Arizona Veterans Center on wheels for combat veterans

Bringing services to combat veterans
LARRY HENDRICKS News Team Leader
Posted: Sunday, April 3, 2011
The brunt of the counseling services Erik Adams, a veteran and counselor, offers is for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Combat veterans come to him to speak of their experiences in combat zones and their difficulties in readjusting to civilian life.

In Arizona, combat veterans living in rural communities typically had to drive long distances to receive services from a Veterans Center set up by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
But no longer.

"We have the ability to bring a mobile Vet Center into areas where there is no fixed site," said Bobby Fields, readjustment counseling tech for the Veterans Center in Prescott.

In late 2009, the Prescott Veterans Center received a $286,000 mobile Vet Center to take mental health services to vets throughout northern Arizona. And since 2010, the mobile unit comes to Flagstaff twice a month.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Vet Centers provide readjustment counseling to help combat veterans and their families successfully transition back to civilian life.
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Bringing services to combat veterans

Tea Party Seniors got their wish, Medicare cuts coming

UPDATE 4-6-11

Budget Would Affect Elderly, Poor
The Republican budget proposal presents a dramatically different vision of the role of government in America.



Say a big thank you to the Tea Party folks since this is what they voted for. Yes, that's right. You get the shaft because they didn't care if you could afford to live or not. Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are government run programs, but people like the ones below didn't understand that. This is just the beginning of the senior slaughter of programs we need.

House budget chairman to propose Medicare, Medicaid changes
By the CNN Wire Staff
April 3, 2011 11:54 a.m. EDT

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan's spending plan is to be unveiled Tuesday.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Democratic Sen. Warner challenges Ryan's plan
Instead of Medicare, seniors would get help paying insurance premiums
Medicaid would be cut by up to $1 trillion
Ryan offers few details, but says his plan would balance the budget and pay down debt
Washington (CNN) -- House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan said Sunday he will unveil a Republican budget for 2012 this week that proposes dramatic changes to Medicare, Medicaid and other political lightning rods.
The plan, to be released Tuesday, calls for a controversial overhaul of Medicare, the health care program for seniors, and would impose deep cuts in Medicaid, which provides health benefits to low-income Americans, Ryan told "Fox News Sunday."
Starting 10 years from now, in 2021, elderly Americans would receive government help in paying health insurance premiums instead of enrolling in the government-run Medicare program, Ryan said. He rejected the label of "vouchers" for the payments, calling them "premium assistance" payments instead.
The plan is modeled after one Ryan proposed last year with Alice Rivlin, budget director under President Bill Clinton. The Ryan-Rivlin plan said the amount of assistance would be calculated in part by taking the average federal cost per Medicare enrollee.
read more here
House budget chairman to propose Medicare, Medicaid changes

Patriot Guard adds 10,000 additional members within weeks of the decision

Add me to the list now. I just joined. Considering how many posts I do for them along with rides we have done with them, it only made sense to join. After all, I adore them and what they do. Why haven't you joined yet?

Patriot Guard Riders expand mission
Group isn’t just antidote to Westboro Baptists anymore
By Philip Grey - The Leaf Chronicle
Posted : Saturday Apr 2, 2011 16:22:46 EDT
Mario Chavez is adamant about a lot of things. One is that he and his fellow members of the Patriot Guard Riders do not want to be forever defined strictly in the context of their opposition to the Westboro Baptists.

However, at the present time, trying to tell the story of one without the other is like trying to talk about World War II without mentioning Germany. A recent film by noted documentary maker Ellen Frick showed why.

Last Monday, Chavez and other PGR members — including Ward 2 Councilwoman Deanna McLaughlin and Deb Saunders of the Fort Campbell Casualty Affairs office — were gathered at the home of Pam Wynn, assistant state captain for the PGR, to screen the documentary, “Patriot Guard Riders.” Though the film was largely centered on the PGR, its motivations, and its appeal to veterans and current military members, the Westboro Baptist group was also an integral part of the story.

After the screening, Frick, along with PGR members and supporters of the group, stayed to talk about the film, but mostly to talk about the PGR. Also present was Kari Upchurch, the wife of Spc. Clinton Robert Upchurch, a 101st Airborne Division soldier killed by an improvised explosive device in Iraq in 2006.

Situations like the one Kari Upchurch experienced are one reason that the PGR and the Westboro Baptists are so firmly fixed together in the public mind.

As for Westboro, many PGR members feel that the PGR has won the war, even as Westboro has prevailed time after time in the courts. Following the recent Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Westboro Baptists, the PGR picked up 10,000 additional members within weeks of the decision, according to Annette Robeck, Tennessee PGR state captain.

read more here
Patriot Guard Riders expand mission

Hunting season prompts warning signs at Fort Bragg after soldier shot

Warning signs posted on trail after Bragg death
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Apr 2, 2011 11:17:05 EDT
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The apparent accidental shooting death of a soldier on a jog on a 21-mile trail just outside of Fort Bragg has prompted officials to install permanent signs reminding runners and bikers the path is closed for three months during hunting season.

The new, brightly colored metal signs were installed at each entry point to the All American Trail and on some roads leading to the path. The signs are green when the trail is open, but can folded down to show a red warning sign telling people the trail is closed during hunting season from Oct. 1 to Jan. 3, Fort Bragg range officer Bill Edwards told The Fayetteville Observer.

Officials at the Army base reviewed safety on the trail after 33-year-old Capt. Jeremiah Sipes, Belgrade, Mont., was shot and killed Jan. 1. A man calling 911 said his friend accidentally shot the soldier while they were hunting. The Army’s Criminal Investigation Command is still investigating the shooting.
read more here
Warning signs posted on trail after Bragg death

Veterans, less than 10% of population, 16% of the homeless

Report Finds Veterans Make Up High Number of Homeless
By Janelle Benham
Published April 01, 2011
FoxNews.com


It is being called the most authoritative analysis of homelessness among military veterans, and the numbers are disturbing.

The joint report, conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs along with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, says that while veterans make up only 10 percent of the population, they account for 16 percent of all homeless adults.

Veterans advocates say the reasons vary from person to person and what kinds of trauma they experienced during their time in the military.

“There's as many reasons as there are vets you know. You can categorize this guy as he has PTSD so he can't deal with people ... this guy became an alcoholic when he became a vet and he's still an alcoholic,” says Richard Rudnick spokesman with the National Veterans Foundation.


Read more: Report Finds Veterans Make Up High Number of Homeless

Fort Eustis leaders break ground for new WTU complex

Eustis leaders break ground for new WTU complex
by Lyna Tucker
633d Air Base Wing Public Affairs

4/1/2011 - FORT EUSTIS, Va. -- "The new WTU complex is very timely as the expectation of care and needs for warriors increases," said Warrior Transition Unit Commander Capt. LaCederick Jackson in a brief speech during a ceremony marking the start of construction of a new WTU complex March 25 at Fort Eustis.

With wounded warriors, WTU cadre and leadership, and members of the Joint Base Langley-Eustis on site, Fort Eustis leadership broke ground for construction of the $9.7 million complex behind the McDonald Army Health Center at the corner of Sternberg and 25th Streets.

On the nearly 15-acre site, the new complex will consist of a 16,600-square foot, two-story Company Operations Facility to house the unit command team and WTU cadre offices and a new 7,000-square foot Soldier and Family Assistance Center. The complex will also include a 48,200-square foot, 80-room barracks facility to be awarded at the end of April. The project is set for completion July 2012.
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Eustis leaders break ground for new WTU complex

Sailor still hospitalized after fire aboard carrier USS John C. Stennis

MILITARY: Sailor still hospitalized after fire aboard carrier

Only one sailor remained hospitalized Friday after 11 people were injured Wednesday when a Marine Corps jet fighter engine exploded, sending shrapnel out its exhaust and catching the plane on fire.

