Another insult to 9-11 first responders, screening by FBI

Before you hit the roof, you need to know who to thank on this one. Here you go.

"The provision was added in an amendment by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) during the heated debate over the bill in the House Energy and Commerce Committee last May.

Sept. 11 responders in the committee room at the time mostly shook their heads at the move, which Democrats accepted on a voice vote after battling to bar other amendments on abortion and immigration that might have killed the bill."

For the last 9 years all we've heard them say is 9-11 this and that. They started two wars using 9-11. They used the troops, they ignored veterans, they made the first responders wait all this time for help after they voted against taking care of their healthcare needs and now this!

9/11 Responders To Be Warned They Will Be Screened By FBI's Terrorism Watch List (EXCLUSIVE)
First Posted: 04/21/11

Michael McAuliff
mike.mcauliff@huffingtonpost.com



WASHINGTON -- A provision in the new 9/11 health bill may be adding insult to injury for people who fell sick after their service in the aftermath of the 2001 Al Qaeda attacks, The Huffington Post has learned.

The tens of thousands of cops, firefighters, construction workers and others who survived the worst terrorist assault in U.S. history and risked their lives in its wake will soon be informed that their names must be run through the FBI’s terrorism watch list, according to a letter obtained by HuffPost.

Any of the responders who are not compared to the database of suspected terrorists would be barred from getting treatment for the numerous, worsening ailments that the James Zadroga 9/11 Health And Compensation Law was passed to address.

It’s a requirement that was tacked onto the law during the bitter debates over it last year.

The letter from Dr. John Howard, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, informs medical providers and administrators that they should begin letting patients know before the new program kicks in this July.

“This is absurd,” said Glen Kline, a former NYPD emergency services officer. “It’s silly. It’s stupid. It’s asinine.”

“It’s comical at best, and I think it’s an insult to everyone who worked on The Pile and is sick and suffering from 9/11,” said John Feal, a former construction worker who lost half a foot at Ground Zero and runs the advocacy group Fealgood Foundation.
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9/11 Responders To Be Warned

Decorated Vietnam Vet sues Army over discharge

John Shepherd is not alone. He has plenty of company. When we acknowledge that it is still going on today, even with what we know about PTSD, you need to remember it was a lot worse for the Vietnam Vets when no one knew anything.

Vietnam veteran with Bronze star and 2004 PTSD diagnosis sues Army over discharge
JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN Associated Press
First Posted: April 21, 2011 - 11:02 am
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A Vietnam veteran who received the Bronze Star and later was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder filed a federal lawsuit Thursday trying to get the Army to modify his other-than-honorable discharge so that his sacrifice will be recognized and he can get disability benefits.

John Shepherd, a 63-year-old New Haven resident, says he battled alcoholism and struggled to stay employed for 40 years, but was not diagnosed with PTSD until 2004.

"My other-than-honorable discharge has made me feel deeply ashamed for many years," Shepherd said in a statement. "I hope this lawsuit can finally change that."

An Army spokesman says the service does not comment on pending lawsuits.

In 1969, Shepherd served a combat tour in the Mekong Delta, participating in patrols and search-and-destroy missions. The Army awarded him with a Bronze Star after his unit came under intense fire and Shepherd rushed toward an enemy bunker, entered it and threw a grenade that killed several enemy soldiers, according to the lawsuit.

Shepherd developed symptoms of PTSD after blowing up the enemy bunker and later witnessing the gruesome deaths of several comrades, according to his lawsuit. Shepherd also witnessed the killing of his commanding officer, who was reaching down to pull Shepherd out of a ditch when he was shot multiple times.

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Vietnam Vet sues Army

Jonathan Shay to receive Salem Award for work with veterans

DR. JONATHAN SHAY: RECIPIENT OF THE 19th ANNUAL SALEM AWARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

DR. JONATHAN SHAY: ADVOCATING FOR VETERANS



Dr. Jonathan Shay’s work has been instrumental in building public awareness and acceptance of post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD as a serious and bona fide war injury, and his focus on how the military can reduce the incidence of such injury has been influential within the services.

