Veteran Shares Battle With PTSD
By: Jeff Stensland
jstensland@wsiltv.com
MARION -- A local veteran hopes his battle with post traumatic stress disorder will prompt other soldiers to get help. This past Thursday marked nine years from the start of the Afghanistan war, Operation: Enduring Freedom, making it the longest war in our nation's history.
Today's battlefield has few boundaries, making it hard for veterans to adjust to home life. Illinois National Guard Sergeant First Class Randy Adams has served his country for 29 years, but his tour in Afghanistan last year changed him.
"You don't know who the combatants are--the insurgents blend with the civilian population, so you don't know who you are fighting," Adams said.
Adams says everywhere he goes, he sees potential threats. He rarely leaves his home. It has put a strain on his marriage to wife, Sharon.
read more here
Veteran Shares Battle With PTSD
Monday, October 11, 2010
Veteran Shares Battle With PTSD
He could have come home and kept his suffering a secret but guys like him are saving lives because they wanted to give a voice to others who are unable or unwilling to talk.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Film gives Vietnam veterans a voice
Film gives Vietnam veterans a voice
By Lisa Roose-Church • DAILY PRESS & ARGUS • October 10, 2010
Vietnam veterans fought on a battlefield as brutal and deadly as most wars in history, but their story "is met with angst and controversy," and a local film producer is giving them a voice.
"Our Vietnam Generation," produced by Visionalist Entertainment Productions, will premiere Jan. 28 at Detroit's Fox Theatre, and featured among its frames is the story of Livingston County Sheriff Bob Bezotte and businessman John Colone, the unofficial mayor of Hell.
"Vietnam veterans fought in the most controversial and longest wars," director Keith Famie of Visionalist said. "They are the leaders of our community. ... So much of our society has no clue of what they did when they were younger. They are very humble."
The documentary focuses on struggles experienced by Michigan Vietnam veterans, who received a much different homecoming than other generations, said Famie, a nine-time Emmy winner.
click link above for more
By Lisa Roose-Church • DAILY PRESS & ARGUS • October 10, 2010
Vietnam veterans fought on a battlefield as brutal and deadly as most wars in history, but their story "is met with angst and controversy," and a local film producer is giving them a voice.
"Our Vietnam Generation," produced by Visionalist Entertainment Productions, will premiere Jan. 28 at Detroit's Fox Theatre, and featured among its frames is the story of Livingston County Sheriff Bob Bezotte and businessman John Colone, the unofficial mayor of Hell.
"Vietnam veterans fought in the most controversial and longest wars," director Keith Famie of Visionalist said. "They are the leaders of our community. ... So much of our society has no clue of what they did when they were younger. They are very humble."
The documentary focuses on struggles experienced by Michigan Vietnam veterans, who received a much different homecoming than other generations, said Famie, a nine-time Emmy winner.
click link above for more
North Miami Beach sailor killed in Afghanistan
NORTH MIAMI BEACH | CASUALTY IN WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
U.S. Navy sailor's medical school dreams end with deadly blast in Afghanistan.
The U.S. Department of Defense identified a North Miami Beach sailor Sunday as a casualty in the war in Afghanistan.
By MIAMI HERALD STAFF
U.S. Navy sailor Edwin Gonzalez's friends called him Superman. He liked the idea so much he had a five-inch "S'' tattooed on his chest.
"It was because he was always getting in accidents and coming out fine," said Claudia Herrera, a former classmate of Gonzalez, of North Miami Beach.
"He was hit by cars twice and came out without a scratch," said Victor Medina, another friend.
On Friday, Gonzalez, 22, a newlywed, was killed when a roadside bomb exploded during combat operations in the Helmand Province, Afghanistan, the U.S. Department of Defense reported Sunday.
read more here
Sailor from North Miami Beach killed in Afghanistan
U.S. Navy sailor's medical school dreams end with deadly blast in Afghanistan.
The U.S. Department of Defense identified a North Miami Beach sailor Sunday as a casualty in the war in Afghanistan.
By MIAMI HERALD STAFF
U.S. Navy sailor Edwin Gonzalez's friends called him Superman. He liked the idea so much he had a five-inch "S'' tattooed on his chest.
"It was because he was always getting in accidents and coming out fine," said Claudia Herrera, a former classmate of Gonzalez, of North Miami Beach.
"He was hit by cars twice and came out without a scratch," said Victor Medina, another friend.