The only man still hospitalized suffered a severely broken leg as a result of debris from the explosion that occurred aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis.
read more here
Sailor still hospitalized after fire aboard carrier

Some veterans fear their service is more of a liability than an asset

This is wrong on so many levels, it really is hard to know where to start. Let's start with the National Guards and Reservists. For them, being without jobs as this article suggests, because of fear they will be redeployed, shows the ignorance of employers. They are missing hiring people they already depend on. National Guards and Reservists show up every time there is a disaster right in their own community. Doesn't matter what time of the day it is, how tired they are, what else they have going on in their own lives, or even if their own home has been destroyed. They show up to take care of others. Team work? Do you know anyone else so able to set everything else aside, they have risked their lives with other members of their team in combat? Following orders? Do you know anyone else able to follow orders to the point where they could be ordered to do something that could very well kill them? These men and women are good enough to depend on when an emergency calls them to action but not good enough to hire so they can pay their bills and be able to stay in the communities.

For other veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, along with the citizen soldiers, coming home to join others in their age group should make them more attractive to employers for the above reasons and beyond. We complain that most young people are too self-absorbed and detached. They lack discipline and are disrespectful. Face it. They show up late for work, for classes, turn in assignments late and whine when they "don't feel good" so they call in sick and make other people pick up the duties they are not doing. They cannot communicate unless they have a cell phone in their hands and can text what they want to say. Don't even ask them to compose a letter because you'll end up with a bunch of text code instead of real words.

Veterans on the other hand have proven they are not self-absorbed. They spent a year, or more, without being able to call in sick no matter how sick they really were because people were counting on them to be there. Their lives depended on it. They showed up on time. They are respectful. They are disciplined. They also know how to think fast on their feet. They do not crack under pressure. They do not walk away from something just because it is hard to do. For all the qualities they bring to the job, there is one more, no other employee can honestly say they know what it is like to be willing to die for someone else, unless they are members of law enforcement or emergency responders.

What's the worst that can happen if they are hired? Nothing more than hiring any other employee. No one knows what someone else is like until they are hired and have spent enough time on the job to have proven themselves. Every new hire comes with the same set of risks. Will they show up on time? Do their jobs? Be all they say they are during the interview? Will they get along with other employees? No HR director knows anything about anyone they hire but they decide to take a chance.

The excuse of the possibility of them being redeployed is nothing more than an excuse. Hire any woman in her 20's or 30's and there is the possibility of her getting pregnant and needing maternity leave. Do they avoid hiring her because she may need some time off to have a baby?

For all the excuses HR directors can come up with to not hire a veteran, there are more reasons to hire them once they understand how tested these men and women really are.

The employment situation is even worse for Reserve and National Guardsmen, whose jobless rate was 14 percent in July 2010.

Veterans' Struggle: A Recovery That's Leaving Them Behind
Posted by Adam Sorensen Friday, April 1, 2011
By Natasha Del Toro
March's jobless numbers, released Friday, offer some hope of a rebound in the labor market, but things aren't so easy for Iraq and Afghanistan-era war veterans.

According to the Department of Labor statistics, the unemployment rate for those returning soldiers in 2010 was 11.5%, compared to 9.7% for non-vets. And while the overall metrics are improving, veterans' plight is actually getting worse. So far this year, their jobless rate climbed to 15.2 percent in January and 12.5 percent in February.

That's why two dozen veterans from the across the country stormed Capitol Hill this week to meet with members of Congress. Their mission: to lower the unemployment rate by the end of the year by pushing a jobs bills package targeted specifically at veterans.

It's part of a campaign by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), a non-profit organization that advocates for veterans' issues. “If you want to support the troops, support veterans, hire them,” said Paul Rieckhoff, IAVA's founder and executive director.

The legislative package includes job training and transition assistance for vets, tax credits for employers that hire vets and a comprehensive study of how military skills translate into civilian jobs.
read more here
A Recovery That's Leaving Them Behind

From PBS
Returning Vets Face a New Battle

Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.

A veteran, anonymous in life, is honored in death

A veteran, anonymous in life, is honored in death
Published: Friday, April 01, 2011
By Susan Harrison Wolffis
Muskegon Chronicle
There was no eulogy for Andris Baltaisvilks Friday.

No tears. No funeral luncheon.

No photographs, carefully chronicling his journey from childhood to old age, visual memories of a life now gone.

There was almost no funeral.

When Baltaisvilks died March 15 at the age of 73 at Poppen Hospice Residence in Muskegon, he left behind no next-of-kin, no possessions, no one to make his final arrangements.

But someone at Poppen House — privacy laws don’t allow any more detail than that, said Mary Anne Gorman, Harbor Hospice’s executive director — had taken the time before Baltaisvilks’ passing to talk to him about his life and ask whether he’d ever been in the military.
The answer was yes.


Baltaisvilks, who immigrated to the United States from Latvia with his parents when he was 12 years old, served two years active duty in the U.S. Army from 1961 to 1963. He stayed in the Army Reserves until 1967.
read more here
A veteran, anonymous in life, is honored in death

Afghans Avenge Florida Koran Burning, Killing 12

Last year Jones didn't care about our troops risking their lives in Afghanistan when he wanted to burn the Koran. He backed off because of media attention and pressure. This year, he didn't care about the troops again but while this time his stunt was ignored, it ended up causing the Afghans to search for Americans to kill. When they couldn't find them, they hit the UN.

Afghans Avenge Florida Koran Burning, Killing 12

By ENAYAT NAJAFIZADA and ROD NORDLAND
Published: April 1, 2011

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan — Stirred up by three angry mullahs who urged them to avenge the burning of a Koran at a Florida church, thousands of protesters on Friday overran the compound of the United Nations in this northern Afghan city, killing at least 12 people, Afghan and United Nations officials said.

The dead included at least seven United Nations workers — four Nepalese guards and three Europeans from Romania, Sweden and Norway — according to United Nations officials in New York. One was a woman. Early reports, later denied by Afghan officials, said that at least two of the dead had been beheaded. Five Afghans were also killed.

The attack was the deadliest for the United Nations in Afghanistan since 11 people were killed in 2009, when Taliban suicide bombers invaded a guesthouse in Kabul. It also underscored the latent hostility toward the nine-year foreign presence here, even in a city long considered to be among the safest in Afghanistan — so safe that American troops no longer patrol here in any numbers.

Unable to find Americans on whom to vent their anger, the mob turned instead on the next-best symbol of Western intrusion — the nearby United Nations headquarters. “Some of our colleagues were just hunted down,” said a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Kieran Dwyer, in confirming the attack.

Friday’s episode began when three mullahs, addressing worshipers at Friday Prayer inside the Blue Mosque here, one of Afghanistan’s holiest places, urged people to take to the streets to agitate for the arrest of Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who oversaw the burning of a Koran on March 20.

read more here
Afghans Avenge Florida Koran Burning

Critics say Army sharing too much mental health therapy info

Critics say Army sharing too much therapy info
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Thursday Mar 31, 2011 21:13:49 EDT
An Army effort to reduce suicides by sharing more of soldiers’ personal therapy information with squad, platoon or company leaders — even in cases where there is no threat of self-harm — is pushing the limit of privacy laws, say civilian experts on medical records restrictions.

Soldiers may be discouraged from seeking care if they fear their privacy will be violated, says Mark Botts, an associate professor of public law at the University of North Carolina who specializes in the privacy of behavioral health records.

“They definitely run that risk,” he says of the Army. “If the soldier knows [private information will be released], they’re going to be worried.”

Army lawyers say that they are well within the law and that the more leaders know, the more they can help troubled soldiers.

“The emphasis is on trying to prevent suicides,” says Charles Orck, a senior Army lawyer who reviewed the practice. “The more information, the better to be able to evaluate and analyze and try to come up with a solution.”

The Army suicide rate has doubled since 2004, although suicides for 2011 are fewer than at this time last year. Army officials have said that they hope their efforts, such as those dealing with private health information, are among reasons for the decline.
read more here
Critics say Army sharing too much therapy info

Fort Bragg Bragg Infant Deaths ‘Frustrating’

UPDATE May 6, 2011

Investigation of Bragg infant deaths completed
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday May 5, 2011 19:20:46 EDT
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The Army completed an investigation of 10 infant deaths at Fort Bragg without finding any evidence of a common environmental link or of crimes.

