Please spread the word.
HUD-VASH vouchers are being given out again. We have them for Daytona, Bervard and Orange county. About 200. Must have been chronically homeless ( at least three times, OEF/OIF, Female, Female with kids. Disabled ( SSI/SSD , SVC Connection ,Non Service Connection). Must be Under $21500 annual income for a single individual. Cannot be currently housed. Housing must be approved by Housing authority.
Must have for each member of the household the following: State I.D., Birth Certificate, Social Security Card, DD Form 214, proof of income, and finally 3 bank statements. Here is a biggy CANNOT OWN PROPERTY, it will be found out.
Hope this helps, they can get the referral from their Primary Care Social Worker
Friday, February 25, 2011
HUD housing vouchers to be given out for homeless veterans
This email came in and is good news for Florida's homeless veterans
Republicans and Tea Party Extremists Cut Veterans' Right to Attorneys
Maybe, just maybe now people are paying attention to their votes but after putting these people in office, it's too late to say you're sorry now. Why didn't they pay attention to what these people came right out and said they would do before they gave them the power to do it?
New Outrage: Republicans and Tea Party Extremists Cut Veterans' Right to Attorneys
Written by David Rogers
Thursday, 24 February 2011 21:41
Tea Party Slashes Legal Rights of Elderly and Veterans
February 25, 2011, Washington, DC (Politico) - Talk about collateral damage! Taking aim at environmentalists last week, House Republicans dropped a round instead on low-income veterans and Social Security recipients, making it harder for them to retain counsel when taking on the government.
Adopted by 232-197, the budget amendment imposes a seven-month moratorium on all legal fees paid under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), a Reagan-era law designed to help the little guy battle Washington by making it easier for him to afford an attorney.
Conservatives from Reagan’s own West were the driving force, accusing environmentalists of turning EAJA into a taxpayer-financed, money-machine for lawsuits harassing ranchers. But thousands of veterans and elderly found themselves swept under in the process, losing their ability to retain counsel in disputes with government agencies.
It’s not on the level of 1981 when the House briefly cut off minimum Social Security benefits for thousands of elderly Roman Catholic nuns. But with U.S. troops fighting overseas, taking away lawyers from low-income veterans can get pretty close.
Robert Chisholm, a Rhode Island attorney prominent in veterans’ law, told POLITICO: “We’re in the middle of two wars right now and to make it harder for a veteran — fighting for his benefits — to have an attorney is a horrible thing. That’s not what this country is about.”
read more here
Republicans and Tea Party Extremists
5 Minutes Iraq or Afghanistan veterans seek help from the VA
VCS in the Headlines: One New Iraq or Afghanistan War Veteran Seeks VA Treatment Every 5 Minutes
Written by Sharon Ellman
Thursday, 24 February 2011 14:43
VCS FOIA Research in the News
February 28, 2011 (Army Times) - WHAT’S UP: The number of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans seek ing medical treatment from the Veterans Affairs Department has reached 625,000, growing at a rate of about 10,000 new patients a month - or one every five minutes, according to infor mation gathered by Veterans for Common Sense using the Freedom of Information Act.
More than half of the new patients are diagnosed with at least one mental health disorder, according to Paul Sullivan, the group’s executive director.
VCS in the Headlines
Written by Sharon Ellman
Thursday, 24 February 2011 14:43
VCS FOIA Research in the News
February 28, 2011 (Army Times) - WHAT’S UP: The number of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans seek ing medical treatment from the Veterans Affairs Department has reached 625,000, growing at a rate of about 10,000 new patients a month - or one every five minutes, according to infor mation gathered by Veterans for Common Sense using the Freedom of Information Act.
More than half of the new patients are diagnosed with at least one mental health disorder, according to Paul Sullivan, the group’s executive director.
VCS in the Headlines
Immigration officials tried to deport citizen, Army veteran
He wasn't born here but was willing to serve this country and die for it. He played by the rules and became a citizen in 1998 while he was serving. Even with all of this, Rennison Castillo he was taken to jail, then to a detention center in 2005. Do you think $400,000 is enough for what happened to him?
Feds agree to pay wrongly detained vet $400K
Immigration officials tried to deport citizen, Army veteran
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Feb 24, 2011 18:21:14 EST
SEATTLE — The U.S. government has agreed to pay $400,000 to an American citizen and Army veteran from Washington state who was locked up for seven months while immigration officials wrongly tried to deport him.
Rennison Castillo was transferred to the Northwest Detention Center in 2005 when he finished serving a jail sentence for violating a protection order and harassment. The native of Belize explained repeatedly that he had become a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1998 while serving in the Army, but neither Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials nor an immigration judge believed him. He was finally released after the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and Seattle attorneys took up his case on appeal.
