Supreme Court rules for anti-gay church over military funeral protests
By Bill Mears, CNN Supreme Court Producer
March 2, 2011 11:07 a.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The 8-1 vote upholds the right of Westboro Baptist Church members to stage protests
The father of a fallen Marine sued after church members protested at his son's funeral
The U.S. has chosen "to protect even hurtful speech on public issues," Roberts writes
Washington (CNN) -- A Kansas church that attracted nationwide attention for its angry, anti-gay protests at the funerals of U.S. military members has won its appeal at the Supreme Court, an issue testing the competing constitutional rights of free speech and privacy.
The justices, by an 8-1 vote, said Wednesday that members of Westboro Baptist Church had a right to promote what they call a broad-based message on public matters such as wars. The father of a fallen Marine had sued the small church, saying those protests amounted to targeted harassment and an intentional infliction of emotional distress.
read more here
Supreme Court rules for anti-gay church
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Gunman kills soldiers on military bus in Germany
BREAKING NEWS
2 U.S. soldiers reported killed at German airport
March 2nd, 2011
10:47 AM ET
[Update 10:52 a.m. ET] Two people were shot and killed Wednesday in an incident involving a U.S. military bus at Frankfurt airport in Germany, a police spokesman said.
Another person is severely wounded, Juergen Linker told CNN, and one person is in custody.
The U.S. military did not immediately comment on the incident.
[Original post, 10:47 a.m. ET] Two U.S. soldiers were shot and killed Wednesday at Frankfurt airport, Germany's busiest airport, a police spokesman said.
There were conflicting reports as to whether the shooting took place inside a terminal or aboard a shuttle bus.
check back with CNN later
2 U.S. soldiers reported killed at German airport
update
Update March 3, 2011
2 U.S. soldiers reported killed at German airport
March 2nd, 2011
10:47 AM ET
[Update 10:52 a.m. ET] Two people were shot and killed Wednesday in an incident involving a U.S. military bus at Frankfurt airport in Germany, a police spokesman said.
Another person is severely wounded, Juergen Linker told CNN, and one person is in custody.
The U.S. military did not immediately comment on the incident.
[Original post, 10:47 a.m. ET] Two U.S. soldiers were shot and killed Wednesday at Frankfurt airport, Germany's busiest airport, a police spokesman said.
There were conflicting reports as to whether the shooting took place inside a terminal or aboard a shuttle bus.
check back with CNN later
2 U.S. soldiers reported killed at German airport
update
Update March 3, 2011
Germany: Shooting Suspect 'Islamist'
Germany: Suspect admits targeting U.S troops
By Melissa Eddy and Tomislav Skaro - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 3, 2011 1:45:13 EST
FRANKFURT, Germany — The suspect in the slaying of two U.S. airmen at Frankfurt airport has confessed to targeting American military members, a German security official said Thursday as investigators probed what they considered a possible act of Islamic terrorism.
German federal prosecutors took over the investigation into Wednesday’s shooting, which also injured two U.S. airmen, one of them critically. They are working together with U.S. authorities, who said Thursday the suspect was not on any American watch list.
Hesse state Interior Minister Boris Rhein told reporters in Wiesbaden that the suspect, identified as a 21-year-old ethnic Albanian from Kosovo, was apparently radicalized over the last few weeks. Relatives in northern Kosovo identified him as Arid Uka, whose family has been living in Germany for 40 years.
read more of this here
Suspect admits targeting U.S troops
Slain airmen from South Carolina and Virginia
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 3, 2011 22:16:25 EST
WASHINGTON — The Air Force says that the two U.S. airmen slain in a shooting at a German airport were from South Carolina and Virginia.
The Air Force identified the victims as 25-year-old Senior Airman Nicholas J. Alden of Williamston, S.C., and Airman 1st Class Zachary R. Cuddeback of Stanardsville, Va.
RELATED READING
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• Pa. airman survives deadly Germany shooting
Alden was assigned to the 48th Security Forces Squadron at RAF Lakenheath in England. Cuddeback was assigned to the 86th Vehicle Readiness Squadron at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
German officials say a 21-year-old temporary letter sorter has admitted targeting Americans when he opened fire with a handgun on a busload of U.S. airmen at Frankfurt’s airport on Wednesday, killing two and wounding two others. The airmen were on their way to deployment in Afghanistan.
Malmstrom chaplain shares story of contemplating suicide
"Instead, he was met with mindsets that thought chaplains shouldn't need help. They should only give help."Think of hearing that. I can tell you that most of the time chaplains need help more but are the last ones to ask for it because of this kind of attitude.
When you spend your life as a "helper" you are all too often unable to ask for help for yourself. Once at that point, too many times, the people turned to find it impossible to understand why help for the "strong" would even be needed.
People end up with PTSD and depression because of their own lives but caregivers also end up with it because of the lives of others seeking help from them. Without support it is hard to find God in the shadows of misery. This I know all too well. I struggle everyday with my faith and most days I lose the battle, finding no comfort from God or people but then one day, out of His hands, a stranger lets me know I do matter. Days like that make the emotional burden seem worth the price but the rest of the time, I wonder who is supposed to help me.
If we help other people, there are only a few times when you can see the relief in their eyes. Only rare times when you discover that what you said or did mattered enough to help them turn the corner.
Many times I spend hours with veterans, usually with emails, and I can tell that I am getting through to them but sooner or later, they stop emailing and move on with their lives. I never know if it was because I gave them what they needed or they got it from someone else. I saw the hits on my videos when they were up on YouTube but when they reached over 5,000 hits with very few comments, I didn't know if they mattered or people were just curious. When they were being used by service groups or mental health professionals, I knew they mattered but never knew who they helped or how much. All of this makes this work even harder. There are too many reasons to just give up and move on with my own life. The thing that keeps me doing it is simple. I know what it is like to feel lost and alone, suffering without finding anywhere to turn.
Those days when there was no support living with PTSD in my family dug wounds deep inside of me and I remember those times with heartache. I know what it is like to be alone, so I do the best I can to offer the help I never found, hoping, praying that today I can make a difference in the life of someone else, just like me way back then.
This story is about a Military Chaplain and his struggle finding the help he needed.
Malmstrom chaplain shares story of contemplating suicide
Posted 3/1/2011
by Valerie Mullett
341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
3/1/2011 - MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. (AFNS) -- Chaplain (Capt.) John VanderKaay knows what it is like to contemplate suicide. He also knows what it's like to seek help for his feelings and begin the healing process. He has been there and shares his story with anyone it might help.
Three months after returning from a tour in Iraq, he made a permanent change-of-station move to Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., and started settling in to his new job and new surroundings.
Several months later, he said he started to see "dark areas" of his life and he would react in ways that were uncharacteristic of him.
He said he couldn't understand these dark areas, so he opened up to his leaders about his feelings and they encouraged him to talk to a mental health provider about them.
"John, that sounds an awful lot like (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). I think you should go and talk with the professionals," Chaplain VanderKaay said he was told.
The chaplain was diagnosed with PTSD and began attending counseling sessions, but these counseling sessions were short-lived.
Not long into his counseling, Hurricane Katrina struck.
"The hospital was destroyed and mental health providers, among many others, were sent away," Chaplain VanderKaay said. "I was there for 10 months after that and there was no opportunity for me to deal with any of my 'stuff.' There were incredible needs (of others) after the devastation. My 'stuff' had to wait."
After the hurricane, he said he went to numerous houses of wives of deployed Airmen only to witness the same fate -- they had lost everything to Katrina and they turned to him for comfort.
"I did this house after house and it weighed on me," Chaplain VanderKaay said.
Eventually he received orders to a new base. However, the trauma of the Hurricane Katrina experiences led to a second diagnosis of PTSD.
"When I got to my next duty station, I was full; I was over-flowing," he said. "I needed to start taking care of my 'stuff.'"
So once again, the chaplain turned to his leaders and told his story, expecting to get the same support he had gotten prior to his first diagnosis.
Instead, he was met with mindsets that thought chaplains shouldn't need help. They should only give help. That only increased the pressures he was feeling. As a result, he came face to face with the perceived stigma of receiving mental help.
read more here
Malmstrom chaplain shares story of contemplating suicide
Supreme Court eases benefit deadline for vets
Supreme Court eases benefit deadline for vets
By Joan Biskupic, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday that a deadline for military veterans who appeal the federal government's denial of benefits need not be rigidly enforced.
The justices sided with a mentally ill Korean War vet whose appeal was blocked because he missed a 120-day deadline for judicial review by 15 days. The high court reversed a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that said Veterans Court judges could not make exceptions to the deadline, even when a veteran's illness contributed to his delayed appeal.
read more here
Supreme Court eases benefit deadline for vets
By Joan Biskupic, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday that a deadline for military veterans who appeal the federal government's denial of benefits need not be rigidly enforced.
The justices sided with a mentally ill Korean War vet whose appeal was blocked because he missed a 120-day deadline for judicial review by 15 days. The high court reversed a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that said Veterans Court judges could not make exceptions to the deadline, even when a veteran's illness contributed to his delayed appeal.
read more here
Supreme Court eases benefit deadline for vets
Budget smoke screen
It has been nearly impossible to comprehend where these sudden concerns about the deficit came from. Why? Because the people doing the most complaining were in charge when it all happened.
Public opinion went the other way and wanted government out of our personal lives, including Clinton's.
They kept it up by going after gay people. Again, public opinion went the other way. They lost that battle too.
With Bush and 9-11, it was then all about security and no money was too much to spend on defense contractors. They used our emotional ties to the troops to get all the money they wanted to spend, but as we can see now, they didn't care about where the money went.
When the economy suffered, first they blamed 9-11, told citizens to just go shopping to help the economy, but never once thought about what they needed to do to fix the problems other than tax breaks for the rich. It was never about asking us to do anything to really support the troops anymore than it was about paying for the wars they thought were all so important to fight. Tax cuts for the rich kept going on no matter what was being done. No one in the GOP said they needed to pay for Iraq or Afghanistan. Borrowing money was fine with them. That is, until the troops were coming home wounded and the VA budget was nowhere near where it should have been.
While Democrats lacked control, they tried to get the GOP to pay attention to all of this, but they said they couldn't afford to increase the VA because there were two wars to "pay for" and not enough money to go around.
Again, as we can see in the chart, paying contractors was another story.
With two wars producing more veterans and disabled veterans, they let the budget drop instead of increase. With more older veterans needing to be taken care of, they didn't think about them either.
Now we have these same people saying that we cannot pass on this debt to our kids years from now at the same time they want to take food and shelter away from families today. It is almost as if they want us to believe they just got to Washington and had nothing to do with anything.