The cause of death in all 10 cases was classified as undetermined. Two other infants died after the 11-month review began and are being investigated separately, but the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command said it saw no link between those and the 10 included in the review.
read more here
Investigation of Bragg infant deaths completed

McHugh: Bragg Infant Deaths ‘Frustrating’

April 01, 2011
Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer
Army Secretary John McHugh said Thursday that the deaths of at least 10 infants on Fort Bragg remain a frustrating mystery.

Testifying at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, McHugh revealed that he ordered a special team from the Army's Public Health Command to Fort Bragg to take a fresh look at the cases.

A spokeswoman for McHugh said the team visited Fort Bragg in early December and continues to investigate.

But McHugh said the investigators have exhausted nearly every angle and don't appear any closer to understanding why the infants died.

Fort Bragg and Army Criminal Investigation Command officials also have been investigating the unexplained infant deaths on post since last year, after realizing that three of the babies died in one house in the Ardennes community during a four-year period.

During that time, seven other babies died of unexplained causes on post. Two more have died since the investigation began, most recently on Feb. 24. Those deaths remain under investigation apart from the other 10.
read more here
Bragg Infant Deaths Frustrating

Deputies shot at responding to stabbing in Orlando

Deputies shoot, kill armed man outside Goldenrod Road bar

By Anika Myers Palm, Orlando Sentinel
6:59 a.m. EDT, April 1, 2011

One man is dead and two other men, including a deputy, have been wounded in an incident this morning outside a bar, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.

When two deputies arrived at the Laughing Horse Tavern at 907 North Goldenrod Road about 2:56 a.m., they found one man who had been stabbed or cut several times. As Deputies Daniel Shapiro and Hector Lopez treated the injured man, another man with a gun confronted them, according to the Sheriff's Office.

The armed man shot at the deputies, who returned fire and killed him. Shapiro was struck during the exchange of gunfire, but his bullet-proof vest caught the rounds, Sheriff Jerry Demings said outside Orlando Regional Medical Center this morning.

Demings said the two deputies handled the situation well.

"It looks like the deputies did everything they needed to do to go home this morning," Demings said.
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Deputies shoot, kill armed man outside Goldenrod Road bar

6 soldiers from Fort Campbell 101st 1st Brigade Combat Team killed in Afghanistan

101st general: 6 die in Afghanistan battle
By Kristin M. Hall - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 31, 2011 13:25:56 EDT
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — A tough battle continues in eastern Afghanistan’s most volatile area where six U.S. soldiers died on Tuesday, said Maj. Gen. John F. Campbell, commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division.

Campbell spoke to reporters at Fort Campbell during a video conference from his headquarters in Bagram on Thursday, and said that 117 members of the 101st have died in Afghanistan since March 2010. All six soldiers were from the 1st Brigade Combat Team.

The latest deaths came during ongoing combat to clear insurgents from eastern Afghanistan. Campbell said he couldn’t discuss details because the operation was ongoing but called it a joint mission involving NATO forces, the Afghan National Army and border police in Kunar province.

“There were a significant number of insurgents killed in this operation, several large caches found and this operation is still ongoing,” he said.

They were

Staff Sgt. Bryan A. Burgess, 29, of Cleburne, Texas

Pfc. Dustin J. Feldhaus, 20, of Glendale, Ariz.

Sgt. 1st Class Ofren Arrechaga, 28, of Hialeah, Fla.

Staff Sgt. Frank E. Adamski III, 26, of Moosup, Conn.

Spc. Jameson L. Lindskog, 23, of Pleasanton, Calif.

Pvt. Jeremy P. Faulkner, 23, of Griffin, Ga.

read more here
101st general: 6 die in Afghanistan battle

Secondary Posttraumatic Stress Population Gets Support

PTSD Caregivers: Secondary Posttraumatic Stress Population Gets Support

Heal My PTSD, an organization for posttraumatic stress syndrome education and support, launches complimentary PTSD Caregiver Teleseminars on Thursday, April 28, 2011, at 6pm EST.



West Palm, FL, April 01, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Studies estimate over 5% of all Americans struggle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at any given time. That means the number of PTSD caregivers is roughly equal, or larger, as the caregiver role can land on more than one person in a PTSD family. Heal My PTSD, an organization for posttraumatic stress syndrome education and support, launches complimentary PTSD Caregiver Teleseminars on Thursday, April 28, 2011, at 6pm EST. Facilitated by www.healmyptsd.com founder, PTSD Coach and PTSD survivor, Michele Rosenthal, these hourlong teleseminars will provide a place for PTSD caregivers to find community, connection and creativity in how to manage the posttrauamtic stress caregiver role.

Conducted via a telephone conference line, these groups will focus on topics unique to the PTSD caregiver perspective, including how to:

· understand PTSD symptoms
· practice stress reduction techniques
· balance caregiving and living
· choose Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Treatment options
· talk to your PTSD loved one
· help your PTSD loved one learn how to manage and cope with symptoms
· avoid caregiver burn out

Each monthly call will offer a thirty minute presentation on an important PTSD caregiver topic and then incorporate thirty minutes of a group discussion so that participants can ask personal PTSD questions, talk to each other, avoid secondary posttraumatic stress and receive one-on-one coaching around specific issues.

“The unique challenge of PTSD caregivers is figuring out how to take care of themselves while also supporting their PTSD loved one. Plus, the confusion about symptoms of posttraumatic stress – and the lack of defined PTSD treatment – can make the caregiver role overwhelming,” says Rosenthal. “Our goal is to help bring clarity to caregivers so that they can maintain their own grounded lives while making good decisions and taking strong actions to help their PTSD loved one.”

After struggling with PTSD for over twenty-five years, Rosenthal, a Certified Professional Coach, is now 100% free of PTSD symptoms. Her work with survivors and caregivers includes individual clients and groups. She continues, “PTSD symptoms are universal, regardless of the individual trauma. In the same way, the PTSD caregiver experience is universal, too. This means every caregiver can teach and also learn by interacting in a strong, nurturing and supportive community.”

For more information about the Heal My PTSD Caregiver Teleseminar Series, visit: Heal My PTSD Teleseminar

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is a wholly treatable condition that results from a life-threatening experience in which the trauma survivor felt helpless. PTSD symptoms include insomnia, nightmares, flashbacks, emotional numbing, hyperarousal and hypervigilance.

Michele Rosenthal is a trauma survivor who struggled with undiagnosed PTSD for twenty-four years. And then she was diagnosed and went on a healing rampage. A PTSD Coach and passionate advocate, she founded www.healmyptsd.com to provide information about Posttraumatic Stress Disorder symptoms, treatment and support. The site contains several complimentary resources including downloads, teleseminars, a healing workshop, and monthly radio programs.
Contact: Michele@healmyptsd.com, 561.531.1405.

For more information: Heal My PTSD.com

Arlington has 1 out of ten headstones wrong

March 30, 2011
CNN's Brooke Baldwin interviewed Mark Benjamin of Time Magazine about his recent article on the Arlington Cemetery mix-up.

Native American youth suicide crisis baffles

Native American youth suicide crisis baffles

Associated Press | Posted: Monday, March 21, 2011
POPLAR, Mont. -- Chelle Rose Follette fashioned a noose with her pajamas, tying one end to a closet rod and the other around her neck. When her mother entered the bedroom to put away laundry, she found the 13-year-old hanging.
Ida Follette screamed for her husband, Darrell.
He lifted his child's body, rushed her to the bed and tried to bring her back.
"She was so light, she was so light. And I put her down. I said, 'No, Chelle!'"
But the time had passed for CPR, he said, his voice fading with still raw grief. His wife sat next to him on the couch, sobbing at the retelling.
Here on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, a spasm of youth suicides had caused alarm and confusion even before Chelle's death.The Follettes had talked with her about other local children who had killed themselves. She had assured her parents that they need not worry about her.
read more here
Native American youth suicide crisis baffles

Marine Corps Steps Up Suicide Prevention Efforts

When they deploy, they think they know all the risks. They know they can be killed. They know they can end up seriously wounded. They are aware there is a stress on their spouse while they are gone. To use this as an excuse for the growing number of suicides, simply does not make sense.

