Old Soldiers Still Fighting for Veteran's Disability
March 26, 2010. By Gordon Gibb
Albany, NY: While the US Department of Veterans Affairs is adding new diseases and conditions to the list of those which quality for compensation, securing veterans' disability benefits can be painfully slow—and for some, impossible.
On Monday the Albany-based Times-Union revealed the maddening situation of those who came into contact with Agent Orange while serving during the Vietnam War.
Agent Orange is a toxic herbicide used by the US military to defoliate the dense forest and allow US soldiers to better see the enemy. It was later found that military personnel who ingested dioxins and the various toxic chemicals associated with the herbicide have become susceptible to illness. The VA long ago ruled that military personnel who served on Vietnamese soil and became ill from the aftereffects of Agent Orange should be compensated.
However, those who did not actually serve on Vietnamese soil—including those who served in the air or on the sea—are ineligible for compensation unless they can prove their illness is directly service-oriented. That, it turns out, is not easy. Even when doctors verify the connection, benefits can be painfully slow in coming.
The Times-Union told the story of Robert Hug, who served in the Gulf of Tonkin and South China Sea aboard the USS Hancock from 1967 to 1970. Hug, a non-smoker, eventually developed cancer of the larynx and required surgery. Doctors blamed his illness on Agent Orange. However the VA denied his claims for cancer-related benefits four times in nine years before finally allowing him benefits last fall.
read more here
Old Soldiers Still Fighting for Veterans Disability
Friday, March 26, 2010
35 years later, Vietnam vets welcomed home
35 years later, Vietnam vets welcomed home
By Claudette Langley
Veterans of the 25-year conflict and war in Southeast Asia received their due at the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday.
On behalf of Chapter 391, Vietnam Veterans of America, Dan Brown accepted a resolution from the board honoring Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day, which is March 30. Supervisors Merita Callaway and Gary Tofanelli presented the resolution to Brown during the consent agenda period of the regular meeting.
By Claudette Langley
Veterans of the 25-year conflict and war in Southeast Asia received their due at the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday.
On behalf of Chapter 391, Vietnam Veterans of America, Dan Brown accepted a resolution from the board honoring Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day, which is March 30. Supervisors Merita Callaway and Gary Tofanelli presented the resolution to Brown during the consent agenda period of the regular meeting.
“Whereas, beginning in 1950 and ending with troop evacuations in 1975, the Vietnam War was the longest conflict in American history,” the resolution reads. “Whereas, 324,000 Californians, including Calaveras County residents, served in Vietnam...”
read more here
A Matter of Life and Death: Suicides in the Army
I have long believed that Chaplains are the best treatment for not only heading off PTSD, but helping to heal it after it has taken hold as well.
Troubled veterans of combat don't want to talk to just anybody. They want to talk to someone they know they can trust, someone they know will not judge them or feel repulsed by what they have to say. They need to know opening up will not harm their career. These, obvious reasons are only part of it. When you consider PTSD is a wound to the emotional part of the brain striking after traumatic events, it is really hitting the soul of the man/woman. When they begin to heal spiritually, every other treatment works better because of it.
The following article points out how important chaplains are for the men and women serving. This should also offer more evidence that the clergy in the civilian world need to become more involved in helping them heal when they come home.
Troubled veterans of combat don't want to talk to just anybody. They want to talk to someone they know they can trust, someone they know will not judge them or feel repulsed by what they have to say. They need to know opening up will not harm their career. These, obvious reasons are only part of it. When you consider PTSD is a wound to the emotional part of the brain striking after traumatic events, it is really hitting the soul of the man/woman. When they begin to heal spiritually, every other treatment works better because of it.
The following article points out how important chaplains are for the men and women serving. This should also offer more evidence that the clergy in the civilian world need to become more involved in helping them heal when they come home.
March 26, 2010, 11:19 am
A Matter of Life and Death: Suicides in the Army
By TIMOTHY HSIA
The Army faces a battle over the life and death of its soldiers. The battle is not being waged in Iraq and Afghanistan, but in the minds and tortured souls of soldiers contemplating suicide. Last year the Army again reported an increase in suicides, and in response the Army now requires every soldier to complete an online assessment of their physical, mental and spiritual well-being.
The Army’s suicide problem is worse than the official numbers presented because the suicide statistics that are tabulated do not include the family members of soldiers. When I attended suicide prevention training sponsored by the Army, several chaplains who were leading the class told the participants that beyond just counseling service members they also had assisted in helping soldiers cope with a family member’s suicide. The official numbers also do not include veterans who have left the military.
While suicides are most pronounced in the Army, the other branches of the military also face this problem, which extends beyond just soldiers returning from combat and even to the service academies. Moreover, the pain and emotional strain of deployment and suicides is not simply limited to soldiers in the junior ranks. Even generals, like Gen. Carter Ham, commanding general of U.S. Army Europe, has encouraged soldiers to seek help for their mental wounds.
The Army’s response to the uptick in suicides has been swift and pronounced. Beyond just having soldiers fill out individual risk assessments, soldiers are also required to role-play scenes in an interactive DVD video that mirrors the emotional issues that may be encountered. Perhaps more important, within the Army there has been a substantial shift in the army’s organizational ethos concerning how leaders view mental strain. Going to talk to a chaplain or mental health professional is no longer looked down upon. Leaders have also emphasized that official policy does not automatically prevent one from gaining security clearance if they see a psychiatrist.
When my unit returned from Iraq the first time, there was no emphasis on the soldier’s mental health. The one solace that soldiers seek out, then and now, are military chaplains. Were it not for the listening and compassionate ear of my unit’s chaplains, my unit’s morale would have plummeted while deployed. While many civilians probably presume that there are numerous military health professionals — particularly in light of the notoriety of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan and the Fort Hood Army Base shootings in Texas — in actuality there are very few psychiatrists at the unit level.
read more here
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/a-matter-of-life-and-death-suicides-in-the-army/
Boston DAV helps Camp Lejeune toxic water vet receive comp
Lejeune veteran receives full disability on contaminated water claims
March 16, 2010 1:20 AM
HOPE HODGE
A former Camp Lejeune Marine suffering from a rare blood disease last week became one of a small number of veterans to receive full disability due to historical water contamination.
Braintree, Mass., resident Paul Buckley said he was shocked after multiple claim denials from the Department of Veterans Affairs to discover a packet in his mailbox granting his claim in full.
“I opened it up and almost fell to the ground,” he said.
The victory comes after a long and harrowing journey for the 46-year-old veteran. On May 10, 2006, more than 20 years after Buckley’s contract with the Marine Corps ended, he became rapidly ill, driving himself to the hospital before collapsing in its emergency room. He was in a coma for 10 days.
Buckley, then 42, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an uncommon and largely incurable form of cancer that typically afflicts a far different demographic.
“The doctors were confused because the people who get my disease are primarily elderly and they have worked in industries where there has been exposure to certain chemicals,” Buckley said. “I was burning my brain trying to figure out where I got this.”
March 16, 2010 1:20 AM
HOPE HODGE
A former Camp Lejeune Marine suffering from a rare blood disease last week became one of a small number of veterans to receive full disability due to historical water contamination.
Braintree, Mass., resident Paul Buckley said he was shocked after multiple claim denials from the Department of Veterans Affairs to discover a packet in his mailbox granting his claim in full.
“I opened it up and almost fell to the ground,” he said.
The victory comes after a long and harrowing journey for the 46-year-old veteran. On May 10, 2006, more than 20 years after Buckley’s contract with the Marine Corps ended, he became rapidly ill, driving himself to the hospital before collapsing in its emergency room. He was in a coma for 10 days.
Buckley, then 42, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an uncommon and largely incurable form of cancer that typically afflicts a far different demographic.
“The doctors were confused because the people who get my disease are primarily elderly and they have worked in industries where there has been exposure to certain chemicals,” Buckley said. “I was burning my brain trying to figure out where I got this.”
Staff with the Boston branch of Disabled American Veterans, who advocated on Buckley’s behalf, said that he represented a “perfect storm” of circumstances: no environmental or family links to his disease and a detailed nexus letter from doctors with Harvard Medical School making his case.
read more here
http://www.jdnews.com/articles/full-73912-veterans-claim.html
National Medal Of Honor Day at White House
The White House Blog
National Medal of Honor Day
Posted by Jesse Lee on March 26, 2009 at 08:46 AM EDT
Yesterday the President participated in the wreath-laying ceremony for National Medal of Honor Day at Arlington National Cemetery, along with more than 30 of the 98 living Medal of Honor recipients.
The President issued the following statement yesterday:
We are grateful to all those who wear the uniform of our Armed Forces and serve and sacrifice on behalf of our great nation. Members of our Armed Forces hold themselves to the highest standards and set an example of responsibility to one another and to the country that should inspire all Americans to serve a purpose greater than themselves. Today we pay our respect to those who distinguished themselves conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty - the recipients of the Medal of Honor.
Since it was first awarded during the Civil War to the current battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, Medal of Honor recipients have displayed tremendous courage, an unfailing determination to succeed, and a humbling willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice. It is telling that so many Medal of Honor recipients received the award posthumously. These soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsman embody the best of American values and ideals.
Medal of Honor recipients are the foremost example of greatness in service and sacrifice. Their bravery and humble strength continues to reassure our nation of the strength of its character and ideals even in these difficult times. We owe these heroes a debt of gratitude that our nation can never fully repay. So, it is on this day that we salute that fact and celebrate their lives and heroic actions that have placed them amongst the "bravest of the brave." We must never forget their sacrifice and will always keep the Fallen and their families in our thoughts and prayers.
National Medal of Honor Day
Posted by Jesse Lee on March 26, 2009 at 08:46 AM EDT
Yesterday the President participated in the wreath-laying ceremony for National Medal of Honor Day at Arlington National Cemetery, along with more than 30 of the 98 living Medal of Honor recipients.
The President issued the following statement yesterday:
We are grateful to all those who wear the uniform of our Armed Forces and serve and sacrifice on behalf of our great nation. Members of our Armed Forces hold themselves to the highest standards and set an example of responsibility to one another and to the country that should inspire all Americans to serve a purpose greater than themselves. Today we pay our respect to those who distinguished themselves conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty - the recipients of the Medal of Honor.
Since it was first awarded during the Civil War to the current battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, Medal of Honor recipients have displayed tremendous courage, an unfailing determination to succeed, and a humbling willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice. It is telling that so many Medal of Honor recipients received the award posthumously. These soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsman embody the best of American values and ideals.
Medal of Honor recipients are the foremost example of greatness in service and sacrifice. Their bravery and humble strength continues to reassure our nation of the strength of its character and ideals even in these difficult times. We owe these heroes a debt of gratitude that our nation can never fully repay. So, it is on this day that we salute that fact and celebrate their lives and heroic actions that have placed them amongst the "bravest of the brave." We must never forget their sacrifice and will always keep the Fallen and their families in our thoughts and prayers.
Youth suicides epidemic on tribal reservations
Youth suicides epidemic on tribal reservations
Rates among Native Americans are 10 times the national average
Coloradas Mangus, a sophomore at Ruidoso High School on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, N.M., testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing on "The Preventable Epidemic: Youth Suicides and the Urgent Need for Mental Health Care Resources in Indian Country."
By MATTHEW DALY
updated 7:47 p.m. ET, Thurs., March. 25, 2010
WASHINGTON - At 15, high school sophomore Coloradas Mangas knows all too much about suicide.
He's recently had several friends who took their own lives, and he survived a suicide attempt himself.
Coloradas, a member of the Chiricahua Apache tribe, lives on the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico, where there have been five youth suicides since the start of the school year. All were his friends.
Coloradas went to Capitol Hill Thursday to tell lawmakers about the urgent problem of suicide among Native Americans. Tribal suicide rates are 70 percent higher than for the general population, and the youth suicide rate is even higher. On some reservations youth suicide rates are 10 times the national average.
"Things go wrong that they can't change," Coloradas said, trying to explain the high rate of suicide in his community. "They don't get shown the love they need. They say, 'You don't love me when I was here. Now you love me when I'm not here.' "
On the mountainous Mescalero reservation, located in south-central New Mexico more than 200 miles south of Albuquerque, a single mental health clinic serves a tribe of more than 4,500 people. The closest 24-hour Hotline is in Albuquerque.
read more here
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36039795/ns/health-mental_health/
Rates among Native Americans are 10 times the national average
Coloradas Mangus, a sophomore at Ruidoso High School on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, N.M., testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing on "The Preventable Epidemic: Youth Suicides and the Urgent Need for Mental Health Care Resources in Indian Country."