THE SHOCK DOCTRINE by Naomi Klein hit the nail on the head and this is all about causing fear to take control and get rid of what they don't want. It's all a smoke screen.
February 3, 2008The economy was good during the Clinton years so when the GOP wanted to take control, they went after our personal lives, including the President's personal life. It was all about morals and family values.
Updated: February 11, 2008
Q:
During the Clinton administration was the federal budget balanced? Was the federal deficit erased?
A:
Yes to both questions, whether you count Social Security or not.
This chart, based on historical figures from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, shows the total deficit or surplus for each fiscal year from 1990 through 2006. Keep in mind that fiscal years begin Oct. 1, so the first year that can be counted as a Clinton year is fiscal 1994. The appropriations bills for fiscal years 1990 through 1993 were signed by Bill Clinton's predecessor, George H.W. Bush. Fiscal 2002 is the first for which President George W. Bush signed the appropriations bills, and the first to show the effect of his tax cuts.
The Clinton years showed the effects of a large tax increase that Clinton pushed through in his first year, and that Republicans incorrectly claim is the "largest tax increase in history." It fell almost exclusively on upper-income taxpayers. Clinton's fiscal 1994 budget also contained some spending restraints. An equally if not more powerful influence was the booming economy and huge gains in the stock markets, the so-called dot-com bubble, which brought in hundreds of millions in unanticipated tax revenue from taxes on capital gains and rising salaries.
Clinton administration was the federal budget balanced
Public opinion went the other way and wanted government out of our personal lives, including Clinton's.
They kept it up by going after gay people. Again, public opinion went the other way. They lost that battle too.
With Bush and 9-11, it was then all about security and no money was too much to spend on defense contractors. They used our emotional ties to the troops to get all the money they wanted to spend, but as we can see now, they didn't care about where the money went.
Big Bucks, Little Oversight, Big Trouble
Posted by Mark Thompson Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Much of the billions of dollars U.S. taxpayers are spending rebuilding Afghanistan and Iraq is likely being wasted because no one is ensuring the contractors involved are doing a good job. That's the bottom line in Monday's report from the congressionally-mandated Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Read more:
Big Bucks, Little Oversight, Big Trouble
When the economy suffered, first they blamed 9-11, told citizens to just go shopping to help the economy, but never once thought about what they needed to do to fix the problems other than tax breaks for the rich. It was never about asking us to do anything to really support the troops anymore than it was about paying for the wars they thought were all so important to fight. Tax cuts for the rich kept going on no matter what was being done. No one in the GOP said they needed to pay for Iraq or Afghanistan. Borrowing money was fine with them. That is, until the troops were coming home wounded and the VA budget was nowhere near where it should have been.
While Democrats lacked control, they tried to get the GOP to pay attention to all of this, but they said they couldn't afford to increase the VA because there were two wars to "pay for" and not enough money to go around.
Again, as we can see in the chart, paying contractors was another story.
US Federal Budget
Bush
$68.4 billion (2.62%) - Veterans' benefits 2006
$72.6 billion (+5.8%) - Veterans' benefits 2007
$39.4 billion (+18.7%) - Department of Veterans Affairs 2008
$44.8 billion - United States Department of Veterans Affairs 2009
Obama
$52.5 billion (+10.3%) – Department of Veterans Affairs 2010
With two wars producing more veterans and disabled veterans, they let the budget drop instead of increase. With more older veterans needing to be taken care of, they didn't think about them either.
Now we have these same people saying that we cannot pass on this debt to our kids years from now at the same time they want to take food and shelter away from families today. It is almost as if they want us to believe they just got to Washington and had nothing to do with anything.
THE SHOCK DOCTRINE by Naomi Klein hit the nail on the head and this is all about causing fear to take control and get rid of what they don't want. It's all a smoke screen.
PTSD is scary, confusing — but most of all, treatable
This came from Beacon News. I searched for the name of the author but couldn't find it. I wanted to say "thank you" for telling a story that had to be told. I can try to explain what PTSD is like and come pretty close but when you hear the words from people with PTSD inside of them, then you are able to understand better than I could ever come close to explaining to you. This is powerful and comes from a regular person after surviving two traumatic events. Maybe after reading it, you will have a clearer understanding of what it is like for the troops and even our police officers. They expose themselves to traumatic events everyday, year after year because they are jobs that have to be done.
Also from Beacon News
PTSD’s stronghold can have debilitating affect
PTSD is scary, confusing — but most of all, treatable
Mar 2, 2011 2:10AM
It was late, maybe 3 a.m. I was sitting in my roommate’s parked Chevy Cavalier, alone, panicked, hoping nobody could see me — hoping I wasn’t really there.
The full story is long, much like that night was. I was at a house party in November 2003, my senior year of college — something my sorority sisters and I did almost every weekend. A girlfriend and I were about to leave when we heard a few popping sounds, much like firecrackers, from just outside the front door. The next thing I knew, one friend ran inside, yelling for someone to call 911.
Our friends hosting the party were trying to kick out a group of teenaged crashers. I’ve been told one of these strangers unexpectedly pulled a gun out of his pants, fired randomly, and ran. One of the bullets hit a friend of the party host square in the chest. He died a few minutes later.
I will never forget what it felt like, sitting in my roommate’s car as we waited for police, staring at the body sprawled on the lawn. Silent. Unmoving. Dead. “I was just dancing next to him an hour ago,” I thought, “and now he’s dead.” I’ve always lived by the mantra that “life is short,” but seeing the body of one of my peers at the age of 21 was the kind of wake-up call I never expected to experience.
Fast-forward four years later, when I was 25. I was driving my relatively new Honda Civic, on my way to a family gathering at about 9 a.m. in Chicago. I’m still not clear on exactly what happened, but I’ve been told that I went through a red stoplight that I didn’t see and crashed into the side of a gold BMW that seemed to come out of nowhere. In my confusion, I veered to the right and slammed into a curb. My airbag deployed while my hand was still on the horn.
I always compare that moment to the cartoons: When one of the characters is bonked on the head, they have little gold stars floating around them. That’s exactly what that moment felt like. When I came to, probably only a few seconds later, I didn’t feel right. I looked down, saw blood from a fingernail that had broken off, and then saw my right forearm. It was shaped like an S, and my hand was almost flattened against my inner forearm. The airbag had whipped my hand around and shattered the outer portion of my wrist.
read more here
PTSD is scary, confusing but most of all, treatable
Also from Beacon News
PTSD’s stronghold can have debilitating affect
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Family Faults Army In Case Of AWOL Soldier Killed By Police
Family Faults Army In Case Of AWOL Soldier Killed By Police
Austin Jenkins | February 28, 2011 | Fort Lewis, WA
ShareDiscuss
It was a surreal scene last August 27th in downtown Salt Lake City.
A soldier - AWOL from his base in Western Washington - emerged from an underground parking lot. He was dressed head-to-toe in combat gear and carrying a rifle.
Seconds later the soldier was dead.
Now, an internal Army investigation has found shortcomings in how the case was handled. The family of Specialist Brandon Barrett blames the Army for not intervening sooner.
Austin Jenkins has the latest installment in his year-long series following the hard-hit 5th Stryker Brigade as it transitions home.
No one will ever know what was in the mind of Specialist Barrett that day last August. He told passersby he was "in training." They immediately dialed 9-1-1. Here's what happened next as reported by TV station KSL.
KSL TV: "Shots were fired between the man and an officer...."
The officer was grazed in the leg. His return fire struck Specialist Barrett in the face killing him instantly.
Police have theorized Barrett was about to go on a shooting spree -- perhaps from the top of the Grand America Hotel. He carried a thousand rounds of ammunition.
But his brother Shane, a cop himself, has another theory.
read more here
Family Faults Army In Case Of AWOL Soldier Killed By Police
Austin Jenkins | February 28, 2011 | Fort Lewis, WA
ShareDiscuss
It was a surreal scene last August 27th in downtown Salt Lake City.
A soldier - AWOL from his base in Western Washington - emerged from an underground parking lot. He was dressed head-to-toe in combat gear and carrying a rifle.
Seconds later the soldier was dead.
Now, an internal Army investigation has found shortcomings in how the case was handled. The family of Specialist Brandon Barrett blames the Army for not intervening sooner.
Austin Jenkins has the latest installment in his year-long series following the hard-hit 5th Stryker Brigade as it transitions home.
No one will ever know what was in the mind of Specialist Barrett that day last August. He told passersby he was "in training." They immediately dialed 9-1-1. Here's what happened next as reported by TV station KSL.
KSL TV: "Shots were fired between the man and an officer...."
The officer was grazed in the leg. His return fire struck Specialist Barrett in the face killing him instantly.
Police have theorized Barrett was about to go on a shooting spree -- perhaps from the top of the Grand America Hotel. He carried a thousand rounds of ammunition.
But his brother Shane, a cop himself, has another theory.
read more here
Family Faults Army In Case Of AWOL Soldier Killed By Police
Australian Soldiers returning home with PTSD
Soldiers returning home with PTSD
Paula's husband Glenn is an Australian soldier, and after serving in Timor, and Afghanistan he has returned home, a changed man, and his family are finding it hard to reach out to him.
Paula's story is not an easy one to listen to. And she thought long and hard before telling it today.
The Brisbane mother and wife didn't want to - she wanted to work it out in her family. And then she wanted to work it out in the army.
None of that's worked. She even went to the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel minister Warren Snowdon. And now she's decided to tell it publicly.
Her husband Glenn is an Australian soldier. He went to Timor, and then Afghanistan.
And then last Christmas he came home. She almost didn't recognise him.
"He's like a shell.
"You see him and it looks like Glenn, but that's as far as you go, there's nothing there."
Paula says it took months before her husband Glenn was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and now he's being cared for at home.
Now Paula is asking how many other soldiers are suffering from PTSD.
read more here
Soldiers returning home with PTSD
Paula's husband Glenn is an Australian soldier, and after serving in Timor, and Afghanistan he has returned home, a changed man, and his family are finding it hard to reach out to him.
Paula's story is not an easy one to listen to. And she thought long and hard before telling it today.
The Brisbane mother and wife didn't want to - she wanted to work it out in her family. And then she wanted to work it out in the army.
None of that's worked. She even went to the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel minister Warren Snowdon. And now she's decided to tell it publicly.
Her husband Glenn is an Australian soldier. He went to Timor, and then Afghanistan.
And then last Christmas he came home. She almost didn't recognise him.
"He's like a shell.
"You see him and it looks like Glenn, but that's as far as you go, there's nothing there."
Paula says it took months before her husband Glenn was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and now he's being cared for at home.