Why? Because too many young service members have taken their own lives without being connected to a spouse. What they all have in common is they were deployed and survived, but when they were supposed to be out of danger, they were really in greater danger. They were unarmed when they were attacked by the invader within their own minds.

While we have come a very long way in the last ten years addressing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the numbers show there is something missing. Until they actually discover what causes PTSD and really understand it, we will see the numbers continue to grow.

Marine Corps Steps Up Suicide Prevention Efforts to Halt Deadly Trend
By John Roberts
Published March 30, 2011
FoxNews.com

The note begins, “Grandpa, I just wanted to give you my thanks for being a great influence in my life.”

Former Marine Sgt. Dana O’Brien can barely make it through the first line before tears begin streaming down his face. It was sent from his grandson, Marine Cpl. Daniel O’Brien during one of his two tours of duty in Iraq.

On the surface, Cpl. O’Brien appeared to have a lot to live for. He was a good Marine with a promising career ahead of him. And he had a beautiful baby girl, Alexis, who, it is clear from the photographs of the two, really seemed to love her daddy.

But on the inside, O’Brien was tormented. His wife, also a Marine had recently left him. And after an altercation on base at the Marine Air Station in Buford, S.C., he thought his career was over. In July 2009, he took his own life.

O'Brien's death was part of an alarming trend: Fifty-two Marines committed suicide that year, a record high, and the military is still struggling to deal with an elevated suicide rate among those who serve.

As if suicide wasn’t enough of an issue in the military, the problem may extend beyond the services. Gen. Ray Carpenter commands the Army National Guard, where the incidence of suicide nearly doubled from 2009 to 2010.

Read more:
Marine Corps Steps Up Suicide Prevention Efforts

John Roberts did a report for FOX


Psychiatrists have told veterans that if they were not affected by what they went through, they would become a sociopath. While this in no way explains why some come home without suffering from PTSD, it was an easy out for them.

Point one they miss is age. The emotional part of the brain in all of us is not fully developed until the age of 25. Most of the men and women we send enter into the military right out of high school.

PTSD only comes after a traumatic event. It is not genetic. Growing up with someone with PTSD, especially untreated PTSD, is traumatic and can cause secondary PTSD.


Redeployments increase the risk of PTSD by 50%, which the Army discovered in 2006, but the practice continues.

This slide was from one of my videos, Wounded and Waiting.


Every effort has not been made to address this. They knew what redeployments would do but as they spent millions of dollars on programs with no evidence of them working, they expanded the list of like programs, recently shown to have been more "research" than treatment.

PTSD strikes. It is not caused by the veteran. Given what knowledge is available, including brain scans, there are key points missing in treating veterans of combat.

Providing knowledge is wonderful however the mistakes made originate with the wrong information being provided. Programs like Battle Mind begin by telling the servicemen and women that they can prevent PTSD by becoming "resilient" and preparing their minds. This not only did not work, it did more harm than good. It suggested to them that if they ended up with PTSD it was their fault.

Providing true knowledge of what PTSD is does in fact help them to heal faster and make peace with what they just went through.

Humans walk away from traumatic events one of two ways. They either believe they were saved by God/divine intervention/someone watching over them, or they believe they are suffering for a reason/in the wrong place at the wrong time/abandoned by God/targeted by God. Shock is what comes after traumatic events. Usually within 30 days, the shock wears off. While the person is changed by the event itself, they are not traumatized by it. Recovered, they take the event with them stronger for having survived it, more loving with a different idea of what is important, along with other good changes or they can go the other way. On the extreme end is the symptoms getting worse and taking over the life of the survivor.

The soul/spirit is connected to our emotions and must be addressed in healing. When psychologist listen to the event that haunts the veteran the most, they can address that, get the veteran to the place where they are able to "watch the whole movie" in their mind about what happened before the event, during it and after, so they can be able to find peace with what they did or what happened.

Forgiving themselves and being able to forgive others is necessary in healing. They need to be guided in achieving this. This can be done with mental health professionals and members of the clergy, as well as informed friends. If they are being judged at the same time they are blaming themselves, it feeds guilt already there and fuels what PTSD is already doing to them.

The military has a history of avoiding the emotions of the humans they turn into warriors. They plan and program training around changing them, breaking them as individuals to turn them into a unit, but no matter how much they want to delude themselves into thinking this can be achieved, they end up with a human suddenly afraid to be human.

History is full of civilizations honoring the human turned into warrior appreciating the gifts each one is capable of while still acknowledging the weakness of being just a human. When the military comes to terms with this fact, then there will be a lot less suffering from PTSD and a lot more healing it.

Families also play a key role in addressing the aftermath of trauma when they are included in on the treatment. Often the veteran will deny the seriousness of what is happening to them but the family can provide truth. They can also aid in the day to day lives of the veterans when they know what to do as well as what not to do once they understand what they need to know.

PTSD is complicated but there is so much more known now than ever before. We all need to be asking why the military keeps repeating the same mistakes instead of learning from them.

Copter crash kills 1 Marine, injures 3 off Hawaii

Copter crash kills 1 Marine, injures 3 off Hawaii
Sea Stallion plunges into the ocean; two survivors reported in critical condition


HONOLULU — One Marine was killed and three injured when a helicopter crashed into a bay on the coast of Oahu, a military spokesman said Wednesday.

The CH-53 D Sea Stallion, with four Marines aboard, crashed about 7:20 p.m. Hawaii time Tuesday, Maj. Alan Crouch, with the Marines' public affairs office in Hawaii, told NBC News.
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Copter crash kills 1 Marine, injures 3 off Hawaii

Number of veterans involved with police standoffs grows

There are a a lot more stories out there but for the sake of time, I pulled some from my blog because I have been noticing an increase in police responding to veterans. The last year has shown a huge increase, which is a very troubling sign most of what is being done has not worked. Veterans Courts are great but they do no good if the police officers are not trained properly on how to help these veterans in order to get them into court alive. Take a look at some of the dates. I removed the last names other than Staff Sgt. Travis Twigg. His death was reported all over the country.

August 2006
Elio C, San Bernadino, Air Force, Iraq veteran

December 2006
James D, Maryland, Afghanistan veteran, 29 years old

September 2007
David M, Newberry Township PA, Vietnam veteran survived attempted suicide by cop

May 2008
Staff Sgt. Travis Twigg, 5 tours, killed himself and his brother at the Grand Canyon after police closed in. He had PTSD and even met President Bush.

June 2008
James G, Buffalo NY, Vietnam Vet, survivied

Randy K, Marine Reservist, Iraq veteran, Deputy Sheriff, arrested after fleeing to Chicago

July 2008
Unidentified Schofield soldier, 18 hour standoff ended without shots fired


February 2009
Marshall F, Portsmouth VA, Vietnam veteran

Spc. Jason J, Fort Bragg, survived

Spc. Larry Applegate, Widefield TX, standoff ended with suicide

July 2009
Unidentified veteran at Colmery-O’Neil VA, Topeka KS, no shots fired, survived

Ronnie C, Watauga TX, Vietnam vet, shots fired in 9 hour standoff, survived

Richard H, Cheyenne WY, Vietnam Vet

September 2009
Torrance B, Vicksburg MS, Iraq veteran

Spc. Jason C, Indiana National Guards, survived

October 2009
Andrew W, Lynn ID, Iraq veteran, survived

Jacob S, Muncie IND, Iraq home on leave, killed himself in movie theater after police were called

November 2009
John L, Iraq Veteran, Lake Stevens Washington, three tours. Shot after domestic disturbance.

