Shocking New VA Scandal Uncovered by VAWatchDog

Like most Vietnam vets, after years of no help at all, they have to go to see their VA doctors on a regular basis to stay stabilized yet when they need to be sure they have a stable support force behind them, they are told their appointments need to be cut back. Just too many new veterans flooding the system to have time for all of them. So they are given medication enough to last about three months until they can find the time to see them again. It's not the doctors fault they don't have enough of them to fill the needs but it is however the fault of the people in charge to properly plan and staff based on the needs of the future.

It is not just mental health that is an issue for disabled veterans. They get sent to another part of their state or to a different state to receive the medical care they need. Appointments are canceled or changed without notice and for those seen on a regular basis, they are spread out too far in between.

The VA has to meet "standards" of care and apparently thanks to Jim Strickland reporting, we now know they found a way to make it look as if they have met the standard by hiding the facts. What they cannot hide is the damage they are doing to the veterans feeling betrayed yet again. For Vietnam veterans with PTSD, they overcame the stigma and lost years but can they overcome this?

VCS Salutes VA Watch Dog;
VCS Urges Congress to Fix VA

Shocking New VA Scandal Uncovered by VAWatchDog - -

VA Staff Manipulate Appointment System, Delay Care

This week, the web site VAWatchDog.org posted an internal VA memo where a top VA leader confirmed the existence of 24 ways to "game" VA's appointment computer system. VA's staff manipulate the computer system to conceal delays in setting medical appointments. Veterans are justifiably outraged.

Deputy Under Secretary for Health William Schoenhard's memo confirms a key point VCS and VA's Inspector General have made for years: VA intentionally misleads veterans and Congress about how VA routinely delays and denies medical care for our veterans. VA leaders now know VA's medical appointment system is broken. We are pleased VA's Schoenhard said the improper practices will not be tolerated.

Schoenhard's memo forces a key leadership test upon VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. Will VA reveal how many veterans over the years were harmed by VA's improper practices? What other ways are used to hide VA's problems scheduling appointments? Will VA re-train staff on the proper use of the appointment system? Will VA leaders hold accountable those VA employees and leaders who delay and deny medical care? We want more facts, more training, and more accountability.

VA DOCUMENT REVEALS HOW THE AGENCY IS "GAMING" VETERANS' MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS
Lists 24 ways that VA employees are "gaming" the dates on medical appointments to make themselves look more efficient while veterans wait for health care.



NOTE from Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org ... I have been writing about the waiting list issue since 2004, and VA employees have only gotten better at "gaming" the figures to make it look like they are meeting appointment schedules ... when in reality, veterans are waiting for health care.

I detailed the use of log books for waiting lists before veterans could get on the electronic waiting list. That way, the original date requesting an appointment was not entered into the system. VA employees would wait until an appointment opened up (within 30 days) and then take the vet out of the log book and put them into the system, using that date as the date of request. This made it look like the VA had fulfilled their 30-day appointment commitment to the veteran.





The Games People Play
by Jim Strickland
Has it ever happened to you? Have you shown up for an appointment at your VA Clinic or Medical Center only to be told that you don't have an appointment? Tried to make a convenient appointment 2 months away and were told that the rules don't allow that? Is your appointment scheduled in an old fashioned log book rather than the computerized system VA uses? These are the games that are played with your appointment schedule.

The VA says that it takes pride in your care. The truth be known, VA takes even more pride in keeping score so that everyone looks good on paper. Thus, the system that keeps track of the performance of clinics and hospitals is "gamed" in ways that seem to annoy Mr. Schoenhard. "These (gaming) practices will not be tolerated." he tells his troops, "This is not patient centered care."

read the rest here
http://www.vawatchdog.org/10/nf10/nfjun10/nf062310-1-1.htm

Military’s Mental Health Treatment Leader Steps Down

Is it too late? I believe this should have happened a long time ago when the reports painted a dark future for our troops and thus, an even darker one for our veterans. The numbers of suicides and attempted suicides kept going up at the same time "success" was announced regarding the number of calls flooding into suicide prevention hotlines. The most troubling aspect of the rise in calls was mostly overlooked. No one was asking why they would ever reach the point when taking their own lives was that strong they felt the need to call the suicide prevention hotline in the first place. It should have never, ever gotten so bad so many would think their only option was ending their lives after all the time, money, research and claims had been expended.

We're not new at trying to get rid of the stigma surrounding PTSD. We've been tackling that problem with education since the late 70's along with outreach efforts and support programs. Research has produced very little new information in recent times yet hundreds of millions of dollars are paid out to fund repeated research all asking the same questions and coming up with the same answers. Where's the new thinking? Where have the people on the front lines been in all of this when they should have been listened to?

There are some fantastic things going on regarding PTSD and mental health for combat veterans but the military has been the last ones to look at what the civilian world has been doing.

An example is one of the first videos I made, Wounded Minds, in 2006. The first version of it was created when I was just learning how to make videos. It wasn't that good. Comments left on YouTube were telling me the slides moved too fast to read, the color was hard on the eyes and it was clear it had to be remade. Yet even given this I was contacted by psychologists as well as military personnel for permission to use the video. They said there was nothing like it available to them. This was four years ago! Two versions later the Wounded Minds video you see on the sidebar of this blog is the finished one and was seen by thousands of viewers. Just as with the rest of the over 30 videos I created, they are able to provide information and support it took more than half my life to learn.

This blog tracks PTSD reports from around the country and I track reports internationally to see what other countries are doing. All the information is out there to find if the military bothered to look across the web. If they were experienced in searching they would know what was news and what was just a bunch of claims with nothing to back any of them up. They would know what kinds of questions to ask when someone claimed to be an expert on PTSD when in fact, other than a medical degree, they had no specialized training on PTSD. They would know the best providers are not only veterans but veterans recovered from PTSD themselves. They would have also learned that families are the best therapy a veteran could ask for. Families are the ones the veterans need the most from and all too often they can setback any therapy because of their own lack of understanding.

It all goes hand in hand.

Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton did the best she could given the military culture of obstructing vision. They operated with rules and regulations so tight it makes it impossible to think outside the box. They have contractors they turn to when they keep providing methods and programs that don't work. They use the same "experts" over and over again no matter how valuable or not their information was. The result is it's too late for far too many veterans and their families just as it is far too late for too many active military because they have already committed suicide.

It is not too late for survivors to actually begin to heal instead of suffering without hope as long as the military finally learns from their mistakes. I have no doubt they have the best intentions even if it is all tied to the expense of taking care of these men and women for the rest of their lives. Even the military knows the sooner PTSD is addressed, the better the healing and less expensive it becomes. Aside from doing the right thing to care for the troops, taking care of them now costs less in the future. It reduces divorce and thus, keeps families together to reduce homelessness. It reduces the severity of disability and thus, cuts down on compensation to be paid out for the rest of the life of the veteran. Doing the right thing early also reduces the problem of keeping trained soldiers in their boots.

I hope the next person to step up to take over this at least has an awareness of the outside world so that more time is not lost and less have to pay the price with needless suffering.

Military’s Mental Health Treatment Leader Steps Down
By Katie Drummond

The director of the military’s top center for post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries is resigning, after ongoing criticism of the facility’s inability to cope with the thousands of troops suffering from the “signature wounds” of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton announced the decision to staffers at the Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) on Monday, ProPublica is reporting. The center is at the crux of the military’s massive efforts in bolstering both psychological and brain injury-related diagnostics, treatment, prevention and research. Sutton was instrumental in creating the DCoE in 2007, and has held the top job ever since.

The timing of her departure, which has yet to be publicly announced, is another indication of the armed forces’ messy, mismanaged mental health program. Even as the Defense Department unveils a 72,000 square-foot facility dedicated to mental health issues, some legislators are wondering why the military still can’t get a grip on ailing troops.

“This is a total failure,” Rep. Bill Pascrell, co-chairman of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, said last week. “We’re failing to find TBI and post-traumatic stress disorder in an era when the military is trying to find and assist folks who need it.”


And, with the bulk of a 2007 influx of $1.7 billion for mental health-care going to the DCoE, it makes sense that Sutton would shoulder the brunt of the responsibility for the failings.

Even worse for public perception were ongoing media reports, including those from the Washington Post, ABC and NPR/ProPublica, that exposed gaping holes in the military’s abilities to spot traumatic brain injuries and PTSD, which are estimated to afflict one-third of returning troops.



