Officers speak about post-war experiences

Jennifer Heeke

On Thursday afternoon, Maj. Jeff Hall discusses his experience in Iraq and the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on both wounded and unwounded soldiers.

Officers speak about post-war experiences
By Katie Reilley

junior staff writer

Published: Friday, October 15, 2010

One officer told the story of how he bled out, was dead for 15 minutes, but was resurrected through the efforts of Army medics. Another officer related how he stood in his backyard, contemplating suicide because he hated dealing with the constant pain of daily life, while his wife felt "like a failure" because her husband was not the same person he was before his combat experience.

These are the stories of nationally-recognized and decorated Fort Riley officers Capt. Joshua Mantz, Maj. Jeff Hall and Hall's wife, Sheri Hall, sophomore in social work. The three spoke at the College of Human Ecology lecture "Combat Stress: Redefining the ‘Wounded' Warrior and Family" yesterday afternoon in Hale Library's Hemisphere Room.

Mantz, Jeff and Sheri spoke on post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition that gained more recognition by the military after suicide rates increased from 89 deaths in 2008 to 110 in 2009, according to an Oct. 2, 2009, article on military.com.


The Institute for the Health and Security of Military Families lecture was originally intended only for the Trauma and Disorders class taught by Briana Nelson Goff, but was opened up to the public. Goff is the director of the institute and associate dean for academic affairs of the College of Human Ecology.
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Officers speak about post-war experiences

'Burn pits' still in use in Iraq, Afghanistan

'Burn pits' still in use in Iraq, Afghanistan

Published: Oct. 15, 2010 at 4:39 PM
By ZAK KOESKE, MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

The number of troops suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, which makes it difficult to breathe and is normally found in lifelong smokers, has more than doubled, Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center data indicate.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A U.S. government report released Friday finds that waste disposal methods at military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to expose troops to potentially harmful emissions, despite recent legislation aimed at curbing hazardous disposal practices.

The Government Accountability Office investigated four bases in Iraq in the past year and found none were entirely in compliance with regulations.

The regulations, passed in 2009, prohibit the disposal of hazardous and bio-medical waste in open-air burn pits, except in circumstances where the U.S. secretary of Defense deems that no feasible alternative exists.

In spite of these regulations, the GAO found that all four bases routinely burned plastic, which releases dioxins, the family of chemicals found in the Vietnam War herbicide known as Agent Orange.
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'Burn pits' still in use in Iraq, Afghanistan
UPI.com

Retired Army veteran ends run across country in Rockland

Retired Army veteran ends run across country in Rockland
Flags planted every mile to honor service members who died in Iraq

10/15/10
By Heather Steeves
BDN Staff

ROCKLAND, Maine — The wind thrashed frothy waves against the shore here Friday as Mike Ehredt ran to the ocean, completing his 4,424-mile journey to honor U.S. service members who have died in Iraq.

Despite a thunderstorm that pelted rain on Ehredt, 49, and his supporters, more 100 people showed up in yellow shirts embossed with an American flag and the words, “Thanks, Mike.”

“It’s not raining today,” said James Troutt of Sherman, the grandfather of Army Spc. Dustin Harris of Patten, who died in April 2006 while serving in the war in Iraq. “God is crying a lot today.”

In a ceremony Friday morning, local police and government officials, members of the families of fallen Maine soldiers and Rockland residents gathered to celebrate Ehredt’s run. After each mile Ehredt ran in the past 5½ months, he planted a flag bearing the name of a soldier killed in Iraq. The project began in Oregon on May 1.

The retired U.S. Army veteran from Hope, Idaho, said he placed flags in lots of small towns across the country, with the goal of having people stop to remember the soldiers.

