sent out in hopes we would be ambushed."
Ascher, who plays guitar for his church choir, was one of 15 people with links to the military who came to Our Lady of Peace Retreat House in Beaverton in December for a weekend on war and healing. Leaders of the session know that the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan mean more retreats will be needed in the future.
Father Michael Drury, a former military chaplain from Montana, reminded the group that there is such a thing as a just war in Catholic teaching. It's a fight "when there is an unjust aggressor who cannot be stopped by any other means."
read more here
Vietnam veteran works to heal spiritual wounds of warfare
Friday, January 8, 2010
By Bryan Cones
By Ed Langlois Catholic News Service
PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- Gary Ascher has a good life. Amiable and bright, he's in a long-lasting marriage. His children are high-achieving. He holds down a steady job making patterns for cast metal machinery.
But for more than 40 years, Ascher has yearned to pacify his conscience. A U.S. infantryman in Vietnam between November 1967 and November 1968, this gray-haired man with intense brown eyes wonders how he can be forgiven for taking lives.
"Yes, I was defending myself, but we were the initial aggressors," said the 62-year-old member of Holy Trinity Parish in Beaverton. "We were sent out in hopes we would be ambushed."
Ascher, who plays guitar for his church choir, was one of 15 people with links to the military who came to Our Lady of Peace Retreat House in Beaverton in December for a weekend on war and healing. Leaders of the session know that the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan mean more retreats will be needed in the future.
Father Michael Drury, a former military chaplain from Montana, reminded the group that there is such a thing as a just war in Catholic teaching. It's a fight "when there is an unjust aggressor who cannot be stopped by any other means."
read more here
Vietnam veteran works to heal spiritual wounds of warfare
Debate over cognitive, traditional mental health therapy
Debate over cognitive, traditional mental health therapy
Psychologists who favor the more medical-minded cognitive behavioral model point to growing evidence of its efficacy. Proponents of psychoanalysis deride a one-size-fits-all approach.
By Eric Jaffe
January 11, 2010
If your doctor advised a treatment that involved leeches and bloodletting, you might take a second glance at that diploma on the wall. For the same reason, you should think twice about whom you see as a therapist, says a team of psychological researchers.
In a November report that's attracting controversy the way couches attract loose change, three professors charge that many mental health practitioners are using antiquated, unproved methods and that many clinical psychology training programs lack scientific rigor.
The accusation has reignited a long-standing "holy war" within the psychological profession.
On the one side sit the report's authors and other like-minded psychologists who say that too many clinicians favor personal experience over scientific evidence when deciding on a patient's treatment. They are particularly unsettled by the number of therapists -- especially from training programs that grant a higher degree known as doctor of psychology, or PsyD -- who ignore the most-studied type of treatment: cognitive behavioral therapy.
Psychologists who favor the more medical-minded cognitive behavioral model point to growing evidence of its efficacy. Proponents of psychoanalysis deride a one-size-fits-all approach.
By Eric Jaffe
January 11, 2010
If your doctor advised a treatment that involved leeches and bloodletting, you might take a second glance at that diploma on the wall. For the same reason, you should think twice about whom you see as a therapist, says a team of psychological researchers.
In a November report that's attracting controversy the way couches attract loose change, three professors charge that many mental health practitioners are using antiquated, unproved methods and that many clinical psychology training programs lack scientific rigor.
The accusation has reignited a long-standing "holy war" within the psychological profession.
On the one side sit the report's authors and other like-minded psychologists who say that too many clinicians favor personal experience over scientific evidence when deciding on a patient's treatment. They are particularly unsettled by the number of therapists -- especially from training programs that grant a higher degree known as doctor of psychology, or PsyD -- who ignore the most-studied type of treatment: cognitive behavioral therapy.
"Evidence-based therapies work a little faster, a little better, and for more problematic situations, more powerfully," says psychologist Steven D. Hollon of Vanderbilt University.
Research shows that many patients respond to the therapy within 12 to 16 sessions, far more quickly than in traditional psychoanalysis, making the treatment highly cost-effective.
England is convinced. In 2007, the British government -- a "decade ahead of us," Hollon says -- adopted a massive program to train 3,600 therapists in cognitive behavioral therapy with the hope of weaning 900,000 people off medication.
read more here
Debate over cognitive, traditional mental health therapy
Service dog comforts Bells veteran with PTSD
Service dog comforts Bells veteran with PTSD
By MARIANN MARTIN
mmartin10@jacksonsun.com
January 10, 2010
When Aimee Sherrod paces the floor after a nightmare, her dog Bear licks her face. When she feels frightened by a large crowd, Bear blocks people by standing in front of her. When she yells at her husband and family, Bear puts his nose in her hand.