Read More Mental Health Treatment Leader Steps Down

We must heal the wounds of war we cannot see

While eyes cannot see a soul wounded or a mind suffering, aware eyes can see the results. It all depends on if you know what you are looking at or not. You can see it when they talk and their eyes are pointed down as their head tilts. You can see it when their bodies are clearly under stress with jerking muscles, fidgety fingers and pain so deep it shows in their eyes. You can notice it when they refuse to sit in the middle of the room or become more agitated with their back exposed to a door, even if it is closed. You can hear it in their voices during the day, just as the people they live with can hear it in the night when the nightmares come to haunt them. You can see it when they hear a sudden sound or anything that mimics the sounds of combat, like loud thunder, especially down here in Florida. What else you can see is when you look at their families, lost and confused, afraid and troubled by what someone they love is going through just as much as they are confused about what they are doing to the family.

To say you cannot see this wound is to admit you just don't know what you're looking at because the evidence is as visible as it gets.

We must heal the wounds of war we cannot see
By Pete Conaty

For too long, America has been in denial about the true cost of war. We have honored our veterans with our lips but we have refused to acknowledge the wounds we don’t see, the deep, painful psychological scars borne by so many of our veterans. Thankfully, we are at last beginning to recognize the depth of this problem. We are beginning to reach out a helping hand to those men and women who have borne the heat of battle and come home forever changed.


In his State of the State speech, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke eloquently and frankly about these wounded warriors and our obligation to make them whole again: “Too often our soldiers bring back the enemy with them in their heads. We are seeing and hearing all about a lot of post-traumatic stress syndrome . . . Those men and women need help.”


California’s concerted effort to help these veterans, however, dates back nearly three years, when the Armed Force Retirees Association, the Vietnam Veterans of America and other veterans groups won Governor Schwarzenegger’s signature on AB 2586, a groundbreaking law designed to give our most traumatized soldiers a chance to confront and overcome the psychological wounds of war. Under this alternative sentencing law, a judge first determines if a defendant is suffering from combat-caused post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).


If he is, the judge can steer the defendant into a psychological treatment program rather than jail. Without treatment, many of our fallen heroes would find themselves trapped in an unending cycle of crime and punishment as they struggle with their inner demons.


Eight months ago, the U.S. Supreme Court faced this issue and came down on the side of California’s law in a landmark ruling on the impact of combat stress on veterans. In that case, the high court reduced the death sentence of Korean War veteran George Porter to life in prison. The Florida jury that sentenced Porter to death in a murder case did not know he had fought in some of the bloodiest battles of the war. He came back a “changed and traumatized man,” the high court said. The sentencing jury would likely have spared Porter from the death penalty if it had known of his “horrifying” battlefield experiences, the justices said.
read more here
We must heal the wounds of war we cannot see

Dying In Their Sleep: The Invisible Plague Attacking U.S. Soldiers

Dying In Their Sleep: The Invisible Plague Attacking U.S. Soldiers

Cilla McCain
Author, Murder in Baker Company
Posted: June 23, 2010 05:42 PM

While doing research for the book Murder In Baker Company, I came to know many military family members from the support group "Home of the Brave." The group's goal is to help one another gain information and justice in the noncombat related deaths of their loved ones. According to the Department of Defense nearly 1 out of 4 fatalities in the military are noncombat related.

Stan and Shirley White of West Virginia represent one of the "Home of the Brave" families. Three of their four children have served in the armed forces. Two have died because of their time in war. On September 26, 2005, their son Robert, an Army Staff Sergeant, was killed in a rocket attack in Afghanistan. On February 12, 2008, their youngest son, 23 year-old Marine Corporal Andrew White died in his sleep after being treated for PTSD with lethal prescription drugs.

Struggling with PTSD compounded by grief over the death of his brother, Andrew sought help from VA doctors. Their first line of defense was to prescribe him 20 mg. of Paxil, 4 mg of Klonopin and 50 mg of Seroquel. These medications helped at first, but later proved ineffective. Instead of changing the course of treatment, the doctors responded by continually increasing his dosage until the Seroquel alone reached a whopping 1600 mg per day. Within weeks of Andrew's death, three more young West Virginia veterans died while being treated for PTSD with the same drugs, prompting Stan and Shirley White to begin a mission to find out what the deaths have in common.
read more here
Dying In Their Sleep

NPR finds military screens were missing tens of thousands TBI veterans

Senators Press Military To Improve Brain-Wound Care
Categories: Military

05:11 pm

June 23, 2010

by T. Christian Miller, ProPublica, and Daniel Zwerdling, NPR


Senators pressed senior military leaders Tuesday to improve their efforts to address traumatic brain injuries, suicide and other wounds suffered by soldiers returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Responding to what he called "disconcerting" reports by NPR and ProPublica, Sen. Carl Levin, (D-Mich.) said at a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee that the military needed to better address the wide range of medical and behavioral problems affecting troops.

Earlier this month, we reported that the military was failing to diagnose and adequately treat troops with brain injuries. Since 2002, official military figures show more than 115,000 soldiers have suffered mild traumatic brain injuries, also called concussions, which leave no visible scars but can cause lasting problems with memory, concentration and other cognitive functions.

But the unpublished studies that we obtained and the experts that we talked to said that military screens were missing tens of thousands of additional cases. We also talked to soldiers at one of the military's largest bases who complained of trouble getting treatment.
read more here
Senators Press Military To Improve Brain-Wound Care

Iraq war veteran Walter Harvin went downhill after beating

Iraq war veteran Walter Harvin went downhill after beating, mom testifies
BY Oren Yaniv
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, June 24th 2010, 4:00 AM


Her hero son's PTSD only got worse after the beating he took from a city cop, an Iraq war veteran's mom testified Wednesday.

And now, he's missing.

"I don't know if my son is alive or dead," said Cora Page, 46, of son Walter Harvin, who was seen cuffed and on the ground, taking baton blow after baton blow from Officer David London.

London is on trial for assault and falsifying a police report after a video of the July 2008 beating surfaced.



Read more: Iraq war veteran Walter Harvin went downhill after beating

PTSD on Trial:Iraq veteran to go to rehab instead of jail for manslaughter

Judge sentences Iraq veteran to rehab instead of jail for manslaughter
BY Oren Yaniv
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, June 24th 2010, 4:00 AM

A drunk ex-Marine who killed a beloved dad of five on the FDR is off to rehab instead of jail after a judge spared a "decent human being" and Iraq war veteran.

Brandon Connolly, 33, was facing two to six years behind bars after the Valley Stream, L.I., man earlier pleaded guilty to manslaughter and vehicular manslaughter. But the judge was moved by accounts of the personal trainer's service in Bosnia and two tours in Ramadi and Fallujah.

"We're dealing with a reckless act committed by a decent human being," Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Thomas Farber said, speaking haltingly. "I don't know what the just sentence is in this case."



Read more: Judge sentences Iraq veteran to rehab instead of jail

Military looks at holistic prevention methods finally

Military looks at holistic prevention methods finally
by
Chaplain Kathie

Is depression contagious? Evidence suggests it is. Consider something as simple as a yawn. When you see someone yawn, the automatic response is to yawn as well. Happens to me all the time. I could see a dog yawn on TV and end up doing it. This response comes from the brain. When you see someone tired, often you find yourself feeling tired as well. When you surround yourself with people working out in groups, you usually have a better workout by being inspired, plus the competition thing kicks in and it's better than working out alone. We are all affected by the people around us and what we see.

Bad moods are contagious no matter how happy you may feel, someone going through negative motions will always bring you down. PTSD can cause something called Secondary PTSD because living with people with PTSD is stressful in itself, usually caused by the emotional roller coaster as well as their uncontrollable responses.

This report on PTSD and suicide points out that there have been suicides in non-deployed soldiers. While not all suicides are due to PTSD or mental illness, there has to be some reason behind those suicides. Consider that before anyone enters into the military they are given physical exams as well as mental health ones. After passing these tests, they start training. With some committing suicide but have not been deployed, this really leaves a big, huge question. Why?

Physically they are conditioned to withstand a lot of stress on their bodies. Mentally they have passed the tests but do the methods used to train them mentally cause a problem they are not ready to deal with considering what happened in their lives prior to military life? Were they unprepared for their new lives in the military? Was the attitude of the people around them affecting their attitude? Was it the possibility of being deployed into Iraq or Afghanistan? These questions focus on the non-deployed forces, but what about the other suicides taking place?

The National Guards and Reservists face the same problems the rest of the active military does but the truth is, when they return home, the support system for them is just not there. They have the extra stresses of being away from home and family, jobs, businesses and friends without really wanting to do more than take care of their own communities. Too often they are redeployed, taken yet again from their lives and asked to step into the life of a soldier. What about them? What about their extra stresses above and beyond deployment? What about their families when they do not want to give up as a National Guardsman/woman, because they still believe it is important for them to stay in?

