Cal Gunshot Victim Was Iraq Veteran

Cal Gunshot Victim Was Iraq Vet

While initial reports called student's death suicide, his family say Alex Lowenstein was full of life and future plans

By AARON GLANTZ, NEW AMERICA MEDIA on October 1, 2010 - 9:22 a.m. PDT

The UC Berkeley student who died at a fraternity house early last Friday morning has been identified as Alex Lowenstein, an Iraq war veteran and graduate of Marin County's Tam Valley High School.

Lowenstein, 24, who served a tour in Iraq as a member of the California Army National Guard, is at least the second Iraq war veteran to die while attending Cal.

Two years ago, UC Berkeley senior Elijah Warren took his own life after serving tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia.

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Wounded face new foe: drug-resistant infections

Wounded face new foe: drug-resistant infections
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Sep 30, 2010 14:26:40 EDT
Aggressive tactics are being used against strains of drug-resistant infections that are creating new risks for combat-injured service members who survived the war but may not survive the recovery, military medical officials said Wednesday.

Called multi-drug resistant organisms, or MDROs, the infections “are not unique to the military” but are a “serious problem for the military,” said Dr. Jack Smith, acting deputy assistant defense secretary for health affairs responsible for clinical and program policy.

Smith and other military health officials testified before the House Armed Services Committee’s oversight and investigations panel.

The hearing was called to look at how the military was dealing with infection and whether more money was needed for military-specific research.

Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Ark., the panel chairman, said he thought that given the implications of problems with treating combat-wounded service members, a case could be made for spending more money on research — but Smith did not ask for more.
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Wounded face new foe drug-resistant infections

Reports have come out for years that there is very little therapy going on but a lot of pills being given. Looks like that could be the problem here. Pills help with PTSD but talking helps a lot more.

Bragg PTSD Cases Low, but Meds use High

September 30, 2010

Fayetteville Observer

Fort Bragg, N.C., Soldiers are being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder less than half as often as Soldiers Armywide.

Figures provided by the Army also show that Fort Bragg Soldiers are medically retired or discharged for PTSD far less often than Soldiers as a whole.

Yet the number of Soldiers meeting with psychological counselors at Fort Bragg is similar to the overall Army rate in each of the past three years.

Meanwhile, the figures show prescriptions for anti-depressants and other drugs have grown tremendously at Fort Bragg since 2004. More than one in three Soldiers on post -- 17,594 -- took some form of opiate last year, mostly for pain relief. One in 10 took an anti-depressant, according to statistics from Womack Army Medical Center.

Officials with Womack and PTSD experts say the numbers are intriguing, but there is no way to single out one factor to explain them.

"The analyst in me would say that clearly shows a pattern of lower incidence of unfit Soldiers at Fort Bragg. Why? I couldn't tell you," he said. "There are a lot of Soldiers who have been diagnosed with PTSD who continue to serve. It has to be severe enough that either he's a danger to himself or others or he's unable to perform his duties."

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Spouse of the Year award to Carren Ziegenfuss

September 30, 2010

Military.com|by Ward Carroll

Military.com and CincHouse.com presented the 2010 Spouse of the Year award to Carren Ziegenfuss Sept. 30 at a ceremony held at the Minuteman Memorial Building on Capitol Hill.

Congressman Glen Thompson, R-Pa., who represents Ziegenfuss’ hometown of Franklin, highlighted the poise and dedication exemplified by those who hold down the fort while troops are overseas.

“The heroes and patriots are the spouses,” Thompson said, adding that a Ziegenfuss friend told him, “This lady has a spine of steel.”

In 2005 Ziegenfuss’ husband was wounded in Iraq while serving as an Army officer.  During his recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, she started an outreach group for families of Wounded Warriors through Soldier’s Angels, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping injured troops and their families.

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Time to claim military Stop-loss pay extended

This money is yours. You earned it. There are no strings attached to this so file your claim for the money you are owed. If you don't want it file the claim and give the money away to charity.

Stop-Loss Claims Deadline Extended

October 01, 2010

Stars and Stripes|by Jeff Schogol

WASHINGTON -- Congress has extended the deadline to December for veterans to apply for retroactive stop-loss pay.

Under the program, troops who have been stop-lossed since Sept. 11, 2001, or their surviving spouses are eligible for $500 for every month they were kept beyond their initial separation date. The program was slated to end in October, but now it has been extended to Dec. 3.

The move drew praise from AMVETS spokesman Ryan Gallucci, who said, “Extending the deadline is an appropriate course of action to ensure that veterans have an opportunity to take advantage of their earned benefit.”
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