On Friday, Gonzalez, 22, a newlywed, was killed when a roadside bomb exploded during combat operations in the Helmand Province, Afghanistan, the U.S. Department of Defense reported Sunday.
read more here
Sailor from North Miami Beach killed in Afghanistan
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Police need help finding man with PTSD missing in Kansas City
Police Search for Missing Man Suffering from PTSD
KANSAS CITY, MO - Police and family are looking for Aaron Stafos, 24, who has not been seen since Oct. 6 around 10:30 a.m. Police said Stafos has PTSD and is delusional.
Stafos was last seen leaving the 6000 block of N. Lenox in a red Ford pickup truck with an unknown license. Stafos was last seen wearing a brown cowboy shirt and black pants. He is six feet tall, weighs 175 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone who can help locate Stafos is asked to notify Missing Persons at (816) 234-5136.
http://www.fox4kc.com/news/wdaf-aaron-stafos-missing-person-100810,0,6269813.story
Salem minister takes on military suicides
Will the military ever get it? This isn't about fundamentalist or evangelists out there trying to put butts in the pews. This is about the relationship between faith and healing. While there are many Christians taking different walks with many different denominations, this isn't about one branch of the tree over another. This isn't about one faith over another. This is about addressing the spiritual connections to PTSD. It is caused by an outside force and follows after traumatic events. It hits the emotional part of the brain causing a chain of changes in how the mind works. Since it is an assault against that part of the brain, it only makes sense to address it for what it is and that requires spiritual help above all else. Yes, I said that. Medication is usually needed to alter the chemicals of the brain back to normal levels. Depending on how much time between event and seeking medical care has passed, much of what PTSD does can be reversed with the proper care. That comes with treating the whole person. Mind, body and soul need to be equally treated.
also
Here is a video of a Staff Sgt. talking about PTSD, suicide and healing with Point Man Ministries. I want you to know how this ended up on YouTube.
I was invited to speak at the Point Man Ministries Conference in Buffalo. I brought my camera just in case I had the opportunity to film. I filmed the band that was playing when this Staff Sgt. got up to the microphone. I kept filming. After I told him that I had him on tape and asked what he wanted me to do with the tape. I thought he may want to just get a copy of it and that would be the end of it but he told me that he wanted it out there. He knew it would save some lives. I didn't shoot it as a professional. I left my tripod at home. I didn't focus or stabilize the shoot. I just let it roll. When I loaded it, what he said, how he said it and the emotion behind it replaced anything that all the normal routines could have provided.
He talked about how he went home one night with a gun in his hand and sat in his room with the barrel in his mouth. He talked about his wife and her love for him. Above all, he talked about how faith has begun to heal his soul and that he is forgiven for whatever he has done. He was a leader of men in battle and now he leads them in a battle to save their lives from the enemy embedded within their souls.
PART ONE
PART TWO
October 9, 2010
Salem minister takes on military suicides
By Tom Dalton
Staff writer
SALEM — The Rev. Laura Biddle, the minister of Tabernacle Church, flew to Washington, D.C., this week to take part in a conference on a silent and often concealed killer within the U.S. military — suicides.
The number of military personnel, many recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, who have taken their own lives is nearly epidemic. There were 309 suicides last year and more than 1,100 over the past five years, according to a Defense Department task force.
"It's staggering," Biddle said. "The numbers are staggering. It's staggering because we didn't even know it existed."
Biddle is the spiritual advisor to a suicide outreach and education program run by the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), a Washington, D.C., nonprofit that assists anyone who has "suffered the loss of a military loved one."
Biddle's first encounter with military suicides occurred five years ago when she was a minister in Newburyport. She served as a spiritual counselor to a member of her congregation, Kim Ruocco of Newbury, whose husband, U.S. Marine Maj. John Ruocco, a decorated helicopter pilot, hanged himself in a hotel room near Camp Pendleton, Calif. He had just returned from Iraq and was preparing for another tour.read more here
Salem minister takes on military suicides
also
Suicidal soldiers are humiliated by superiors with fatal results,
military medical experts say
Friday, October 8th 2010, 4:00 AM
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/10/08/2010-10-08_mocked_to_death_suicidal_soldiers_often_humiliated_by_superiors__with_fatal_resu.html#ixzz11rYcEorN
WASHINGTON - Depressed soldiers who seek help for suicidal thoughts have been publicly mocked by higherups, military medical experts told the Daily News.The bullying involves "humiliating-type behavior in ranks, formations, where soldiers were singled out and identified as someone who is suicidal, publicly ridiculed, and things along that nature," said Army Maj. Gen. Philip Volpe."They call a person out in front of a formation and chew 'em out" in a misguided effort at "tough love," said Bonnie Carroll, a retired Air Force major and head of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. "They tell them, 'You dishonored your unit. You're worthless.'"Volpe, who with Carroll led the Pentagon's suicide-prevention task force, said he has witnessed bullying - and in one case relieved a lieutenant colonel who was verbally abusing a distraught soldier.As military suicide rates continue to rise as a result of multiple deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, the Army and the other services have struggled to erase the longstanding stigma of seeking professional help.