All the factors involved in human emotions must be considered whenever looking at what to do about it. Most suicides happen for one very simply human need dying. The last glimmer of hope things will change has evaporated. Why get up if today will be just as bad as yesterday? Why try when you are overlooked, beaten down, unappreciated or abandoned? If you cannot hope that something will turn around and things will get better, or believe "this too shall pass" then you lose the drive to breathe.

When you have PTSD, you have this lack of hope inside of you along with everything else going on. There just doesn't seem to be any reason to face pain day after day when you are getting no help to heal. Yet when you are finally in a place when you understand why you feel the way you do, someone is listening to you without judging you, showing they care about you instead of expecting you to "just get over it" then a glimmer of hope turns into moments, hours and weeks of feeding off hope while noticing things inside of you are changing. Your soul is unloaded of the pain it has been carrying as you begin to heal.

Just as negative emotions are contagious, positive ones are just as able to be caught by other people. It depends on you. Who do you surround yourself with? Other people you know will understand you or people more willing to judge you? Who do you go to for help? Someone who is always telling you what to do instead of listening to what the problem is or someone willing to listen because you need to get it off your shoulders? If your burden is centered around spiritual problems, do you turn to someone without a simple understanding or do you go to someone with strong faith? You may like the people you hang around with, but when you are in need, you need to ask yourself if they can fill that need or feed the problem.

There is a lot more now being attempted by the military to address PTSD, TBI and suicides but until they stop thinking the troops are machines and start to look at them as highly trained humans, they will not be able to help and save lives. The good news is that they are trying.

Services work to learn more about brain ailments, suicides

Posted 6/23/2010

by Lisa Daniel
American Forces Press Service

6/23/2010 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury and suicides among servicemembers are interrelated problems requiring holistic prevention methods and more scientific study, military leaders told a Senate panel June 22.

"The reality is, the study of the brain is an emerging science, and there still is much to be learned," Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the Army vice chief of staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a hearing about how the services are dealing with brain injuries and mental health problems.

The vice chiefs of the Air Force and Navy, the Marine Corps' assistant commandant and a Veterans Affairs Department health official also spoke before the committee. All agreed with General Chiarelli that the Defense and Veterans Affairs department officials are coordinating better than ever to diagnose and treat brain injuries and mental disorders, and that much more is known about such conditions today than when combat operations began after Sept. 11, 2001.

Still, they acknowledged, much more needs to be done. They noted that suicides are highest among ground forces. The Army reported 162 confirmed suicides last year, up from 140 in 2008 and 115 in 2007. The Marine Corps reported 52 suicides last year -- more per capita than the Army, and up from 42 in 2008 and 33 in 2007. Last year's numbers are expected to rise as more investigations are completed, officials said.

While the military officers cited increased deployments and less time at home as one area of stress, many more risk indicators such as personal problems with relationships, legal matters and careers are also factors, they said.

In the Army, 79 percent of suicides were by servicemembers who had one or no deployments, and 60 percent were on their first deployment, General Chiarelli said.

Also, General Chiarelli said, suicides among active-duty Soldiers have dropped while simultaneously increasing among reserve-component Soldiers, especially National Guard members.
read more here
Services work to learn more about brain ailments

Korean War Museum to may have to give up land

Lack of Funds May Force Korean War Museum to Surrender Its Land
By Diane Macedo

Published June 23, 2010

FOXNews.com



A ground-breaking ceremony for the Korean War National Museum in Springfield, Ill., will no longer be taking place this summer – because the museum doesn’t have enough money even to start construction.

According to the museum website, the museum is “well short of financial and operational goals to break ground” due to “the recent economic downturn,” as well as leaders it says were “too optimistic” about their ability to raise funds.



Korean War Museum to Surrender Its Land

VA launches program for soldiers exposed to toxic chemicals

VA launches program for soldiers exposed to chemicals in Iraq
By Bill Straub
Evansville Courier & Press
Posted June 23, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Veterans Affairs is creating a program designed to aid military personnel who came in contact with a toxic chemical known as sodium dichromate during their service in Iraq.

The move could provide assistance to dozens of members of the Indiana National Guard.

In a letter to Rep. Baron Hill, D-Seymour, dated June 11, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said his agency “is committed to caring for our nation’s veterans and continues its outreach efforts on this exposure.’’

Shinseki said the VA is implementing a comprehensive surveillance program that follows the recommendations of various authorities that regulate exposure to hexavalent chromium, the toxic chemical found in sodium dichromate.
read more of this here
VA launches program for soldiers exposed to chemicals



also read more here

American Lung Association deeply concerned

Veteran awarded money after VA psychiatrists committed malpractice

Veteran Awarded $600,000 for VA’s Failure to Refer him for Medical Treatment
June 23, 2010 posted by Terry Richards

All Veterans who currently receive or formerly received VA Medical Care should read this story to see if this same type of VA Malpractice happened to them. If it did, then they may have a Legal Cause of Action for a Federal Tort Claim. Even if the Statute of Limitations has expired you can still file a SECTION 1151 CLAIM for Service-Connected Disability which has NO TIME LIMIT. At the end of this story there will be a Link with further information about SECTION 1151 CLAIMS and suing the VA for Medical Malpractice in a Federal Tort Claim, among other things.

Deasy v. US., 99 F.3d 354 (1996)

VA Hospital Malpractice; Failure To Refer Patient

Under Colorado and Maryland law, the evidence supported a district court’s finding that Veterans Administration (VA) psychiatrists committed malpractice by failing to refer a patient for medical treatment for his edema, held the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. This was so even though the government claimed the plaintiff’s psychiatrists were not qualified to offer expert opinion on the standard of care required of physicians who treat edema, since the relevant issues in the case were whether it was a breach of the psychiatric standard of care to fail to refer the patient and whether failure to do so increased the patient’s psychiatric symptoms, on which the psychiatrists were qualified to give expert opinions, said the court.
read more here
VA Hospital Malpractice

Headstones at Arlington dumped in stream to stop erorsion?

Did they think of just using ROCKS instead of headstones?

Arlington headstones in stream to stop erosion

The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jun 23, 2010 18:05:09 EDT

ARLINGTON, Va. — Army officials say that old headstones found lying in a stream on the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery had been placed there deliberately for erosion control.

The tombstones were found by reporters for The Washington Post earlier this month in the aftermath of an internal Army investigation that found chaotic management at the cemetery and the apparent mislabeling of more than 200 graves. Cemetery officials at first could not say why the tombstones were in the stream.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/06/ap_grave_stream_062310/

Silver Stars awarded to 2 Richardson soldiers

Silver Stars awarded to 2 Richardson soldiers

The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jun 23, 2010 12:03:57 EDT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Two Fort Richardson soldiers have been awarded the Silver Star medal for bravery in combat in Afghanistan.

In a ceremony Tuesday at the Army post, the military’s third-highest medal was presented to Spc. Ryan. S. Chester and Spc. Robert E. Parson, members of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) of the 25th Infantry Division.

The Army says Chester fought continuously for 25 minutes unprotected after being thrown from his vehicle while on patrol. Parson fought enemy fire to protect the evacuation of his wounded squad leader.

Chester was a gunman in the roof turret of an armored vehicle on July 6, 2009, when the 19-man platoon was ambushed by 30 enemy fighters, the Army said.
read more here
Silver Stars awarded to 2 Richardson soldiers

American Lung Association deeply concerned over Burn Pits

Shut down burn pits, lung association urges

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jun 23, 2010 17:05:42 EDT

The American Lung Association called for the military to ban open-air burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The association “is deeply concerned by reports of the use of burn pits and negative effects on lung health on soldiers in both Iraq and Afghanistan,” H. James Gooden, chairman of the association’s board of directors, said during a Senate defense appropriations subcommittee hearing Wednesday.
read more here
Shut down burn pits, lung association urges

Maywood CA lets everyone go including police

California town to lay off all city employees, disband police

By Muriel Kane
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 -- 11:46 am
Economic hard times are causing many municipalities to look for ways to reduce their payrolls, but none has taken it as far as the town of Maywood, California.

On Monday night, the Maywood City Council voted unanimously to fire all 100 city employees and contract out most services, including record-keeping, street maintenance, and parks and recreation, to the neighboring town of Bell.

"We will become 100% a contracted city," Maywood's interim city manager stated.

