Another war wound: Financial trauma
December 17, 2010
By Darryl E. Owens,
COMMENTARY
U.S. Army Spc. Dennis Akkurt was used to going toe-to-toe with ruthless enemies in Kosovo and Iraq.
Yet, when the Orlando man returned on special leave from Iraq in October, he quickly realized he was overmatched against his most relentless adversary yet.
Mounting bills.
His step-daughter desperately needed surgery. She had long struggled with an upper-jaw defect that hampered her ability to breathe, or enjoy a meal. She couldn't even close her lips.
His Army benefits whittled the $11,000 surgery to about $6,000.
Not that Akkurt really had that kind of money to spare — particularly after his reservist pay from Uncle Sam ended with his leave. Not that the father of three really had a choice.
"You can tell your landlord, 'No, I'm not paying the mortgage this month,'" says Akkurt, 39, "but you won't tell your daughter, 'You're not going to the doctor because I don't have any money.' "
The surgery brought her a step closer to a million-dollar smile. But it brought the family a giant step closer to ruin.
"Once you start getting behind," Akkurt says, "it's hard to catch up."
Ain't that the truth.
The real shame of it all is, it's a truth encountered by a growing number of Central Florida's returning reservists and National Guardsmen. That war exacts its bitter mental and physical toll on troops comes as no surprise. But too often their wallets become collateral damage.
read more here
Another war wound Financial trauma
Monday, December 20, 2010
National Guardsmen let Rick Scott know they need jobs
You do have to give this man credit for asking a great question that really does matter to them!
Gov.-elect Scott visits returning Florida soldiers
Rick Scott, wife Ann Scott and Lt. Gov.-elect Jennifer Carroll made a trip to Fort Stewart on Saturday, officials said.
By Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel
11:38 p.m. EST, December 18, 2010
Florida Gov.-elect Rick Scott thanked Florida National Guard soldiers for their "unbelievable sacrifice" during a visit on Saturday, a Florida Army and Air National Guard spokesman said.
Scott, wife Ann Scott and Lt. Gov.-elect Jennifer Carroll made a trip to Fort Stewart, Ga., on Saturday, Lt. Col. Ron Tittle said in a release.
Tittle said Scott was there to meet with soldiers who returned Friday after a nearly one-year deployment and to get an overview of the Florida National Guard's homecoming process.
Speaking to more than 700 soldiers of the 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team at the installation's theater, Scott thanked them for their sacrifices, Tittle said.
"Let me tell you from the bottom of my heart that I am appreciative of what you did," Scott said, in statements distributed by the Florida National Guard. "You made an unbelievable sacrifice to go overseas and defend our country."
According to the release, Scott asked the soldiers in attendance how many of them were in need of employment. Tittle said more than half raised their hands.
read more here
Gov elect Scott visits returning Florida soldiers
Wounded vets enjoy chance to bond
Wounded vets enjoy chance to bond
By Ellen Ciurczak - Hattiesburg (Miss.) American
Posted : Sunday Dec 19, 2010 18:22:57 EST
HATTIESBURG, Miss. — The smell of bacon and a draft of warm air greets all who walk in the door of Troy and Beverly Davis’ cabin, located a few miles outside of Hot Coffee.
Inside on an early Sunday morning, nine former military service members sit in the living room and at the breakfast table, relaxed and talking. All have been wounded in the line of duty, and all have spent the past weekend on a hunting trip sponsored by the Smith County Wounded Warrior Project.
The Davises have donated their cabin to the project, which provides programs for severely injured service members from around the South.
But hunting for big game hasn’t been the highlight of this weekend.
“They get together and they talk. They open up to each other,” said John Ellis of Ellis Outdoor Events, which helped coordinate this trip and others, all of which are free of charge. “They know what they’ve been through and they don’t judge each other.”
The service members are all veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
“They worry about what people will ask them,” said John’s wife, Kim Ellis, who also helps to coordinate the trips. She cautions against probing too deeply about their injuries.
“The No. 1 question they get asked is ‘Have you killed someone?’ ” she said.
Damian Orslene, 46, a former airman, has a ready smile. He sits in a chair, with a cane beside him. He says he was blown up in Kirkuk, Iraq.
“I’ve been in and out of hospitals for three years,” he said. “What I miss most is being around like-minded people. When you walk in that door, you are surrounded by people that care.”
read more here
Wounded vets enjoy chance to bond
By Ellen Ciurczak - Hattiesburg (Miss.) American
Posted : Sunday Dec 19, 2010 18:22:57 EST
HATTIESBURG, Miss. — The smell of bacon and a draft of warm air greets all who walk in the door of Troy and Beverly Davis’ cabin, located a few miles outside of Hot Coffee.
Inside on an early Sunday morning, nine former military service members sit in the living room and at the breakfast table, relaxed and talking. All have been wounded in the line of duty, and all have spent the past weekend on a hunting trip sponsored by the Smith County Wounded Warrior Project.
The Davises have donated their cabin to the project, which provides programs for severely injured service members from around the South.
But hunting for big game hasn’t been the highlight of this weekend.
“They get together and they talk. They open up to each other,” said John Ellis of Ellis Outdoor Events, which helped coordinate this trip and others, all of which are free of charge. “They know what they’ve been through and they don’t judge each other.”
The service members are all veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
“They worry about what people will ask them,” said John’s wife, Kim Ellis, who also helps to coordinate the trips. She cautions against probing too deeply about their injuries.
“The No. 1 question they get asked is ‘Have you killed someone?’ ” she said.
Damian Orslene, 46, a former airman, has a ready smile. He sits in a chair, with a cane beside him. He says he was blown up in Kirkuk, Iraq.
“I’ve been in and out of hospitals for three years,” he said. “What I miss most is being around like-minded people. When you walk in that door, you are surrounded by people that care.”
read more here
Wounded vets enjoy chance to bond
Army Spc. Keisha Marie Morgan looked angry in her coffin
Mother of One Dead Soldier Suspects Sex Assault
By John Lasker
Someone killed Keisha Morgan but the military says it was because of mediations they gave her. According to what came out after her Mom refused the findings of the investigation, it looks like someone killed her. Finding out who was with her will be nearly impossible unless there is pressure to do it. Maybe that is why she looked angry in her coffin because she thought no one would care who did this to her.
By John Lasker
Someone killed Keisha Morgan but the military says it was because of mediations they gave her. According to what came out after her Mom refused the findings of the investigation, it looks like someone killed her. Finding out who was with her will be nearly impossible unless there is pressure to do it. Maybe that is why she looked angry in her coffin because she thought no one would care who did this to her.
WeNews correspondent
Monday, December 20, 2010
At least 20 female soldiers have died in Iraq and Afghanistan in "noncombat" circumstances that their families find mysterious. The mother of one talks here about why she thinks sexual violence--not suicide--was her daughter's real killer.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WOMENSENEWS)--When Diana Morgan saw her daughter's body for the first time after her death in Iraq in February of 2008, she thought U.S. Army Spc. Keisha Marie Morgan looked angry in her coffin.
"She looked like she was not at peace. She didn't look like the child I had known," said Morgan, who lives in Washington, D.C.
At the time, Keisha's death in Baghdad was a mystery and designated "non-combat related."
Nearly six months later Army investigators ruled it a suicide brought on by an overdose of her military-dispensed prescription antidepressants.
The military has consistently said all non-combat related deaths undergo a very complete and thorough investigation. Indeed, some reports stretch for 800 pages, which include graphic photos.
Morgan wasn't aware the military had diagnosed Keisha as having depression, let alone taking medication for it. "She was outgoing and very happy," she says, "I can't see her not telling me."
But Keisha had confided in her mother about a night when she was certain a fellow soldier had slipped something in her drink at a local bar. When she awoke the following morning--failing to remember how she left the bar and returned to barracks--the soldier was in her room. This same man was on base at the time of Keisha's death, says her mother, recalling her daughter's concern about this.
