Ga. soldier charged with slaying superior blames crash diet after being ordered to lose weight
By Associated Press, Published: July 27
FORT STEWART, Ga. — Attorneys for an Army Reserve soldier on trial for murder in Georgia say he killed a superior because he was dehydrated and delirious from a crash diet after being ordered to lose weight.
Army Staff Sgt. Rashad Valmont’s fiancée testified Wednesday that he quit eating and put in extra hours at the gym and sauna after being ordered by a supervisor to shed 3 percent of his body fat quickly. Two days later he walked into a different superior’s office holding a Glock handgun, took aim and shot the man six times.
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Ga soldier charged with slaying superior
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Congressman Joe Walsh dead-beat dad?
Walsh made a speech about passing on this nation's debt to his kids but he has not taken care of them in the first place. This guy along with everyone else suddenly talking about the debt never seems to manage to understand the debt we already owe to veterans.
Ex-wife: Ill. congressman owes $117K child support
Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh, the tea party-backed Republican who squeaked into office last year by vowing to bring fiscal responsibility to Washington and who has been one of President Barack Obama's most outspoken critics during the standoff over the debt ceiling, is being sued for more than $100,000 in unpaid child support, a newspaper reported.
The Associated Press
CHICAGO —
Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh, the tea party-backed Republican who squeaked into office last year by vowing to bring fiscal responsibility to Washington and who has been one of President Barack Obama's most outspoken critics during the standoff over the debt ceiling, is being sued for more than $100,000 in unpaid child support, a newspaper reported.
The freshman congressman's ex-wife, Laura Walsh, filed the claim against him in December as part of their divorce case, saying he owed $117,437 to her and their three children, the Chicago Sun-Times reported in a story published Wednesday. She contends that Walsh loaned his own campaign $35,000 and took international vacations but said he couldn't afford child support payments because he was between jobs or out of work.
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Ex-wife: Ill. congressman owes $117K child support
Senate defeats attempt to sink VA funding bill
By Josiah Ryan - 07/20/11 12:54 PM ET
The Senate voted 69-30 on Wednesday to table an amendment offered by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) that would have killed the Veterans Affairs (VA) funding bill.
Vitter wanted to stop the bill because the Senate has yet to pass a budget for 2012. He argued it makes no sense to move spending measures without a budget framework approved by the Senate.
"The point this amendment makes is a pretty simple but basic and important one,” said Vitter from the floor on Tuesday. “We don't have a concurrent budget resolution for fiscal year 2012. We're in the process of passing an appropriation bill with this bill, spending money without a budget, without a game plan, without a framework.”
"That's clearly putting the cart before the horse and clearly having things backwards in a dysfunctional process," Vitter said.
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Senate defeats attempt to sink VA funding bill
Cost of Treating Veterans Will Rise Long Past Wars
The time to debate the price of war is before they begin. After that, the price being paid by the men and women sent, should never be open to discussion. They should just be taken care of. War causes death. War causes wounds. While the congress may be able to easily accept the price of replacing equipment they should never, ever debate the price of taking care of the veterans. Anyone in congress even suggesting that funds should be cut from them as more and more are added to the ranks of combat veterans, should resign from office. They don't belong there. Any congressional district with a member of congress defending tax cuts for the wealthy at the same time they talk about cutting anything to do with veterans, should recall them and get them out of office. They have shown their loyalty is with the wealthy and they don't care about the men and women serving this nation with their lives instead of their mouths delivering yet one more speech on how much they "support the troops" when they turn around and take away from the veterans.
Cost of Treating Veterans Will Rise Long Past Wars
By JAMES DAO
Published: July 27, 2011
WASHINGTON — Though the withdrawal of American military forces from Iraq and Afghanistan will save the nation billions of dollars a year, another cost of war is projected to continue rising for decades to come: caring for the veterans.
