Porter County court system to offer aid to combat vets
By JEFF SCHULTZ
Porter County Superior Court Judge Julia Jent says plans are in motion to make a veterans treatment court available in the county to provide troubled veterans with assistance instead of jail time.
Legislation was passed by the state last year that would allow the Indiana Judicial Center to certify veterans treatments court in any eligible county. The program falls under the umbrella of the Problem Solving Courts which includes drug court programs.
Jent, who is also a member of the state’s Problem Solving Courts committee, said the veterans treatment court will apply to combat veterans who have pleaded guilty to non-violent crimes or misdemeanors. The program also includes family members of the veterans.
Case managers will counsel defendants or participants in the program for alcohol and drug abuse, anger management and depression, similar to that of drug court. Many of the issues can be attributed to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder commonly experienced in some form by combat.
Those who work with the program until completion will be able to keep out of jail and some may even see their original criminal charges dropped from their record.
Jent said the program will also allow the judicial system to consult with the Army National Guard and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on the personal history of an individual vet to help determine what their needs are.
read more here
Porter County court system to offer aid to combat vets
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Lance Cpl. Ezequiel Freire got out of Afghanistan alive but died of overdose at Portsmouth Naval
A 20 year old Marine faces combat, survives, returns home with PTSD and cancer, then dies of an overdose while in the hospital. There is not much this story lacks. Feres Doctrine will keep the family from filling a malpractice suit. There won't really be accountability for the fact he was in the hospital when this happened. Cancer in a 20 year old Marine and the fact that there are toxic exposures reported for years leading to cancer including the burn pits. Contaminated water and soil add to this. Their stories have been told but more are hidden. Their families suffer without justice, without answers but above all, without change for the sake of those who come after their loved one. They have prepared for the fact a bullet or bomb could end their lives but who can prepare for the government to finish what the enemy could not do?
Family angered by Marine's overdose death at naval hospital
By Bill Sizemore
The Virginian-Pilot
© December 29, 2010
PORTSMOUTH
Lance Cpl. Ezequiel Freire got out of Afghanistan alive, but a stateside hospital stay proved fatal.
The 20-year-old Marine's death from a prescription drug overdose at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center has left his family reeling, outraged and frustrated by what they see as an absence of accountability for those charged with his care.
Freire died of a toxic cocktail of powerful narcotics and sedatives as he was awaiting chemotherapy treatment for cancer. The case underscores the dangers inherent in the many potent painkillers on the market today, which have helped drive an alarming rise in overdoses.
Overdose deaths from prescription drugs now exceed those from illegal drugs.
The Freire case also leaves unanswered the question of what, if any, consequences there were for the doctors involved in his care.
There were ample warnings available on the drug labels and in the medical literature about the risks of the multidrug therapy that was used in Freire's case.
But there is no record of any public disciplinary action against any of the doctors by the Virginia Board of Medicine.
A hospital official said the case has prompted several ongoing investigations that have resulted in corrective actions.
The final insult, in the eyes of Freire's family members, is that they have no legal recourse against his caregivers. That's because of a 60-year-old legal precedent known as the Feres Doctrine, which prohibits lawsuits when military service members are injured or killed by negligence.
"We trusted them, and they killed him," said Federico Freire, the dead man's older brother and a fellow Marine. "It just sickens me."
The Freire family moved to Bradenton, Fla., from their native Argentina when Federico was 10 and Ezequiel was 4.
Back at Camp Lejeune, N.C., he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
There was something else wrong, too. Increasingly, he was troubled by chest pains.
His sister had noticed it over Christmas. When she joked with him, he'd say "Julie, stop making me laugh. My heart hurts."
X-rays at the base clinic revealed a large mass in his chest. He was taken by ambulance to the Portsmouth naval hospital, where a biopsy led doctors to suspect Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of cancer.
read more here
Family angered by Marine's overdose death at naval hospital
Jacob's Light will shine bright for deployed soldiers
Fallen soldiers Mom needs help taking care of other "kids" CNN gave this Mom some much needed publicity for the work she is doing not just at Christmas time but all year long.
Added On December 27, 2010
Dorine Kenney started sending boxes to soldiers 11 days after her son was killed. Now she runs Jacob's Light Foundation.
Jacob's Light
Huffington Post picked up on it too. Spread the word so that Jacob's Light can shine even brighter for our deployed soldiers!
WATCH: Mother Of Killed Soldier Sends Thousands Of Care Packages To Troops
Mother Of Killed Soldier Sends Thousands Of Care Packages To Troops
Added On December 27, 2010
Dorine Kenney started sending boxes to soldiers 11 days after her son was killed. Now she runs Jacob's Light Foundation.
