Gay Marine’s husband surprised at respect shown by Naval Academy
Neil steinberg nsteinberg@suntimes.com Jan 29, 2011
John Fliszar had a heart attack in 2006 and was rushed to Illinois Masonic Medical Center.
“When I was in the emergency room with him, he asked me to promise him, if he died, to make sure his ashes were interred in the Naval Academy,” said Mark Ketterson. “He loved that place. He very much wanted to be there.”
Fliszar, a Marine aviator who served two tours in Vietnam, survived that heart attack. But last July the Albany Park resident suffered another one that killed him at age 61.
Hoping to fulfill Fliszar’s wishes, Ketterson contacted the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and told them that Fliszar, Class of ’71, had wanted to have his ashes interred at the USNA’s Columbarium, a serene white marble waterside crypt next to the school’s cemetery.
The memorial coordinator asked about his relationship to the deceased. Ketterson said that John Fliszar was his husband.
“They were always polite, but there was this moment of hesitation,” Ketterson recalled. “They said they’re going to need something in writing from a blood relative. They asked, ‘Are you listed on the death certificate?’ ‘Do you have a marriage license?’ ”
He was and they did, the couple having been married in Des Moines when gay marriage became legal in Iowa two years ago.
Ketterson sent a copy of the marriage license. That changed everything.
“I was respected,” he said. “From that moment on, I was next of kin. They were amazing.”
read more here
Gay Marine’s husband surprised at respect shown by Naval Academy
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Michelle Obama honors military families on Oprah
Michelle Obama honors military families on Oprah
CARYN ROUSSEAU
Associated Press
January 27, 2011
CHICAGO (AP) — First lady Michelle Obama urged Americans during an episode of the "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that aired on Thursday to offer more support for the country's military families.
"There are things as a nation we can do big and small," Obama said during the episode, which was taped on Jan. 21. "And it's not a difficult thing to do."
The first lady has become an advocate for military families has traveled to military installations to talk with service members about their needs and concerns and has urged Americans to volunteer time to help them. On Thursday, she visited the Army's largest training post at Fort Jackson outside Columbia, S.C., and said the military's new exercise regimen and healthier foods could be a model for others across the U.S.
Her appearance on Winfrey's show comes after President Barack Obama announced new government-wide initiatives to support military families, including programs aimed at preventing suicide and homelessness.
read more here
Michelle Obama honors military families on Oprah
For other stories from this program and more on Oprah go here
The Bravest Families in America
Friday, January 28, 2011
Vietnam Vet John Wheeler died from "blunt force trauma
Official: Pentagon official died from blunt force trauma after assault
January 28th, 2011
From CNN's Allan Chernoff
Former Pentagon official John Wheeler died from "blunt force trauma after being assaulted," according to the Delaware medical examiner.
Pentagon official died from blunt force trauma after assault
January 28th, 2011
From CNN's Allan Chernoff
Former Pentagon official John Wheeler died from "blunt force trauma after being assaulted," according to the Delaware medical examiner.
Pentagon official died from blunt force trauma after assault
Deployed Colonel’s wife killed son and daughter in Tampa FL
Police: Colonel’s wife killed son and daughter
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jan 28, 2011 17:04:13 EST
TAMPA, Fla. — The wife of an Army colonel was charged Friday with fatally shooting her teenage son and daughter after police found the mother covered in blood on the back porch of her home in an upscale Tampa suburb, police said.
Julie Powers Schenecker admitted to the slayings after police came to the home Friday morning, police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said. Schenecker's mother had called police from Texas because she was unable to reach the 50-year-old woman, whom she said was depressed.
Colonel’s wife killed son and daughter
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jan 28, 2011 17:04:13 EST
TAMPA, Fla. — The wife of an Army colonel was charged Friday with fatally shooting her teenage son and daughter after police found the mother covered in blood on the back porch of her home in an upscale Tampa suburb, police said.
Julie Powers Schenecker admitted to the slayings after police came to the home Friday morning, police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said. Schenecker's mother had called police from Texas because she was unable to reach the 50-year-old woman, whom she said was depressed.
