Soldier guilty of cruelty and maltreatment in Iraq
By JoANNE VIVIANO Associated Press Writer
Posted: 01/18/2010 08:34:16 AM PST
Updated: 01/18/2010 10:39:12 AM PST
COLUMBUS, Ohio—A military panel in Kuwait convicted a U.S. soldier of being cruel and mistreating fellow soldiers, a case undertaken after an Army private from Ohio committed suicide in Iraq.
Staff Sgt. Enoch Chatman, of West Covina, Calif., was convicted Wednesday on two violations of the cruelty and maltreatment article of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, said Lt. Col. Kevin Olson, a military spokesman in Iraq.
Chatman was one of four soldiers accused of mistreating others in their platoon in Iraq through verbal abuse, physical punishment and ridicule of other soldiers.
The investigation was prompted by the August death of Pvt. Keiffer Wilhelm, who grew up in Willard in northwest Ohio.
Wilhelm, 19, was in Iraq with his new platoon for just 10 days before he killed himself. His family believes he was treated so badly that he took his own life, but the military has determined there was no direct evidence the four soldiers' misconduct caused the death.
read more here
Soldier guilty of cruelty and maltreatment in Iraq
Monday, January 18, 2010
We weep at Agent Orange, laugh at reporter
A Vet's Story -- Part II
We weep at Agent Orange, laugh at reporter
By Randy Hollifield
As told to daughter Landdis
Published: January 17, 2010
Editor's note: This is the second of a three-part, first-person story about Randy Hollifield's experiences in the Vietnam War and at a recent reunion. Randy told the story to his daughter, Landdis, who wrote this account. Randy hopes to bring the Traveling Vietnam War Memorial to McDowell County. In part one of this story, which appeared Friday, Randy told of arriving in Vietnam on his first wedding anniversary and also his first day at the reunion decades later.
The next day's events started out the same way. Breakfast was served and then we all gathered back together to share more stories. Eventually those stories led to us talking about something we had all seemed to avoid up to this point -- what Agent Orange had done to so many Vietnam veterans. Agent Orange was a chemical that was used in Vietnam to kill plants and foliage so that the enemy could be more clearly detected. It was commonly applied to large areas of land via tanker plane, and Camp Carroll received some of the heaviest concentrations of the chemical during the Vietnam War.
It was about a reporter who had arrived at the Gio Linh Firebase during late March 1967. He had arrived by Huey chopper and seemed very out of place among us soldiers. He was lanky, soft spoken and redheaded. He was a war correspondent on his first assignment, and he wanted to see what was happening firsthand. As usual, at dark our camp began to get fired on by incoming artillery and mortar rounds. The attack that night was especially heavy with more than 750 rounds coming in intermittently all night. Needless to say this young reporter was ready to get the heck out of Dodge by daybreak.
He had seen all he needed to see and was ready to head any place south. It was obvious the young reporter had alternative reasons for leaving other than to file his story. We told him just to stay a while and see what was really going on. We helped him send his story through a secure communication system, giving him no excuse to leave so fast. Little did we know that the redheaded reporter who had filed his first story from a Fire Direction Control Bunker would go on to be ABC anchorman Ted Koppel. The story had lightened the mood and ended the evening on a happy note. We had all laughed remembering back to that day when the reporter had arrived. No one would have realized that this scared young man would one day be an anchor on a major network.
read more here
We weep at Agent Orange, laugh at reporter
We weep at Agent Orange, laugh at reporter
By Randy Hollifield
As told to daughter Landdis
Published: January 17, 2010
Editor's note: This is the second of a three-part, first-person story about Randy Hollifield's experiences in the Vietnam War and at a recent reunion. Randy told the story to his daughter, Landdis, who wrote this account. Randy hopes to bring the Traveling Vietnam War Memorial to McDowell County. In part one of this story, which appeared Friday, Randy told of arriving in Vietnam on his first wedding anniversary and also his first day at the reunion decades later.