By MATTHEW DALY
updated 7:47 p.m. ET, Thurs., March. 25, 2010
WASHINGTON - At 15, high school sophomore Coloradas Mangas knows all too much about suicide.
He's recently had several friends who took their own lives, and he survived a suicide attempt himself.
Coloradas, a member of the Chiricahua Apache tribe, lives on the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico, where there have been five youth suicides since the start of the school year. All were his friends.
Coloradas went to Capitol Hill Thursday to tell lawmakers about the urgent problem of suicide among Native Americans. Tribal suicide rates are 70 percent higher than for the general population, and the youth suicide rate is even higher. On some reservations youth suicide rates are 10 times the national average.
"Things go wrong that they can't change," Coloradas said, trying to explain the high rate of suicide in his community. "They don't get shown the love they need. They say, 'You don't love me when I was here. Now you love me when I'm not here.' "
On the mountainous Mescalero reservation, located in south-central New Mexico more than 200 miles south of Albuquerque, a single mental health clinic serves a tribe of more than 4,500 people. The closest 24-hour Hotline is in Albuquerque.
read more here
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36039795/ns/health-mental_health/
At least 10 dead following multi vehicle crash on Interstate 65
At least 10 people were killed in a wreck on Interstate 65 in Kentucky this morning, a spokesman for the Kentucky State Police said. FULL STORY
Los Angeles SWAT team officer killed in Afghanistan
2 Calif Marines killed in Afghanistan
Associated Press
03/26/10 3:10 AM PDT
LOS ANGELES — They were Marines from the same Southern California city. One was a Los Angeles SWAT team officer on active duty, the other was the son of a Santa Ana police sergeant. Both were killed Wednesday by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Afghanistan.
Sgt., Maj. Robert. J. Cottle, 45, a 20-year LAPD veteran, and Lance Cpl. Rick. J. Centanni, 19, both of Yorba Linda, were traveling with two other Marines in an armored truck in the Marjah region of Afghanistan when the blast occurred, LAPD Capt. John Incontro said. The other Marines were seriously injured. No other details of the incident were immediately available.
Cottle and Centanni were stationed with the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, out of Camp Pendleton, in southern Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
Cottle had been deployed on active duty since August 2009.
2 Calif Marines killed in Afghanistan
Associated Press
03/26/10 3:10 AM PDT
LOS ANGELES — They were Marines from the same Southern California city. One was a Los Angeles SWAT team officer on active duty, the other was the son of a Santa Ana police sergeant. Both were killed Wednesday by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Afghanistan.
Sgt., Maj. Robert. J. Cottle, 45, a 20-year LAPD veteran, and Lance Cpl. Rick. J. Centanni, 19, both of Yorba Linda, were traveling with two other Marines in an armored truck in the Marjah region of Afghanistan when the blast occurred, LAPD Capt. John Incontro said. The other Marines were seriously injured. No other details of the incident were immediately available.
Cottle and Centanni were stationed with the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, out of Camp Pendleton, in southern Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
Cottle had been deployed on active duty since August 2009.
2 Calif Marines killed in Afghanistan
11 Utah Guard workers hospitalized
11 Utah Guard workers hospitalized
By Mike Stark - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 25, 2010 19:33:00 EDT
CAMP WILLIAMS, Utah —Eleven workers who were exposed to an irritating material at a Utah National Guard training base on Thursday had to be decontaminated in a hospital parking lot before they were taken to the emergency room and released several hours later.
The irritant came from material leaking from a building’s heating system that was dripping onto some drywall, according to Maj. Craig Bello of the 85th Civil Support Team.
read more here
11 Utah Guard workers hospitalized
By Mike Stark - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 25, 2010 19:33:00 EDT
CAMP WILLIAMS, Utah —Eleven workers who were exposed to an irritating material at a Utah National Guard training base on Thursday had to be decontaminated in a hospital parking lot before they were taken to the emergency room and released several hours later.
The irritant came from material leaking from a building’s heating system that was dripping onto some drywall, according to Maj. Craig Bello of the 85th Civil Support Team.
read more here
11 Utah Guard workers hospitalized
Online scammers are posing as US serviceman prey on hearts
Beware online knights in shining armor, US Army warns
By Agence France-Presse
Friday, March 26th, 2010 -- 8:26 am
Online scammers are posing as US serviceman posted overseas and promising love and marriage to cheat women out of thousands of dollars, the US Army's Criminal Investigation Command has warned.
Special CID agents cautioned that they had learned of multiple incidents in which people online posed as US soldiers and got "romantically involved... with female victims and prey on their emotions and patriotism."
Army CID spokesman Chris Grey said the scammers often used information about real soldiers, including their names and ranks, and found photographs of soldiers online to create a false identity.
These individuals promise "true love, but only end up breaking hearts and bank accounts," the CID warned.
read more here
Beware online knights in shining armor, US Army warns
By Agence France-Presse
Friday, March 26th, 2010 -- 8:26 am
Online scammers are posing as US serviceman posted overseas and promising love and marriage to cheat women out of thousands of dollars, the US Army's Criminal Investigation Command has warned.
Special CID agents cautioned that they had learned of multiple incidents in which people online posed as US soldiers and got "romantically involved... with female victims and prey on their emotions and patriotism."
Army CID spokesman Chris Grey said the scammers often used information about real soldiers, including their names and ranks, and found photographs of soldiers online to create a false identity.
These individuals promise "true love, but only end up breaking hearts and bank accounts," the CID warned.
read more here
Beware online knights in shining armor, US Army warns
What Joe Dwyer's Death Can Teach Us about PTSD
Battling the Inner Demons of War
What Joe Dwyer's Death Can Teach Us about PTSD
By Cordula Meyer
A photograph of PFC Joseph Dwyer in Iraq made him an American hero, but five years after returning home, mental combat wounds drove him to his death. He is not alone. In 2009, more than twice as many soldiers died by their own hands than were killed by the enemy in Iraq. But new types of therapy are giving others the chance for the peace he never had.
On an afternoon in June 2008, police in Pinehurst, North Carolina, were dispatched to a white farmhouse. The town is set in an idyllic location, complete with woods, plantation houses and eight golf courses. Many of its inhabitants are retirees, so law enforcement officers generally don't have much to do. But, in the previous months, they had repeatedly been called to this particular address. Its owner, a 31-year-old man named Joe Dwyer, had been barricading himself in his house, where he kept several pistols and a semiautomatic rifle.
This time, the officers broke down the door. Once inside, they found Dwyer lying on the ground, covered in feces and urine, gasping for air. "Help me!" the young man begged the officers. "I can't breathe." Surrounding him were dozens of empty cans of Dust-Off, an aerosol spray meant to clean electronic equipment. But it can also be inhaled as a kind of sedative, which can cause heart and lung damage if repeated.
A taxi driver had alerted the police. She told them that, for months, she had been driving him to local shops every day to buy his cans of Dust-Off because he had wrecked his own car veering to avoid a roadside object he thought was an Iraqi bomb.
Joseph Dwyer was a giant of a man with reddish-brown hair. He died that same day while being rushed to the hospital. He was buried a few days later with military honors. While handing Dwyer's widow, Matina, the folded flag that had been draped over her husband's coffin as a mark of respect from the US Army, an officer fell to his knees in front of her.
read more here
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,685442,00.html
Fiery WWII veteran surrenders peacefully after standoff
Fiery veteran surrenders peacefully after standoff
After dispute with wife, he says he's been married 'too damn long'
By DALE LEZON HOUSTON CHRONICLE
March 25, 2010, 8:13PM
After he allegedly fired a gunshot during an argument with his wife, a 84-year-old World War II-era veteran held a SWAT team at bay at the couple's home in southwest Houston for nearly six hours early Thursday before he was arrested peacefully.
The standoff began around 1:30 a.m. after the homeowner, who identified himself as Gerald Lancaster, fired a shot as his wife was leaving their home in the 10100 block of Amblewood, authorities said.
He was arrested about 7 a.m., police said, and charged with aggravated assault.
Patrol officers arrived at the home after the gunshot, and later the Houston Police Department SWAT unit was dispatched because Lancaster did not come outside.
Lancaster was unarmed when arrested by SWAT officers who broke through a door at the home. He didn't resist, police said, and no injuries were reported.
Lancaster, in an interview from the backseat of a police cruiser after his arrest, said he had been drinking alcohol during the day and that he and his wife had argued. He said his wife had not been drinking.
read more here
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/military/6929247.html
After dispute with wife, he says he's been married 'too damn long'
By DALE LEZON HOUSTON CHRONICLE
March 25, 2010, 8:13PM
After he allegedly fired a gunshot during an argument with his wife, a 84-year-old World War II-era veteran held a SWAT team at bay at the couple's home in southwest Houston for nearly six hours early Thursday before he was arrested peacefully.
The standoff began around 1:30 a.m. after the homeowner, who identified himself as Gerald Lancaster, fired a shot as his wife was leaving their home in the 10100 block of Amblewood, authorities said.
He was arrested about 7 a.m., police said, and charged with aggravated assault.
Patrol officers arrived at the home after the gunshot, and later the Houston Police Department SWAT unit was dispatched because Lancaster did not come outside.
Lancaster was unarmed when arrested by SWAT officers who broke through a door at the home. He didn't resist, police said, and no injuries were reported.
Lancaster, in an interview from the backseat of a police cruiser after his arrest, said he had been drinking alcohol during the day and that he and his wife had argued. He said his wife had not been drinking.
read more here
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/military/6929247.html
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Senators want data on military prescription drug use
Senators want data on prescription drug use
By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Mar 25, 2010 9:21:40 EDT
Several senators expressed concern Wednesday about increasing psychiatric drug usage among service members and called on top military health officials to provide detailed data about how many troops are on anti-depressants and other mind-altering drugs.
At a hearing on Capitol Hill, Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s military personnel panel, cited a recent Military Times report about the spike in psychotropic drug use in the military community, pointing to evidence that overall psychiatric drug usage has risen about 76 percent since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“We’ve seen recent reports of increased prescription drug use that are deeply troubling … in fact, the data is stunning,” Webb told the surgeons general from the Army, Navy and Air Force and the Marine Corps’s top health official, who all appeared at the hearing on the military health system.
read more here
Senators want data on prescription drug use
By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Mar 25, 2010 9:21:40 EDT
Several senators expressed concern Wednesday about increasing psychiatric drug usage among service members and called on top military health officials to provide detailed data about how many troops are on anti-depressants and other mind-altering drugs.
At a hearing on Capitol Hill, Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s military personnel panel, cited a recent Military Times report about the spike in psychotropic drug use in the military community, pointing to evidence that overall psychiatric drug usage has risen about 76 percent since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“We’ve seen recent reports of increased prescription drug use that are deeply troubling … in fact, the data is stunning,” Webb told the surgeons general from the Army, Navy and Air Force and the Marine Corps’s top health official, who all appeared at the hearing on the military health system.
read more here
Senators want data on prescription drug use
Community comes to veteran's aid
Community comes to veteran's aid
By MARY WESTON - Staff Writer
Posted: 03/24/2010 10:39:40 PM PDT
OROVILLE -- Richard Duffett Sr., a disabled Vietnam veteran, was evicted from his Southside home of 22 years Wednesday morning, but the community has come to his aid.
Butte County sheriff's deputies and an agent for the bank that had foreclosed on the property owner arrived at about 9 a.m. to carry out the eviction.
Duffett had lived in the house for 22 years. He worked for the former owners of the house, and Duffett said they added to their will a clause stating he could live in the house for the rest of his life.
However, a son inherited the house, refinanced it and the bank foreclosed on the loan.
Tuesday, Duffett was served with a 24-hour notice to vacate the premises by 6 a.m. on Wednesday or he would be evicted at 9 a.m.
"I thought yesterday was a bad day, but today was even worse," Duffett said.
Duffett had to roll out of the yard in his cart at about 9:30 a.m.
Friends came by to help the man they called "Bear." They moved some items to store at a neighbor's house and moved Duffett's personal belongings out by the street.
read more here
http://www.chicoer.com/news/oroville/ci_14753850
By MARY WESTON - Staff Writer
Posted: 03/24/2010 10:39:40 PM PDT
OROVILLE -- Richard Duffett Sr., a disabled Vietnam veteran, was evicted from his Southside home of 22 years Wednesday morning, but the community has come to his aid.