Christopher M, 30, Iraq veteran, Baltimore, police chase



January 2010
Kenneth E, Albuquerque NM, Iraq veteran

February 2010
Raymond I, Cleveland OH, Air Force veteran,

March 2010
Gerald L, Houston, WWII veteran, survived

April 2010
Zachary H, Platte City MO, Iraq veteran, survived, standoff started when he called for help

May 2010
Joshua G, Volusia County FL, 30 years old, 10 year Army veteran, Iraq Veteran

Kenneth Y, Greeley CO, Vietnam veteran

Adam W, Eagle Point OR, Iraq Veteran

June 2010
Tyrone B, Baltimore MD, Marine, shot “12 or 13 times” Iraq veteran

July 2010
James P, 37, Togus VA Hospital Maine

Erik S, 39, Las Vegas West Point and Duke, shot by police


August 2010
Brandon B, Salt Lake City Utah, Afghanistan veteran


September 2010
Brock S, Minot ND, Iraq veteran survived attempted suicide by cop after standoff

Edward Z, 61, Baldwin PA Vietnam Vet

Spc. Nicholas L, Oregon National Guard, Iraq Veteran, 22 years old

Spc. Anthony J, Fort Carson, Colorado, survived

November 2010
Matthew H, Cooperstown ND, Gulf War veteran, survived

December 2010
Unidentified veteran, New Cumberland PA, veteran survived

Spc. Freddy H, Fayetteville NC, 20, shot himself outside of Police Administrative Building

January 2011
Thomas H, Portland OR, Vietnam Vet, homeless veteran, shot 12 times

February 2011
Anthony M, Oregon Army Reserves, 50 years old, Iraq veteran

March 2011
Jeremiah P, 24 Glendale AZ, Afghanistan veteran

Jermaine G, 29, Iraq veteran, police chase, Los Angeles

Unidentified “war veteran”, Laredo TX, survived standoff and taken to be helped.

With Veterans Courts there is hope but the challenge is getting them from police responding to stay alive long enough to get to one of them. There are more and more law enforcement officials talking these veterans to the VA hospital instead of jail, so that helps too.

For the veteran already in jail, the VA is trying to address that too.

VA Extends Post-Incarceration Health Care

Measure Would Help Reduce Repeat Offenses

WASHINGTON (March 30, 2011)- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
will extend health care to eligible Veterans in halfway houses and other
temporary, post-incarceration housing under a new program aimed at
cutting back on repeat offenses.

"There's hard evidence that lack of access to health care, including
mental health care, for newly released inmates is a factor in people
becoming homeless or returning to prison and jail," said Jim McGuire,
director of VA's Veterans Justice Outreach Programs. "These are Veterans
who otherwise qualify for VA health care."

A long-standing rule has barred VA from providing health care to
Veterans for whom another federal, state or local government has an
obligation to provide health care. Frequently, that means inmates of
prisons and jails.

Under the changed rule, that prohibition would be amended and VA would
be allowed to provide health care to Veterans in halfway houses and
other temporary, post-incarceration housing.

An Urban Institute study in 2008 found that good health care in the
first months of community reentry played a key role in easing
readjustment and reducing recidivism.

About 29,000-56,000 Veterans are released annually from state and
federal prisons, and at least 90,000 Veterans are released each year
from city and county jails, according to Department of Justice's Bureau
of Justice Statistics.

Chaplain talks about his own PTSD

Invisible wounds of war
Del. ministry works to bring attention to silent cost
1:56 AM, Mar. 30, 2011
Written by
GARY SOULSMAN
The News Journal
As a chaplain of the 512th Airlift Wing, Lt. Col. John W. Groth made certain that the remains of fallen military personnel were given a dignified transfer at the Dover Air Force Base mortuary.

It was his role to pray during the arrival of a flag-draped transfer case and be present during the examination of remains. He was ready to listen if mortuary staff needed to talk about how hard it was to deal with the sights, sounds and smells of death.

"I was absolutely proud of seeking to bring dignity, honor and respect to my role at the base," said Groth, a reservist who saw off-and-on service at the mortuary over eight years.

By 2009, he was part of a base team that had processed more than 4,500 remains from the nation's conflicts. The mortuary is an operations center for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in some ways working in the mortuary is like a funeral home.

But combat death can batter human tissue with horrific force, and that leaves a lasting impression when body bags are opened. And while Groth became accustomed to looking after others, he was not tuned into the subtleties of his own well-being.
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Invisible wounds of war

Vietnam veterans get an official welcome day

Vietnam veterans get an official welcome day
7:15 AM, Mar. 29, 2011
Written by
R. NORMAN MOODY
FLORIDA TODAY


When Franck Kaiser came home from the Vietnam War, a clerk fired obscenities at him instead of giving him change for $20 so he could call his family and let them know he was home safely.

Kaiser had arrived on a charter flight to Travis Air Force Base and was bused to San Francisco International Airport, where he would take another flight to get to Fort Hood, Texas, after being awarded three Purple Hearts for injuries suffered during a year at war.

Many Vietnam veterans encountered the same kind of hostility and indifference when they returned home to a nation deeply divided politically over the war.

On Wednesday, 36 years after the last Marines and others withdrew from Saigon, the nation will recognize "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day," thanks to a resolution unanimously passed by the U.S. Senate.

It's not a national holiday, and some local veterans were caught unaware of the resolution in which the senators encourage Americans to recognize the sacrifices of Vietnam veterans.

"We weren't welcomed very well, so it's good that the Senate chose to recognize our homecoming," said Kaiser, 66, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the Home Builders and Contractors Association of Brevard. "I think its great."
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Vietnam veterans get an official welcome day

Home is a different place when they come back

Home is a different place when they come back

When they come home, sooner or later, they want to go back. They wanted to go back to Vietnam. They wanted to go back to Afghanistan. They wanted to go back to Iraq. Why? Why would anyone want to go back to where they were considering their lives were on the line everyday? You'd think they would want to just go back to the lives they had before. It's an easy assumption to make but you'd have to consider that they are no longer the same person to understand why they want to go back. Home is a different place.

The place they lived in is the same. The family and friends they left are still the same. They are no longer the same. Profound changes happened in the way they think about everything because of their experiences. They stopped being "Joe" the civilian high school student worrying about passing a test or scoring a prom date. They became "GI Joe" worrying about staying alive. Instead of being able to go back, pick up their lives where they left off, nothing is ever the same.

Readjustment after combat is a tough thing to do but it is almost impossible if they cannot make peace with the changes that happened within.

Let's take a look at our own lives and how things are different for us.

A new Mom comes back from the hospital with her baby and we know her life will never be the same. She has a baby to worry about, wake up for, take care of and for the rest of her life, she is responsible to do the best she can for her son or daughter. The moment she walks into her home, life as she knew it, ended. People understand why the baby comes first.

A family walks around what is left of their home after a tornado destroyed it. They find a couple of things they had in the ruins and they know their lives will never be the same. They will live in another place, buy different things, but they will never again feel as if anything is forever. Their values change. They know that the things they had really don't matter when they are gone. People understand why they know longer place so much importance on "stuff" they own.

Death is another changer. A wife buries her husband after 50 years together. Life as she knew it ended. She starts another chapter of her life alone. People understand why she no longer wants to come for a visit or starts to do other things to fill up her days.

We can understand these changes but we can't understand when a man or woman comes back from a strange country where they saw so much. We expect them to be the same. We don't expect them to think differently, dream differently or act differently. When they act out of the ordinary, we are not able to understand as much as we are able to regarding other people.

All of us need to open our eyes and help them to find peace with the changes inside of themselves they cannot heal as much as we need to help them heal what they can.

Be there to listen when they want to talk and only for as long as they want to talk about it. When they want to change the subject, let them.

Stop telling them to get over it or to put it behind them.

Stop wanting them to go back to the way they were before.

Allow them to make choices.

If they don't want to go someplace, go by yourself without anger or hurt feelings.

If they need to sit in a certain place at a restaurant, let them sit where they feel comfortable.

If there seems to be bigger issues going on, then find out what PTSD is and learn how to help them as much as you need to know how to help yourself.

Help home to be a place where they feel as if they belong again.

Homeless Advocate can’t account for funds donated

This gets me very angry. I tried for the last couple of years to raise enough in donations to cover my expenses the right way and ended up losing. I traveled a lot, but now I don't go unless someone pays for me to come. I just can't afford to do it anymore. The money I paid out of my pocket ended up being a deduction for the organization I belonged to and I couldn't find any financial support. That is why the PayPal link is gone. I am still not sure if I'll open another account or attempt to have a non-profit of my own ever again. I lost over a $1,000 every year but here is someone accused of doing it the wrong way but getting support. Maybe it is true that it is not what you know, but who you know because even if he knew how to work the system, he would have to have had someone supporting him, giving him publicity and connections to raise funds. So who was behind this charity giving him support and how do they feel about this report?

