US National Guard helicopter crashes in Puerto Rico, 6 feared dead
DANICA COTO
Associated Press
8:56 a.m. EST, December 21, 2010
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A Puerto Rico National Guard helicopter has crashed in the ocean after returning from a drug raid, with all six people aboard feared dead, officials said Tuesday.
Two of the passengers are prosecutors with the local justice department and the other four are officials with the National Guard, three of them crew members, said U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad.
Crews are searching for those aboard, and Police Chief Jose Figueroa Sancha told NotiUno radio station that officials found the fuselage of the UH-72 helicopter just north of the island.
The helicopter was returning from the neighboring island of Vieques when it disappeared late Monday just north of the coastal city of Rio Grande. One pilot had 10 years of experience and the other had at least six years, and neither reported any problems during the flight, said National Guard Gen. Antonio Vicens.
read more here
US National Guard helicopter crashes in Puerto Rico
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
New Hampshire policeman pulls soldier from burning car
Policeman pulls soldier from burning car
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Dec 20, 2010 17:09:13 EST
RAYMOND, N.H. — A Raymond police officer is being credited with saving the life of a soldier home from overseas deployment by pulling him out of a burning car.
Police say Officer Ryan Lehman was nearby when he heard the report of a crash on a Route 101 off-ramp early Sunday morning. He could see the car in the woods, so instead of driving, he ran toward it, arriving just as the vehicle became engulfed in flames.
read more here
Policeman pulls soldier from burning car
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Dec 20, 2010 17:09:13 EST
RAYMOND, N.H. — A Raymond police officer is being credited with saving the life of a soldier home from overseas deployment by pulling him out of a burning car.
Police say Officer Ryan Lehman was nearby when he heard the report of a crash on a Route 101 off-ramp early Sunday morning. He could see the car in the woods, so instead of driving, he ran toward it, arriving just as the vehicle became engulfed in flames.
read more here
Policeman pulls soldier from burning car
Army didn't want family of fallen Major saying he was gay
How bad has it been for gay soldiers serving this country when a family is asked to keep it to themselves that a Major, killed serving his country, was gay? That is something that is never really discussed. There are men and women buried in graves at Arlington but you'd never know it. It is not as if they have rainbow colored headstones popping up amid the sea of white stones. At Arlington, they all look the same. You can't tell what race they were but you can remember a time in the history of this nation when only white soldiers were allowed to serve. You can't tell if the grave belongs to a male or female unless you are close enough to read the name, but you can remember a time when females were not allowed to serve. When you see the graves at Arlington, you don't know if they were married, single, straight or gay. The only thing you can be sure of is they all died serving this country.
Did the Major have an honor guard and full military funeral just like everyone else? An honor, a true honor, would be they honored the life of his man who died for it but the Army only wanted to pretend to honor his life when they asked the family to keep his personal lifestyle quiet. They must have forgotten that the military only borrows these men and women from their families while they live and when they die, it is the family returning to the grave to mourn the loss of the person they loved for who he or she was and all they were.
A dear friend of mine is also buried at Arlington. The fact she was gay is not something I focus on because I focus on her laugh and how much she cared about the others serving this country. When her military life was over, it really wasn't over as a veteran fighting for other veterans. She testified before congress on Agent Orange and PTSD many times as a veteran. No one in congress cared about anything other than she was suffering from Agent Orange and PTSD as they listened to her talk.
When she decided to tell me that she was gay, it was years after we had spent many hours communicating with emails and phone calls. It was not until after we had a discussion about a news report that came out about a gay soldier and I voiced my opinion that she felt safe in telling me. She said it was a relief knowing she didn't have to hide her personal life from me anymore.
We talked about my husband and daughter, her family and the work we did. She was a wonderful woman, dear friend and true champion for veterans. That is what mattered to me and still stands out in my mind.
This talk about gays serving open being a distraction in battle seems more like a made up excuse when you consider if a soldier or Marine is so poorly trained they would be hitting on another soldier or Marine during a battle, that would indicated a larger problem with the preparedness of them than anything else. They must have used the same excuse when women were entering into the military without having to disguise themselves as males. When they are facing guns and bombs, the last thing on their mind is sex. They are too busy worrying about the lives of the others they are with and dying that day to think about anything else.
With all the talk about this sexual issue no one seems to be talking about all the sexual assaults that should be a more important issue to focus on since it is a crime. Where are these same commanders on this issue? Are they raising warnings about females being sexually assaulted by "straight" soldiers and Marines? Do they talk about how it is a distraction in battle? It seems more like rape has been one more "don't ask don't tell" practice for them.
