PTSD on trial: When they can't just use it

PTSD is not the new "get out of jail free card" and this is an example of it.This came out before the trial.

Pardun was not a combat veteran.

Eugene murder suspect to use insanity defense By Assocaited Press and Eugene Register-Guard

Pardun's sister told The Register-Guard last summer that her brother never saw combat in Iraq or Afghanistan, but was traumatized by video images of a mortar attack on a helicopter that killed members of his brigade while he was recovering from an injury in the United States.

Yet he was treated for PTSD. The question is, since PTSD is only caused after trauma, how did he get it? Did he really have it? It seems as if he didn't.

Pardun told investigators the day of the shooting that he was under treatment for extreme post-traumatic stress disorder related to his Army service five years earlier.

The man he killed, was a Vietnam veteran with PTSD trying to help other veterans heal.

Thurston was a fellow veteran who had also battled PTSD following his service in the Vietnam War. Thurston later spent his career counseling troubled former soldiers at the same Eugene clinic where Pardun received medical and psychiatric care.

His life was taken and now his family has to live with the memory of this violent act. Pardun pleaded guilty. A medical exam showed he did not have PTSD.

Creswell man pleads guilty to killing neighbor
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — An Army veteran who claimed he suffered from post-traumatic stress despite never seeing combat has pleaded guilty to murder for shooting a neighbor in front of the man's wife and 3-year-old child.

Jarrod William Pardun of Creswell entered the plea Wednesday in Lane County Circuit Court in Eugene.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Patty Perlow says Pardun pleaded guilty after a mental examination found he was not suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Creswell man pleads guilty to killing neighbor

When veterans have PTSD, there is something called a flashback which takes them back to when their lives were in danger. This can also come when under stress. There are times when anger pushes out everything else, except one thing. They need to be held accountable for their actions. Yes, real PTSD needs to be taken into account when determining what true justice will be. In this case, the system seems to have worked well considering he admitted guilt after tests showed he did not have PTSD.

The aftermath of what he decided to do left a Vietnam veteran dead after trying to help real combat veterans with PTSD, a wife and a young child to not only grieve for the loss but try to recover with the trauma they went through because of Pardun. This also ends up hurting PTSD veterans the next time a judge has to consider PTSD as a factor or not.

Document says number of attempted attacks on U.S. is at all-time high

Document says number of attempted attacks on U.S. is at all-time high
From Carol Cratty, CNN
May 27, 2010 1:38 a.m. EDT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
DHS memo says number and pace of attempted attacks have surpassed "any other previous one-year period"
Attacks are expected to be attempted with "increased frequency," document warns
Report cites recent cases of homegrown terrorism, including failed Times Square bombing
Terror groups are increasingly using westerners as operatives, report says

Washington (CNN) -- Just weeks after the failed car bombing of New York's Times Square, the Department of Homeland Security says "the number and pace of attempted attacks against the United States over the past nine months have surpassed the number of attempts during any other previous one-year period."

That grim assessment is contained in an unclassified DHS intelligence memo prepared for various law enforcement groups, which says terror groups are expected to try attacks inside the United States with "increased frequency."

CNN obtained a copy of the document, dated May 21, which goes on to warn, "we have to operate under the premise that other operatives are in the country and could advance plotting with little or no warning."
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Document says number of attempted attacks on US is at all time high

Iraq veteran told to take down his flag or leave?

The flag is not a religious symbol someone could be offended by. It is not a political symbol. This is America after all and the flag is a symbol of the nation itself. The condo development is in America. So how could any association have it within their rules to not allow the flag to hang from a window? I've read reports in the past about rules against flag poles and against having flags outside but for heaven's sake, this flag is inside the couple's unit! What if they had curtains made out of the red, white and blue stripes? After all it seems to be ok to have material with the colors but not the flag itself. We know things have gotten way out of control when a veteran willing to lay down his life for the sake of this country can't even hang a flag in his window.

Wisconsin Veteran Must Remove Flag After Memorial Day, Wife Says
By Joshua Rhett Miller

Published May 26, 2010
FOXNews.com


An Army veteran in Wisconsin will be allowed to display an American flag until Memorial Day, but the symbol honoring his service in Iraq and Kosovo must come down next Tuesday, his wife told FoxNews.com.

Dawn Price, 27, of Oshkosh, Wis., said she received a call from officials at Midwest Realty Management early Wednesday indicating that she and her husband, Charlie, would be allowed to continue flying the American flag they've had in their window for months through the holiday weekend. The couple had previously been told they had to remove the flag by Saturday or face eviction due to a company policy that bans the display of flags, banners and political or religious materials.

"It's basically an extension so we can fly the flag on Memorial Day," Price told FoxNews.com. "It does need to come down after that."

Charlie Price, 28, served tours of duty as a combat engineer in Iraq and Kosovo, his wife said. To honor his eight years of service, she began decorating their apartment during Veterans Day in November. An American flag topped off the display, she said.

"I knew it made Charlie really proud to see that," she said. "And this isn't something new. This has been up for quite some time now."

Veterans' groups were furious at the realtors' refusal to allow the flag to fly.

"As a veteran, it sickens me that the Dawn and Charlie Price's building management company would imply that the American flag could be construed as offensive by their residents," said Ryan Gallucci, a spokesman for AmVets.

"We're talking about our most revered national symbol. This is insulting to anyone who has defended our flag honorably, like Charlie Price."
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Wisconsin Veteran Must Remove Flag After Memorial Day

Contractor settles allegations over Black Hawks

Contractor settles allegations over Black Hawks

The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday May 26, 2010 16:51:37 EDT

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A military contractor has agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle allegations by federal authorities that it failed to test armor plated inserts used in Black Hawk helicopters.

U.S. Attorney for Connecticut David Fein announced Wednesday that Ceradyne Inc. of Costa Mesa, Calif., agreed to the settlement over the inserts it makes for Sikorsky Aircraft. The helicopters are used by the Army.
Contractor settles allegations over Black Hawks

Trooper sues state police over PTSD

Trooper sues state police over post-traumatic stress
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A Pennsylvania state trooper filed a federal lawsuit against several members of his organization on Tuesday, alleging that they tried to force him out after he said he suffered PTSD from attending the autopsy of a child.

Charles Shippee, of Richland, worked in the Butler barracks in the department's forensic services unit. On Jan. 20, 2009, the lawsuit said, Mr. Shippee attended the autopsy of an 11-year-old girl who had been mauled to death by a Rottweiler.

While attending the autopsy, Mr. Shippee took 188 photographs of the child. According to the lawsuit, "the experience was horrible beyond description," and he has still not recovered.



Read more: Trooper sues state police over

Memorial Day: Keeping our troops and veterans first

Memorial Day: Keeping our troops and veterans first
by CONGRESSMAN LLOYD DOGGETT


Each year on Memorial Day, Americans come together to remember those who have sacrificed their lives on behalf of our country in the name of freedom and democracy. The debt owed to them is immeasurable. Without the brave efforts of all the service men and women and their families, our country would not live so freely.

On Memorial Day, as we rightly extol the tremendous contribution and sacrifice of our veterans, we should respond in deeds as well as words. The needs of those who serve do not end on the battlefield, and neither should our obligation to them.

We promise to help them succeed. With this economic crisis, Congress has enacted critical measures to expand educational opportunity and economic relief to make a real difference in the lives of veterans. The new Post 9-11 GI Bill, which took effect in August, restores the promise of a full, four-year college education for our American veterans, which I believe is part of jumpstarting a new American economic recovery, just like after World War II. We have also extended those crucial college benefits to all children of fallen service members since 9-11.

Recognizing that veterans coming home are facing double digit unemployment, as part of the Recovery Act to put Americans back to work rebuilding America, Congress provided nearly 2 million disabled veterans a $250 payment to help make ends meet.

Many of our troops have served multiple tours of duty, with great strain on their families and substantial cost to their finances. In response, Congress provided special $500 payments for every month the 185,000 service members and veterans were forced to serve under stop-loss orders since 2001. Congress also has taken steps to reduce the backlog and wait for veterans trying to access their earned benefits.

We have increased military pay 3.4 percent and expanded TRICARE health benefits. We are building more military child care centers and better barracks and military family housing.

For wounded veterans, Congress just enacted landmark legislation to provide help to family members and other caregivers of disabled, ill or injured veterans, such as training, counseling, and respite care, and to eliminate copayments for catastrophically disabled veterans. Congress also provided family leave benefits for families of our wounded warriors.