Jacob's Light
Huffington Post picked up on it too. Spread the word so that Jacob's Light can shine even brighter for our deployed soldiers!
WATCH: Mother Of Killed Soldier Sends Thousands Of Care Packages To Troops
Mother Of Killed Soldier Sends Thousands Of Care Packages To Troops
Government does not get that soldiers are on loan from families
It is not a 9-5 job. It is not a job where you get to decide where you are transferred to or when. It is not a job where you get to decide when you want vacation or even when you get to see your family. They belonged to their family first and then they loaned their son/daughter/husband/wife/Dad/Mom to the government for the safe keeping of the rest of us. They don't get to go home for the birth of their children or for any happy occasions they want to be a part of. These things do on without them. When it comes to a crisis in the family, they are supposed to get them home. This point the government fails to remember on a constant basis.
John Lidster is one of example of this. He was serving in South Korea when his Mom was put on life support. The Red Cross managed to get him leave put now he owes the government for the cost of getting him home.
The questions this report leaves could go on forever without answers and sadly without changes. Where was the military "family" the DOD has? Where were the National Guards? Where were all the service organizations that have been operating across the country for generations? Why did it take the Patriot Guard Riders and the State Troopers to step up and get this soldier home to see his dying Mom?
There are always stories about heroes and villains. Not hard to guess which is which in this story.
John Lidster is one of example of this. He was serving in South Korea when his Mom was put on life support. The Red Cross managed to get him leave put now he owes the government for the cost of getting him home.
Soldier helped by Red Cross, indebt to governmentAs you can see here, he didn't make it all the way without the help of the State Troopers and the Patriot Guard Riders.
by Brody O'Connell
TRAVERSE CITY, MI -- Monday on 7/4 News, we told you about a U.S. soldier who rushed home on Christmas day to see his sick mother.
John Lidster is currently serving in South Korea. His mother is on life support at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City. It cost Lidster $2,800 to get back to home to visit his mom.
read more here
Soldier helped by Red Cross, indebt to governmen
Soldier rushed home to see ill mother
by Brody O'Connell
TRAVERSE CITY, MI -- John Lidster is a soldier in the United States army. He is serving in South Korea.
Halfway around the world, his mother is on life support at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City.
On Christmas day, he was flown into Los Angeles, California from South Korea. He was going home to see his mother.
Lidster was supposed to catch a connector flight to Chicago, but after a mix-up in customs, he missed his flight. That’s when the Patriot Guard was contacted. They arranged for Lidster to get on a later flight to Chicago. He landed just before 9 p.m. Saturday night.
From Chicago, a Patriot Guard member drove him to the Indiana state line, where he was met by an Indiana State Trooper.
Lidster was then rushed to the Michigan state line and a Patriot Guard member drove him back to Traverse City.
John Lidster arrived at Munson Medical Center at 3:45 Sunday morning. There were 13 Patriot Guard members waiting for him in a sea of American flags.
read more here
Soldier rushed home to see ill mother
The questions this report leaves could go on forever without answers and sadly without changes. Where was the military "family" the DOD has? Where were the National Guards? Where were all the service organizations that have been operating across the country for generations? Why did it take the Patriot Guard Riders and the State Troopers to step up and get this soldier home to see his dying Mom?
There are always stories about heroes and villains. Not hard to guess which is which in this story.
PTSD veteran won't face prosecution after "meltdown" at mall
DA: Prosecuting this young man would be a waste of time
By KVAL.com staff
EUGENE, Ore. - A man shot by police after firing shots at cars in a mall parking lot will not face criminal charges because he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at the time of the incident, according to the district attorney.
Michael Thomas Mason, 27, was in the midst of a PTSD-related meltdown when he fired a gun at cars in the Valley River Center mall parking lot, District Attorney Alex Gardner said Tuesday.
"There's no reason to believe that he was even directly threatening other people," Gardner said.
Bullets hit one and possibly two cars, Gardner said. Mason or his family will pay to repair the damages, he said.
"Obviously firing a gun inside city limits puts people at risk," he added. "Obviously there has to be immediate law enforcement response to that. Obviously law enforcement has to prevent him from that.
"When he had this meltdown, it was just that," Gardner said. "It's a meltdown, and he's not recognizing family members, he's not responsive to their conversations."
Mason served in Iraq and witnessed the deaths of dozens of his fellow soldiers, his family said in a prepared statement.