A week later, a roommate found Keisha lying on the floor and couldn't tell if she was sleeping. Keisha erupted in seizures and the roommate ran for help. Medics could not stabilize her and she passed away.
read more here
Mother of One Dead Soldier Suspects Sex Assault
Christmas is hard when you have nothing to give
The beginning of December made my heart sink as news reports were showing people shopping at the malls and I knew I couldn't afford to go shopping. It was really hard on me and I got really depressed. Then I started to think about what Christmas was supposed to mean.
We celebrate the day Christ came into the world but we forget how He lived His life. His life was about giving love. He gave the blind back their ability to see. He gave the lame back their ability to walk. He gave the hopeless hope and warmed the hardened hearts of the suffering giving them the ability to care again about others. He also gave the hungry the ability to be fed when He preached to others about taking care of the poor and needy. He gave the guilty the ability to be forgiven when He preached about how we are not to judge someone else and forgive them 70 x 7.
Somehow we twisted this day into being about shopping and spending money. All of this is fine when you have money but when you don't you end up feeling guilty and depressed because you believe you don't have anything to give. You forget what you do give the rest of the year.
You see commercials on TV with couples sitting together as jewelry is given and you know that gift comes with a huge charge card bill. You see cars being given to someone living in a large home, decorated with lights and then you think that is what you want too. Then you look at your own simple home, your old car and you wish you had it all too. Some of you have it even harder because you lost your job, your home and the ability to support yourself. This economy has hit millions of Americans trying to survive day to day yet this one day brings so much pressure to deliver gifts to others that we all stop thinking straight.
We forget the simple people showing up in Bethlehem did not bring gifts with them and there is not one account of gifts being given to Christ during the 32 years of other birthdays He had. As for Santa, well we know he didn't show up either but that is what we think about instead of Christ.
Last December started with having to put my beloved dog Brandon down. He almost made it to 14 and that was one of the hardest things I've ever done. We spent a lot of money before that trying to keep him alive. Money we couldn't afford to spend. Yet instead of just grieving for my dog, I had to feel guilty about not being able to buy gifts. Our electricity was shut off topping off feeling guilty about not putting lights up outside the house.
This year I'm over feeling guilty about not doing what everyone else seems to be doing and you should stop feeling guilty too.
All the cards I wrote out were because I cared about the people I was sending them to. I still care and wish them well, hope for their health and happiness and I pray God sends His angels to watch over them. That is my gift to them instead of a card this year. I will call most of them on the phone or email instead.
My parents and brothers have passed away but I hold them in my heart and carry all the years of spending Christmas with them.
As for gifts, I will not feel guilty about giving gifts the way Christ did. While I cannot give the blind the ability to see, I can pray the day comes when they can. While I cannot help the lame find the ability to stand, I can help to keep some of them in the minds of many when I post on the soldiers coming home without limbs. I can help bring attention to the suffering of the men and women coming home with PTSD and TBI, telling their stories and maybe opening the hearts of others who would rather judge them instead of help them.
If we spend the rest of the New Year doing things out of love, that is a better gift than can be bought at the mall or shipped out on UPS. If we donate clothes we no longer wear, it is better than buying a sweater for someone with a full closet of clothes. If we fill up a bag at the grocery store for the needy, it is better than buying food to stuff everyone in our group beyond what they should be eating. Instead of making one morning in December so all important we forget about the rest of the year, let's make the rest of the year reflect what this one day out of the year was actually supposed to mean.
This year, I'm sending angels to everyone reading this blog so that you know the kind of gifts you give to others have no price tags and do not wear out or run out of batteries. It cannot be stolen from you. It is a gift that keeps giving because when you do something for someone else, it carries over to others. You will be surprised how much you really do have to give even when you cannot buy.
Illness Forces Vietnam Veteran to Turn to Charity
THE NEEDIEST CASES
Illness Forces Vietnam Veteran to Turn to Charity
By C. J. HUGHES
Published: December 19, 2010
Angled between the houseplants in Luis Perez’s high-rise apartment in Rockaway Beach, Queens, is a telescope aimed at surfers.
The views of them in the waves, along with the plants, help Mr. Perez, 59, feel somewhat connected to nature. He can no longer journey outside much — his immune system is too weakened by his illness, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which was found in his neck in December 2008 and has since spread to his stomach.
“The plants bring out beauty, you know what I mean?” Mr. Perez said on a recent afternoon, as waves crashed in the distance.
Yet to someone who used to go fishing often, and who would excitedly count the days until an annual camping trip to Hammonasset Beach State Park in Connecticut, ersatz wilderness might seem an offensive substitute for the real thing.
Another cruel twist is that Mr. Perez, a Vietnam War veteran who spent years working with suicidal teenagers, gang members and the developmentally disabled, is now in a position to need help himself.
Last spring, a doctor told Mr. Perez that he had to quit his job at Garfield Manor, a group home run by Catholic Charities in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Mr. Perez was a counselor there, helping residents with basic daily hygiene, as well as a floor-hockey coach for players vying for the Special Olympics.
Being in such close quarters with the 10 people living at Garfield put Mr. Perez at risk of infection, his doctor said. As it was, he wore a surgical mask to keep germs away on the A train, which he took to his hospital visits three times a week.
read more here
Illness Forces Vietnam Veteran to Turn to Charity
Illness Forces Vietnam Veteran to Turn to Charity
By C. J. HUGHES
Published: December 19, 2010
Angled between the houseplants in Luis Perez’s high-rise apartment in Rockaway Beach, Queens, is a telescope aimed at surfers.
The views of them in the waves, along with the plants, help Mr. Perez, 59, feel somewhat connected to nature. He can no longer journey outside much — his immune system is too weakened by his illness, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which was found in his neck in December 2008 and has since spread to his stomach.
“The plants bring out beauty, you know what I mean?” Mr. Perez said on a recent afternoon, as waves crashed in the distance.
Yet to someone who used to go fishing often, and who would excitedly count the days until an annual camping trip to Hammonasset Beach State Park in Connecticut, ersatz wilderness might seem an offensive substitute for the real thing.
Another cruel twist is that Mr. Perez, a Vietnam War veteran who spent years working with suicidal teenagers, gang members and the developmentally disabled, is now in a position to need help himself.
Last spring, a doctor told Mr. Perez that he had to quit his job at Garfield Manor, a group home run by Catholic Charities in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Mr. Perez was a counselor there, helping residents with basic daily hygiene, as well as a floor-hockey coach for players vying for the Special Olympics.
Being in such close quarters with the 10 people living at Garfield put Mr. Perez at risk of infection, his doctor said. As it was, he wore a surgical mask to keep germs away on the A train, which he took to his hospital visits three times a week.
read more here
Illness Forces Vietnam Veteran to Turn to Charity
Pentagon Health Plan Won't Cover Brain-Damage Therapy for Troops
Maybe this would have been ok in the 60's when they knew very little about brain damage. I wasn't even five when I was pushed off a slide and my scull was cracked plus damaged, but no one knew it at the time. Soon after this, I had to see a speech therapist, had trouble remembering and had a lot of headaches. Now we know a lot better because technology allows humans to see into the brain, see the damage done and then treat it to heal it. They need help to get back to their "normal" lives or as close as possible. They can get better!
Pentagon Health Plan Won't Cover Brain-Damage Therapy for Troops
T. CHRISTIAN MILLER and DANIEL ZWERDLING
December 20, 2010
During the past few decades, scientists have become increasingly persuaded that people who suffer brain injuries benefit from what is called cognitive rehabilitation therapy — a lengthy, painstaking process in which patients relearn basic life tasks such as counting, cooking or remembering directions to get home.
Many neurologists, several major insurance companies and even some medical facilities run by the Pentagon agree that the therapy can help people whose functioning has been diminished by blows to the head.