"On the days I push everyone else away, he won't leave me alone," Sherrod says as she sits on the couch in her Bells home. Bear, a service dog from the organization Puppies Behind Bars, puts his head in her lap, letting her play with his ears.
Sherrod, a mother of two, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving two tours of duty in Iraq in the Air Force.
The first Air Force casualty in the war came from her unit. During her second tour in 2003 and 2004, her unit was stationed in the Baghdad International Airport, which was targeted by bombings and sniper fire.
Post-traumatic stress disorder was diagnosed in 2004, and Sherrod took a medical discharge from the Air Force in 2005.
Since then, she has struggled to cope with her illness, which has kept her from holding a steady job or staying in school. She hopes that may change since she got Bear in October.
"He is not a robot or a magic fix, but he helps," she said. "And anything that makes it (the post-traumatic stress disorder) less, is good with me. Just like today - he can tell I'm more nervous than usual and he is right on top of me."
read more here
Service dog comforts Bells veteran with PTSD
By MARIANN MARTIN
mmartin10@jacksonsun.com
January 10, 2010
When Aimee Sherrod paces the floor after a nightmare, her dog Bear licks her face. When she feels frightened by a large crowd, Bear blocks people by standing in front of her. When she yells at her husband and family, Bear puts his nose in her hand.
"On the days I push everyone else away, he won't leave me alone," Sherrod says as she sits on the couch in her Bells home. Bear, a service dog from the organization Puppies Behind Bars, puts his head in her lap, letting her play with his ears.
Sherrod, a mother of two, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving two tours of duty in Iraq in the Air Force.
The first Air Force casualty in the war came from her unit. During her second tour in 2003 and 2004, her unit was stationed in the Baghdad International Airport, which was targeted by bombings and sniper fire.
Post-traumatic stress disorder was diagnosed in 2004, and Sherrod took a medical discharge from the Air Force in 2005.
Since then, she has struggled to cope with her illness, which has kept her from holding a steady job or staying in school. She hopes that may change since she got Bear in October.
"He is not a robot or a magic fix, but he helps," she said. "And anything that makes it (the post-traumatic stress disorder) less, is good with me. Just like today - he can tell I'm more nervous than usual and he is right on top of me."
read more here
Service dog comforts Bells veteran with PTSD
Ministry reaches out to Fort Campbell soldiers
Ministry reaches out to Fort Campbell soldiers
Seminar instructs on helping heal lives of troops, their families
By JAKE LOWARY • The Leaf-Chronicle • January 10, 2010
Fort Campbell will begin a mass exodus of soldiers in the coming days, beginning another tumultuous year for not only them, but the families left behind.
The installation and its soldiers have become well-versed at serving in combat, but also have seen the side effects of many months in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"As a result, they (the soldiers and families at Fort Campbell) have experienced pain and trauma," said retired Maj. Gen. Bob Dees, the former commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team and now the executive director of Campus Crusade for Christ Military Ministry.
Dees helped lead one of the biggest seminars Saturday at First Baptist Church, designed to help the soldiers and families through not only the next 12 to 18 months, but also the families left at home wondering about their loved ones.
Seminar instructs on helping heal lives of troops, their families
By JAKE LOWARY • The Leaf-Chronicle • January 10, 2010
Fort Campbell will begin a mass exodus of soldiers in the coming days, beginning another tumultuous year for not only them, but the families left behind.
The installation and its soldiers have become well-versed at serving in combat, but also have seen the side effects of many months in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"As a result, they (the soldiers and families at Fort Campbell) have experienced pain and trauma," said retired Maj. Gen. Bob Dees, the former commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team and now the executive director of Campus Crusade for Christ Military Ministry.
Dees helped lead one of the biggest seminars Saturday at First Baptist Church, designed to help the soldiers and families through not only the next 12 to 18 months, but also the families left at home wondering about their loved ones.