The next day's events started out the same way. Breakfast was served and then we all gathered back together to share more stories. Eventually those stories led to us talking about something we had all seemed to avoid up to this point -- what Agent Orange had done to so many Vietnam veterans. Agent Orange was a chemical that was used in Vietnam to kill plants and foliage so that the enemy could be more clearly detected. It was commonly applied to large areas of land via tanker plane, and Camp Carroll received some of the heaviest concentrations of the chemical during the Vietnam War.
It was about a reporter who had arrived at the Gio Linh Firebase during late March 1967. He had arrived by Huey chopper and seemed very out of place among us soldiers. He was lanky, soft spoken and redheaded. He was a war correspondent on his first assignment, and he wanted to see what was happening firsthand. As usual, at dark our camp began to get fired on by incoming artillery and mortar rounds. The attack that night was especially heavy with more than 750 rounds coming in intermittently all night. Needless to say this young reporter was ready to get the heck out of Dodge by daybreak.
He had seen all he needed to see and was ready to head any place south. It was obvious the young reporter had alternative reasons for leaving other than to file his story. We told him just to stay a while and see what was really going on. We helped him send his story through a secure communication system, giving him no excuse to leave so fast. Little did we know that the redheaded reporter who had filed his first story from a Fire Direction Control Bunker would go on to be ABC anchorman Ted Koppel. The story had lightened the mood and ended the evening on a happy note. We had all laughed remembering back to that day when the reporter had arrived. No one would have realized that this scared young man would one day be an anchor on a major network.
read more here
We weep at Agent Orange, laugh at reporter
Vietnam Vets Honored With 'Order Of Silver Rose'
Vietnam Vets Honored With 'Order Of Silver Rose'
To Those Affected By 'Agent Orange'
BY BILL JONES
STAFF WRITER
Two Vietnam War veterans were honored at the St. James Community Center on Friday night with the Order of the Silver Rose, a medal that recognizes veterans who have developed medical problems as the result of exposure to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam.
Friday night's recipients were retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Dale Neas, of Old Newport Road, Greeneville, and the late U.S. Army and Tennessee Army national Guard Sgt. 1st Class Ledmond "Huck" Huckleby of Silvan Circle, Greeneville.
In making the medal presentations, Bill Thomason, a retired U.S. Army master sergeant who lives in Parrottsville and coordinates the Order of the Silver Rose program for Northeast Tennessee, noted that Vietnam veterans are dying at a rate of about 290 each day, many from the effects of exposure to Agency Orange, a herbicide that was sprayed from the air onto jungle vegetation to deprive the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese of cover.
read more here
http://www.greenevillesun.com/story/307649
To Those Affected By 'Agent Orange'
BY BILL JONES
STAFF WRITER
Two Vietnam War veterans were honored at the St. James Community Center on Friday night with the Order of the Silver Rose, a medal that recognizes veterans who have developed medical problems as the result of exposure to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam.
Friday night's recipients were retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Dale Neas, of Old Newport Road, Greeneville, and the late U.S. Army and Tennessee Army national Guard Sgt. 1st Class Ledmond "Huck" Huckleby of Silvan Circle, Greeneville.
In making the medal presentations, Bill Thomason, a retired U.S. Army master sergeant who lives in Parrottsville and coordinates the Order of the Silver Rose program for Northeast Tennessee, noted that Vietnam veterans are dying at a rate of about 290 each day, many from the effects of exposure to Agency Orange, a herbicide that was sprayed from the air onto jungle vegetation to deprive the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese of cover.
read more here
http://www.greenevillesun.com/story/307649
Haiti aid mission uses lessons of war
Haiti aid mission uses lessons of war
By Jim Michaels - USA TODAY
Posted : Monday Jan 18, 2010 6:53:51 EST
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — This is not war, this overwhelming humanitarian effort. But after eight years of dealing with counterinsurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, the lessons learned there — getting into the communities to understand the people’s needs — apply here to the job of distributing food and water and providing medical help.
“Those skills are transferable,” said Army Col. Chris Gibson, commander of the brigade from the 82nd Airborne Division that is getting established here.
In Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers and Marines have learned to seek out local leaders and learn gritty details about sewage, electricity and water. They’re doing the same thing here, but no one is shooting at them.
Lt. Col. Mike Foster’s unit established a position at the Pétionville Club, adjacent to more than 10,000 refugees living on its golf course.
Families are lying on the ground, shielded from the sun by sheets or blankets held up by wooden poles. Some are injured and waiting for medical help. Most are waiting for adequate food and water.
read more here
Haiti aid mission uses lessons of war
By Jim Michaels - USA TODAY
Posted : Monday Jan 18, 2010 6:53:51 EST
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — This is not war, this overwhelming humanitarian effort. But after eight years of dealing with counterinsurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, the lessons learned there — getting into the communities to understand the people’s needs — apply here to the job of distributing food and water and providing medical help.
“Those skills are transferable,” said Army Col. Chris Gibson, commander of the brigade from the 82nd Airborne Division that is getting established here.
In Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers and Marines have learned to seek out local leaders and learn gritty details about sewage, electricity and water. They’re doing the same thing here, but no one is shooting at them.
Lt. Col. Mike Foster’s unit established a position at the Pétionville Club, adjacent to more than 10,000 refugees living on its golf course.
Families are lying on the ground, shielded from the sun by sheets or blankets held up by wooden poles. Some are injured and waiting for medical help. Most are waiting for adequate food and water.
read more here
Haiti aid mission uses lessons of war
New Hampshire doing what needs to be done to prevent suicides
NH group updates suicide prevention plan
By Jillian Jorgensen
jjorgensen@eagletribune.com
A state group has revised its plan for suicide prevention, bringing together public agencies and private organizations in an effort to raise awareness and help prevent suicide in New Hampshire.
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death, after accidental injury, among New Hampshire residents younger than 34. It is the fourth-leading cause of death in adults 34 to 55.
"You can have people sit in an office and write a great document, but if it's not carried out, it's not worth the ink that it's written in," said Elaine de Mello, supervisor of training and prevention at National Alliance on Mental Illness New Hampshire and a member of the Suicide Prevention Council. "The revision shows that people are looking at it, and thinking about it."
This is the first revision to the plan since it was created in 2004. The plan updates were made by the state's Suicide Prevention Council, made up of representatives from state agencies and nonprofit groups, as well as politicians, medical professionals and others.
Funding for the council's initiatives come from grants and from the agencies that make up the council and follow the plan's guidelines for dealing with and preventing suicide.
The plan's goals include reaching out to agencies from corrections facilities to schools to help officials around the state be more prepared to deal with suicidal people or the aftermath of a suicide. Many of those organizations have representatives on the council.
read more here
NH group updates suicide prevention plan
By Jillian Jorgensen
jjorgensen@eagletribune.com
A state group has revised its plan for suicide prevention, bringing together public agencies and private organizations in an effort to raise awareness and help prevent suicide in New Hampshire.
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death, after accidental injury, among New Hampshire residents younger than 34. It is the fourth-leading cause of death in adults 34 to 55.
"You can have people sit in an office and write a great document, but if it's not carried out, it's not worth the ink that it's written in," said Elaine de Mello, supervisor of training and prevention at National Alliance on Mental Illness New Hampshire and a member of the Suicide Prevention Council. "The revision shows that people are looking at it, and thinking about it."
This is the first revision to the plan since it was created in 2004. The plan updates were made by the state's Suicide Prevention Council, made up of representatives from state agencies and nonprofit groups, as well as politicians, medical professionals and others.
Funding for the council's initiatives come from grants and from the agencies that make up the council and follow the plan's guidelines for dealing with and preventing suicide.
The plan's goals include reaching out to agencies from corrections facilities to schools to help officials around the state be more prepared to deal with suicidal people or the aftermath of a suicide. Many of those organizations have representatives on the council.
read more here
NH group updates suicide prevention plan
Familiar face answers the call for veterans
Familiar face answers the call for veterans
Ruth Gonzalez, formerly of Governor’s Outreach Center, to aid vets as volunteer.