With the strong support of veterans organizations, this Congress also has made an unprecedented commitment to veterans’ health care. The veterans budget, hailed as a “cause for celebration,” provides the largest funding increase for health care and other services ever requested by a President – even more than veterans organizations requested.

We have increased the investment in veterans’ health care and services by 60 percent since January 2007 – including the largest single increase in the 78-year history of the VA. This funding has strengthened health care for more than 5 million veterans, resulting in 17,000 new doctors and nurses, and greater access for veterans in rural areas. It has been critical for the 382,000 veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan in need of care this year – with expanded mental health screening and treatment – to treat the signature injuries of the war, PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury. We’ve begun to see a real difference in the lives of veterans right here in Central Texas, with expanded services, longer hours and more parking at our Austin Outpatient Clinic.

On 35-acres off Highway 71, we are building the largest veterans’ clinic of its kind anywhere in America. This will triple the size of the existing clinic and double the clinic staff. Three times as much space for healthcare means more care in Austin and fewer trips to Temple or beyond.

For the 1.8 million women who have bravely served, Congress just enacted legislation expanding and improving VA health care services for women veterans, providing care of newborn children of women veterans for the first time in history, and enhancing treatment for PTSD and sexual trauma.

This is government-provided health care that works, and together, we can continually make it work better.

We promise to leave no soldier or veteran behind. On the battlefield, the military pledges to leave no soldier behind. As a nation, let it be our pledge that when they return home, we leave no veteran behind.

To all of you veterans – you understand a fundamental truth: our military is not the strongest in the world because of our tanks, our ships, or our fighter jets. Rather, it is because of the dedication, spirit, skill, and bravery demonstrated by men and women, who have put on our uniform for the cause of freedom and the red, white, and blue.

also read
Honoring our Veterans

Phoenix police officer fatally shot

Phoenix police officer fatally shot
By BOB CHRISTIE (AP) – 6 hours ago

PHOENIX — A Phoenix police officer shot and killed early Wednesday while investigating a suspicious vehicle was a 29-year-old married father of two young children, authorities said.

Officer Travis Murphy's wife had given birth just two weeks ago to the couple's second child, police spokesman Sgt. Trent Crump said.

Murphy and his partner were first on the scene of a call where neighbors reported someone hit a parked car and was trying to hide a Ford Mustang in the carport of a vacant home. The officers got out of their patrol vehicle and split up in search of a suspect.

Moments later, shots were fired and Murphy's partner found him mortally wounded. Fellow officers put him in a police vehicle and sped him to a nearby hospital, but he was pronounced dead.
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Phoenix police officer fatally shot

Florida Sheriff's Office honored to escort fallen Marine back home

Sheriff's Office honored to escort fallen Marine back home

By Lise Fisher
Staff writer


Published: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 4:19 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 4:19 p.m.


When officers on Thursday escort the body of Lance Cpl. Philip Paul Clark back to Gainesville, they will be honoring a hero.

"It's to send a message to those who are serving in the armed forces that we recognize their sacrifice and their commitment," Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell said.

Area law enforcement agencies will escort Clark's body from Jacksonville to Gainesville, before arriving at the Williams-Thomas Funeral Home in Jonesville.


Clark, 19, died on May 18 while serving in the Helmand province of Afghanistan, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. The U.S. Marine was hit with shrapnel in both legs while on patrol in Marjah, Afghanistan, his family has said. He was a 2008 graduate of Buchholz High School.
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http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100526/ARTICLES/100529576/1002

US soldier goes from rodeo cowboy to Afghanistan GI

US soldier is a veteran of war and rodeo
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA (AP) – 3 hours ago

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FRONTENAC, Afghanistan — Paul D. Bliss has, in his words, "pretty much destroyed my knees, dislocated my right and left shoulders, busted my left arm, fractured my right arm, been kicked in the face here," — he motions to a scar — "right above my right eye: 28 stitches from that. Busted my nose four or five times. Bruised my back a few times. I've also dislocated both my ankles."

That was before the 36-year-old U.S. Army sergeant went to war. A rodeo cowboy, he rode bulls for fun and money, and got tossed and trampled plenty of times.

So far, through two tours in Iraq and now a yearlong deployment in Afghanistan that ends this summer, he has escaped serious injury.

"I have gotten very lucky," Bliss said. "When your number comes up, that's what you have to face."

His unit, the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment of Task Force Stryker, is operating in a fairly quiet area near Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan, though it took high casualties last year. Bliss, a Catholic, keeps the dead in his prayers: "Their names and their faces just stay in the back of my head."
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US soldier is a veteran of war and rodeo

One man's trash, another man's treasure

One man's trash, another man's treasure

I've been paying great attention to the news about the oil disaster in the Gulf and frankly, I'm very confused. Up until the oil began to flood the coast, there were many voices saying they wanted the government out of just about everything, especially businesses. Governors were saying they didn't want money to help their economy with most of them refusing to take funds to help the people in their states. Now all of a sudden, these same voices are saying the government isn't doing enough. So where were these voices when all government regulations were disregarded for the sake of business deals?

It seems many have taken on the attitude government is only good when it matters to them and not when they are personally detached from the situation. One man's trash, another man's treasure.

BP had a deal, basically to do what they wanted and when there wasn't a problem with safety, everything was hands off, allowing them to do what they wanted the way they wanted. They were supposed to have plans in place to deal with any problems but it turned out they didn't. When the oil rig exploded, lives were lost, a point that keeps getting forgotten in all of this except for the families suffering the loss. Now Anderson Cooper on CNN is in the Gulf joining everyone slamming the government as others jump on Commandant Admiral Thad Allen asking for him to resign. Why?

BP officials may know by Thursday afternoon whether the oil company's latest attempt to cap the runaway leak in the Gulf of Mexico is yielding results. FULL STORY
Cooper: It's dead out there
LIVE: 'Top kill' underwater view
Carville: Tell BP 'I'm your daddy'
Your message for BP? Timeline
Full coverage

Why does everyone seem to think that the government had any responsibility to come up with everything necessary to take care of what business didn't? Why should it have been the Coast Guards job to be able to instantaneously clean up the oil? Wasn't that the job of BP and the people in government issuing the permits to drill for oil in the first place? What were they thinking when they allowed the rig to be built in the beginning?

I've heard people compare this to Hurricane Katrina. Why? It was a hurricane that was coming and was expected to do major damage to New Orleans. The hurricane couldn't be prevented but the response after could have been better, should have been better and was the responsibility of the government to respond. This was supposed to be the governments job. This oil disaster was supposed to be the job of BP to take care of.

So now, with the experts working for BP, unprepared for what they were supposed to do and unable to do it even after all these years they had to be ready, now it's the government's fault they are not taking care of the problem. This makes no sense at all. It makes even less sense when you think of the voices in the media all these years saying they want government out of business unless they are giving them tax breaks. It is not the Coast Guard's fault this happened but it has become their problem. Why should Allen take blame for it? His job was not to take care of an oil rig. How is this President Obama's fault? Is he now supposed to take over the oil companies? What happened to all the voices saying goverment should stay out of business?

People wanted hands off the banking industry until it crashed and then it was up to the government to bail them out. Tax payers paid the price because no one thought about what could happen when they had freely operated without constraints for years. Now they make billions of profits and we suffer because we can't get loans. People wanted hands off on the pharmaceutical industry until the dangers of the drugs they were selling was found after they had already caused deaths. Then it was the government's job to have been checking the safety. Again, people suffered.

I guess it all comes down to who needs what and when. State's rights were an issue and the voices calling for government to stay out of it are now saying government is not doing enough. While I think the government does have a responsibility now to make sure the oil stops and cleans up what has already happened, we need to think about something. BP has had years to come up with plans it failed to do and the government has had only a matter of weeks to figure out what to do. As for who pays for this, it should be BP because they didn't care enough about the damage they could do while they were counting their money. BP had the attitude that "one man's trash (the Gulf Coast) was their treasure. It all comes down to what should have been done all along and now that it is a problem people are looking to government to fix it.

So please, help me out here. I'm really confused over this and can't understand why all of a sudden the same voices are singing a different tune.

Don’t exploit the sacrifice of veterans

Town Crier: Don’t exploit the sacrifice of veterans

by Dave Hardesty / For the Tracy Press
May 26, 2010


With Memorial Day approaching, a veteran friend sent me a short piece titled “Courage.” My reply was not what he expected.