But despite pressure from Congress and the recommendations of military and civilian experts, the Pentagon’s health plan for troops and many veterans refuses to cover the treatment — a decision that could affect the tens of thousands of service members who have suffered brain damage while fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Tricare, an insurance-style program covering nearly 4 million active-duty military and retirees, says the scientific evidence does not justify providing comprehensive cognitive rehabilitation. Tricare officials say an assessment of the available research that they commissioned last year shows that the therapy is not well proven.
But an investigation by NPR and ProPublica found that internal and external reviewers of the Tricare-funded assessment criticized it as fundamentally misguided. Confidential documents obtained by NPR and ProPublica show that reviewers called the Tricare study "deeply flawed," "unacceptable" and"dismaying." One top scientist called the assessment a "misuse" of science designed to deny treatment for service members.
The Battle For Care Of The Wars' Signature Injuries
Tricare’s stance is also at odds with some medical groups, years of research and even other branches of the Pentagon. Last year, a panel of 50 civilian and military brain specialists convened by the Pentagon unanimously concluded that cognitive therapy was an effective treatment that would help many brain-damaged troops. More than a decade ago, a similar panel convened by the National Institutes of Health reached a similar consensus. Several peer-reviewed studies in the past few years have also endorsed cognitive therapy as a treatment for brain injury.
Tricare officials said their decisions are based on regulations requiring scientific proof of the efficacy and quality of treatment. But our investigation found that Tricare officials have worried in private meetings about the high cost of cognitive rehabilitation, which can cost $15,000 to $50,000 per soldier.
read more here
Pentagon Health Plan Won't Cover Brain-Damage Therapy for Troops
Sunday, December 19, 2010
66,342 female veterans report assaults from 2002 to 2008
Women vets' secret war: Sexual trauma
66,342 female veterans report assaults from 2002 to 2008 -- by their band of brothers.
By KIM ODE, Star Tribune
Last update: December 17, 2010 - 11:32 PM
Judy VanVoorhis knew that some men thought she had no business serving in the National Guard. How? She smiled fleetingly. "They told me." The military world often lacks the nuance of civilian life.
She had enlisted in 1985 and moved steadily through the ranks, becoming an instructor at an officer training school. In 1999, while at a conference, a group of instructors went out for supper.
"One guy seemed like he was trying to get everyone drunk, without drinking too much himself," she recalled. "I left, but he cornered me and tried to kiss me and I said I wasn't interested."
She went up to her room, only to discover that he'd followed her. She doesn't remember much about the assault that followed. "I was so shaken after it happened, I wanted to forget about it. You don't expect this from the people you're supposed to trust. I said no and that's all I had to say."
She might never have told anyone, had a male colleague not seen her flinch during a meeting when her attacker's name was mentioned. When he later pulled her aside to ask if she was OK, she told him everything. Turns out he had suspected as much.
"He told me, 'You're the fifth woman who's told me this same story.'"
read more here
Women vets secret war
End of Military Gay Ban Is Pivotal Moment in History
End of Military Gay Ban Is Pivotal Moment in History
Dec 18, 2010
Andrea Stone
Senior Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Dec. 18) -- The Senate's 65-31 vote to end the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military was more than historic. It was a long time coming. But for the men and women whose lives and careers were touched for so many years by the ban, it was mostly personal.
For Wally Kutteles, whose stepson, Army Pfc. Barry Winchell, was bludgeoned to death in 1999 by a fellow soldier after months of harassment and whose death shined a light on gay-bashing in the ranks, the repeal meant the 21-year-old did not die in vain. "It's about time," he said.
read more here
End of Military Gay Ban Is Pivotal Moment in History
Dec 18, 2010
Andrea Stone
Senior Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Dec. 18) -- The Senate's 65-31 vote to end the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military was more than historic. It was a long time coming. But for the men and women whose lives and careers were touched for so many years by the ban, it was mostly personal.
For Grethe Cammermeyer, the Vietnam combat nurse who came out as a lesbian in 1989 and whose struggle to stay in the military made her famous, the Senate vote brought tears. It's "the relief of finally seeing that we can serve with dignity and with integrity and that people no longer have to lie," she said.
For Wally Kutteles, whose stepson, Army Pfc. Barry Winchell, was bludgeoned to death in 1999 by a fellow soldier after months of harassment and whose death shined a light on gay-bashing in the ranks, the repeal meant the 21-year-old did not die in vain. "It's about time," he said.
read more here
End of Military Gay Ban Is Pivotal Moment in History
For Susan Luz, being a nurse has meant a life during wartime
WOMAN OF WAR: For Susan Luz, being a nurse has meant a life during wartime
By Linda Murphy
Special to The Herald News
Posted Dec 18, 2010 @ 03:09 PM
TIVERTON —
The guiding force that drove Susan (Corry) Luz through the University of Rhode Island’s rigorous five-year nursing program was her desire to become an Army nurse in Vietnam. Inspired by her father, a decorated World War II combat veteran, Luz avoided the college party scene, and the anti-war sentiment on campus, and focused intently on her plan to serve in the war.
But her father, Patrick Corry, who saw a military nurse killed in World War II, and silently lived with the resonating images of the horrors of war, wouldn’t hear of his young daughter joining up. Instead, she joined the Peace Corps, but her chance to serve came decades later: At age 56, Army Reservist Luz left behind her husband and family in Rhode Island to serve as a nurse in war-ravaged Mosul, Iraq.
Colonel Susan Luz, who was the highest-ranking female soldier in the Army Reserve’s 399th Combat Support Hospital when she was called to active duty, will be discussing her experiences and signing copies of her book, “The Nightingale of Mosul, a Nurse’s Journey of Service, Struggle and War,” at an upcoming event sponsored by the Friends of Tiverton Library.
Luz, who was awarded the Bronze Star in 2007, followed in the footsteps of a storied family history of military service. Her father fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart, and her husband George’s father, George Luz senior, was a Fall River native whose experiences in World War II were featured in the book and HBO mini-series “Band of Brothers.”
It didn’t take very long for Luz to experience the danger of being a nurse serving “behind the front line” in war zone firsthand. On her forth day at the hospital in Mosul, a nurse who was scheduled to leave within a couple days of Luz’s unit taking over was hit by mortar fire and seriously injured.
It was the first MASCAL (code for mass casualty) of 14 MASCALS that her unit would handle during their year in the Middle East. In all, they treated more than 30,000 wounded soldiers and endured 300 mortar attacks in Mosul and Al Asad, where they relocated to open a Level I hospital when the United States Military ramped up forces in 2007.
read more here
For Susan Luz, being a nurse has meant a life during wartime
By Linda Murphy
Special to The Herald News
Posted Dec 18, 2010 @ 03:09 PM
TIVERTON —
The guiding force that drove Susan (Corry) Luz through the University of Rhode Island’s rigorous five-year nursing program was her desire to become an Army nurse in Vietnam. Inspired by her father, a decorated World War II combat veteran, Luz avoided the college party scene, and the anti-war sentiment on campus, and focused intently on her plan to serve in the war.
But her father, Patrick Corry, who saw a military nurse killed in World War II, and silently lived with the resonating images of the horrors of war, wouldn’t hear of his young daughter joining up. Instead, she joined the Peace Corps, but her chance to serve came decades later: At age 56, Army Reservist Luz left behind her husband and family in Rhode Island to serve as a nurse in war-ravaged Mosul, Iraq.
Colonel Susan Luz, who was the highest-ranking female soldier in the Army Reserve’s 399th Combat Support Hospital when she was called to active duty, will be discussing her experiences and signing copies of her book, “The Nightingale of Mosul, a Nurse’s Journey of Service, Struggle and War,” at an upcoming event sponsored by the Friends of Tiverton Library.
Luz, who was awarded the Bronze Star in 2007, followed in the footsteps of a storied family history of military service. Her father fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart, and her husband George’s father, George Luz senior, was a Fall River native whose experiences in World War II were featured in the book and HBO mini-series “Band of Brothers.”
It didn’t take very long for Luz to experience the danger of being a nurse serving “behind the front line” in war zone firsthand. On her forth day at the hospital in Mosul, a nurse who was scheduled to leave within a couple days of Luz’s unit taking over was hit by mortar fire and seriously injured.