Now Paula is asking how many other soldiers are suffering from PTSD.
read more here
Soldiers returning home with PTSD
J.D. Salinger and combat PTSD
What Salinger tells us about caring for veterans
By Nicolaus Mills, Special to CNN
March 1, 2011 9:40 a.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Nicolaus Mills: J.D. Salinger known for "Catcher in the Rye" but had things to say about war
He says Salinger fought in WWII, returned with post-traumatic stress disorder
His story "For Esme -- With Love and Squalor" explored how injured vet helped by young girl
Mills: Salinger reminds us of the nation's obligations to veterans today
But a new biography, "J.D. Salinger: A Life," by Kenneth Slawenski, reminds us that there is another Salinger, one especially relevant to our own times.
This other Salinger is the World War II veteran. He served in the 4th Division's 12th Infantry Regiment as it fought its way from D-Day through the Battle of the Bulge, suffering horrendous casualties. Of the 3,080 troops who landed with Salinger's regiment at Utah Beach on June 6, 1944, only 1,130 were alive three weeks later.
For Salinger, post-traumatic stress disorder, known then as "battle fatigue," was no abstraction. He was hospitalized in 1945 in Nuremberg, Germany, for a nervous breakdown.
In his 1950 short story, "For Esme -- With Love and Squalor," Salinger gives an account of PTSD that speaks directly to us today. It echoes the condition of thousands of the 1.6 million veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, for whom the estimated PTSD rate is nearly 20%.
read more here
What Salinger tells us about caring for veterans
By Nicolaus Mills, Special to CNN
March 1, 2011 9:40 a.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Nicolaus Mills: J.D. Salinger known for "Catcher in the Rye" but had things to say about war
He says Salinger fought in WWII, returned with post-traumatic stress disorder
His story "For Esme -- With Love and Squalor" explored how injured vet helped by young girl
Mills: Salinger reminds us of the nation's obligations to veterans today
Editor's note: Nicolaus Mills is professor of American Studies at Sarah Lawrence College and author of "Winning the Peace: The Marshall Plan and America's Coming of Age as a Superpower."(CNN) -- A year after his death at 91, J.D. Salinger is known, above all else, as the author of "The Catcher in the Rye." Since its publication in 1951, identifying with Holden Caulfield has become an American rite of passage.
But a new biography, "J.D. Salinger: A Life," by Kenneth Slawenski, reminds us that there is another Salinger, one especially relevant to our own times.
This other Salinger is the World War II veteran. He served in the 4th Division's 12th Infantry Regiment as it fought its way from D-Day through the Battle of the Bulge, suffering horrendous casualties. Of the 3,080 troops who landed with Salinger's regiment at Utah Beach on June 6, 1944, only 1,130 were alive three weeks later.
For Salinger, post-traumatic stress disorder, known then as "battle fatigue," was no abstraction. He was hospitalized in 1945 in Nuremberg, Germany, for a nervous breakdown.
In his 1950 short story, "For Esme -- With Love and Squalor," Salinger gives an account of PTSD that speaks directly to us today. It echoes the condition of thousands of the 1.6 million veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, for whom the estimated PTSD rate is nearly 20%.
read more here
What Salinger tells us about caring for veterans
Mental Health Program For National Guard, Reservists Faces Budget Cut
List this as dumb to cut funds for National Guards and Reservists after all these years of hard work to even come close to taking care of them and even dumber when you think that it will come at a time when there are more veterans needing mental healthcare.
Mental Health Program For National Guard, Reservists Faces Budget Cut
BY Peggy McCarthy | FEB 28, 2011 10:00 PM
Posted to: Eye on Veterans
Because of money problems, the state is cutting its groundbreaking counseling and support program for National Guard soldiers, Reservists and their families, according to Jim Tackett, director of Veterans Services in the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
This comes at a time when officials had hoped to expand the program to also include enlisted Armed Forces and families, he said.
The program, called the Connecticut Military Support Program (MSP), was the first of its kind in the country when it was established in 2007 and is still considered unique, but is running out of money.
The commissioner of mental health has helped by allocating up to $175,000 from the department budget to keep it operating another year, but that and what remains from the original funding won’t pay for the existing level of services, Tackett said.
The program was started to help deployed Connecticut National Guard members, Reservists, and their families deal with mental health and substance abuse problems, usually referred to as “behavioral health.” Some issues they face include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), marital problems, arrests for driving under the influence, separation issues faced by children, and stress resulting from war zone service and home coming.
read more here
Mental Health Program For National Guard, Reservists Faces Budget Cut
Florida Senate President's deal: 1 book, 1 copy, $152K
Fla. politician's deal: 1 book, 1 copy, $152K
By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
The Associated Press
Monday, February 28, 2011; 4:46 PM
COCOA, Fla. -- Florida's new Senate president, who wants the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate next year, got $152,000 from a coastal community college to write a book on politics, a product taxpayers will have to share if they want to see.
The lone copy of "Florida Legislative History and Processes" by Mike Haridopolos can only be read at Brevard Community College's administration office.
The 175-page, double-spaced manuscript doesn't come close to meeting the original contract's call for a publishable, textbook-quality look at the development of the Florida Legislature, state constitution, the governor's office and judiciary from pre-statehood until present.
read more here
Fla. politician's deal: 1 book, 1 copy, $152K
By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
The Associated Press
Monday, February 28, 2011; 4:46 PM
COCOA, Fla. -- Florida's new Senate president, who wants the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate next year, got $152,000 from a coastal community college to write a book on politics, a product taxpayers will have to share if they want to see.
The lone copy of "Florida Legislative History and Processes" by Mike Haridopolos can only be read at Brevard Community College's administration office.
The 175-page, double-spaced manuscript doesn't come close to meeting the original contract's call for a publishable, textbook-quality look at the development of the Florida Legislature, state constitution, the governor's office and judiciary from pre-statehood until present.
read more here
Fla. politician's deal: 1 book, 1 copy, $152K
'Topping out' ceremony marks halfway point in VA hospital construction
'Topping out' ceremony marks halfway point in VA hospital construction
By Jeff Kunerth, Orlando Sentinel
6:02 p.m. EST, February 27, 2011
Orlando's VA hospital, with 134 in-patient beds, will shorten the trip for 90,000 veterans in Central Florida who now go to VA hospitals in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Gainesville.
Veterans and elected officials marked the halfway point Sunday in the construction of the $665 million Orlando VA Medical Center with a "topping out" ceremony.
A 20-foot, 1,100-pound I-beam was lowered into place 140 feet above the ground, completing the steel framework.
The hospital, with 134 in-patient beds, will shorten the trip for 90,000 veterans in Central Florida who now go to VA hospitals in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Gainesville.
"We've been waiting for this for a long time," said Vietnam veteran Eustace L. Horne, 66, of Longwood.
read more here
Topping out ceremony marks halfway point in VA hospital construction
By Jeff Kunerth, Orlando Sentinel
6:02 p.m. EST, February 27, 2011
Orlando's VA hospital, with 134 in-patient beds, will shorten the trip for 90,000 veterans in Central Florida who now go to VA hospitals in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Gainesville.
Veterans and elected officials marked the halfway point Sunday in the construction of the $665 million Orlando VA Medical Center with a "topping out" ceremony.
A 20-foot, 1,100-pound I-beam was lowered into place 140 feet above the ground, completing the steel framework.
The hospital, with 134 in-patient beds, will shorten the trip for 90,000 veterans in Central Florida who now go to VA hospitals in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Gainesville.
"We've been waiting for this for a long time," said Vietnam veteran Eustace L. Horne, 66, of Longwood.
read more here
Topping out ceremony marks halfway point in VA hospital construction
San Diego Navy Base Security Shoots Sailor
Navy Base Security Shoots Sailor
February 28, 2011
UPI
One U.S. Sailor was shot and another taken into custody Saturday during a chase at Naval Base San Diego, a Navy spokesman said.
The incident started about 1:30 a.m. when the two Sailors showed up at a base entrance and a guard ordered the driver to pull over to check to see if he was intoxicated, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
go here for more
Navy Base Security Shoots Sailor
February 28, 2011
UPI
One U.S. Sailor was shot and another taken into custody Saturday during a chase at Naval Base San Diego, a Navy spokesman said.
The incident started about 1:30 a.m. when the two Sailors showed up at a base entrance and a guard ordered the driver to pull over to check to see if he was intoxicated, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
go here for more
Navy Base Security Shoots Sailor
GOP budget eliminates $75 million for homeless veterans
Will the GOP ever understand that when it comes to veterans, they cannot pay the price for their service depending on who is in charge or which way the wind blows? They served this country in good financial times as well as bad times. They get hurt, by body or mind, because the elected at the time decided to send them to war. Some of them signed up because we were at war while others signed up in case we had to go to war. What they need should never, ever be fair game in budget battles.
The members of Congress do not take a pay cut or see their benefits cut because we "can't afford" them. They never have to worry when they are no longer in Congress because they still get a paycheck for their "service" and this doesn't even matter if they can work or not afterwards. No one says we should stop paying them even when they get cushy jobs worth millions a year (or more) so why is it these same people think the service veterans provided is worth any less? After all, politicians only risk their reputations but soldiers risk their lives.
Let congress cut their own budget first since they are the people behind the reason we have so many veterans in the first place and then ignored their problems making them homeless and in need.
The members of Congress do not take a pay cut or see their benefits cut because we "can't afford" them. They never have to worry when they are no longer in Congress because they still get a paycheck for their "service" and this doesn't even matter if they can work or not afterwards. No one says we should stop paying them even when they get cushy jobs worth millions a year (or more) so why is it these same people think the service veterans provided is worth any less? After all, politicians only risk their reputations but soldiers risk their lives.
Let congress cut their own budget first since they are the people behind the reason we have so many veterans in the first place and then ignored their problems making them homeless and in need.
U.S. Rep. McCollum: Republicans wrong to go after public broadcasting
Republicans want to strip it of funding in their cutting extravaganza. That's dumb.
By BETTY MCCOLLUM
Last update: February 27, 2011 - 5:39 PM
Congressional Republicans assert that their federal budget-cutting, regardless how destructive, reflects the desires of the American people.
The cuts passed last week by House Republicans trim the remainder of the fiscal 2011 budget. They eliminate $75 million for homeless veterans; completely wipe out funding for women's health and family planning ($317 million); slash funding for Head Start; reduce Pell Grants that help low-income students go to college -- and the list continues.