By one measure, the cost of health care and disability compensation for veterans from those conflicts and all previous American wars ranks among the largest for the federal government — less than the military, Social Security and health care programs including Medicare, but nearly the same as paying interest on the national debt, the Treasury Department says.
Ending the current wars will not lower those veterans costs; indeed, they will rise ever more steeply for decades to come as the population of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan expands, ages and becomes more infirm. To date, more than 2.2 million troops have served in those wars.
Studies show that the peak years for government health care and disability compensation costs for veterans from past wars came 30 to 40 years after those wars ended. For Vietnam, that peak has not been reached.
In Washington, the partisan stalemate over cutting federal spending is now raising alarms among veterans groups and some lawmakers that the seemingly inexorable costs of veterans benefits will spur a backlash against those programs.
Though there is currently strong bipartisan support for veterans programs, some budget proposals, including from Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, and Representative Michele Bachmann, Republican of Minnesota, have called for trimming benefits for veterans and military retirees.
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Cost of Treating Veterans Will Rise Long Past Wars
Onslow County DAV chapter seeking donations
Not to be confused with DAV 16 Orlando FL
Disabled American Veterans Chapter 16 seeking donations
Posted: Thursday, July 28, 2011 12:00 am
Lance Cpl. Victor Barrera Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
End of Active Service - for those who hit this date, it is a time to hang up their utility uniforms and prepare for their life in the civilian community. At times, some of these service members leave the military disabled - physically or mentally.
The life ahead of them may become hard at times and some may need a shoulder to lean on. For that, veterans have Disabled American Veterans Chapter 16, a nonprofit organization in Jacksonville, N.C. The chapter's mission is to help veterans, be it providing transportation, helping when a bill is overdue or providing a much-needed wheelchair or set of crutches to a handicapped veteran.
The Onslow County chapter is able to assist veterans all because of donations, fundraisers and volunteers from the surrounding community, including Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and its tenant commands.
Now, the chapter is hosting events to raise money to keep providing their services to military families. Fundraisers include raffles, bingo nights, crafts sales and ‘pig pickins,' a whole pig barbecued to perfection. Additionally, the chapter is always looking for volunteers.
"We can help with (Veteran Affairs) claims and can also transport veterans to and from appointments from places like Winston-Salem to Durham, N.C." said John Bryant, the commander for Chapter 16. "Right now we're raising money to buy a 15-passenger van to help with transportation and we're also looking for more volunteers who are willing to donate some time."
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Disabled American Veterans Chapter 16 seeking donations
DAV Jacksonville
Multiple Stressors Up Suicide Risk Among Military Personnel
Multiple Stressors Up Suicide Risk Among Military Personnel
By: NEIL OSTERWEIL, Internal Medicine News Digital Network
BOSTON – Both veterans and active-duty military are at significantly greater risk for suicide than is the general population, underscoring the critical need for identification of suicidal thoughts and prevention of suicidal actions, said clinicians who specialize in the mental health needs of current and former armed service members.
Of the 30,000-32,000 Americans annually who commit suicide, about one in five is a veteran – an average of 18 veteran suicides a day, according to the National Violent Death Reporting System of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
From 1950 through 2005, despite four wars, seven recessions, and unprecedented advances in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, the overall American suicide rate has not changed, said Dr. Janet Kemp, Veterans Affairs national mental health director for suicide prevention at the VA Office of Mental Health in Washington.
"It’s not that people haven’t been paying attention to it, but to be perfectly honest, we’re not that far ahead in our ability to change the problem," she said at a symposium on the complexities and challenges of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury.
For active duty military, particularly those who are deployed to combat zones, a combination of "rage, guilt, and despair" and ready access to firearms can be a deadly combination, added Col. John Bradley, a physician who serves as chair of Integrated Health Services in the department of psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.
"It’s not simply exposure to bad things, but it’s the emotional response to those things that really creates the distress for our returning veterans, and in particular, anger and survivor’s guilt are important themes," Dr. Bradley said.