It was the first MASCAL (code for mass casualty) of 14 MASCALS that her unit would handle during their year in the Middle East. In all, they treated more than 30,000 wounded soldiers and endured 300 mortar attacks in Mosul and Al Asad, where they relocated to open a Level I hospital when the United States Military ramped up forces in 2007.
read more here
For Susan Luz, being a nurse has meant a life during wartime
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Melvin Biddle, Medal of Honor recipient, dead at 87
December 17, 2010
Melvin Biddle, Medal of Honor recipient, dead at 87
The Herald Bulletin
ANDERSON, Ind. — Melvin Biddle, the soft-spoken Central Indiana native who went on to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for his role in World War II’s infamous Battle of the Bulge, died Friday at Saint John’s Medical Center. He was 87.
Melvin Biddle, MOH, dead at 87
From MSNBC
Melvin Biddle, Medal of Honor recipient, dead at 87
The Herald Bulletin
ANDERSON, Ind. — Melvin Biddle, the soft-spoken Central Indiana native who went on to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for his role in World War II’s infamous Battle of the Bulge, died Friday at Saint John’s Medical Center. He was 87.
Melvin Biddle, MOH, dead at 87
From MSNBC
Fearless woman helps treat post-traumatic stress disorder
Researchers have been trying to block experiences from this part of the brain for a very long time but in the process they need to know what else they will be preventing as a part of the human mind is supposed to function in harmony with other parts of the brain. Fear is not the enemy to defeat but overcoming it is the key they should be looking for.
Fearless woman helps treat post-traumatic stress disorder
By William Atkins
Sunday, 19 December 2010 00:41
Science - Health
Page 1 of 3
American researchers are studying a woman nicknamed "SM" who is without fear, with the hope they can learn how to better treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients.
The research is written in the journal Current Biology. It is entitled “The Human Amygdala and the Induction and Experience of Fear” (December 16, 2010)
The authors are Justin S. Feinstein, Ralph Adolphs, Antonio Damasio, and Daniel Tranel, either from the University of Iowa (Iowa City) or the University of Southern California (Los Angeles).
The woman, who has been nicknamed “SM,” has amygdale damage caused by Urbach-Wiethy disease.
Amygdala (nucleus amygdae) is an almond-shaped structure within the medial temporal lobes of the brain. It is used to process memories of emotional reactions, such as fear in animals including humans.
read more here
Fearless woman helps treat post-traumatic stress disorder
Bringing homeless veterans indoors
Bringing veterans indoors
By Mark Emmons
memmons@mercurynews.com
Posted: 12/18/2010 12:02:00 AM PST
Updated: 12/18/2010 03:51:24 AM PST
Larry Morrison pulls a key chain from his pocket. Attached is one of his Army dog tags, so shiny that it appears almost brand new. There's also a pair of worn St. Christopher medals.
They honor two close friends who didn't come home with him from the Vietnam War.
"You never forget," said Morrison, 60. "But just in case, I have these."
Like many of his generation, Morrison returned from Southeast Asia a changed man after a 22-month tour of duty. Plagued by post-traumatic stress disorder, he would self-medicate with drugs and alcohol, trying to ease the episodes of apprehension and fear that would flare up unexpectedly. His downward spiral hit bottom with a year spent homeless on South Bay streets.
But in July, at the suggestion of a San Jose police officer, an ill and exhausted Morrison arrived at the EHC LifeBuilders' Veterans Service Center in San Jose. Morrison received shelter, food, medical treatment and something else:
A renewed sense of hope.
"This is a good place," he said. "They've showed me the path here. They've put me on the onramp, and I'm trying to get back to life's highway. They really care."
Homelessness is a persistent problem that hasn't been made any easier by the terrible economy. But it's a particularly vexing issue for veterans.
An estimated 107,000 vets experienced homelessness in 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Although those numbers are a sharp decline from earlier in the decade, veterans still represent 13 percent of the country's homeless population.
read more here
Bringing veterans indoors
By Mark Emmons
memmons@mercurynews.com
Posted: 12/18/2010 12:02:00 AM PST
Updated: 12/18/2010 03:51:24 AM PST
Larry Morrison pulls a key chain from his pocket. Attached is one of his Army dog tags, so shiny that it appears almost brand new. There's also a pair of worn St. Christopher medals.
They honor two close friends who didn't come home with him from the Vietnam War.
"You never forget," said Morrison, 60. "But just in case, I have these."
Like many of his generation, Morrison returned from Southeast Asia a changed man after a 22-month tour of duty. Plagued by post-traumatic stress disorder, he would self-medicate with drugs and alcohol, trying to ease the episodes of apprehension and fear that would flare up unexpectedly. His downward spiral hit bottom with a year spent homeless on South Bay streets.
But in July, at the suggestion of a San Jose police officer, an ill and exhausted Morrison arrived at the EHC LifeBuilders' Veterans Service Center in San Jose. Morrison received shelter, food, medical treatment and something else:
A renewed sense of hope.
"This is a good place," he said. "They've showed me the path here. They've put me on the onramp, and I'm trying to get back to life's highway. They really care."
Homelessness is a persistent problem that hasn't been made any easier by the terrible economy. But it's a particularly vexing issue for veterans.
An estimated 107,000 vets experienced homelessness in 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Although those numbers are a sharp decline from earlier in the decade, veterans still represent 13 percent of the country's homeless population.
read more here
Bringing veterans indoors
VA says PTSD claims up 125%
VA says PTSD claims up 125%
December 18, 2010 posted by Chaplain Kathie
This is just the beginning. You may think that nine years after troops were sent into Afghanistan that this would be close to the end but then you’d have to think that all other veterans had been taken care of. The fact is, they haven’t been. There were many Vietnam veterans unaware of what was “wrong” with them along with many more wanting nothing to do with the VA. They had heard horror stories about claims being denied leading them to believe they would be subjecting themselves to even more suffering turning to the government they no longer trusted. All of this topped off with the stigma hanging over their heads of being labeled as a “mental cases” or “crazy Nam vet” not worth much at all. It has taken over 40 years to make up for one year of their lives in hell yet there are many more who have not gotten the message yet that help and hope is waiting for them.
The other issue is that they know they will have to wait in a very long, ever growing, line. They will stand behind a quarter of a million men and women waiting over 125 days just to be told if their claim is approved or not. Most of the time when it is finally approved, they do not receive the 100% for a service connected disability like PTSD preventing them from working. They have to fight for the rest of the percentage they should be entitled to. Others will wait until their claim works to the top of the pile only to be informed their claim has been denied or more paperwork is needed to be done.
PTSD claims alone have increased 125% and there have been 200,000 new Agent Orange-related claims, only 30,000 of which have been decided, the department said.
New claims flow into the sea of other claims from other groups of veterans because when men and women were sent into combat, no one thought to make sure the VA was ready for the increase in need war would create.
In combat, the only safe emotion is anger. When PTSD takes over, that is the strongest emotion allowed to come out. The extra battle of fighting the VA feeds anger at the same time it robs them of hope. Advocates tell them the sooner they get treated the better but what we don’t tell them is they will go through hell to get treated. We don’t tell them that while they are suffering, seeing it all turn to crap, they will have to face months, if not years, of fighting the VA to get it. We won’t tell them that getting the help they need may take longer than the reason they need help in the first place.
For Vietnam veterans, most of them served 12 months overseas. One year in hell caused a lifetime of suffering in far too many. According to a 1978 publication from the Disabled American Veterans’ study, Readjustment Problems Among Vietnam Veterans by Jim Goodwin Psy.D, there were well known issues that have since been forgotten as if none of these studies had ever been published. While veterans wait, millions are wasted on repeating what was already known. By 1978 there were 500,000 Vietnam veterans suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder even though the VA had no yet accepted the term. These men and many female veterans ended up fighting to heal at the same time they spent years trying to get the VA to help them heal, which made it all worse.