Butte County sheriff's deputies and an agent for the bank that had foreclosed on the property owner arrived at about 9 a.m. to carry out the eviction.
Duffett had lived in the house for 22 years. He worked for the former owners of the house, and Duffett said they added to their will a clause stating he could live in the house for the rest of his life.
However, a son inherited the house, refinanced it and the bank foreclosed on the loan.
Tuesday, Duffett was served with a 24-hour notice to vacate the premises by 6 a.m. on Wednesday or he would be evicted at 9 a.m.
"I thought yesterday was a bad day, but today was even worse," Duffett said.
Duffett had to roll out of the yard in his cart at about 9:30 a.m.
Friends came by to help the man they called "Bear." They moved some items to store at a neighbor's house and moved Duffett's personal belongings out by the street.
read more here
http://www.chicoer.com/news/oroville/ci_14753850
Vietnam Vet Andrew Elmer Wright found a home as a homeless vet
A simple casket with an American flag for Vietnam Veteran Andrew Elmer Wright.
A simple bouquet of flowers was placed with a simple photo a church member snapped.
By all accounts, Andrew was a simple man with simple needs but what was evident today is that Andrew was anything but a "simple" man.
A few days ago I received an email from Chaplain Lyle Schmeiser, DAV Chapter 16, asking for people to attend a funeral for a homeless Vietnam veteran. After posting about funerals for the forgotten for many years across the country, I felt compelled to attend.
As I drove to the Carey Hand Colonial Funeral Home, I imagined an empty room knowing how few people would show up for a funeral like this. All the other homeless veteran stories flooded my thoughts and this, I thought, would be just one more of them.
When I arrived, I discovered the funeral home was paying for the funeral. Pastor Joel Reif, of First United Church of Christ asked them if they could help out to bury this veteran and they did. They put together a beautiful service with Honor Guard and a 21 gun salute by the VFW post.
I asked a man there what he knew about Andrew and his eyes filled. He smiled and then told me how Andrew wouldn't drink the water from the tap. He'd send this man for bottled water, always insisting on paying for it. When the water was on sale, he'd buy Andrew an extra case of water but Andrew was upset because the man didn't use the extra money for gas.
Then Pastor Joel filled in more of Andrew's life. Andrew got back from Vietnam, got married and had children. His wife passed away and Andrew remarried. For some reason the marriage didn't work out. Soon the state came to take his children away. Andrew did all he could to get his children back, but after years of trying, he gave up and lost hope.
A few years ago, after going to the church for help from the food pantry, for himself and his cats, Andrew lost what little he had left. The tent he was living in was bulldozed down in an attempt to clear out homeless people from Orlando. Nothing was left and he couldn't find his cats.
Andrew ended up talking to Pastor Joel after his bike was stolen again, he'd been beaten up and ended up sleeping on church grounds in the doorway. Pastor Joel offered him the shed in the back of the church to sleep in so that he wouldn't have to face more attacks.
The shed had electricity and they put in a TV set, a frying pan and a coffee maker. They wanted to give Andrew more but he said they had already given him enough.
Pastor Joel told of how Andrew gave him a Christmas card with some money in it one year. Pastor Joel didn't want to take money from someone with so little, but Andrew begged him to take it saying "Please, don't take this away from me" because it was all he had to give and it meant a lot to give it to the Pastor. Much like the widow with two cents gave all she had in the Bible, Andrew was truly grateful for what little he had been given from the church.
What was soon made clear is that Pastor Joel gave him even more than he imagined. Andrew took it on himself to be the church watchman. While services were going on after Andrew greeted the parishioners, he would travel around the parking lot to make sure the cars were safe. At night he made sure any guests of the church were equally watched over. Pastor Joel not only gave him a roof over his head and food, he gave him something to make him feel needed.
More and more people came to the service and there was a lot of weeping as Pastor Joel spoke. What was very clear this day is that Andrew was called a homeless veteran but he was not homeless. He found one at the church. He lost his family and his children, but he found a family at the church.
From what was said about Andrew, he was a Vietnam veteran with PTSD and he wanted no help from the VA. Too many of them feel the same way and they live on the streets, depending on the kindness of strangers to help them out. Andrew wasn't one of the panhandlers we see in Orlando. He refused to beg for money and he wanted to work for whatever he was given. His health got worse but he still did what he could. Right up until March 16, 2010 when Andrew passed away, no matter what happened to him during his life, Andrew proved that this veteran was not hopeless, not helpless because he found the fulfillment of hope in the arms of strangers who took him in and he found help as he asked as well as gave.
The legacy of this homeless veteran is that he touched the lives of so many hearts and will never be forgotten.
Behind this church, in a tiny shed, Andew spent his last hours on this earth. Born in Riverside Park NJ on November 5, 1938 he returned to God on March 16, 2010.
John 14:2-3
In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Matthew 25
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
UPDATE to what happened after this story came out.
Homeless veterans hearing ends due to GOP grandstanding
What has happened to these people? Do they care about anything other than just trying to stop what they can? Now they hurt homeless veterans waiting for someone to step up and take care of them? Is this going to end up like healthcare insurance reform and they leave behind hatred against other people waiting for some kind of help? For heaven's sake! I just got back from a funeral for a homeless Vietnam veteran! (read post later today)
Are level headed Republicans going to take back their party and restore common sense and common decency? Will they set aside their differences to get something done? Their opposition is hurting homeless veterans!
Are level headed Republicans going to take back their party and restore common sense and common decency? Will they set aside their differences to get something done? Their opposition is hurting homeless veterans!
Senate veterans hearing shut down due to partisan obstruction
MEDIA RELEASE
U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, held a hearing Wednesday, March 24 on VA’s plan to end veteran homelessness in the next five years. It is estimated more than 100,000 veterans – including at least 800 in Hawaii – are homeless in the United States on any given night.
The hearing ended abruptly at 11 a.m. after opponents of health insurance reform objected to allowing most committee hearings, including the Veterans’ Affairs hearing, to continue. Senate rules require unanimous consent on the Senate floor for committees to meet two hours after the Senate convenes. Objections to the routine procedure are extremely rare.
“The Senate should be a place for debate, but I cannot imagine how shutting down a hearing on helping homeless veterans has any part of the debate on the health insurance reform. I am deeply disappointed that my colleagues chose to hinder our common work to help end veteran homelessness,” Akaka said.
The hearing included witnesses from the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Labor, and Housing and Urban Development, as well as community providers who help homeless veterans, and a veteran in transitional housing.
Chairman Akaka was forced to gavel the hearing to an end in the middle of testimony from witness Dr. Sam Tsemberis from Pathways to Housing, a service provider with hands-on experience helping homeless veterans, particularly those with psychiatric disabilities and addiction disorders.
“With a growing commitment from Congress, the federal government, and community providers, we are on track to end veteran homelessness in five years. We must stay focused and work together to accomplish this important and ambitious goal,” Akaka said.
VFW vs VFW Tradewell
If you ever want to know the truth when people say terrible things, always check the record.
VFW Officer Hits VFW’s Tradewell in Testimony on Health Care
March 25, 2010 by Michael Leon
U.S. Rep Chet Edwards (D-Waco), member of the House Appropriations Committee and Chair of the House Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, slammed the Veterans for Foreign Wars’ (VFW) discredited attack on Health Care Reform as a “betrayal” of American veterans in a Congressional hearing as a VFW witness refused to defend his own national commander’s “betrayal” remarks.
The line of attack against health care reform pushed by Thomas J. Tradewell Sr., national commander of the Veterans for Foreign Wars’(VFW) and a political opponent of health care reform, has been buried by a mountain of criticism as the VFW’s political credibility has been in free fall since Thomas J. Tradewell penned his screed over the weekend that that Health Care Reform harms Tricare and betrays veterans.
Edwards who voted No on Health Care Reform and Rep Sam Farr (D-CA) fairly humiliated the VFW’s Eric Hilleman (deputy director-VFW National Legislative Service) in Congressional testimony Tuesday appearing as a witness before the hearing of the House Appropriations Committee.
Hilleman repeatedly refused to defend Tradewell’s “betrayal” remarks, stating to the Committee in his sworn testimony that “(t)here is clear demonstration that this Congress and the administration has put forward an incredible effort on behalf of America’s veterans” in direct questioning on Tradewell’sremarks, and refering the Committee to the “the commander (Tradewell) on his own actions” and “remarks.”
A remarkable exchange among Chairman Edwards, the VFW’s Hilleman and Rep Sam Farr (CA) is below. Looks like Thomas J. Tradewell Sr. has been thrown under the bus and then backed over. The only question is how quickly the VFW will push out the discredited Tradewell......in the last 3 years that I have chaired this subcommittee and Democrats have been a majority in the House, we have increased funding for veterans by more funding levels by higher amount, probably by a huge magnitude, in fact, than any other 3-year period in Congress.
read more here
VFW Officer Hits VFWs Tradewell in Testimony on Health Care
This is a war zone - not an amusement park
Goodbye, Burger King: Top U.S. General Orders Closure of Western Comforts in Kandahar
FOXNews.com
Western troops prepare to say goodbye to many of the comforts of home that currently populate the Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan.
The boardwalk at Kandahar Airfield is lined with many American standards that remind international forces fighting in the Taliban heartland of the Western culture of home. But it will soon be gone, the Miami Herald reported.
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has ordered the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to close many of the restaurants (Burger King, Subway and TGI Friday's included), stores, sports venues and concert stages that provide U.S. troops with some comforts of home while fighting a war abroad.
The decision seems to be geared toward the military image and perception of Western forces as much as it is about logistics, the Miami Herald reports. Some say the Western material comforts do not provide the impression Gen. McChrystal is trying to put forward that the U.S. is not trying to force American culture on Afghanistan.
"This is a war zone - not an amusement park," the Herald quoted Command Sgt. Maj. Michael T. Hall from an ISAF blog.
read more here
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/03/25/goodbye-burger-king-general-orders-closure-western-comforts-kandahar/
FOXNews.com
Western troops prepare to say goodbye to many of the comforts of home that currently populate the Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan.
The boardwalk at Kandahar Airfield is lined with many American standards that remind international forces fighting in the Taliban heartland of the Western culture of home. But it will soon be gone, the Miami Herald reported.
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has ordered the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to close many of the restaurants (Burger King, Subway and TGI Friday's included), stores, sports venues and concert stages that provide U.S. troops with some comforts of home while fighting a war abroad.
The decision seems to be geared toward the military image and perception of Western forces as much as it is about logistics, the Miami Herald reports. Some say the Western material comforts do not provide the impression Gen. McChrystal is trying to put forward that the U.S. is not trying to force American culture on Afghanistan.
"This is a war zone - not an amusement park," the Herald quoted Command Sgt. Maj. Michael T. Hall from an ISAF blog.
read more here
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/03/25/goodbye-burger-king-general-orders-closure-western-comforts-kandahar/
As amputee ranks grow, wounded warriors bond
As amputee ranks grow, wounded warriors bond
STILL FIGHTING: Afghanistan, Iraq war vets face new enemy -- broken bodies
THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2010
WASHINGTON POST
Aug. 11, 2009, Afghanistan:
After the blast, something didn't feel right, so 1st Lt. Joe Guyton looked down. Through the swirling dust, he glimpsed the white of his left shinbone. His right leg was gone, instantly vaporized, his uniform abruptly ending at the knee.
The pain would hit at any moment. He knew that. But for now, just after a bomb rocked his convoy while on patrol in Kandahar province, he was so amped up on adrenaline that he felt nothing more than an odd discomfort.
Don't look down, he told himself. Don't think about it.
Guyton, a recently married 28-year-old with soft blue eyes and red hair, had to hurry before he would be overwhelmed with agony. He shouted to his fellow soldiers to keep moving through the danger zone, to keep an eye out for the enemy, to report their wounds — as he finally did himself. Soon, two soldiers were wrapping his legs in tourniquets.
He woke up in a military hospital in Germany.
Guyton, from Burke, Va., became one of nearly 1,000 service members who have suffered amputations in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — wars that, thanks to advances in battlefield medicine, are measured as much by wheelchairs and prosthetics as tombstones.