The sum of the Republican cuts would reduce this year's federal budget deficit by about 4 percent, while, according to the Economic Policy Institute, costing 800,000 American jobs in the public, nonprofit and private sectors.
read more here
Republicans wrong to go after public broadcasting
Fisher House, good family medicine for the wounded
Families are good medicine for wounded warriors
By Robin Beres
Published: February 27, 2011
The sight of a long-missed loved one is good for more than just sore eyes. It's good medicine for the entire body — especially when one is injured or ill. There can be few things more comforting to a wounded service member then having his family by his side. And there are few wives, mothers or fathers who wouldn't go through hell to be with a hurt spouse or child.
But what happens when an injured service member is sent to a hospital far from home for recovery and medical care? How does a family afford to pack up and stay for weeks or months at a time in a city that may be hundreds of miles away?
Neither the Department of Defense nor the Veterans Administration provides funds for extended family visits. Hotel stays can run into the thousands of dollars. For a young wife anxious to be near her husband — or a family wanting to be close to a son, a sister, a father — the cost of a prolonged stay far from home can be financially devastating and oftentimes impossible to manage.
Enter Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher, founders of the Fisher House Foundation. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Zachary Fisher was a fabulously successful real estate developer. Although rejected for service at the outbreak of WWII due a childhood leg injury, Fisher became a strong advocate of the U.S. armed forces, devoting incredible amounts of time and money to military and veteran causes.
In 1990, Pauline Trost, wife of the then-chief of naval operations, Admiral Carlisle Trost, approached the Fishers about the desperate need to provide temporary lodging for families of patients undergoing treatment at military hospitals. The Fishers immediately donated $20 million to the project.
One year later, the first Fisher house opened at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Fully furnished, the sprawling home was able to accommodate eight families. It was a place where family members could return in the evening after an often grueling day spent in a hospital — a warm, homelike setting rather than a cramped, impersonal motel room. It provided families a chance to meet and share concerns with others going through similar crises.
Today, 53 Fisher Houses provide homes away from home that serve families of both active-duty service members and veterans. The homes are located on or near military and veterans' medical centers and hospitals. There is no cost to the government to build these homes — they are gifts from the Fisher Foundation. And there is no charge to the families who stay at the homes.
read more here
Families are good medicine for wounded warriors
By Robin Beres
Published: February 27, 2011
The sight of a long-missed loved one is good for more than just sore eyes. It's good medicine for the entire body — especially when one is injured or ill. There can be few things more comforting to a wounded service member then having his family by his side. And there are few wives, mothers or fathers who wouldn't go through hell to be with a hurt spouse or child.
But what happens when an injured service member is sent to a hospital far from home for recovery and medical care? How does a family afford to pack up and stay for weeks or months at a time in a city that may be hundreds of miles away?
Neither the Department of Defense nor the Veterans Administration provides funds for extended family visits. Hotel stays can run into the thousands of dollars. For a young wife anxious to be near her husband — or a family wanting to be close to a son, a sister, a father — the cost of a prolonged stay far from home can be financially devastating and oftentimes impossible to manage.
Enter Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher, founders of the Fisher House Foundation. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Zachary Fisher was a fabulously successful real estate developer. Although rejected for service at the outbreak of WWII due a childhood leg injury, Fisher became a strong advocate of the U.S. armed forces, devoting incredible amounts of time and money to military and veteran causes.
In 1990, Pauline Trost, wife of the then-chief of naval operations, Admiral Carlisle Trost, approached the Fishers about the desperate need to provide temporary lodging for families of patients undergoing treatment at military hospitals. The Fishers immediately donated $20 million to the project.
One year later, the first Fisher house opened at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Fully furnished, the sprawling home was able to accommodate eight families. It was a place where family members could return in the evening after an often grueling day spent in a hospital — a warm, homelike setting rather than a cramped, impersonal motel room. It provided families a chance to meet and share concerns with others going through similar crises.
Today, 53 Fisher Houses provide homes away from home that serve families of both active-duty service members and veterans. The homes are located on or near military and veterans' medical centers and hospitals. There is no cost to the government to build these homes — they are gifts from the Fisher Foundation. And there is no charge to the families who stay at the homes.
read more here
Families are good medicine for wounded warriors
228th Engineer Company returns to hugs, tears after serving in Iraq
228th Engineer Company returns to hugs, tears after serving in Iraq (VIDEO)
Published: Sunday, February 27, 2011; Last Updated: Sun. Feb 27, 2011, 11:00pm
By Phil Ellingsworth Jr., pellingsworth@pottsmerc.com
SPRING CITY — It was a heroes welcome for the members of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard 228th Engineer Company Sunday morning, as family, friends and loved ones greeted soldiers returning home from a year-long deployment in Iraq.
Tears of joy were shed, and hugs and kisses exchanged as the 96-member brigade arrived to the Spring City Armory after completing its mission of clearing improvised explosive devices and training the Iraqi Army in Baghdad.
The day was an especially poignant one for Sgt. Anthony Pezzletti of South Philadelphia, who got to see his 9-month-old son for just the second time since he was born.
After bring reunited with his son, Pezzletti was “excited” to be home and spend time with his infant son.
With the community turning out to support the troops, Spc. Dana Hess, 31, of Pittsburgh, said it was “important and special” to have loved ones greet the soldiers as they returned home.
“It means a lot to us,” Hess said.
During the mission, the company spent a great deal of time working together as a team to keep Baghdad safe, and to receive encouragement from family and friends shows they support what the troops did overseas, he said.
read more here
228th Engineer Company returns
Published: Sunday, February 27, 2011; Last Updated: Sun. Feb 27, 2011, 11:00pm
By Phil Ellingsworth Jr., pellingsworth@pottsmerc.com
SPRING CITY — It was a heroes welcome for the members of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard 228th Engineer Company Sunday morning, as family, friends and loved ones greeted soldiers returning home from a year-long deployment in Iraq.
Tears of joy were shed, and hugs and kisses exchanged as the 96-member brigade arrived to the Spring City Armory after completing its mission of clearing improvised explosive devices and training the Iraqi Army in Baghdad.
The day was an especially poignant one for Sgt. Anthony Pezzletti of South Philadelphia, who got to see his 9-month-old son for just the second time since he was born.
After bring reunited with his son, Pezzletti was “excited” to be home and spend time with his infant son.
With the community turning out to support the troops, Spc. Dana Hess, 31, of Pittsburgh, said it was “important and special” to have loved ones greet the soldiers as they returned home.
“It means a lot to us,” Hess said.
During the mission, the company spent a great deal of time working together as a team to keep Baghdad safe, and to receive encouragement from family and friends shows they support what the troops did overseas, he said.
read more here
228th Engineer Company returns
Lazarus Project helps soldiers' families find support
Lazarus Project helps soldiers' families find support
BY PHILIP GREY • THE LEAF-CHRONICLE • FEBRUARY 27, 2011
At her office in the Wesley Foundation building on College Street, Jodi McCullah sat behind a desk topped with orderly clutter and began to explain the Lazarus Project, starting with its name.
In the New Testament, when Lazarus was brought back to the world of the living, Jesus instructed the community to unbind the tightly wound cloth that constricted him head to foot. Had they not done so, Lazarus could not have lived.
She uses the metaphor to relate her deeply held belief that a society cannot send young men and women to war without taking some responsibility for it. The community needs to help unbind the soldiers and their families so they can re-enter the world and live.
That is the Lazarus Project, an organization that is supported by the United Methodist Church and administered by McCullah, a Methodist pastor whose role is to marry people with support and services.
The project was started two years ago to help Austin Peay State University students with family members deployed overseas. Counseling services on post were limited at the time, McCullah said, because they were overwhelmed just dealing with active-duty members. The campus counselors were good. But there were only two, and neither was familiar with military issues.
"We were dealing with students who were dealing with the war," she said. "Then we started looking at the fact that one in five students were active-duty or veterans on the GI Bill. Another one in five were family members of people who were deployed or who had been deployed.
"We had students with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder," she continued. "And at that time, traumatic brain injury wasn't even on our radar.
read more here
Lazarus Project helps soldiers' families find support
BY PHILIP GREY • THE LEAF-CHRONICLE • FEBRUARY 27, 2011
At her office in the Wesley Foundation building on College Street, Jodi McCullah sat behind a desk topped with orderly clutter and began to explain the Lazarus Project, starting with its name.
In the New Testament, when Lazarus was brought back to the world of the living, Jesus instructed the community to unbind the tightly wound cloth that constricted him head to foot. Had they not done so, Lazarus could not have lived.
She uses the metaphor to relate her deeply held belief that a society cannot send young men and women to war without taking some responsibility for it. The community needs to help unbind the soldiers and their families so they can re-enter the world and live.
That is the Lazarus Project, an organization that is supported by the United Methodist Church and administered by McCullah, a Methodist pastor whose role is to marry people with support and services.
The project was started two years ago to help Austin Peay State University students with family members deployed overseas. Counseling services on post were limited at the time, McCullah said, because they were overwhelmed just dealing with active-duty members. The campus counselors were good. But there were only two, and neither was familiar with military issues.
"We were dealing with students who were dealing with the war," she said. "Then we started looking at the fact that one in five students were active-duty or veterans on the GI Bill. Another one in five were family members of people who were deployed or who had been deployed.
"We had students with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder," she continued. "And at that time, traumatic brain injury wasn't even on our radar.
read more here
Lazarus Project helps soldiers' families find support
Monday, February 28, 2011
Decorated War Veteran Fatally Struck by Car
Decorated War Veteran Fatally Struck by Car After Celebrating Birthday
Feb 28, 2011 – 10:08 AM
Mara Gay
Contributor
A decorated war veteran who survived a suicide bombing in Afghanistan was struck by a car and killed after celebrating his birthday party at a bar on New York's Long Island.
Seamus Byrne was heading home from the bar in Smithtown, N.Y., after celebrating his 33rd birthday with his wife and friends early Sunday when he inadvertently walked into the street and was hit by an oncoming car, according to police.
"He was very happy with his friends, celebrating life," his father-in-law, James Gallagher, told the New York Daily News. "He just wasn't looking at the traffic, and he walked in front of a car."
His wife, Michelle, who is a nurse, witnessed the accident and tried to revive her husband until paramedics arrived, Gallagher told the New York Post. Byrne died later at a hospital.
read more here
Decorated War Veteran Fatally Struck by Car
Feb 28, 2011 – 10:08 AM
Mara Gay
Contributor
A decorated war veteran who survived a suicide bombing in Afghanistan was struck by a car and killed after celebrating his birthday party at a bar on New York's Long Island.
Seamus Byrne was heading home from the bar in Smithtown, N.Y., after celebrating his 33rd birthday with his wife and friends early Sunday when he inadvertently walked into the street and was hit by an oncoming car, according to police.
"He was very happy with his friends, celebrating life," his father-in-law, James Gallagher, told the New York Daily News. "He just wasn't looking at the traffic, and he walked in front of a car."