From 1987 to 2008, he was a staff psychiatrist at the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in Boston. Treating approximately 200 Vietnam veterans during that period, he became deeply knowledgeable about the psychological trauma that these men had experienced during the war and that they were still reliving.

In 1994 he published Achilles In Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character, and in 2002, Odysseus In America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming. The books form a comprehensive description of the specific nature of catastrophic war experiences, and how they combine with a number of other critical factors to produce PTSD in soldiers and veterans.

In particular, the books explore the effects on individual human character that disabling psychiatric wounds cause. PTSD can and does afflict anybody, including the strongest, bravest, and most capable among us.

Because of Shay’s work and the work of others, the more than six million troops who have served in combat since the beginning of the Vietnam War can now seek treatment for PTSD, though many continue to fear that the stigma will affect their careers.

Rigorous studies conducted in the late 1980’s showed that approximately 36 percent of male Vietnam combat veterans still suffered from PTSD. That translated to roughly 250,000 men with severe psychological injuries still alive in 1990.

Untreated PTSD results in on-going emotional pain and suffering, difficulty with families and jobs, self-destructive and criminal behavior, homelessness, and incarceration of veterans at rates disproportionate to their presence in the population.

Dr. Shay has worked closely with the military to implement reforms both in the training of soldiers and in the practices and policies used in actual deployment. He has collaborated with General James Jones, the past commandant of the Marines, and Major General James Mattis of the Marines.

In 1999 to 2000, he performed the Commandant of the Marine Corps Trust Study, and in 2001 he was Visiting Scholar-at-Large at the US Naval War College. From 2004 to 2005 he was Chair of Ethics, Leadership, and Personnel Policy in the Office of the US Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, and in the spring of 2009 he was the Omar Bradley Chair of Strategic Leadership at the US Army War College. In 2007 he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.

Like those who spoke out against the Witch Trials in 1692, it is Dr. Shay’s voice and the voice of others speaking out against injustice that have changed the way that both the public and the military treat a group of citizens, in this case American troops who suffer from PTSD, both while in active duty and after. Through his work, Dr. Shay has helped make it possible for those who serve in the military and others in the path of war with PTSD to be offered treatment so that they have an opportunity to lead a full life.
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Salem Award/

A year after Deepwater Horizon explosion, 3 survivors still struggling

This happened after one traumatic event in their lives. For all the veterans out there still finding it hard to accept the reality of PTSD in them, count the number of times your life was on the line and then wonder no more. You were just a human before you went into combat, still human during it and still human after it. You saw more, did more and endured more hardship than anyone else, so there is nothing to be ashamed of unless you think your ability to feel things deeply is wrong.

A year after Deepwater Horizon explosion, 3 survivors still struggling

By Chuck Hadad, CNN
April 21, 2011 5:34 a.m. EDT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Survivors say the scars from the disaster have taken their lives away
Medical records: Survivors have been diagnosed with multiple mental issues
One says he wakes up screaming from nightmares
Transocean says its focus is on providing support for employees

(CNN) -- For some survivors of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, escaping the inferno of the doomed rig made them feel like they'd cheated death.

But living with the scars of what they witnessed that night, and the memory of the 11 men who perished when the rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana a year ago, has in many ways taken their lives away.

"I remember feeling invincible when it first happened. I remember driving in my truck on the way home after the rig exploded and (I) pushed the gas (pedal) to the floor and never let off it," says Daniel Barron.

But the high Barron felt from surviving didn't last long.

"You have that guilty conscience of, 'Okay, I made it, that's great, but then these guys didn't.' Was there something I could have done to save more people?"
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A year after Deepwater Horizon explosion

Life after war not easy for Iraq, Afghanistan veterans

Life after war not easy for Iraq, Afghanistan veterans
By Lauren Adkins

Contributing Reporter

Published: Thursday, April 21, 2011

When we think of soldiers who die in battle, we often think of those who die fighting for our country on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq.

We usually don't think about soldiers who survive their tours only to succumb to internal battles caused by .

Suicide among United States military veterans increased by 26 p e r c e n t from 2005 to 2007 and have continued to rise. Of the 30,000 s u i c i d e s committed in this c o u n t r y each year, fully 20 percent of them are veterans. This means that on average about 18 veterans commit suicide each day, according to new statistics released by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

SHSU has a growing veteran's population, with about 600 students drawing VA college benefits and another 200 dependents who use benefits, according to Kathy Hudson, who is the coordinator at the Veterans Resource Center.