“ICE officers did not listen to me when I told them repeatedly that I was a U.S. citizen and had served in the Army at Fort Lewis,” he said in a statement released Thursday. “They were disrespectful and told me that I would say anything to get out of detention.”
The government gave him a letter of apology written by the assistant U.S. attorney in Tacoma who handled the case.
“I believe that none of my clients ... would ever have wanted to, or knowingly would have, detained a veteran and a United States citizen,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Lynch wrote. “We very much regret that you were detained.”
read more here
Feds agree to pay wrongly detained vet $400K
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Florida marine killed in combat in Afghanistan
Florida marine killed in combat in Afghanistan
The Associated Press
12:15 p.m. EST, February 24, 2011
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — Military officials say a Marine based at Camp Lejeune has died in combat in Afghanistan.
The Defense Department says 23-year-old Cpl. Johnathan W. Taylor of Homosassa, Fla., died Tuesday in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Taylor had been assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune.
Florida marine killed in combat in Afghanistan
The Associated Press
12:15 p.m. EST, February 24, 2011
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — Military officials say a Marine based at Camp Lejeune has died in combat in Afghanistan.
The Defense Department says 23-year-old Cpl. Johnathan W. Taylor of Homosassa, Fla., died Tuesday in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Taylor had been assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune.
Florida marine killed in combat in Afghanistan
Airman's death raises questions of treatment
A family's pain: Airman's death raises questions of treatment
by Chris Roberts \ El Paso Times
Posted: 02/19/2011 12:00:00 AM MST
In Iraq, Senior Airman Anthony Mena's Humvee had never been hit by a roadside bomb.
The El Paso native was responsible for mapping patrol routes and, as driver, avoiding ambushes and other potentially deadly situations. He had confidence he could protect his fellow airmen, members of an Air Force security unit serving in Baghdad.
By 2009, a few years after returning from that deployment, things had changed dramatically.
Numbed by the prescription drugs he was taking for pain and post-traumatic stress disorder, he did not trust himself to drive across Albuquerque for a counseling session.
In July of that year, as he slept, the 23-year-old simply stopped breathing.
The death was ruled accidental. A toxicology report showed he had nine different medications in his blood stream. There were no illegal drugs. There was no alcohol.
He had not taken more pills than the instructions on the bottles directed. In fact, he had been issued 29 prescriptions from the Albuquerque Veterans Administration hospital in the five months he had been treated there, said Willie Mena, the airman's father.
"VA had the oversight, and they failed miserably," Willie Mena said. "Something has to change, because this is not proper. This is not the right way."
read more here
Airman's death raises questions of treatment
by Chris Roberts \ El Paso Times
Posted: 02/19/2011 12:00:00 AM MST
In Iraq, Senior Airman Anthony Mena's Humvee had never been hit by a roadside bomb.
The El Paso native was responsible for mapping patrol routes and, as driver, avoiding ambushes and other potentially deadly situations. He had confidence he could protect his fellow airmen, members of an Air Force security unit serving in Baghdad.
By 2009, a few years after returning from that deployment, things had changed dramatically.
Numbed by the prescription drugs he was taking for pain and post-traumatic stress disorder, he did not trust himself to drive across Albuquerque for a counseling session.
In July of that year, as he slept, the 23-year-old simply stopped breathing.
The death was ruled accidental. A toxicology report showed he had nine different medications in his blood stream. There were no illegal drugs. There was no alcohol.
He had not taken more pills than the instructions on the bottles directed. In fact, he had been issued 29 prescriptions from the Albuquerque Veterans Administration hospital in the five months he had been treated there, said Willie Mena, the airman's father.
"VA had the oversight, and they failed miserably," Willie Mena said. "Something has to change, because this is not proper. This is not the right way."
read more here
Airman's death raises questions of treatment
VA Releases New Gulf War Report
Veterans for Common Sense sent out an update on what is going on with Gulf War Veterans. The news isn't good but what is good is that VCS is staying on top of all of it.
This was included in the report from the VA. If you think you just forgot what happened, it isn't your fault. The media just ignored it.
VA Report Pre 9-11
Also from Veterans For Common Sense
VA Releases New Gulf War Report
On February 23, VA released the agency's most recent report on "Pre 9/11 Veterans". Huh !? That's VA's new term for troops who deployed to Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991.
VA neglected to provide totals on many pages, and many terms and definitions are very confusing, even to experts. The net result is another VA fiasco in urgent need of an editor. VCS offered to help, but VA never called us.
Not mentioned in the report is the billions of dollars spent on healthcare and benefits for hundreds of thousands of veterans disabled, injured, or ill after deploying to a war that should have never been fought.