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Multiple Stressors Up Suicide Risk Among Military Personnel
By: NEIL OSTERWEIL, Internal Medicine News Digital Network
BOSTON – Both veterans and active-duty military are at significantly greater risk for suicide than is the general population, underscoring the critical need for identification of suicidal thoughts and prevention of suicidal actions, said clinicians who specialize in the mental health needs of current and former armed service members.
Of the 30,000-32,000 Americans annually who commit suicide, about one in five is a veteran – an average of 18 veteran suicides a day, according to the National Violent Death Reporting System of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
From 1950 through 2005, despite four wars, seven recessions, and unprecedented advances in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, the overall American suicide rate has not changed, said Dr. Janet Kemp, Veterans Affairs national mental health director for suicide prevention at the VA Office of Mental Health in Washington.
"It’s not that people haven’t been paying attention to it, but to be perfectly honest, we’re not that far ahead in our ability to change the problem," she said at a symposium on the complexities and challenges of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury.
For active duty military, particularly those who are deployed to combat zones, a combination of "rage, guilt, and despair" and ready access to firearms can be a deadly combination, added Col. John Bradley, a physician who serves as chair of Integrated Health Services in the department of psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.
"It’s not simply exposure to bad things, but it’s the emotional response to those things that really creates the distress for our returning veterans, and in particular, anger and survivor’s guilt are important themes," Dr. Bradley said.
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Multiple Stressors Up Suicide Risk Among Military Personnel
300,000 surveys to be mailed on Camp Lejeune toxic water exposure
Camp Lejeune Water: The Newest Study
Michelle Bliss (Roderick McClain contributed audio for this report) (2011-07-27)
WILMINGTON, NC (WHQR) - The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is mailing out 300,000 surveys between now and December to study the effects of water contamination at Camp Lejeune.
At the same time, an act that would allow Lejeune veterans and family members to receive health care through the VA sits in a U.S. House committee.
Between 1957 and 1987, carcinogens like benzene were leaked into the wells on base. WHQR's
Michelle Bliss attended a public forum in Wilmington last week where researchers spoke to a group of active Marines and sailors, veterans, civilians, and their families about the study.
"I spent a quarter of a century in the United States Marine Corps. No has been more disillusioned and more disappointed by the conduct of the leadership of our organization than I have been about this situation with this water."
Jerry Ensminger offered opening remarks to an audience scattered among mostly empty chairs. He's a veteran who lost his 9-year-old daughter Janey in 1985 to childhood leukemia, one of the many illnesses linked to the contamination caused by underground fuel tanks on base and a small dry cleaning business.
Less than a hundred people attended the event, a disappointing turnout for advocates like Ensminger, who don't want others to find out like he did, nearly 14 years ago.
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Camp Lejeune Water
Michelle Bliss (Roderick McClain contributed audio for this report) (2011-07-27)
WILMINGTON, NC (WHQR) - The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is mailing out 300,000 surveys between now and December to study the effects of water contamination at Camp Lejeune.
At the same time, an act that would allow Lejeune veterans and family members to receive health care through the VA sits in a U.S. House committee.
Between 1957 and 1987, carcinogens like benzene were leaked into the wells on base. WHQR's
Michelle Bliss attended a public forum in Wilmington last week where researchers spoke to a group of active Marines and sailors, veterans, civilians, and their families about the study.
"I spent a quarter of a century in the United States Marine Corps. No has been more disillusioned and more disappointed by the conduct of the leadership of our organization than I have been about this situation with this water."
Jerry Ensminger offered opening remarks to an audience scattered among mostly empty chairs. He's a veteran who lost his 9-year-old daughter Janey in 1985 to childhood leukemia, one of the many illnesses linked to the contamination caused by underground fuel tanks on base and a small dry cleaning business.