Read more: Suicidal soldiers are humiliated by superiors
Here is a video of a Staff Sgt. talking about PTSD, suicide and healing with Point Man Ministries. I want you to know how this ended up on YouTube.
I was invited to speak at the Point Man Ministries Conference in Buffalo. I brought my camera just in case I had the opportunity to film. I filmed the band that was playing when this Staff Sgt. got up to the microphone. I kept filming. After I told him that I had him on tape and asked what he wanted me to do with the tape. I thought he may want to just get a copy of it and that would be the end of it but he told me that he wanted it out there. He knew it would save some lives. I didn't shoot it as a professional. I left my tripod at home. I didn't focus or stabilize the shoot. I just let it roll. When I loaded it, what he said, how he said it and the emotion behind it replaced anything that all the normal routines could have provided.
He talked about how he went home one night with a gun in his hand and sat in his room with the barrel in his mouth. He talked about his wife and her love for him. Above all, he talked about how faith has begun to heal his soul and that he is forgiven for whatever he has done. He was a leader of men in battle and now he leads them in a battle to save their lives from the enemy embedded within their souls.
PART ONE
PART TWO
Some Veterans Fall Through Huge Cracks
The VA is faster than the DOD? This is an example of what is going on. The Army wanted this disabled veteran to redeploy. That screams no one was ready to take care of the wounded before they were sent. He was wounded in 2005 but two years later the Army wanted him to go back!
Some Veterans Fall Through Huge Cracks
One St. Louis veteran, badly injured in 2005, has yet to get benefits.
By PHILIP O'CONNOR
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Published: Friday, October 8, 2010 at 6:46 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, October 8, 2010 at 6:46 p.m.
ST. LOUIS | Army Reserve Spc. Michael Pyatt mounted a machine gun on the turret of his Humvee in August 2005 for another mission into the volatile city of Hillah, Iraq. As he stepped off the bumper, he landed awkwardly, injuring his hip and back, and leaving him crippled.
Back home, he asked for a medical discharge.
In July 2007, his unit tried to deploy him a second time, even though he wore a knee brace and used a cane.
Just months later, the Department of Veterans Affairs declared Pyatt permanently and totally disabled. Yet today, more than five years after he was hurt, the Army still has not declared Pyatt unfit for duty, which would make him eligible for disability retirement pay and medical insurance for his wife and daughter.
Pyatt, 38, struggles to get by. He is deep in debt and must make frequent trips from his home in Bonne Terre for free treatment at VA facilities in St. Louis.
"I've fallen through the cracks," he said. "I've been abandoned."
Pyatt's story is an example of a military disability system that Congress and others contend is woefully unprepared to deal with the hundreds of thousands of troops injured while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.read more here
Some Veterans Fall Through Huge Cracks
Wounded Vietnam veteran devoted to others
Wounded veteran devoted to others
Newsmaker
Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster New Era
Oct 08, 2010 21:24 EST
By ENELLY BETANCOURT, Staff Writer
For hundreds of thousands of veterans who have not been able to leave the horrors of war on the battlefield, life at home is a nightmarish rollercoaster.
Lewis Alston is a living testament to that. He brought the war home and re-lived it every day, for 15 years.
Alston, 59, fought in the Vietnam War from 1969 to 1971 as a corporal with the 1st Marine Division.
As a reconnaissance scout, he saw combat action and witnessed severe human suffering.
On the battlefield, he was wounded by shrapnel that hit his chest and legs.
Also, he lost his father during that time.
But his biggest wounds were psychological: the rage, the flashbacks, the sleeplessness.
"I had a hard time separating the war from the warrior," Alston said.
Alston returned from his combat service angry, distrustful and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I became a terrible person," he said. "My family wanted nothing to do with me."
Read more:
Wounded veteran devoted to others
Newsmaker
Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster New Era
Oct 08, 2010 21:24 EST
By ENELLY BETANCOURT, Staff Writer
"I'm just a veteran helping veterans get out of the cave I was once in," he said.