Schenecker's husband, Parker Schenecker, is an Army colonel serving in Qatar and was notified of his children's deaths Friday, McElroy said.read more here
Colonel’s wife killed son and daughter
Unmarked graves found at veteran cemetery in Miss
Unmarked graves found at veteran cemetery in Miss.
(AP)
VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) — Authorities said Thursday they fear dozens of veterans could lie in unmarked graves at a Mississippi military cemetery after they found two unidentified coffins and used radar to detect other possible plots.
The two coffins and other potential graves were found in sections of Vicksburg National Military Cemetery that were opened in the 1940s for World War I, World War II and Korean War veterans, National Park Service officials said at a news conference. The sprawling cemetery is the final resting place for more than 18,000 veterans, mostly Union soldiers from the Civil War.
The problems were discovered after workers preparing a burial site for a World War II veteran found a coffin in August. Another coffin was found nearby. The veteran was buried elsewhere in the cemetery and the graves were left alone, authorities said.
The cemetery stopped offering burials in 1961, except for veterans who had prior arrangements. There have been 109 burials since then.
The park service asked for help from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which used ground-penetrating radar devices to search for graves. Those sites were then checked by pushing metal rods into the ground, which in several cases hit solid objects that could be coffins.
The National Park Service's Southeast Archaeological Center has also been helping. Officials said a preliminary analysis of their research identified "eight probable and 48 possible unmarked graves."
read more here
Unmarked graves found at veteran cemetery in Miss
(AP)
VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) — Authorities said Thursday they fear dozens of veterans could lie in unmarked graves at a Mississippi military cemetery after they found two unidentified coffins and used radar to detect other possible plots.
The two coffins and other potential graves were found in sections of Vicksburg National Military Cemetery that were opened in the 1940s for World War I, World War II and Korean War veterans, National Park Service officials said at a news conference. The sprawling cemetery is the final resting place for more than 18,000 veterans, mostly Union soldiers from the Civil War.
The problems were discovered after workers preparing a burial site for a World War II veteran found a coffin in August. Another coffin was found nearby. The veteran was buried elsewhere in the cemetery and the graves were left alone, authorities said.
The cemetery stopped offering burials in 1961, except for veterans who had prior arrangements. There have been 109 burials since then.
The park service asked for help from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which used ground-penetrating radar devices to search for graves. Those sites were then checked by pushing metal rods into the ground, which in several cases hit solid objects that could be coffins.
The National Park Service's Southeast Archaeological Center has also been helping. Officials said a preliminary analysis of their research identified "eight probable and 48 possible unmarked graves."
read more here
Unmarked graves found at veteran cemetery in Miss
Disabled Veterans Decry Wrongheaded, 'Heartless' Budget Cuts
News Release - Disabled Veterans Decry Wrongheaded, 'Heartless' Budget Cuts
If Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) wanted to make a name for herself by proposing to cut funding for veterans health care and disability compensation, she has succeeded. "Such an ill-advised proposal is nothing short of heartless," according to Disabled American Veterans Washington Headquarters Executive Director David W. Gorman.
"It is unconscionable that while our nation is at war someone would even think of forcing our wounded warriors to sacrifice even more than they already have," Gorman said. "Their injuries and disabilities were the result of their service to the nation, and our nation must not shirk its responsibilities toward them. How do you tell a veteran who has lost a limb that he or she has not sacrificed enough? Yet Rep. Bachmann wants to do just that."
The third-term member of Congress has called on Congress to freeze Department of Veterans Affairs health care spending and reduce disability compensation. Her proposal would cut $4.5 billion from veterans health care and disability benefits.
"Freezing VA health care funding will not only freeze out sick and disabled veterans seeking care, it will also end up costing the federal government even more money," said Gorman. "With the number of veterans seeking health care rising, the effect of a freeze would be to either block enrollment of veterans, many of them just returning from battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan, or to ration care to currently enrolled veterans, including disabled veterans who have relied on VA dating back to World War II," Gorman said.
Independent studies have shown the VA system provides safe, high quality health care at an average cost that is less than Medicare, Medicaid or the private sector. "This ill-conceived and misguided proposal by Rep. Bachmann would actually increase the budget deficit while lowering the quality of health care to our nation's veterans," he said.
"America's sick and disabled veterans will not sit idly by while their earned health care and disability benefits are threatened," Gorman warned. "We will raise our voices above the din and call on every member of Congress to reject Rep. Bachmann's heartless proposal."
If Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) wanted to make a name for herself by proposing to cut funding for veterans health care and disability compensation, she has succeeded. "Such an ill-advised proposal is nothing short of heartless," according to Disabled American Veterans Washington Headquarters Executive Director David W. Gorman.
"It is unconscionable that while our nation is at war someone would even think of forcing our wounded warriors to sacrifice even more than they already have," Gorman said. "Their injuries and disabilities were the result of their service to the nation, and our nation must not shirk its responsibilities toward them. How do you tell a veteran who has lost a limb that he or she has not sacrificed enough? Yet Rep. Bachmann wants to do just that."
The third-term member of Congress has called on Congress to freeze Department of Veterans Affairs health care spending and reduce disability compensation. Her proposal would cut $4.5 billion from veterans health care and disability benefits.
"Freezing VA health care funding will not only freeze out sick and disabled veterans seeking care, it will also end up costing the federal government even more money," said Gorman. "With the number of veterans seeking health care rising, the effect of a freeze would be to either block enrollment of veterans, many of them just returning from battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan, or to ration care to currently enrolled veterans, including disabled veterans who have relied on VA dating back to World War II," Gorman said.
Independent studies have shown the VA system provides safe, high quality health care at an average cost that is less than Medicare, Medicaid or the private sector. "This ill-conceived and misguided proposal by Rep. Bachmann would actually increase the budget deficit while lowering the quality of health care to our nation's veterans," he said.
"America's sick and disabled veterans will not sit idly by while their earned health care and disability benefits are threatened," Gorman warned. "We will raise our voices above the din and call on every member of Congress to reject Rep. Bachmann's heartless proposal."
Rep. Michele Bachmann tells veterans you are not worth the money
UPDATE 7:03 est
The more I think about this the more angry I get.
Let Bachmann tell him that he doesn't deserve the funds from Social Security he paid into while he recovers along with losing both his legs in service to this country.
Or tell Carmelo Rodriquez who died of cancer after exposures in combat that he didn't earn the funds.
Or to Joshua Cope
Tell that to the men and women in this video that while the rest of us pay into the system with our money and expect to get help when we need it, they don't have the same right. Tell them that while we do a lot of talking about how much we love this country, these men and women loved it so much they were willing to die for it.
This is from Social Security
How Workers’ Compensation And Other Disability Payments May Affect Your Benefits
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10018.html
SSA Publication No. 05-10018, March 2010, ICN 454500 (En Español) [View .pdf] [Audio.mp3]
Disability payments from private sources, such as private pension or insurance benefits, do not affect your Social Security disability benefits.
However, workers’ compensation and other public disability benefits may reduce your Social Security benefits. Workers’ compensation benefits are paid to a worker because of a job-related injury or illness. They may be paid by federal or state workers’ compensation agencies, employers or by insurance companies on behalf of employers.
Other public disability payments that may affect your Social Security benefit are those paid by a federal, state or local government and are for disabling medical conditions that are not job-related. Examples are civil service disability benefits, state temporary disability benefits and state or local government retirement benefits that are based on disability.
If you receive workers’ compensation or other public disability benefits and Social Security disability benefits, the total amount of these benefits cannot exceed 80 percent of your average current earnings before you became disabled.
Some public benefits do not affect your Social Security disability benefits
If you receive Social Security disability benefits and one of the following types of public benefits,
your Social Security benefit will not be reduced:
Veterans Administration benefits;
State and local government benefits, if Social Security taxes were deducted from your earnings; or
Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Thank you Veterans For Common Sense!
An email from them came with news from Michele Bachmann's site saying the plan is to cut off veterans and turn them over to Social Security. This at the same time the Republican folks are talking about wanting to make Social Security cuts and privatize it.
What Bachmann doesn't seem to understand is that troops are sent to war by politicians and act on behalf of the nation. THEY ARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THIS NATION no matter if she likes it or not. If she doesn't think they are worth taking care of, then this woman shouldn't be where she is. How do the people of Minnesota feel about having her in congress when they have had so many serving in Iraq and Afghanistan while she wants to deny them care?