His wife, Michelle, who is a nurse, witnessed the accident and tried to revive her husband until paramedics arrived, Gallagher told the New York Post. Byrne died later at a hospital.
read more here
Decorated War Veteran Fatally Struck by Car
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Impotent power of words
There are so many reports and articles on PTSD that you'd think it is a well known issue everyone knows about. Unlike the ads for erectile dysfunction (ED) so well searched for the term pops up with just "erec" typed into Google or Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)medication, we don't see ads for medications for PTSD. How did these topics end up with multi-million dollar ad campaigns? Was it out of the goodness of their hearts corporations paid to spread the word? No, they have a product to sell so they spread the word about issues a lot of people suffered with silently. RA is painful but did not come with a stigma attached to it. Erectile dysfunction had a huge "shame" factor, so men didn't talk about it while women complained to their friends about it.
What changed? Ex-Senator Bob Dole along with others said they had ED during commercials to sell medication. The ads were so effective that millions of men went to see their doctor for a "boost" even if they didn't have ED. Women were cutting out advertisements to show their partners while stocking up on K-Y Personal Lubricants. We didn't have to know what was in the tub during a Cialis ad. This disclaimer is on their ads and their website, "CIALIS is not right for everyone. Only your healthcare provider and you can decide if CIALIS is right for you." Gone are the days when a man was too ashamed to admit he had the problem. Now if he says anything about not being able to "get it up" someone tells him to just take a pill.
Words broke the silence.
But words, while very powerful, lack the ability to change the world without money behind them. The impotent power of words being spoken with few ears hearing. The stories you see on this blog all have money behind them, unless they were written exclusively by me. Each news report linked to was written by someone getting a paycheck to research, interview and write them. Every study printed was commissioned by financial backing. It is more a matter of money talks.
Christianity began with 13 poor men homeless men walking around talking about the love of God and salvation. They were given food and shelter from strangers in exchange for what they had to say along with miracles to heal the ill. Christ didn't need a lot of money behind Him, an ad campaign or a public relations department but there were a lot less people in the world.
Some say that had Christ walked the earth today, no one would listen but I believe they are wrong. The power of the Internet changed all of that. A story coming out of a tiny town no one ever heard of can reach around the world if Associated Press picks up on it. From their feed, news stations around the country discover it and bingo, a local story becomes international.
If you are in doubt, then think about this. The number one story a couple of years ago on this blog was about an 11 year old boy from Lynnwood Washington. Brenden Foster was dying of cancer. When he could have only been thinking about himself, he cared more about homeless people he saw coming home from yet another visit to his doctor. 11 year old Brenden Foster's dying wish, feed the homeless News station KOMO reported the story and tiny blogs like mine picked up on it. There were over 3,000 hits and 78 comments, which is highly unusual for Wounded Times Blog. CNN reported on young Brenden and his story reached around the world in a matter of days. One little boy's dying wish touched others, reached their hearts and changed some minds on how they feel about homeless people.
Words can change the world by bringing attention to what someone thought was important enough to tell.
Twenty years ago, reports on veterans committing suicide were kept as a family secret. Homeless veterans were only paid attention to by shelters or reporters when one of them was in trouble with the law. Stories on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, another secret families suffered with in the privacy of their own homes, were happening all over the country but since no one was talking publicly, no one knew.
Now we have the Internet to get PTSD out of the secret world of suffering with millions of people discussing it but what we don't have is the money behind it. Drug companies are making billions without having to spend much money on TV ads. Average people never know about PTSD unless they know someone with it and even some families with member struggling with it remain clueless. Why?
The information is all over the net. That's a good thing but how would they find it if they don't know what "it" is?
We read the reports everyday on this blog, so it is incredibly hard to understand there is anyone left without a clue, but if you begin to talk to someone "out of the loop" you'll understand just how many remain in the dark. Even though there are about 7 million Americans with PTSD few have heard of it. According to the Mayo Clinic "Erectile dysfunction is common, and prevalence increases with age. It affects 5 to 10 percent of men at age 40. By age 70, from 40 to 60 percent of men have the condition." This, like PTSD, crosses all demographics, but PTSD requires someone to have been exposed to at least one traumatic event. ED is caused by a list of causes. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is only common after experiencing trauma.
Think about all the news reports we read everyday on traumatic events right in our own community. Car accidents, fires, rapes and other crimes. We understand these things can happen any second. Read the obituary section and we understand that a family member of ours could die any minute. We know families are changed by these events in their lives. 1 out of 3 (or 1 out of 5 depending on the report) will not walk away from a traumatic event and just be able to "get over it" with time. By the time the expected period of mourning is over, symptoms take over but the event itself is not connected to the changes we see in a person. That is, unless we know what we are seeing and where it came from.
Out of the 7 million Americans with PTSD, millions of them are combat veterans. For them, their traumatic experience is one building on another yet we don't see to be able to understand how they can end up with a much deeper level of PTSD, making it harder to not only treat but to get them to seek treatment in the first place. These are not your average citizen experiencing what we all go through, but a minority among us willing to put themselves into traumatic events. They join the military knowing what comes with combat, ready to take their chances to get a job the country wanted done, done.
When it comes to them, we don't pay attention. We don't even pay attention to what is going on in Iraq or Afghanistan, so the chance of paying attention to them when they come home is greatly diminished. We don't see ads about families trying to help like we see a wife enjoying her husband being "ready" when she is. We don't see ads about the pain a veteran goes through like we see someone talking about the pain of RA and how much their lives changed.
When I tell people what I do, sooner or later they share how someone in their own family was a veteran with PTSD and then they share their pain over the fact they never knew what it was. Wives discovering PTSD was behind their troubled marriage regret how they responded and feel angry no one ever told then what it was before. It is not that no one tried to tell them but without the knowledge somehow getting to the ears of someone needing to hear it, it was as if no one on the planet knew anything.
Seven million people with PTSD joined by families and extended families view the ads we see everyday and wonder when we'll see ads addressing what matters in our own lives. We wonder who will find the sense of urgency to shell out a few million to do advertising on our suffering. We want to see that there are people making miracles happen everyday for others to give us hope and we want to know it is ok to talk about it publicly without being ashamed. With all the money going to PTSD these days for research and treatment, you'd think someone would value the power of awareness enough to kick in a few million for a TV ad.
What changed? Ex-Senator Bob Dole along with others said they had ED during commercials to sell medication. The ads were so effective that millions of men went to see their doctor for a "boost" even if they didn't have ED. Women were cutting out advertisements to show their partners while stocking up on K-Y Personal Lubricants. We didn't have to know what was in the tub during a Cialis ad. This disclaimer is on their ads and their website, "CIALIS is not right for everyone. Only your healthcare provider and you can decide if CIALIS is right for you." Gone are the days when a man was too ashamed to admit he had the problem. Now if he says anything about not being able to "get it up" someone tells him to just take a pill.
Words broke the silence.
Dr. Jay Adlersberg of New York's WABC wrote in the release,
Power of Words"One study by researchers at Stanford University highlights what many scholars and politicians have known for a long time. People's thinking towards a particular conclusion can be swayed with the use of the right words or phrases, and shows the influence of words and images."
But words, while very powerful, lack the ability to change the world without money behind them. The impotent power of words being spoken with few ears hearing. The stories you see on this blog all have money behind them, unless they were written exclusively by me. Each news report linked to was written by someone getting a paycheck to research, interview and write them. Every study printed was commissioned by financial backing. It is more a matter of money talks.
Christianity began with 13 poor men homeless men walking around talking about the love of God and salvation. They were given food and shelter from strangers in exchange for what they had to say along with miracles to heal the ill. Christ didn't need a lot of money behind Him, an ad campaign or a public relations department but there were a lot less people in the world.
Some say that had Christ walked the earth today, no one would listen but I believe they are wrong. The power of the Internet changed all of that. A story coming out of a tiny town no one ever heard of can reach around the world if Associated Press picks up on it. From their feed, news stations around the country discover it and bingo, a local story becomes international.
If you are in doubt, then think about this. The number one story a couple of years ago on this blog was about an 11 year old boy from Lynnwood Washington. Brenden Foster was dying of cancer. When he could have only been thinking about himself, he cared more about homeless people he saw coming home from yet another visit to his doctor. 11 year old Brenden Foster's dying wish, feed the homeless News station KOMO reported the story and tiny blogs like mine picked up on it. There were over 3,000 hits and 78 comments, which is highly unusual for Wounded Times Blog. CNN reported on young Brenden and his story reached around the world in a matter of days. One little boy's dying wish touched others, reached their hearts and changed some minds on how they feel about homeless people.
Words can change the world by bringing attention to what someone thought was important enough to tell.
Twenty years ago, reports on veterans committing suicide were kept as a family secret. Homeless veterans were only paid attention to by shelters or reporters when one of them was in trouble with the law. Stories on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, another secret families suffered with in the privacy of their own homes, were happening all over the country but since no one was talking publicly, no one knew.
Now we have the Internet to get PTSD out of the secret world of suffering with millions of people discussing it but what we don't have is the money behind it. Drug companies are making billions without having to spend much money on TV ads. Average people never know about PTSD unless they know someone with it and even some families with member struggling with it remain clueless. Why?
The information is all over the net. That's a good thing but how would they find it if they don't know what "it" is?
We read the reports everyday on this blog, so it is incredibly hard to understand there is anyone left without a clue, but if you begin to talk to someone "out of the loop" you'll understand just how many remain in the dark. Even though there are about 7 million Americans with PTSD few have heard of it. According to the Mayo Clinic "Erectile dysfunction is common, and prevalence increases with age. It affects 5 to 10 percent of men at age 40. By age 70, from 40 to 60 percent of men have the condition." This, like PTSD, crosses all demographics, but PTSD requires someone to have been exposed to at least one traumatic event. ED is caused by a list of causes. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is only common after experiencing trauma.
Think about all the news reports we read everyday on traumatic events right in our own community. Car accidents, fires, rapes and other crimes. We understand these things can happen any second. Read the obituary section and we understand that a family member of ours could die any minute. We know families are changed by these events in their lives. 1 out of 3 (or 1 out of 5 depending on the report) will not walk away from a traumatic event and just be able to "get over it" with time. By the time the expected period of mourning is over, symptoms take over but the event itself is not connected to the changes we see in a person. That is, unless we know what we are seeing and where it came from.
Out of the 7 million Americans with PTSD, millions of them are combat veterans. For them, their traumatic experience is one building on another yet we don't see to be able to understand how they can end up with a much deeper level of PTSD, making it harder to not only treat but to get them to seek treatment in the first place. These are not your average citizen experiencing what we all go through, but a minority among us willing to put themselves into traumatic events. They join the military knowing what comes with combat, ready to take their chances to get a job the country wanted done, done.