Trauma is Greek meaning “wound” and it was used because PTSD comes from an outside force after exposure to life threatening events. It really means a wound to a person’s emotional part of their brain caused by the stressful situations creating disorder. In other words, had they lived without the traumas of combat, or in the case of civilians without exposure to other causes, they would not be suffering. But the process of filing claims with the VA and then waiting for their claims to be approved adds more trauma into their lives instead of easing their already wounded minds. If help was waiting for them there would have been less chronically ill lacking the ability to support themselves. It all gets worse as time goes by because what happens in their lives adds to it. The last thing they need is a prolonged battle with the VA.
read more here
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/12/18/va-says-ptsd-claims-up-125/
December 18, 2010 posted by Chaplain Kathie
This is just the beginning. You may think that nine years after troops were sent into Afghanistan that this would be close to the end but then you’d have to think that all other veterans had been taken care of. The fact is, they haven’t been. There were many Vietnam veterans unaware of what was “wrong” with them along with many more wanting nothing to do with the VA. They had heard horror stories about claims being denied leading them to believe they would be subjecting themselves to even more suffering turning to the government they no longer trusted. All of this topped off with the stigma hanging over their heads of being labeled as a “mental cases” or “crazy Nam vet” not worth much at all. It has taken over 40 years to make up for one year of their lives in hell yet there are many more who have not gotten the message yet that help and hope is waiting for them.
The other issue is that they know they will have to wait in a very long, ever growing, line. They will stand behind a quarter of a million men and women waiting over 125 days just to be told if their claim is approved or not. Most of the time when it is finally approved, they do not receive the 100% for a service connected disability like PTSD preventing them from working. They have to fight for the rest of the percentage they should be entitled to. Others will wait until their claim works to the top of the pile only to be informed their claim has been denied or more paperwork is needed to be done.
PTSD claims alone have increased 125% and there have been 200,000 new Agent Orange-related claims, only 30,000 of which have been decided, the department said.
New claims flow into the sea of other claims from other groups of veterans because when men and women were sent into combat, no one thought to make sure the VA was ready for the increase in need war would create.
Veterans Affairs faces daunting job of reducing medical claims backlogWhile they wait, bills are not paid if they are unable to work. This adds to the long list of symptoms PTSD comes with. Depression is part of PTSD. Waiting month after month to hear if their service will be honored or not feeds depression along with paranoia because they know what the truth is and justice would not allow them to suffer instead of being taken care of. They see their families suffer because they can no longer provide for them. This builds all of the other symptoms of PTSD as they feel their lives are being threatened while watching it all fall apart.
From Jennifer Rizzo, CNN National Security Producer
December 17, 2010 11:20 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A quarter-million medical claims have been in the system for 125-plus days, official says
Secretary Shinsheki had vowed to eliminate that delay time by year’s end
Changes in guidelines contributed to a higher number of claims
Washington (CNN) — Veteran claims for medical benefits are still piled high at the Veterans Affairs Department, despite a major push from the secretary of the department for quicker claims processing.
There are a quarter of a million claims in the system that have not been assessed within 125 days of being filed, according to Mike Walcoff, acting under secretary for benefits. Backlogged claims amount to more than one-third of the cases in the system, a similar ratio to last year.
Veterans Affairs faces daunting job of reducing medical claims backlog
In combat, the only safe emotion is anger. When PTSD takes over, that is the strongest emotion allowed to come out. The extra battle of fighting the VA feeds anger at the same time it robs them of hope. Advocates tell them the sooner they get treated the better but what we don’t tell them is they will go through hell to get treated. We don’t tell them that while they are suffering, seeing it all turn to crap, they will have to face months, if not years, of fighting the VA to get it. We won’t tell them that getting the help they need may take longer than the reason they need help in the first place.
For Vietnam veterans, most of them served 12 months overseas. One year in hell caused a lifetime of suffering in far too many. According to a 1978 publication from the Disabled American Veterans’ study, Readjustment Problems Among Vietnam Veterans by Jim Goodwin Psy.D, there were well known issues that have since been forgotten as if none of these studies had ever been published. While veterans wait, millions are wasted on repeating what was already known. By 1978 there were 500,000 Vietnam veterans suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder even though the VA had no yet accepted the term. These men and many female veterans ended up fighting to heal at the same time they spent years trying to get the VA to help them heal, which made it all worse.
Trauma is Greek meaning “wound” and it was used because PTSD comes from an outside force after exposure to life threatening events. It really means a wound to a person’s emotional part of their brain caused by the stressful situations creating disorder. In other words, had they lived without the traumas of combat, or in the case of civilians without exposure to other causes, they would not be suffering. But the process of filing claims with the VA and then waiting for their claims to be approved adds more trauma into their lives instead of easing their already wounded minds. If help was waiting for them there would have been less chronically ill lacking the ability to support themselves. It all gets worse as time goes by because what happens in their lives adds to it. The last thing they need is a prolonged battle with the VA.
read more here
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/12/18/va-says-ptsd-claims-up-125/
Friday, December 17, 2010
When the news breaks the journalist: PTSD
When the news breaks the journalist: PTSD
By Frederik Joelving
NEW YORK | Fri Dec 17, 2010 4:08pm EST
(Reuters Health) - Chris Cramer, 62, was a fledgling war correspondent when one spring day 30 years ago he got much closer to the battle than he'd ever intended.
Just back from Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, his boss at the BBC had asked him to fly to Tehran, where militants were holding dozens of Americans hostage at the U.S. embassy.
But as he went to pick up his visa in London on April 30, 1980, he jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire: Six gunmen stormed the Iranian embassy, taking Cramer and 25 other people hostage.
"I lasted two days before I became sick -- well, I actually feigned a heart attack to get out," said Cramer, now global editor of multimedia at Reuters in New York.
While the experience left his body unscathed, his mental health was in tatters.
"I went through real anguish for a couple of years," he said. "I had flashbacks, I had extraordinary claustrophobia, which I'd never had before. For several years, I did not go to a cinema, I did not go into an elevator. If I ever went into a restaurant, I positioned myself near the door for a fast exit. For many, many months after the incident I checked under my car every morning before driving it. I was a basket case, I was a mess."
It is becoming increasingly clear that there is nothing unique about Cramer's case. In fact, a 2003 survey found, more than a quarter of war correspondents struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
That's just shy of the 30 percent of Vietnam veterans who have suffered the mental breakdown, and nearly four times higher than in the general population, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. And there are signs that journalists may be facing more dangers now than ever, putting both their physical and mental health at risk.
"There are a lot of undetected emotional problems in the profession," said Dr. Anthony Feinstein, a psychiatrist at the University of Toronto, Canada, and one of the first to explore the psychological toll of war reporting. "Some of the big organizations are very aware of it, but many are not."
read more here
When the news breaks the journalist: PTSD
By Frederik Joelving
NEW YORK | Fri Dec 17, 2010 4:08pm EST
(Reuters Health) - Chris Cramer, 62, was a fledgling war correspondent when one spring day 30 years ago he got much closer to the battle than he'd ever intended.
Just back from Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, his boss at the BBC had asked him to fly to Tehran, where militants were holding dozens of Americans hostage at the U.S. embassy.
But as he went to pick up his visa in London on April 30, 1980, he jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire: Six gunmen stormed the Iranian embassy, taking Cramer and 25 other people hostage.
"I lasted two days before I became sick -- well, I actually feigned a heart attack to get out," said Cramer, now global editor of multimedia at Reuters in New York.
While the experience left his body unscathed, his mental health was in tatters.
"I went through real anguish for a couple of years," he said. "I had flashbacks, I had extraordinary claustrophobia, which I'd never had before. For several years, I did not go to a cinema, I did not go into an elevator. If I ever went into a restaurant, I positioned myself near the door for a fast exit. For many, many months after the incident I checked under my car every morning before driving it. I was a basket case, I was a mess."
