Iraq Veteran slashed himself after reading about friend killed in action

UPDATE

Parents’ plea for their troubled son

War vet knifed his own face

Published on Friday 24 June 2011 02:31

A FORMER soldier with post traumatic stress disorder slashed himself with a knife after reading a newspaper report about a friend killed in action.

Lee Murray, who had served in Bosnia and Iraq, called police from home to say he had cut his arms, head and face with a knife, a court heard.

Officers went to his address and saw cuts to his forehead and face and the article about the soldier’s death.

“He asked police what they would do if he ‘kicked off’,” said Helen Griffiths, prosecuting at Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court.

“He then cut himself on his arms, forehead and stomach, each strike drawing blood.”

Murray, whom the court heard had clearly been drinking, told officers he would have both of them and they snatched knives from the property.

He followed them outside, demanding to know where the knives were, and was sprayed with CS gas to subdue him.

Murray, aged 37, of Holmefield Road, Whitwell, Chesterfield, appeared in court in custody and admitted using threatening behaviour on Tuesday, June 16.

He had committed a similar offence in April.

The court was told Murray suffered from post traumatic stress disorder after serving in the Army in Iraq.
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War vet knifed his own face

Study finds meditation helps soldiers overcome trauma, PTSD

Study finds meditation helps soldiers overcome trauma, PTSD


More than 20 percent of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Department of Defense.

New research suggests one way to combat the symptoms is through meditation.

David George was sleeping in his cot during his deployment to Iraq when a car bomb exploded 25 yards away.

“I turn the lights on, and see a white cloud billowing into the room,” the 27-year-old recalls. “All the windows were blown out.”


Since then, he's struggled with PTSD, is often anxious, angry and depressed. At one point, back at home in Maryland, he stopped himself from buying a pistol.
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Study finds meditation helps soldiers overcome trauma, PTSD

Tank vandalized outside Michigan VFW post

Tank vandalized outside Michigan VFW post
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jun 30, 2011 7:03:33 EDT
CORUNNA, Mich. — A Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Corunna, Mich., is offering a $400 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for vandalizing an M-60 Patton tank displayed in front of the post.
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Tank vandalized outside Michigan VFW post

Homeless female veteran on the streets after 4th suicide attempt

Female veterans struggle with homelessness

by Brad Woodard / KHOU 11 News
khou.com
Posted on June 29, 2011

HOUSTON -- Some female veterans are struggling and homeless, and it's a problem that is becoming increasingly common.

A group of female veterans are taking a life skills class at the Santa Maria Hostel – the group of women are on the verge of being homeless.

“I could go anywhere and no one would know that I'm homeless,” said Army veteran Jacqueline Wright. “The recession hit. I was unable to find work, and that just led to a downward spiral.”

Some of the women said they’ve spent half their lives on the streets.

“I've slept in bushes, in parks, the backs of people's yards, abandoned cars,” said Navy veteran Cheryl Jett.

Their reasons for being here are as varied as their stories.

“My addiction was pain pills -- Xanax and sleeping pills. I tried committing suicide four times,” said Aimee Dewolfe, a homeless Navy veteran.

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Female veterans struggle with homelessness

Cape soldier’s death in Iraq under investigation

Cape soldier’s death is under investigation
By John Basile
THE BULLETIN
Posted Jun 29, 2011

NORTH FALMOUTH —
The United States Army continues to look into the death of Army Sgt. Matthew Gallagher of North Falmouth.

Gallagher, 22, died Sunday in Wasit province, Northern Iraq under circumstances that still are not clear.

The Army confirmed Wednesday that Gallagher’s death is listed as non combat-related, a designation leaving open a number of possibilities according to Capt. Matthew Merrill of the 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry, the unit in which Gallagher served.


Read more: Cape soldier’s death is under investigation

Homes for our Troops to build Afghanistan veteran home

Homes for our Troops to build Afghanistan veteran home in July
Published: Thursday, June 30, 2011
By Sara K. Satullo
The Express-Times

Even as Rob Kislow lay in a hospital bed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, he could only focus on one thing.

“’I just want the American Dream,’” Kislow, now 25, recalls telling a reporter interviewing him. “That was my entire mindset.”

It took several years, 16 prosthetic legs and lots of hardship but come July, Kislow’s American dream is headed into overdrive. He’s set to become a father and homeowner within days of one another.

The national nonprofit Homes for Our Troops, which builds homes for seriously injured post 9/11 veterans at no cost to them, is set to begin work on Kislow’s Moore Township home July 22.
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Homes for our Troops to build Afghanistan veteran home

VA Cemetery Accused of Censoring Religious Speech

First let me say that I am against forced religious talk of any kind. This includes forcing people to not say what they believe. I do not support someone saying that someone else is going to hell if they do not covert or believe the "right" way, especially when they are in need of spiritual help. It's one of the reasons why I became a Chaplain. I have no church. While I am Greek Orthodox, my own branch of Christianity does not support the role of women as ministers. It is my job to address people in need no matter what faith they have or if they have no faith at all and I am free to discuss whatever will help them heal spiritually but I am careful to not cross the line and offend them. If I know I am talking to a non-Christian, I will invoke "God" but limit the use of "Christ" even though they know I am a Christian.

This is also the reason why I do not believe a speaker addressing a mixed group should focus on Christ instead of God, but that is what I believe much like I believe no one in the government should attempt to force anyone to convert or force them to listen. They are supposed to be able to say what they want and use their own judgment. If this nation can protect the free speech rights of the hateful Westboro Group because they use the title of a church, then they should also protect the rights of everyone to use their own judgment of what they will or will not say.