Does it bother soldiers when they know someone in their unit has raped a female soldier? Does it harm the unity they are supposed to have when one of their own has been assaulted?
Rape is a crime because it is forced on someone else. Being "gay" is not a crime unless they force themselves on someone else. The issue here is that it is considered a "sin" and often people will quote from the Old Testament or letters from Paul but never once did Christ speak of it. He did talk about adultery because it hurts other people. He talked about judging someone but His issue was loving God and loving other people. This nation is supposed to be about freedom to worship as we want and equality as humans so how can we treat other humans as worth less because they are in the minority? When you consider that the men and women wiling to serve this nation are a minority as it is, gay people in the military should be the least of their issues and true crimes against them should be a lot more important. If commanders really cared about morality, they should be stopping rapes and treating it like the crime it is or they have no real moral ground to stand on.
But now we have an elected official fighting to dishonor yet again by forcing them to keep silent on their personal lives. He wants to keep "don't ask, don't tell" which only served to keep them hiding, much like the Army wanted to keep Major Roger's family silent.
Did the Major have an honor guard and full military funeral just like everyone else? An honor, a true honor, would be they honored the life of his man who died for it but the Army only wanted to pretend to honor his life when they asked the family to keep his personal lifestyle quiet. They must have forgotten that the military only borrows these men and women from their families while they live and when they die, it is the family returning to the grave to mourn the loss of the person they loved for who he or she was and all they were.
Friends honor gay soldier Maj. Alan Rogers, killed in Iraq, after repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
BY BILL HUTCHINSON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Monday, December 20th 2010, 9:53 AM
A gay Bronx soldier who fought for the repeal of the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy and died serving in Iraq was honored by friends at his snow-covered grave site.
Pals decorated Maj. Alan Rogers' grave at Arlington National Cemetery Saturday with flowers, a rainbow-colored lei, a Christmas wreath and congratulatory notes.
"Alan, we did it," one note read.
Tony Smith, 40, of Alexandra, Va., said he was one of the first friends to reach Rogers grave after the historic vote.
Daly wrote that the folded flag from Rogers' coffin was presented to a cousin and that his relatives were asked by the Army to refrain openly discussing his sexual orientation.
Read more: Friends honor gay soldier Maj. Alan Rogers
A dear friend of mine is also buried at Arlington. The fact she was gay is not something I focus on because I focus on her laugh and how much she cared about the others serving this country. When her military life was over, it really wasn't over as a veteran fighting for other veterans. She testified before congress on Agent Orange and PTSD many times as a veteran. No one in congress cared about anything other than she was suffering from Agent Orange and PTSD as they listened to her talk.
When she decided to tell me that she was gay, it was years after we had spent many hours communicating with emails and phone calls. It was not until after we had a discussion about a news report that came out about a gay soldier and I voiced my opinion that she felt safe in telling me. She said it was a relief knowing she didn't have to hide her personal life from me anymore.
We talked about my husband and daughter, her family and the work we did. She was a wonderful woman, dear friend and true champion for veterans. That is what mattered to me and still stands out in my mind.
This talk about gays serving open being a distraction in battle seems more like a made up excuse when you consider if a soldier or Marine is so poorly trained they would be hitting on another soldier or Marine during a battle, that would indicated a larger problem with the preparedness of them than anything else. They must have used the same excuse when women were entering into the military without having to disguise themselves as males. When they are facing guns and bombs, the last thing on their mind is sex. They are too busy worrying about the lives of the others they are with and dying that day to think about anything else.
With all the talk about this sexual issue no one seems to be talking about all the sexual assaults that should be a more important issue to focus on since it is a crime. Where are these same commanders on this issue? Are they raising warnings about females being sexually assaulted by "straight" soldiers and Marines? Do they talk about how it is a distraction in battle? It seems more like rape has been one more "don't ask don't tell" practice for them.
Does it bother soldiers when they know someone in their unit has raped a female soldier? Does it harm the unity they are supposed to have when one of their own has been assaulted?
Rape is a crime because it is forced on someone else. Being "gay" is not a crime unless they force themselves on someone else. The issue here is that it is considered a "sin" and often people will quote from the Old Testament or letters from Paul but never once did Christ speak of it. He did talk about adultery because it hurts other people. He talked about judging someone but His issue was loving God and loving other people. This nation is supposed to be about freedom to worship as we want and equality as humans so how can we treat other humans as worth less because they are in the minority? When you consider that the men and women wiling to serve this nation are a minority as it is, gay people in the military should be the least of their issues and true crimes against them should be a lot more important. If commanders really cared about morality, they should be stopping rapes and treating it like the crime it is or they have no real moral ground to stand on.