Homeless Advocate can’t account for funds donated to help the Homeless – Part-1
March 27, 2011 posted by Terry Richards

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – The Rev. Bruce Wright, a well-known local Homeless Advocate who has been soliciting donations for many years under the guise that they were IRS 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Charities whose programs are supposed to help the poor and homeless, including homeless Veterans, who when asked by this Reporter, could not or would not produce IRS Forms 990 or any other Financial Statements nor any kind of Registration of these Charities with the IRS and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDOACS) WHICH IS REQUIRED BY IRS AND Florida Charity Laws. The responses I received from Wright are set forth below at the end of this story.

A search for Wright’s most recent 2011 Incorporated Non-Profit called the REFUGE COLLECTIVE found that it’s only registered with The Florida Secretary of State as a Non-Profit Corporation but is not registered with the IRS or FDOACS.

Additionally, a search for Refuge Ministries and The Refuge for which Wright is well-known in associating, and advertising and soliciting donations, are not registered with the FDOACS or IRS. And Sanctuary Youth Center which Wright advised me in one of his e-mail responses below are not listed under the auspices of the Florida Baptist Convention which Wright told they were.

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Homeless Advocate can’t account for funds donated

Another PTSD Veteran killed by police after shootout

Friends: Man Killed by Police Officer Struggled With PTSD
Suspect shot man outside of bar

Updated: Sunday, 27 Mar 2011, 6:19 PM MDT
Published : Sunday, 27 Mar 2011, 3:25 PM MDT

A man killed in a shootout with a Glendale police officer in the west valley early Saturday morning was apparently struggling with post traumatic stress disorder.

Jeremiah Wilson Pulaski, 24, of Glendale was shot to death after several rounds were exchanged between him and the officer.

FOX 10 has learned that Pulaski was a military veteran who returned to the U.S. in January, and he was having a difficult time dealing with the stress from his deployment and return.

Police said Pulaski had been involved in another shooting outside a Glendale restaurant just moments before he was stopped by the officer.

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Man Killed by Police Officer Struggled With PTSD

The Arizona Senator, the man who wanted to be President, none other than John McCain said, "maybe you need this in New Jersey, but we don't need this in Arizona" when asked why he as against the suicide prevention bill. You'd think that as a Senator, he'd be very aware of what veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan come home with. It isn't just suicides but crimes committed because they didn't get the help they needed. Jeremiah Pulaski knew how to use a weapon but the man he shot was not killed, suggesting he didn't want to kill him. The man he shot was still shot over some words said. Pulaski's family and friends are left stunned by what happened as they prepare for a funeral that didn't need to happen. Police officers are dealing with a shooting that didn't need to happen.

Man killed in Glendale police shooting was war veteran

by Luci Scott - Mar. 27, 2011 03:52 PM
The Arizona Republic

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/03/27/20110327glendale-phoenix-man-killed-shooting-police-veteran0328.html#ixzz1HtboC1Sl
Ann Lupeika says that even though her step-nephew died in Phoenix, Jeremiah Pulaski was a victim of the war in Afghanistan.

Pulaski was fatally shot early Saturday morning by a Glendale police sergeant who authorities said was returning fire.

Pulaski 24, had recently returned from an Army stint in Afghanistan.


"He's my hero," said Lupeika. "I feel really bad that it came down to whatever happened that night."

Police said that about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, Jeremiah Wilson Pulaski and a friend left Tony's Cocktail Lounge near 59th Avenue and Greenway Road. A man approached them and the conversation turned hostile. Pulaski drew a handgun and shot the man, who did not suffer life-threatening injuries, police said.



Read more: Man killed in Glendale police shooting was war veteran

Dogs help soldiers with PTSD get through post-war life

Aaron McCarty and Bella.

Dogs help soldiers with PTSD get through post-war life

Submitted by Carleen Johnson, KOMO Newsradio Reporter
Friday, March 25th, 12:22pm


The numbers of seriously injured servicemen and women coming back from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to climb.

Besides physical wounds, many return with severe post traumatic stress disorder that goes undiagnosed for months or even years. But there’s a new organization dedicated to helping these wounded warriors.

Soldier Aaron McCarthy was on patrol in Iraq several years ago when a roadside bomb exploded.

“Knocked me out of the turret and I jumped back in,” he says.

With his right arm torn up, a serious head injury and recovering at home, it finally hit him.

“I kinda lost it, you know” McCarthy says, “because, here I am, bulletproof, you know, I’m the…I’m the…I’m the NCO. I’m in charge of all of these soldiers. I’ve got, you know, all this responsibility, and…and for me, that…that…that really took the wind out of my sails.”

But the realization that it was post traumatic stress disorder and a brain injury that had changed him didn't come right away, as it doesn't for many wounded warriors.

“I’m OK, I’m taking a couple of pills and it’s OK with me,” said McCarthy about that denial.

Over time the nightmares, tremors and stress took a toll.
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Dogs help soldiers with PTSD get through post-war life

War vet battles government for support

War vet battles government for support

SOCASTEE, SC (WMBF) – Inside a modest house in Socastee, SC, a veteran and his wife are in the battle of their lives.

They're trying to save their home, and their marriage.

Matthew Stoddard served overseas in Kyrgyszstan after 9/11 in support of America's war in Afghanistan. But, whatever happened over there may have followed Matthew home.

"He started changing," said his wife, April. "He would be angry. He would be hateful."

This veteran of the post-9/11 fight has post-traumatic stress disorder.

"The relationship he had with the kids started to be non-existent," April recalls. "He had alienated all of us. And I was afraid. I was seriously afraid."

She was scared their marriage would end, too. However, through the Veterans Administration, Matthew got medication and treatment.

April says he's doing better, but he's far from being healed.

"I'll just be sitting here and all of a sudden my shoulder will just start hurting," Matthew Stoddard recalls telling a doctor. "Or, I'll just move it…and I'm on my knees about ready to cry because of the pain."

The Stoddards say they have faced endless bureaucracy, sometimes out-and-out disrespect, and incompetence from the government as they've tried to get help.
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War vet battles government for support

Homeless veterans still honored with military funeral

Homeless veterans still honored with military funeral
Mar 26, 2011 (KSWB-TV - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Balboa Park, Calif-- Two homeless veterans were buried in a full military service at Veterans Museum and Memorial Center at Balboa Park.

"We bring them in here and we adopt them into our family, then we bury them," said David Brown, a veteran and organizer of the monthly funerals.

Once a month, San Diego county veterans groups hold memorial services for indigent veterans. Saturday Edward Loux, who served in the US Army and Charles Schulken, who served in the US Navy, were laid to rest.

"It 's only right that we take care of our own, our own brothers and our sisters," said Thomas Mowery. Mowery served in the US Army 1980-83 and now volunteers as a pallbearer.

"These people dedicated their services to this country and they deserve our respect," said Mowery.
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Homeless veterans still honored with military funeral

Local Veterans upset over Kilpatrick's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder diagnosis

What part of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is not being understood here? PTSD only comes from a traumatic event.

Local Veterans upset over Kilpatrick's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder diagnosis
Many people were outraged when Kwame Kilpatrick's doctor says that the ex-mayor suffers from post- traumatic stress disorder.
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$125 million resilience "training" uses troops as guinea pigs for research

Crying first thing on a Sunday morning is not a good way to start the day but while reading this, that is exactly what happened. I had a voice in my head crying out in anguish because of "training" the Marines gave him. Back then, it was called Battle Mind. This program was supposed to help them become resilient but it did more harm than good.

He was in his early 20's, back from Iraq for a couple of months. He was sitting outside the Orlando VA clinic with a buddy as they were filling out paperwork. We were talking and suddenly, he was crying. He was sorry to be crying in front of me. He said, "Ma'am you just don't understand. I'm a Marine. We're not supposed to cry." We talked for a while more and then he told me that he thought he failed to train right, so he "got" PTSD. He believed it was his fault.

This is what Battle Mind did. It began by telling them they could train their brains to prevent it. This sent a message to them that if they ended up with PTSD, it was because they didn't do it right.