Even the Maywood police department will be disbanded. Those services will be provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, since a proposal earlier this month to merge Mayfield's police department with that of Bell was met with angry protests by Bell residents.
read more here
California town to lay off all city employees

Army Holds Wounded Warrior Conference held in San Antonio

There is a lot of confusion on Wounded Warriors. There is the program connected to the Army and the project which is a charity.

Army Holds Wounded Warrior Conference held in San Antonio

Terry Gildea, TPR (2010-06-23)

SAN ANTONIO, TX (KERA) - The U-S Army is holding a special conference in San Antonio this week designed to examine how it cares for wounded soldiers. More from Texas Public Radio's Terry Gildea.

This is the sixth year that Army brass have invited wounded warriors and their families to sit down and discuss what they think the service branch is doing right and wrong when caring for soldiers. Colonel Jim Rice is director of the Army's Wounded Warrior Program.

Col. Jim Rice: This event is about listening to those who have been through it and learning about ways we can continue to improve how we care for our most severely wounded and injured soldiers, veterans and their families and take action.
read more here
Wounded Warrior Conference

One killed, 2 injured in training accident at Fort Bragg

Why are contractors training soldiers?

One killed, 2 injured in training accident at Fort Bragg
By the CNN Wire Staff
June 22, 2010 5:42 p.m. EDT

(CNN) -- A civilian Army contract employee was killed and two other people were injured Tuesday in a small-arms training accident at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, an Army spokesman said.

The contract worker, who managed operations at training ranges on the base, was taken to Womack Army Medical Center where he was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound, according to a statement.

The injured included another civilian contractor, who was transported by air to UNC Hospital in Chapel Hill, and a soldier enrolled at the U.S. Army's John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. The soldier was grazed by a bullet and was being treated at Womack.
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/22/north.carolina.army.accident/

Soldiers struggling with undiagnosed brain injury

Soldiers struggling with undiagnosed brain injury
Web producer: Sheryl Kornman

The American Forces Press Service covered a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday exploring how the services are dealing with brain injuries and mental health problems. Here is its report:


WASHINGTON, D.C. (American Forces Press Service/KGUN9-TV) - Post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury and suicides among service members are interrelated problems requiring holistic prevention methods and more scientific study, military leaders told a Senate panel Tuesday.

"The reality is, the study of the brain is an emerging science, and there still is much to be learned," Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, Army vice chief of staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a hearing about how the services are dealing with brain injuries and mental health problems.

The vice chiefs of the Navy and Air Force, the Marine Corps' assistant commandant and a Veterans Affairs Department health official also spoke before the committee. All agreed with Chiarelli that the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments are coordinating better than ever to diagnose and treat brain injuries and mental disorders, and that much more is known about such conditions today than when combat operations began after Sept. 11, 2001.

Still, they acknowledged, much more needs to be done. They noted that suicides are highest among ground forces. The Army reported 162 confirmed suicides last year, up from 140 in 2008 and 115 in 2007. The Marine Corps reported 52 suicides last year – more per capita than the Army, and up from 42 in 2008 and 33 in 2007. Last year's numbers are expected to rise as more investigations are completed, they said.

read the rest here
Soldiers struggling with undiagnosed brain injury

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, top commander in Afghanistan, ordered back home

UPDATE

Updated at 6:04 p.m. Gen. Stanley McChrystal has "offered to resign," according to a Twitter post from Time magazine's Joe Klein on Tuesday. Earlier, Klein, citing "a very reliable source," told CNN that McChrystal had already submitted his resignation.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/22/latest-mcchrystal-developments/?hpt=T1

The people I usually agree with on most things think McChrystal should be fired, or at least forced to resign. On this one, I have to disagree only because when we were waiting for Generals to tell the truth about Iraq, they were silenced and forced to resign. They put their men and women first and cared about what was happening to them as well as why. The same people saying McChrystal should go, used to support the free speech rights of the others. So why not now?

Was his choice of words wrong? I think so. Was he grinding some kind of ax? Probably. Did he publicly insult elected officials and the President's cabinet? Yes and his words have power since the rest of the world is listening. The problem comes from voices calling for him to pay with losing his career. He should be busted in rank but stay in the military if that's what he wants to do but I don't think he should have to give up the military. We can't just want them to speak out on what they think only when we agree with it. After all, too many generals had to leave the military for telling the truth and that was wrong.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, top commander in Afghanistan, ordered home over Rolling Stone comments
BY Sean Alfano
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, June 22nd 2010, 8:51 AM

Gen. Stanley McChrystal apologized from overseas Tuesday for ripping the administration in a magazine article.

Now, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan will have a chance to say sorry in person.

McChyrstal has been ordered to Washington to explain why he and his staff criticized the White House in a recent Rolling Stone interview, administration officials said Tuesday.

Earlier, McChrystal had attempted to defuse the backlash over his comments in the piece, titled "The Runaway General."

"I extend my sincerest apology for this profile. It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened," he said.

"Throughout my career, I have lived by the principles of personal honor and professional integrity. What is reflected in this article falls far short of that standard," McChrystal added.

Instead of attending the monthly White House meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan via teleconference, the general will be there in person Wednesday, the officials told The Associated Press.

The first casualty from the article appears to be a civilian member of McChyrstal's staff who allegedly arranged the Rolling Stone interview.

NBC News reported that Duncan Boothby quit his role on the general's public relations team. According to a senior military official, he was "asked to resign."
go here for the rest
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, top commander in Afghanistan
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, top commander in Afghanistan
New York Daily News

Fremont medic fatally wounded in Afghanistan

Fremont medic fatally wounded in Afghanistan
Chronicle staff report

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

(06-21) 14:38 PDT FREMONT -- A soldier from Fremont has died after being wounded in fighting in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said Monday.

Army Spc. Nathan W. Cox, 27, was wounded by small arms fire when insurgents attacked a forward operating base at Khogyani in eastern Afghanistan on June 14, the Defense Department said. He died two days later at a hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.

Cox was a combat medic with the HHC, 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), based at Fort Campbell, Ky.
Read more: Fremont medic fatally wounded in Afghanistan

Labor of love builds memorial for soldiers who died in Vietnam

Memorial Honors Area Soldiers Who Died In Vietnam
originally posted on: 6/19/2010 6:00:13 PM
Fifty-one servicemen from Richland County who died in Vietnam were honored over the weekend during the dedication ceremony of the Richland County Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.

The polished black granite wall erected on the front lawn of the Richland County Administration Building, displays the names of all 51 service members who fought in the Vietnam War.

Richland County Vietnam Veteran's Memorial committee member Larry Moore, said the monument was made possible through the generous support of area veterans and their families. He said the $35,000 memorial was a labor of love for the Richland County Joint Veterans Council who spearheaded the project which began in March 2009.
read more here
http://www.wmfd.com/newsboard/single.asp?Story=41733

Soldier injured in Iraq becomes LMPD officer

Soldier injured in Iraq becomes LMPD officer

By Janelle MacDonald

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - LMPD graduated its newest class of officers Friday and one of them has already led an amazing life in the U.S. Military.

Twenty men and women are beginning new lives, putting their own lives at risk as LMPD officers

New officer Dexter Pitts is just hoping for a calmer life than the one he led before.

"When I was in the Army, I served with the 10th Mountain Division in Iraq," Pitts said.

Two years in, insurgents struck.

"I got wounded in action by a 300 pound bomb on January 2nd of 2005," Pitts said. "I just had this bad feeling. I just knew something wasn't right. You know, you can feel when somebody's watching you. I just knew somebody was watching us."

He was right.

"The next thing I know, I wake up and I'm looking at the sky," said Pitts. "I looked down at my left arm and my bones were trying to come through my skin ... I remember waking up in the Humvee and my lieutenant was like, 'You're good man. You're alive man.' He pulled me out the Humvee and it hurt so bad."

He went through six months of rehabilitation at Walter Reed Medical Center.

"I had 12 operations," said Pitts. "I had radiation therapy. I constantly battle with sickness, PTSD, nightmares."
go here for the rest and video
http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=12673974

Westboro Baptist protestors want protection to protest at military funeral?

They hold up signs saying God hates the troops as they show up while a line of cars escorts the families of the fallen while they bury their son, daughter, husband, wife or child. While Westboro can in fact use their free speech rights to do this, the family does not have the right to not listen to them. The families have to be there, but Westboro Baptist protestors do not have to be there. It is one thing to hate this much, to be filled with so much anger they feel the need to travel around the country holding signs and spouting their message of hate, but yet another to expect the police departments to protect them instead of protecting the families they came to emotionally assault.