VA Cemetery Accused of Censoring Religious Speech
June 29, 2011
Houston Chronicle

Local veterans and volunteer groups are accusing Department of Veterans Affairs officials of censoring religious speech -- including banning the word "God" -- at Houston National Cemetery.

In one example cited in documents filed this week in federal court, cemetery director Arleen Ocasio reportedly told volunteers with the National Memorial Ladies that they had to stop telling the families, "God bless you," at funerals and that they had to remove the words "God bless" from condolence cards.

The new allegations of "religious hostility" by VA and cemetery officials follow on the heels of a controversy over a prayer in Jesus' name by Pastor Scott Rainey at a Memorial Day service in the cemetery.

U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes ruled May 26 that Ocasio couldn't stop Rainey from using the words "Jesus Christ" in his invocation.

Attorneys with the nonprofit Liberty Institute, which represented Rainey, filed an amended complaint this week after allegedly finding other instances of religious discrimination by cemetery officials against members Veterans of Foreign Wars District 4, The American Legion Post 586, and the National Memorial Ladies, a volunteer group that attends funerals of fallen service members.

The complaint accuses VA of "a widespread and consistent practice of discriminating against private religious speech" at the cemetery.
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VA Cemetery Accused of Censoring Religious Speech

DoD to Employers: Hire Spouses or Go Away

DoD to Employers: Hire Spouses or Go Away
June 30, 2011
Military.com|by Amy Bushatz

The Pentagon launched a program on June 29 that provides incentives for top-tier companies to add servicemember spouses to their payrolls.

The DoD initiative -- dubbed the “Military Spouse Employment Partnership” -- includes 79 Fortune 500 plus companies and is intended to make hiring military spouses attractive to employers by offering them good public exposure while highlighting spouses as a potential workforce solution.

“We’re really holding their feet to the fire with this,” said Robert Gordon, the Pentagon’s chief of military community and family policy. “We want documentation -- who they’re hiring, how many they’re hiring, in terms of what kind of jobs our spouses are getting.
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Hire Spouses or Go Away

Growing Concern over Vets' Financial Issues, PTSD

Is it better for the troops coming home today than four years ago? Sure, but with the "better than nothing" thought, it is not as good as it should be when you think about the money spent. When you think about some folks in congress playing games with the lives of the combat veterans coming home, it should be sending warning bells across the nation. As bad as it is, it could have been worse had congress not acted in 2007, 08, 09 and 2010. Bills were flying out of congress to make it right but the troops had been in combat since 2001 in Afghanistan and 2003 in Iraq. They had a lot to make up for.

Four Years After Walter Reed, Government Still Faulted for Troop Support
Growing Concern over Vets' Financial Issues, PTSD

OVERVIEW

About a third (34%) of those who say the government has not done enough for returning troops point to mental health issues as the biggest area of concern; that is unchanged from 2008. However, specific mentions of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have doubled – from 5% to 11%.

As President Obama begins to draw down U.S. forces in Afghanistan, most Americans continue to say that government support for troops returning from war is falling short.

The public remains divided over whether the American people give enough support to soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Opinions on this tilt more negative, however, among the families of those who have served in the military since the 9/11 terror attacks.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted June 15-19 among 1,502 adults, finds that the government gets better marks for supporting returning troops than it did in 2007, amid the scandal over military medical care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, or a year later.

Nonetheless, just 32% say the government gives enough support to soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly twice as many (62%) say the government does not provide enough support for the returning troops. In 2007 and 2008, even fewer said the government was providing adequate support for the troops (21% in 2007, 22% in 2008).
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Government Still Faulted for Troop Support

Was shooting Matthew Speese justified?

I have read a lot of reports, too many of them, where police had to face off with combat veterans. Most of them end the way Matthew Speese's life did. Police have a very difficult job to do and we cannot ignore it is dangerous for them to have to come face to face with an armed combat veteran. Most of the time they know it will not end well. The problem is, it does end well for a lot of veterans and they finally get the help they need.

This editorial in Grand Rapids Press points out that Speese had dropped his gun. He reached for something in his belt when he was shot. It turned out to be a knife. Why not use a taser on him instead of bullets? Why not wait until they knew what it was? They had their weapons drawn and pointed at Speese. Why not wait one split second to find out what it was? We can ask a lot of questions but even if we ask ourselves what we would have done, we will never know for sure what that would have really been.


This issue needs to be addressed in all urgency. There have been increased face offs between veterans and law enforcement. The issue of why they reach this point at all needs to be addressed before there are more in crisis and more lives of cops on the line.

Editorial: Why the police shooting of Matthew Speese was justified, but calls attention to veterans' needs
Published: Wednesday, June 29, 2011
By The Grand Rapids Press Editorial Board

Police are frequently called to make split-second decisions in confusing circumstances.
So it was with the death of Matthew Speese.

Police shot and killed Mr. Speese at his home in Montcalm County June 1 after he repeatedly threatened officers. Montcalm County Prosecutor Andrea Krause made the right decision by clearing the officers involved of any criminal wrong-doing.

Too much second-guessing of police work after the fact will only lead to hesitations that can be dangerous to law enforcement and the general public. Law enforcement officials should not have free rein to do anything, of course. However, society should recognize their duties carry special burdens and agonizing decisions. The facts in this case support the officers’ actions as self defense.

The death of Mr. Speese offers another lesson: the need to provide good psychological care to military veterans. The 47-year-old Mr. Speese, a Marine, served in the Gulf War and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He had suicidal tendencies. In fact, a suicide threat led police to Mr. Speese’s home near Howard City after he called a Veterans Crisis Line.

In the call, he threatened to kill himself and said he would shoot police officers if they responded.
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Why the police shooting of Matthew Speese was justified