"Church can provide compassion, comfort and understanding," said Stephen Dorner, who along with his wife Karen was one of three couples who provided first-hand tales of fighting through combat trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder.
read more here
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Colorado veteran starts PTSD support group
Carbondale veteran starts PTSD support group
26-year-old Iraq War veteran creates outlet for those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
John Gardner
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
CARBONDALE, Colorado — Adam McCabe knows the affects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder all too well.
McCabe, a 26-year-old Marine veteran of the Iraq War, has been dealing with the disorder since he returned from his second tour of duty in 2006. He found that it was hard to acclimate back into society after having seen the reality of war.
“I've been having a lot of struggles the past few years,” McCabe said.
McCabe found that he was pushing those closest to him away, and he had a tough time connecting with people. Life was very different than he remembered.
“I thought that I would be successful in the civilian world because I was successful in the military,” he said. “But there is a big disconnect here. I couldn't connect with people, family and friends. Not because I didn't want to, but because everything had changed about me.”
He's undergone intensive inpatient treatment for PTSD, he said. And now, he's found solace in talking with other veterans who suffer from the same disorder.
“Once I started talking about it, it was a good thing,” McCabe said.
And now he's helping other veterans in the Roaring Fork Valley, who suffer from the disorder, to deal with it head on.
read more here
Carbondale veteran starts PTSD support group
26-year-old Iraq War veteran creates outlet for those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
John Gardner
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
CARBONDALE, Colorado — Adam McCabe knows the affects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder all too well.
McCabe, a 26-year-old Marine veteran of the Iraq War, has been dealing with the disorder since he returned from his second tour of duty in 2006. He found that it was hard to acclimate back into society after having seen the reality of war.
“I've been having a lot of struggles the past few years,” McCabe said.
McCabe found that he was pushing those closest to him away, and he had a tough time connecting with people. Life was very different than he remembered.
“I thought that I would be successful in the civilian world because I was successful in the military,” he said. “But there is a big disconnect here. I couldn't connect with people, family and friends. Not because I didn't want to, but because everything had changed about me.”
He's undergone intensive inpatient treatment for PTSD, he said. And now, he's found solace in talking with other veterans who suffer from the same disorder.
“Once I started talking about it, it was a good thing,” McCabe said.
And now he's helping other veterans in the Roaring Fork Valley, who suffer from the disorder, to deal with it head on.
read more here
Carbondale veteran starts PTSD support group
Hit-and-run hospitalizes Pearl Harbor veteran
Hit-and-run hospitalizes Pearl Harbor veteran
Friday, January 08, 2010
Bob Banfield
BANNING, Calif. (KABC) -- The highway patrol is asking for the public's help, hoping a tip will lead them to the hit-and-run driver who crashed into a car driven by an 86-year-old survivor of Pearl Harbor.
The incident being investigated occurred Thursday at 9:45 a.m. on Palm and De Waide avenues in Hemet.
The driver of a 1998 Honda stolen from a parking lot in Bulmont collided with a Dodge Neon driven by Benjamin Weat a resident of a retirement home in Hemet.
"Both vehicles were disabled at the scene. He did flee the scene, and we have set up a perimeter for several hours looking for the suspect but were unable to locate him," said Scott Beauchene of the California Highway Patrol.
The driver of the Honda may have been injured but he left the accident site on foot. He is described as a Hispanic male, 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, with short black hair, with a tattoo on the left side of his head and may answer to the name Angel.
go here for more
Hit-and-run hospitalizes Pearl Harbor veteran
Friday, January 08, 2010
Bob Banfield
BANNING, Calif. (KABC) -- The highway patrol is asking for the public's help, hoping a tip will lead them to the hit-and-run driver who crashed into a car driven by an 86-year-old survivor of Pearl Harbor.
The incident being investigated occurred Thursday at 9:45 a.m. on Palm and De Waide avenues in Hemet.
The driver of a 1998 Honda stolen from a parking lot in Bulmont collided with a Dodge Neon driven by Benjamin Weat a resident of a retirement home in Hemet.
"Both vehicles were disabled at the scene. He did flee the scene, and we have set up a perimeter for several hours looking for the suspect but were unable to locate him," said Scott Beauchene of the California Highway Patrol.
The driver of the Honda may have been injured but he left the accident site on foot. He is described as a Hispanic male, 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, with short black hair, with a tattoo on the left side of his head and may answer to the name Angel.
go here for more
Hit-and-run hospitalizes Pearl Harbor veteran
Iraq War veteran, mother battle the odds
Iraq War veteran, mother battle the odds
B.J. Steed
Steven McFarland is a decorated war veteran who served as a gunner along the front lines in the War on Terror.