Patriot Guard Riders formed just because of these people showing up to attack the fallen and their families. Imagine having to do something like that because these people want to be able to say whatever they want, wherever they want with a captive audience. Think of going to a funeral for your own family member and then being forced to see these signs. How would that make you feel? If they are allowed to do this whenever and wherever they want, then what's to stop someone else from doing it to another group of people? They hold up signs saying God hates gay people, so what is to stop them from showing up at funerals for civilians they believe are gay? This isn't about being gay or not. They show up for military funerals and that is because they know they will get attention for it. The families should not have to pay the price for their lusting after attention.

Westboro Baptists announce plan to protest soldier's funeral
Friday, Jun 18, 2010 - 05:28:19 pm CDT
Westboro Baptist Church members have notified Plattsmouth Police Department they will be protesting at the funeral of Sgt. Blaine Edward Redding Tuesday, June 22.

Redding was killed June 7 while serving in the United States Army in Afghanistan.

Formerly from Plattsmouth and Elmwood, Sgt. Redding will be placed to rest in Oak Hill Cemetery in Plattsmouth.

Funeral services are planned at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, at Church of the Holy Spirit.

Plattsmouth Police Chief Dave Murdoch said he received a letter from Westboro legal counsel asking for protection while members protest from 9:45 to 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

“They know that their group is not looked upon favorably,” Murdoch said. “They are concerned for their safety.”
read more here
Westboro Baptists announce plan to protest

Helicopter crash in Afghanistan claims lives of US service member and three Australians

1 American, 3 NATO troops die in helo crash

By Robert H. Reid - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jun 21, 2010 17:18:28 EDT

KABUL, Afghanistan — A helicopter crash killed three Australian commandos and a U.S. service member before dawn Monday in a rugged area of southern Afghanistan where fighting has raged for days.

Five other international service members, including four Americans, died in separate attacks in the east and south, officials said. The latest deaths brought the number of international service members killed in Afghanistan this month to at least 62, including 41 Americans.

NATO and Australian officials said there was no evidence that hostile fire was responsible for the crash, although Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi claimed the insurgents shot down the helicopter with a rocket.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/06/ap_helicopter_crash_afghanistan_062110/

Family Mourns Soldier Killed At Ft. Gillem

Family Mourns Soldier Killed At Ft. Gillem
Sgt. Pedro Mercado's Family Said He Loved Army, Family
By Katie Brace, CBS Atlanta Reporter

STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. -- This Father's Day is difficult for the family of Master Sgt. Pedro Mercado. Mercado was shot and killed at Ft. Gillem on Thursday.

His family will not talk about the accused shooter or the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

Mercado was 47-years-old. He left behind a wife, two sons, a daughter and two grandchildren. His wife and two sons are in the military.

read more here
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/23970930/detail.html

Virtual Reality Systems to Fight PTSD

Not sure what to make out of this considering how many other programs they've already tried without that much success. At least they are getting the number rights on how many in fact do need help to recover from combat.

Cutting-Edge Virtual Reality Systems to Fight PTSD Being Rolled Out at New Maryland Facility

By Clay Dillow

Nearly half the soldiers returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan are diagnosed with some kind of psychological condition, like post-traumatic stress disorder, brought on by specific battlefield experiences or traumatic brain injuries sustained during combat.

To treat these mental battle scars, the new National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE) will introduce state-of-the-art virtual reality technology that will help gently reintroduce soldiers to their experiences.

The $500,000 CAREN -- the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment -- consists of a treadmill, a massive curved screen, and various projectors and cameras that allow the subject six degrees of freedom in moving about his virtual environment. For those learning to use an artificial limb or recovering from a brain injury, that means the ability to relearn how to drive, walk, or navigate an environment from the safety of the hospital.
read more here
Virtual Reality Systems to Fight PTSD

Do we support machines of war or warriors?

Do we support machines of war or warriors?
by
Chaplain Kathie

Americans love to say we have the best military in the world, but I was just wondering exactly what part of the military most people really mean. After all, there are the machines used in war and then there are the men and women we send. Big difference.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Military Budget


Part of a series on:
U.S. Budget & Debt Topics
Major dimensions[show]
United States public debt
United States federal budget
Health care reform in the United States
Social Security debate (United States)
Military budget of the United States
Economy of the United States
Subprime mortgage crisis
Taxation in the United States

Mandatory Programs[show]
Medicare (United States)
Social Security (United States)

Terminology[show]
Cumulative deficit = Debt
Inflation
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v • d • e
The military budget is that portion of the United States discretionary federal budget that is allocated to the Department of Defense, or more broadly, the portion of the budget that goes to any defense-related expenditures. This military budget pays the salaries, training, and health care of uniformed and civilian personnel, maintains arms, equipment and facilities, funds operations, and develops and buys new equipment. The budget funds all branches of the U.S. military: Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.

Contents [hide]
1 Budget for 2010
1.1 Emergency and supplemental spending
1.2 By title
1.3 By service
1.4 Programs spending more than $1 billion
1.5 Other defense-related expenditures
2 Budget Breakdown for 2011
3 Support service contractors
4 Military budget and total US federal spending
5 Comparison with other countries
6 Recent commentary on military budget
7 See also
8 References
9 External links


[edit] Budget for 2010
For the 2010 fiscal year, the president's base budget of the Department of Defense rose to $533.8 billion. Adding spending on "overseas contingency operations" brings the sum to $663.8 billion.[1][2]

When the budget was signed into law on October 28, 2009, the final size of the Department of Defense's budget was $680 billion, $16 billion more than President Obama had requested.[3][4] An additional $33 billion supplemental bill to support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was expected to pass in the spring of 2010, but has been delayed by the House of Representatives after passing the Senate.[5][6] Defense-related expenditures outside of the Department of Defense constitute between $216 billion and $361 billion in additional spending, bringing the total for defense spending to between $880 billion and $1.03 trillion in fiscal year 2010.[7]

[edit] Emergency and supplemental spending
The recent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan were largely funded through supplementary spending bills outside the Federal Budget, so they are not included in the military budget figures listed below.[8] In addition, the Pentagon has access to black budget military spending for special programs which is not listed as Federal spending and is not included in published military spending figures. Starting in the fiscal year 2010 budget however, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are categorized as "Overseas Contingency Operations" and included in the budget.

By the end of 2008, the U.S. had spent approximately $900 billion in direct costs on the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Indirect costs such as interest on the additional debt and incremental costs of caring for the more than 33,000 wounded borne by the Veterans Administration are additional. Some experts estimate these indirect costs will eventually exceed the direct costs.[9]

[edit] By title
The federally budgeted (see below) military expenditure of the United States Department of Defense for fiscal year 2010, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is[10]:

Components Funding Change, 2009 to 2010
Operations and maintenance $283.3 billion +4.2%
Military Personnel $154.2 billion +5.0%
Procurement $140.1 billion −1.8%
Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation $79.1 billion +1.3%
Military Construction $23.9 billion +19.0%
Family Housing $3.1 billion −20.2%
Total Spending $685.1 billion +3.0%

By service
Service 2010 Budget request[11] Percentage of Total
Army $225.2 billion 33.9%
Navy/Marine Corps $171.7 billion 25.9%
Air Force $160.5 billion 24.2%
Defense Wide $106.4 billion 16.0%

Programs spending more than $1 billion
The FY 2009 $104.2 billion procurement and $79.6 billion RDT&E budgets appropriated several programs with more than $1 billion.

Program 2009 Budget request[12][13] Change, 2008 to 2009
Missile Defense $9.4 billion +8.0%
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter $6.9 billion +6.2%
Carrier Replacement Program $4.2 billion +23.5%
F-22 Raptor $4.1 billion −6.8%
Virginia class submarine $3.9 billion +14.7%
Future Combat System $3.3 billion −2.9%
DDG 1000 Destroyer $3.2 billion −8.6%
C-17 $3.0 billion
V-22 Osprey $2.7 billion +3.8%
Space-Based Infrared System $2.3 billion +130.0%
F/A-18E/F Hornet $2.0 billion −4.8%
MH-60R/S $1.9 billion +72.7%
EA-18G Growler $1.8 billion +12.5%
Chemical Demilitarization $1.6 billion +0.0%
Stryker $1.3 billion +18.2%
Littoral combat ship $1.3 billion +116.7%
CH-47 Chinook $1.2 billion +9.1%
P-8A Poseidon $1.2 billion +33.3%
Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle $1.2 billion +9.1%
UH-60 Black Hawk $1.1 billion −26.7%
E-2C/D Hawkeye $1.1 billion +22.2%
Trident II Ballistic Missile $1.1 billion +0.0%
Mobile User Objective System $1.0 billion +25.0%

As you can see, there is the money we spend to wage war and then there is the money that goes to train and supply the needs of the troops. When we say we have the best Air Force, are we talking about the jets or the pilots flying them? Are we talking about helicopters like the Black Hawk or the pilots? When we say we have the best Marines, are we talking about the equipment they use and the weapons they use or are we talking about the Marines? How about the Army? Are we talking about what they use or are we talking about them? When it comes to the Navy, are we talking about the sailors or the ships? We should always be talking about both and holding them equally in value because one does not work without the other.