"We hear a lot about post-traumatic stress, and a lot of people make claims about it and in some cases where it doesn't seem to be merited," Gardner said. "There is no question but that this was a real episode."
read more here
Prosecuting this young man would be a waste of time
By KVAL.com staff
EUGENE, Ore. - A man shot by police after firing shots at cars in a mall parking lot will not face criminal charges because he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at the time of the incident, according to the district attorney.
Michael Thomas Mason, 27, was in the midst of a PTSD-related meltdown when he fired a gun at cars in the Valley River Center mall parking lot, District Attorney Alex Gardner said Tuesday.
"There's no reason to believe that he was even directly threatening other people," Gardner said.
Bullets hit one and possibly two cars, Gardner said. Mason or his family will pay to repair the damages, he said.
"Obviously firing a gun inside city limits puts people at risk," he added. "Obviously there has to be immediate law enforcement response to that. Obviously law enforcement has to prevent him from that.
"When he had this meltdown, it was just that," Gardner said. "It's a meltdown, and he's not recognizing family members, he's not responsive to their conversations."
Mason served in Iraq and witnessed the deaths of dozens of his fellow soldiers, his family said in a prepared statement.
"We hear a lot about post-traumatic stress, and a lot of people make claims about it and in some cases where it doesn't seem to be merited," Gardner said. "There is no question but that this was a real episode."
read more here
Prosecuting this young man would be a waste of time
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Marine home on leave, wife attacked by teens after showing of "Little Fockers"
UPDATE to this story
Attack on Marine at Florida Theater Comes Months After Brother's Death at Navy Hospital
By Cristina Corbin
Published December 30, 2010
FoxNews.com
The recent attack on a Marine and his wife outside a Florida movie theater is the latest indignity suffered by a family still reeling over the accidental death this year of a brother at a U.S. naval hospital.
Federico Freire, a 28-year-old Marine, and his wife, Kalyn, were attacked Saturday by a mob of unruly teenagers after the couple asked the group to be quiet during a movie at a Bradenton, Fla., cinema, as FoxNews.com reported Wednesday.
Police found Freire and his wife "battered" in the theater parking lot, and they arrested four juveniles and one adult in the violent altercation.
For Freire, who had just returned from Iraq, the melee that knocked his wife to the ground was the latest woe for a family still devastated by the death of his brother, Lance Cpl. Ezequiel Freire.
Ezequiel Freire, a 20-year-old Marine who spent eight months in Afghanistan, died Feb. 13 after doctors served him a deadly cocktail of narcotics and sedatives as he awaited cancer treatment at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center in Virginia, his family said.
"I was the one who found him dead," Federico Freire said in an interview Thursday. "He was my brother, my best friend."
Read more: Attack on Marine at Florida Theater
Marine, wife attacked by teens after showing of "Little Fockers"
MANATEE, Fla. (AP) — A group of unruly teenagers attacked a 27-year-old Marine and his wife who had asked them to be quiet during a Christmas night showing of "Little Fockers."
The attack happened as the couple left the theater near Bradenton Saturday night. Authorities say the fight attracted about 300 bystanders.
Federico Freire, home on leave from Afghanistan, says they left the theater shortly after the teens were asked to leave.
read more here
Marine, wife attacked by teens
Attack on Marine at Florida Theater Comes Months After Brother's Death at Navy Hospital
By Cristina Corbin
Published December 30, 2010
FoxNews.com
The recent attack on a Marine and his wife outside a Florida movie theater is the latest indignity suffered by a family still reeling over the accidental death this year of a brother at a U.S. naval hospital.
Federico Freire, a 28-year-old Marine, and his wife, Kalyn, were attacked Saturday by a mob of unruly teenagers after the couple asked the group to be quiet during a movie at a Bradenton, Fla., cinema, as FoxNews.com reported Wednesday.
Police found Freire and his wife "battered" in the theater parking lot, and they arrested four juveniles and one adult in the violent altercation.
For Freire, who had just returned from Iraq, the melee that knocked his wife to the ground was the latest woe for a family still devastated by the death of his brother, Lance Cpl. Ezequiel Freire.
Ezequiel Freire, a 20-year-old Marine who spent eight months in Afghanistan, died Feb. 13 after doctors served him a deadly cocktail of narcotics and sedatives as he awaited cancer treatment at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center in Virginia, his family said.
"I was the one who found him dead," Federico Freire said in an interview Thursday. "He was my brother, my best friend."