BILL O ’ BOYLE boboyle@timesleader.com
The Veterans of Vietnam War and Veterans Coalition have a new person, but hardly a trainee, helping out in a volunteer capacity.
FRED ADAMS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
Ruth Gonzalez, formerly of the Governor’s Outreach Assistance Center, is donating her time at the office on the Pittston Bypass to do what she does best – help veterans.
A Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam era, Gonzalez said she wants to finish what she left incomplete when the outreach assistance center closed because of state budget cutbacks.
“Suddenly, with little notice, I had to leave my office, and in my eyes, abandon all the veterans that I always took care of – the veterans who came to me for help,” Gonzalez said.
“They came to me one after another for all the problems and issues facing today’s American veteran, whether they be World War II, Korea, Vietnam, peacetime and especially -- our new young brave veterans of today -- our veterans who’ve been coming home from multi-tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
read more here
Familiar face answers the call for veterans
Ruth Gonzalez, formerly of Governor’s Outreach Center, to aid vets as volunteer.
BILL O ’ BOYLE boboyle@timesleader.com
The Veterans of Vietnam War and Veterans Coalition have a new person, but hardly a trainee, helping out in a volunteer capacity.
FRED ADAMS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
Ruth Gonzalez, formerly of the Governor’s Outreach Assistance Center, is donating her time at the office on the Pittston Bypass to do what she does best – help veterans.
A Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam era, Gonzalez said she wants to finish what she left incomplete when the outreach assistance center closed because of state budget cutbacks.
“Suddenly, with little notice, I had to leave my office, and in my eyes, abandon all the veterans that I always took care of – the veterans who came to me for help,” Gonzalez said.
“They came to me one after another for all the problems and issues facing today’s American veteran, whether they be World War II, Korea, Vietnam, peacetime and especially -- our new young brave veterans of today -- our veterans who’ve been coming home from multi-tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
read more here
Familiar face answers the call for veterans
Marine's walk for DAV worth $180,000, so far
He's marching for disabled veterans
Retired Marine Richard Hunsucker is on a 2,650-mile journey across the country
By JENNIFER LATSON
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Jan. 17, 2010, 10:52PM
As marathon runners began their 26-mile tour of Houston on Sunday morning, Richard Hunsucker set out on a quieter trek of his own, east of the city.
A few miles outside Liberty, Hunsucker pulled on a no-frills pair of white Nikes and hoisted a flagpole over his right shoulder. Then he set out on Highway 90 for a 17-mile leg of his 2,650-mile journey.
Hunsucker, a 52-year-old ironworker and retired Marine from Green Bay, Wis., is walking across the southern United States to raise money for disabled veterans. He started in Jacksonville on Veterans Day and expects to finish in San Diego on Memorial Day.
Lunchtime on day 68 found him crossing the Trinity River in Liberty, 849 miles down and 1,801 to go. The bridge rumbled underfoot as traffic hurtled past at 70 mph. Wearing jeans and a red Marine Corps T-shirt over white long underwear, Hunsucker marched at a determined pace along the shoulder. The blue Disabled American Veterans flag whipped in the wind. A trio of motorcyclists waved as they passed.
Hunsucker came late to Vietnam, serving with the Marines from 1974 to 1976 in Okinawa, which had been a key American staging point in the Vietnam War. His older brother served in the war, as did several of his friends. Helping veterans is a cause close to his heart.
Retired Marine Richard Hunsucker is on a 2,650-mile journey across the country
By JENNIFER LATSON
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Jan. 17, 2010, 10:52PM
As marathon runners began their 26-mile tour of Houston on Sunday morning, Richard Hunsucker set out on a quieter trek of his own, east of the city.
A few miles outside Liberty, Hunsucker pulled on a no-frills pair of white Nikes and hoisted a flagpole over his right shoulder. Then he set out on Highway 90 for a 17-mile leg of his 2,650-mile journey.