When it comes to the men and women wounded doing their jobs, can there be any excuse on this earth to explain not taking care of them? We wouldn't complain about maintaining their equipment but we can't seem to manage to maintain them properly. When a machine needs repair, we don't cast it into the dump. We fix it but we don't seem willing to fix them when they are wounded but still want to stay in. When they are so severely wounded they cannot stay in the military, we can't seem to rationalize the need to be supported financially would not have happened if they were not wounded serving the rest of us. There is so much that we don't do but most of the people in this country seem to just assume all is being done simply because we do have the best military in the world. The problem is, we really never specify what part we are talking about. The budget seems to have most of the money going to the machines but it is the men and women the rest of the country usually means. Just thought I'd point that out so that the next time you hear someone say "best military" ask them what part they are talking about.
(You guessed it. I had another odd conversation today.

Family The Best Father's Day Gift For NJ Soldier

Family The Best Father's Day Gift For NJ Soldier
Severely Injured Veteran Says His Greatest Joy Is The Time He Spends With His 5-Year-Old Daughter
MANCHESTER, N.J. (CBS) ― For one New Jersey dad, Father's Day wasn't just about presents. Just getting to spend time with his kids is gift enough for the military veteran.

Jim Mylott was injured in Iraq in 2003. He now suffers from severe memory loss and post-traumatic stress disorder. His support system begins with five-year-old daughter Megan.

"She's the best counselor I've had, she's the toughest physical therapist I've had," Mylott says.
read more here
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/soldier.fathers.day.2.1762774.html

Vietnam vet and former Mayor committed suicide after years of PTSD

Wife: Post Traumatic Stress caused former mayor to commit suicide

By Harve Jacobs

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) -The wife of former North Charleston Mayor Bobby Kinard said post-traumatic stress syndrome from the Vietnam War caused Kinard to shoot her friend and then take his own life Thursday night.

Susan Kinard said her husband had been very depressed in the past year and was on strong medication for the disorder. He was a helicopter gunner in Vietnam from 1966-1969.

Just before midnight Thursday, Kinard shot and wounded his wife's friend at her Mt. Pleasant apartment and then killed himself when police pulled his car over.

Charleston psychiatrist Dr. Peter Sukin said that if the former mayor was suffering from PTSD, he could have felt the effects 20, 30 even 40 years later.

"The brain doesn't have an emotional paper shredder," Sukin said. "So, if you've gone through severe trauma it's not as if you forget it."

Kinard often talked publicly about his years in Vietnam. He served as chairman of the effort to create a Lowcountry monument for Vietnam veterans. But according to his wife, he couldn't put his Vietnam past behind him.
read more here
http://www.live5news.com/Global/story.asp?S=12684379

Divorce veteran

Divorce veteran
by
Chaplain Kathie

A conversation I had last night with a young wife ended with thoughts of how many Vietnam veterans ended up with multiple marriages. Just as with today's young veterans, being married into the world of combat, has not been easy, it was especially hard on the Vietnam generation of veterans. While PTSD has not changed, the ability to communicate and find support has. Now we are able to reach out to other people going through the same difficulties and hardships all over the country. We are able to connect to people around the world if we can't find someone else right here. We can find information and inspiration but perhaps the most important gift is the knowledge we are not alone.

The Vietnam War brought about 2 million combat veterans home. Perhaps the most shocking piece of news is that we've reached almost as many serving in Iraq and Afghanistan as we did with all those years in Vietnam. This means that there were just as many families adopted by combat and living with the results of it. We've already seen the increased rates of suicides and attempted suicides just as we've seen the increase rates of divorces. Many families are facing year of regrets because they do not know what to do to help their veteran heal or even know the right questions to want to have answered.

Information is available all over the web for them to learn if they want to. What about the veteran's spouse from the Vietnam generation with marriages that ended long ago? Divorce under any circumstances is hard. It's heartbreaking to see a marriage end and being left with an unknown future when you thought you had it all planned. They fell in love with one person only to discover all too often they were really married to a stranger.

For the spouse of a combat veteran with a marriage that ended long ago, the fact remains that you were married into the results of combat, but you just didn't know it. You simple assumed that you were married to someone who changed, or wasn't what you thought they were and you're still living with the pain of a shocking situation. Don't blame yourself. You didn't know what the newer generation of spouses know today. No one told you that it all came back with them. The support wasn't there. Knowledge was not available to you or to your well meaning friends giving you advice to end the marriage. Your kids didn't know why their parent acted the way they did and most blamed themselves just as you blame yourself. The veteran blames himself/herself just as much because they didn't know any better.

There are jobs for all of you to do and that is to first understand what happened by know why it happened. Learn what PTSD is and what it does to survivors of combat and what makes them so unique. You didn't have a common marriage with just the usual problems everyone else faces, but you had a combat marriage with all the other problems that came with it. Once you have a great understanding, first forgive yourself for not knowing and for making mistakes because you didn't know. You did the best you could with what you knew at the time, so forgive yourself. Explain it to the kids because they have to forgive their parent too. It was not the fault of the veteran because while they knew there was something wrong, they didn't know what it was or what they could do to stop feeling pain so deeply. It was not that they didn't love you enough, it was more that they couldn't stop feeling pain enough to feel the blessings that come with love.

Many veterans ended up homeless because you had no support to be able to live together.  Some committed suicide because they had no hope of being happy again.  Remember, you did the best you could for them at the time.  You just didn't know what else to do.  You cannot change your past but you can learn why it all happened and this will give you some peace.

If you are a veteran, make peace with that part of your life. There was a lot of damage done to people you loved even though you didn't mean it. Learn what was behind the way you acted and then explain it to your ex-spouse and your kids. Even if nothing comes out of it, at least give them the chance to forgive because in the process you will give them the chance to stop thinking it was their fault. No one was to blame for what no one knew. Many veterans have had three, four or even five marriages. Each one the result of hoping to find happiness thru someone else but doomed to end because the pain lived stronger than hope. Making peace with your past has to involve them as well. This way, there is hope for a fresh start in your life and healing the life you had after combat just as much as it's about healing the life you lived during combat.

Find the knowledge you need on the web and in support groups. It's not too late for you so stop wishing you knew all of it long ago and begin to use what you learn today. To heal your future you must first heal your past and then even you can find happiness in a loving relationship. It is not uncommon for an aware veteran to restore relationships with their kids once they understand why things were the way they were. Give them a chance to heal the pain they carry. It was no one's fault but the pain was no less real to everyone involved. Life is hard enough just as a human but when you're a human with combat in your life, it makes it all the more harder to find peace in your life but it is not impossible. Learn and act on what you finally understand for the sake of people you loved.

Jack Nicklaus is helping combat veterans

Jack Nicklaus donates design for VA course

By Gregg Bell - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jun 20, 2010 15:07:09 EDT

LAKEWOOD, Wash. — Jack Nicklaus takes the wrapping off another in his signature line of hybrid clubs and hands it to Danny Dudek.

The Army lieutenant colonel, paralyzed below both knees, is propped up inside a “SoloRider,” a specially designed cart with a seat that tilts up to support disabled golfers when they swing. He takes the new club, leans over the ball and follows the legend’s instructions.

THWACK! The white ball soars into the sunny Northwest sky, past lush evergreens and lands about 150 yards down the driving range.

Dudek’s drive — specifically the dedication and promise for renewal it represents — is why Nicklaus is here outside Tacoma. The golf great is donating his expertise to design what will perhaps be the most appreciated course he’ll ever build.

Nicklaus is helping combat veterans by redesigning and expanding the American Lake Veterans Golf Course. It’s going to be a one-of-a-kind, 18-hole layout geared specifically for disabled golfers.
read more here
Jack Nicklaus donates design for VA course

Lance Cpl. "just knew something was going amiss with me"

All are heroes: the Lance Corporal
A Lance Corporal who suffered from post traumatic stress has told how he struggled with the condition while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I'll tell you what the worst feeling in the world is: it's flying out on a C-17 with the seriously injured guys, when there's not a scratch on you."