Read more: Attack on Marine at Florida Theater
Marine, wife attacked by teens after showing of "Little Fockers"
MANATEE, Fla. (AP) — A group of unruly teenagers attacked a 27-year-old Marine and his wife who had asked them to be quiet during a Christmas night showing of "Little Fockers."
The attack happened as the couple left the theater near Bradenton Saturday night. Authorities say the fight attracted about 300 bystanders.
Federico Freire, home on leave from Afghanistan, says they left the theater shortly after the teens were asked to leave.
read more here
Marine, wife attacked by teens
Grandparents killed in accident after mobile home fire killed 3 grandchildren
Couple killed on way to plan funerals for three grandchildren
Tragedy added to tragedy Tuesday when an Ohio couple died in an accident on their way to help make funeral arrangements for their three grandchildren.
Marc and Misty Royce of Circleville were killed in a crash on a snowy road on their way to help Marc Royce's daughter, Kacey Stacey, plan funerals for her three children, who died in a mobile home fire over the weekend, CNN affiliate WBNS-TV reported.
Couple killed on way to plan funerals for three grandchildren
Tragedy added to tragedy Tuesday when an Ohio couple died in an accident on their way to help make funeral arrangements for their three grandchildren.
Marc and Misty Royce of Circleville were killed in a crash on a snowy road on their way to help Marc Royce's daughter, Kacey Stacey, plan funerals for her three children, who died in a mobile home fire over the weekend, CNN affiliate WBNS-TV reported.
Couple killed on way to plan funerals for three grandchildren
5 teenagers celebrating a birthday die in Florida motel room
5 found dead in Florida motel room
By the CNN Wire Staff
December 28, 2010 10:39 a.m. EST
5 teens mysteriously die in hotel
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Police say the teens were celebrating a birthday
Investigators believe carbon monoxide poisoning is to blame
The teens' car was running in a garage below the room
(CNN) -- Five teenagers who died of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning in a Hialeah, Florida, motel room had gathered to celebrate a birthday, police said Tuesday.
Although an official cause of death won't be released until autopsies are completed, the investigation so far shows the teenagers apparently died because they left a car with a troublesome starter running in a closed garage beneath their room, police spokesman Carl Zogby said.
"Unfortunately, whoever could tell us what the intent of leaving the car on (was) is dead," Zogby said. "But we are being told by some friends that it probably had starter engine trouble."
"All the evidence indicates clearly a carbon monoxide poisoning," he said, noting no alcohol or drugs were found in the room the five had rented at the Hotel Presidente.
Zogby identified the dead as Juchen C. Marctial, 19; Peterson Nazon, 17; Jonas Antenor, 17; Jean Pierre Ferdinand, 16; and Evans Charles, 19. All were from the same neighborhood north of Miami, according to police.
read more here
5 found dead in Florida motel room2
By the CNN Wire Staff
December 28, 2010 10:39 a.m. EST
5 teens mysteriously die in hotel
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Police say the teens were celebrating a birthday
Investigators believe carbon monoxide poisoning is to blame
The teens' car was running in a garage below the room
(CNN) -- Five teenagers who died of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning in a Hialeah, Florida, motel room had gathered to celebrate a birthday, police said Tuesday.
Although an official cause of death won't be released until autopsies are completed, the investigation so far shows the teenagers apparently died because they left a car with a troublesome starter running in a closed garage beneath their room, police spokesman Carl Zogby said.
"Unfortunately, whoever could tell us what the intent of leaving the car on (was) is dead," Zogby said. "But we are being told by some friends that it probably had starter engine trouble."
"All the evidence indicates clearly a carbon monoxide poisoning," he said, noting no alcohol or drugs were found in the room the five had rented at the Hotel Presidente.
Zogby identified the dead as Juchen C. Marctial, 19; Peterson Nazon, 17; Jonas Antenor, 17; Jean Pierre Ferdinand, 16; and Evans Charles, 19. All were from the same neighborhood north of Miami, according to police.
read more here
5 found dead in Florida motel room2
Monday, December 27, 2010
17,000 101st Airborne soldiers coming home
17,000 101st Airborne soldiers coming home
By Jake Lowary - The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf-Chronicle via Gannett
Posted : Monday Dec 27, 2010 8:43:33 EST
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Messages are already appearing on the facades and marquees of local businesses. Many in the community are excited.
About 17,000 soldiers — most of the 101st Airborne Division — are about to come home from war.
Clarksville is ready to offer a warm welcome. "I'm excited for Clarksville," says Mayor-elect Kim McMillan. "They're a part of our community, and we want to do what we can."