It is becoming increasingly clear that there is nothing unique about Cramer's case. In fact, a 2003 survey found, more than a quarter of war correspondents struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
That's just shy of the 30 percent of Vietnam veterans who have suffered the mental breakdown, and nearly four times higher than in the general population, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. And there are signs that journalists may be facing more dangers now than ever, putting both their physical and mental health at risk.
"There are a lot of undetected emotional problems in the profession," said Dr. Anthony Feinstein, a psychiatrist at the University of Toronto, Canada, and one of the first to explore the psychological toll of war reporting. "Some of the big organizations are very aware of it, but many are not."
read more here
When the news breaks the journalist: PTSD
VA Processes First Claims for New Agent Orange Presumptives
VA Processes First Claims for New Agent Orange Presumptives
New Program Speeds Approval for Vietnam Veterans
WASHINGTON (Dec. 17, 2010) - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has
decided more than 28,000 claims in the first six weeks of processing
disability compensation applications from Vietnam Veterans with diseases
related to exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange.
"With new technology and ongoing improvements, we are quickly removing
roadblocks to processing benefits," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Eric K. Shinseki. "We are also conducting significant outreach to
Vietnam Veterans to encourage them to submit their completed application
for this long-awaited benefit."
VA published a final regulation on Aug. 31 that makes Veterans who
served in the Republic of Vietnam and who have been diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease, ischemic heart disease, or a B-cell (or hairy-cell)
leukemia eligible for health care and disability compensation benefits.
With the expiration of the required 60-day congressional review on Oct.
30, VA is now able to process these claims.
Vietnam Veterans covered under the new policy are encouraged to file
their claims through a new VA Web portal at www.fasttrack.va.gov
. Vietnam Veterans are the first users
of this convenient automated claims processing system.
If treated for these diseases outside of VA's health system, it is
important for Veterans to gather medical evidence from their non-VA
physicians. VA has made it easy for physicians to supply the clinical
findings needed to approve the claim through the new Web portal. These
medical forms are also available at www.vba.va.gov/disabilityexams.
The portal guides Veterans through Web-based menus to capture
information and medical evidence required for faster claims decisions.
While the new system currently is limited to these three disabilities,
usage will expand soon to include claims for other conditions.
VA has begun collecting data that recaps its progress in processing
claims for new Agent Orange benefits at
Agent Orange Report Card
New Program Speeds Approval for Vietnam Veterans
WASHINGTON (Dec. 17, 2010) - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has
decided more than 28,000 claims in the first six weeks of processing
disability compensation applications from Vietnam Veterans with diseases
related to exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange.
"With new technology and ongoing improvements, we are quickly removing
roadblocks to processing benefits," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Eric K. Shinseki. "We are also conducting significant outreach to
Vietnam Veterans to encourage them to submit their completed application
for this long-awaited benefit."
VA published a final regulation on Aug. 31 that makes Veterans who
served in the Republic of Vietnam and who have been diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease, ischemic heart disease, or a B-cell (or hairy-cell)
leukemia eligible for health care and disability compensation benefits.
With the expiration of the required 60-day congressional review on Oct.
30, VA is now able to process these claims.
Vietnam Veterans covered under the new policy are encouraged to file
their claims through a new VA Web portal at www.fasttrack.va.gov
of this convenient automated claims processing system.
If treated for these diseases outside of VA's health system, it is
important for Veterans to gather medical evidence from their non-VA
physicians. VA has made it easy for physicians to supply the clinical
findings needed to approve the claim through the new Web portal. These
medical forms are also available at www.vba.va.gov/disabilityexams.
The portal guides Veterans through Web-based menus to capture
information and medical evidence required for faster claims decisions.
While the new system currently is limited to these three disabilities,
usage will expand soon to include claims for other conditions.
VA has begun collecting data that recaps its progress in processing
claims for new Agent Orange benefits at
Agent Orange Report Card
Do you deserve a miracle in your life?
Do you deserve a miracle in your life? You may be like me knowing you need a miracle but not feeling as if you deserve one. How many times have you put your head in your hands and thought "only a miracle can save me now" because you felt so helpless? All of us do it at one time or another in our lifetime. With the economy the way it is right now, there are more and more worried about things they never thought they'd have to worry about.
How do you pay the bills instead of what gifts you will buy at the mall? Did you find yourself staying away from malls because you know you don't have a dime to your name to spare? Did you wonder why you couldn't shop like your friends or have a party like the one you were invited to? Did you wonder what you did wrong that this year there is no reason to celebrate at all?
This is supposed to be the joyous time of the year when TV commercials tell us that giving the perfect gift to someone we love will make us happy. It is supposed to be the time of being unselfishly thinking about the happiness of someone else instead of ourselves. Yet when you saw interviews of people waiting all night for a black friday sale, they were talking about buying something for themselves. The people who have money, are able to pay their bills, pay to heat their homes and pay their mortgages/rent, tend to not feel lucky as much as they feel they deserve all they have. After all, they worked hard for all of it but the truth is, most of us worked hard but were left with nothing to show for it.
We may remember years when our families seemed to have all we could ever ask for with a tree decorated tenderly, stuffed with perfectly wrapped gifts we spent weeks shopping for and enough food to feed the neighborhood. We may think about years when our families were all gathered around to celebrate this day we are supposed to honor the birth of Christ. Then we wonder why it all fell apart. How did we end up this year with nothing? How did our family members pass away so there is no need to set the table for more than two? How did we end up not even putting up a tree this year while our neighbors have their homes covered in lights? There was a time when seeing these homes gave me a warm feeling inside but now they just make me feel more empty.
Maxed out credit cards and bills you can't pay because your bank account is empty leaves you wondering when the ghosts of Christmas will show up and haunt your rich relatives so their eyes are opened to your need. You scrape up as much change as you can so that you can buy a lottery ticket right after you hear about some other needy person hitting it for millions and you wonder why it wasn't you. You may think back to all the years you donated to charity to help others have a reason to celebrate, knowing they were cared about by someone while this year you are the one in need but no one is coming to help you feel cared about.
Over two thousand years ago a child was born. He came into this world to live among the poor instead of among the rich and powerful. No one deserved Him coming into this world to teach them what love really was and no one deserved Him being willing to sacrifice His life. He could have had left us all to live and die according to our own thoughts and stand before God on our day of judgment all by ourselves to answer for our deeds, but He came anyway. He preached about taking care of the poor and needy, helping each other with caring hearts, charity, compassion, mercy and forgiveness. He also told the people who heard His voice that God loved them.
They went back to their simple homes with little comforts but they knew they were no longer invisible to God because a loving miracle came into their lives and gave them love.
Those times were not taken up by shopping at the mall or untangling lights from the year before. They did not spend hours addressing Christmas cards to send to people they never hear from during the rest of the year. They didn't avoid paying a bill so they could go out and buy what they couldn't afford any more than they felt guilty because they couldn't buy anything for a gift someone else didn't really want or need just so they wouldn't be embarrassed by their poverty. They had a different value system that did not leave room for feeding the coffers of mega store chains. To them it was not what they could buy for someone else but what they could give to someone.
We seem to live in a time and place where greed is now something to not be ashamed of. Politicians proudly fight for the wealthy to the point where no one else's needs can be met until they take care of the rich. The rich want more and more no matter who has to suffer or pay for something they don't really need but feel they deserve. Yet when you look them in the eyes, you see how empty their lives really are. There are others, rich beyond belief, yet they have taken a vow to give away a great portion of their wealth to charity. They do not feel as if they deserve their money but have been blessed to have it. While some will spend their days shopping for stuff, others will go through their closets because this time of year is also cold in most parts of the country and there are homeless people with even less needing warm clothes and blankets. They will give what they don't need to someone with even less than they have. The homeless getting the help may not feel as if they deserve any help at all, but will feel blessed that someone cares they are in need.