This is Jim Maguire* and he's 29. He joined the Army in 1998 and saw service in Iraq and Afghanistan as a gunner and a Lance Corporal commanding a Scimitar armoured reconaissance vehicle.

He now suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.

"I died of shame 100 times, talking to lads from the same battle with missing limbs. Yet I was still thinking, 'But I was there, I'm no coward, I was there fighting to help you guys stay alive.'

"In the UK they don't look at your passport, no debrief, nothing. I walked off the plane and walked home. Soon after that is when I first tried to kill myself.

"Thank God somebody passed my details to Combat Stress and when they got my file they sent someone straight away. Honestly, they showed up just in time! I went into Audley Court, where they truly appreciate what's happened to you."

It took about three years for the seriousness of Mr Maguire's illness to reach critical, having first been to Iraq in June 2003, to the volatile area of Al Amarah.

He was then seconded to Baghdad and that's when he first noticed signs of PTSD, though he had no idea what it was.

"I just knew something was going amiss with me," he says.
read the rest here
All are heroes

Vietnam MIA's remains laid to rest with honor

Vietnam Veteran's Body Finally Home
Indiana's NewsCenter

By Megan Trent
Jun 19, 2010

COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) - Hundreds of people lined the streets of Columbia City today as Sergeant Roy DeWitt Prater was laid to rest with full military honors nearly 40 years after his death.


"It just warms my heart that so many people have come out here today, and obviously this example of patriotism, to recognize this fallen hero. And he truly is a hero," says funeral attendee Steve Mundy.

Prater's aircraft was shot down over South Vietnam during a search and rescue mission in 1972. He was buried with six other airmen in Arlington Cemetery in 1997, but recent DNA testing positively identified Prater's remains.
read the rest here
Vietnam Veterans Body Finally Home

Stone pavilion would honor Hood victims

Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas via AP This rendering provided by the Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas shows a proposed memorial honoring the victims of the Fort Hood shootings. The granite and limestone pavilion is planned near the Killeen Civic and Conference Center.

Stone pavilion would honor Hood victims

Staff report
Posted : Sunday Jun 20, 2010 8:44:56 EDT

The Killeen, Texas, city council has approved plans for a Fort Hood Memorial to victims of the deadly Nov. 5 shooting rampage.

The memorial, approved June 8, is planned near the Killeen Civic and Conference Center. The city will search for an engineer and architect for a granite-and-limestone pavilion.

Brian Vanicek, president of the Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas, said June 9 that his group will spearhead the project, seeking donations from the public and private groups. He had no cost estimate.

The group has collected $36,000, with $25,000 more in pledges for the monument, according to the Killeen Daily Herald.
read more here
Stone pavilion would honor Hood victims

Camp Lejeune Marines begin to get benefits for toxic water

VA quietly giving benefits to Marines exposed to toxic water
By BARBARA BARRETT
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- Former Marine Corps Cpl. Peter Devereaux was told about a year ago that he had just two or three years to live.

More than 12 months later, at 48, he still isn't ready to concede that the cancer that's wasting his innards is going to kill him. He swallows his pills and suffers the pain and each afternoon he greets his 12-year-old daughter, Jackie, as she steps off her school bus in North Andover, Mass.

The U.S. Department of the Navy says that more research is needed to connect ailments suffered by Marines such as Devereaux who served at Camp Lejeune and their families who lived there to decades of water contamination at the 156,000-acre base in eastern North Carolina. Meanwhile, however, the Department of Veterans Affairs has quietly begun awarding benefits to a few Marines who were based at Lejeune.



Read more: VA quietly giving benefits to Marines exposed to toxic water

Dad and six year old daughter share hospital room at Walter Reed

Dad, daughter share hospital room at Walter Reed
June 19, 2010 3:20 PM
Katie Tammen
Daily News
FORT WALTON BEACH — It wasn’t quite the reunion with his daughter he’d imagined, but it was memorable nonetheless.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Travis Dalton and his oldest daughter, Eva, saw each other for the first time in about four months at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Eva had traveled to the hospital with her mother, Kara, and two younger siblings to see Dalton after he was wounded by an improvised explosive device.

But then, instead of seeing her father right away, the 6-year-old had a severe asthma attack that got her hospitalized, too.

Dalton had no inkling of his daughter’s attack when he awoke from surgery and found himself alone in a hospital room. It was about 45 minutes later that Kara came to see him.

Initially, she gave no indication anything was amiss.

Then Dalton asked about the kids.

“She said, ‘Well, we’ve had an eventful day while you’ve been in surgery,’ ” Dalton recalled.
go here for the rest
Dad daughter share hospital room at Walter Reed

Beloved Marine statue stolen from Larksville home

Beloved Marine statue stolen from Larksville home
By Matthew Harris (Staff Writer)
Published: June 20, 2010

The taciturn-faced Marine stood at attention in his dress blues, gripping an American flag and keeping watch at his post.

For six years, the 175-pound concrete sentinel, who stood barely 3 feet tall, steadfastly protected Florena Sorokas' front yard in Larksville.

Sure, he was a statue. But in a family where two sons are Marine veterans and two more grandsons served the Marine Corps, the oversized figurine was a talisman from the boys to the family matriarch.

"They bought it to protect me while they were gone," said Sorokas, who got the statue before her grandsons left for tours in Afghanistan.

And he never flagged in his duty - until Saturday, and not on his own will.

In the wee hours, someone sneaked onto Sorokas' lawn and made off with the statue, leaving the 71-year-old grandmother heartbroken and her family upset. Larksville police are investigating the theft and offering a reward to anyone with information leading to its return.
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Beloved Marine statue stolen from Larksville home

A Marine, a Mosque, a Question

Leave it to a Marine to ask the right questions!

A Marine, a Mosque, a Question
By JIM DWYER
Published: June 18, 2010
A few hours after the town hall meeting began, deep into the question-and-answer portion, Bill Finnegan lined up for a turn at the microphone. He had not come with any intention to speak, but as the evening dragged on, he changed his mind.

A Muslim group had made a deal to buy an empty convent from the Catholic parish of St. Margaret Mary in the Midland Beach section of Staten Island and open a mosque. A civic association organized a meeting with representatives of the group, the Muslim American Society, on the evening of June 9. Mr. Finnegan had gone, he said later, to “see what all the hoopla was about.”

Mr. Finnegan, 25, began by introducing himself. “I said, ‘My name is Bill Finnegan, and I’m a United States Marine recently returned from Afghanistan,’ ” he said.


Cheers rang out. He turned to the representatives of the Muslim group, seated at a table in the front.


“My question to you is, will you work to form a cohesive bond with the people of this community?” he asked.


The men said yes.


Mr. Finnegan then faced the audience. “And will you work to form a cohesive bond with these people — your new neighbors?” he asked.


The crowd booed. A voice called out: “No!”

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A Marine a Mosque a Question

Paul Revere's Ride to The Wall

Ride to the Wall


This project would not have been possible without Rolling Thunder, who invited us to do a free musical tribute at their annual veteran’s demonstration in Washington, D.C.; Paul Allen, whose “Experience Music Project” in Seattle provided the ideal venue for the kickoff concert, EMP’s Ben London who coodinated the event, Richard Foos and Mark Pinkus of Rhino Entertainment, who worked with us in manufacturing the Ride To The Wall CD, Steve Mueller and his staff at Signature Design for the design and production of the CD Booklet and a special thanks to Larry Leasure, we couldn’t have done it without you. To them, Adrian Cronauer, Heather French Henry and my good friend Dick Clark, a heartfelt “thank you” for helping us help America’s veterans. --Paul Revere

Ride To The Wall

Lyrics By Tommy D.