In the years since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, 967 American service members have lost at least one limb, as of March 1. Of them, 229 have lost more than one. The number of amputees mounted steadily as the U.S. military stormed into Afghanistan in late 2001, then focused on Iraq — with an invasion in 2003 and a "surge" in 2007. More recently, the number has edged up again as the Obama administration has pumped more troops into Afghanistan.
read more here
As amputee ranks grow wounded warriors bond
STILL FIGHTING: Afghanistan, Iraq war vets face new enemy -- broken bodies
THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2010
WASHINGTON POST
Aug. 11, 2009, Afghanistan:
After the blast, something didn't feel right, so 1st Lt. Joe Guyton looked down. Through the swirling dust, he glimpsed the white of his left shinbone. His right leg was gone, instantly vaporized, his uniform abruptly ending at the knee.
The pain would hit at any moment. He knew that. But for now, just after a bomb rocked his convoy while on patrol in Kandahar province, he was so amped up on adrenaline that he felt nothing more than an odd discomfort.
Don't look down, he told himself. Don't think about it.
Guyton, a recently married 28-year-old with soft blue eyes and red hair, had to hurry before he would be overwhelmed with agony. He shouted to his fellow soldiers to keep moving through the danger zone, to keep an eye out for the enemy, to report their wounds — as he finally did himself. Soon, two soldiers were wrapping his legs in tourniquets.
He woke up in a military hospital in Germany.
Guyton, from Burke, Va., became one of nearly 1,000 service members who have suffered amputations in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — wars that, thanks to advances in battlefield medicine, are measured as much by wheelchairs and prosthetics as tombstones.
In the years since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, 967 American service members have lost at least one limb, as of March 1. Of them, 229 have lost more than one. The number of amputees mounted steadily as the U.S. military stormed into Afghanistan in late 2001, then focused on Iraq — with an invasion in 2003 and a "surge" in 2007. More recently, the number has edged up again as the Obama administration has pumped more troops into Afghanistan.
read more here
As amputee ranks grow wounded warriors bond
Staff Sgt. Josh Olson: A soldier's new reality
Staff Sgt. Josh Olson is an incredible young man but that is nothing new when you know the men and women serving in the military and the veterans of war. Staff Sgt. Olson lost his leg in Iraq but after that, he still wanted to serve. He wanted to help others.
He is teaching other soldiers how to shoot at Fort Benning but that was still not enough for him. Now he wants to help the people of Haiti recover from losing their limbs.
He is teaching other soldiers how to shoot at Fort Benning but that was still not enough for him. Now he wants to help the people of Haiti recover from losing their limbs.
When I first heard about the Haiti earthquake I remembered what I was going through at an American hospital and I can only imagine what it's like in a country like Haiti. I'm a soldier; I was in a war zone. I knew I could get hurt. But they didn't see it coming.
Staff Sgt. John Olson was on patrol in Iraq with his Army unit on Oct. 27, 2003 when he was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade that tore off his right leg.
Josh Olson: A soldier's new reality
News Type: Event — Wed Mar 24, 2010 5:35 PM EDT
By Linda DahlstromAbout the project
When the ground shook in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Jan. 12, the magnitude-7 earthquake left behind an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 instant amputees in a land where there's little mercy for disability.
This project follows one prosthetic team's efforts to help those victims, and also explores a grim truth: In the United States and around the world, the number of amputees is rising dramatically, driven by war, disease and natural disaster.
Through stories of U.S. veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and Haiti earthquake victims, msnbc.com explores the experiences of those who've lost limbs and the struggle they say is not just to survive, but to build a life worth living.
Josh Olson became one of the first soldiers to lose his leg at the hip level in the Iraq war when he was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade while on patrol in 2003. He was a 23-year-old Army staff sergeant when he had to grapple with the situation so many Haitians are suddenly facing.
His story, told in his own words, continues msnbc.com's special series of essays from amputee veterans recounting what it means to rebuild your life after losing a limb.
By Josh Olson, with Linda Dahlstrom
I always thought being a soldier was a best job in the world – I still do.
Ever since I was a young kid I wanted to enlist. It's kind of what the men in my family do. My grandpa, father and uncle were all in the military. When I turned 17 I enlisted in the Army; I was 18 when I shipped out.
A few years later my unit was one of the earliest to get to Iraq. We arrived in February 2003, a few months before the U.S. invasion. When we first go there it was pretty chaotic. All the Iraqi military and police were gone and there was a lot of looting in the streets. I wouldn't really say it was anarchy but pretty close to it. Our job was to reclaim government buildings and vehicles.
The night of Oct. 27, 2003, we were patrolling town when a rocket hit the back of the vehicle. A second rocket, the one that hit me, came about 90 seconds later. At first I thought I'd just gotten shot and I tried to walk it off. I did a quick physical inventory like they teach us: I checked my arms and hands and they were OK, but when I reached down to my right leg, I realized I had a problem.
I knew I was injured but didn't realize my leg was gone, blown off at the hip. I tried to crawl back to the vehicle and then my driver saw me.read more here
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Crowds flock to see replica Vietnam Veterans Memorial
No matter how we treated them, no matter how we ignored them they did overcome. Older generations of veterans wanted nothing to do with them. They overcame that and then started their own groups to take care of each other. Then they took on the fight for all veterans to be taken care of. The newer generation is treated with a lot better care and appreciation because of what they went through. These men and women have always been remarkable and this nation is a lot better off for them having been here.
Forrest Cormany plays "Amazing Grace" on his bagpipes for the "Clearing of the Wall" during the Opening Ceremony for the Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier on Tuesday March 23, 2010. The wall is a three-quarter-scale traveling exhibition replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.The 8-foot tall, 240-foot-long replica is inscribed with the names of more than 58,000 service members who died or are missing in Vietnam. The wall will remain on display, 24 hours a day, through March 30.(SGVN/Staff Photo by Keith Durflinger/SWCity)
"We overcame that disrespect, that disregard," Ramos said.
Crowds flock to see replica Vietnam Veterans Memorial
By Ruby Gonzales Staff Writer
Posted: 03/23/2010 08:10:45 PM PDT
WHITTIER - John Perez of Pico Rivera once more stood before a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to thank his friends and the medic who treated his wounds in October 1968.
"I come here just to honor my friends and there's one special name I come to see, Robert Haig. He patched me up when I got wounded. When I came back, he was killed," Perez said.
The Army veteran was among hundreds to attend Tuesday's opening ceremony at Rose Hills Memorial Park and Mortuary for the Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall, which is a three-quarter-size copy of the memorial in Washington, D.C.
read more here
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_14744320
Fort Hood hosts Army’s new Master Resilience Training course
Fort Hood hosts Army’s new Master Resilience Training course
By Sgt. 1st Class Gail Braymen, Div. West Public Affairs
March 18, 2010 News
More than 60 Soldiers joined the Army’s team of master resilience trainers when they graduated March 10 from a session of the Army’s new Master Resilience Training program at Fort Hood.
The 10-day course, held at First Army Division West headquarters and conducted in conjunction via video teleconference with another class of Soldiers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, is only the fourth MRT session conducted so far Army-wide. The first course, also using video teleconferencing, was held concurrently at Fort Jackson, S.C., and Philadelphia during November 2009.
“The overall goal (of Master Resilience Training) is to be more resilient, to be able to face an adversity, to go through something and, on the other side of it, come out stronger,” said Sgt. 1st Class Charles Barrow.
Barrow, a physical therapist stationed at Fort Jackson, attended the pilot MRT program last August and then became a facilitator, traveling to wherever courses are conducted. As a facilitator he helps Soldiers acquire life skills of self-awareness, self-regulation and optimism that will help them cope with deployments and other personal and professional challenges.
read more here
http://www.forthoodsentinel.com/story.php?id=3381
By Sgt. 1st Class Gail Braymen, Div. West Public Affairs
March 18, 2010 News
More than 60 Soldiers joined the Army’s team of master resilience trainers when they graduated March 10 from a session of the Army’s new Master Resilience Training program at Fort Hood.
The 10-day course, held at First Army Division West headquarters and conducted in conjunction via video teleconference with another class of Soldiers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, is only the fourth MRT session conducted so far Army-wide. The first course, also using video teleconferencing, was held concurrently at Fort Jackson, S.C., and Philadelphia during November 2009.
“The overall goal (of Master Resilience Training) is to be more resilient, to be able to face an adversity, to go through something and, on the other side of it, come out stronger,” said Sgt. 1st Class Charles Barrow.
Barrow, a physical therapist stationed at Fort Jackson, attended the pilot MRT program last August and then became a facilitator, traveling to wherever courses are conducted. As a facilitator he helps Soldiers acquire life skills of self-awareness, self-regulation and optimism that will help them cope with deployments and other personal and professional challenges.
read more here
http://www.forthoodsentinel.com/story.php?id=3381
Stress dogs can be Soldier’s best friend
Spc. Eliezer Pagan poses March 10 with the therapeutic dog with which he has been training. The 85th Combat Stress Control Unit from Fort Hood will deploy at the end of the month and its troops will work with dogs that can help Soldiers cope with combat stress. Pfc. Sean Mcguire, 4th Sust. Bde. Public Affairs
Stress dogs can be Soldier’s best friend
By Pfc. Amy M. Lane, 4th Sust. Bde. Public Affairs
March 18, 2010 News
It can be difficult for some Soldiers to open up after a traumatizing event or if there are problems at home while they are overseas. But the 85th Medical Detachment, 1st Medical Brigade, a combat stress control unit, is learning to work with some unique emotional ice breakers.
The 85th’s Soldiers, who are deploying to Iraq at the end of the month, have been training all week with four therapeutic dogs that were bred, trained and donated to the Army by America’s VetDogs.
Stress control dogs can help Soldiers open up and start conversations flowing, whether troops come to the clinic seeking help or encounter a trained dog while walking around the compound.
read more here
http://www.forthoodsentinel.com/story.php?id=3373
Connecticut Guardsmen reflect on recovery mission at Hotel Montana
Connecticut Guardsmen reflect on recovery mission at Hotel Montana
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy
National Guard Bureau
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (3/19/10) - The earthquake that rocked this city left many of its structures damaged or destroyed, including one landmark that many say represented a sense of stability within the city.
The Hotel Montana, a four-star hotel where diplomats, dignitaries and other world leaders often stayed, collapsed during the Jan. 12 earthquake trapping many of its guests in the rubble.
A few made it out alive, and the task of finding and identifying those who didn’t fell to a variety of organizations, including search and recovery teams from France, Mexico, Canada and members of the U.S. military.
As a member of the services flight for the Connecticut Air National Guard’s 103rd Airlift Wing, Tech. Sgt. Bambi Putinas said her job encompasses not only personnel issues, food services and lodging, but also mortuary affairs.
“We all volunteered to come here, but we had no idea what we would be doing,” she said. “In the back of our minds, we all thought possibly mortuary affairs.”
When a call for volunteers to assist at the Hotel Montana site was put out, Putinas was one of many from her unit to volunteer for the mission.
“We would help with the preliminary identification of remains and make sure they got back home safely and also any articles, luggage, personal effects,” she said. “We helped to document what we found, and those also would be shipped home.”
Putinas said it was an important job to do, but also a difficult one.
read more here
http://www.ng.mil/news/archives/2010/03/032310-Connecticut.aspx
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy
National Guard Bureau
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (3/19/10) - The earthquake that rocked this city left many of its structures damaged or destroyed, including one landmark that many say represented a sense of stability within the city.
The Hotel Montana, a four-star hotel where diplomats, dignitaries and other world leaders often stayed, collapsed during the Jan. 12 earthquake trapping many of its guests in the rubble.
A few made it out alive, and the task of finding and identifying those who didn’t fell to a variety of organizations, including search and recovery teams from France, Mexico, Canada and members of the U.S. military.
As a member of the services flight for the Connecticut Air National Guard’s 103rd Airlift Wing, Tech. Sgt. Bambi Putinas said her job encompasses not only personnel issues, food services and lodging, but also mortuary affairs.
“We all volunteered to come here, but we had no idea what we would be doing,” she said. “In the back of our minds, we all thought possibly mortuary affairs.”
When a call for volunteers to assist at the Hotel Montana site was put out, Putinas was one of many from her unit to volunteer for the mission.
“We would help with the preliminary identification of remains and make sure they got back home safely and also any articles, luggage, personal effects,” she said. “We helped to document what we found, and those also would be shipped home.”
Putinas said it was an important job to do, but also a difficult one.
read more here
http://www.ng.mil/news/archives/2010/03/032310-Connecticut.aspx
Behavior training ordered for servicemembers on Okinawa
Behavior training ordered for servicemembers on Okinawa
Mandate comes after string of off-base incidents
By David Allen, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, March 25, 2010
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — A recent rash of off-base incidents involving servicemembers on Okinawa has prompted commanders to call for mandatory behavioral training.