“Courage” starts with a critically wounded soldier in a battle in the highlands of “VietNam” on Nov. 11, 1967.

It claims the commanding officer ordered “MedEvac” helicopters away because of the intensity of enemy fire.

Then, the piece milks the heartstrings of the reader with the wounded soldier’s thoughts of his family 12,000 miles away being returned to reality by sounds of an approaching Huey helicopter.

The story continues and introduces Capt. Ed Freeman, the pilot of the Huey who rescued not only this soldier but also 29 others while risking his crew and aircraft to enemy fire and also being wounded.

It concludes with the statement that Medal of Honor recipient Capt. Freeman, of the United States Air Force, died at the age of 70 in Boise, Idaho, and that our news media apparently failed to acknowledge this hero’s passing as they focused attention on the death of Michael Jackson and the philandering of Tiger Woods.
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Dont exploit the sacrifice of veterans

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ED W. FREEMAN

Captain, U.S. Army Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile)

By the time the Korean War broke out, Ed Freeman was a master sergeant in the Army Engineers, but he fought in Korea as an infantryman.

He took part in the bloody battle of Pork Chop Hill and was given a battlefield commission, which had the added advantage of making him eligible to fly, a dream of his since childhood. But flight school turned him down because of his height: At six foot four, he was “too tall” (a nickname that followed him throughout his military career). In 1955, however, the height limit was raised, and Freeman was able to enroll.

He began flying fixed-wing aircraft, then switched to helicopters. By 1965, when he was sent to Vietnam, he had thousands of hours’ flying time in choppers. He was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), second in command of a sixteen-helicopter unit responsible for carrying infantrymen into battle. On November 14, 1965, Freeman’s helicopters carried a battalion into the Ia Drang Valley for what became the first major confrontation between large forces of the American and North Vietnamese armies.

Back at base, Freeman and the other pilots received word that the GIs they had dropped off were taking heavy casualties and running low on supplies. In fact, the fighting was so fierce that medevac helicopters refused to pick up the wounded. When the commander of the helicopter unit asked for volunteers to fly into the battle zone, Freeman alone stepped forward. He was joined by his commander, and the two of them began several hours of flights into the contested area. Because their small emergency-landing zone was just one hundred yards away from the heaviest fighting, their unarmed and lightly armored helicopters took several hits. In all, Freeman carried out fourteen separate rescue missions, bringing in water and ammunition to the besieged soldiers and taking back dozens of wounded, some of whom wouldn’t have survived if they hadn’t been evacuated.
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http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/07/11/265756.aspx

Vietnam vet holds to Memorial Day spirit

Vietnam vet holds to Memorial Day spirit
Combating commercialism of Memorial Day

By Jeff Hawkins

As enemy bullets blanketed the Vietnam rice patty he used as cover, Marine Corps Lt. Bob Doran looked to his point man.

"He was shot," Doran recalled. "Dead."

Explosions ripped the terrain around him and the men he led into combat. Waiting for infantry support, Doran tried to contact friendly forces. But his field phone was missing most of its antenna. "It was shot off," he said, about 40 years after an early baptism of battle.

Doran's situation deteriorated.

"My M-16 (rifle) was jammed. ... I've got eight other kids wondering what is going to happen next," he said. "It was the first two weeks I was there, and I was pinned down in a major firefight. I'm calling in ... calling in ... nothing was happening. ..."

Then, "Thank God," Doran continued, "'Gunny' Rodriguez came up from behind and was able to wipe them out. He saved our lives."



Read more: Vietnam vet holds to Memorial Day spirit

Vietnam veteran gets Bronze Star

Vietnam veteran gets Bronze Star
After 40 years, veteran honored for heroism

BY STANLEY DUNLAP
SDUNLAP@JACKSONSUN.COM
• May 26, 2010
Until recently Lori Smith's father didn't go in-depth whenever talking about his time in the military.

In April—40 years after saving his company commander from a hand grenade—Brownsville resident Danny Presley received a Bronze Star for his efforts in the Vietnam War.

"We knew he was a hero but getting to see and hear the things he did in the Army is neat," Smith said Tuesday.

Last fall, Presley began scouring the Internet after reading a Vietnam veteran's magazine when he found his name listed under decorated soldiers.

That led Presley to find out he had been awarded the Bronze Star as well as other medals, citations and badges for his service in the U.S. Army. Since 1969 the only medal Presley realized he had was a Purple Heart that came after being injured by a grenade around a month after saving his commander's life.

While in a hospital Presley's captain told him about nominating him for the award but soon after Presley forgot while recovering from his injuries.

"I never thought anything about it until I saw this," he said pointing to papers from the website.

The Bronze Star citation notes that on Aug. 28, 1969 Presley spotted three enemy soldiers who were hiding and was able to warn his company commander and comrades.
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Vietnam veteran gets Bronze Star

Commitment services for churchless

Commitment services for churchless

If you left the church, have not found one where you feel you belong, or consider yourself "anti-established religion" there is a place for you in God's house until you find a church where you feel they are living up to what Christ had in mind.

I am often asked where my church is and I respond that my "church" is wherever I am in any given moment of the day. It is not my "job" to fill a church but it is my job to fill the need of people struggling with spiritual issues and searching for someone to remind them God loves them.

Over my lifetime I have met a lot of people struggling and feeling abandoned by the church they were raised in and they have left it. Others were not raised in a "church going" family. They still have spiritual needs and feel lost or alone. For others they have no idea how to live a spiritual life on their own. That is my job.

Searching the Internet I found there are people offering Commitment Services for gay people unable to marry. This left me wondering why this is not possible for others to commit to each other as friends, as caring people, as committed communities.

This is why I am offering my services as a Chaplain with customized Commitment Services.

Is your community sending or welcoming home someone in the service? Then commit to them to pray for them and care for their families. Make a public promise to them as they have made a public promise to serve this nation.

Have you entered into a relationship but are not ready to commit to them in marriage? Then publicly commit to them and promise to love, honor and cherish them. Been married for a long time and want to customize a Commitment Service to reaffirm your love? Do you know someone in your community in need of knowing they matter? Have a service organization wanting to expand how much you are willing to do? Then publicly promise to do it.

Call me if you are in Central Florida for a customized Commitment Service to invite God to support you and sustain you.

Chaplain Kathie
PTSD Consultant
Senior IFOC Chaplain
Kathie Costos DiCesare
407-754-7526
web site
http://www.namguardianangel.com/
blog
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
Nam Guardian Angel is a Charter of the IFOC, (501c3)

Soldiers with severe PTSD have trouble finding help in Canada

Soldiers with severe PTSD have trouble finding help
Last Updated: Tuesday, May 25, 2010
by Louise Elliott, CBC News
Shawn Hearn, like many Canadian soldiers battling post-traumatic stress disorder, is having a tough time getting proper treatment back home after serving in a war zone.

Hearn, who served in Bosnia as a sniper in 1994, and those involved in helping soldiers with PTSD say changes to the treatment system need to be made.

And there's a lot on the line. Hearn recently attempted suicide and has been fighting hard to get the treatment he needs.

Hearn came back from Bosnia a different person. At first he didn't know why. He speaks in Guelph, Ont., near the Homewood private treatment centre where he says he's finally getting help.

"Basically I began to notice changes, my family began to notice changes, and in 1997 I ended up in hospital with an overdose," he says.

After that overdose, Hearn remained in the army another three years. In 2000, he was finally diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He left the military and began to try to understand his symptoms: severe depression, flashbacks, night fears.



Read more: Soldiers with severe PTSD have trouble finding help

Breaking the Stigma of Mental Illness

May 20, 2010
Watch Glenn Close’s Brilliant PSA
Dr. Jon LaPook Discusses
Breaking the Stigma of Mental Illness


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Habitat for Humanity Building Homes for Veterans

Habitat for Humanity Building Homes for Veterans Right Now!
Attention Military Veterans, espeically those looking to live in the Southern California area, Habitat for Humanity is building 27 homes to provide inexpenseive affordable housing for those that qualify.

Any Veteran thinking about buying a home in the future should stop by and check it out.