After returning home in 2006, his mother, Jan McFarland, noticed something about her son had changed.
"Tossing and turning, he was hyperventilating; if you came up behind him he would jump and scream. He didn't like being cornered in," says McFarland.
Jan, a former nurse with UAMS, recognized her son's symptoms as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.
"He would re-enact a person dying that he saw, and the death scene," McFarland says.
The 21-year-old began seeking treatment for the disorder, taking medication prescribed by his doctor.
But his mother says those doses couldn't block the terrible things he had experienced in battle.
He began medicating himself with multiple drugs.
In February, just two months after returning from battle, McFarland's lawyer, Chip Welch, says things took a turn for the worst.
read more here
http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=97379&catid=2
video
Iraq War veteran, mother battle the odds
Steven McFarland is a decorated war veteran who served as a gunner along the front lines in the War on Terror.
B.J. Steed
Steven McFarland is a decorated war veteran who served as a gunner along the front lines in the War on Terror.
After returning home in 2006, his mother, Jan McFarland, noticed something about her son had changed.
"Tossing and turning, he was hyperventilating; if you came up behind him he would jump and scream. He didn't like being cornered in," says McFarland.
Jan, a former nurse with UAMS, recognized her son's symptoms as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.
"He would re-enact a person dying that he saw, and the death scene," McFarland says.
The 21-year-old began seeking treatment for the disorder, taking medication prescribed by his doctor.
But his mother says those doses couldn't block the terrible things he had experienced in battle.
He began medicating himself with multiple drugs.
In February, just two months after returning from battle, McFarland's lawyer, Chip Welch, says things took a turn for the worst.
read more here
http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=97379&catid=2
video
Iraq War veteran, mother battle the odds
Steven McFarland is a decorated war veteran who served as a gunner along the front lines in the War on Terror.
"We've had 7 suicides in 2009."
Watching this video provides a lot of hope that many in leadership are understanding PTSD a lot better than ever before. The story of Steven McFarland should not have happened but it did because when it comes to PTSD, there is a very long way to go but this video should restore hope that we are closer than we ever were before of getting these men and women help to heal.
92 year old man doesn't let car crash stop breakfast
Man Rams Car Into Restaurant, Eats Breakfast
92-Year-Old Cited For Reckless Driving
PORT ORANGE, Fla. -- Diners at the Biscuit's "N" Gravy and More restaurant in Port Orange received a surprise Wednesday when a car plowed into the side of the building.
A 92-year-old man was at the wheel when his vehicle crashed into the busy restaurant on Nova Road.
The driver wasn't hurt, but the cook said a customer had just left the damaged seating area.
read more here
http://www.wesh.com/news/22157235/detail.html
92-Year-Old Cited For Reckless Driving
PORT ORANGE, Fla. -- Diners at the Biscuit's "N" Gravy and More restaurant in Port Orange received a surprise Wednesday when a car plowed into the side of the building.
A 92-year-old man was at the wheel when his vehicle crashed into the busy restaurant on Nova Road.
The driver wasn't hurt, but the cook said a customer had just left the damaged seating area.
read more here
http://www.wesh.com/news/22157235/detail.html
What's the right answer with PTSD and gun rights?
What's the right answer with PTSD and gun rights?
by
Chaplain Kathie
I know a lot of veterans with PTSD and they own guns. For too many not receiving the help they need, having a gun helps them feel "protected" instead of being any kind of danger to themselves or others. While tracking PTSD reports across the country for all this time, I am also fully aware of the fact guns are used to end their pain as well as take the life of someone else when they "freak out" usually due to a flashback and other factors of PTSD. So what's the right answer? Is it to not allow them to have guns or would it be more appropriate to get them the help they need?
Not such a simple answer. When you consider some of the law makers wanting to do the right thing they need to look at the bigger picture. A knee jerk reaction is that it makes sense to take guns away but they need to look at what this ends up doing. It stops PTSD veterans from getting help because they don't want to give up their guns. Do you want them to have no help as PTSD gets worse while they have guns in the house?