The 3rd Brigade Combat Team "Rakkasans" begin their return from Afghanistan in January. The 1st and 2nd BCTs, the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade and the 101st headquarters will be home in the spring, the 4th BCT in the summer.
This return will be the largest since 2003, when most of the division returned from the initial invasion of Iraq. Before that, the largest return came after Desert Storm and Desert Shield in the Gulf War of 1990-91, when the entire division returned, according to John O'Brien, historian for the 101st.
The summer of 2010 was a lethal one for the 101st, which lost 41 soldiers in Afghanistan between March and August. Nearly 400 were wounded during that time. Overall this year, the Army division known as the Screaming Eagles, formed ahead of the 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy, has lost 104 soldiers — or about 1 in 5 American deaths in Afghanistan. That is close to a toll of 105 deaths in Iraq during a 2005-06 deployment that was its deadliest year in combat since the Vietnam War.
By the time the 4th Brigade Combat Team deployed in August, the division's nearly 20,000 soldiers represented 20 percent of U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan, who are battling Taliban and insurgent strongholds in advance of the planned withdrawal.
read more here
17,000 101st Airborne soldiers coming home
By Jake Lowary - The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf-Chronicle via Gannett
Posted : Monday Dec 27, 2010 8:43:33 EST
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Messages are already appearing on the facades and marquees of local businesses. Many in the community are excited.
About 17,000 soldiers — most of the 101st Airborne Division — are about to come home from war.
Clarksville is ready to offer a warm welcome. "I'm excited for Clarksville," says Mayor-elect Kim McMillan. "They're a part of our community, and we want to do what we can."
The 3rd Brigade Combat Team "Rakkasans" begin their return from Afghanistan in January. The 1st and 2nd BCTs, the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade and the 101st headquarters will be home in the spring, the 4th BCT in the summer.
This return will be the largest since 2003, when most of the division returned from the initial invasion of Iraq. Before that, the largest return came after Desert Storm and Desert Shield in the Gulf War of 1990-91, when the entire division returned, according to John O'Brien, historian for the 101st.
The summer of 2010 was a lethal one for the 101st, which lost 41 soldiers in Afghanistan between March and August. Nearly 400 were wounded during that time. Overall this year, the Army division known as the Screaming Eagles, formed ahead of the 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy, has lost 104 soldiers — or about 1 in 5 American deaths in Afghanistan. That is close to a toll of 105 deaths in Iraq during a 2005-06 deployment that was its deadliest year in combat since the Vietnam War.
By the time the 4th Brigade Combat Team deployed in August, the division's nearly 20,000 soldiers represented 20 percent of U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan, who are battling Taliban and insurgent strongholds in advance of the planned withdrawal.
read more here
17,000 101st Airborne soldiers coming home
Bullet to back of head ruled suicide?
How does someone decide to commit suicide by putting a bullet into the back of their head?
Army says it was suicide; family of soldier not so sure
Amy Tirador: Work, life weren't easy, report says
ADAM ASHTON; Staff writer
First Sgt. Mickey Tirador’s assignment at the base meant they could share living quarters and spend the holidays together – an arrangement that most military couples would envy.
But Mickey Tirador’s arrival coincided with a decline in Amy Tirador’s temperament.
She started going to work late and leaving early, falling behind on her job of processing intelligence reports for Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division on its last assignment in Iraq. She seemed “different and defeated,” a major who knew her later told Army investigators.
Amy Tirador, 29, was found dead from a gunshot to the back of her head Nov. 4, 2009, in a small room that housed a power generator at the base. More than a year later, the cause of death – suicide or something else – is still the source of dispute between officials and her family.
Read more: Army says it was suicide
Homeless veteran says “It makes me very happy somebody cares about me”
Homeless veteran says “It makes me very happy somebody cares about me”
December 27, 2010 posted by Chaplain Kathie
“Somebody cares about me” seems like such a small thing but it is what all humans need to know. Someone cares enough about them being hungry enough to feed them. Someone cares enough about them to give them a place to sleep out of the cold. Someone cares enough about them that they help instead of judging.
read more here
Homeless veteran
December 27, 2010 posted by Chaplain Kathie
“Somebody cares about me” seems like such a small thing but it is what all humans need to know. Someone cares enough about them being hungry enough to feed them. Someone cares enough about them to give them a place to sleep out of the cold. Someone cares enough about them that they help instead of judging.
Homeless veterans get a break Group offers ex-servicemen stay at motelTwo days ago people celebrated the day Christ was born after weeks of shopping for gifts and decorating their homes. Hours spent cooking a feast to feed family and friends. All of this for the birth of Christ when the Bible does not say when He was born while the rest of the year few care about what He said.
