Georgia fabric shields soldiers
By Michael E. Kanell
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The difference between life and death, between third-degree burns and walking away whistling, between falling and fighting. When a burst of flame engulfs a soldier, his protection better be as close as his skin or he quickly becomes more casualty than combatant.
And in a war fought against rocket-propelled grenades and roadside bombs, the right defense can quickly turn a target back into an attacker.
“Four seconds is what they need to dismount a burning vehicle, to stay alive and to fight the enemy,” said Lt. Col. Mike Sloane of PEO Soldier, the U.S. Army’s acquisition organization. “It’s got to be scary to see a soldier, his uniform on fire then extinguishing itself — and the soldier continues to fight.”
To see how that can happen, you must follow a thread that leads roughly 7,000 miles from the combat zone to a tiny town 50 miles south of Atlanta.
It is in Zebulon where they are weaving protection.
read more here
Georgia fabric shields soldiers
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Texas National Guard soldier's home taken by HOA while he was deployed
Soldier Loses Home While Deployed
June 26, 2010
The Dallas Morning News
A Soldier serving in Iraq lost his Frisco home to foreclosure over late homeowners association dues, renewing a debate over the power of HOAs in Texas.
The case, which has boiled over to involve federal judge, a publicist and death threats, began when Michael and May Clauer lost their $315,000 home to foreclosure in May 2008 after falling behind on their association dues.
The Heritage Lakes Homeowners Association was initially owed $977.55 and sent multiple notices by certified mail demanding payment. All went unanswered, said David Margulies, spokesman for the association and its management company, Select Management.
The problem, according to a lawyer for the Clauers, was that Michael Clauer -- U.S. Army National Guard Capt. Michael Clauer -- was deployed to Iraq.
His wife, suffering from depression over her husband's absence, had let mail pile up and didn't open any of the certified letters. May Clauer and her parents owned the house mortgage-free.
go here for more
Soldier Loses Home While Deployed
June 26, 2010
The Dallas Morning News
A Soldier serving in Iraq lost his Frisco home to foreclosure over late homeowners association dues, renewing a debate over the power of HOAs in Texas.
The case, which has boiled over to involve federal judge, a publicist and death threats, began when Michael and May Clauer lost their $315,000 home to foreclosure in May 2008 after falling behind on their association dues.
The Heritage Lakes Homeowners Association was initially owed $977.55 and sent multiple notices by certified mail demanding payment. All went unanswered, said David Margulies, spokesman for the association and its management company, Select Management.
The problem, according to a lawyer for the Clauers, was that Michael Clauer -- U.S. Army National Guard Capt. Michael Clauer -- was deployed to Iraq.
His wife, suffering from depression over her husband's absence, had let mail pile up and didn't open any of the certified letters. May Clauer and her parents owned the house mortgage-free.
go here for more
Soldier Loses Home While Deployed
Michael Steele failed history, current events and the troops
This came out of the mouth of the Republican National Committee chairman? The party that is always saying how important national security is to them along with the troops? This is the man who stands at the top of their party? No wonder so many are calling for him to resign.
9-11 was used to justify whatever President Bush wanted but this war was not wanted. (Iraq is what he was accused of wanting to do.) It happened September 11, 2001 and by the following month troops were deployed into Afghanistan in retaliation. What no one seems to be asking is why no one claiming to be all about national security was not asking how this happened, right after it happened. So Steele failed this lesson on two parts. First, it was President Bush sending the troops into Afghanistan and secondly, it was not a "war of his choosing" either.
Steele cannot be that stupid to not remember so this has to be part of some kind of political game he's playing. That makes what he said even more terrible. It proved once and for all when it comes to truth and what the troops have been dying for, being wounded over and risking their lives for, none of it matters if he can't use it. He'll just change facts to meet what he wants to say.