Less than a hundred people attended the event, a disappointing turnout for advocates like Ensminger, who don't want others to find out like he did, nearly 14 years ago.
read more here
Camp Lejeune Water
Veteran's Suicide through Explosion Threat Sparks Duluth Stand-Off
Veteran's Suicide through Explosion Threat Sparks Duluth Stand-Off
Wed, 07/27/2011 -
By Jacob Kittilstad and photojournalist Jeff Ernewein, FOX 21 News
DULUTH-A police perimeter shuts down a West Duluth neighborhood after a Persian Gulf veteran threatens to kill himself. His planned suicide method was explosion.
A “flash-bang” fires, a military man falls: 32-year-old Miles Froberg's suicide standoff ends with an explosion but not the one he may have planned.
"I called around,” neighbor Brett Hiemenz said, “And [I] figured out what was happening. He was planning on blowing himself up in the house."
Neighbors say they saw their streets become a warzone at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning as the Persian Gulf veteran holed up with rumored weapons at his 3400 block, West 5th Street address.
for video report and more, go here
Veteran's Suicide through Explosion Threat
Wed, 07/27/2011 -
By Jacob Kittilstad and photojournalist Jeff Ernewein, FOX 21 News
DULUTH-A police perimeter shuts down a West Duluth neighborhood after a Persian Gulf veteran threatens to kill himself. His planned suicide method was explosion.
A “flash-bang” fires, a military man falls: 32-year-old Miles Froberg's suicide standoff ends with an explosion but not the one he may have planned.
"I called around,” neighbor Brett Hiemenz said, “And [I] figured out what was happening. He was planning on blowing himself up in the house."
Neighbors say they saw their streets become a warzone at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning as the Persian Gulf veteran holed up with rumored weapons at his 3400 block, West 5th Street address.
for video report and more, go here
Veteran's Suicide through Explosion Threat
Was Iraq veteran's war book made of memories or not?
Maybe the more important question to ask here is; "What's the difference?" but when you read on you understand that for the men also involved in these accounts, it does matter to them.
Comrades Question Iraq Veteran's Memoir, Memories
By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer
NEW YORK July 28, 2011 (AP)
For the past four years, Luis Carlos Montalvan has been advocating for injured Iraq war veterans.
Since serving two tours of duty, for which he received two Bronze Stars and the Purple Heart, the former Army captain has become a strong critic of the war and a promoter of better care of those who served. His writings have been published in The New York Times, the Huffington Post and other outlets, his commentary aired on CNN, NPR and elsewhere.
He now has a popular book about the injuries he sustained in a 2003 attack and the psychiatric service dog, Tuesday, trained to help him cope with post-traumatic stress disorder. The story of Montalvan and his faithful companion inspired freshman U.S. Sen. Al Franken's first piece of legislation — a program designed to give service dogs to wounded veterans.
But several men who served with Montalvan allege that he has exaggerated or fabricated details of key events in "Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him." Documents obtained by The Associated Press contradict Montlavan's claims about the extent and severity of his injuries.
The book, co-written by Louisville, Ky.-based author Bret Witter and published by Hyperion, includes a blurb from Franken. It was released in early May and has climbed as high as No. 18 on The New York Times list of best-sellers for hardcover nonfiction. And Montalvan continues to attract attention, most recently appearing with Tuesday on David Letterman's "Late Night."
"Literally every combat experience he's had in that book that I'm familiar with is based on a modicum of truth interspersed with incredible embellishments on his part," former Staff Sgt. Len Dannhaus, who treated Montalvan in the attack's immediate aftermath, told the AP in an email.
"He's doing a disservice to other veterans; he could use his truthful experiences to help. Instead his lies will ultimately result in bringing a negative light on others who are trying to advocate for those in the same boat (like myself) without all the public scrutiny."