From the Disabled American Veterans
News Release - Disabled Veterans Decry Wrongheaded, 'Heartless' Budget Cuts
From Army Times
The more I think about this the more angry I get.
Let Bachmann tell him that he doesn't deserve the funds from Social Security he paid into while he recovers along with losing both his legs in service to this country.
This is from Social Security
How Workers’ Compensation And Other Disability Payments May Affect Your Benefits
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10018.html
SSA Publication No. 05-10018, March 2010, ICN 454500 (En Español) [View .pdf] [Audio.mp3]
Disability payments from private sources, such as private pension or insurance benefits, do not affect your Social Security disability benefits.
However, workers’ compensation and other public disability benefits may reduce your Social Security benefits. Workers’ compensation benefits are paid to a worker because of a job-related injury or illness. They may be paid by federal or state workers’ compensation agencies, employers or by insurance companies on behalf of employers.
Other public disability payments that may affect your Social Security benefit are those paid by a federal, state or local government and are for disabling medical conditions that are not job-related. Examples are civil service disability benefits, state temporary disability benefits and state or local government retirement benefits that are based on disability.
If you receive workers’ compensation or other public disability benefits and Social Security disability benefits, the total amount of these benefits cannot exceed 80 percent of your average current earnings before you became disabled.
Some public benefits do not affect your Social Security disability benefits
If you receive Social Security disability benefits and one of the following types of public benefits,
your Social Security benefit will not be reduced:
Veterans Administration benefits;
State and local government benefits, if Social Security taxes were deducted from your earnings; or
Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Thank you Veterans For Common Sense!
An email from them came with news from Michele Bachmann's site saying the plan is to cut off veterans and turn them over to Social Security. This at the same time the Republican folks are talking about wanting to make Social Security cuts and privatize it.
Bachmann
Cap increases in Department of Veterans Affairs health care spending, and reduce disability compensation to account for SS disability payments. Reduce Veterans’ Disability Compensation to account for Social Security Disability Insurance payments. $4.5 Billion
What Bachmann doesn't seem to understand is that troops are sent to war by politicians and act on behalf of the nation. THEY ARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THIS NATION no matter if she likes it or not. If she doesn't think they are worth taking care of, then this woman shouldn't be where she is. How do the people of Minnesota feel about having her in congress when they have had so many serving in Iraq and Afghanistan while she wants to deny them care?
From the Disabled American Veterans
News Release - Disabled Veterans Decry Wrongheaded, 'Heartless' Budget Cuts
From Army Times
Bachmann plan would cut veterans benefits
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jan 28, 2011 5:30:31 EST
Tea party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., has unveiled a plan for cutting $400 billion in federal spending that includes freezing Veterans Affairs Department health care spending and cutting veterans’ disability benefits.
Her proposed VA budget cuts would account for $4.5 billion of the savings included in the plan, posted on her official House of Representatives website.
Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, said cutting veterans’ health care spending is an ill-advised move at a time when the number of veterans continues to grow as troops return from Iraq and Afghanistan. Sullivan said he finds it difficult to see how VA could freeze health care costs without hurting veterans.
“It is really astonishing to see this,” he said.
In a statement, Bachmann said her plan is intended for discussion purposes as an example of ways to cut federal spending to make it unnecessary to increase the current $14.3 trillion limit on the amount the U.S. government can borrow.
The debt ceiling will be reached sometime in March, according to economic forecasts, but many lawmakers — especially members of the tea party movement — have been talking about cutting federal spending either instead of, or as part of, a move to increase the debt limit.
Her list of cuts doesn’t explain the impact of freezing veterans’ health care funding, but the Congressional Budget Office said in a report issued in October that health care costs have been quickly increasing. VA’s health care budget was $44 billion in 2009, $48 billion in 2010 and is at $52 billion this year. The report forecasts a health care budget of $69 billion or higher by 2020 if trends continue, the report estimates.
Bachmann’s idea of cutting costs by reducing veterans’ disability compensation by the amount received in Social Security Disability Income is not new. The proposal, which would affect more than 150,000 veterans, has long been on a list of possible budget options prepared by the Congressional Budget Office, which describes the option as a way to “eliminate duplicate payment of public compensation for a single disability.”