9-11 was used to justify whatever President Bush wanted but this war was not wanted. (Iraq is what he was accused of wanting to do.) It happened September 11, 2001 and by the following month troops were deployed into Afghanistan in retaliation. What no one seems to be asking is why no one claiming to be all about national security was not asking how this happened, right after it happened. So Steele failed this lesson on two parts. First, it was President Bush sending the troops into Afghanistan and secondly, it was not a "war of his choosing" either.
Steele cannot be that stupid to not remember so this has to be part of some kind of political game he's playing. That makes what he said even more terrible. It proved once and for all when it comes to truth and what the troops have been dying for, being wounded over and risking their lives for, none of it matters if he can't use it. He'll just change facts to meet what he wants to say.
Michael Steele under fire over Afghanistan remarksThe Republican National Committee chairman is caught on video saying the conflict is a 'war of Obama's choosing' and implying that the U.S. effort is doomed. Conservatives call for his resignation.
By Michael Memoli, Tribune Washington Bureau
July 2, 2010 3:45 p.m.
Reporting from Washington — Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is facing a new test of his leadership over comments he made that appear to question America's military effort in Afghanistan.
Video footage that emerged Friday shows Steele referring to the conflict as "a war of Obama's choosing" and implying that the effort is doomed to fail.
"If he's such a student of history," Steele said, referring to President Obama, "has he not understood that, you know, that's the one thing you don't do, is engage in a land war in Afghanistan? Everyone who has tried, over 1,000 years of history, has failed."
go here for more
Michael Steele under fire over Afghanistan remarks
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Community rallies to replace money stolen from DAV Forget-me-not donations
Community rallies to replace money stolen from disabled vets
Daniel Tepfer, Staff Writer
Published: 11:19 p.m., Friday, July 2, 2010
FAIRFIELD -- The theft of money collected by disabled veterans outside a local supermarket has prompted an outpouring of community support to replace the stolen donations.
"It's just a heart-breaking story," said the Rev. Dr. Alida Ward of the Greenfield Hill Congregational Church.
The story unfolded Wednesday afternoon as Timothy Kelly, a local Vietnam War veteran, was collecting donations for the Fairfield chapter of the Disabled American Veterans outside the Super Stop & Shop on King's Highway Cut-off when police said 35-year-old Sean Smith, of Black Rock Turnpike, snatched the donation jar.
"I went to hand him a flower, a Forget Me Not, and he said, `Thank You,' and ran off with the donation jar," Kelly later said of the incident.
read more here
Community rallies to replace money stolen from disabled vets
Should the National Guard and Reserves merge to save money?
Guard, Reserve groups duel over merger proposal
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 2, 2010 13:30:07 EDT
A radical military reform proposal from the chairman of the board of the National Guard Association of the U.S. calls for the Army Reserve and Air Force Reserve to be absorbed into the National Guard as a cost-saving measure.
In an article appearing in the July issue of the National Guard Association magazine, Air Force Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, adjutant general of the Kansas National Guard, says eliminating the Army Reserve and Air Force Reserve and absorbing their people, equipment and facilities into the Guard should be considered as the Defense Department embarks on an effort to cut $100 billion from the military budget.
“What we really are talking about is the integration of two great teams,” he writes. “In the long run, the new, larger Guard would be more streamlined, with fewer headquarters, headquarters personnel and facilities. That is where we will find even more savings, which will be considerable and is what America needs.”
read more here
Guard Reserve groups duel over merger proposal
Grants available for student-veteran centers
Grants available for student-veteran centers
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jul 1, 2010 15:10:28 EDT
The Department of Education has announced that it will make grants available to 19 colleges or universities to help pay for student-veteran centers.
Thirty or more institutions of higher learning could vie for $6 million in grants, said Ray Kelley, national legislative director of AmVets, which has been pushing the idea of one-stop centers to help student veterans with admission, registration, financial aid, personal and mental health issues, and other needs.
“Our hope is that this is an idea that really takes off,” Kelley said. “This has a lot of promise for really helping veterans.”