Music By C. Driggs & O. Martinez

Now here’s a story that needs to be told, Of a midnight ride not the one of old

Paul Revere with his rock band, Told his Raiders he had a plan

Rolling Thunder bikers heard the call. Fired up their hogs and headed for the Wall

Coast to coast the veteran brothers grew, To show in numbers ‘cause they all knew

We’ll ride to the Wall the Vietnam shrine

To honor those who put it all on the line

We’ll ride to the Wall...the price they had to pay

Young warriors in blood for the U.S. of A. ... USA

Some say get over it, it’s in the past. But the Wall is proof that their story will last

Tears in our eyes as choppers flew overhead, Reminds us of the veterans living and dead

Rolling Thunder bikers side by side, Remembering names carved in the Wall who had died

Harley’s roaring by the thousands they ride, To the big black Wall with honor and pride

Chorus

Wall of my soul ... Vietnam Vet, Ride to the Wall ... Never forget

Wall of my soul ... Vietnam Vet, Ride to the Wall ... Never forget

Chorus

Wall of my soul ... Vietnam Vet

Ride to the Wall but you never forget

With love in our hearts - we ride to the Wall

See the names of my brothers and sisters

Too young to have died ... I’ll never forget

Ride to the Wall ... our Vietnam Vets

Wall of my soul

PTSD I Grieve Video for National Guards

It all depends on who is doing the study and the results come out based on how they do it. The going rate for PTSD for humans in general is one out of three, the next highest used rate is one out of five exposed to traumatic events. Factor in the redeployments increase the risk by 50% and then you can see how there could be such a huge number of PTSD veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. One more thing to consider is that National Guards and Reservist often have dangerous jobs when they return home. Many of them are in law enforcement and others are firefighters as well as EMT's. Many times they return from combat in Iraq or Afghanistan, back to their regular jobs but also as part of the National Guard, they are expected to respond to events in their own communities. Floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, snow storms and mud slides along with forest fires, will often put them under even more stress. Today we see them being called to act as border patrol and clean up of the coasts after the oil rig explosion.

These men and women have regular lives, with families to worry about and jobs to do to provide for their families, yet too often all the demands placed on them are not considered when they come home and receive even less help to heal than the active military members do. We need to do a better job supporting them for real!

PTSD Hits National Guard Soldiers Harder: Study
National Guard Soldiers Have Higher Rates of Mental Health Problems Than Others

By KRISTINA FIORE
MedPage Today Staff Writer
June 13, 2010
After combat duty in Iraq or Afghanistan , members of the National Guard appear to have higher rates of mental health problems than those in the Active Component, researchers have found.


Rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with serious functional impairment increased from about 7 percent to more than 12 percent over a nine-month period, compared with only about a 1 percent increase among those in the Active Component, according to Jeffrey Thomas of Walter Reed Army Institute in Silver Spring, Md. and colleagues.

The researchers reported their findings in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

"The emergence of differences ... likely does not have to do with the differences in the health effects of combat, but rather with other variables related to readjustment to civilian life or access to health care," they wrote.
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PTSD Hits National Guard Soldiers Harder

From 2008

PTSD and Depression Increase in Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
SALT LAKE CITY— Rates of PTSD and depression are high and increasing among combat veterans of the current Iraq and Afghanistan wars who sought care from US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities, reported Charles Marmar, MD, at the 133rd Annual Meeting of the American Neurological Association.

Despite evidence that the rate of VA specialty visits is increasing for veterans with a mental health diagnosis, as many as two-thirds of these patients are receiving minimal or no psychiatric care, according to Dr. Marmar. In the absence of widespread early intervention for specific subgroups of combat veterans, he believes that returning Iraq and Afghanistan servicemen and servicewomen with mental health problems will create a significant burden for the US health care system, including general medical services.

Dr. Marmar, Chief of Mental Health Services at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues assessed the electronic medical records of more than 206,000 veterans entering the VA health care system from 2002 to 2007. They found that one in three patients was diagnosed with at least one mental health disorder, and 41% were diagnosed with either a mental health or behavioral adjustment disorder. The diagnosis rate for PTSD was 20%, followed by 14% for depression, about 7% for alcohol abuse, and 3% for substance abuse.

For PTSD, no significant differences were seen between active-duty veterans and members of the National Guard or reserve units or between men and women. However, women had higher rates of depression than men did, and male veterans—regardless of whether they were in active duty, the National Guard, or reserve components—had nearly twice the rate of alcohol and drug use, compared with female veterans.
read more of this here
http://www.neuropsychiatryreviews.com/08nov/PTSDDepression.html

But then there is this report from RAND

Studies' Estimates of PTSD Prevalence Rates for Returning Service Members Vary Widely
In allocating resources to treat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among service members, policymakers rely on estimates of how prevalent this condition is among troops. But published prevalence rates vary extensively and are often disputed. For example, the most frequently cited estimate for PTSD among Vietnam veterans — nearly 31 percent — is still highly criticized. Similar concerns have been raised about PTSD prevalence estimates among U.S. service members serving in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).
A team of RAND researchers analyzed the literature to document the extent of the variation in PTSD prevalence rates for military personnel who had served in OEF and OIF since 2002 and to identify possible explanations for these discrepancies. The team found 29 relevant studies and documented the following findings
read the findings here
http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9509/index1.html

Military investigates Iowa National Guard soldier's death

Military investigates Iowa National Guard soldier's death

Associated Press - June 19, 2010 1:14 PM ET

SPENCER, Iowa (AP) - Military officials have continued their investigation of the death of a 29-year-old Iowa solider who died in Iraq during a "non-combat incident."

The United States Forces-Iraq offered no new details Saturday in the death of Spc. Christopher Opat. He died last Tuesday from injuries in a non-combat incident in Baquah, Iraq.
read the rest here
http://www.ktiv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12676764

Army mounts anti-suicide campaign with soldier who survived

Spc. Joseph Sanders survived thanks to the awareness of Spc. Albert Godding. He took a chance and was more afraid of a friend losing his life than of losing a friendship. After all, when you think about pull out the pin on a rifle in Iraq, it is a dangerous thing to do but it would have been more dangerous for Sanders to be able to fire the bullet into himself. Now this act by Godding could in fact end up saving many more lives. Sanders lived to tell his story and will be part of the campaign to save more lives. Sanders also credits the fact he was able to talk to a mental health worker soon after. Wonderful story all the way around.

A victory as Army mounts anti-suicide campaign

By DAN ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer
Jun 19, 10:27 am ET
DENVER – Army Spc. Joseph Sanders was despondent over the breakup of his marriage and feeling alone in the oppressive heat of an Iraqi summer when he turned his rifle on himself and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened. His buddy, Spc. Albert Godding, had disabled the rifle by removing the firing pin after Sanders told him he was thinking of killing himself.

It was a singular but welcome victory in the Army's battle against suicides, which last year claimed the lives of 163 soldiers on active duty and 82 Guard and Reserve soldiers not on active duty.

Congress ordered the Defense Department in 2008 to study ways to address the problem, and the Army started its own task force last year after an alarming spike in suicides in January and February.

The Army also launched a campaign to teach soldiers how to spot suicide warning signs and what to do about them. Godding credits that training for making him aware of the danger Sanders was in.

"Feeling better took time," said Sanders. "I believe a lot had to do with that I had a mental health specialist to speak to right away."

Sanders has agreed to appear in an upcoming video for the Army's suicide-prevention campaign, said Col. Chris Philbrick, director of the Army Suicide Prevention Task Force.

also on this
Carson GI cited for preventing suicide in Iraq

Elderly Vietnam Vet Attacked, Left to Die

Elderly Man Attacked, Left to Die
Darsha Philips FOX40 News
June 18, 2010


SACRAMENTO - A 70 year old wheelchair-bound man was robbed, beaten and left to die in his home.

Robert Gonzales is a former Marine and Vietnam Veteran. He was attacked sometime before Wednesday.
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Elderly Man Attacked, Left to Die

Overdue Medals Awarded to Wounded Vietnam Veteran

Overdue Medals Awarded to Wounded Vietnam Veteran

By Matt Smith

More than four decades after returning from Vietnam, a Door County veteran received an honor that long in the making. Action 2 News was invited to the ceremony.

Still a teenager, Navy corpsman Scott Chobot was front and center during the post-Tet offensive of 1969.

"Got hit on an average of about every two-and-a-half weeks," he recalls.

"Doc," as they call him, wasn't in Vietnam for even three months. He was wounded three times -- the last of which took his legs from him.

Not one, not two, not even three. Doc was honored Friday with eight medals and one ribbon, including two Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars, the National Defense Service medal, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign medal.
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Overdue Medals Awarded to Wounded Vietnam Veteran

Fort Campbell soldier saves drowning woman

Police: Campbell soldier saves drowning woman

The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf Chronicle
Posted : Saturday Jun 19, 2010 11:05:41 EDT

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — A Fort Campbell soldier is being called a hero after he saved the life of a 58-year-old woman who police said tried to commit suicide by drowning herself.

Clarksville police say Spc. Jose Ortiz and his girlfriend, Kathy Dewitt, were sitting on a log at McGregor Park about 11:15 p.m. Friday when the woman drove her vehicle into the river.
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Campbell soldier saves drowning woman