But now we have an elected official fighting to dishonor yet again by forcing them to keep silent on their personal lives. He wants to keep "don't ask, don't tell" which only served to keep them hiding, much like the Army wanted to keep Major Roger's family silent.
Virginian: Bar gays from National Guard
After Hill move, Marshall says it's state prerogative
By Seth McLaughlin-The Washington Times
Responding to the federal repeal of the military policy banning open gays from serving in the armed forces, a state lawmaker in Virginia plans to fight back with legislation that bars "active homosexuals" from serving in the Virginia National Guard.
Delegate Robert G. Marshall said the Constitution reserves states with the authority to do so and that he'll introduce a bill in the state General Assembly next year that ensures the "the effect of the 1994 federal law banning active homosexuals from America's military forces will apply to the Virginia National Guard."
"With the repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell,' President Obama seeks to pay back his homosexual political supporters," the Prince William County Republican said, echoing a sentiment shared by many of the repeal's most ardent opponents. "This policy will weaken military recruitment and retention, and will increase pressure for a military draft."
"The Constitution never would have been ratified if states were not [guaranteed] unqualified control of the militia, now called the National Guard," he said.
But Claire Gastanaga, legislative counsel for Equality Virginia, a gay-rights group, said the National Guard is a federal military unit subject to the same rules as other federal military units and that "any state statute seeking to set different standards for the Virginia National Guard would be a nullity with no effect."
read more of this here
Bar gays from National Guard
Soldier jumps from Tacoma Narrows bridge, swims away
This soldier pulled over to the side of the bridge. According to the officer, he was drunk. Did he pull over to sleep it off so that no one got hurt? What he was thinking, we may never know but somewhere there is a soldier who vanished after jumping off a bridge. Somewhere there is a family terrified the worst happened to someone they love.
Soldier jumps from Tacoma Narrows bridge
POSTED BY MIKE ARCHBOLD ON DECEMBER 20, 2010 AT 12:17 PM
A 25-year-old soldier from jumped off the eastbound Narrows bridge early this morning after talking briefly with a Washington State Patrol trooper who responded to a report of car stopped on the bridge.
Patrol spokeswoman Trooper Brandy Kessler said the trooper watched the man suddenly rush toward the railing and jump over. He saw the man face down in the water and then the man, who apparently survived the initial jump, started to swim away, she said.
“Then the trooper couldn’t see him anymore,” she said. She said th eman's name won't be released to te public.
The Tacoma Fire Department's fire boat searched the water south of the bridge where he was last seen without success. They turned the search over to the U.S. Coast Guard about 8 a.m. A Coast Guard helicopter and a 25-foot boat took up the search south of the bridge. It was suspended about 10:30 a.m., a Coast Guard spokesman said.
Kessler said they don’t know if the man, who was intoxicated, was trying to commit suicide. In his condition, she said the man might not have known where he was or even thought he could survive the jump.
Read more: Soldier jumps from Tacoma Narrows bridge
Monday, December 20, 2010
PTSD veteran calls 911 and ends up facing charges?
Zac Hershley was a veteran in trouble and did what advocates keep saying veterans like him need to do. He reached out for help before he hurt someone or himself. What else was he supposed to do? He called 911 in crisis and now he faces charges for doing it?
Lawyer for Ex-Soldier with PTSD Says Client is Target of Vindictive Prosecution
Rob Low,edited by Jason Vaughn
6:09 p.m. CST, December 20, 2010
PLATTE CITY, MO — An attorney for a former soldier who says that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder when he called 9-1-1 and allegedly held a gun when police arrived are firing back against the felony charges filed against Zac Hershley, saying that he is the target of prosecutorial vindictiveness.
On Monday, a Platte County judge found probable cause to put Hershley on trial for felony charges of placing officers in fear for their lives. But Hershley and his attorneys say that the only person in danger on that night last spring was Hershley himself.
Early on the morning of April 23rd, Hershley was standing in his front yard with a military assault rifle, talking to 9-1-1 operators. According to transcripts of the 9-1-1 call, Hershley at times seems to think that he's in Iraq, and he informed the operator that he called 9-1-1, and that he had PTSD.
"I called for help and now I'm charged with a felony," said Hershley.
read more here
Lawyer for Ex-Soldier with PTSD
Another war wound: Financial trauma for Central Florida's returning Reservists and National Guardsmen
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
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
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.
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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.
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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.'"
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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.
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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.
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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
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