Marine Lt. Gen. Terry G. Robling, the senior commander on Okinawa, has ordered all servicemembers and civilian employees to take part in unit training “to review what is expected of them (in order) to ensure good order and discipline,” according to a news release issued Tuesday afternoon.
On Okinawa, even minor incidents involving U.S. troops are used as ammunition for opponents of the U.S. bases on the island. The latest incidents come at a time when the prefectural government and anti-base factions are stepping up their campaign to scrap a plan to build a new Marine air facility on Okinawa.
Robling met with senior commanders from all services Saturday to discuss measures “to reduce incidents and accidents to the greatest extent possible,” according to the release.
read more here
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=68864
Mandate comes after string of off-base incidents
By David Allen, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, March 25, 2010
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — A recent rash of off-base incidents involving servicemembers on Okinawa has prompted commanders to call for mandatory behavioral training.
Marine Lt. Gen. Terry G. Robling, the senior commander on Okinawa, has ordered all servicemembers and civilian employees to take part in unit training “to review what is expected of them (in order) to ensure good order and discipline,” according to a news release issued Tuesday afternoon.
On Okinawa, even minor incidents involving U.S. troops are used as ammunition for opponents of the U.S. bases on the island. The latest incidents come at a time when the prefectural government and anti-base factions are stepping up their campaign to scrap a plan to build a new Marine air facility on Okinawa.
Robling met with senior commanders from all services Saturday to discuss measures “to reduce incidents and accidents to the greatest extent possible,” according to the release.
read more here
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=68864
After Fort Hood, Muslim American soldier battles on friendly ground
After the Fort Hood shootings, a Muslim American soldier battles on friendly ground
By William Wan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
At 2 o'clock on a Monday morning, the sound of angry pounding sent Army Spec. Zachari Klawonn bolting out of bed.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Someone was mule-kicking the door of his barracks room, leaving marks that weeks later -- long after Army investigators had come and gone -- would still be visible.
By the time Klawonn reached the door, the pounding had stopped. All that was left was a note, twice folded and wedged into the doorframe.
"F--- YOU RAGHEAD BURN IN HELL" read the words scrawled in black marker.
The slur itself was nothing new. Klawonn, 20, the son of an American father and a Moroccan mother, had been called worse in the military. But the fact that someone had tracked him down in the dead of night to deliver this specific message sent a chill through his body.
Before he enlisted, the recruiters in his home town of Bradenton, Fla., had told him that the Army desperately needed Muslim soldiers like him to help win the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yet ever since, he had been filing complaint after complaint with his commanders. After he was ordered not to fast and pray. After his Koran was torn up. After other soldiers jeered and threw water bottles at him. After his platoon sergeant warned him to hide his faith to avoid getting a "beating" by fellow troops. But nothing changed.
Then came the November shootings at Fort Hood and the arrest of a Muslim soldier he'd never met: Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, who is charged with killing 13 people and injuring more than 30 in a massacre that stunned the nation. And with it, things only got worse.
read more here
Muslim American soldier battles on friendly ground
By William Wan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
At 2 o'clock on a Monday morning, the sound of angry pounding sent Army Spec. Zachari Klawonn bolting out of bed.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Someone was mule-kicking the door of his barracks room, leaving marks that weeks later -- long after Army investigators had come and gone -- would still be visible.
By the time Klawonn reached the door, the pounding had stopped. All that was left was a note, twice folded and wedged into the doorframe.
"F--- YOU RAGHEAD BURN IN HELL" read the words scrawled in black marker.
The slur itself was nothing new. Klawonn, 20, the son of an American father and a Moroccan mother, had been called worse in the military. But the fact that someone had tracked him down in the dead of night to deliver this specific message sent a chill through his body.
Before he enlisted, the recruiters in his home town of Bradenton, Fla., had told him that the Army desperately needed Muslim soldiers like him to help win the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yet ever since, he had been filing complaint after complaint with his commanders. After he was ordered not to fast and pray. After his Koran was torn up. After other soldiers jeered and threw water bottles at him. After his platoon sergeant warned him to hide his faith to avoid getting a "beating" by fellow troops. But nothing changed.
Then came the November shootings at Fort Hood and the arrest of a Muslim soldier he'd never met: Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, who is charged with killing 13 people and injuring more than 30 in a massacre that stunned the nation. And with it, things only got worse.
read more here
Muslim American soldier battles on friendly ground
Kentucky Senate passes bill to take care of combat veterans
Bill meant to help veterans passes Ky. Senate
A bill that has passed the Kentucky Senate would have pretrial officers ask people arrested whether they served in combat.
The measure's goal is to connect combat veterans with services to help deal with problems stemming from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The bill cleared the Senate on a 35-0 vote Tuesday. The measure now returns to the House, which will decide whether to accept a change made by the Senate.
Under the bill, as part of a pretrial release investigation, a pretrial officer would ask someone arrested if they had been in combat. If the suspect is a combat veteran, that person would be given contact information for assistance programs.
The legislation is House Bill 377.
http://www.fox41.com/Global/story.asp?S=12192683
A bill that has passed the Kentucky Senate would have pretrial officers ask people arrested whether they served in combat.
The measure's goal is to connect combat veterans with services to help deal with problems stemming from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The bill cleared the Senate on a 35-0 vote Tuesday. The measure now returns to the House, which will decide whether to accept a change made by the Senate.
Under the bill, as part of a pretrial release investigation, a pretrial officer would ask someone arrested if they had been in combat. If the suspect is a combat veteran, that person would be given contact information for assistance programs.
The legislation is House Bill 377.
http://www.fox41.com/Global/story.asp?S=12192683
Oregon Law enforcement agencies prepare for return of National Guards
Across the nation things like this are happening and it's a good thing. The problem is there will always be some part of society treating the combat veterans like criminals instead. If they commit crimes, then they need to be arrested but more often than not, they should receive help instead of incarceration. The reason is simple. These are not self-centered, selfish people with no regard for others. They proved that when they decided to enlist in the National Guards, become Reservists or enter into the regular military. They knew their lives would be on the line on these dangerous jobs. They put other people first.
The same men and women we cheer as we send them off to fight our battles return home with all the burdens of what they went through. Coming home is often harder than leaving because they expect more out of themselves as the people they love wait for the day they "just get over it" and get back to normal. The problem is while everyone is waiting for that day to come PTSD is getting a stronger hold on them. The veteran then tries anything and everything to kill off what PTSD is doing to them. In the process, the family falls apart and the veteran sinks deeper into PTSD along with making bad choices they would normally not have allowed to enter into their minds.
It would be really supporting the troops if this type of program was repeated in every city, in every state since the numbers of PTSD veterans will only rise.
The same men and women we cheer as we send them off to fight our battles return home with all the burdens of what they went through. Coming home is often harder than leaving because they expect more out of themselves as the people they love wait for the day they "just get over it" and get back to normal. The problem is while everyone is waiting for that day to come PTSD is getting a stronger hold on them. The veteran then tries anything and everything to kill off what PTSD is doing to them. In the process, the family falls apart and the veteran sinks deeper into PTSD along with making bad choices they would normally not have allowed to enter into their minds.
It would be really supporting the troops if this type of program was repeated in every city, in every state since the numbers of PTSD veterans will only rise.
Law enforcement agencies prepare for return of deployed ONG soldiers
By Tove Tupper
March 23, 2010
MEDFORD, Ore. - Law enforcement agencies are teaming up to welcome home National Guard soldiers.
Troops deployed in Iraq are set to return to Oregon in a little over a month.
When 23-year-old Veteran Shane Hornbeck arrived home from his 15-month tour in Iraq, he had a rough time. He suffered PTSD, abused drugs, ruined relationships with his family and was eventually convicted of two felony charges.
"You feel like you're being forced into poverty. And you know that basically when you're in the criminal system that's what happens," Purple Heart Veteran Shane Hornbeck said... "They need to know that these soldiers are coming back with plaguing issues and they don't necessarily know how to deal with them or cope with them."
The Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs says 10-percent of those behind bars in Oregon are veterans.
read more here
http://kdrv.com/news/local/167300
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Vietnam Veterans of America Decries Health Care Reform “Scare Tactics”
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) Decries Health Care Reform “Scare Tactics”
March 23, 2010 by Robert L. Hanafin
Despite the media spin and scare tactics of opponents of health care reform as reported in previous articles on Veterans Today, Sec Def Gates Knocks Down Fox/VFW Report on Tricare, AND American Legion Says Health Care Reform Won’t Harm VA, DoD
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) has joined in chorus with the American Legion, Pentagon officials, and Congressional Veterans Affairs Committees to reassure Veterans, our troops, and military retirees that health care reform will have no impact on Veterans benefits or TRICARE the health care plan covering active duty and military retirees.
Robert L. Hanafin, Major, U.S. Air Force-Retired, Veterans Today News
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) Applauds Passage of Skelton Bill Ensuring Protection of TRICARE, VA health care, and CHAMPUS; Decries “Scare Tactics”
“We thank and applaud passage of H.R. 4887 yesterday in the House of Representative, by a vote of 403-0. Passage of this bill ensures that health care programs for veterans, active duty military, retired military, and their families/survivors will not be affected negatively by the pending health care reform legislation.” said John Rowan , National President of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA). .
“It is unfortunate that some continue to raise what is now even more clearly a false alarm that is apparently meant to frighten veterans and their families in order to prompt them to oppose the pending legislation. While there is legitimate debate as to whether or not the pending health care measures should become law, VVA does not appreciate spreading rumors that are not accurate by any political partisan from any point of the political spectrum.” continued Rowan
“Last summer there was a similar incident, also involving partisans in the health care reform debate that VVA soundly condemned. We said then: “It is our hope that sane minds reject fear-mongering, and that veterans recognize these scare tactics for what they are.”
Rowan concluded by saying: “VVA has always worked hard for justice for veterans of all generations, and their families. We have always, and will continue to, work with public officials representing all political parties and points of view. Issues affecting veterans and their families are not, should not, and must not become partisan footballs to bat around. VVA decries any effort, by anyone, that would do just that.”
read more here
Health Care Reform Scare Tactics
VFW Lies for the GOP, Attempts to Kill Health Care
When I did this post earlier today, Officials Reassure Troops On TRICARE
I didn't think the answer would come so fast as to who is behind the lies being told. I'm heartsick. The VFW does great work for our veterans. The members of the VFW, at posts across the nation are dedicated. They are Republicans. They are Democrats. But above all, they are our American veterans of foreign wars. The political action committee however must be answering to an agenda that is not about veterans or taking care of them. Had this been the case, when the Bush Administration had two wars going on, producing more and more wounded, they would have been shouting as loudly as possible that the troops were not being taken care of.
Most of the members of the VFW were not told the truth about this. Most of the members of other service organizations had no clue the Gulf War had more doctors and nurses employed than were employed with Iraq and Afghanistan returning wounded at a higher rate than during any other war. We look at the fatalities, but while those numbers are lower than other wars, the casualties are higher. Battlefield medical advances have saved the lives of soldiers that would have died of their wounds before. This meant there would be a greater need for doctors and nurses working for the VA along with case workers, claims processors and mental health professionals. No one put the needs of the troops we sent into combat before paying contractors.
The lines grew and the claims piled up higher and higher as wounded, disabled veterans were forced to suffer while waiting. For the most part the PAC of the VFW was silent. When some in congress began to scream about the failings of the VA, others in congress were complaining there were two wars to pay for and they couldn't afford to increase funding for the VA. You'd think the VFW PAC would have been screaming about this, but the ones calling for increasing the VA budget were Democrats and the Republicans were saying there wasn't enough money to do it. It's doubtful the VFW PAC watched CSPAN.
While the members of the VFW expect to be told the truth their leadership has let them down. Having legitimate disagreements about what politicians do is part of what makes America work but when politics come before the truth, the veterans are the losers in the end. Once they discover their leadership has lied to them, they leave the VFW and other organizations. That's the greatest loss of all because these members are more interested in the troops and other veterans than anyone else in the country.
Posts have been taking the lead on helping combat veterans heal from PTSD and find the support they need. They have been doing great work but if they keep allowing some in their organization to betray the members with political games, the veterans they have been trying to help will lose.