This was included in the report from the VA. If you think you just forgot what happened, it isn't your fault. The media just ignored it.
Al Jubayl: On or about January 19, 1991, U.S. Servicemembers reported an incident involving a “loud noise,” “bright flash,” and possible “Iraqi chemical warfare agent attack” that occurred in and around Al Jubayl, Saudi Arabia. DoD concluded that the chemical attack was “unlikely.” This and additional information regarding these events may be accessed by clicking on the following DoD website: http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=2835. Structure: It is composed of all unique deployed Veterans in the Desert Storm cohort who were identified by DoD as being present at Al Jubayl for the above incident. Both Al Jubayl and Non-AlJubayl are immediate subsets of the Desert Storm cohort. (page 13)
Khamisiyah: On March 4, 1991, and on March 10, 1991, U.S. Servicemembers destroyed Iraqi “chemical warfare agent rockets,” possibly exposing military personnel to very low levels of chemical warfare agents, at the Khamisiyiah Army Supply Depot, Iraq. This and additional information regarding these events may be accessed by clicking on the following DoD website: http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=3322. Structure: It is composed of all unique deployed Veterans in the Post-Desert Storm cohort who were identified by DoD as being present at Khamisiyah for the above incidents. Both Khamisiyah and non-Khamisiyah are immediate subsets of the Post-Desert Storm cohort.(page 14)read more of this report here
VA Report Pre 9-11
Also from Veterans For Common Sense
CIA Still Hides Important Gulf War Documents
Twenty years ago this week, U.S. troops invaded Iraq and Kuwait. The offensive U.S. military action came in response to events in July 1990, when U.S. diplomats gave a green light to Iraq's Saddam Hussein signaling he could invade Kuwait without any political, military, or economic consequences.
After two decades, there is still no accounting of the human and financial costs of this clearly preventable war. Our government still hides behind "secrecy," leaving too many Gulf War veterans without answers and without medical care.
Former CIA analyst Patrick G. Eddington's new book, "Long Strange Journey: An Intelligence Memoir" reveals how our CIA is "sitting on" millions of documents relating to widespread chemical exposure relating to Gulf War Illness. VCS thanks Mr. Eddington for his outstanding diligence in the face of so much opposition.
According to top scientists, as many as 250,000 Gulf War veterans remain ill and without treatments due, in part, to CIA, military, and VA stonewalling. Our strong message to the CIA Director Leon Panetta: Come clean now. With hundreds of thousands ill and disabled, have you no conscience for your fellow Americans, Mr. Panetta?
read more of this here
CIA Still Hides Important Gulf War Documents
Bronze Stars for 3 of Alpha Troop’s youngest soldiers
Bronze Stars for 3 who downed rogue Iraqi
By Michael Hoffman - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 23, 2011 16:33:30 EST
GHUZLANI WARRIOR TRAINING CENTER, Iraq — Before Marwan Nadir Abdulaziz al-Jabouri sprinted down a hill here Jan. 15 firing an M16 from his hip, the U.S. soldiers he targeted thought of him as a model Iraqi soldier.
He joined in 2008, passed a screening test and was recently promoted to squad leader. No one thought twice when he asked to fall out of formation to fill up his canteen shortly after 8 a.m.
The soldiers with 1st Cavalry Division’s Alpha Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 4th Advise and Assist Brigade didn’t know U.S. forces had killed his uncle and cousin, or that his father, a lieutenant colonel in Saddam Hussein’s army, had recently kicked him out of his house.
Capt. Thomas Herman’s 22 soldiers waiting to start training with Jabouri’s company had no warning that morning of a shootout that killed Sgts. Michael Bartley and Martin “Mick” LaMar and critically injured Sgt. Robert Fierro.
No one could predict either that three of Alpha Troop’s youngest soldiers would react quickly enough to maneuver and kill Jabouri, preventing a tragedy from spiraling into something much worse. Pfcs. Kevin Gardner and Raymond Gomez and Sgt. Martin Gaymon each earned the Bronze Star with Valor device Feb. 17, one week after Fort Hood, Texas, held a memorial for Bartley and LaMar.
read more here
Bronze Stars for 3 who downed rogue Iraqi
By Michael Hoffman - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 23, 2011 16:33:30 EST
THE FALLEN
The U.S. soldiers killed when an Iraqi soldier opened fire at a training center Jan. 15:
• Sgt. Michael Bartley
• Sgt. Martin “Mick” LaMar
THE VALOROUS
Three young soldiers were honored for stopping the shooter:
• Pfc. Kevin Gardner
• Pfc. Raymond Gomez
• Sgt. Martin Gaymon
GHUZLANI WARRIOR TRAINING CENTER, Iraq — Before Marwan Nadir Abdulaziz al-Jabouri sprinted down a hill here Jan. 15 firing an M16 from his hip, the U.S. soldiers he targeted thought of him as a model Iraqi soldier.