Habitat offers homeownership opportunities to families who are unable to obtain conventional house financing. Generally, this includes those whose income is 30 to 80 percent of the area’s median income. Prospective Habitat OC homeowner families make a down payment equal to 1% of the purchase price. Additionally, they contribute 500 hours of “sweat equity” on the construction of their home or someone else’s home. Because Habitat homes are built using donations of land, material and labor, mortgage payments are kept affordable.

Habitat is building 27 homes in San Juan Capistrano, California specifically for Veterans to own. The homes are sold at or below the organizations cost with a 1% down payment and a 0% interest loan. This is an excellent opportunity for you, and I urge you to explore this possibility!!
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Habitat for Humanity Building Homes for Veterans

Formerly unidentified veterans are finally laid to rest

Formerly unidentified veterans are finally laid to rest among friends, family
By Bob Considine/The Star-Ledger
May 19, 2010, 8:33PM

LEONIA — The cremated remains of Herman Henry Reichert, an World War I Army private from Teaneck, had sat in storage at a funeral home for nearly 58 years.

Today, his orphaned ashes and those of 12 other servicemen were finally buried.

The New Jersey Mission of Honor, a statewide veterans group, conducted its largest military funeral to date today with a combined 500 people paying tribute to 13 lost veterans at Overpeck Park in Leonia and later at Doyle Veterans Cemetery in Wrightstown.


Francis Carrasco, the Mission’s chairman, said it can take up to a year to identify and confirm whether remains are those of a veteran. The group, formed 15 months ago, is dedicated to retrieving and burying remains of veterans. He adds their mission has only just begun since New Jersey enacted a law last year allowing the group to pursue the unclaimed ashes of servicemen at state funeral homes.
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Formerly unidentified veterans are finally laid to rest

A lot to be ashamed of on Memorial Day

A lot to be ashamed of on Memorial Day

by
Chaplain Kathie

When we think about Memorial Day it's easy to honor the fallen because they ask no more of us. We think if we visit a cemetery, go to a parade and wave a flag, we've done our part to honor the men and women who gave their lives for the rest of us. The truth is, I bet most of them in heaven are disgusted with us and wonder what their sacrifice really meant to us when we fail to care for the survivors of combat. After all when it comes to serving in a war, they fight for each other and are willing to die so that someone else can make it back home.

Then we read stories about what is happening to men and women around the country when they come home and the rest of us live in fantasy land believing all is well and they are taken care of. This is so far from the truth it's pitiful. Just read the following and know one thing when you close out the page. There are countless other stories just like it so when you make plans for Memorial Day, ask yourself a question. Just how do we really honor any of them when this happens?

Disposable Soldiers

Joshua Kors: Injured veterans continue their battles at home while fighting for the healthcare treatment they deserve.

The mortar shell that wrecked Chuck Luther’s life exploded at the base of the guard tower. Luther heard the brief whistling, followed by a flash of fire, a plume of smoke and a deafening bang that shook the tower and threw him to the floor. The Army sergeant’s head slammed against the concrete, and he lay there in the Iraqi heat, his nose leaking clear fluid.

“I remember laying there in a daze, looking around, trying to figure out where I was at,” he says. “I was nauseous. My teeth hurt. My shoulder hurt. And my right ear was killing me.” Luther picked himself up and finished his shift, then took some ibuprofen to dull the pain. The sergeant was seven months into his deployment at Camp Taji, in the volatile Sunni Triangle, twenty miles north of Baghdad. He was determined, he says, to complete his mission. But the short, muscular frame that had guided him to twenty-two honors–including three Army Achievement Medals and a Combat Action Badge–was basically broken. The shoulder pain persisted, and the hearing in his right ear, which evaporated on impact, never returned, replaced by the maddening hum of tinnitus.

In July 2007 the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs called a hearing to investigate PD discharges. Barack Obama, then a senator, put forward a bill to halt all PD discharges. And before leaving office, President Bush signed a law requiring the defense secretary to conduct his own investigation of the PD discharge system. But Obama’s bill did not pass, and the Defense Department concluded that no soldiers had been wrongly discharged. The PD dismissals have continued. Since 2001 more than 22,600 soldiers have been discharged with personality disorder. That number includes soldiers who have served two and three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“This should have been resolved during the Bush administration. And it should have been stopped now by the Obama administration,” says Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense. “The fact that it hasn’t is a national disgrace.”

go here for more

http://colonel6.com/2010/05/25/disposable-soldiers/

Career Fair in Clearwater for veterans

WORKNET WEDNESDAY CAREER FAIR

Join us for our next WorkNet Wednesday Career Fair scheduled for Wednesday, June 23, 2010 from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the EpiCenter, 13805 58th Street N., Clearwater, 33760. Click here for directions.

In honor of our veterans, the first hour is dedicated to veterans only. Open to the general public after 1:00 p.m.

Iraq War veteran and former beauty queen, dies at 32

One thing we don't talk enough about is linked to short term memory loss. When they have PTSD, that is part of it. They forget things that just happened while they are haunted by things that happened in the past. It's a huge problem for veterans, especially when they are supposed to remember to take medications at certain times. Sometimes they forget they just took them and take more. Sometimes they don't take them when they are supposed to. Being organized and learning some tricks, like using pill boxes helps with this. While it's impossible to know if a death was accidental overdose or not when they die, there has been many cases when a veteran has survived and said they were not sure if they took too much or not.

There is also the issue that PTSD does harm the heart because of the high levels of stress. One more thing we don't talk enough about. Then again, when it comes to our veterans, we don't talk enough about any issue they have to endure when they come home.

"...she had hoped to become a counselor, helping other veterans."

Theresa Flannery, Iraq War veteran and former beauty queen, dies at 32
By JIM WARREN
McClatchy Newspapers

Theresa Flannery went to Iraq in 2004 and walked into one of the hottest firefights of the war.

She and other U.S. soldiers were trapped on the roof of a government compound at Najaf, dodging rifle fire and rocket-propelled grenades from renegade militiamen. Flannery traded gunfire with enemy snipers, shattering bones in her wrist diving for cover. A photo of Flannery, taken during the two-hour fight, circulated around the world, and the former Miss Madison County was recommended for a Bronze Star.

Back home in Kentucky, Flannery got a hero's welcome. But only family members and close friends knew of the price she paid, and her struggles with post traumatic stress disorder.

Last Thursday, Flannery, 32, died while on a visit in Lexington, N.C. She apparently died in her sleep.

Preliminary autopsy results were inconclusive. But her father, David Flannery, said he has no doubt that her death was related to the physical and emotional scars she carried from her experiences in Iraq.

"That's my gut feeling," he said. "Theresa had been dealing with some horrible problems from PTSD. She was being treated for that, and they kept changing the medication she was taking. She was on 85 percent disability from the Army. She had lost a lot of weight."



Read more: Iraq War veteran and former beauty queen dies at 32

Third grade class honors military for Memorial Day

Grab a tissue before you watch this.

Supreme Court gets papers in Snyder lawsuit against Westboro

Supreme Court gets papers in Snyder lawsuit

By Jessica Gresko - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday May 25, 2010 17:36:54 EDT

WASHINGTON — The father of a Marine killed in Iraq says anti-gay protesters who showed up with inflammatory signs at his son’s funeral in Maryland should not be given blanket protection by the Constitution.

Attorneys for Albert Snyder submitted a 67-page brief Monday in their case now before the U.S. Supreme Court. The attorneys argued that the First Amendment does not fully protect the protesters because they infringed on Snyder’s own rights to peacefully assemble with family and friends for the funeral.

Snyder, a Pennsylvania resident, is challenging the protests held by the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas. Westboro pastor Fred Phelps and other members — many of them Phelps’ family members — have become well-known for their funeral protests, which they have used to advertise their belief that U.S. Iraq war deaths are punishment for the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality.
read more here
Supreme Court gets papers in Snyder lawsuit

NC man charged with posing as officer again

NC man charged with posing as officer again

The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday May 25, 2010 14:10:08 EDT

WILMINGTON, N.C. — A man who pleaded guilty last year to altering an identification card after he was spotted in the uniform of a three-star Marine general has been charged again with posing as a highly decorated Marine officer.

Sixty-seven-year-old Michael Hamilton of Richlands was charged last week with wearing a Marine colonel’s uniform and three counts of wearing medals, including two Navy Crosses, the second highest award for valor, according to court papers.