When it comes to them, we don't pay attention. We don't even pay attention to what is going on in Iraq or Afghanistan, so the chance of paying attention to them when they come home is greatly diminished. We don't see ads about families trying to help like we see a wife enjoying her husband being "ready" when she is. We don't see ads about the pain a veteran goes through like we see someone talking about the pain of RA and how much their lives changed.
When I tell people what I do, sooner or later they share how someone in their own family was a veteran with PTSD and then they share their pain over the fact they never knew what it was. Wives discovering PTSD was behind their troubled marriage regret how they responded and feel angry no one ever told then what it was before. It is not that no one tried to tell them but without the knowledge somehow getting to the ears of someone needing to hear it, it was as if no one on the planet knew anything.
Seven million people with PTSD joined by families and extended families view the ads we see everyday and wonder when we'll see ads addressing what matters in our own lives. We wonder who will find the sense of urgency to shell out a few million to do advertising on our suffering. We want to see that there are people making miracles happen everyday for others to give us hope and we want to know it is ok to talk about it publicly without being ashamed. With all the money going to PTSD these days for research and treatment, you'd think someone would value the power of awareness enough to kick in a few million for a TV ad.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Yellow Ribbon offers help to returning Florida National Guards
Yellow Ribbon offers help to returning guardsmen
By COURTNEY CAIRNS PASTOR | The Tampa Tribune
Published: February 26, 2011
Updated: 01:53 pm
TAMPA - Florida National Guard Staff Sgt. Roger Roache thought he knew what to expect when he was deployed to Kuwait in January 2010 after serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Although Afghanistan was intense, Kuwait turned into a whirlwind of another kind.
"This was the easiest of missions because you know what to expect," said Roache, 32. "Emotionally, it's crazy."
His wife, Laura, learned she was pregnant after a trip they took together on his leave. She mailed him sonogram photos, e-mailed updates after doctors' appointments and leaned on family for support. He got up at 4 a.m. to call her for news.
When he returned to their Palm Bay home in December, she had a lengthy "honey-to-do list" for him. She said she didn't know how she would have gotten through the end of the pregnancy without him there.
Their son, Achilles, was born three weeks ago, and the couple is adjusting to sleep deprivation – they joke Achilles is on "Kuwait time."
Although Roger Roache is unemployed and job-hunting, it's a happy period for them.
The hard part tends to come three to four months after a soldier returns, said Col. Jim Fogle-Miller, state chaplain for the National Guard.
At first, he said, families are in the "honeymoon of getting back." But real life creeps in and stress grows.
Fogle-Miller spoke today about reconnecting with loved ones, part of the Yellow Ribbon Program at the Hyatt Regency Tampa. About 1,000 Florida Army National Guard members and their families got an expenses-paid weekend to learn about resources available to help them adjust to post-deployment life.
read more here
Yellow Ribbon offers help to returning guardsmen
By COURTNEY CAIRNS PASTOR | The Tampa Tribune
Published: February 26, 2011
Updated: 01:53 pm
TAMPA - Florida National Guard Staff Sgt. Roger Roache thought he knew what to expect when he was deployed to Kuwait in January 2010 after serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Although Afghanistan was intense, Kuwait turned into a whirlwind of another kind.
"This was the easiest of missions because you know what to expect," said Roache, 32. "Emotionally, it's crazy."
His wife, Laura, learned she was pregnant after a trip they took together on his leave. She mailed him sonogram photos, e-mailed updates after doctors' appointments and leaned on family for support. He got up at 4 a.m. to call her for news.
When he returned to their Palm Bay home in December, she had a lengthy "honey-to-do list" for him. She said she didn't know how she would have gotten through the end of the pregnancy without him there.
Their son, Achilles, was born three weeks ago, and the couple is adjusting to sleep deprivation – they joke Achilles is on "Kuwait time."
Although Roger Roache is unemployed and job-hunting, it's a happy period for them.
The hard part tends to come three to four months after a soldier returns, said Col. Jim Fogle-Miller, state chaplain for the National Guard.
At first, he said, families are in the "honeymoon of getting back." But real life creeps in and stress grows.
Fogle-Miller spoke today about reconnecting with loved ones, part of the Yellow Ribbon Program at the Hyatt Regency Tampa. About 1,000 Florida Army National Guard members and their families got an expenses-paid weekend to learn about resources available to help them adjust to post-deployment life.
read more here
Yellow Ribbon offers help to returning guardsmen
Canton director uses film to highlight PTSD
Canton director uses film to highlight PTSD
by Laura Braddick
lbraddick@mdjonline.com
February 24, 2011
Staff/Special by Don Naumann
Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - Canton director uses film to highlight PTSD
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," 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.
Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - Canton director uses film to highlight PTSD.
read more here
Canton director uses film to highlight PTSD
by Laura Braddick
lbraddick@mdjonline.com
February 24, 2011
Staff/Special by Don Naumann
Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - Canton director uses film to highlight PTSD
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," 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.
Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - Canton director uses film to highlight PTSD.
read more here
Canton director uses film to highlight PTSD
Teens found guilty in Christmas attack on Marine and his wife
Teens found guilty in Christmas attack on Marine
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BRADENTON, Fla. -- Twin 15-year-olds were found guilty of assault charges stemming from a Christmas night attack on a U.S. Marine and his wife outside a Bradenton movie theater.
Circuit Judge Edward Nicholas said Thursday he will review the brothers' background before deciding on a penalty in March.
The incident began during a showing of "Little Fockers." Federico Freire, home on leave from Afghanistan, and his wife, testified they asked the group of unruly teens to be quiet.
Read more:
Teens found guilty in Christmas attack on Marine
also
Marine home on leave, wife attacked by teens after showing of "Little Fockers"
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BRADENTON, Fla. -- Twin 15-year-olds were found guilty of assault charges stemming from a Christmas night attack on a U.S. Marine and his wife outside a Bradenton movie theater.
Circuit Judge Edward Nicholas said Thursday he will review the brothers' background before deciding on a penalty in March.
The incident began during a showing of "Little Fockers." Federico Freire, home on leave from Afghanistan, and his wife, testified they asked the group of unruly teens to be quiet.
Read more:
Teens found guilty in Christmas attack on Marine
also
Marine home on leave, wife attacked by teens after showing of "Little Fockers"
100-Year-Old Recalls Life As WWII Army Nurse
100-Year-Old Recalls Life As WWII Army Nurse
Ora Pierce Hicks One Of 500 Black Nurses Serving At Time
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- There are not many people who make it to 100 and fewer still with a story like that of Ora Pierce Hicks.
KMBC's Bev Chapman reported that Hicks is a living legend to her family and to those who know about her service in World War II.
She is one of 17 children who grew up in a poor black family in Bogalusa, La. Hicks said her mother nursed the children of white women who couldn’t care for their own in order to make a little money.
Poverty didn’t stop Hicks from dreaming big. Hicks wanted to become a nurse. After working for two years as a school teacher and saving her money, she did it. She met a man who knew the director of a nursing school in Kansas City. He gave her a contact and in 1933, Hicks was enrolled. She graduated in 1936, returned home to Louisiana and probably would have stayed there working as a nurse were it not for the war.
“I heard on the radio that soldiers were dying because they didn’t have enough nurses,” Hicks said. “I wanted to help.”
She enlisted at a time when the Army was desperate for nurses, but not anxious to hire black nurses. They accepted Hicks and the experience changed her life.
One of her first posts was to a P.O.W. camp in Florence, Ariz. Later, she worked in a psychiatric ward at Walter Reed Hospital.
Life As WWII Army Nurse
Ora Pierce Hicks One Of 500 Black Nurses Serving At Time
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- There are not many people who make it to 100 and fewer still with a story like that of Ora Pierce Hicks.
KMBC's Bev Chapman reported that Hicks is a living legend to her family and to those who know about her service in World War II.
She is one of 17 children who grew up in a poor black family in Bogalusa, La. Hicks said her mother nursed the children of white women who couldn’t care for their own in order to make a little money.
Poverty didn’t stop Hicks from dreaming big. Hicks wanted to become a nurse. After working for two years as a school teacher and saving her money, she did it. She met a man who knew the director of a nursing school in Kansas City. He gave her a contact and in 1933, Hicks was enrolled. She graduated in 1936, returned home to Louisiana and probably would have stayed there working as a nurse were it not for the war.
“I heard on the radio that soldiers were dying because they didn’t have enough nurses,” Hicks said. “I wanted to help.”
She enlisted at a time when the Army was desperate for nurses, but not anxious to hire black nurses. They accepted Hicks and the experience changed her life.
One of her first posts was to a P.O.W. camp in Florence, Ariz. Later, she worked in a psychiatric ward at Walter Reed Hospital.
At the end of World War II, there were 50,000 in the Army Nursing Corps. Hicks was one of about 500 who were black. She rose to the rank of major before retiring.read more here
Life As WWII Army Nurse
Florida Pastor Talks About Shooting at Church
Crime & Courts
Florida Pastor Talks About Shooting at Church
Published February 25, 2011
FoxNews.com
A South Florida pastor is speaking out after police were forced to fire on a knife-wielding man at his church.
"He was very aggressive," said Luther Memorial Lutheran Church Pastor James Congee. "We have odd things that happen, but not like that."
Pastor Congee has been pastor at the church for nearly a decade and a pastor for more than 30 years and said he has never witnessed a church day like Wednesday's.
"I heard a commotion outside and the janitor came running into the room, and behind him was this fellow with a knife. He was right on top of him," said the Pastor.
Read more:
Florida Pastor Talks About Shooting at Church
Florida Pastor Talks About Shooting at Church
Published February 25, 2011
FoxNews.com
A South Florida pastor is speaking out after police were forced to fire on a knife-wielding man at his church.
"He was very aggressive," said Luther Memorial Lutheran Church Pastor James Congee. "We have odd things that happen, but not like that."
Pastor Congee has been pastor at the church for nearly a decade and a pastor for more than 30 years and said he has never witnessed a church day like Wednesday's.
"I heard a commotion outside and the janitor came running into the room, and behind him was this fellow with a knife. He was right on top of him," said the Pastor.
Read more:
Florida Pastor Talks About Shooting at Church
Soldier still missing, last location was Flathead Valley
Soldier still missing, last location was Flathead Valley
Posted: Feb 25, 2011 9:46 AM by Katy Harris (Kalispell)
The parents of missing U.S. soldier Noah Pippin are desperate to find their son, who was last seen in the Flathead Valley back in August.