I do presentations providing awareness of what PTSD is and what it does. Usually there is a question and answer time following the video. Most of the questions are about gun rights. This is not a good thing. Innocent civilians never being deployed into combat are victims of combat when PTSD takes hold and a veteran opens fire. They know how to use guns and they know how to hit what they aim for. After all, this is what kept them alive in combat. When they come home, they have relied on weapons to stay alive to the point where they cannot even think of being without their guns and knives. Weapons become a part of them and they would never think of leaving them behind or not having one within reach because in combat, every second brings more danger to them, then they take that thought into civilian life.
The best answer to this is to make sure every veteran with PTSD receives the help they need and this requires learning to live a peaceful life again. They cannot do this with medication alone. They need therapy provided by an expert dedicated to healing PTSD and not someone with such limited knowledge they can't even understand what PTSD is. Too often this is exactly what the veterans are getting.
The issue of them not being responsible for their financial affairs is connected to the majority of veterans with high PTSD scores. Short term memory loss and irrational thinking are parts of it as well, but just because they want to go out and spend money they can't afford or can't remember to pay a bill, that does not automatically make them dangerous to themselves or others.
When the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act was first being debated, my knee jerk reaction was supporting this effort. It made sense until it was pointed out to me that it could potentially cause more harm than good. I did not really understand how deep the need was to hang onto guns or how much this would hurt them emotionally. It was pointed out to me by one of my friends that they would end up feeling as if their time in combat meant nothing and that they were suddenly supposed to give up their rights just because they came home wounded by PTSD. PTSD hit them while they were in combat but they still had weapons, trusted to have the weapons and now when they are trying to live a relatively "normal" life again, they are supposed to give up their weapons leaving them feeling they are penalized for serving and risking their lives.
We read about veterans taking the life of someone else and think this is a huge problem. We read about them committing suicide with a gun but we fail to understand they find other ways. What we also fail to understand is that when we're talking about numbers measured by hundreds of thousands the percentage of veterans with PTSD using guns against someone else is low enough to show this is not the answer.
The rate of 18 veterans a day taking their own lives does however prove the need to be better at taking care of them overall not just those deemed too impaired to handle their own finances.
In a perfect world, all our veterans would receive whatever care they need to recover from physical and invisible wounds, would be able to have the financial security when their wounds prevent them from working and would find their families receiving the full support they need to care for them, but this is not a perfect world. Less than half of PTSD veterans seek help to heal even though the sooner they seek help the better the outcome, they fight against getting help, partly because of the stigma but also because they do not trust the government to deliver anything. Can you blame them?
Depending on what part of the country they live in, their claims can be harder to have approved, harder to get to care and harder to find the best care. Even when you look at the National Guards, you'll find some states ahead of the rest with programs to address PTSD and suicides. The Montana National Guards efforts prove this and this program is being taken to a national level, but in between then and now, the Montana National Guardsmen are able to use this program while other National Guardsmen are receiving very little. Then there is the issue of the backlog of claims along with denials. There are too many obstacles already.
Threatening veterans to take away their guns ends up making sure less veterans seek help for PTSD and with the system the way it is, they don't need one more reason to stay away from the VA.
by
Chaplain Kathie
I know a lot of veterans with PTSD and they own guns. For too many not receiving the help they need, having a gun helps them feel "protected" instead of being any kind of danger to themselves or others. While tracking PTSD reports across the country for all this time, I am also fully aware of the fact guns are used to end their pain as well as take the life of someone else when they "freak out" usually due to a flashback and other factors of PTSD. So what's the right answer? Is it to not allow them to have guns or would it be more appropriate to get them the help they need?
Not such a simple answer. When you consider some of the law makers wanting to do the right thing they need to look at the bigger picture. A knee jerk reaction is that it makes sense to take guns away but they need to look at what this ends up doing. It stops PTSD veterans from getting help because they don't want to give up their guns. Do you want them to have no help as PTSD gets worse while they have guns in the house?
I do presentations providing awareness of what PTSD is and what it does. Usually there is a question and answer time following the video. Most of the questions are about gun rights. This is not a good thing. Innocent civilians never being deployed into combat are victims of combat when PTSD takes hold and a veteran opens fire. They know how to use guns and they know how to hit what they aim for. After all, this is what kept them alive in combat. When they come home, they have relied on weapons to stay alive to the point where they cannot even think of being without their guns and knives. Weapons become a part of them and they would never think of leaving them behind or not having one within reach because in combat, every second brings more danger to them, then they take that thought into civilian life.