For hundreds of thousands of veterans who have not been able to leave the horrors of war on the battlefield, life at home is a nightmarish rollercoaster.
Lewis Alston is a living testament to that. He brought the war home and re-lived it every day, for 15 years.
Alston, 59, fought in the Vietnam War from 1969 to 1971 as a corporal with the 1st Marine Division.
As a reconnaissance scout, he saw combat action and witnessed severe human suffering.
On the battlefield, he was wounded by shrapnel that hit his chest and legs.
Also, he lost his father during that time.
But his biggest wounds were psychological: the rage, the flashbacks, the sleeplessness.
"I had a hard time separating the war from the warrior," Alston said.
Alston returned from his combat service angry, distrustful and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I became a terrible person," he said. "My family wanted nothing to do with me."
Read more:
Wounded veteran devoted to others
UK Soldiers return home hours after soldier killed in Afghanistan
Joy and sadness blended together. This must be very hard on them and their families.
Heroes return home from Afghanistan
Published on Sat Oct 09 11:30:39 BST 2010
It was a bittersweet homecoming for Lancashire’s heroes as they returned home from Afghanistan just hours after one of their colleagues was killed in an explosion.
Around 75 soldiers from the 1st Battalion the Duke of Lancaster’s regiment arrived home at their Catterick, North Yorkshire, base yesterday after a gruelling six month tour, in which time they lost three of their own.
But celebrations were tempered when the news went round the Garrison that a soldier from 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment had died in Afghanistan that very day.
The soldier, attached to 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles, serving as part of Combined Force Nahr-e Saraj (South), was killed in an explosion in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province.
Dozens of families, many from Preston and the surrounding areas, had made the trip to Catterick to show their support for the battle-scarred soldiers.
read more here
Heroes return home from Afghanistan
Friday, October 8, 2010
Cracks in Vietnam Veterans Memorial stump scientists
Cracks in Vietnam Veterans Memorial stump scientists
A team of scientists has been hired to inspect newly discovered vertical cracks in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in D.C., the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund announced.
Geophysicists Dorothy Richter and Gene Simmons will be at the site today to continue their evaluation and hope to release a report in a few weeks.
It's possible heat is to blame for the cracks, but Richter told The Washington Post the experts "do not know with certainty" what caused them. Most are small, and the Memorial Fund says they're not an immediate threat to the memorial.
In fact, as the Post points out, the wall has a history of cracks that dates back to 1984, just two years after it was opened to the public. Those cracks were horizontal, and in 1986, two of the wall's 144 slabs were taken out and studied.
read more here
read more here
| Cracks in Vietnam Veterans Memorial stump scientists USA Today |
Sgt. Eric Walker, Marine of the Year
Lexington Marine Receives Top Award
WTVQ
WRITTEN BY JACQUELINE SPRAGUE
THURSDAY, 07 OCTOBER 2010 23:44
Sergeant Eric Walker put his life on the line to save an injured fellow Marine. The 30-year-old was honored for those brave actions tonight in the nation's capitol. His parents went with him to Washington DC, the rest of his family back stayed here in Lexington but were still able to watch the ceremony live online. They say now the entire nation can see that he's a hero. Sgt. Walker was named USO Marine of the Year.
WTVQ
WRITTEN BY JACQUELINE SPRAGUE
THURSDAY, 07 OCTOBER 2010 23:44
Sergeant Eric Walker put his life on the line to save an injured fellow Marine. The 30-year-old was honored for those brave actions tonight in the nation's capitol. His parents went with him to Washington DC, the rest of his family back stayed here in Lexington but were still able to watch the ceremony live online. They say now the entire nation can see that he's a hero. Sgt. Walker was named USO Marine of the Year.
SC Vietnam veterans join for a healing mission
When they were serving in Vietnam, some of their buddies died. They did't get much time to grieve. Some of their buddies were wounded and they never saw them again. Because of the Internet, they have been reaching out to try to find the people they served with and in a lot of cases, they find them. This is one of the ways they find people they have not seen in over 40 years.
There are newer veterans searching as well as discovering what they have in common with Vietnam veterans. All of this is finding some kind of healing closure as well as re-connection. Taking them to Walter Reed is a wonderful idea. They see the wounded but they also see the care they receive. They see the strength in the wounded as well as pain they carry offering hope the pain is not unconquerable.