Institutions have until Sept. 28 to apply for grants, which Education Department officials said will be awarded based on who makes the best presentation for a program to help recruit veterans, keep them in school and help them graduate. Programs that help veterans who are disabled, need help with the English language, or have been homeless also will have a better chance of being picked.
go here for more
Grants available for student veteran centers
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jul 1, 2010 15:10:28 EDT
The Department of Education has announced that it will make grants available to 19 colleges or universities to help pay for student-veteran centers.
Thirty or more institutions of higher learning could vie for $6 million in grants, said Ray Kelley, national legislative director of AmVets, which has been pushing the idea of one-stop centers to help student veterans with admission, registration, financial aid, personal and mental health issues, and other needs.
“Our hope is that this is an idea that really takes off,” Kelley said. “This has a lot of promise for really helping veterans.”
Institutions have until Sept. 28 to apply for grants, which Education Department officials said will be awarded based on who makes the best presentation for a program to help recruit veterans, keep them in school and help them graduate. Programs that help veterans who are disabled, need help with the English language, or have been homeless also will have a better chance of being picked.
go here for more
Grants available for student veteran centers
WWII vet waiting 65 years to have VA claim honored!
When innocent people are locked up but it is later found they were innocent, society demands they be paid for the injustice they received. Millions of dollars are paid to them because they didn't deserve to suffer or have their freedom taken away from them. It is the right thing to do.
So how is it that when a veteran seeks help and compensation for being wounded in service to this nation we send them away and make them fight for what society simply assumes is a debt we owe them? 65 years!
So how is it that when a veteran seeks help and compensation for being wounded in service to this nation we send them away and make them fight for what society simply assumes is a debt we owe them? 65 years!
A soldier's 65-year fight with the VA
By William R. Levesque
In Print: Saturday, July 3, 2010
It was 1945 when Tampa native Marty Redding Jr. first asked the Veterans Administration for a pension and treatment for the psychological trauma he suffered fighting in World War II.
He was 20 years old.
On Sunday, Redding will celebrate his 85th birthday — and he's still seeking benefits. "Kind of hard to believe, isn't it?" he says.
In what might be one of the longest-running benefits cases at what is now the Department of Veterans Affairs, Redding has enjoyed some measure of victory in his on-again, off-again battle. After half a century, the VA agreed to pay him a pension for post-traumatic stress starting in 1997. With other ailments, that brings his total monthly pension today to $2,800.
Now the contest is over retroactive benefits dating to 1947.
The Lakeland resident's struggle has outlasted four of his marriages and 11 U.S. presidents. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki was just 3 years old when Redding first filed a VA claim.
Delayed or improperly rejected claims at the VA "are a catastrophic problem," says Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense. "Marty should be labeled a hero for never giving up."Redding's discharge papers show that he spent more than 10 months in combat from 1944 to 1945 in Italy. He earned a Bronze Star for meritorious service.
He found that war held no romance. Forty of the 200 men in his company were killed in action, and another 45 were severely wounded, military records show.
read more here
A soldier 65 year fight with the VA
Fireworks and PTSD a matter of perception
When a PTSD veteran told his psychologist that he loves to go to the Disney Parks, she was stunned. PTSD veterans hate crowds so it didn't make sense he would really enjoy the rides, even in the dark, the crowds and strangers walking around in costumes. Then he said "it's a matter or perception." For him, Disney is all about families and most of the people there are kids under 12. Yet this same veteran can't go to a movie, sits with his back to the wall in restaurants and tries to stay out of stores as much a possible unless it's a food store. For him a grocery store is all about people being just human and filling a need to eat.
This veteran has carried PTSD inside of him since Vietnam and was tested very high for PTSD. Sleep problems, nightmares, flashbacks, twitches and all of this with heavy medications, yet he can understand the difference between what is supposed to be safe and what is unknowable. Fireworks can bother some veterans and remind them of combat. For others, while the reminders of combat are still awakened, they enjoy them. It is such a big problem for some that I added it into the video Hero After War when I try to explain what a flashback looks like along with how simple things we see everyday can become a dangerous reminder to them.