Thursday, January 27, 2011
10th Mountain Division 1st Lt. David Provencher Earns Silver Star
Ellenville High School grad earns Silver Star for heroism in Afghanistan
Published: Thursday, January 27, 2011
By PATRICIA DOXSEY
Freeman staff
An Ellenville man fighting in the war in Afghanistan has been awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest award for valor in combat.
U.S. Army 1st Lt. David Provencher of the 10th Mountain Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team received the medal Wednesday during a ceremony at Forward Operating Base Kunduz in northern Afghanistan. He is an infantry platoon leader with 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment.
Provencher, a 1999 graduate of Ellenville High School, has been credited with saving the lives of three wounded soldiers and refusing to leave two others who were mortally wounded during heavy combat on June 16, 2010.
read more here
Ellenville High School grad earns Silver Star for heroism in Afghanistan
Published: Thursday, January 27, 2011
By PATRICIA DOXSEY
Freeman staff
An Ellenville man fighting in the war in Afghanistan has been awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest award for valor in combat.
U.S. Army 1st Lt. David Provencher of the 10th Mountain Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team received the medal Wednesday during a ceremony at Forward Operating Base Kunduz in northern Afghanistan. He is an infantry platoon leader with 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment.
Provencher, a 1999 graduate of Ellenville High School, has been credited with saving the lives of three wounded soldiers and refusing to leave two others who were mortally wounded during heavy combat on June 16, 2010.
read more here
Ellenville High School grad earns Silver Star for heroism in Afghanistan
Vietnam Veteran Loses Insurance Over Two Cents
Vietnam Veteran Loses Insurance Over Two Cents
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Photo Courtesy - KMGH-TV
(THORNTON, Colo.) -- What can make the difference between receiving a potentially lifesaving surgery or not? For Vietnam veteran Ronald Flanagan, Ceridian Cobra Services determined it's two cents.
Flanagan has multiple myeloma, cancer of the bone marrow, which he has been fighting since September 2008. He now needs a third stem cell transplant surgery but had lost his health coverage over a two-cent error.
Ceridian Cobra Services, an insurance benefits administrator, dropped Ron Flanagan after his wife, Frances Flanagan, said she mistakenly substituted a seven for a nine when she paid their monthly health insurance premium of $328.69 online.
"If I only had just hit the 9 instead of the 7," Frances Flanagan told ABC News' Denver affiliate, KMGH-TV. "Everybody we talk to is very surprised that 2 cents is enough to do this."
What two cents was able to undo, ABC News was able to help redo. When ABC News called Ceridian to comment on the story the company delivered unexpected news.
read more here
Vietnam Veteran Loses Insurance Over Two Cents
UK:10 a day are now being treated for psychological problems
Ten troops a day suffer mental health problems in fight against Taliban
by Chris Hughes, Daily Mirror 24/01/2011
THE war on terror is taking its toll on the mental state of British troops with a dramatic rise in the number seeking psychiatric help.
Worrying new figures have revealed 10 a day are now being treated for psychological problems as a result of the bitter fight with the Taliban.
The daily threat of roadside bombs, fierce gun battles and seeing comrades killed or horrifically maimed in the blood and dust of Afghanistan has led to a steep increase in the number of personnel suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.
But experts claim many troops hit by mental illness do not present with any symptoms until many years after the incidents that triggered the problems.
A report for the Government by former navy doctor and Tory MP Andrew Murrison calls for serving personnel to be screened for signs of psychiatric disorders in a bid to prevent chronic illness later.
MoD figures show the number of troops with mental health issues was last year up 28% on the year before while those with PTSD had risen by a shocking 72%. Military charity SSAFA Forces Help said: “It is not surprising the intense nature of current and recent operations is resulting in an increase in mental health issues amongst those who have deployed.
Read more:
Ten troops a day suffer mental health problems
by Chris Hughes, Daily Mirror 24/01/2011
THE war on terror is taking its toll on the mental state of British troops with a dramatic rise in the number seeking psychiatric help.
Worrying new figures have revealed 10 a day are now being treated for psychological problems as a result of the bitter fight with the Taliban.
The daily threat of roadside bombs, fierce gun battles and seeing comrades killed or horrifically maimed in the blood and dust of Afghanistan has led to a steep increase in the number of personnel suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.