The VA states that the spike in the suicide rate can most clearly be attributed to the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the high amount of veterans returning to the United States with PTSD.

Tri-County Services, a mental health service agency covering Walker County, received a grant in 2010 to form local support groups for veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Military veteran Ryan Leonard, who works for Tri-County Services, said that the groups are not led by professional counselors or psychiatrists. They are led by guys who have "been there." The groups meet for one hour on weeknights on the SHSU campus and in Conroe.

"We haven't had much success in the groups so far," Leonard said. "I mean the guys just don't seem interested in the groups. They will come right out and say that they have PTSD, but when asked if they're interested in support groups, they claim to be fine, but always seem to know of someone else who they think would benefit. Part of this is because of the way soldiers are trained today."

Leonard left for basic training in June 2003 and was thrown into a soldier's harsh reality. He was trained to forget about his problems and focus on the mission at hand. Things that would be viewed as necessities such as water, lunch and sleep were considered a "crutch."

While Leonard knew that he and his fellow soldiers were being trained to do what they volunteered for, he said he feels that veterans are all too often prepared for what they are going to face in battle but not what they will face when they enter back into life as a civilian.

The problems that were ignored for so long do not just go away. All too often they resurface, dramatically changing a veteran's life.
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Life after war not easy for Iraq, Afghanistan veterans

Sgt. Linda Lamou Pierre of Immokalee Florida among 5 killed in Afghanistan

5 soldiers killed in suicide attack identified
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Apr 19, 2011 19:48:35 EDT
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — The Defense Department on Tuesday released the names of five soldiers killed in a suicide attack in Afghanistan last weekend.

The victims were:

• Capt. Charles E. Ridgley Jr., 40, of Baltimore, who was assigned to the 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

• Sgt. 1st Class Charles Lewis Adkins, 35, of Sandusky, Ohio.

• Staff Sgt. Cynthia Renea Taylor, 39, of Columbus, Ga.

• Sgt. Linda Lamou Pierre, 28, of Immokalee, Fla.

• Spc. Joseph Brian Cemper, 21, of Warrensburg, Mo.

Adkins, Taylor, Pierre and Cemper were assigned to Fort Campbell.

The Army said that the soldiers were killed by an Afghan solider working as a Taliban sleeper agent who set off multiple grenades in the Nangarhar province.
5 soldiers killed in suicide attack identified

Congressman Mica fights for St. Augustine homeless veterans

Mica blames bureaucracy for delays in accreditation
April 19, 2011
U.S. Rep. John L. Mica held an emergency meeting of state VA and other leaders today, April 19th, at 3:30 p.m. in St. Augustine City Hall, where he tells Historic City News Editor Michael Gold that he wants answers regarding the delay in getting proper accreditation for the Clyde E. Lassen State VA Nursing Home.

Mica voiced his concern today to Veterans Administration and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, “To resolve this outstanding matter and to prevent any further veterans from being turned away.”

The new Clyde E. Lassen State VA Nursing Home, which opened this past September, will help homeless veterans in the region and will also provide much needed counseling and long-term medical care for those who have served our nation.

“It is a shame that it has taken nearly seven months for the new state VA nursing home in St. Augustine to become fully accredited,” said Mica. “St. Johns County is home to over 17,000 veterans — and growing.”
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Mica blames bureaucracy for delays in accreditation

2nd sailor found dead aboard Enterprise

2nd sailor found dead aboard Enterprise
By Hugh Lessig, hlessig@dailypress.com
April 19, 2011
A sailor aboard the USS Enterprise was found dead Tuesday, and the death is under investigation, the Navy reported.

The sailor was not identified and no other details were released. However, the Navy said it has notified the sailor's family and sends condolences.

It is the second time in about a month that a sailor has been found dead aboard the ship, which is currently in the Arabian Gulf.