Hamilton was photographed wearing the uniform and medals at Jacksonville’s Vietnam Memorial during a military recognition day ceremony last month.
read more here
NC man charged with posing as officer again

Community mourns fallen soldier

Community mourns fallen soldier

BY ELIZABETHE HOLLAND
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/23/2010

COTTLEVILLE — Church bells tolled and a massive American flag fluttered in the breeze Saturday as motorcyclists in leather vests stood in salute and soldiers in dress blues delivered the casket holding Sgt. Denis Kisseloff's body to an awaiting hearse.

They were among scores of people — nuns, Girls Scouts, Boy Scouts, firefighters and others — who probably didn't know Kisseloff, of St. Charles, but came to pay their respects as his body made its way from his funeral service in St. Charles County to his gravesite in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery
read more here
Community mourns fallen soldier

Feds urged to recover Marines killed in WWII battle

Memorial Day is coming again and it seemed like a good time to bring this up. I am still searching for where my husband's uncle is buried. I came across this. There are many of our fallen buried in other countries and we have a feeling my husband's uncle is one of them. I know several were returned and buried at Arlington.

Friday August 17, 2001:
WWII Marines Buried at Arlington

Playing "Onward! Christian Soldiers,'' the Marine Band marched Friday along the twisting paths of Arlington National Cemetery to the open grave sites of 13 World War II Marines whose remains had lain nearly 60 years in a mass grave on a South Pacific battlefield.

The full honors ceremony marked the homecoming of 2nd Raider Battalion Marines killed during a 1942 raid on Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands.

The battalion destroyed most of its target, a Japanese seaplane base. But, hurriedly departing under fire from hostile aircraft, they were unable to carry away their dead.

read more here

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/raiders-1942.htm

It would be a great thing to bring them all home or at least find out where they are.

Feds urged to recover Marines killed in WWII battle
From wire service reports
Posted: 09/15/2009 10:26:27 PM PDT

U.S. Marines hunker down for protection against fierce Japanese fire on the beaches of Tarawa during World War II.
The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday announced a plan to urge the Department of Defense to recover the bodies of hundreds of Marines killed in the World War II battle of Tarawa, left in temporary graves where they fought and died more than 65 years ago.
The unanimous vote to send a letter to Congressional representatives, seeking legislation and funding for a recovery effort, came in tandem with the presentation of an honorary scroll to Leon Cooper.
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky asked the board to bestow the honor and proposed the letter.
Cooper is a veteran of the Tarawa campaign and five other Pacific battles, including Iwo Jima. His documentary, "Return to Tarawa: The Leon Cooper Story," narrated by Ed Harris, calls on the U.S. government to honor the memory of the dead who fought on Red Beach in Tarawa.
"Our government has done nothing since 1943 to recover and repatriate these brave Americans who gave their lives in defense of our freedom," Cooper stated.
During 76 hours of combat, 1,106 Marines were killed and 2,200 wounded. Of those killed, 118 were buried at sea, 88 were listed as missing in action and the remainder were buried in temporary graves.
The Department of Defense acknowledges that 25,000 to 30,000 bodies of men "missing in action" are recoverable, but fewer than 100 are brought home each year, Cooper said.
http://www.dailybreeze.com/latestnews/ci_13346176

The 4th Marine Division landed on Saipan 15 June 1944. The severity of this battle was indicated by the 2,000 casualties suffered in the first two days of battle. The Flag was raised on Saipan after 25 grueling and bitter days of combat. The Division sustained 5,981 casualties killed, wounded and missing. This represented 27.6 percent of the Division's strength. The Japanese count was 23,811 known dead and 1,810 prisoners were taken.
http://gyrenesgungho.com/history.htm

Lest We Forget

Op-Ed for Memorial Day: Lest We Forget
Written by Linda Seebeth
Monday, 24 May 2010 09:00
May 20, 2010, Issaquah, Washington (Issaquah Reporter Editorial) - Memorial Day became a national day of remembrance thanks to the efforts of wives and mothers of fallen soldiers. Civil War widows lobbied for years until Memorial Day - originally Decoration Day - was officially proclaimed in 1868.

Those women lost loved ones and didn’t want the rest of the United States to forget the painful costs of war.

Today, just as back then, our veterans and their families primarily carry the enormous burden of war for the rest of society.

Memorial Day is commemorated one day a year, yet many of our fellow Americans live Memorial Day every day of their lives.

This I know, because when I married my husband, in many ways I married Vietnam.

Forty-one years ago, John was a young soldier filled with the idealism of youth. He was a medic and volunteered to fly aboard helicopter ambulances. Unarmed Army medevacs- Dustoff had the highest casualty rate of all aeronautical units in Vietnam.

After nine months of flying rescue missions, John took a hit from an AK-47. Today, he still breathes and speaks from a hole in his neck - a daily reminder of the gunshot wound he received in Vietnam.

Every war causes loss of life and limb. And every war creates disabled veterans with lifelong physical challenges.

While treating the wounded, John saw sights in the chopper’s cargo bay that no one would ever want to see - and no one could easily forget. He doesn’t want to remember the pleading, frightened eyes of grotesquely wounded soldiers or the whimpering of dying Vietnamese children.

But those memories are etched deep inside him. I have learned that war does not always end when the warrior comes home.

He’s not the same Johnny anymore.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.php/veterans-category-articles/1715-linda-seebeth

also on Veterans For Common Sense

VCS Invited to Testify Before Congress

Our pro-veteran advocacy continues to be recognized by Congress
. On Tuesday, June 15, 2010, Veterans for Common Sense will be honored to testify before the House Veterans' Affairs Committee regarding the "State of the Veterans Benefits Administration."

Yes, that means VCS will be offering our suggestions on how to fix the broken and overwhelmed VBA. We support VBA staff who are trying their best under difficult circumstances and burdensome rules.
VCS also hopes help is on the horizon.

We recently asked VA when it would publish final regulations to streamline and modernize PTSD claims. VA replied the agency is still working on new regulations. We hope they come out soon. The longer it takes VA to write new rules based on new scientific evidence, then the longer veterans wait for healthcare and benefits.

For a sample of what we plan to say to Congress about VBA, please visit our new program web site http://www.fixva.org/.


This week's update is mostly about veterans' issues.

Here's a news clip providing an example of why VA urgently needs reform. Journalist Michael Sedon at NorthJersey.com reports on the plight of an Iraq War veteran facing multiple VA challenges. Please read the article and see how VCS is fighting for research and treatment for illnesses related to exposure to depleted uranium, a radioactive toxic waste.

Gulf War veteran and Army Times investigative reporter Kelly Kennedy reveals how PTSD may harm veterans' immune system.

Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), who sits in the important Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, is quoted in by the Fayetteville Observer describing VA as having "a culture of no" when it comes to veterans' benefits.

Even other top government officials recognize VA is held back by old, inadequate technology. In an article by Eliot Van Buskirk for Wired Magazine, President Obama's chief information officer Vivek Kundra says VA poses a challenge to itself and veterans because VA uses such outdated technology.

Tenn. Iraq vet’s statue vandalized again

Tenn. Iraq vet’s statue vandalized again

The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday May 25, 2010 10:22:16 EDT

MARTIN, Tenn. — A statue memorializing a Martin soldier has fallen victim to vandals for the second time in two years.

The statue was erected in honor of Dustin Laird, who was killed in 2005 in Iraq only a month before he was scheduled to return home.

In 2008, two people from Martin were convicted of vandalism after confessing to painting a skull over the statue's face and dousing it with red paint to simulate blood.

According to radio station WCMT, the head and arms were broken off over the weekend.

Dustin's father, Billy Laird, plans to replace his son's memorial soon.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/05/ap_statue_vandalized_052510/

Wainwright GI told to remove Facebook video

Wainwright GI told to remove Facebook video
ANCHORAGE, Alaska
An Alaska-based soldier is under investigation for a video on his Facebook page that taunts smiling Iraqi children by asking if they're gay, if they engage in certain sex acts and if they would grow up to be terrorists.

U.S. soldiers focus of criminal investigation

Sources: U.S. soldiers focus of criminal investigation
WASHINGTON — At least 10 U.S. Army soldiers from an already-troubled unit of the 2nd Infantry Division in southern Afghanistan are now the focus of a criminal investigation into allegations they deliberately killed three Afghan civilians, used illegal drugs and conducted other illicit activities, several military sources told CNN.

The soldiers are part of the 5th Stryker Brigade of the 2ID, based out of Fort Lewis, Washington, said the sources, who declined to be identified because the military has not named those under investigation.