But experts claim many troops hit by mental illness do not present with any symptoms until many years after the incidents that triggered the problems.
A report for the Government by former navy doctor and Tory MP Andrew Murrison calls for serving personnel to be screened for signs of psychiatric disorders in a bid to prevent chronic illness later.
MoD figures show the number of troops with mental health issues was last year up 28% on the year before while those with PTSD had risen by a shocking 72%. Military charity SSAFA Forces Help said: “It is not surprising the intense nature of current and recent operations is resulting in an increase in mental health issues amongst those who have deployed.
Read more:
Ten troops a day suffer mental health problems
Stunning Numbers of Veterans Suffer Psychological Problems, With No Support
This is what got me involved in all of this back in 1982. No support for far too many. Back then it was all about Vietnam Veterans. It is heartbreaking to see that while we have come closer to getting it right, we have too far to go for anyone to relax on any of this.
Post Deployment Health Reassessment (PDHRA) data show that up to 38 percent of soldiers and 31 percent of marines suffer from negative psychological symptoms.
Each time I read something like this I am taken back to the dark days when no one knew much of anything, PTSD was a secret to be kept along with everything else that came with it and families suffered in silence. I remember a time when there were no books written by veterans or their families, blogs had not even be thought of and support groups were hard to find. It was a time when I tried to explain all of this to my family but none of them could really understand, especially one of my brothers working in mental healthcare trying to get inner-city kids into college. He found great compassion for a kid growing up with gun violence around them but no compassion for a combat veteran with the same response to being in a violent situation such as war. Back then the best advice my family had was to get a divorce. They had no other response to give because they had no experience to fall back on.
So what's the excuse now? How many more years do we need of research to know that PTSD is real, causes lives to fall apart until there is an intervention and they are helped to heal? How many more years do we have to hear that the sooner they get help the more of their lives they can reclaim only to discover that the help they need is not where they need it to be when they need it to be ready?
I keep going to meetings on PTSD when there are brainstorming questions floating around. I keep asking the same question but not getting any answer that makes sense. Why isn't anyone doing real proactive outreach? Veterans need to know what PTSD is and why their lives changed just as much as they need to know how they can help themselves heal. Families need to know what it is and why their veteran is acting the way they do so they can help them instead of having a negative response making it worse for the veteran and the family. Most of the time this question is not even an afterthought. Yet I know that had I not known what PTSD was, there is no way I would have been able to stick out the dark days so that we could still be together all these years later. It was damn near impossible to do it even knowing what all of this was so the likelihood of families not knowing anything of staying together is just about zilch.
So now we have veterans needing help, facing the fact they need help and reaching out for it, but it is not there. Over 9 years after troops were sent to Afghanistan and then to Iraq but there are still not enough people to take care of the veterans? Will there ever be enough?
Post Deployment Health Reassessment (PDHRA) data show that up to 38 percent of soldiers and 31 percent of marines suffer from negative psychological symptoms.
Each time I read something like this I am taken back to the dark days when no one knew much of anything, PTSD was a secret to be kept along with everything else that came with it and families suffered in silence. I remember a time when there were no books written by veterans or their families, blogs had not even be thought of and support groups were hard to find. It was a time when I tried to explain all of this to my family but none of them could really understand, especially one of my brothers working in mental healthcare trying to get inner-city kids into college. He found great compassion for a kid growing up with gun violence around them but no compassion for a combat veteran with the same response to being in a violent situation such as war. Back then the best advice my family had was to get a divorce. They had no other response to give because they had no experience to fall back on.
So what's the excuse now? How many more years do we need of research to know that PTSD is real, causes lives to fall apart until there is an intervention and they are helped to heal? How many more years do we have to hear that the sooner they get help the more of their lives they can reclaim only to discover that the help they need is not where they need it to be when they need it to be ready?
Stunning Numbers of Veterans Suffer Psychological Problems, With No Support
Michael Friedman, L.M.S.W.
Adjunct Associate Professor, Columbia University's schools of social work and public health
Posted: January 27, 2011 08:11 AM
Last week's report about suicides of military personnel is a reminder that our nation faces a formidable challenge to meet the mental health needs of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and their families. Many are struggling with emotional turmoil and diagnosable mental and/or substance use disorders but are not getting the care they need and deserve.