BY R. NORMAN MOODY • FLORIDA TODAY • DECEMBER 26, 2010
TITUSVILLE — Jimmy Suggs lowered his head and wiped away tears as he spoke about spending Christmas away from his homeless camp in the woods on Merritt Island.
“It makes me very happy somebody cares about me,” he said.
The National Veterans Homeless Support with help from the community, businesses and local churches treated Suggs and 46 other homeless veterans to two nights in motel rooms, and gave them gifts of clothes, a tent, sleeping bags and other necessities for their return to wooded camps across Brevard County.
read more here
Homeless veteran
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Christmas light display honors a fallen soldier
Christmas light display honors a fallen soldier
December 26, 2010 | 2:00 pm
These lights flicker for a fallen son.
Altogether they number nearly 30,000 — tiny bulbs of red, green, white and blue that flash in sync with a melody from two speakers. Stretched around a home, a garage and the lawn ornaments in between, they make this Rancho Cucamonga residence sparkle from two streets away.
But the heart of the display is a more understated affair. Up in the small second-floor bedroom window, a projector shows hundreds of photos of military personnel. Among the young faces is Cpl. Matthew Wallace Creed, a 23-year-old with smiling brown eyes who was killed four years ago by a sniper in Baghdad.
read more here
Christmas light display honors a fallen soldier
December 26, 2010 | 2:00 pm
These lights flicker for a fallen son.
Altogether they number nearly 30,000 — tiny bulbs of red, green, white and blue that flash in sync with a melody from two speakers. Stretched around a home, a garage and the lawn ornaments in between, they make this Rancho Cucamonga residence sparkle from two streets away.
But the heart of the display is a more understated affair. Up in the small second-floor bedroom window, a projector shows hundreds of photos of military personnel. Among the young faces is Cpl. Matthew Wallace Creed, a 23-year-old with smiling brown eyes who was killed four years ago by a sniper in Baghdad.
read more here
Christmas light display honors a fallen soldier
Deadly year for Fort Campbell's casualty assistance center
Deadly Afghan year takes toll on 101st Airborne
(AP)
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — The 101st Airborne Division, a force in America's major conflicts since World War II, is seeing its worst casualties in a decade as the U.S. surge in Afghanistan turns into the deadliest year in that war for the NATO coalition.
The Army division known as the Screaming Eagles, created ahead of the 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy, has lost 104 men this year — or about 1 in 5 American deaths in Afghanistan. That is close to a toll of 105 divisional deaths in Iraq during a 2005-2006 deployment that was its deadliest year in combat since Vietnam.
The 20,000-strong division from Fort Campbell has been fighting in two of Afghanistan's most violent regions, the south and the east, since it began deploying in February under President Barack Obama's plan to roll back the Taliban with more troops. This is also the first time the division has deployed in its entirety since Gen. David Petraeus led them during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Few are as directly involved in dealing with each soldier's death as Kimberley McKenzie, the chief of Fort Campbell's casualty assistance center.
Among the first to be notified after a combat death, McKenzie and her nine staffers ensure families are swiftly informed, then help them over ensuing weeks and months to navigate a bureacratic maze of paperwork and decisions.
"We can get the calls at 2 o'clock in the morning, and that happens seven days a week," she said.
In her office, signs of the somber work are everywhere. Electronic bugles — which now replace live renditions of taps at many military funerals — are lined up in cases. A folded American flag, ready to be presented to a wife or a mother, sits on a desk. Wooden ceremonial display cases for a soldier's awards and decorations are stored atop filing cabinets. A large whiteboard on one wall displays the names of dozens of soldiers who have died this year.
McKenzie, 46, has been doing this job at Fort Campbell on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line since the 1990s, through the Desert Storm and Desert Shield operations against Iraq in 1990 and 1991 to the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"I have been here so long, which can be a blessing and a curse because you know so many of the soldiers," she said.
After the initial call, her team hurries to find a soldier's family. From the moment the death of a soldier is confirmed with the Department of the Army, regulations give them just four hours to notify the primary next of kin.
Often it's a nationwide search for parents or spouses who are far from Fort Campbell. A family may have moved and not told the Army, listed information may be incorrect or the soldier may be estranged from relatives. Too often, she says, a family member is listed as "address unknown."
read more here
Deadly Afghan year takes toll on 101st Airborne
(AP)
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — The 101st Airborne Division, a force in America's major conflicts since World War II, is seeing its worst casualties in a decade as the U.S. surge in Afghanistan turns into the deadliest year in that war for the NATO coalition.