Hunsucker, a 52-year-old ironworker and retired Marine from Green Bay, Wis., is walking across the southern United States to raise money for disabled veterans. He started in Jacksonville on Veterans Day and expects to finish in San Diego on Memorial Day.
Lunchtime on day 68 found him crossing the Trinity River in Liberty, 849 miles down and 1,801 to go. The bridge rumbled underfoot as traffic hurtled past at 70 mph. Wearing jeans and a red Marine Corps T-shirt over white long underwear, Hunsucker marched at a determined pace along the shoulder. The blue Disabled American Veterans flag whipped in the wind. A trio of motorcyclists waved as they passed.
Hunsucker came late to Vietnam, serving with the Marines from 1974 to 1976 in Okinawa, which had been a key American staging point in the Vietnam War. His older brother served in the war, as did several of his friends. Helping veterans is a cause close to his heart.
The flag draws curiosity and offers of help. Benefactors have given him regular meals and occasional offers of shelter for the night. Above all, they've given donations to his cause, the nonprofit organization Disabled American Veterans. He's gotten $180,000 in pledges so far, he said.
read more here
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6820947.html
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Florida DCF, Red Cross help 180 Haiti evacuees arriving at Sanford airport
DCF, Red Cross help 180 Haiti evacuees arriving at Sanford airport
By Susan Jacobson and Anika Myers Palm
Orlando Sentinel
2:55 a.m. EST, January 17, 2010
Dr. Manoucheka Vieux doesn't know if she'll ever see her husband again.
A police inspector in Haiti, he never came home after Tuesday's devastating earthquake, and she hasn't been able to reach him since.
Fearful that disease from decomposing bodies in Haiti would harm their 10-month-old son, Chrys Valin, Vieux, a general practitioner, fled to Central Florida on Saturday with her baby. She was one of 180 people who landed at Orlando Sanford International Airport just after 5 p.m. on a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport airplane.
More than six hours later, Vieux was settling into a room at the Renaissance Orlando Airport Hotel and recounting her ordeal. Her immediate plan was to fly to South Florida today to stay with her sister. Beyond that, "I don't know," an exhausted Vieux said. "I just want to see my baby safe. I'm living with hope to see my husband again."
Vieux and the other passengers received free hotel stays courtesy of the state Department of Children and Families, which also helped them connect with family and friends in the U.S. The American Red Cross was among the other agencies that assisted the evacuees, including a handful of people who left the airplane in wheelchairs.
read more here
180 Haiti evacuees arriving at Sanford airport
also
Exclusive Haiti Earthquake Video
Sunday, January 17, 2010 10:50:29 AM
ORLANDO -- Central Florida got a unique view of the deadly earthquake in Haiti from right in the middle of it all.
News 13’s Christine Webb and the Orlando-based New Missions outreach group were stranded in the country after the quake hit Tuesday.
A New Missions videographer caught the quake as it was happening. The video was taken at the New Missions headquarters in Haiti southeast of Port-au-Prince.
The group, which also included several high school students from The First Academy, evacuated Haiti Friday, and flew into Orlando International Airport just after midnight Saturday. Christine and her fellow mission volunteers said they were grateful to be home.
Exclusive Haiti Earthquake Video
By Susan Jacobson and Anika Myers Palm
Orlando Sentinel
2:55 a.m. EST, January 17, 2010
Dr. Manoucheka Vieux doesn't know if she'll ever see her husband again.
A police inspector in Haiti, he never came home after Tuesday's devastating earthquake, and she hasn't been able to reach him since.
Fearful that disease from decomposing bodies in Haiti would harm their 10-month-old son, Chrys Valin, Vieux, a general practitioner, fled to Central Florida on Saturday with her baby. She was one of 180 people who landed at Orlando Sanford International Airport just after 5 p.m. on a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport airplane.
More than six hours later, Vieux was settling into a room at the Renaissance Orlando Airport Hotel and recounting her ordeal. Her immediate plan was to fly to South Florida today to stay with her sister. Beyond that, "I don't know," an exhausted Vieux said. "I just want to see my baby safe. I'm living with hope to see my husband again."