U. S. Army Lost and Found Listings
There are newer veterans searching as well as discovering what they have in common with Vietnam veterans. All of this is finding some kind of healing closure as well as re-connection. Taking them to Walter Reed is a wonderful idea. They see the wounded but they also see the care they receive. They see the strength in the wounded as well as pain they carry offering hope the pain is not unconquerable.
SC Vietnam veterans join for a healing mission
by SUSAN TRAUTSCH on OCTOBER 8, 2010
The South Carolina Combat Veterans Group is taking part in what they consider to be a ”healing mission” over the weekend of October 8. Approximately 100 members of Combat Veterans of the Vietnam War are traveling to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. to visit patients who have returned from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Commander Tommy Olds, a Vietnam veteran, says this is a trip to help heal both physical and emotional injuries. He says this is an opportunity to close painful gaps of memories that he and his comrades have experienced.
Ninety percent of these guys making this trip were Vietnam veterans. One thing a lot of us went through when we went to Vietnam, we saw the loss of a lot of our comrades on the battle field. A lot of them were injured, or perhaps lost their lives. And it’s real difficult, even after 40 years, it’s difficult to deal with to not to have the closure of being back here in the states when we returned here from Vietnam.
read more here
SC Vietnam veterans join for a healing mission
Thursday, October 7, 2010
More women WWII veterans take Honor Air Flight
More women WWII veterans take Honor Air Flight
Written by
Jim Matheny
Wednesday marked the eighth flight in the history of HonorAir Knoxville. The volunteer organization flies veterans of World War II to Washington D.C. for a one-day visit to the national memorial that honors their service and sacrifice.
Among the 142 veterans from East Tennessee on Wednesday's flight, five were women veterans of World War II.
"This may not seem like much, but it is a record number of ladies traveling on one of our flights," said Eddie Mannis, chairman of HonorAir Knoxville.
read more here
More women WWII veterans take Honor Air Flight
WBIR-TV
Written by
Jim Matheny
Wednesday marked the eighth flight in the history of HonorAir Knoxville. The volunteer organization flies veterans of World War II to Washington D.C. for a one-day visit to the national memorial that honors their service and sacrifice.
Among the 142 veterans from East Tennessee on Wednesday's flight, five were women veterans of World War II.
"This may not seem like much, but it is a record number of ladies traveling on one of our flights," said Eddie Mannis, chairman of HonorAir Knoxville.
read more here
More women WWII veterans take Honor Air Flight
WBIR-TV
Navy warship honoring a New York Marine's 2004 sacrifice is headed for South Florida
Memory of Marine reborn in Navy ship
A newly minted Navy warship honoring a New York Marine's 2004 sacrifice is headed for South Florida and 10 days of celebrations capped by a Nov. 13 commissioning ceremony.
BY CAROL ROSENBERG
CROSENBERG@MIAMIHERALD.COM
It was a year into the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and a young Marine manning a checkpoint threw his body on a hand grenade.
Cpl. Jason Dunham saved the lives of two buddies but would die of his wounds days later.
Now, the 22-year-old Marine's sacrifice is being immortalized.
A warship bearing his name sailed from the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Maine on Wednesday morning, the start of a nearly monthlong training cruise down the East Coast ahead of a 10-day visit to South Florida.
It's expected to arrive on Nov. 5. And eight days later, the U.S. Navy will commission its newest $1.1 billion destroyer, DDG 109, at Port Everglades. Name: the USS Jason Dunham.
Read more: Memory of Marine reborn in Navy ship
A newly minted Navy warship honoring a New York Marine's 2004 sacrifice is headed for South Florida and 10 days of celebrations capped by a Nov. 13 commissioning ceremony.
BY CAROL ROSENBERG
CROSENBERG@MIAMIHERALD.COM
It was a year into the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and a young Marine manning a checkpoint threw his body on a hand grenade.
Cpl. Jason Dunham saved the lives of two buddies but would die of his wounds days later.
Now, the 22-year-old Marine's sacrifice is being immortalized.
A warship bearing his name sailed from the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Maine on Wednesday morning, the start of a nearly monthlong training cruise down the East Coast ahead of a 10-day visit to South Florida.
It's expected to arrive on Nov. 5. And eight days later, the U.S. Navy will commission its newest $1.1 billion destroyer, DDG 109, at Port Everglades. Name: the USS Jason Dunham.