The military issued a brief statement last week saying a criminal probe was under way into the allegations of killing, illegal drug use, assault and conspiracy. One military official familiar with the details of the case told CNN the matter was brought to the attention of commanders by at least one other soldier. The killings of the three civilians did not take place in one single incident, the official said.

Those under investigation are members of the same company, the official said. All 10 remain in Afghanistan. One soldier is being held in detention known as "pre-trial confinement." The others have been "put in a position where they can do no harm," the official said. He would offer no other details.
read more here
U.S. soldiers focus of criminal investigation

Community, Soldiers and Red Sox Foundation team up to help veterans

Community, Soldiers and Red Sox Foundation team up to help veterans
May 24, 2010

By John Harlow/USAG-Natick Public Affairs Officer
BOSTON -- On a sunny morning in Boston, more than 2,000 runners gathered on Yawkey Way outside of Fenway Park to run nine kilometers with the finish line being one of the most famous spots in Boston... home plate of Fenway Park.

The Boston Red Sox Foundation hosted the run to raise money supporting The Home Base program which helps veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who are suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI).

The Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr. was on hand to welcome the runners, thank them for what they are doing to help our wounded warriors and congratulate them when they crossed home plate. Casey is very familiar with the area, having graduated from Boston College High School in Dorchester, Mass.

"This run is very important to our servicemembers," said Casey. "We are working to reduce the stigma of asking for help which is half our battle. Once we reduce the stigma, we can help Soldiers recover."

The Red Sox Foundation partners with Massachusetts General Hospital for The Home Base Program. The event on Sunday raised $2.4 million to support research for PTSD and TBI.
read more here
Community, Soldiers and Red Sox Foundation team up to help veterans

PTSD in the news

Golf Outing Raises Funds for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Posted Monday, May 24, 2010 ; 10:27 PM
Updated Monday, May 24, 2010; 11:55 PM



The organizer has been suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder since 1993.
Story by Kristen Sell


HURRICANE -- There was a lot of activity Monday afternoon on Sleepy Hollow's greens in Hurricane.

But the golfers swinging clubs weren't just paring for entertainment.

This golf tournament raised money for Mission PTSD Foundation.
go here for more
http://wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=80372

PTSD counseling helps veterans heal from emotional wounds of war


by Len Cannon / 11 News

khou.com

Posted on February 3, 2010 at 10:05 PM

Updated Thursday, Feb 4 at 12:04 AM

Related:
PTSD Web site

HOUSTON—Paul Schroeder and Robert Nuttal are decorated soldiers who both served on the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan.

But even though they’re long retired, they’re still haunted by the battlefield.

"People say, ‘Well, when did you get back from Iraq?’ I got back last night – it was in my dreams," Schroeder said. "The smells are the worst, but it’s also the noise and the sheer chaos."

They saw things overseas that they can’t forget.

"The bodies had burned into the seats where they had become one, and I found myself chiseling these bodies out, one at a time," Nuttal said.

Guilt is just one of the problems Nuttal and Schroeder have struggled with after returning home.
go here for more

PTSD counseling helps veterans heal

Ali Lowitzer missing after school

Distress of 9/11 may have led to miscarriages

Distress of 9/11 may have led to miscarriages, research says
By Madison Park, CNN
May 25, 2010 7:42 a.m. EDT
Even without personal connections, people can be stressed by major events like September 11, 2001.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Distress after 9/11 may have contributed to a higher loss of male fetuses
Even without direct relationships with those killed, women appear affected by attacks
Stress during pregnancy can cause miscarriage, early labor, low birth weight
Factors seem to affect only male fetuses; reason not known


(CNN) -- The shock and stress felt by pregnant women after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, may have contributed to an increase in miscarriages of male fetuses in the United States, according to a study released Monday.

Researchers found the male fetal death rate increased in September 2001 and subsequently affected the ratio of boys born in a later month, according to the study published in the journal BMC Public Health.

The authors hypothesized that this might be a case of "communal bereavement." Even without direct relationships with the deceased, pregnant women may have been distressed by the attacks, resulting in miscarriage, according to the research.

"A huge population saw the consequences and carnage onscreen," said lead author Tim Bruckner, who is an assistant professor of public health at University of California Irvine, about the effects of 9/11. He examined this topic "because pregnancy is sensitive to stressors. I wondered whether pregnant women might have a physiological reaction to witnessing harm."
read more here
Distress of 9 11 may have led to miscarriages

Design Chosen For Veteran's Memorial

Design Chosen For Veteran's Memorial

By AMANDA FALCONE, afalcone@courant.com

10:54 p.m. EDT, May 24, 2010

ROCKY HILL —A design has been chosen for a statewide veterans' memorial. Now all that's needed is about $1 million in donations to build it.

The state chose a design featuring an amphitheater, a remembrance wall and ample parking, submitted by landscape artists Dean Adam Johnson and Robert Schechinger Jr., both of the Collinsville section of Canton.
read more here
Design Chosen For Veterans Memorial

Flag dispute sparks veteran angst at city leaders in Idaho

Flag dispute sparks veteran angst at city leaders in Idaho
The Associated Press

Kellogg, Idaho » A dispute between military veterans and town leaders in Kellogg over flagpole etiquette and the fate of a war memorial park has now take a political turn, with veterans leading a drive to recall the mayor and all six members of the City Council.

The veterans' frustration with the officials focuses on the city's response to complaints about flying a second flag below the American flag on the same flag pole at Kellogg's Memorial Park.

The flagpole, located at a stone memorial dedicated more than 50 years ago for veterans of the two World Wars and Korean War, displayed Old Glory along with a Tree City USA flag.

But commanders of the Silver Valley veterans groups complained last summer that it was improper to fly the Tree City flag over a memorial honoring soldiers. Veteran Lee Haynes said the group asked the city to remove the Tree City flag and display it on a separate pole.

In response, the city removed the American flag, dug up the stone memorial and moved it to a newer veterans memorial inside the park, irritating and frustrating veterans.

"We look at a memorial much like you do a gravesite," Haynes told the Spokesman-Review. "Why you think you can rip apart a 50-year-old memorial is beyond my imagination."

But Mayor Mac Pooler said city leaders met with veterans and believed moving the stone memorial was a suitable solution.
read more here
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_15154975

When we help less

When we help less

by
Chaplain Kathie

I was sitting here yesterday reading emails and stunned when yet another email came in from someone asking me to help them. Maybe sickened is the word I'm looking for. Helping is what I do. It's in my nature. It's a huge contributing factor behind becoming a Chaplain. I want to share the love I know God has for us, especially with our veterans. I want to share what I know about PTSD. Simple as possible, imperfect as expected, I do what I can to help anyone God sends my way. Feeling the way I do when people ask for help, are in the position to return the favor when I need help, but ignore my pleas, then turn around when they are in need again, asking for help, really put a damper in my day. I really wanted to say no, debated if I should just ignore the email or fire off an angry response. In the end, I replied with the help asked for and then had a good cry.

I was talking to one of my friends last night over dinner before the movie Just Wright, telling her what happened. She's known me for a long time and is well aware of what I was feeling like. It happened to her many times. When she had a better job, she would spend her own money supplying gifts and snacks for the veterans at the nursing home in Orlando every month for Bingo night. Her heart was tugged by our veterans and she didn't want them forgotten about. When she was laid off, no one helped her when she was having a hard time paying her bills. Now she has another job but is unable to do what she used to do even though her heart really wants to.

I told her that yet again someone asked me for help, to make life easier but when I asked for help before I was ignored. The person is not a veteran in need or a family member of one trying to cope. The person is a professional acquaintance. It makes me think twice about helping someone after they have shown me how little they really care about me.

In the movies, like the one we saw last night, the giver is usually rewarded in one way or another. They go through hardships and heartbreaks but it would hurt them more to stop being who they really are inside. They struggle with what other people think is a "normal" reaction and what their soul is calling them to do. We don't have to look very far to see examples of this every day if we bother at all to notice, because good guys don't always win in the real world.

We see it in the military and in our veterans. We turn to them all the time for our security and our safety. We feel as if we are doing our part by simply saying we support them but our words don't do much for them when so few of us bother to know what's happening to them while they are deployed. Few of us care how many died, how many were wounded or if any of them are in need. They are important to us and they matter to us, but the truth is, they just don't matter enough to enough of us.