No one told him that he trained to do his job in Iraq and did it right. No on told him that he didn't lack courage because no matter what kind of pain he was in, he still did his job, watched the backs of his friends and spent every day with honor. His first concern while deployed was for his buddies. When they were all out of danger, then he allowed himself to feel the pain he carried all that time.

There is so much being done under the claim of helping when the evidence has shown more harm than good being done. Losing more after combat proves the claims fall flat but the pain is very real. This report is about how steps taken to help them are doing more harm than good. God willing someone with the authority to do something about it will stop these kinds of programs and stop sacrificing their lives so a company can make money. They are doing "research" while calling it training. In other words, the troops have been used as guinea pigs instead of being helped to heal.

The Dark Side of "Comprehensive Soldier Fitness

By Roy Eidelson, Marc Pilisuk, and Stephen Soldz Posted by Stephen Soldz (about the submitter)

Why is the world's largest organization of psychologists so aggressively promoting a new, massive, and untested military program? The APA's enthusiasm for mandatory "resilience training" for all U.S. soldiers is troubling on many counts.

The January 2011 issue of the American Psychologist, the American Psychological Association's (APA) flagship journal, is devoted entirely to 13 articles that detail and celebrate the virtues of a new U.S. Army-APA collaboration. Built around positive psychology and with key contributions from former APA president Martin Seligman and his colleagues, Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) is a $125 million resilience training initiative designed to reduce and prevent the adverse psychological consequences of combat for our soldiers and veterans. While these are undoubtedly worthy aspirations, the special issue is nevertheless troubling in several important respects: the authors of the articles, all of whom are involved in the CSF program, offer very little discussion of conceptual and ethical considerations; the special issue does not provide a forum for any independent critical or cautionary voices whatsoever; and through this format, the APA itself has adopted a jingoistic cheerleading stance toward a research project about which many crucial questions should be posed. We discuss these and related concerns below.

Conceptual and Empirical Concerns

Although its advocates prefer to describe Comprehensive Soldier Fitness as a training program, it is indisputably a research project of enormous size and scope, one in which a million soldiers are required to participate. Reivich, Seligman, and McBride write in one of the special issue articles, "We hypothesize that these skills will enhance soldiers' ability to handle adversity, prevent depression and anxiety, prevent PTSD, and enhance overall well-being and performance" (p. 26, emphasis added). This is the very core of the entire CSF program, yet it is merely a hypothesis -- a tentative explanation or prediction that can only be confirmed through further research.

There seems to be reluctance and inconsistency among the CSF promoters in acknowledging that CSF is "research" and therefore should entail certain protections routinely granted to those who participate in research studies. Seligman explained to the APA's Monitor on Psychology, "This is the largest study -- 1.1 million soldiers -- psychology has ever been involved in" (a "study" is a common synonym for "research project"). Butwhen asked during an NPR interview whether CSF would be "the largest-ever experiment," Brig. Gen. Cornum, who oversees the program, responded, "Well, we're not describing it as an experiment. We're describing it as training." Despite the fact that CSF is incontrovertibly a research study, standard and important questions about experimental interventions like CSF are neither asked nor answered in the special issue. This neglect is all the more troubling given that the program is so massive and expensive, and the stakes are so high.

It is also important to note here two controversial aspects of the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program that have already received attention from investigative journalists. First, Mark Benjamin has raised provocative questions, not yet fully answered, about the circumstances surrounding the huge, $31 million no-bid contract awarded to Seligman ("whose work formed the psychological underpinnings of the Bush administration's torture program") by the Department of Defense for his team's CSF involvement.

read more here
The Dark Side of "Comprehensive Soldier Fitness

The Marine above carried more pain than he needed to carry. Aside from the fact he was brave when he needed to be and human when he didn't need to be brave anymore, no one told him that the fact he cared so much, no matter what he was going through, showed great compassion. We talked about God and how all the evil done in this world can be allowed. No one told him that when he felt compassion in the middle of all that horror, God was right there because he was. The Chaplain he talked to while deployed told him that he was not a member of the "right" faith and he needed to convert. There was no mention of God's love, how to forgive and how to be forgiven. We fail them in so many ways, I think I need to go an cry a bit more after reading this report.

Why can't they see that God was there

Why is it that soldiers always seem to wonder where God is when they see the worst man is capable of? Understandable to be sure when they see so much death, destruction, misery and horror. Why can't they see that God was there, even with all of that, because they were there?

They manage to find so much compassion within themselves that a picture like the one above proves.

How can they endure so much yet still be able to care so much for a friend? They can because the love they had inside of them all along was stronger than anything else.

I was talking to a Vietnam veteran a few hours ago and he had the usual impression about coming home. He said all of his friends changed while he was gone. He didn't feel as if he fitted in anymore. I asked him if he thought his friends changed or if he was the one who changed. He said looking back he guessed he changed.

They leave the rest of us and go places none of us can really understand. They do things none of us will ever know. They return home to family and friends frozen in time, worrying about the same old tiny problems, the same drive to buy more things, go out and enjoy life while the veteran has taken a look at the other side of the world. His view has changed. He sees things differently and one thing he notices in the people in his life is they have no idea.

They have no patience for us not feeling like going into work because they spent a year of 24-7 risking their lives when they felt like it and when they didn't want to. One member of the family takes long showers when they were lucky if they had a few in the whole year. They can't stand greed when people have more than they need but won't share because they just left other people with very little but a huge desire to share what little they had with them.

There is so much more that we keep missing about them but I believe you get the point. They did not let go of the compassion they had for others no matter what they went through but we blame them when they don't snap out of it and go back to the way they were before. Maybe we should be wondering why we didn't change considering how much someone we cared about just went through. How can we hold the same set of values and hang onto petty complaints when they just got back from hell? Yet even in that hell called a war, they found people with compassion, mercy and love no matter what was happening there.

The Old Testament is filled with God's wrath but the New Testament is filled with His love. Some still cannot come to terms with what freewill is anymore than they can accept the evil man is capable of doing to others. They want to blame God, say He doesn't care, because that is easier than facing the truth that as long as there is someone caring about another person, He lives right there. God was there all along because they were there and still able to care.

Vietnam Vet’s Fight To Save America’s Military History

Vietnam Vet’s Fight To Save America’s Military History
Where is Toledo’s Missing History?
by Lou Hebert
A local military historian would like to know where all the artifacts have gone that used to be displayed at the Toledo Zoo? Nick Haupricht has been looking into the mystery of the missing artifacts for several years and says he has reason to believe that hundreds of items, including historic weapons, artworks, uniforms, badges and even cannons were stolen over the years and he’d like the Attorney General should launch an investigation. “Our history was stolen from us”.
read more here
Vietnam Vet’s Fight To Save America’s Military History

Suicide-Prevention Program Recommendations don't go far enough

Twenty-nine years ago, I was introduced to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, initiated into the Vietnam War by a 30 year old veteran. It was 11 years after he came back home part way. Aside from living with it, I've spent all these years tracking it. As an expert, I can tell you that we have never seen so many studies and attempts to help the veterans heal as we have today. While this fills me with great hope, it also serves as warnings because with all that is being done, there are still increased numbers of veterans reaching the point where they feel so much hopelessness, they are on the brink of suicide.

The Suicide Prevention Hotline received over 55,000 calls in the first year according to a report from SAMHSA, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services.

As of March 3, 2011 the Suicide Prevention Hotline numbers

To date, more than 379,000 callers have called the Veterans Suicide Prevention Hotline, and more than 200,000 of these callers have identified themselves as Veterans or family members or friends of Veterans. To date, the hotline has led to more than 13,000 rescues of actively suicidal Veterans.

Yet there are still 18 veterans a day committing suicide. What is even more troubling is the fact that until this month, the active duty military did not have access to suicide prevention.

Suicide hotline available for deployed soldiers

Even if it was possible to track all the suicides and attempted suicides, we'd never really know all of them. There are drug overdose deaths that are never really clear if they were accidental or suicide. Accidents are never really clear when they result in death. No one is checking on the incidents involving law enforcement when a veteran with PTSD is involved.

Why, after all these years did over 379,000 calls have to be made in the first place and why were over 200,000 of them from veterans? Why does it still reach that level of pain this keeps happening?