Read more: Memory of Marine reborn in Navy ship
VA already treated 565,000 first-time Iraq and Afghanistan War veteran patients
Do you want to know why you are needed to help our veterans? Do you want to know why you should pay attention to what is happening to them? If you already know these answers, then read what Veterans for Common Sense has been up to. If you don't know the answer, then you haven't been paying attention all along and wouldn't know that had it not been for the President and what this congress has been doing, it would have been a lot worse. Too many people just want to slam President Obama and they attack Democrats in congress, especially down here in Florida but the truth is there for anyone who wants to know the facts. Start with their voting records and know who has voted against veterans especially when most of them want your votes again. If they can't support veterans or the troops then what chance do you as an average citizen have?
VCS Advocacy in Action -
VCS testified with Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard Professor Linda Bilmes.Because of our VCS research, for the first time, the Associated Press reported the facts.
VCS Government Relations AdvocacyOn September 30, after nine years of endless war in Afghanistan and Iraq, Congress held a hearing on "The True Cost of War." VCS thanks Chairman Bob Filner for holding this vital oversight of VA's long-term needs and obligations.
What is the tragic human cost? VA already treated 565,000 first-time Iraq and Afghanistan War veteran patients, and VCS estimates the total will hit one million by the end of 2014.What is the enormous financial cost? Pushing toward one trillion dollars for healthcare and benefits for our disabled veterans for the next 40 years. The total financial cost of the wars to Americans? Up to $6 trillion, and escalating. Please read our testimony and watch the official Congressional video clip (click on "Multimedia Link') where VCS speaks at 1 hour, 45 minutes.VCS Public Relations AdvocacyVCS was quoted in three major news stories this week:Boston Globe - The Prudential Scandal GrowsAustin American-Statesman - Improper Military Discharges Often Block VA BenefitsHouston Chronicle - Escalating Military Suicide Epidemic
Love Scammers Use Dead Soldiers to Snare Victims
Love Scammers Use Dead Soldiers to Snare Victims
Michael Brick
(Oct. 6) -- Tired of masquerading as the obscure nephew of some deposed banana republic dictator? What if I told you that you could make a good income, starting today, all from the comfort of your own neighborhood cafe in Lagos, Nigeria -- or wherever? Using the quick, easy, not-patented method of impersonating fallen American soldiers, you too can exploit the trust of lonely women. All you need is an Internet connection!
Yes, it has come to this: Twenty-one years after Elwood Edwards recorded the announcement "You've got mail" and nearly nine years into one of the country's most prolonged overseas military engagements, purveyors of fraud have built a ghoulish trade on the combination of those two seemingly permanent aspects of modern life.
"They look for patriotic women, and they play on their heartstrings," Christopher Grey, a spokesman for the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command, told AOL News.
Using photographs and biographical details culled from Facebook pages, memorial sites and news accounts, the perpetrators pose as living soldiers looking for love online.
Love Scammers Use Dead Soldiers to Snare Victims
Michael Brick
(Oct. 6) -- Tired of masquerading as the obscure nephew of some deposed banana republic dictator? What if I told you that you could make a good income, starting today, all from the comfort of your own neighborhood cafe in Lagos, Nigeria -- or wherever? Using the quick, easy, not-patented method of impersonating fallen American soldiers, you too can exploit the trust of lonely women. All you need is an Internet connection!
Yes, it has come to this: Twenty-one years after Elwood Edwards recorded the announcement "You've got mail" and nearly nine years into one of the country's most prolonged overseas military engagements, purveyors of fraud have built a ghoulish trade on the combination of those two seemingly permanent aspects of modern life.
"They look for patriotic women, and they play on their heartstrings," Christopher Grey, a spokesman for the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command, told AOL News.
Using photographs and biographical details culled from Facebook pages, memorial sites and news accounts, the perpetrators pose as living soldiers looking for love online.
In response, the U.S. government has issued warnings, with its embassy in London going so far as to post online examples of fraudulent military papers used in scams.read more here
Love Scammers Use Dead Soldiers to Snare Victims
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Fallen hero receives Medal of Honor from Ovideo FL
Last Memorial Day I heard the story of Staff Sgt. Miller and saw his parents sitting in the front row of the honored guest. Pride and a grief blended together with dignity. I will never forget how they were that day. Many other places want to claim Staff Sgt. Miller as their own but Oviedo was his home after high school and his parents still live there. I just wish that as states want to claim the right to say one of their own "won" the Medal of Honor as if it is some kind of sport, they would also fight over the right to take care of all the wounded and the homeless with as much passion and turn having the highest success rate as their goal so they can honor all the heroes who served from their state. That would really be honoring them!