The Army division known as the Screaming Eagles, created ahead of the 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy, has lost 104 men this year — or about 1 in 5 American deaths in Afghanistan. That is close to a toll of 105 divisional deaths in Iraq during a 2005-2006 deployment that was its deadliest year in combat since Vietnam.
The 20,000-strong division from Fort Campbell has been fighting in two of Afghanistan's most violent regions, the south and the east, since it began deploying in February under President Barack Obama's plan to roll back the Taliban with more troops. This is also the first time the division has deployed in its entirety since Gen. David Petraeus led them during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Few are as directly involved in dealing with each soldier's death as Kimberley McKenzie, the chief of Fort Campbell's casualty assistance center.
Among the first to be notified after a combat death, McKenzie and her nine staffers ensure families are swiftly informed, then help them over ensuing weeks and months to navigate a bureacratic maze of paperwork and decisions.
"We can get the calls at 2 o'clock in the morning, and that happens seven days a week," she said.
In her office, signs of the somber work are everywhere. Electronic bugles — which now replace live renditions of taps at many military funerals — are lined up in cases. A folded American flag, ready to be presented to a wife or a mother, sits on a desk. Wooden ceremonial display cases for a soldier's awards and decorations are stored atop filing cabinets. A large whiteboard on one wall displays the names of dozens of soldiers who have died this year.
McKenzie, 46, has been doing this job at Fort Campbell on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line since the 1990s, through the Desert Storm and Desert Shield operations against Iraq in 1990 and 1991 to the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"I have been here so long, which can be a blessing and a curse because you know so many of the soldiers," she said.
After the initial call, her team hurries to find a soldier's family. From the moment the death of a soldier is confirmed with the Department of the Army, regulations give them just four hours to notify the primary next of kin.
Often it's a nationwide search for parents or spouses who are far from Fort Campbell. A family may have moved and not told the Army, listed information may be incorrect or the soldier may be estranged from relatives. Too often, she says, a family member is listed as "address unknown."
read more here
Deadly Afghan year takes toll on 101st Airborne
ABC News:9 thousand homeless veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan
Coming Home Homeless: The New Homeless Among Veterans
Veterans From Iraq and Afghanistan Wars Seek Homes Upon Returning to America
2 comments By BOB WOODRUFF and IAN CAMERON
WASHINGTON, Dec 26, 2010
Jose Pagan is a decorated veteran who survived two tours of duty in Iraq as a road clearance specialist. Just three days after leaving the military he was homeless and living on the streets of the Bronx.
Jose says being homeless after his service is something he never would have imagined. "It was embarrassing," Pagan says.
"Honor, pride, duty, loyalty, all these things that we -- that kick in as a soldier, you know. And then to find yourself here," as he points to the park benches where he slept for almost two months.
Pagan is one of an estimated nine thousand returning servicemembers from Iraq and Afghanistan that the Department of Veterans Affairs estimates have been homeless.
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The New Homeless Among Veterans
'This Week' Transcript: Gen Peter Chiarelli
Plus, the story of a New York Times reporter captured by the Taliban
AMANPOUR: IN THIS SEASON OF GIVING, SOME OF THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN THE MOST, FIGHTING FOR THEIR COUNTRY HAVE COME UPON HARD TIMES.
RETURNING TO THE HOME OF THE BRAVE, FOR THOUSANDS OF MILITARY VETERANS, HAS MEANT NO HOME AT ALL.
MANY VETERANS OF AMERICA'S WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN ARE FINDING THEIR TRANSITION TO CIVILIAN LIFE OVERWHELMING.
SOMETIMES COMPLICATED BY POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, UNEMPLOYMENT AND DIFFICULTY ADJUSTING TO ORDINARY LIFE AFTER THE EXTREME ENVIRONMENT OF COMBAT, THOUSANDS OF VETERANS HAVE BEEN LEFT HOMELESS.
read more here
'This Week' Transcript: Gen Peter Chiarelli
Veterans From Iraq and Afghanistan Wars Seek Homes Upon Returning to America
2 comments By BOB WOODRUFF and IAN CAMERON
WASHINGTON, Dec 26, 2010
Jose Pagan is a decorated veteran who survived two tours of duty in Iraq as a road clearance specialist. Just three days after leaving the military he was homeless and living on the streets of the Bronx.
Jose says being homeless after his service is something he never would have imagined. "It was embarrassing," Pagan says.