Because the programs they have in place are not working even though they are clearly helping some. What is missing? The families are. Their role in all of this is often overlooked and they are one of the most important resources.


It is troubling something like this is found on the National Suicide Prevention Hotline site.

The Lifeline is featured in Marvel comic
Captain America: A Little Help

"Super heroes fight a lot of battles, but there are few more important than combating suicide," said Tom Brevoort, Senior Vice-President of Publishing. "That’s why we're making Captain America: A Little Help available for free via our digital comics outlets. If even one person calls this number instead of doing something very tragic, we know that means we succeeded."

Suicide Prevention Lifeline.org page tells veterans to press 1 to talk. Yet on the same site, the same page, Captain America is right there at the bottom and he's battling a bunch of guys dressed in green. This is not a good idea no matter who it was intended for to show up on the same page telling veterans to seek help.

Without knowing what to do, families like mine did the best we could without any support or knowledge at all. Most of the mistakes made living with combat PTSD, were all made many years ago and we learned from them. We are yet one more untapped resource in helping the veterans heal because we live with it everyday. Many wives have been married for 30 or 40 years, keeping their veteran alive and raising their families with nothing to lean on other than love. I can tell you first hand, back when all this was new to me, I would have paid any price for the resources available today, especially the online support but too many do not take advantage of it. These are lifelines! They need to reach for them but their excuse is, they have enough to worry about so they discover PTSD when it is too late to avoid a lot of anguish.

Families can make it better when they understand but they are left out of the healing with mental health workers. They need to be included in the therapy as much as they need to be clued in.

These are the key recommendations Rand offered. Families are missing from the action.

Raising awareness and promoting self-care;
Identifying people at high risk, including screening for mental health problems;
Eliminating actual or perceived barriers to quality behavioral health care;
Providing high-quality mental health treatment and specific interventions focused on suicide when needed;
Restricting access to firearms and other lethal means, with attention to how lethal medications are packaged and how door hinges and shower rods are constructed; and
Responding appropriately when suicides occur.

While these are very important, they miss a big one and that is the family. Family can be relatives or it can be very close friends, because facing reality there are many serving without a strong family behind them. We see it when they come home from deployment. They get off the bus without a spouse to greet them, without Mom or Dad showing up to hug them, so they stand with their friends. Their friends are as close to family as there is.



Yet families are not the only problem. There have been suicide reports from across the country when the family knew what PTSD was, got the to go for help and offered all the support in the world, but it was still not enough. This suggests the programs offered to help them heal were not good enough. One more indication changes have to be made to make sure the programs live up to the challenge these veterans come home with.

Study Makes Suicide-Prevention Program Recommendations
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

HAMPTON, Va., March 25, 2011 – A new study commissioned by the Defense Department affirms many of the suicide-prevention efforts being made within DOD and the military services and recommends ways to strengthen them.

In preparing “The War Within: Suicide Prevention in the U.S. Military,” the Rand National Defense Research Institute examined data on military suicides, identified what scientific literature and leaders in the field consider the best prevention strategies and recommended ways to ensure existing programs reflect the state of the art, officials said.

“This is a very thorough effort,” Dr. Mark Barnes, director of the resilience and prevention directorate at the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, said of the report. “Rand interviewed each of the services and went outside the military to look at suicide-prevention practices and identified gaps for the way ahead [and] recommendations for the military suicide-prevention programs.”

The study’s findings track closely with those in the Defense Department’s own DOD Suicide Task Force Report, Barnes told military health care professionals attending the first Armed Forces Public Health Conference held here this week.

“There is no disagreement. They are very complimentary in what they are recommending,” he said. “So we have a nice resource here with quality information that our suicide-prevention folks can refer to as we move forward with the task force recommendations.”

Navy Capt. Paul Hammer, director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, called the Rand report an important tool in helping the Defense Department better confront an issue it takes “very seriously.”

“The Rand study helps us to identify areas that need improvement so that we can continue to provide the most comprehensive health care for our service members –- from the inside out,” he said.

The study, written for health policy officials and suicide-prevention program managers, recognized critical factors in a comprehensive prevention program. These include:

-- Raising awareness and promoting self-care;
-- Identifying people at high risk, including screening for mental health problems;
-- Eliminating actual or perceived barriers to quality behavioral health care;
-- Providing high-quality mental health treatment and specific interventions focused on suicide when needed;
-- Restricting access to firearms and other lethal means, with attention to how lethal medications are packaged and how door hinges and shower rods are constructed; and
-- Responding appropriately when suicides occur.

Evaluating the Defense Department’s suicide prevention programs, the study cited the potential benefit of a new DOD-wide surveillance program being used to track suicides and suicide attempts. The DOD Suicide Event Report replaced each service’s individual suicide-reporting system, Barnes explained, helping to ensure “apples to apples” comparisons as information is shared across the services.

“This is a data issue,” he said. “We need good data. The data informs us in how to be effective with prevention and health promotion. So we are continually improving our data systems.”

Rand also called for an evaluation of existing suicide prevention programs, along with a requirement that any new initiatives include an evaluation plan. Barnes acknowledged the challenge of assessing programs’ effectiveness, but called closer collaboration and information sharing across the Defense Department and services a positive step toward sharing best practices and determining what works.

The Rand study recognizes most military suicide-prevention programs’ focus on raising awareness, including telling people where to get help and helping them recognize peers in distress.

However, it emphasizes the importance of also teaching military members how to recognize their own problems and refer themselves if needed to a behavioral health professional or chaplain.

“Raising awareness and promoting self-care is something we do and we can do better,” Barnes said, noting the value of resilience campaigns. “The ideas is to give people skills,” and know how to recognize signs of risk in themselves as well as others, and to know what to do.

The report also identified the importance of partnerships between agencies and organizations responsible for mental health and substance use and other known risk factors for suicide.

“We do fairly well in terms of partnerships,” Barnes said. “One area we are looking at is, on an installation, how well do all the different partners work together in the suicide [prevention] mission? Because often times you have … one person who is the suicide prevention person on an installation. They are not going to be able to check in on everybody. It is really the whole installation that needs to be on board to be effective with this.”

The study also cited the need to ensure there’s no gap in services provided during military members’ transitions -- between military bases, between commands or between active and reserve status.

“Ensuring a continuity of services and care is really important,” Barnes said. “One of the times of increased vulnerability is during transitions. … And we need to be covering all the gaps like this proactively for our service members and their families.”

The study called for formal guidance for commanders so they know how to respond to suicide and suicide attempts. It recognized the lack of any direct policy within the services and the risks of handling these situations improperly.

“It is really about our leadership,” Barnes said. “We need to empower our leadership, because they set the example. They set the tone. So we have to give them the tools. We need to give them the information, the data, so they know what is going on, where we think is the right direction to go, and then get behind them.”

One more important factor in all of this is who was behind all of these programs starting in the first place. Vietnam veterans and their families pushed for help in the beginning. Still we wouldn't know as much as we do now about how huge the problem is had it not been for groups like Veterans For Common Sense and Paul Sullivan making sure they got the right information. They have been filing Freedom of Information Act requests for years to find out what the truth is and it has been pretty dark for the veterans behind the idyllic image of veterans joyous homecomings.

The VA and the DOD can come out with programs without providing any proof these programs work and the general public would take it at face value. The truth would be hidden behind the claims, as it had been until VCS fought to make sure the truth was told. The same truth hundreds of thousands of families live with year after year when the rest of the country has forgotten all about the battles they were sent to fight.

There is hope in all of this as long as the American people refuse to allow more to die when they come home from war than during it.
Demand answers from the media.

Why are so many still committing suicide when so many have been calling suicide prevention?
With all the programs millions of tax payer dollars fund, why aren't they working?
Why do veterans still feel on the brink of suicide they need to call for help?
With all the attempts to address the stigma, why are so many still afraid to ask for help?
Why are so many getting help still committing suicide?

There are very serious questions needing to be asked, but the media doesn't seem interested enough in asking or they lack a clear understanding to even know how serious all of this is. Make sure they discover what the reality is for too many when they come home before it is too late for too many more.