I go to a lot of veterans functions and hear them talk about what they heard here and there or read in some kind of viral email. What they say is just repeating what they heard instead of knowing the facts. Their hearts are deeply committed to caring for the troops and other veterans but when they are mislead, when they are not told the truth, they feel betrayed by the people they trusted. All organizations need to be aware of what the truth is and what the spin is.
I didn't think the answer would come so fast as to who is behind the lies being told. I'm heartsick. The VFW does great work for our veterans. The members of the VFW, at posts across the nation are dedicated. They are Republicans. They are Democrats. But above all, they are our American veterans of foreign wars. The political action committee however must be answering to an agenda that is not about veterans or taking care of them. Had this been the case, when the Bush Administration had two wars going on, producing more and more wounded, they would have been shouting as loudly as possible that the troops were not being taken care of.
Most of the members of the VFW were not told the truth about this. Most of the members of other service organizations had no clue the Gulf War had more doctors and nurses employed than were employed with Iraq and Afghanistan returning wounded at a higher rate than during any other war. We look at the fatalities, but while those numbers are lower than other wars, the casualties are higher. Battlefield medical advances have saved the lives of soldiers that would have died of their wounds before. This meant there would be a greater need for doctors and nurses working for the VA along with case workers, claims processors and mental health professionals. No one put the needs of the troops we sent into combat before paying contractors.
The lines grew and the claims piled up higher and higher as wounded, disabled veterans were forced to suffer while waiting. For the most part the PAC of the VFW was silent. When some in congress began to scream about the failings of the VA, others in congress were complaining there were two wars to pay for and they couldn't afford to increase funding for the VA. You'd think the VFW PAC would have been screaming about this, but the ones calling for increasing the VA budget were Democrats and the Republicans were saying there wasn't enough money to do it. It's doubtful the VFW PAC watched CSPAN.
While the members of the VFW expect to be told the truth their leadership has let them down. Having legitimate disagreements about what politicians do is part of what makes America work but when politics come before the truth, the veterans are the losers in the end. Once they discover their leadership has lied to them, they leave the VFW and other organizations. That's the greatest loss of all because these members are more interested in the troops and other veterans than anyone else in the country.
Posts have been taking the lead on helping combat veterans heal from PTSD and find the support they need. They have been doing great work but if they keep allowing some in their organization to betray the members with political games, the veterans they have been trying to help will lose.
I go to a lot of veterans functions and hear them talk about what they heard here and there or read in some kind of viral email. What they say is just repeating what they heard instead of knowing the facts. Their hearts are deeply committed to caring for the troops and other veterans but when they are mislead, when they are not told the truth, they feel betrayed by the people they trusted. All organizations need to be aware of what the truth is and what the spin is.
VFW Lies for the GOP, Attempts to Kill Health Care
Richard Allen Smith
Editor of the VoteVets.org blog VetVoice
Posted: March 21, 2010 04:41 PM
Among all of the Congressional elections in 2006, there were two that were particularly interesting. In Virginia, an incumbent Republican Senator who received a deferment from service in Vietnam was endorsed by the VFW's political action committee over a former Navy Secretary who was awarded the Navy Cross while serving as a Marine Officer in the conflict. Also, in a House race that same PAC endorsed a Republican candidate with no service record over an Iraq Veteran who left two legs on the battlefield.
Surprising? Shouldn't be. VFW PAC operates as little more than a subsidiary of the Republican Party, as does the leadership of their parent organization.
Today, that organization issued a statement toeing the GOP line on the health care vote. Of course, in order toe to that line, the VFW had to make things up:
"The president and the Democratic leadership are betraying America's veterans," said Thomas J. Tradewell Sr., a combat-wounded Vietnam veteran from Sussex, Wis., who leads the 2.1 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. and its Auxiliaries.
click link above for more
Civil War hero from Delafield in line for Medal of Honor
Library of Congress
First Lt. Alonzo Cushing of Delafield (middle, standing) was among Union officers at Antietam in 1862. At Gettysburg the next year, a wounded Cushing refused to abandon his post and was killed. A group has been pushing to honor him.
Civil War hero from Delafield in line for Medal of Honor
By Meg Jones of the Journal Sentinel
In the hell that was the battle of Gettysburg, in the hailstorm of shells and shrapnel that extinguished so many lives on a hot July day, one bullet struck a blue-clad soldier from Delafield, Wis., in the head.
A shell fragment already had pierced Alonzo Cushing's shoulder and shrapnel tore through his abdomen before the shot that felled the 1861 West Point graduate.
Cushing died July 3, 1863, during Pickett's Charge at Cemetery Ridge next to the artillery guns he refused to leave. It was the third and final day of the Gettysburg battle. Cushing was just 22.
The 1st lieutenant's body was returned to his family and buried at West Point beneath a headstone inscribed "Faithful until death." Cushing's name didn't fade away - it graces a park in Delafield, and a white obelisk monument was dedicated there in 1915.
However, a small but dedicated group wanted more for Cushing; they wanted his heroism recognized with the nation's highest military honor.
Now, it appears that Cushing will be awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on that Pennsylvania battlefield 147 years ago.
read more here
http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/88882607.html
Combat troops get 15 extra days for R and R
Combat troops get 15 extra days of leave
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Mar 23, 2010 8:11:40 EDT
A new nonchargeable rest and recuperation leave policy for troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan announced by the Pentagon on Monday gives those deployed for 270 days or more 15 days of administrative absence on top of their regular annual leave.
“This designation provides an additional benefit specifically for those service members deployed to the most arduous combat areas,” Sam Retherford, the Pentagon’s director of officer ane enlisted personnel management, said in a statement. “Administrative absence days, in conjunction with government-funded transportation for R&R, allow service members to save and use their annual leave for reintegration with their families and communities when they return home.”
The benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan are effective Tuesday, March 23, the Pentagon said.
read more here
Combat troops get 15 extra days of leave
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Mar 23, 2010 8:11:40 EDT
A new nonchargeable rest and recuperation leave policy for troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan announced by the Pentagon on Monday gives those deployed for 270 days or more 15 days of administrative absence on top of their regular annual leave.
“This designation provides an additional benefit specifically for those service members deployed to the most arduous combat areas,” Sam Retherford, the Pentagon’s director of officer ane enlisted personnel management, said in a statement. “Administrative absence days, in conjunction with government-funded transportation for R&R, allow service members to save and use their annual leave for reintegration with their families and communities when they return home.”
The benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan are effective Tuesday, March 23, the Pentagon said.
read more here
Combat troops get 15 extra days of leave
New policy on brain death has families in mind
New policy on brain death has families in mind
By Gregg Zoroya - USA TODAY
Posted : Monday Mar 22, 2010 21:47:41 EDT
WASHINGTON — Family members of combat troops declared brain-dead will have an opportunity for a final reunion with their loved ones before life support is removed, according to new guidelines provided to battlefield doctors.
The guidelines are aimed at helping doctors determine what to do when a combat casualty suffers brain death, a decision physicians were left to figure out before on a case-by-case basis.
Moving brain-dead troops to more advanced military hospitals, such as those in Europe or the United States, will also make it possible to harvest organs for transplants, the guidelines say.
The recommendations were issued last week by the military’s Joint Theater Trauma System, which provides medical research and guidance for battlefield care.
By Gregg Zoroya - USA TODAY
Posted : Monday Mar 22, 2010 21:47:41 EDT
WASHINGTON — Family members of combat troops declared brain-dead will have an opportunity for a final reunion with their loved ones before life support is removed, according to new guidelines provided to battlefield doctors.
The guidelines are aimed at helping doctors determine what to do when a combat casualty suffers brain death, a decision physicians were left to figure out before on a case-by-case basis.
Moving brain-dead troops to more advanced military hospitals, such as those in Europe or the United States, will also make it possible to harvest organs for transplants, the guidelines say.
The recommendations were issued last week by the military’s Joint Theater Trauma System, which provides medical research and guidance for battlefield care.
Since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, about 175 troops with catastrophic head injuries have been evacuated from the war zones only to die later of their wounds, says Army Col. Brian Eastridge, director of the Joint Theater Trauma System. Doctors in combat operations are not required to obtain permission from next of kin before removing a brain-dead patient from life support, Eastridge says.
read more here
Halliburton, KBR drop court appeal in rape case
Halliburton, KBR drop court appeal in rape case
By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI Associated Press Writer © 2010 The Associated Press
March 22, 2010, 5:09PM
HOUSTON — Halliburton Co. and KBR Inc. have withdrawn an appeal asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block a lawsuit by a former military contractor who says she was raped by KBR co-workers in Iraq.
KBR said in a statement Monday that it withdrew the appeal to not risk violating a recently passed federal provision it called "very broad and vague," that restricts the Defense Department from doing business with companies that prohibit employees from seeking redress for certain crimes through the courts.
read more here
Halliburton, KBR drop court appeal in rape case
linked from RawStory
By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI Associated Press Writer © 2010 The Associated Press
March 22, 2010, 5:09PM
HOUSTON — Halliburton Co. and KBR Inc. have withdrawn an appeal asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block a lawsuit by a former military contractor who says she was raped by KBR co-workers in Iraq.
KBR said in a statement Monday that it withdrew the appeal to not risk violating a recently passed federal provision it called "very broad and vague," that restricts the Defense Department from doing business with companies that prohibit employees from seeking redress for certain crimes through the courts.
read more here
Halliburton, KBR drop court appeal in rape case
linked from RawStory
Officials Reassure Troops On TRICARE
When the DOD has to release statements to reassure the troops the health insurance reform will not harm the care they get, it's obvious there are a lot of rumors out there. For anyone lying about something as important as the healthcare coverage the troops and veterans receive, it should be regarded as an attack against them. Have people sunk so far they have to cause military families to fear this when they have so many real things to worry about?
There was a time when common sense was involved in legitimate disagreements by people in office. They would not sink to lying while they were spinning.
There was a time when common sense was involved in legitimate disagreements by people in office. They would not sink to lying while they were spinning.
Officials Reassure Troops On TRICARE
March 23, 2010
Stars and Stripes
by Leo Shane III
WASHINGTON — Military and Veterans Affairs officials spent the weekend refuting allegations that the health care reform legislation approved by Congress will harm TRICARE programs or Veterans Affairs health benefits, instead promising that servicemembers and veterans will see no change in their coverage.
Before Sunday’s vote approving the massive health care overhaul, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki released a statement saying that none of the proposals would force veterans to purchase new health care or change the way current benefits are delivered.
“Fears that veterans’ health care and TRICARE will be undermined by the health reform legislation are unfounded,” he said. “We pledge to continue to provide the men and women in uniform and our veterans the high quality health care they have earned.”
read more here
Officials Reassure Troops On TRICARE
TRICARE Meets New Health Bill Standards
March 22, 2010
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON – The TRICARE military health plan meets the standards set by the health care reform bill the House of Representatives passed last night, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said in a statement issued yesterday.
read more of this here
TRICARE Meets New Health Bill Standards
Monday, March 22, 2010
Wife accused of shooting husband at West Fort Hood
Wife accused of shooting husband at West Fort Hood
Posted On: Thursday, Mar. 18 2010 11:53 PM
From staff reports
FORT HOOD – A Fort Hood soldier was shot twice by his wife during a domestic dispute Thursday, FBI officials said.
The shooting occurred soon after 10 a.m. in Montague Village, according to a release from the post's public affairs office. Montague Village is a family housing area at West Fort Hood.
read more here
http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=40077
Posted On: Thursday, Mar. 18 2010 11:53 PM
From staff reports
FORT HOOD – A Fort Hood soldier was shot twice by his wife during a domestic dispute Thursday, FBI officials said.
The shooting occurred soon after 10 a.m. in Montague Village, according to a release from the post's public affairs office. Montague Village is a family housing area at West Fort Hood.
read more here
http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=40077
Veterans organizations voice unhappiness about license plate funds
Veterans organizations voice unhappiness about license plate funds
by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter
Veterans organization officials appeared before a Senate committee today (Thursday, March 18) to voice unhappiness over the perceived besmirching of the Support Our Troops license plate.
“Perhaps it wasn’t the intention, but that’s what happening,” Department of Veterans Affairs Deputy Commissioner of Services Michael Pugliese told the Senate Finance Committee.
go here for more
Veterans organizations voice unhappiness about license plate funds
by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter
Veterans organization officials appeared before a Senate committee today (Thursday, March 18) to voice unhappiness over the perceived besmirching of the Support Our Troops license plate.