Since October 2001, there have been over 2,000,000 deployments to combat theaters in Iraq and Afghanistan, including 793,000 multiple deployments. With each deployment, service members encounter extreme stress, contributing to unprecedented rates of physical, mental and substance use disorders -- most notably post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, addiction and traumatic brain injury (TBI) -- as well as high rates of suicide, homelessness and unemployment. Extended and repeated absences as well as personal changes among those who have experienced the dangers and horrors of war also take a psychological toll on their families.
Post Deployment Health Reassessment (PDHRA) data show that up to 38 percent of soldiers and 31 percent of marines suffer from negative psychological symptoms. The Department of Defense recently reported elevated rates of major depression and substance abuse. There are also increased cases of traumatic brain injury.
Untreated psychological symptoms often result in self medication with alcohol and drugs. According to the American Forces Press Service, 21 percent of service members admit to drinking heavily, significantly higher than civilians. Drug abuse among returning service members has also increased. National Guard and Reserve troops also experience mental and substance use disorders at unprecedented rates. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, reports that as many as 1 in 4 experience post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Federal VA has taken steps to increase health and mental health services to veterans. However, over 85 percent of veterans do not access VA health care. Some cannot get access because of the limited capacity of the VA. For others VA facilities are too far away. For many the VA is not the preferred source of treatment. They return to civilian life, hopefully get jobs with health benefits, and use local health and mental health providers rather than the VA. This includes local primary care physicians and mental health professionals, community health centers and hospital-based clinics, mental health clinics, social services agencies, emergency rooms and inpatient services in local general hospitals.
read more here
Stunning Numbers of Veterans Suffer Psychological Problems
I keep going to meetings on PTSD when there are brainstorming questions floating around. I keep asking the same question but not getting any answer that makes sense. Why isn't anyone doing real proactive outreach? Veterans need to know what PTSD is and why their lives changed just as much as they need to know how they can help themselves heal. Families need to know what it is and why their veteran is acting the way they do so they can help them instead of having a negative response making it worse for the veteran and the family. Most of the time this question is not even an afterthought. Yet I know that had I not known what PTSD was, there is no way I would have been able to stick out the dark days so that we could still be together all these years later. It was damn near impossible to do it even knowing what all of this was so the likelihood of families not knowing anything of staying together is just about zilch.
So now we have veterans needing help, facing the fact they need help and reaching out for it, but it is not there. Over 9 years after troops were sent to Afghanistan and then to Iraq but there are still not enough people to take care of the veterans? Will there ever be enough?
Lt. Gen. David Fridovich puts troops first ahead of pride
When you think that Lt. Gen. David Fridovich could have kept this part of his life private but decided to put the troops ahead of his privacy, that is one remarkable man! He is not a low profile serviceman who would make a good local story but someone with a lot of power to make things happen. Just coming out and talking about this will do wonders for others making them think that if he's talking about it, they can too. If he healed, they can too. If he is not ashamed, they don't have to be either.
3-star opens up about battle with addiction
Army Lt. Gen. David Fridovich says that, for years, he has regularly consumed narcotics and painkillers to deal with chronic pain — and now he’s sharing his story
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Wednesday Jan 26, 2011 21:38:59 EST
TAMPA, Fla. — Standing before a packed hall of 700 military doctors and medics here, the deputy commander of the nation’s elite special operations forces warned about an epidemic of chronic pain sweeping through the U.S. military after a decade of continuous war.
Be careful about handing out narcotic pain relievers, Lt. Gen. David Fridovich told the audience last month. “What we don’t want is that next generation of veterans coming out with some bad habits.”
What Fridovich didn’t say was that he was talking as much about himself as anyone.
For nearly five years, the Green Beret general quietly has been hooked on narcotics he has taken for chronic pain — a reflection of an addiction problem that is spreading across the military. Hospitalizations and diagnoses for substance abuse doubled among members of U.S. forces in recent years. This week, nurses and case managers at Army wounded care units reported that one in three of their patients are addicted or dependent on drugs.
“This is huge for Fridovich to be willing to talk about this as a three-star general,” says Gen. Peter Chiarelli, Army vice chief of staff. “We’re finally coming clean and admitting at all levels this is an issue.”