None of us really deserve a miracle to happen in our lives, but we pray for one anyway. We hope that soon our help will come and our tears will stop flowing out of our eyes. We wait. Somewhere in the country, there is a person being called to help us but they do not willingly deliver what God is asking them to do, so we wait longer. We end up blaming God for not answering our prayers and then we turn from God. The same God who loved us so much He sent Christ. The same God we praised when we felt He helped us all the other times in our lives when we were in need.
The day we fell in love, we felt God sent the person into our lives. The day we marry, we invite God to be there with us and watch over us,yet when we argue, we feel God has stepped out of our lives. We thank him when our kids are born yet as soon as they get sick, turn into brats or don't live up to our expectations, we wonder where God is. We thank Him when we get a job and run to Him when we lose a job wondering why He didn't protect us from the budget cut or the bad boss we had. In good times, it is easy to praise God until we have it so good for so long that we end up believing we deserve it all and then want to keep it all for ourselves. In times of need, we turn to God for help, believing we deserve His help, until prayers have been unanswered for so long that we end up not feeling as if we deserve any help at all and God has judged us unworthy. We forget about all the times before when He helped us despite ourselves.
It is what we do in times of our own need that is a miracle. If we have seen everything taken away yet want to pray for someone else, there is a miracle. If we are ill yet pray for someone else, there is a miracle. If we have lost most of our faith yet manage to say a prayer for someone else, that is a miracle. When we can rise above our own troubles, our own heartaches, our own misery for the sake of someone else, there are miracles happening all around us everyday.
There was a woman who came to me last year to help her son. She said I saved his life after countless hours on the phone and spent emailing. Yet when her son was better and the crisis was over, I asked her for financial help, she turned me down. It was not something to make me regret helping her or her son and that was a miracle because honestly, had it been all on my ideas, I would have regretted every minute of it but God changed the way I thought about it and I ended up feeling sorry for her because she could take no pity on me or my need. The miracle lives on because no matter what I face, I still want to help other people when no one wants to help me.
This is the way we all need to live out our days to really honor the day Christ came into this world. The miracle in your life may not be fixing the problems in your life as much as it will be about fixing the way you face the problems with love, charity and compassion still there for others. If you feel love for someone else, be not ashamed you cannot buy them a gift. If you cannot afford to send a card this year, then send a prayer. If you cannot afford to travel to see family and friends, take the time to call them. We can give so much to others even when we have very little ourselves.
How do you pay the bills instead of what gifts you will buy at the mall? Did you find yourself staying away from malls because you know you don't have a dime to your name to spare? Did you wonder why you couldn't shop like your friends or have a party like the one you were invited to? Did you wonder what you did wrong that this year there is no reason to celebrate at all?
This is supposed to be the joyous time of the year when TV commercials tell us that giving the perfect gift to someone we love will make us happy. It is supposed to be the time of being unselfishly thinking about the happiness of someone else instead of ourselves. Yet when you saw interviews of people waiting all night for a black friday sale, they were talking about buying something for themselves. The people who have money, are able to pay their bills, pay to heat their homes and pay their mortgages/rent, tend to not feel lucky as much as they feel they deserve all they have. After all, they worked hard for all of it but the truth is, most of us worked hard but were left with nothing to show for it.
We may remember years when our families seemed to have all we could ever ask for with a tree decorated tenderly, stuffed with perfectly wrapped gifts we spent weeks shopping for and enough food to feed the neighborhood. We may think about years when our families were all gathered around to celebrate this day we are supposed to honor the birth of Christ. Then we wonder why it all fell apart. How did we end up this year with nothing? How did our family members pass away so there is no need to set the table for more than two? How did we end up not even putting up a tree this year while our neighbors have their homes covered in lights? There was a time when seeing these homes gave me a warm feeling inside but now they just make me feel more empty.
Maxed out credit cards and bills you can't pay because your bank account is empty leaves you wondering when the ghosts of Christmas will show up and haunt your rich relatives so their eyes are opened to your need. You scrape up as much change as you can so that you can buy a lottery ticket right after you hear about some other needy person hitting it for millions and you wonder why it wasn't you. You may think back to all the years you donated to charity to help others have a reason to celebrate, knowing they were cared about by someone while this year you are the one in need but no one is coming to help you feel cared about.
Over two thousand years ago a child was born. He came into this world to live among the poor instead of among the rich and powerful. No one deserved Him coming into this world to teach them what love really was and no one deserved Him being willing to sacrifice His life. He could have had left us all to live and die according to our own thoughts and stand before God on our day of judgment all by ourselves to answer for our deeds, but He came anyway. He preached about taking care of the poor and needy, helping each other with caring hearts, charity, compassion, mercy and forgiveness. He also told the people who heard His voice that God loved them.
They went back to their simple homes with little comforts but they knew they were no longer invisible to God because a loving miracle came into their lives and gave them love.
Those times were not taken up by shopping at the mall or untangling lights from the year before. They did not spend hours addressing Christmas cards to send to people they never hear from during the rest of the year. They didn't avoid paying a bill so they could go out and buy what they couldn't afford any more than they felt guilty because they couldn't buy anything for a gift someone else didn't really want or need just so they wouldn't be embarrassed by their poverty. They had a different value system that did not leave room for feeding the coffers of mega store chains. To them it was not what they could buy for someone else but what they could give to someone.
We seem to live in a time and place where greed is now something to not be ashamed of. Politicians proudly fight for the wealthy to the point where no one else's needs can be met until they take care of the rich. The rich want more and more no matter who has to suffer or pay for something they don't really need but feel they deserve. Yet when you look them in the eyes, you see how empty their lives really are. There are others, rich beyond belief, yet they have taken a vow to give away a great portion of their wealth to charity. They do not feel as if they deserve their money but have been blessed to have it. While some will spend their days shopping for stuff, others will go through their closets because this time of year is also cold in most parts of the country and there are homeless people with even less needing warm clothes and blankets. They will give what they don't need to someone with even less than they have. The homeless getting the help may not feel as if they deserve any help at all, but will feel blessed that someone cares they are in need.
None of us really deserve a miracle to happen in our lives, but we pray for one anyway. We hope that soon our help will come and our tears will stop flowing out of our eyes. We wait. Somewhere in the country, there is a person being called to help us but they do not willingly deliver what God is asking them to do, so we wait longer. We end up blaming God for not answering our prayers and then we turn from God. The same God who loved us so much He sent Christ. The same God we praised when we felt He helped us all the other times in our lives when we were in need.
The day we fell in love, we felt God sent the person into our lives. The day we marry, we invite God to be there with us and watch over us,yet when we argue, we feel God has stepped out of our lives. We thank him when our kids are born yet as soon as they get sick, turn into brats or don't live up to our expectations, we wonder where God is. We thank Him when we get a job and run to Him when we lose a job wondering why He didn't protect us from the budget cut or the bad boss we had. In good times, it is easy to praise God until we have it so good for so long that we end up believing we deserve it all and then want to keep it all for ourselves. In times of need, we turn to God for help, believing we deserve His help, until prayers have been unanswered for so long that we end up not feeling as if we deserve any help at all and God has judged us unworthy. We forget about all the times before when He helped us despite ourselves.
It is what we do in times of our own need that is a miracle. If we have seen everything taken away yet want to pray for someone else, there is a miracle. If we are ill yet pray for someone else, there is a miracle. If we have lost most of our faith yet manage to say a prayer for someone else, that is a miracle. When we can rise above our own troubles, our own heartaches, our own misery for the sake of someone else, there are miracles happening all around us everyday.
There was a woman who came to me last year to help her son. She said I saved his life after countless hours on the phone and spent emailing. Yet when her son was better and the crisis was over, I asked her for financial help, she turned me down. It was not something to make me regret helping her or her son and that was a miracle because honestly, had it been all on my ideas, I would have regretted every minute of it but God changed the way I thought about it and I ended up feeling sorry for her because she could take no pity on me or my need. The miracle lives on because no matter what I face, I still want to help other people when no one wants to help me.