When it comes to fireworks, amusement parks and living in general, "it's a matter of perception" above anything else. Support them and try to understand why they react the way they do.
This veteran has carried PTSD inside of him since Vietnam and was tested very high for PTSD. Sleep problems, nightmares, flashbacks, twitches and all of this with heavy medications, yet he can understand the difference between what is supposed to be safe and what is unknowable. Fireworks can bother some veterans and remind them of combat. For others, while the reminders of combat are still awakened, they enjoy them. It is such a big problem for some that I added it into the video Hero After War when I try to explain what a flashback looks like along with how simple things we see everyday can become a dangerous reminder to them.
When it comes to fireworks, amusement parks and living in general, "it's a matter of perception" above anything else. Support them and try to understand why they react the way they do.
Fireworks and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Submitted: 07/02/2010
RHINELANDER - July 4th is a holiday when we celebrate our nation's birthday and those who selflessly fought for her.
But it can also be a dreaded day for some veterans, especially for someone who's been in combat warfare.
One veteran shares how this holiday can have a different meaning.
Jacob Lobermeier served his country in the Middle East as a platoon leader in combat warfare.
While he says he doesn't suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, he says the effects of his experiences are long-lasting. "Things that you see, decisions that you make, friends that you've lost. And those things stay with you. You're never the same after as you were before."
And those memories can return in a split second with things like the common bang of 4th of July fireworks.
read more here
http://www.wjfw.com/stories.html?sku=20100702181841
Friday, July 2, 2010
MOAA defends military benefits to cost-cutters
The Military Officers Association had to explain to law makers what "earned by service and sacrifice" means but they should have understood this all along. This is what they were promised and what they earned. Any law maker forgetting what we owe to them should be forced to walk up to a combat veteran after his/her 3rd, 4th, 5th or more tour and explain why the government can't afford to take care of them if they need it. They should have to explain to a young wife after her husband was sent to Afghanistan with the National Guard unit again why she can't afford to take care of her family or why her husband won't have a job any more when he comes back home. Maybe they should have to tell a widow or a Mom how much the sacrifice of their solider meant to this country when the men he served with can't get what they need when they come home. Do you think these "law makers" would find it so easy to say that other law makers need to find the money to pay for it all first? This debt was owed the day they were sent into combat!
MOAA defends military benefits to cost-cutters
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jul 1, 2010 13:15:16 EDT
Current and former service members and their families understand the need for federal fiscal responsibility, but they don’t believe their benefits should be the first place the government looks when it tries to cut spending, a representative of a major military association told a federal budget commission.
Speaking Wednesday before the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, Steve Strobridge of the Military Officers Association of America said his organization “believes strongly that there is a fundamental difference between social insurance programs that are made available to every American, and programs such as military and veterans’ compensation that are earned by service and sacrifice to the nation.”
read more here
MOAA defends military benefits to cost cutters
June unemployment rates rise for veterans
June unemployment rates rise for veterans
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 2, 2010 12:39:16 EDT
The unemployment rate for veterans rose slightly in June, to 8 percent overall and 11.5 percent for Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans, a sign that expanding programs aimed at helping veterans find work are not working in a stagnant job market.
June employment statistics released Friday by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics show the overall unemployment rate for veterans rose slightly from 7.8 percent in May. Still, the unemployment rate for veterans remains lower than the overall national rate of 9.5 percent.
read more here
June unemployment rates rise for veterans
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 2, 2010 12:39:16 EDT
The unemployment rate for veterans rose slightly in June, to 8 percent overall and 11.5 percent for Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans, a sign that expanding programs aimed at helping veterans find work are not working in a stagnant job market.
June employment statistics released Friday by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics show the overall unemployment rate for veterans rose slightly from 7.8 percent in May. Still, the unemployment rate for veterans remains lower than the overall national rate of 9.5 percent.
read more here
June unemployment rates rise for veterans
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)