“Perhaps it wasn’t the intention, but that’s what happening,” Department of Veterans Affairs Deputy Commissioner of Services Michael Pugliese told the Senate Finance Committee.
go here for more
Veterans organizations voice unhappiness about license plate funds
Back of the head bullet ruled suicide?
There are some families unable to deal with the loss of someone because of suicide. It happens all the time and they must cope with all the unanswerable questions. Then there are other times when the death is ruled suicide but it seems impossible to believe for a reason. Usually a bullet into the back of a head is done to someone and not self-inflicted.
Soldier's widower fears 'stigma'
Tirador doubts suicide ruling for wife, Amy, and seeks a second autopsy
By LEIGH HORNBECK, Staff writer
First published in print: Saturday, March 20, 2010
COLONIE -- Four months after his wife's mysterious death in Iraq, Michael "Mickey" Tirador spoke for the first time about what the Army has said was Staff Sgt. Amy Tirador's suicide.
Tirador is on leave from the Army. He traveled to the Capital Region to meet with forensic scientist Michael Baden in hopes the doctor will perform a second autopsy on Amy Tirador's body, which will have to be exhumed from the national cemetery at Saratoga.
Tirador said Thursday his wife was happy and the couple planned to start a family after Amy finished her deployment.
"I was confident the Army would find my wife's killer," Tirador said, explaining why he has chosen to launch his own investigation into her death. "I do not believe Amy killed herself."
Tirador said he is angry and tired. Amy was "it" for him, he said, the reason he was always excited to come home from work at night.
Read more: Tirador doubts suicide ruling for wife
Replica of Vietnam Veterans Memorial arrives in Whittier
Replica of Vietnam Veterans Memorial arrives in Whittier
By Brian Day, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/21/2010 08:16:31 PM PDT
WHITTIER - More than 400 motorcyclists escorted a scale model of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., Sunday on the last leg of its journey to Rose Hills Memorial Park and Mortuary.
The Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall, a three-quarter size replica of the memorial in the nation's capital, will remain at Rose Hills through March 30 - the first state-recognized Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans holiday, Rose Hills Executive Director of Business Bruce Lazenby said.
Just like the original, the wall is engraved with the names of the more than 58,000 men and women killed or missing in action in the Vietnam War. It stretches for 240 feet and stands 8 feet tall.
read more here
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_14727570
By Brian Day, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/21/2010 08:16:31 PM PDT
WHITTIER - More than 400 motorcyclists escorted a scale model of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., Sunday on the last leg of its journey to Rose Hills Memorial Park and Mortuary.
The Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall, a three-quarter size replica of the memorial in the nation's capital, will remain at Rose Hills through March 30 - the first state-recognized Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans holiday, Rose Hills Executive Director of Business Bruce Lazenby said.
Just like the original, the wall is engraved with the names of the more than 58,000 men and women killed or missing in action in the Vietnam War. It stretches for 240 feet and stands 8 feet tall.
read more here
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_14727570
Formal 'welcome home' for Vietnam veterans
Formal 'welcome home' for Vietnam veterans produces tears, gratitude
By: Ronald Ahrens
Posted: 7:04 p.m. March 21, 2010
Horace Frazier found himself wiping away tears Saturday night when he and dozens of other Vietnam veterans received a formal “welcome home” at Weber’s Inn.
The ceremony, attended by about 205 people, was arranged by the Erwin Prieskorn American Legion Post 46 of Ann Arbor as a way of honoring men and women of Washtenaw County who served in the long, unpopular war and returned to face many difficulties.
Frazier, senior vice president of VFW Post 423, said he was “really touched” by the evening’s speeches. He was particularly affected by the keynote address from William Henderson of Ypsilanti, a retired commander of the Michigan Air National Guard who flew 125 missions during the war.
When Henderson included some audience participation - asking people to share the names of the operations they participated in and the places of battle - Frazier thought about mentioning the valuable field training given in his United States Army artillery unit by Kentucky national guardsmen. That company ultimately sustained heavy losses.
“I wanted to get up, but I chickened out,” said the Ypsilanti resident, who drives a bus for the Ann Arbor Public Schools.
Part of the observance was Kenneth Rogge’s poignant reading of the names of all 77 service members from Washtenaw County who died in the war.
Rogge, vice president of Vietnam Veterans Post 310, also read a proclamation from Gov. Jennifer Granholm, declaring March 29 as Vietnam Veterans Day in Michigan.
read more here
Formal welcome home for Vietnam veterans
By: Ronald Ahrens
Posted: 7:04 p.m. March 21, 2010
Horace Frazier found himself wiping away tears Saturday night when he and dozens of other Vietnam veterans received a formal “welcome home” at Weber’s Inn.
The ceremony, attended by about 205 people, was arranged by the Erwin Prieskorn American Legion Post 46 of Ann Arbor as a way of honoring men and women of Washtenaw County who served in the long, unpopular war and returned to face many difficulties.
Frazier, senior vice president of VFW Post 423, said he was “really touched” by the evening’s speeches. He was particularly affected by the keynote address from William Henderson of Ypsilanti, a retired commander of the Michigan Air National Guard who flew 125 missions during the war.
When Henderson included some audience participation - asking people to share the names of the operations they participated in and the places of battle - Frazier thought about mentioning the valuable field training given in his United States Army artillery unit by Kentucky national guardsmen. That company ultimately sustained heavy losses.
“I wanted to get up, but I chickened out,” said the Ypsilanti resident, who drives a bus for the Ann Arbor Public Schools.
Part of the observance was Kenneth Rogge’s poignant reading of the names of all 77 service members from Washtenaw County who died in the war.
Rogge, vice president of Vietnam Veterans Post 310, also read a proclamation from Gov. Jennifer Granholm, declaring March 29 as Vietnam Veterans Day in Michigan.
read more here
Formal welcome home for Vietnam veterans
Teen in Critical Condition After Alleged Text-Message Dispute
Teen in Critical Condition After Alleged Text-Message Dispute
by Colleen Egan Mar 22nd 2010 2:28PM
A 15-year-old Florida girl is in a medically-induced coma after being brutally beaten by a 13-year-old boy, an incident that allegedly stemmed from a text-message exchange.
Wayne Treacy was reportedly trying to reach his ex-girlfriend -- 13-year-old Kayla Manson, who didn't have a text-message-enabled phone -- through her friend, Josie Lou Ratley. Treacy allegedly became enraged after Ratley reportedly told him that she didn't approve of the relationship and made disparaging remarks about Treacy's brother, who'd committed suicide last year, the Today show reports.
According to CBS4, Treacy rode his bike to Deerfield Beach Middle School to confront Ratley. Since he'd never met her face-to-face before, he reportedly asked Manson to point her out. When he found Ratley, the boy, wearing steel-toed boots, began kicking and stomping her, Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti tells CBS 4.
read more here
Teen in Critical Condition After Alleged Text Message Dispute
by Colleen Egan Mar 22nd 2010 2:28PM
A 15-year-old Florida girl is in a medically-induced coma after being brutally beaten by a 13-year-old boy, an incident that allegedly stemmed from a text-message exchange.
Wayne Treacy was reportedly trying to reach his ex-girlfriend -- 13-year-old Kayla Manson, who didn't have a text-message-enabled phone -- through her friend, Josie Lou Ratley. Treacy allegedly became enraged after Ratley reportedly told him that she didn't approve of the relationship and made disparaging remarks about Treacy's brother, who'd committed suicide last year, the Today show reports.
According to CBS4, Treacy rode his bike to Deerfield Beach Middle School to confront Ratley. Since he'd never met her face-to-face before, he reportedly asked Manson to point her out. When he found Ratley, the boy, wearing steel-toed boots, began kicking and stomping her, Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti tells CBS 4.
read more here
Teen in Critical Condition After Alleged Text Message Dispute
Soldier Found Dead at Ft. Carson Recent Victim of Theft
Soldier Found Dead at Ft. Carson Recent Victim of Theft
Posted: March 19, 2010 05:53 PM EDT
By: Johnray Strickland
j.strickland@krdo.com
COLORADO SPRINGS – A Fort Carson Soldier who was found dead Thursday on the post was a recent victim of a theft, according to his facebook status updates.
An investigation is underway by the Criminal Investigation Division after 19-year-old Pfc. Winston James Miroy, a Fort Carson Soldier with 1st Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment, died on post Thursday, March 17.
go here for more
Soldier Found Dead at Ft. Carson Recent Victim of Theft
Posted: March 19, 2010 05:53 PM EDT
By: Johnray Strickland
j.strickland@krdo.com
COLORADO SPRINGS – A Fort Carson Soldier who was found dead Thursday on the post was a recent victim of a theft, according to his facebook status updates.
An investigation is underway by the Criminal Investigation Division after 19-year-old Pfc. Winston James Miroy, a Fort Carson Soldier with 1st Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment, died on post Thursday, March 17.
go here for more
Soldier Found Dead at Ft. Carson Recent Victim of Theft
For Hero in Afghanistan, just another "day at the office"
Mother thought hero soldier son worked in office
Michael Smith
From The Sunday Times March 21, 2010
Lance Bombardier Gary Prout who risked his life three times under Taliban gunfire in Afghanistan.
THE mother of a soldier decorated for bravery in Afghanistan had thought he was working in an office until she found out he had won an honour second only to the Victoria Cross.
This weekend it was announced that Lance Bombardier Gary Prout had been awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. He was one of more than 150 servicemen and women who were honoured.
Prout risked his life three times in quick succession when his patrol was caught in a vicious firefight with the Taliban.
Heather, his mother, said: “He kept it from me that he was actually on the front line ... He had already done one tour. I thought he worked in an office.”
Prout, 27, from Lisburn, Co Antrim, won his medal for what the citation described as “the most incredible courage”. It added: “It was a miracle he was not killed.”
read more here
Mother thought hero soldier son worked in office
Michael Smith
From The Sunday Times March 21, 2010
Lance Bombardier Gary Prout who risked his life three times under Taliban gunfire in Afghanistan.
THE mother of a soldier decorated for bravery in Afghanistan had thought he was working in an office until she found out he had won an honour second only to the Victoria Cross.
This weekend it was announced that Lance Bombardier Gary Prout had been awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. He was one of more than 150 servicemen and women who were honoured.
Prout risked his life three times in quick succession when his patrol was caught in a vicious firefight with the Taliban.
Heather, his mother, said: “He kept it from me that he was actually on the front line ... He had already done one tour. I thought he worked in an office.”
Prout, 27, from Lisburn, Co Antrim, won his medal for what the citation described as “the most incredible courage”. It added: “It was a miracle he was not killed.”
read more here
Mother thought hero soldier son worked in office
Secret Service helps crack Florida hit-and-run case
Secret Service helps crack Florida hit-and-run case
Agency analyzed cell phone records for Porsche owner, friend
By Mike Clary and Jon Burstein, Tribune Newspapers
8:12 a.m. CDT, March 22, 2010
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — To crack the hit-and-run case of the speeding Porsche that killed two men, Fort Lauderdale police turned to a crime-fighting ally: the U.S. Secret Service.
The government agency that protects the president and zealously pursues counterfeiters played a role in the investigation by analyzing cell phone records for the car's owner and one of his friends, police records show.
The analysis helped lead to vehicular homicide charges last week against the Porsche's owner, Ryan LeVin, of Hoffman Estates, Ill., who is now in the Broward County Jail in Florida without bond.
What got the Secret Service involved? Neither the federal agency nor Fort Lauderdale police would say. The local head of the Secret Service declined to discuss how often his agency is asked to analyze such cell phone records.
read more here
Secret Service helps crack Florida hit and run case
Agency analyzed cell phone records for Porsche owner, friend
By Mike Clary and Jon Burstein, Tribune Newspapers
8:12 a.m. CDT, March 22, 2010
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — To crack the hit-and-run case of the speeding Porsche that killed two men, Fort Lauderdale police turned to a crime-fighting ally: the U.S. Secret Service.
The government agency that protects the president and zealously pursues counterfeiters played a role in the investigation by analyzing cell phone records for the car's owner and one of his friends, police records show.
The analysis helped lead to vehicular homicide charges last week against the Porsche's owner, Ryan LeVin, of Hoffman Estates, Ill., who is now in the Broward County Jail in Florida without bond.