This is the way we all need to live out our days to really honor the day Christ came into this world. The miracle in your life may not be fixing the problems in your life as much as it will be about fixing the way you face the problems with love, charity and compassion still there for others. If you feel love for someone else, be not ashamed you cannot buy them a gift. If you cannot afford to send a card this year, then send a prayer. If you cannot afford to travel to see family and friends, take the time to call them. We can give so much to others even when we have very little ourselves.
Slain Ft. Stewart soldier never violent
Mother: Slain Ft. Stewart soldier never violent
By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press
5:36 p.m. CST, December 16, 2010
SAVANNAH, Ga. — A slain Fort Stewart soldier was never violent, his mother said Thursday, disputing an assertion by the military that her son may have been the aggressor in a domestic fight that led to his death.
Army Spc. Alante L. Whiting, 22, of Westland, Mich., was fatally stabbed on the Georgia Army post Dec. 8 just hours after he returned from a tour in Iraq. He died at Fort Stewart's hospital.
His mother, Alesia Whiting, told The Associated Press that she spoke with her son, an Army intelligence analyst, by phone after his unit's flight landed in Georgia. She said he sounded like he couldn't be happier to be back.
"He was ecstatic -- laughing, joking, being silly," Alesia Whiting said. "He was telling me about the gift basket in his room that the soldiers all get. He was just talking about stuff in the future, saying, `I can't wait to get home, mommy."'
Within 18 hours after he arrived at Fort Stewart, Alante Whiting was dead. A delivery driver found him bleeding outside his barracks on Fort Stewart and called 911.
read more here
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ga-soldierslaying,0,4878572.story
By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press
5:36 p.m. CST, December 16, 2010
SAVANNAH, Ga. — A slain Fort Stewart soldier was never violent, his mother said Thursday, disputing an assertion by the military that her son may have been the aggressor in a domestic fight that led to his death.
Army Spc. Alante L. Whiting, 22, of Westland, Mich., was fatally stabbed on the Georgia Army post Dec. 8 just hours after he returned from a tour in Iraq. He died at Fort Stewart's hospital.
His mother, Alesia Whiting, told The Associated Press that she spoke with her son, an Army intelligence analyst, by phone after his unit's flight landed in Georgia. She said he sounded like he couldn't be happier to be back.
"He was ecstatic -- laughing, joking, being silly," Alesia Whiting said. "He was telling me about the gift basket in his room that the soldiers all get. He was just talking about stuff in the future, saying, `I can't wait to get home, mommy."'
Within 18 hours after he arrived at Fort Stewart, Alante Whiting was dead. A delivery driver found him bleeding outside his barracks on Fort Stewart and called 911.
read more here
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ga-soldierslaying,0,4878572.story
Mall shooting suspect served multiple times in Afghanistan
Mall shooting suspect is Army veteran; served in Afghanistan
Friends say the man lived with his wife in Springfield and served multiple tours overseas
BY JACK MORAN
The Register-Guard
Published: Friday, Dec 17, 2010 06:00AM
A former Army soldier shot by police after he allegedly fired several gunshots in a crowded Valley River Center parking lot on Wednesday clung to life Thursday at a Springfield hospital, officials said.
The man, identified by police as Michael Thomas Mason, 27, was listed in critical condition Thursday afternoon and was receiving treatment in the intensive care unit at Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield, hospital spokesman Jim Godbold said. However, when reached late Thursday night, Godbold said the hospital had no information on a person by that name at its facility.
Under federal medical privacy law, hospital officials are not allowed to disclose whether a patient has been admitted to their facility if and when so requested by a patient’s family.
Eugene police Capt. Chuck Tilby said investigators could not confirm Mason’s hometown. However, residents of an east Springfield neighborhood say Mason has lived at two addresses south of Main Street during the past few years.
Neighbors said Mason is married, and served multiple military tours in Afghanistan since U.S. combat operations began there in 2001.
“My son looks up to him, calls him his ‘life-sized soldier,’ ” said Camellia Street resident Kendra Lufkin, referring to Mason’s relationship with her 9-year-old son, Creed.
Lufkin and several other neighbors said Mason and his wife moved into a home earlier this year after residing in a nearby apartment complex. Lane County property records list him as the home’s owner.
A family spokesman who provided The Register-Guard with Mason’s photo said Mason served in the Army from 2002 to 2006.
Lufkin called Mason “a big teddy bear” with a tough exterior who once confided to her that his final tour in Afghanistan kept him awake some nights because the experience was “very extreme.”
read more here
Mall shooting suspect is Army veteran served in Afghanistan
Friends say the man lived with his wife in Springfield and served multiple tours overseas
BY JACK MORAN
The Register-Guard
Published: Friday, Dec 17, 2010 06:00AM
A former Army soldier shot by police after he allegedly fired several gunshots in a crowded Valley River Center parking lot on Wednesday clung to life Thursday at a Springfield hospital, officials said.
The man, identified by police as Michael Thomas Mason, 27, was listed in critical condition Thursday afternoon and was receiving treatment in the intensive care unit at Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield, hospital spokesman Jim Godbold said. However, when reached late Thursday night, Godbold said the hospital had no information on a person by that name at its facility.
Under federal medical privacy law, hospital officials are not allowed to disclose whether a patient has been admitted to their facility if and when so requested by a patient’s family.
Eugene police Capt. Chuck Tilby said investigators could not confirm Mason’s hometown. However, residents of an east Springfield neighborhood say Mason has lived at two addresses south of Main Street during the past few years.
Neighbors said Mason is married, and served multiple military tours in Afghanistan since U.S. combat operations began there in 2001.
“My son looks up to him, calls him his ‘life-sized soldier,’ ” said Camellia Street resident Kendra Lufkin, referring to Mason’s relationship with her 9-year-old son, Creed.
Lufkin and several other neighbors said Mason and his wife moved into a home earlier this year after residing in a nearby apartment complex. Lane County property records list him as the home’s owner.
A family spokesman who provided The Register-Guard with Mason’s photo said Mason served in the Army from 2002 to 2006.
Lufkin called Mason “a big teddy bear” with a tough exterior who once confided to her that his final tour in Afghanistan kept him awake some nights because the experience was “very extreme.”
read more here
Mall shooting suspect is Army veteran served in Afghanistan
9/11 First Responders React to the Senate Filibuster
Can there be any doubt left that the people who used September 11 really didn't care? They didn't care about the heroes that day we watched rush to ground zero, stand silently in line as another body had been found any more than they cared about them spending countless hours searching, hoping, praying, covered in toxic dust. They didn't even care that this happened 9 years ago and still these men and women who took no thought of their own lives when they were needed now face no thought over their lives as a result of their actions from the government because some in the GOP only cared when they could use these heroes.
Thursday December 16, 2010
9/11 First Responders React to the Senate Filibuster
9/11 first responders watch as Mitch McConnell cries over a friend's retirement, and Jon Kyl explains why the Senate can't work the week after Christmas. (08:55)
go here http://www.thedailyshow.com/
They should have never been asked to die like this, to suffer without the help they thought would be there but to have members of congress tell them they just don't deserve the same attention the rich have gotten from them, is too disgraceful to believe.
They were willing to die if a building fell on them. Willing to die trying to save the lives of someone else. To face death because they cared enough to go where others ran away from should have every American in this country screaming at the top of their own lungs that this is clearly wrong!
Thursday December 16, 2010
9/11 First Responders React to the Senate Filibuster
9/11 first responders watch as Mitch McConnell cries over a friend's retirement, and Jon Kyl explains why the Senate can't work the week after Christmas. (08:55)
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| 9/11 First Responders React to the Senate Filibuster | ||||
| ||||
They should have never been asked to die like this, to suffer without the help they thought would be there but to have members of congress tell them they just don't deserve the same attention the rich have gotten from them, is too disgraceful to believe.
They were willing to die if a building fell on them. Willing to die trying to save the lives of someone else. To face death because they cared enough to go where others ran away from should have every American in this country screaming at the top of their own lungs that this is clearly wrong!
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