Some new details are coming out as to why they believe he wasn't alone when he disappeared.
Noah was last seen in August. He grew up in Michigan and completed three combat tours in Iraq, and was driving home to Michigan before preparing to deploy again to Afghanistan.
Flathead County Sheriff's Department Detective Pat Walsh tracked him as far as a Hungry Horse hotel. They also traced a notebook with directions to an area just outside Glacier National Park.
Mike Pippen, Noah's father, says after Montana's News Station first aired the story in November, he received an anonymous tip from someone in Missoula claiming they saw Noah outside a bar with a woman.
If you have any information that may help authorities, or have seen Noah Pippin, call Mike Pippin at 231-883-1445 or Flathead County Detective Pat Walsh at 406-758-5600.
read more here
Soldier still missing, last location was Flathead Valley
Posted: Feb 25, 2011 9:46 AM by Katy Harris (Kalispell)
The parents of missing U.S. soldier Noah Pippin are desperate to find their son, who was last seen in the Flathead Valley back in August.
Some new details are coming out as to why they believe he wasn't alone when he disappeared.
Noah was last seen in August. He grew up in Michigan and completed three combat tours in Iraq, and was driving home to Michigan before preparing to deploy again to Afghanistan.
Flathead County Sheriff's Department Detective Pat Walsh tracked him as far as a Hungry Horse hotel. They also traced a notebook with directions to an area just outside Glacier National Park.
Mike Pippen, Noah's father, says after Montana's News Station first aired the story in November, he received an anonymous tip from someone in Missoula claiming they saw Noah outside a bar with a woman.
If you have any information that may help authorities, or have seen Noah Pippin, call Mike Pippin at 231-883-1445 or Flathead County Detective Pat Walsh at 406-758-5600.
read more here
Soldier still missing, last location was Flathead Valley
What really happened to Pfc. David Jones Jr?
If a 21 year old soldier committed suicide, it is very sad, but we've been reading about suicide deaths for years. Usually when we read their stories, the families report other issues or changes going on before the death. The times when a family does not believe the death was by their own hands are often a very long battle to discover the truth.
St. Johnsville soldier's loved ones dispute Army's suicide finding
But David Jones' loved ones not satisfied with Army report in Iraq case
By DENNIS YUSKO Staff Writer
Updated 10:38 p.m., Friday, February 25, 2011
The would-be fiance of an area soldier who died in Iraq refuses to accept a recently completed Army investigation that says he killed himself in Baghdad.
An Army Criminal Investigation Command probe into the Oct. 24 death of Pfc. David Jones Jr. determined the 21-year-old soldier committed suicide. Results were sent recently to Jones' family in his hometown of St. Johnsville.
"CID's investigation concluded that Pfc. Jones died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and that no foul play was suspected in his death," CID spokesman Jeffrey Castro said in an e-mail Friday.
Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/St-Johnsville-soldier-s-loved-ones-dispute-1030401.php#ixzz1F4IUkn7Z
Winton and Jones' family, whose name is Bennett, consider his death suspicious and have said he had too much to live for to have taken his life. In the days following Jones' death, family members said they thought he was killed by another soldier in a shooting rampage. Army officials quickly denied that.
Read more:
St. Johnsville soldier's loved ones dispute Army's suicide finding1
Friday, February 25, 2011
Crowd cheers Marines returning home to Central Florida
Last night I went to welcome home some local heroes. 50 Marines came home. Some missed a lot of things while they were gone. One missed the birth of his baby. One came off the bus, soon after, hearing Happy Birthday. It was a wonderful night and it felt good to see so many people show up to say welcome home with balloons and flags, big smiles and really loud cheers. I'll have more on this over the weekend since I shot some video on it.
Crowd cheers Marines returning home to Central Florida
February 25, 2011|By Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel
Of the many parents who waited nervously for their sons and daughters to come home, Lee Entrekin knew as well as any where they had been, and how fotunate they were to return home safely.
Entrekin left home to serve in the U.S. Air Force in Iraq in 2005 and 2006, returning in time, he said, to see his son head to the Middle East as a Marine. His boy returned home safe from that deployment, only to go back about nine months ago.
Thursday night, Lance Cpl. Gregory Entrekin was among about 50 veterans of Afghanistan who returned home to Central Florida. And to his father's great pride and elation, "he came home in one piece."
read more of this here
Crowd cheers Marines returning home to Central Florida
HUD housing vouchers to be given out for homeless veterans
This email came in and is good news for Florida's homeless veterans
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
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
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Vietnam vet from Melbourne gets heroism medal
43 years later, Vietnam vet from Melbourne gets heroism medal
Melbourne man's action finally rewarded
6:37 AM, Feb. 22, 2011
Harry Pope had the paperwork, but not the medal.
But 43 years after his act of "heroism in connection with military operations against a hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam," Pope, 64, of Melbourne, has finally received an Army Commendation Medal with "V" Device with the help of U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge.
Pope knew he was recommended for the medal with "V" Device for valor he never received, yet never bothered pressing for it after returning home from the long-ago war. It was a time when there was indifference and even hostility toward returning Vietnam veterans.
read more here
Vietnam vet from Melbourne gets heroism medal
Melbourne man's action finally rewarded
6:37 AM, Feb. 22, 2011
Harry Pope had the paperwork, but not the medal.
But 43 years after his act of "heroism in connection with military operations against a hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam," Pope, 64, of Melbourne, has finally received an Army Commendation Medal with "V" Device with the help of U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge.
Pope knew he was recommended for the medal with "V" Device for valor he never received, yet never bothered pressing for it after returning home from the long-ago war. It was a time when there was indifference and even hostility toward returning Vietnam veterans.
read more here
Vietnam vet from Melbourne gets heroism medal
PTSD on Trial, update on Nicholas Horner
Pennsylvania Soldier's Double-Murder Trial Set for August
Published February 23, 2011
| Associated Press
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. -- The trial of an Iraq war veteran who is raising post-traumatic stress disorder as his defense in a double-murder case is set for jury selection Aug. 15.
Thirty-year-old Army veteran Nicholas Horner, of Altoona, contends his mental condition drove him to kill a 19-year-old clerk and a 64-year-old bystander while taking about $130 from an Altoona Subway store on April 6, 2009.
Blair County Judge Jolene Kopriva on Tuesday ruled the jury will be picked locally, contrary to a defense request that media publicity makes picking an out-of-county jury fairer. The judge says pretrial publicity has died down and noted much of it has not been inflammatory.
The judge delayed the trial until August to give prosecutors time to hire experts to review psychiatric reports prepared by defense experts.
Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/23/pennsylvania-soldiers-double-murder-trial-set-august/#ixzz1EokUfKXD
Published February 23, 2011
| Associated Press
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. -- The trial of an Iraq war veteran who is raising post-traumatic stress disorder as his defense in a double-murder case is set for jury selection Aug. 15.
Thirty-year-old Army veteran Nicholas Horner, of Altoona, contends his mental condition drove him to kill a 19-year-old clerk and a 64-year-old bystander while taking about $130 from an Altoona Subway store on April 6, 2009.
Blair County Judge Jolene Kopriva on Tuesday ruled the jury will be picked locally, contrary to a defense request that media publicity makes picking an out-of-county jury fairer. The judge says pretrial publicity has died down and noted much of it has not been inflammatory.
The judge delayed the trial until August to give prosecutors time to hire experts to review psychiatric reports prepared by defense experts.
Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/23/pennsylvania-soldiers-double-murder-trial-set-august/#ixzz1EokUfKXD
IFOC and Wounded Times
As of today I am no longer affiliated with the International Fellowship of Chaplains.
Search continues for missing disabled Vietnam veteran
Search continues for disabled veteran
BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) - Birmingham police and volunteers are still looking for Michael Campbell, a local disabled veteran of the Vietnam War. Campbell, who is 65, wheelchair-bound and reliant on an oxygen tank, was last seen Saturday in the 5700 block of First Avenue North in Woodlawn.
Campbell is a white male, 5'8" tall, 130 pounds with hazel eyes and gray hair. He was last seen wearing a black leather vest with an American flag print, blue jeans and a long sleeve white shirt. Campbell runs a transition house for homeless veterans called "Three Hots and a Cot" at the St. Benedict's Veterans Center.
According to Cindy Miller, one of the search volunteers who knows Campbell through the Patriot Guard Riders, Campbell left St. Benedict's Saturday morning around 6 a.m. to go counsel the family of a veteran who had recently committed suicide.
read more here
Search continues for disabled veteran
BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) - Birmingham police and volunteers are still looking for Michael Campbell, a local disabled veteran of the Vietnam War. Campbell, who is 65, wheelchair-bound and reliant on an oxygen tank, was last seen Saturday in the 5700 block of First Avenue North in Woodlawn.
Campbell is a white male, 5'8" tall, 130 pounds with hazel eyes and gray hair. He was last seen wearing a black leather vest with an American flag print, blue jeans and a long sleeve white shirt. Campbell runs a transition house for homeless veterans called "Three Hots and a Cot" at the St. Benedict's Veterans Center.
According to Cindy Miller, one of the search volunteers who knows Campbell through the Patriot Guard Riders, Campbell left St. Benedict's Saturday morning around 6 a.m. to go counsel the family of a veteran who had recently committed suicide.
read more here
Search continues for disabled veteran
Lance Cpl. Andrew Carpenter Taken Off Life Support After Being Shot
Killed Marine's Dad Says Son Was Apprehensive
Andrew Carpenter Taken Off Life Support After Being Shot
Reported By Deanna Lambert
In August, Marine Lance Cpl. Andrew Carpenter wrote his parents a letter thanking them for being great parents and for giving him all they did. Now, his parents think it might have been his goodbye letter.
"(I) wanted to send a thank you for not just for the packages I receive but also for everything you have done for me," Cindy Carpenter read from her son's letter.
Andrew Carpenter was taken off life support Saturday after he was recently shot in the neck on patrol in the Helmand province, according to the Department of Defense.
On Valentine's Day, Cindy and Kevin Carpenter got the phone call they never hoped to get.
"He said that my son had been seriously wounded in Afghanistan, and he started to read an incident report, and I said, 'Well, is he alive or is he dead?'" said Kevin.
Andrew was brain dead.
"We wanted to hold him, touch him. That's the one thing Crissie (Andrew's wife) didn't get to do," Cindy said.
"Cry on him," said Kevin.
During their last phone conversation with their son in January, Andrew told his father that he was scared, his dad said. Carpenter said that the U.S. military doesn't have the proper resources to be over there fighting.
read more here
Andrew Carpenter Taken Off Life Support After Being Shot
Andrew Carpenter Taken Off Life Support After Being Shot
Reported By Deanna Lambert
In August, Marine Lance Cpl. Andrew Carpenter wrote his parents a letter thanking them for being great parents and for giving him all they did. Now, his parents think it might have been his goodbye letter.