Petty Officer First Class Vincent A. Filpi III, 41, died March 22 in a non-combat related incident, the Defense Department previously reported. He was an aviation ordnance man and had enlisted in the Navy in 1992. He had been on the Enterprise since 2009.
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2nd sailor found dead aboard Enterprise

PTSD? They have an app for that too!

A New Way to Serve Our Veterans

By Secretary Eric K. Shinseki , Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs

Some of the most important programs our department provides are mental health services. I am pleased to announce that VA and the Department of Defense (DoD) have launched the PTSD Coach – our first in a suite of jointly developed mobile smartphone applications (apps) for mental health.

When speaking with Veterans living with PTSD, we were told that they wanted and needed a convenient way to learn more about the services and resources available to them, as well as an app that could help them manage symptoms of PTSD at any given moment. The PTSD Coach is a cutting edge app which provides information and tools that Veterans and service members can use to cope with their PTSD symptoms any moment of the day—24/7.

This new tool is useful for anyone who is receiving treatment for PTSD. It is also an anonymous resource that will be important for Veterans and service members, who may not be in treatment now, but who may be seeking quick, accessible information about PTSD. It’s available now on iTunes and will be online soon for Android phones, as well. I recommend it for anyone, who wants to learn more about PTSD, and we’ll look forward to introducing additional apps over the course of the coming year. This is just one more way that VA and DoD are working together to provide 21st Century tools for the men and women who are serving, and have served, our great Nation.
A New Way to Serve Our Veterans

Fallen airman's daughter send cookies and love to the troops

Her Girl Scout cookie project wins praise from top general
By Meg Jones of the Journal Sentinel

Waukesha - Mackenzie Frost's dad loved Girl Scout cookies, especially peanut butter sandwiches.

When U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Christopher Frost was deployed to Iraq, he received Girl Scout cookies in the mail and even sent a photo of himself holding up a cookie. So when 8-year-old Mackenzie sold Girl Scout cookies this year for the first time as a Brownie, she asked her customers if they would be willing to donate boxes of cookies to send to troops in Iraq.

The second-grader wrote a note for each package introducing herself, explaining which Brownie troop she belonged to and how she came up with the idea. She also told the U.S. service members in Iraq that the cookies were a great way to remember her dad.

Christopher Frost was killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq in March 2008 when Mackenzie was 5.

Touched by her heartfelt letter, as well as the 600 boxes of Girl Scout cookies sent by Mackenzie and the rest of the girls in Waukesha Brownie Troop 2653, the U.S. service members decided to say thank you the best way they knew how.

They sent her a care package.

And on Tuesday afternoon, in front of her classmates at Hawthorne Elementary School in Waukesha, Mackenzie was presented with gifts sent from troops in Iraq - a U.S. flag flown over Iraq in Christopher Frost's memory, a large framed photo collage and a video greeting from a three-star Army general who is deputy commander of U.S. forces in Iraq.
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Girl Scout cookie project wins praise from top general

Medal of Honor recipient Sammy L. Davis speaks at Fort Benning

MEDIA ADVISORY
April 15, 2011

FORT BENNING, Ga. – Medal of Honor recipient Sammy L. Davis will address an audience of Fort Benning Soldiers at 1 p.m. April 19 in Pratt Hall.
Davis was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on Nov. 18, 1967 in Vietnam while serving as a cannoneer at a remote fire support base.
Davis’ fire support base, under heavy mortar attack, was simultaneously attacked by a battalion- sized ground assault which came within 25 meters of friendly lines.
Davis was providing covering fire as his artillery gun crew attempted to fire. An enemy recoilless rifle round scored a direct hit on his crew’s artillery piece, Davis was blown into a foxhole and set the artillery piece on fire.
Despite being seriously injured and disregarding enemy gunfire aimed at his position, Davis managed to fire the artillery gun five times. He then seized an air mattress, and despite his inability to swim, made his way across a river to rescue three wounded Soldiers on the far side. While the most seriously wounded Soldier was helped across the river, Davis protected the other two, standing upright and firing into dense vegetation to prevent the Viet Cong forces from advancing, until he could pull the wounded Soldiers back across.
Refusing medical attention, he then joined another artillery crew which fired at the Viet Cong forces until they broke contact and fled.
There will be a brief media opportunity at the conclusion of Davis’ presentation.
The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest military award, presented for gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States.
Media interested in attending this event should contact the Public Affairs Office during duty hours to coordinate a media escort to Pratt Hall.