He joined in 2008, passed a screening test and was recently promoted to squad leader. No one thought twice when he asked to fall out of formation to fill up his canteen shortly after 8 a.m.
The soldiers with 1st Cavalry Division’s Alpha Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 4th Advise and Assist Brigade didn’t know U.S. forces had killed his uncle and cousin, or that his father, a lieutenant colonel in Saddam Hussein’s army, had recently kicked him out of his house.
Capt. Thomas Herman’s 22 soldiers waiting to start training with Jabouri’s company had no warning that morning of a shootout that killed Sgts. Michael Bartley and Martin “Mick” LaMar and critically injured Sgt. Robert Fierro.
No one could predict either that three of Alpha Troop’s youngest soldiers would react quickly enough to maneuver and kill Jabouri, preventing a tragedy from spiraling into something much worse. Pfcs. Kevin Gardner and Raymond Gomez and Sgt. Martin Gaymon each earned the Bronze Star with Valor device Feb. 17, one week after Fort Hood, Texas, held a memorial for Bartley and LaMar.
read more here
Bronze Stars for 3 who downed rogue Iraqi
Vietnam Vet's daughter-director uses film to highlight PTSD
Canton director uses film to highlight PTSD
by Laura Braddick
lbraddick@cherokeetribune.com
February 24, 2011 12:00 AM
Canton resident Leslie Lugosi is using her passion for filmmaking to call attention to a national issue.
The self-taught director and writer has been making short movies for five years with her film company BootyTooth Productions.
Her newest work entitled "Listen" follows a Vietnam War veteran who begins to experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder episodes after an accident several years since his military service.
"It's based on a short story I wrote," Ms. Lugosi said. "My intent was to help people understand PTSD and help those who are suffering from it."
The Atlanta native said she tries to make films that have a positive impact on people and focus on issues important to her.
"My father served in Vietnam, and he was adversely affected by the war," she said. "It's always been a subject very dear to my heart, and it's something we're still experiencing today with soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq."
The movie, which has not yet been publicly released, was filmed entirely in Cherokee County.
With the help of Master Sgt. Gerald Edwards, a Vietnam veteran who served as military advisor for the film, Ms. Lugosi made the backwoods of Canton look like the jungle wilderness of Vietnam.
Read more: Cherokee Tribune -
Canton director uses film to highlight PTSD
by Laura Braddick
lbraddick@cherokeetribune.com
February 24, 2011 12:00 AM
Canton resident Leslie Lugosi is using her passion for filmmaking to call attention to a national issue.
The self-taught director and writer has been making short movies for five years with her film company BootyTooth Productions.
Her newest work entitled "Listen" follows a Vietnam War veteran who begins to experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder episodes after an accident several years since his military service.
"It's based on a short story I wrote," Ms. Lugosi said. "My intent was to help people understand PTSD and help those who are suffering from it."
The Atlanta native said she tries to make films that have a positive impact on people and focus on issues important to her.
"My father served in Vietnam, and he was adversely affected by the war," she said. "It's always been a subject very dear to my heart, and it's something we're still experiencing today with soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq."
The movie, which has not yet been publicly released, was filmed entirely in Cherokee County.
With the help of Master Sgt. Gerald Edwards, a Vietnam veteran who served as military advisor for the film, Ms. Lugosi made the backwoods of Canton look like the jungle wilderness of Vietnam.
Read more: Cherokee Tribune -
Canton director uses film to highlight PTSD
University of Vermont research helps with understanding PTSD
Understanding PTSD
Feb 23, 2011 8:28pm
NECN: Anya Huneke) - When you think of PTSD, you probably think of those back from war, or dealing with another tragedy. Some new information out from the University of Vermont helps explain why some suffer more than others.
In a new report published in the journal 'Nature', scientists from UVM and Emory University have identified a hormone - known as 'pacap' - that appears to be linked to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The researchers found that women with high blood levels of pacap showed more of the symptoms of PTSD. The same correlation was not found in men.
Understanding PTSD
Feb 23, 2011 8:28pm
NECN: Anya Huneke) - When you think of PTSD, you probably think of those back from war, or dealing with another tragedy. Some new information out from the University of Vermont helps explain why some suffer more than others.
In a new report published in the journal 'Nature', scientists from UVM and Emory University have identified a hormone - known as 'pacap' - that appears to be linked to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The researchers found that women with high blood levels of pacap showed more of the symptoms of PTSD. The same correlation was not found in men.
Understanding PTSD
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