"(I) wanted to send a thank you for not just for the packages I receive but also for everything you have done for me," Cindy Carpenter read from her son's letter.
Andrew Carpenter was taken off life support Saturday after he was recently shot in the neck on patrol in the Helmand province, according to the Department of Defense.
On Valentine's Day, Cindy and Kevin Carpenter got the phone call they never hoped to get.
"He said that my son had been seriously wounded in Afghanistan, and he started to read an incident report, and I said, 'Well, is he alive or is he dead?'" said Kevin.
Andrew was brain dead.
"We wanted to hold him, touch him. That's the one thing Crissie (Andrew's wife) didn't get to do," Cindy said.
"Cry on him," said Kevin.
During their last phone conversation with their son in January, Andrew told his father that he was scared, his dad said. Carpenter said that the U.S. military doesn't have the proper resources to be over there fighting.
read more here
Andrew Carpenter Taken Off Life Support After Being Shot
Fire fighter deployed to Afghanistan for a year, paid for only weeks
As bad as it has been for Guardsmen coming home with the lack of support, we keep forgetting about the financial hardship they face while deployed. This is yet one more reminder of what they are up against.
Lancaster firefighter union says city owes money to firefighter serving in Afghanistan
Written by
RICK ROUAN
FILED UNDER
News
Local News
LANCASTER -- The Lancaster firefighter union is likely to sue the city if it does not pay a balance the union says a firefighter serving in Afghanistan is owed, a union negotiator said.
The union thinks the city owes Darrell Wallace, a firefighter and paramedic serving a year-long tour of duty in Afghanistan, about $4,500 because of a change in state law, said K.J. Watts, a Lancaster firefighter and fifth district vice president for the Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters.
In 2010, state lawmakers passed House Bill 449, which increased from 176 to 408 the number of hours a municipality must pay firefighters and emergency medical technicians per year.
But a 1980 Ohio Supreme Court ruling mandated a municipality's "constitutional home-rule authority regarding military leave of its employees prevails over conflicting state law," according to a Legislative Service Commission analysis of the bill, which took effect Sept. 17, 2001.
The city is pointing to that ruling as its reason for capping Wallace's pay under the new 408-hour standard. Of the 52 municipalities with which Watts negotiates, Lancaster is the only one using the case to exempt itself from the new state law, he said.
"Our position is we are currently following city policy," said Mike Courtney, the city's service safety director. "We've always supported our employees who do perform military service."
Wallace's 2011 military pay from the city ran out in January, Watts said. He was paid for 230 hours -- about $5,800 -- instead of 176 hours because the union bargained for more time for military leave in 2008. But Watts said the new state law should supercede the lower number of hours provided in the contract.
read more here
Lancaster firefighter union
Regarding the Heckling of a Veteran
There are jerks everywhere. Nothing new. A veteran can end up being killed by someone just because he's homeless. Coworkers can pull stupid stunts to get a PTSD veteran to go off on them. Some protestors against the war linked in with others, including parents of soldiers, will say stupid things against the men and women they claim they care about. So let's just be honest here. In any group, there will always be a few jerks.
Yet this story about a few jerks from Columbia ended up showing how much veterans are cared about. The response to this story has the blog world on fire, from Republicans, Independents and Democrats. Veterans have a lot to teach the rest of us. They stand together no matter what political party they come from, where they live or how much they make. It doesn't make a difference if they are going to school or running a business.
Columbia had a veteran, a wounded veteran on top of everything else, speak at a hearing for ROTC. While everyone else there wanted to hear the speaker, a few gathered and decided what they wanted to say at the moment they wanted to say it mattered more than anything else. If you've ever tried to have a conversation with egotistical-self-absorbed jerks, you know what I mean. They make it their mission to constantly interrupt what someone else is saying. They are like children jumping up and down, screaming to get attention when grownups are talking. This ended up making the veteran and Columbia look like grownups and the hecklers look like spoiled brats.
Yet this story about a few jerks from Columbia ended up showing how much veterans are cared about. The response to this story has the blog world on fire, from Republicans, Independents and Democrats. Veterans have a lot to teach the rest of us. They stand together no matter what political party they come from, where they live or how much they make. It doesn't make a difference if they are going to school or running a business.
Columbia had a veteran, a wounded veteran on top of everything else, speak at a hearing for ROTC. While everyone else there wanted to hear the speaker, a few gathered and decided what they wanted to say at the moment they wanted to say it mattered more than anything else. If you've ever tried to have a conversation with egotistical-self-absorbed jerks, you know what I mean. They make it their mission to constantly interrupt what someone else is saying. They are like children jumping up and down, screaming to get attention when grownups are talking. This ended up making the veteran and Columbia look like grownups and the hecklers look like spoiled brats.
ROTC at Columbia University: Regarding the Heckling of a Veteran
Marco Reininger
Veteran of the war in Afghanistan, political science major at Columbia University's School of General Studies
Posted: February 22, 2011 01:12 PM
Heckling a speaker -- veteran or not -- during a public hearing intended to further dialogue and constructive debate is, simply put, childish. It is particularly disappointing when the hecklers are members of the Columbia University community, an institution that prides itself with its spirit of free speech, toleration and respect for one's fellow man and woman.
However, at the university's February 15th hearing regarding ROTC at Columbia, the catcalls were directed at Anthony Maschek, a disabled U.S. Army veteran who was severely wounded in combat. A group of ROTC opponents booed and laughed at Maschek's comments in support of the military and called him a racist. A former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant can most likely handle petty booing by a small group of vocal anti-military activists in an otherwise supportive audience. However, the disturbance seemed hostile enough for the moderator to insist that the environment remain one where people "are not threatened."
Thus, I want to caution against labeling Columbia University "hostile" based on the immature actions of a few. It is indeed a place of open debate and discourse of opinion where emotions can run hot and etiquette neglected. Yet, the fact that a discussion regarding the reinstatement of ROTC is even taking place shows the institution's overarching spirit. Yes, it was a veteran who was heckled during the hearing and that deserves special attention. However, the university as a whole has demonstrated its dedication to veterans in recent years and having a few vocal ROTC opponents on campus should not be used to imply the contrary.
The individuals who booed Anthony Maschek revealed their lack of respect for human beings with differing opinions to theirs, which, independent of his veteran status, is tragic. More significantly, while advocating non-violence, they denied dignified, non-hostile treatment to an individual that has shown great integrity, loyalty and a dedication to our country. Yet, the group merely achieved to spotlight their immaturity and undermine their credibility. By not allowing Anthony Mascheck undisturbed sharing of his point of view as a former military man, the group demonstrated their disinterest in engaging in a mannerly debate and exposed their true desire to provoke and instigate.
read more here
Regarding the Heckling of a Veteran
Wounded TImes Blog honored Top 50 Blogs for Army Wives
Bravery from the Home Front: Top 50 Blogs for Army Wives (or Spouses)
With a war still going on, more and more are answering the call to fight for their country. There are literally thousands of troops stationed all over overseas, and being a military spouse can be very difficult. However, with the invention of the internet, it is now easier than ever to not only send letters, pictures and videos, it is easier than ever to meet those who have been where you are going.
If you have a husband or wife who is in the army, there is no need to feel all alone. Below, we have gathered the top 50 blogs for army wives and/or spouses. They are authored by wives, spouses, those serving overseas and even those who made it back home and have loads of help for how to adjust back to civilian life.
Bravery from the Home Front
With a war still going on, more and more are answering the call to fight for their country. There are literally thousands of troops stationed all over overseas, and being a military spouse can be very difficult. However, with the invention of the internet, it is now easier than ever to not only send letters, pictures and videos, it is easier than ever to meet those who have been where you are going.
If you have a husband or wife who is in the army, there is no need to feel all alone. Below, we have gathered the top 50 blogs for army wives and/or spouses. They are authored by wives, spouses, those serving overseas and even those who made it back home and have loads of help for how to adjust back to civilian life.
Bravery from the Home Front
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Soldiers fighting invisible enemy on home turf-TBI
Soldiers fighting invisible enemy on home turf
February 21st, 2011 @ 10:18pm
By Sarah Dallof
SALT LAKE CITY -- An alarming rise in a type of battlefield injury is prompting changes within the military and in how soldiers returning from battle are treated.
Symptoms closely mirror those of post-traumatic stress disorder. In fact, the two often operate in a vicious cycle.
Josh Hansen was injured in several blasts similar to these.
Doctors estimate up to 20 percent of soldiers currently deployed will suffer a traumatic brain injury -- something that just a few years ago was often never diagnosed or properly treated. Most will recover with no after affects, but some are changed forever.
When retired Army Sgt. Josh Hansen first saw a modern warfare video posted on YouTube by an insurgent group, it brought back painful memories -- it was one of his missions.
Hansen would suffer eight concussions during two tours of duty from blasts like those shown in the video.
"When we were first getting injured, no one thought of brain injuries. You just pop some aspirin and go back out and do your job," Hansen said.
Concussions occur when an outside force causes the brain to shake in the skull. It's an injury that routinely sidelines professional football and hockey players.
Hansen didn't notice slowdown until his fifth concussion. He says he would be in the middle of a mission when suddenly he had no idea how he'd gotten there.
read more here
Soldiers fighting invisible enemy on home turf
February 21st, 2011 @ 10:18pm
By Sarah Dallof
SALT LAKE CITY -- An alarming rise in a type of battlefield injury is prompting changes within the military and in how soldiers returning from battle are treated.
Symptoms closely mirror those of post-traumatic stress disorder. In fact, the two often operate in a vicious cycle.
Josh Hansen was injured in several blasts similar to these.
Doctors estimate up to 20 percent of soldiers currently deployed will suffer a traumatic brain injury -- something that just a few years ago was often never diagnosed or properly treated. Most will recover with no after affects, but some are changed forever.
When retired Army Sgt. Josh Hansen first saw a modern warfare video posted on YouTube by an insurgent group, it brought back painful memories -- it was one of his missions.
Hansen would suffer eight concussions during two tours of duty from blasts like those shown in the video.
"When we were first getting injured, no one thought of brain injuries. You just pop some aspirin and go back out and do your job," Hansen said.
Concussions occur when an outside force causes the brain to shake in the skull. It's an injury that routinely sidelines professional football and hockey players.
Hansen didn't notice slowdown until his fifth concussion. He says he would be in the middle of a mission when suddenly he had no idea how he'd gotten there.
read more here
Soldiers fighting invisible enemy on home turf
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