“We’re not alone. We are watched from above. I had guardian angels along the way,” Ehredt told the crowd at Friday’s ceremony, after the last flag was placed at Rockland Harbor. “They do know they are remembered. They are not forgotten.”The name on the final flag was that of Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin of Waterville, who was among the first casualties in the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Aubin, 36, was one of four U.S. Marines and eight British Marines killed on March 20, 2003, when a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crashed in Kuwait near the Iraq border.
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Retired Army veteran ends run across country in Rockland - Bangor ...
By By Heather Steeves BDN Staff

Westboro group calls off one protest for airtime

Protest of Aiken soldier's funeral called off, still on in Lexington
By Logan Smith
AIKEN, SC (WIS) - A controversial church from Kansas has backed off its plans to protest during the funeral of a slain Aiken war veteran, accepting time on a local radio station as a tradeoff. However, the group still plans to picket the funeral of a Lexington soldier killed in the same attack.

Westboro Baptist Church member Shirley Phelps-Roper told the Augusta Chronicle they were offered an hour of unedited airtime on radio station WGAC-AM in exchange for staying away from Thursday's funeral for Staff Sgt. Willie J. Harley Jr. of Aiken.

But the anti-Semitic and anti-gay group still plans to picket outside the funeral of Specialist Luther Rabon of Lexington. Rabon and Harley of Aiken were killed in Afghanistan earlier this month when their vehicle was attacked by insurgents with an Improvised Explosive Device.
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http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13318496

Congressman Roy Blunt for his vote against the 9/11 First Responders health bill

They can talk all they want about who they care about, who they claim to honor, but their votes are what proves how they really feel. What is happening in Washington DC is a political game and they think they can hide what they are doing to people instead of for them. Look at the bills they vote against and then ask yourself if any of the people who vote against the people of this nation really deserve to be there or not. Look at the GOP votes against veterans, against the unemployed, against small businesses, against the troops and against healthcare insurance they hide under "healthcare" as if it was to stop us from getting it instead of helping us to be able to go to a doctor without having to go deep in debt to stay alive. Look at the commercials playing across the country on how they claim the Democrats have cut Medicare. No one lost benefits. The cut was against waste and fraud, but the GOP run commercials as if they cut off someone's grandparent instead of making Medicare stronger. There used to be a time when people like this would be too ashamed of doing something like this against people who rushed into help after the Towers fell, but this man just doesn't care what the people of this country think. The election is coming soon and we need to know what the hell we're doing with our votes. They think we're stupid. We can either pay attention and prove them wrong or suffer for what we get when it's too late to fix anything.


Navy Veteran, 9/11 Responder, Expresses Disgust with Roy Blunt in Stunning
New Television Ad
By VoteVets.org | Press Release
PUBLISHED: October 14, 2010

NAVY VETERAN, 9/11 FIRST RESPONDER, EXPRESSES DISGUST WITH ROY BLUNT IN STUNNING NEW TELEVISION AD

ST LOUIS, MO - Daniel Arrigo, a U.S. Navy veteran who is also one of the now-seriously ill First Responders in Lower Manhattan following 9/11, expresses disgust with Roy Blunt for voting against the 9/11 First Responders bill in Congress, while voting himself a pay raise eight times, in a hard-hitting new television ad running in Missouri on broadcast and cable.
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http://www.votevets.org/news/?id=0378

The family of Sgt. Amanda Sheldon hopes her death may spark change

WOODTV8 | October 14, 2010
The family of Sgt. Amanda Sheldon hopes her death may spark change. The 2004 Belding graduate's body will return to West Michigan on Thursday night, about one week after Sheldon took her own life while serving at a Fort Bragg, N.C., military base.

More wounded soldiers recount horrors of Ft. Hood rampage

Severely wounded soldier describes Ft Hood spree
ANGELA K. BROWN, Associated Press Writers, MICHAEL GRACZYK, Associated Press Writers
Published: 03:23 a.m., Friday, October 15, 2010

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — Everything had stopped.

Not a whisper, not a cough, not even the sound of someone shuffling in his seat could be heard as Staff Sgt. Patrick Zeigler, his cane gripped in his right hand and an extensive scar visible across his closely shaved head, carefully made his way to the witness stand.

Then, in a strong though sometimes halting voice, Zeigler described Thursday to a military investigating officer how four gunshots left him the most seriously injured among the survivors of last year's deadly shootings at Fort Hood.