This is all one more reminder of how they are so much better than I am. They don't help less because we don't seem to care when it matters to them, to what they need, and they still serve just as much as they would had we bothered to care enough to help them.

I have to admit that when the person asked for help, the help I gave yesterday was not up to my normal standards. I held back. I just didn't want to bother as much as I would have had the person helped me when I needed it.

Ask any veteran if they would serve again and their eyes light up. The majority would be willing to do it all over again. Regrets come from losing someone they cared about but they never seem to connect the other losses they endured because of their service to the point they would question doing it again. Some lost families because the war came home with them. Some lost a place to live because they couldn't work anymore or because claims were tied up. Some had to fight for years to have their claims honored, but instead of dwelling on the higher price they paid for their service, they feel grateful the claim was finally honored.

The beginning of the month I put out a request for financial help because I'm heading into Washington DC for Memorial Day weekend. I'm broke but this trip is important to my husband and to me. Not one donation came in. I am going to Arlington Cemetery, Walter Reed, the Wall and the Law Enforcement Memorial so that I can be better at what I do, refueled by being with some of our veterans. Since I asked for help but no one bothered, it's been really hard to focus on putting more of myself "out there" because it feels as if I just don't matter enough to others in return.

What about them? They don't get to say that today they will only shoot a limited amount of bullets or just work half day because they are feeling sorry for themselves. They don't get to say they have their own personal problems back home so they want to "call in sick" today. Veterans don't get to say they will stop being a veteran when there are no activities in their honor a couple of times a year.

While I know I can walk away from this anytime I want, I am surrounded by reminders of people so much better than I am. Pictures of family members in their uniforms, of monuments and the old pamphlet hanging on my wall of the PTSD publication the DAV put out in 1978. Certifications of the training I've taken remind me of why I do any of this and a map of the world remind me of all the places we've sent the troops since the beginning of this country. Books read over and over again fill my bookcase and in each one of them more reminders of people so much better than I am. The Bible filled with stories of even more imperfect humans going above and beyond what others were willing to do. Emails saved over the years reminding me of how little they ask for in return and how much they have paid for being among the few willing to risk their lives while I whine about my own insignificant ego issues. All reminders of the years I've done what I could publicly and privately, knowing I will never be one of them or even come close to measuring up to them.

If we can look at our own lives and remember what it feels like to feel being taken for granted or abandoned, why can't we understand what it's like for them? What will it take for the rest of us to know what it must be like to be forgotten about in Iraq or in Afghanistan right now? We've lost over 5,000 between the two wars but other than the occasional serviceman or woman in uniform, we're more interested in the scandals and our TV shows. Hundreds of thousands of our veterans are wounded still paying the price with body and mind but we ignore them.

I get to decide when to shut down the computer and do something else. I get to decide if I will post something I read to share it or go out to the pool and relax. There are no strings on me and in the grand scale of things, I'm not that significant, so if I stopped, few would even notice. If they decided they wanted to just care about themselves, everyone would notice because no one would be serving and they would have to start the draft again. No one would blame them for not joining the National Guards or Reservists but we sure would complain when there is no one to help when natural disasters strikes, tornadoes come or hurricanes blow or floods rush in. The truth is we don't seem to think about them unless we need them.

I know what that feels like and how much that hurts but thank God these men and women are better than I am because they still give us all they have no matter how much we just take them for granted.

While we would decide to help less being treated the same way, we ask more of them but offer nothing more in return. They push their own personal feelings out of the way for the greater good and forgive us for not caring enough.

Shelia Snyder's tribute to veterans

Beautiful!

It is the Veteran, not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Veteran, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Veteran, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Veteran, not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the Veteran, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Veteran, not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.


It is the Veteran who salutes the Flag,

It is the Veteran who serves under the Flag,

Eternal Rest Grant Them O Lord
And Let Perpetual Light Shine Upon Them
~Sacrifice is meaningless without remembrance~

I honor and remember our military, both past and present. I help with health and well being issues of our Veterans of all Era’s and for the active duty military of today.
This is the focus, this is our purpose, this is what we owe to our Veterans.
Shelia Snyder
Agent Orange Quilt Of Tears

Agent Orange Victims & Widows Support Network
Home Of The Agent Orange Quilt Of Tears
http://www.agentorangequiltoftears.com
~Sacrifice is meaningless without remembrance~

Man pleads guilty to fake military medals

Man pleads guilty to fake military medals

The Associated Press
Posted : Monday May 24, 2010 11:32:29 EDT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A Marshall County man accused of wearing military medals he didn’t earn and illegally possessing firearms has pleaded guilty in a Birmingham court.

Douglas Lee Weaver, 35, had pleaded not guilty in April to charges of fraudulently wearing the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star and the Combat Infantry Badge.
read more here
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/05/ap_fake_medals_052110/

Military must deal with alarming number of suicides

OPINION: Military must deal with alarming number of suicides
By Express-Times opinion staff
May 24, 2010, 12:30AM

We may never know why Austin Gates Benson — a 19-year-old Hellertown resident and airman first class in the U.S. Air Force — took his life earlier this month while serving a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

But we do know this: Gates Benson loved his country. And we know that far too many of our men and women in uniform are dying by their own hand.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, there were 160 reported active-duty Army suicides in 2009, up from 140 in 2008. Even though military suicide rates are similar to civilian rates in the U.S., officials say last year’s numbers are alarming because military rates traditionally have been lower than civilian rates.
go here for more
Military must deal with alarming number of suicides

186,000 troops in two wars this Memorial Day

For First Time, More US Troops in Afghanistan than Iraq
May 24, 2010 1:31 PM


ABC News' Luis Martinez reports:

For the first time ever, the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan is larger than the number of American forces in Iraq. Pentagon figures show that there are now 94,000 U.S. forces serving in Afghanistan and 92,000 serving in Iraq.

The crossover point for American force levels in both countries was expected to take place this Summer as the Obama administration surges 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan this year and draws down the number of forces in Iraq.

The drawdown plan in Iraq calls for reducing the number of American forces to 50,000 by September 1, a move that will require a major logistical effort over the next three months.
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More US Troops in Afghanistan than Iraq

CNN Pays Tribute to Coalition Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq

There are times when I am absolutely heartbroken by the lack of news coverage of Iraq and Afghanistan. There always seems to be some other story for all the major media stations to jump onto with too little time to remind the American people there are troops risking their lives everyday in Iraq and Afghanistan. What is more heartbreaking is that even when they return home, out of danger from bombs, they are still in danger from bullets but instead of the weapon held in the hands of enemies, the gun is held in their own hand. 18 suicides a day, most committed with guns. The American people are not reminded of the fallen except when a hometown boy or girl comes home for the last time. They are not reminded of the wounded. Most of the time the American people are left on their own to search for news or just get on with their own lives, their own problems, their own families. Few know of the hardships of the families of the military and harder times for the families of National Guards and Reservists.

CNN has done a good job tracking it all. They could have done a better job on the news station itself, but the online work they've done has been outstanding. I search it often because I know it is accurate and very up to date. It looks like CNN has done it again with this site. Take a look at it and remember, just because we are not reminded everyday of the price they pay, they still pay it.

CNN Pays Tribute to Coalition Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq Wars with Launch of “Home and Away”
Ten-Year Project Culminates in Immersive Online Interactive Memorial and Month-long On-Air Programming Honoring Troops
Continuing to develop innovative ways to present its audience with news and information, CNN is combining the unparalleled strengths of its on-air and online platforms to honor every Coalition Forces casualty in Afghanistan and Iraq.
CNN.com has launched “Home and Away,” an immersive interactive which allows users to learn about and pay tribute to more than 6,000 fallen troops from more than 20 countries. Simultaneously, CNN chief national correspondent John King begins a month-long tribute on his week-nightly 7 p.m. ET program, JohnKing, USA, airing one of the fallen’s personal stories each night. On Memorial Day, a special edition of JohnKing, USA, entitled “Home and Away,” will be dedicated entirely to this subject. Throughout these tributes, King will utilize the Magic Wall to go behind the statistics and provide human faces to the sacrifice.
“Each of these casualties has an inspiring and moving story, and we wanted to find an exceptional way to honor the sacrifice every single one of them made,” said Susan Grant, executive vice president of CNN News Services. “We hope ‘Home and Away’ serves as an enduring memorial for those that made the ultimate sacrifice while also helping the CNN audience more personally connect with this deeply complex topic.”
“We were so moved by the powerful stories of these service members and those who loved them along the way,” said Michelle Jaconi, Executive Producer, John King, USA. “Our CNN.com colleagues have created a powerful tool that allows us to more deeply engage with our viewers, connecting them to personal tributes from the fallen's family and friends."
Available at www.cnn.com/homeandaway this extensive data visualization project began nearly 10 years ago at the start of the war in Afghanistan. A cross-divisional effort between the CNN Library and CNN.com, a team of researchers, producers, designers, user-experience specialists and developers have gathered information about the casualties of the wars. Evolving from two separate lists of casualties in Afghanistanand Iraq, “Home and Away” tells the story of where and how the lives of these troops began and ended, and is continually enhanced with personal memories from family and friends.
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CNN Pays Tribute to Coalition Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq

Warren County Marine gets surprise welcome home

Warren County Marine gets surprise welcome home
Monday, May 24, 2010
By SARA K. SATULLO
The Express-Times
HACKETTSTOWN Cpl. Frankie Giaquinto never dreamed he would miss grass.