What got the Secret Service involved? Neither the federal agency nor Fort Lauderdale police would say. The local head of the Secret Service declined to discuss how often his agency is asked to analyze such cell phone records.
read more here
Secret Service helps crack Florida hit and run case
Vietnam vet in Haiti eager to share war experiences
Vietnam vet in Haiti eager to share war experiences
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, March 21, 2010
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — When soldiers working in Haiti see Giles Pace coming, they often do a double take.
A typical outfit for the 66-year-old father of six, who’s in Haiti working as a contractor in support of the U.S. State Department, is an Army combat uniform top, worn unbuttoned with the sleeves rolled up, and a tattered green beret that marks him as a former member of the U.S. Army’s elite Special Forces.
Soldiers who get close enough might glimpse his tattoo, with the SF emblem and the numbers of the 1st, 5th and 7th SF Groups that Pace served with during the Vietnam War.
The Chicago native did two tours of duty in Vietnam after joining the Army straight out of high school in 1961 and being assigned to 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, March 21, 2010
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — When soldiers working in Haiti see Giles Pace coming, they often do a double take.
A typical outfit for the 66-year-old father of six, who’s in Haiti working as a contractor in support of the U.S. State Department, is an Army combat uniform top, worn unbuttoned with the sleeves rolled up, and a tattered green beret that marks him as a former member of the U.S. Army’s elite Special Forces.
Soldiers who get close enough might glimpse his tattoo, with the SF emblem and the numbers of the 1st, 5th and 7th SF Groups that Pace served with during the Vietnam War.
The Chicago native did two tours of duty in Vietnam after joining the Army straight out of high school in 1961 and being assigned to 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.
Some Vietnam War veterans are reluctant to talk about the war, but Pace isn’t one of them. He said he’s eager to share his experiences to inspire today’s soldiers and show them that Vietnam War veterans are still supporting them. He’s also eager to tell them how much easier they have it.
“These guys don’t know what war is,” Pace said of modern soldiers. “We didn’t look like robo-cops. All we had were soft caps and our weapons and we’d go chasing [the enemy] in the jungle.”read more here
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=68803
Survivor shows sexual abuse victims how to reclaim their lives
Vacaville man showing other sexual abuse victims how to reclaim their lives
By David Deerfeeder
Posted: 03/21/2010 12:02:56 PM PDT
I attended a Roman Catholic elementary school, high school and university. I knew many dedicated priests and nuns who lived in integrity. Early on, I also met the priest who molested me repeatedly as a child. He was a sick and twisted individual. With the emerging news of sex abuse scandals concerning Roman Catholic schools in Europe, I am reminded of my own abuse experiences and the long road of reaction and recovery that followed them. Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, head of the German Bishops Conference, is quoted as saying, "Sexual abuse of children ... has neither to do with celibacy, nor with homosexuality, nor with Catholic sexual doctrine."
I am relieved to hear a Roman Catholic prelate who understands that the sexual abuse of a child by an adult is not about sexual orientation. It is about power. Recovering from sexual abuse is also about power. Breaking the silence about what happened is the start of reclaiming the power that was surrendered -- not lost -- during the abuse. It may be decades before that silence can be approached, much less broken. It requires attaining a moment that feels safe and mustering enough courage to feel strong.
It can be a long and difficult road from the abuse to that moment of coinciding strength and safety. Our society portrays the ideal man as the strong, silent type, expected to rise to any challenge in a world where "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." Even a boy knows this expectation. When he is sexually abused, he knows he was not the winner in the encounter. Shame over his powerlessness will hold him in silence for as long as he keeps the secret.
go here for more
http://www.thereporter.com/features/ci_14725285
By David Deerfeeder
Posted: 03/21/2010 12:02:56 PM PDT
I attended a Roman Catholic elementary school, high school and university. I knew many dedicated priests and nuns who lived in integrity. Early on, I also met the priest who molested me repeatedly as a child. He was a sick and twisted individual. With the emerging news of sex abuse scandals concerning Roman Catholic schools in Europe, I am reminded of my own abuse experiences and the long road of reaction and recovery that followed them. Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, head of the German Bishops Conference, is quoted as saying, "Sexual abuse of children ... has neither to do with celibacy, nor with homosexuality, nor with Catholic sexual doctrine."
I am relieved to hear a Roman Catholic prelate who understands that the sexual abuse of a child by an adult is not about sexual orientation. It is about power. Recovering from sexual abuse is also about power. Breaking the silence about what happened is the start of reclaiming the power that was surrendered -- not lost -- during the abuse. It may be decades before that silence can be approached, much less broken. It requires attaining a moment that feels safe and mustering enough courage to feel strong.
It can be a long and difficult road from the abuse to that moment of coinciding strength and safety. Our society portrays the ideal man as the strong, silent type, expected to rise to any challenge in a world where "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." Even a boy knows this expectation. When he is sexually abused, he knows he was not the winner in the encounter. Shame over his powerlessness will hold him in silence for as long as he keeps the secret.
go here for more
http://www.thereporter.com/features/ci_14725285
Yoga Helps Veterans Heal Physical, Emotional Wounds
Hendrickson is 55 years old, but can stretch and pose like someone half his age. He says he practiced yoga on and off starting in college, but it became a regular part of his routine when he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2003. He was in charge of a medical team that treated soldiers and civilians injured by bombs and land mines.
Yoga Helps Veterans Heal Physical, Emotional Wounds
By Erin Toner
March 22, 2010 WUWM Milwaukee, WI
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a heavy toll on military families. There’s a high rate of divorce, depression and substance abuse among people who’ve served. Some suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Doctors often treat PTSD with medication and psychotherapy, but WUWM’s Erin Toner met a group of veterans who also practice yoga as part of their healing process.
In the daytime, the VA Medical Center in Milwaukee is a hectic place. You can drive around for 15 minutes just to find a parking spot. It’s a different scene at night, when the appointments are finished and much of the staff has gone home. But even in the calm, the care continues.
“Good evening, welcome to session seven of the Battle Body Relaxation Yoga Sessions.” That’s Andy Hendrickson, a registered nurse at the VA. He also leads yoga classes here a few nights a week.
go here for more
http://www.wuwm.com/programs/news/view_news.php?articleid=5926
New veterans court aims to help soldiers struggling at home
If this Marine had been treated for PTSD instead of forced to use alcohol and drugs to cope, then he wouldn't have been discharged. There would have been one more Marine receiving treatment and sent back to the job he loved but instead, there is one less Marine, without help and a less than honorable discharge.
While Veterans Courts acknowledge the fact there are complicated issues tied to service, service organizations have yet to adapt. They will still not allow anyone without an honorable discharge into their groups. It doesn't matter what the circumstances were. It doesn't matter that for too many, legal issues can be tied to their service. Remember the years when it was reported soldiers were being diagnosed with "preexisting personality disorders" instead of PTSD? They were discharged under less than honorable as well and they received nothing.
While Veterans Courts acknowledge the fact there are complicated issues tied to service, service organizations have yet to adapt. They will still not allow anyone without an honorable discharge into their groups. It doesn't matter what the circumstances were. It doesn't matter that for too many, legal issues can be tied to their service. Remember the years when it was reported soldiers were being diagnosed with "preexisting personality disorders" instead of PTSD? They were discharged under less than honorable as well and they received nothing.
Wheeler's trouble started on his way back to Minnesota. Like the other Marines in his unit, he used alcohol and marijuana to numb his memories. He failed a drug test one month before his discharge and spent 30 days in the brig.
New veterans court aims to help soldiers struggling at home
by Jessica Mador, Minnesota Public Radio
March 22, 2010
Chaska, Minn. — The Pentagon estimates that as many as one in five veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will suffer from mental health problems as a result of their military service.
Many returning veterans with conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder get in trouble with the law. Some wind up in the criminal justice system for years while their PTSD goes untreated.
This summer, a new court opens in Hennepin County to divert these veterans from prison, and get them the services they need to recover.
Veterans Treatment Court aims to help veterans like former Marine Jonathan Wheeler.
With his two children napping upstairs, Wheeler's townhouse in Chaska is quiet. But until recently, things weren't so peaceful.
Wheeler pulls open a sliding closet door he ripped out of the frame, in one of many violent rages.
"Pictures that used to be hanging here are gone, because I broke them," said Wheeler. "I broke a lot of pictures of my wife and I. I don't know why I was so mad at her. I wasn't. I think I was just taking it out on her. But I broke a lot of pictures and ripped up a lot of stuff that was memorable, because of how angry I was. I took my anger towards something else, an object or something."read more here
Shot policewoman quits force due to stress
This report is from the UK but it speaks loudly about the fact the dangerous job of police work sometimes leaves wounds no one can see.
The men and women entering into law enforcement, no matter what nation they live in, are much like the men and women entering into the military. They know the job is dangerous but they know it has to be done.
The men and women entering into law enforcement, no matter what nation they live in, are much like the men and women entering into the military. They know the job is dangerous but they know it has to be done.
"Policing is a vocation and attracts a certain calibre of person. Those who feel an overwhelming sense of wanting to serve, to help others, and believe strongly in the principles of upholding the law to protect the law-abiding majority and keep people safe. Rachael Bown is one of those people."
Shot policewoman quits force due to stress
By Theo Usherwood, PA
A police officer shot in the stomach by an illegal immigrant announced today that she was leaving her force because of post-traumatic stress.
Pc Rachael Bown, now 27, said she still suffered flashbacks and panic attacks after being shot by Trevon Thomas while investigating a burglary in Lenton, Nottingham, in February 2006.
She needed emergency surgery and spent several days in intensive care after the bullet passed through her stomach.
Pc Bown, a trainee at the time of the shooting, went back to work after 12 months. But she could not return to frontline policing and was restricted to desk duties.
Today she said she was leaving Nottinghamshire Police.
In an open letter to the force, she said: "People think you can get over it or simply move on.
"But the reality is so very different. I have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and suffer from panic attacks, nightmares and anxiety flashbacks. I have developed phobias about hospitals and the dark.
"Being shot changes you as a person. You see things differently. You also know that no-one can ever truly understand what you are going through."
read more here
Shot policewoman quits force due to stress
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Iraq War's 7th Anniversary Came and Went
Iraq War's 7th Anniversary Came and Went
Bob Schieffer Reflects on the Conflict's Impact Upon All of Us, Especially the Men and Women Who've Fought It
By Bob Schieffer
Play CBS Video Video An Anniversary Forgotten
As the news cycle revolves around health care, Friday marked an important anniversary that received little attention. As Bob Schieffer explain, it was the 7th anniversary of the Iraq war.
(CBS) Washington has always been a one-story town. And for the last few weeks - months, really - the story has been health care reform. It's all we've been talking about.
Which is probably one reason a rather important anniversary passed almost without notice: March 19.
Ring a bell? Probably not. But March 19 was the seventh anniversary of the Iraq invasion, which began our longest war.
A heavy news cycle was not the only reason it went unnoticed. We remember the wars and events that had an impact on our daily lives - December 7, or Sept. 11.
But in the age of the all-volunteer military, few of us remember much about a war that had so little effect on our day-to-day lives - especially a war where questions still exist over whether it should have been fought at all.
read more here
Iraq War 7th Anniversary Came and Went
Iraq War Anniversary Quietly Passes
As thousands more soldiers from The Mountain Post are heading to Iraq, there was little mention that Friday was the seventh anniversary since the start of the war in Iraq.
From fighters to fixers
From fighters to fixers: Marines woo villagers
Yesterday I wrote a piece for Afghanistan Crossroads touching on the main challenge facing the coalition now that the fighting in Marjah has come to an end: winning over the local population.
Today, Monday, we saw first hand what that means. We went to the rough base of the Charlie Company to join a patrol heading to the village of Nasiri, outside Marjah. Mad-dogs, Englishmen and the Marines go out in the midday sun.
The purpose of the patrol was not to engage in combat with the Taliban, however. It was essentially a social call, intended to build relationships between the Marines and the people around Marjah. (Watch the video of troops practicing diplomacy in the village)
Yesterday I wrote a piece for Afghanistan Crossroads touching on the main challenge facing the coalition now that the fighting in Marjah has come to an end: winning over the local population.
Today, Monday, we saw first hand what that means. We went to the rough base of the Charlie Company to join a patrol heading to the village of Nasiri, outside Marjah. Mad-dogs, Englishmen and the Marines go out in the midday sun.
The purpose of the patrol was not to engage in combat with the Taliban, however. It was essentially a social call, intended to build relationships between the Marines and the people around Marjah. (Watch the video of troops practicing diplomacy in the village)
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