Capt. Todd Hertling said he responded to the scene in the immediate aftermath as leader of the team that secured the area of the 2003 attack described by Montalvan and strongly disagreed with Montalvan's account. "Montalvan's embellished story is detrimental and offensive to honest veterans who have sought help for the unseen wounds of war," Hertling said.
read more here
Comrades Question Iraq Veteran's Memoir Memories
National Guard Members Keep An Eye On Day Jobs
National Guard Members Keep An Eye On Day Jobs
by BRENNA ANGEL, KENTUCKY PUBLIC RADIO
July 28, 2011
More than 1,300 soldiers are deploying to Iraq this month for the Kentucky National Guard's final mission there: helping to shut down U.S. military operations. But some soldiers are coping with not only the pressure of deployment, but also the stress of putting their civilian jobs on hold.
The Kentucky National Guard's 149th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade will primarily be in charge of convoy security in Iraq, making sure U.S. equipment gets safely to Kuwait and onto ships. They represent half of the 2,600 troops they'll be joining from Oregon, Virginia and Utah.
But the brigade's first stop is Camp Atterbury, Ind., where soldiers get their final training before mobilization. There, Sgt. First Class Matthew Kelly was preparing to leave on his fourth overseas deployment. Kelly says that his new mission brings a mixed sense of closure and anxiety.
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National Guard Members Keep An Eye On Day Jobs
by BRENNA ANGEL, KENTUCKY PUBLIC RADIO
July 28, 2011
More than 1,300 soldiers are deploying to Iraq this month for the Kentucky National Guard's final mission there: helping to shut down U.S. military operations. But some soldiers are coping with not only the pressure of deployment, but also the stress of putting their civilian jobs on hold.
The Kentucky National Guard's 149th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade will primarily be in charge of convoy security in Iraq, making sure U.S. equipment gets safely to Kuwait and onto ships. They represent half of the 2,600 troops they'll be joining from Oregon, Virginia and Utah.
But the brigade's first stop is Camp Atterbury, Ind., where soldiers get their final training before mobilization. There, Sgt. First Class Matthew Kelly was preparing to leave on his fourth overseas deployment. Kelly says that his new mission brings a mixed sense of closure and anxiety.
The Department of Defense coordinated a recent trip to Camp Atterbury so civilian employers could see some of the Guard's live-fire training exercises. Norman Norris is a supervisor for Louisville's Department of Corrections, which has several employees serving in the Guard. He says it's important for employers to understand what soldiers are sacrificing when they deploy.
"When his orders come through, he's got enough to deal with already. He doesn't need to worry about 'Am I going to have a job when I get back? Am I going to have my position when I get back?'" Norris says. "That stuff's automatic. There's no questions asked. There's not a general attitude of 'Oh, he's gone again.' No. He's not going to Disney World, he's not going to California; he's going to a war zone."
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National Guard Members Keep An Eye On Day Jobs
Wind knocked down Vietnam traveling wall, community raised it again
Community rallies to patch up veterans' wall
Storm damages display in Ohio
Written by
R. NORMAN MOODY
FLORIDA TODAY
Slammed to the ground by a powerful storm, the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall will need some touch-up work after it returns home to Brevard County later this week.
The community rallied in the small Ohio town where the nearly 300-foot-long wall was knocked down by sudden and powerful winds. It was patched up for a festival within three hours of the fast-moving storm.
"The whole town came out," said Greg Welsh, who manages the wall for the Vietnam and All Veterans of Brevard. "When they heard it happened, they came with tools and wanted to know how they could help."
The Brevard veterans group used to pay between $3,000 and $8,000 to rent a replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall for its Wickham Park reunion, billed as the largest reunion of its kind in the nation. The Traveling Memorial Wall was built for use at the annual Vietnam and All Veterans Reunion in Melbourne and for rent elsewhere. The wall, plus truck and trailer to transport it, costs in excess of $250,000.
Since 1996, Welsh and his wife, Maureen, have taken the wall across the eastern half of the nation for reunions and other events.
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Community rallies to patch up veterans wall
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