"Honor, pride, duty, loyalty, all these things that we -- that kick in as a soldier, you know. And then to find yourself here," as he points to the park benches where he slept for almost two months.
Pagan is one of an estimated nine thousand returning servicemembers from Iraq and Afghanistan that the Department of Veterans Affairs estimates have been homeless.
read more here
The New Homeless Among Veterans
'This Week' Transcript: Gen Peter Chiarelli
Plus, the story of a New York Times reporter captured by the Taliban
AMANPOUR: IN THIS SEASON OF GIVING, SOME OF THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN THE MOST, FIGHTING FOR THEIR COUNTRY HAVE COME UPON HARD TIMES.
RETURNING TO THE HOME OF THE BRAVE, FOR THOUSANDS OF MILITARY VETERANS, HAS MEANT NO HOME AT ALL.
MANY VETERANS OF AMERICA'S WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN ARE FINDING THEIR TRANSITION TO CIVILIAN LIFE OVERWHELMING.
SOMETIMES COMPLICATED BY POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, UNEMPLOYMENT AND DIFFICULTY ADJUSTING TO ORDINARY LIFE AFTER THE EXTREME ENVIRONMENT OF COMBAT, THOUSANDS OF VETERANS HAVE BEEN LEFT HOMELESS.
read more here
'This Week' Transcript: Gen Peter Chiarelli
Gov. Elect Scott needs to look at Veteran's Courts
This is a good start in addressing the growing justice crisis but while Scott's advisors are looking at pro-active ways of reducing the inmate population, they also need to look at a huge factor they are not talking about. Our veterans.
20 States already have them. According to the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs 1.7 million veterans were residing in Florida in 2009 which would make sense for Florida to have Veterans Courts added to what they want to do to take care of veterans instead of locking them up.
Scott team: Ease prison policy
By DARA KAM
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
TALLAHASSEE — Conservatives have been known to be tough on crime. Now they're saying they have to be tough on criminal justice spending as well.
Rick Scott's "law and order" team is telling Florida's incoming governor, who considers himself a conservative's conservative, to cut costs by diverting nonviolent offenders to drug treatment and requiring inmates to get an education and vocational training.
Those actions, which the transition team said could reduce the number of criminals returning to prison and allow the state to stop building new prisons, sound more like past Democratic suggestions than traditional conservative approaches to criminal justice.
But that's exactly where Florida may be headed, following a new national movement heralded by conservatives such as Newt Gingrich, Grover Norquist and William Bennett.
They are among a host of dramatic changes that Scott's transition teams for Florida's government proposed last week as he prepares to take office . His inauguration is Jan. 4 in Tallahassee.
But the criminal justice ideas also are unique among the teams' recommendations in their departure from traditional Republican views. Instead of the "lock 'em up" approach to crime, the new recommendations echo the advice social progressives have been trying, unsuccessfully, to put in place for years - spend less on prisons and more on treatment, intervention and prevention.
Scott's advisers suggested a radical revamp of the state's criminal justice system, which houses more than 100,000 prisoners and has swelled by more than 1,000 percent during the past four decades.
Faced with bulging prison populations and a rate of one in three prisoners winding up back behind bars, the advisers concede that being tough on crime hasn't worked.
On top of that, there are ever-tightening budgetary constraints.
Fiscal conservatives realized that "we were not only not getting good value for the money being spent, but getting bad value and bad results," said Linda Mills, a criminal justice consultant who served on Scott's transition team for law and order.
Then law-and-order conservatives began to accept similar conclusions about mandatory- minimum sen tences and other tough-on-crime laws, Mills said. Some, she said, even have publicly asked for forgiveness for having played a part in exploding prison growth. Now they are leading the charge toward rehabilitation.
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Scott team Ease prison policy
20 States already have them. According to the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs 1.7 million veterans were residing in Florida in 2009 which would make sense for Florida to have Veterans Courts added to what they want to do to take care of veterans instead of locking them up.
Contact: Sandy Adkins
Communications Specialist
National Center for State Courts
757.259.1515
State courts honor veterans by providing specialized programs
Williamsburg, Va. (Nov. 11, 2010) — Throughout the U.S. today, ceremonies, parades, and other special events are taking place to honor the nation's war veterans. But every day, a growing number of our country's state courts are recognizing veterans in a very different and significant way — by establishing specialized courts and programs designed to address the social and legal issues associated with servicemen and women.
Currently at least 20 states have veterans courts: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. At least 10 other states are considering the issue either through studies or proposed legislation.
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State courts honor veterans
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