Fallen hero receives Medal of Honor
By Mark K. Matthews, Orlando Sentinel Washington Bureau
4:55 p.m. EDT, October 6, 2010
WASHINGTON -- Calling his sacrifice the "true meaning of heroism," President Barack Obama on Wednesday presented the Medal of Honor to the Oviedo family of Army Staff Sgt. Robert J. Miller, who died in January 2008 protecting a patrol of American and Afghan soldiers.
"It has been said that courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point," said Obama, addressing a solemn crowd in the East Room of the White House. "For Rob Miller, the testing point came nearly three years ago, deep in a snowy Afghan valley. The courage he displayed that day reflects every virtue that defined his life."
Their son is buried in Central Florida; his family moved to Oviedo soon after Robert Miller graduated from high school in Illinois, where he grew up.read more here
Miller, who died at 24 on his second tour in Afghanistan, is only the third service member from that conflict to receive the Medal of Honor. The Green Beret earned the distinction when his team of eight U.S. Special Forces and about 15 Afghan troops, with Miller on point, was caught in a ferocious ambush by insurgents in northwest Afghanistan.
Fallen hero receives Medal of Honor
New Program Eases Veterans' Transition to College Life
VA Announces Expansion of VetSuccess on Campus Pilots
New Program Eases Veterans' Transition to College Life
WASHINGTON (Oct. 5, 2010) -- "Two community colleges and three other
four-year colleges and universities are being added to the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) VetSuccess on Campus pilot program. VA counselors
are being assigned to assist Veterans attending school under the
Post-9/11 GI Bill make the most of their educational opportunities at
Salt Lake City Community College, the Community College of Rhode Island,
Rhode Island College, Arizona State University and Texas A&M University.
"A growing number of the eight million students in America's community
colleges are Veterans," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki. "VA will do all it can to make Veterans' experiences in our
community colleges and universities fulfilling and productive for them,
their schools and the Nation."
The pilot program is designed to ensure Veterans' health, educational,
and benefits needs are met as they make the transition from active-duty
military service to college life.
The announcement comes as the White House holds the first-ever community
college summit chaired by Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe
Biden and adjunct English professor at Northern Virginia Community
College. The meeting of top school and federal education officials will
focus on ways that community colleges can help meet education and
workforce demands.
"I am thrilled to see the expansion of the VetSuccess program" said Dr.
Biden. "I know the transition from military to student life can be
challenging and we owe it to those who have served our country to make
their transitions as easy and successful as possible."
Under the pilot program already underway at the University of South
Florida, Cleveland State University, and San Diego State University,
experienced VA vocational rehabilitation counselors and outreach
coordinators from VA's Vet Centers are assigned to campuses to provide
vocational testing, career and academic counseling, and readjustment
counseling services to ensure Veterans receive the support and
assistance needed to successfully pursue their educational and
employment goals.
VA counselors work directly with school officials to establish effective
communications channels with Veteran students and coordinate the
delivery of VA benefits and services.
Peer-to-peer counseling and referral services are also available to help
resolve any problems that could potentially interfere with a Veteran's
educational program, including referrals for more intensive health
services through VA Medical Centers, Community-Based Outpatient Clinics,
or Vet Centers, as needed.
For more information on VA benefit programs and VetSuccess, go to
http://www.vba.va.gov or www.vetsuccess.gov
or call 1-800-827-1000.
New Program Eases Veterans' Transition to College Life
WASHINGTON (Oct. 5, 2010) -- "Two community colleges and three other
four-year colleges and universities are being added to the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) VetSuccess on Campus pilot program. VA counselors
are being assigned to assist Veterans attending school under the
Post-9/11 GI Bill make the most of their educational opportunities at
Salt Lake City Community College, the Community College of Rhode Island,
Rhode Island College, Arizona State University and Texas A&M University.
"A growing number of the eight million students in America's community
colleges are Veterans," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki. "VA will do all it can to make Veterans' experiences in our
community colleges and universities fulfilling and productive for them,
their schools and the Nation."
The pilot program is designed to ensure Veterans' health, educational,
and benefits needs are met as they make the transition from active-duty
military service to college life.
The announcement comes as the White House holds the first-ever community
college summit chaired by Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe
Biden and adjunct English professor at Northern Virginia Community
College. The meeting of top school and federal education officials will
focus on ways that community colleges can help meet education and
workforce demands.
"I am thrilled to see the expansion of the VetSuccess program" said Dr.
Biden. "I know the transition from military to student life can be
challenging and we owe it to those who have served our country to make
their transitions as easy and successful as possible."
