As many as one-third of U.S. military veterans suffering

If you doubted the "one out of three" percentage I usually use, when you read about "experts" saying the figure is a lot less, here is more proof supporting the percentage that has been used for over 30 years by experts working on PTSD before it was "newsworthy" and the media only focused on Vietnam Vets going to jail.

Vets substance abuse, mental illness link
Published: April 20, 2011 at 11:17 PM


NEW HAVEN, Conn., April 20 (UPI) -- As many as one-third of U.S. military veterans who suffer from mental health disorders also have substance use disorders, researchers say.

Study leader Dr. Ismene Petrakis of Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., used data from the Department of Veterans Affairs to examine rates of substance use disorders among veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. They checked those who were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychiatric disorders.



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Vets substance abuse, mental illness link

They self-medicate because they are not getting what they need, not getting support enough to seek help still and yes, still being treated as if they "owe" us anything when they have to fight the VA for disability ratings and treatment.

Britney Spears Invades Afghanistan

Troops have some fun (and talent) in Afghanistan


Britney Spears Invades Afghanistan

Col. Parker Schenecker says "Wife was ‘sick’ when she killed kids"

Colonel: Wife was ‘sick’ when she killed kids
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Apr 21, 2011 15:51:06 EDT
TAMPA, Fla. — The husband of a woman who admitted killing her two teenage children says his wife suffered from mental illness since before they were married and likely had substance-abuse issues.

Still, Army Col. Parker Schenecker said, he never suspected his wife Julie would harm their children. Schenecker talked to People magazine for an issue that will be on newsstands Friday.

Julie Schenecker, 50, planned and carried out the fatal shootings of her 16-year-old daughter, Calyx, and 13-year-old son Beau, in January, police said.
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Wife was ‘sick’ when she killed kids

Army "promises" change in the way National Guards-Reservists are treated

Wyden: Army Vows to Improve Guard Treatment
Changes Outlined Involving irag, Afghanistan Returnees

From KTVZ.COM News Sources

WASHINGTON -- Responding to concerns raised over the past year, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.),said Wednesday the Army has announced changes aimed at improving the treatment of National Guard and Reserve troops returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The changes announced in documents provided to Wyden’s office include ensuring each soldier receives proper medical care, improving communication about entitlements and benefits and greater access to medical care following demobilization.

The changes also include keeping Guard and Reserve leaders with their units at demobilization stations until each soldier receives the care and resources they have earned
“For more than a year now, we have been concerned that the Army was treating National Guard and Reserve troops differently by sending them home too quickly following demobilization and not informing them or providing them with the medical care they needed and deserved following a combat deployment,” Wyden said.

“The Department of Defense has acknowledged that the treatment of these troops was not what it should be. Now the military has taken steps to improve the situation. They deserve a great deal of credit for recognizing these problems and taking steps to fix them.”

"Our National Guard and Reserve men and women have served this nation honorably and with distinction," said Schrader. "They deserve, and are frankly entitled to, the same consideration during and after demobilization as Active Component service members. Being provided misinformation two hundred miles from the nearest Military Treatment Facility is not acceptable."

Under the new policies, the demobilization process for Guard and Reserve soldiers will be extended to up to 14 days rather than the previous five- to seven-day limit. This change addresses complaints that troops were being rushed off active duty too quickly and before their medical issues were properly identified and resolved. Another change includes making it easier to admit Guard and Reserve troops into the Warrior Transition Unit for medical treatment.
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Army Vows to Improve Guard Treatment

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