Michelle Obama, Jill Biden talk about Military families on the View

Michelle Obama, Jill Biden talk military families, other issues, on 'The View'
By: CNN Political Producer Shannon Travis
Washington (CNN) – First lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, appeared on ABC's "The View" on Monday to talk about the challenges military families face and urged Americans to do more to support them.

And since the show is known for casual chats, Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Biden also discussed other subjects, such as how each woman reacts to political criticism of their husbands, the upcoming presidential race – even how President Obama, as a dad, is handling his oldest daughter's becoming a teenager.

Most of the talk focused on support for military families. In the audience were service members and their families, some of whom explained the challenges they face as they serve abroad while loved ones must care for family matters at home.

The issue is one that Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Biden have long been passionate about. Last week, the first lady and Mrs. Biden visited four states, in two days, to raise awareness about the needs of families of military service members.

"We're trying to expand public awareness. Because our military families sacrifice so much for us," the first lady said. "And most Americans are probably like I was. Not really recognizing the sacrifices and the challenges that these families make."

Obama said that the focus on the campaign, titled "Joining Forces: Taking Action to Serve America's Military Families," will be on employment, mental health and wellness for troops and their families and education.

Mrs. Biden urged Americans to commit to acts of kindness.

"Go to your schools or your churches or your communities and find out [who] the families who are," she said.
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Michelle Obama, Jill Biden

Attempted robbery at Allied Veterans Internet Café leaves one dead

Suspected robber shot dead in Apopka

By Anika Myers Palm, Orlando Sentinel
7:01 a.m. EDT, April 19, 2011


A man who may have been trying to rob an Internet café was shot dead early today in Apopka

Gary Bryant, 21, was one of two men who walked into the Allied Veterans Internet Café at 3030 East Semoran Boulevard about 1 a.m., according to the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.

When the men entered the building, one of them immediately became involved in an altercation with a security guard.

One of the robbers fired a shot at the security guard, who in turn fired a round and struck Bryant in the back.

Just before leaving the scene in an older model tan Oldsmobile, one of the robbers fired several gunshots into the business.
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Suspected robber shot dead in Apopka

Military had better be ready after tornadoes for mental healthcare

700 from Fort Bragg are getting ready to deploy into Afghanistan.

Bragg deals with aftermath of tumultuous storms
Staff report
Posted : Sunday Apr 17, 2011 18:16:38 EDT
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Fort Bragg officials announced on Facebook that the base will operate on a two-hour delay on Monday except for adverse weather personnel, who are to report at normal duty hours or as directed. Civilian employees and schools will also operate on a two-hour delayed schedule.

The base remained closed Sunday except for key and essential personnel after severe weather damaged buildings and cut off power to the installation Saturday.

There are no reports of loss of life or significant injuries on post, according to a statement posted to Fort Bragg’s Facebook page Saturday night. Power was restored to the majority of the base late Sunday morning, officials said in a statement. Progress Energy utility crews were working to restore power to the Linden Oaks community and Simmons Army Airfield.
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Bragg deals with aftermath of tumultuous storms

Imagine packing to leave your family after the tornadoes. Then imagine you will spend a year worrying about them on top of your own life.

Camp Lejeune homes destroyed and damaged by tornado
Onslow County tornado damage, Camp Lejeune homes destroyed

By CHRIS BROWN
Published: April 16, 2011

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Base officials say 10 to 12 homes were destroyed, 40 to 60 homes were significantly damaged and 40 to 60 more homes have suffered minor damage including broken windows, siding, gutters and trees in the yard. A 23-month old child was flown to Pitt Memorial Hospital Saturday night and is still listed in critical condition with multiple trauma related injuries.
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Camp Lejeune homes destroyed and damaged by tornado

How many are still deployed with this going on back home?

When you remember the shootings at Fort Hood, what you may not have noticed was the increase in mental healthcare demands. Their safety was taken away from them. The tornadoes brought one more kind of trauma beyond combat and the military had better be ready for what will follow from military families in crisis and needing help.