Maj. Nidal Hasan, 40, an American-born Muslim, has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. Zeigler testified at an Article 32 hearing, a proceeding unique to military justice that will determine if Hasan should stand trial. The hearing was to continue Friday.

Prosecutors have not said whether they'll seek the death penalty if the case goes to trial.

Zeigler had just returned from his second deployment in Iraq and was at a Fort Hood center to get routine medical tests on Nov. 5, preparing to go to the Army's Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Ga. Then he heard someone shout "Allahu Akbar!" — "God is Great!" in Arabic, Zeigler testified.
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Severely wounded soldier describes Ft Hood spree



More wounded soldiers recount horrors of Ft. Hood rampageArmy Staff Sgt. Paul Martin, one of 11 witnesses testifying at a preliminary hearing, identifies Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan as the shooter. 'It was like a cannon going off inside the building,' he says.

By David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times
October 15, 2010
Reporting from Ft. Hood, Texas — Stiff with pain from lingering bullet wounds in his leg and back, Army Staff Sgt. Paul Martin rose slowly to his feet on the witness stand Thursday and pointed across the military courtroom.

"Yes, sir, that's him," Martin said, nodding toward Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, huddled in a wheelchair beneath a blanket and watch cap.

Martin said it was Hasan, firing methodically from two handguns, who shot him twice Nov. 5. And it was Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, who fired again and again at soldiers inside a medical processing building as they tried to flee, Martin testified.
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More wounded soldiers recount horrors of Ft. Hood rampage

Great story and will make you stop to think of what you can do too!

Med student, mom spark shoe drive for homeless vets

By Luis Zaragoza, Orlando Sentinel

6:36 p.m. EDT, October 13, 2010

Moments after meeting a homeless veteran in desperate need of shoes, UCF medical student Reid Green knew what he had to do.

The 22-year-old Venice, Fl., native yanked the Nikes off his feet and handed them over to the stunned ex-military man.

"Are you sure? Are you sure?" the man kept saying.

Green had no doubts.

"He wanted shoes but there were none for him," said Green, who was volunteering at a recent Veterans Affairs-sponsored food and clothing giveaway in Orlando when he noticed the man's plight.

Green's motivation: "He needed them more."

It wasn't a big deal to him, Green said, but he was touched by the man's gratitude.

For the next several hours, Green padded around in his socks, never mind the damp ground.

Green later phoned his mother, Randi, to tell her about his encounter with the veteran.

"Mom, something almost broke my heart today," he told her.
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Naked jogger to cops: 'Why would you tase me?'

By Anika Myers Palm, Orlando Sentinel
1:41 a.m. EDT, October 14, 2010

Police in West Melbourne used a Taser to stop an 18-year-old man after they found him jogging nude.

Zak Anthony King, 18, of Palm Bay, faces charges of resisting arrest without violence and indecent exposure.

A police officer in the south Brevard County city responded to the area of Hollywood Boulevard and Stratford Pointe Drive about 7 a.m. Monday in response to a report of a man running nude.

The officer saw the King running north on Hollywood, clad only in swimming goggles. The officer drove beside King and told him several times to stop, but King did not comply, according to the arrest report.

The officer told King that he would be tased if he failed to stop.
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Vet charged with theft for removing tattered American flag

Winter Park vet charged with theft for removing tattered American flag he found offensive

By Anthony Colarossi, Orlando Sentinel
7:01 p.m. EDT, October 13, 2010

Karl Edward Baldner didn't like what he saw, a tattered and torn American flag flying from a small business across from the Goldenrod Post Office just east of Winter Park.

The U.S. Army veteran strongly believes the flag should be displayed properly and in the summer of 2009, took it upon himself to let the business owner know the beat-up old flag ought to be taken down. When it was not, Baldner decided to remove it himself.

Baldner said he intended to replace the flag with another one that had been draped over a fallen soldier.

After removing the flag, Baldner left a note behind, stating, "Please have respect for the American flag and don't display our flag in such a condition. It disgraces our nation." Baldner left his name and number with the note.
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