The best answer to this is to make sure every veteran with PTSD receives the help they need and this requires learning to live a peaceful life again. They cannot do this with medication alone. They need therapy provided by an expert dedicated to healing PTSD and not someone with such limited knowledge they can't even understand what PTSD is. Too often this is exactly what the veterans are getting.
The issue of them not being responsible for their financial affairs is connected to the majority of veterans with high PTSD scores. Short term memory loss and irrational thinking are parts of it as well, but just because they want to go out and spend money they can't afford or can't remember to pay a bill, that does not automatically make them dangerous to themselves or others.
When the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act was first being debated, my knee jerk reaction was supporting this effort. It made sense until it was pointed out to me that it could potentially cause more harm than good. I did not really understand how deep the need was to hang onto guns or how much this would hurt them emotionally. It was pointed out to me by one of my friends that they would end up feeling as if their time in combat meant nothing and that they were suddenly supposed to give up their rights just because they came home wounded by PTSD. PTSD hit them while they were in combat but they still had weapons, trusted to have the weapons and now when they are trying to live a relatively "normal" life again, they are supposed to give up their weapons leaving them feeling they are penalized for serving and risking their lives.
We read about veterans taking the life of someone else and think this is a huge problem. We read about them committing suicide with a gun but we fail to understand they find other ways. What we also fail to understand is that when we're talking about numbers measured by hundreds of thousands the percentage of veterans with PTSD using guns against someone else is low enough to show this is not the answer.
Bush Signs Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Bill into Law
The Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act (H.R. 327) is designed to help address Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among veterans by requiring mental health training for Veterans Affairs staff; a suicide prevention counselor at each VA medical facility; and mental-health screening and treatment for veterans who receive VA care. It also supports outreach and education for veterans and their families, peer support counseling and research into suicide prevention. The VA had been implementing a number of these programs, but not in a timely manner, whereas the Joshua Omvig bill mandates these programs and subsequent deadlines as a means of expediting the process for returning veterans.
The rate of 18 veterans a day taking their own lives does however prove the need to be better at taking care of them overall not just those deemed too impaired to handle their own finances.
In a perfect world, all our veterans would receive whatever care they need to recover from physical and invisible wounds, would be able to have the financial security when their wounds prevent them from working and would find their families receiving the full support they need to care for them, but this is not a perfect world. Less than half of PTSD veterans seek help to heal even though the sooner they seek help the better the outcome, they fight against getting help, partly because of the stigma but also because they do not trust the government to deliver anything. Can you blame them?
Depending on what part of the country they live in, their claims can be harder to have approved, harder to get to care and harder to find the best care. Even when you look at the National Guards, you'll find some states ahead of the rest with programs to address PTSD and suicides. The Montana National Guards efforts prove this and this program is being taken to a national level, but in between then and now, the Montana National Guardsmen are able to use this program while other National Guardsmen are receiving very little. Then there is the issue of the backlog of claims along with denials. There are too many obstacles already.
Threatening veterans to take away their guns ends up making sure less veterans seek help for PTSD and with the system the way it is, they don't need one more reason to stay away from the VA.
Bill protects rights of wounded veterans
It is clear from your recent editorial about S. 669, the Veterans' Second Amendment Protection Act, that you took the time to read the talking points of an organization opposed to my legislation, but never bothered to actually read the bill. I welcome the opportunity to inform your readers what it really does.
The Veterans' Second Amendment Protection Act requires a judicial process, rather than a bureaucratic one, to determine whether or not veterans are a danger to themselves or others before stripping them of their constitutional rights. These men and women are the only recipients of federal benefits who are automatically deprived of a constitutional right solely because they've been appointed a fiduciary, regardless of the reason. Recipients of Social Security and other federal benefits are not subject to such arbitrary decisions.
You wrote that the current process is "not easy." You are correct in one regard. While it is quite easy for VA to add a veteran--and family members--to the NICS list, it is extremely difficult for a veteran to appeal that decision. Just ask Corey Briest, a veteran who was severely wounded in Iraq. Corey's wife Jennifer, his fiduciary, wrote to me that a VA field examiner admonished them to rid the house of their guns or they could be prosecuted. Never mind that Corey was encouraged to hunt as part of his rehabilitation, and never mind that he owns a heirloom rifle, handed down to him by his grandfather (also a veteran) that Corey wanted to pass on to his son. And never mind that no one bothered in the first place to assess whether Corey was a danger to himself or anyone else.
read more here
Bill protects rights of wounded veterans
We Will Remember Them
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
'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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)