Fridovich says narcotics altered his personality, darkened his mood and management style, and strained his 35-year marriage.
When Fridovich finally went through treatment and detoxification to reduce his drug reliance in 2008 — he still relies on weaker doses of narcotics to combat pain — his wife, Kathy, hid or destroyed more potent pain pills so he could not use them.
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3-star opens up about battle with addiction
Major Nidal Hasan ruled sane and fit for trial
Source: Alleged Hood Shooter Ruled Sane
January 26, 2011
Associated Press
The US Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people in a shooting spree on a Texas army base has been ruled sane and thus fit for trial, a source familiar with the case said Tuesday.
The ruling by a group of medical experts, called a sanity board, opens the door for a court martial that could end in the execution of Major Nidal Hasan, who was paralyzed from the neck down during the November 5, 2009 massacre.
Neither prosecutors nor retired Army Colonel John Galligan, a veteran military lawyer representing Hasan, 40, would confirm the board's decision.
But Galligan suggested it went against his client, who worked at Fort Hood until the shooting.
"I'm not going to say what they ruled," he told AFP. "I would just say this: I don't think the report will be anything that will be an impediment to the charges from the government's perspective."
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Alleged Hood Shooter Ruled Sane
January 26, 2011
Associated Press
The US Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people in a shooting spree on a Texas army base has been ruled sane and thus fit for trial, a source familiar with the case said Tuesday.
The ruling by a group of medical experts, called a sanity board, opens the door for a court martial that could end in the execution of Major Nidal Hasan, who was paralyzed from the neck down during the November 5, 2009 massacre.
Neither prosecutors nor retired Army Colonel John Galligan, a veteran military lawyer representing Hasan, 40, would confirm the board's decision.
But Galligan suggested it went against his client, who worked at Fort Hood until the shooting.
"I'm not going to say what they ruled," he told AFP. "I would just say this: I don't think the report will be anything that will be an impediment to the charges from the government's perspective."
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Alleged Hood Shooter Ruled Sane
Troops can't heal what they can't feel
Troops can’t heal what they can’t feel
January 27, 2011 posted by Chaplain Kathie
Drugs have one job and that is to get people to feel better. Antibiotics stop infections so that the body can take over and heal the wound. When it comes to PTSD, medications cover up the pain but too many times they cause more problems. When drugs are all that is used to fight PTSD, it isn’t giving troops a fair fighting chance to heal.
I have listed many medications and warnings.
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Troops can't heal what they can't feel
January 27, 2011 posted by Chaplain Kathie
Drugs have one job and that is to get people to feel better. Antibiotics stop infections so that the body can take over and heal the wound. When it comes to PTSD, medications cover up the pain but too many times they cause more problems. When drugs are all that is used to fight PTSD, it isn’t giving troops a fair fighting chance to heal.
Army Trauma Unit’s Woes DetailedThis is from the VA
By JAMES DAO
Published: January 26, 2011
The Army units created to provide special care for wounded soldiers after the Walter Reed Army Medical Center scandal continue to struggle with short staffing, inadequate training and an overabundance of prescription medications, a report by the Army inspector general’s office said.
Clinician’s Guide to Medications for PTSD
What is the evidence base for the specific groups of medications used for PTSD treatment?
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI’s). These medications are the only FDA approved medications for PTSD . SSRIs primarily affect the neurotransmitter serotonin which is important in regulating mood, anxiety, appetite, and sleep and other bodily functions. This class of medication has the strongest empirical evidence with well designed randomized controlled trials (RCT’s) and is the preferred initial class of medications used in PTSD treatment (1, 2). Exceptions may occur for patients based upon their individual histories of side effects, response, and comorbidities. An example of an exception would be a PTSD patient with comorbid Bipolar Disorder. In this patient, there is a risk of precipitating a manic episode with the SSRI’s. Each patient varies in their response and ability to tolerate a specific medication and dosage, so medications must be tailored to individual needs. Research has suggested that maximum benefit from SSRI treatment depends upon adequate dosages and duration of treatment. Treatment adherence is key to successful pharmacotherapy treatment for PTSD.
I have listed many medications and warnings.
Read more here
Troops can't heal what they can't feel
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