But when the U.S. Marine returned from the Afghanistan desert, the first thing he did when getting off the bus was lie down in some.

"It feels good to be home," the Mansfield Township native said Sunday following a surprise welcome home parade. "It is nice to see grass; you don't see any grass over there."

The humble 2006 Warren Hills Regional High School grad had no interest in being the center of attention during his 17 days of leave from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, where he first returned April 30. But his family and friends had other plans for him.
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Warren County Marine gets surprise welcome home

Why people lie about military service

There was a time when Vietnam Veterans wanted to deny they served in Vietnam. It was a time when it seemed no one wanted them around. Established service organizations didn't want them to join. Employers didn't want to hire them. Families, well families just wanted to forget where they had been for the last year. Friends back home told them to get over it. Girlfriends dumped them because they "changed." It wasn't bad enough they had to go through all that and more, but it seemed no one noticed despite our best efforts to ignore them, they still managed to achieve what other generations fail to do. They taught us to finally care.

When WWII veterans came home they were recipients of a promise delivered. They were taken care of. Veterans hospitals opened around the country and then there were housing developments springing up with not only new houses, but surrounded by other veterans, they found a new home. We started to call them Veteran's Villages.

When Vietnam veterans came home too many of them ended up in what we started to call tent cities and shelters. Too many ended up homeless as well as abandoned. PTSD, drinking problems, all the problems we see in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, they faced but no one was there to catch them when the cracks in the system opened so wide they fell in. No one noticed that as they now wait in line for care, most of what the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are receiving is due to them fighting for it. This is not to suggest in anyway the newer veterans face no problems. We report on them all the time here on this blog and on blogs around the country. The truth is, Vietnam veterans refused to surrender and refused to lose this battle for the sake of all generations of veterans.

Did you know they never lost a battle in Vietnam? They wouldn't give up then and they won't give up now. They still believe in us even though we stopped caring about them. Amazing that we now see people trying to pretend they are Vietnam veterans when there was a time no one wanted to be called one. Combat Vietnam veterans are a rare breed but we need to acknowledge some combat veterans who were unable to even say they were Vietnam veterans because they deployed into Cambodia and Thailand. They saw combat just the same and death and risked their lives. Still even with so many Vietnam Era veterans around the country, they are still embraced by the combat veterans. They are still called "brother" and this bond includes them as well.

It's really not so amazing when some people want to claim to be Vietnam veterans considering how proud they made the rest of us be just knowing them and all they have done for the sake of all veterans when we did so little for them.

Why people lie about military service

By John Christoffersen - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday May 23, 2010 13:56:57 EDT

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — U.S. Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal acknowledged he misstated his service in Vietnam, said he made mistakes, regretted them and took responsibility.

What he didn’t explain was why.

Blumenthal, Connecticut’s popular attorney general who insisted he was proud of his domestic military service in the Marine Reserve, became part of a long running phenomenon in which men embellish or outright lie about their military record.

“They all do it for the prestige,” said retired FBI agent Thomas Cottone, who used to investigate military impostors for the agency. “They all want to be recognized. They need that ego boost.”

A longer version of the video of the 2008 event posted by a Republican opponent shows Blumenthal at the beginning of his speech correctly characterizing his service by saying that he “served in the military, during the Vietnam era.”

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Why people lie about military service

Richard Blumenthal started his speech the right way as a Vietnam Era veteran. The problem is he let his need to be included in with the men he worked so hard for. I don't know if he can be forgiven but I really doubt that is the the most important thing to be asking now. I wonder if any of us can be forgiven by the real veterans after all we put them through? A word here, words there, they do matter but what matters most is them and how we treat them as much as it is about what we learned from all of them.

600 museums offer free admission to military

600 museums offer free admission to military

By Brett Zongker - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday May 23, 2010 17:09:16 EDT

WASHINGTON — More than 600 museums nationwide are offering free admission to military families all summer in a new partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

The list includes some of the nation’s premier art museums, including New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as science centers, children’s museums and other sites in all 50 states.

The program, called Blue Star Museums, is being announced Monday in San Diego, where 14 museums will participate. The offer for active duty military personnel and their families runs from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/05/ap_museum_052310/

"No Veteran Left Behind" nice thought but untrue

While it is wonderful to think that "no veteran is left behind" in this country, it is far from true. Every day it seems funeral homes report long forgotten remains of veterans long gone and forgotten about by family and friends. Their ashes collect dust in storage. Some people have dedicated their lives to finding these forgotten heroes and make sure they have a proper military funeral.Homeless veteran given proper military funeral
There are more stories like this on this blog and they break your heart at the same time they make you feel thankful there are so many people out there trying to help in whatever way they can.

Then some end up finding their way into the hands of angels on earth trying to take care of them when they become homeless.
Vietnam Vet Andrew Elmer Wright found a home as a homeless vet
Pastor Joel Reif, of First United Church of Christ made sure that when Andrew died, he was not forgotten any more than he was forgotten in the last part of his life spent on church grounds surrounded by love of the members there.

We leave them behind when claims are not honored. We leave them behind when programs to help them do not begin because someone is waiting for someone else to do it. We leave them behind when we decide to not donate to any veteran's charity simply because there are too many of them, never once thinking that one less veteran will be helped because we didn't want to give a buck or two to all of them, even though we could afford it.

We leave them behind all the time but when we try, or should I say when some people try to make a difference, there are less veterans to leave behind. When you think they are less than 10% of the population of this country and less than 1% of Americans serve today, you'd also think we should be able to take care of all of them but first, you'd have to really care for all of them and stop waiting for someone else to do it. I see so much good happening across the country, like this report, but then I wonder, what about the other cities and towns doing nothing but thinking someone should do something.

No veteran left behind as volunteers flag gravesites

By Kendra Leigh Miller
Staff writer
Posted May 22, 2010 @ 09:44 PM
Last update May 23, 2010 @ 01:31 AM
Taunton — No veteran’s grave was left unmarked.

Volunteers came out by the droves to the Mayflower and St. Joseph’s cemeteries Saturday to make sure every veteran’s grave was marked with an American flag.

Marine veteran Don French, who served in World War II, is one of many who organizes the flag marking every year for the more than 60 cemeteries in the city of Taunton.

“Just like when we’re in battle, we don’t want to leave a buddy behind,” French said. “This is the same thing. Even after death, we don’t want to leave anyone behind.”
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Web portal Warrior Gateway helps digital-age vets

Web portal Warrior Gateway helps digital-age vets
By BARBARA ORTUTAY (AP) – 2 hours ago

NEW YORK — For young veterans returning from duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, the process of re-entering society can be daunting, especially if they have been injured or have struggled with mental health problems.

A new, free Web portal wants to help these warriors find the services they need in an environment they are comfortable in: the Internet.

Warrior Gateway is designed with Google Inc. and social media in mind to make its intended audience as comfortable as possible. Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, generally in their mid-20s, grew up with e-mail, keep in touch using Facebook and are familiar with online communities that stretch across time zones.

"Our generation of vets exists within a social media landscape," said Tom Tarantino, a former Army Captain who now works as the legislative associate for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "We couldn't navigate a city without Google Maps, without Yelp."

The site lets veterans, their families, friends and caretakers search for services based on an extensive range of categories, including geography, eligibility and even user ratings inspired by Yelp, a restaurant and shopping review site.
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Web portal Warrior Gateway helps digital age vets