Under the pilot program already underway at the University of South
Florida, Cleveland State University, and San Diego State University,
experienced VA vocational rehabilitation counselors and outreach
coordinators from VA's Vet Centers are assigned to campuses to provide
vocational testing, career and academic counseling, and readjustment
counseling services to ensure Veterans receive the support and
assistance needed to successfully pursue their educational and
employment goals.
VA counselors work directly with school officials to establish effective
communications channels with Veteran students and coordinate the
delivery of VA benefits and services.
Peer-to-peer counseling and referral services are also available to help
resolve any problems that could potentially interfere with a Veteran's
educational program, including referrals for more intensive health
services through VA Medical Centers, Community-Based Outpatient Clinics,
or Vet Centers, as needed.
For more information on VA benefit programs and VetSuccess, go to
http://www.vba.va.gov
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Thank you Scott Mendelson, M.D.
THIS MAN IS RIGHT ON. Here is just part of what he wrote.
Scott Mendelson, M.D.
Author of Beyond Alzheimer's
Posted: October 6, 2010
Soldier Suicides And The Dumbing Down Of Military Mental Health Care
Scott Mendelson, M.D.
Author of Beyond Alzheimer's
Posted: October 6, 2010
Unfortunately, the evidence for this type of program being effective is some of the weakest data I have ever seen in my professional life. The evidence is derived almost entirely from a 2006 paper by psychologist Simon Gilbody and associates titled, "Collaborative Care for Depression" (Archives of Internal Medicine 166:2314-2312, 2006). This paper reviewed a series of studies of what is referred to in the "civilian" literature as the Collaborative Care for Depression Model. In this model, nurses are trained in roughly eight weekend training sessions to become "Depression Care Managers" or, in the military's more Pollyannaish term, "Champions." These Champions call regularly, report back to the primary care doctor, and if necessary, inform the primary care doctor that things are not going well and more help is needed. Admittedly, these are all good things. I was, however, astonished to hear at a Veterans Administration conference for the related TIDES program, that these Champions are also expected to advise the doctors as to when and if medication should be adjusted.
Finally, the addition of the new, highly touted, "Resiliency Training" as a method to avert depression, PTSD and suicide completes the recipe for inadequacy, incompetence, and disaster in the treatment of mentally ill soldiers and veterans. The 10 hour course on resiliency is taught by "Master Trainers" who themselves are soldiers who have had 10 days of training to become skilled enough to encourage resiliency and strength, and to prevent suicide in their charges. What are these people thinking?click the link above and then email this wonderful man for this great piece! We may have been thinking it but he is saying it. Battlemind and all the other programs they've come up with have produced more suicides, attempted suicides, veterans going to jail and a whole lot of pain that does not need to happen.
Westboro Baptist Church video you have to see
What part of what Christ taught do these people follow? Free speech does not demand that ears are forced to hear or eyes forced to see. The families have to be there to bury their family member, the Phelps do not have to be there to use their free speech rights. What about protecting the free expression of religious practices the families are supposed to be able to do that the Phelps are trying to stop? It is bad enough they are attacking the unselfish men and women who gave up their lives serving this country and the families right along with them but enough is enough. This video shows what they really are or are play acting for the publicity.
Westboro Baptist Church video you have to see
http://www.newsweek.com/video/2010/10/05/free-speech-fight.html
Westboro Baptist Church video you have to see
10/5/10: Pastor Fred Phelps and several members of the Westboro Baptist Church discuss their upcoming case before the Supreme Court, in which they'll be arguing for their right to picket at military funerals with the message that soldier deaths are divine punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality.
Read a Q&A about the case with First Amendment expert Floyd Abrams.
K. Ryan Jones is the director of 'Fall From Grace,' the only feature-length documentary about the Westboro Baptist Church, which is available on DVD.
http://www.newsweek.com/video/2010/10/05/free-speech-fight.html
Mental exam set for Hood shooting suspect
Mental exam set for Hood shooting suspect
By Angela K. Brown - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Oct 5, 2010 16:15:09 EDT
Posted : Tuesday Oct 5, 2010 16:15:09 EDT
FORT WORTH, Texas — The Army psychiatrist accused in last year's shooting rampage at Fort Hood is to have a mental evaluation before a key hearing to determine whether he will stand trial, a military commander ordered Monday.
Earlier this year Army officials appointed a three-member board of military mental health professionals to determine whether Maj. Nidal Hasan is competent to stand trial. At issue is his mental status during the Nov. 5 shootings, which left 13 dead and dozens wounded on the Texas Army post.
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