Vieux and the other passengers received free hotel stays courtesy of the state Department of Children and Families, which also helped them connect with family and friends in the U.S. The American Red Cross was among the other agencies that assisted the evacuees, including a handful of people who left the airplane in wheelchairs.
read more here
180 Haiti evacuees arriving at Sanford airport
also
Exclusive Haiti Earthquake Video
Sunday, January 17, 2010 10:50:29 AM
ORLANDO -- Central Florida got a unique view of the deadly earthquake in Haiti from right in the middle of it all.
News 13’s Christine Webb and the Orlando-based New Missions outreach group were stranded in the country after the quake hit Tuesday.
A New Missions videographer caught the quake as it was happening. The video was taken at the New Missions headquarters in Haiti southeast of Port-au-Prince.
The group, which also included several high school students from The First Academy, evacuated Haiti Friday, and flew into Orlando International Airport just after midnight Saturday. Christine and her fellow mission volunteers said they were grateful to be home.
Exclusive Haiti Earthquake Video
Bigger Army necessary
During all other wars up to the Vietnam War, when the nation's leaders said "go to war" everyone had to do their part. So how is it with two long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there has not been a massive push to at least get more to enlist if they do not want to start the draft again? If they are waiting for a crisis, they missed it a long time ago. These wars are not the wars of the American people when most have not been paying attention to either one. The risks, the issues, the price being paid, have not been personal to any of us as fewer and fewer news reports come out. The burden is not shared by the rest of us and they have to pay the price for what we ask of them.
Bigger Army necessary
Editorial
Posted : Sunday Jan 17, 2010 8:51:00 EST
The Army on three occasions over the past five years has increased active-duty end-strength to meet ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lesson learned: The Army was too small to simultaneously fight on two fronts. That took an incredible toll on troops and their families, who endured multiple war tours of up to 15 months at a stretch. Others paid for it by being forced to serve on “stop-loss” beyond their terms of obligated service. Meanwhile, getting the Army closer to the right size cost billions and took years.
The addition of a total of 65,000 soldiers resulted in today’s authorized end-strength of 547,400 in uniform. In July, Congress has authorized yet another temporary increase, of 22,000 troops.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/army_casey_011710w/
Casualties of war and PTSD
UPDATE
The moderator of Spouse Calls left a comment on this post to clear up any misunderstanding. The following comes from an Army Wife named Sheryl.
It is a powerful statement of what we do not think about when we think of how much is asked of the men and women serving especially when we ignore their families. When I read stories like this, I wonder if the marriage could have been saved if the spouse had the understanding as well as support to live with what the war did her marriage. I know how difficult it was for my family to stay together, even though I knew what PTSD was. I cannot imagine what it would have been like if I did not have the tools to help my husband heal, to forgive him because I knew why he did the things he did or how to help myself heal as well.
None of this has to happen but until the DOD understands what PTSD is, what has to be done, educate the families, it will keep happening just as the suicides keep going up. None of this has to happen.
Spouse calls:
Casualties of war and PTSD
By Terri Barnes, Special to Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes Scene, Sunday, January 17, 2010
On the Spouse Calls blog:
As I watched the towers fall, I knew our lives would change. My heart ached for the people in the towers and their families, and then I got a cold shiver and knew my life was about to change, too.
That day I knew we were going to war and my husband was going to go … I just didn’t know that it would mean that I would lose my husband and our family, too.
Forward to mid-tour homecoming from Iraq: The man I picked up at the airport was not my husband. After all of those months, he hugged me and patted me on the back. He didn’t embrace our children. His eyes were cold. In fact you, could see right through them and the sparkle that was once there was gone.
Forward to the Iraq homecoming: Again, he got off of the plane. The excitement to see me wasn’t there. He was trying, I know he was, but they left my husband and what he was in Iraq, never to return.
We were the couple that everyone thought would be together forever — never gave it another thought. Now we are separated and going through divorce.
read more here
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=140&article=67291
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