Battle within fort may decide war on suicide
Article by: MARK BRUNSWICK , Star Tribune Updated: July 29, 2011 - 11:37 PM
Fort Campbell, home to the most often deployed combat force in the Army, is using new approaches to combat an alarming rate of suicide.
CLARKSVILLE, TENN.
Sgt. Patrick Cummings suffered his second traumatic brain injury when a 155mm shell exploded midbarrel as he and other soldiers fired a howitzer against the Taliban. The blast should have killed everyone within a 100-yard radius, but here was Cummings, sitting on a table at the All American Tattoo Company outside Fort Campbell, spending his Valentine's Day night alongside two fellow soldiers who also survived the blast.
The tattoo the men will share memorializes the searing experience they shared, a time-honored military tradition for commemorating brushes with death. But a new deadly danger has been waiting inside Fort Campbell for those preparing for or returning from war, an epidemic of suicides that has shown how ill-prepared the military is to deal with the psychological and emotional injuries of nearly a decade of conflict.
"The problem is you are drilled on these tests from boot camp, 'Suck it up. Be a soldier,'" said Kat Cummings, who accompanied her husband to the tattoo parlor. "They come home, they went through their surgery, the very last thing they thought about was counseling for what they went through," she said. "I understand why these guys are knocking themselves off."
Home to the 101st Airborne, the Army's most often deployed contingency force, Fort Campbell sprawls across 106,000 acres of western Kentucky and Tennessee. The base and its inhabitants bear the scars of nine years of constant warfare, the air thick with equal measures of adrenaline and trauma, soldiers preparing for war, soldiers trying to recoup.
read more here
Battle within fort may decide war on suicide
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Real-life guitar heroes, Warrior Spirit
Real-life guitar heroes
By Jim Kavanagh, CNN
July 29, 2011 4:28 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Wounded veterans form band to encourage comrades
Founder Paul Delacerda survived roadside bomb attack in Iraq
Singer Robert Ferguson proudly shows off prosthetic leg
"It's an inspiration," therapy center case manager says
Atlanta (CNN) -- From reveille to marches to taps, music plays a vital role in the life of a soldier. One disabled Iraq veteran says he believes it may play an even more important role for wounded warriors.
Paul Delacerda spent 15 years jumping out of airplanes with the Army's vaunted 82nd Airborne Division before he blew out his knee, ending his paratrooper career. But he wasn't done serving. He fought his way through grueling rehab and back into the Army on his third attempt.
No longer able to jump, Delacerda was serving on the ground in Iraq when his life changed suddenly and forever.
"A lot of bad stuff happened that day," he said.
Delacerda, a staff sergeant, was driving a truck on a route-clearing mission -- searching for roadside bombs -- in the dangerous Tal Afar area in 2005.
"The pucker factor in that is greater than you can imagine," he quipped.
As Delacerda and his squad crept down the road, chaos broke out all around them. A youth of about 12 threw a grenade, and the soldiers shot back, he said.
"Suddenly everything went black," Delacerda recalled. An improvised explosive device had exploded under the truck.
The blast didn't tear Delacerda's body apart, but it violently knocked his brain around inside his skull. Everyone in the squad survived, but Delacerda's military career really was over this time.
Now he suffers severe headaches, numbness in his arms and legs, nightmares, post-traumatic stress disorder and profound memory loss. Sometimes he doesn't recognize close friends. On one occasion he found himself inside a Walmart, unable to remember his own name, let alone why he was there, he said.
read more here
Real-life guitar heroes
By Jim Kavanagh, CNN
July 29, 2011 4:28 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Wounded veterans form band to encourage comrades
Founder Paul Delacerda survived roadside bomb attack in Iraq
Singer Robert Ferguson proudly shows off prosthetic leg
"It's an inspiration," therapy center case manager says
Paul Delacerda, from left, Levon Ingram and Robert Ferguson form the core of the band Warrior Spirit
Atlanta (CNN) -- From reveille to marches to taps, music plays a vital role in the life of a soldier. One disabled Iraq veteran says he believes it may play an even more important role for wounded warriors.
Paul Delacerda spent 15 years jumping out of airplanes with the Army's vaunted 82nd Airborne Division before he blew out his knee, ending his paratrooper career. But he wasn't done serving. He fought his way through grueling rehab and back into the Army on his third attempt.
No longer able to jump, Delacerda was serving on the ground in Iraq when his life changed suddenly and forever.
"A lot of bad stuff happened that day," he said.
Delacerda, a staff sergeant, was driving a truck on a route-clearing mission -- searching for roadside bombs -- in the dangerous Tal Afar area in 2005.
"The pucker factor in that is greater than you can imagine," he quipped.
As Delacerda and his squad crept down the road, chaos broke out all around them. A youth of about 12 threw a grenade, and the soldiers shot back, he said.
"Suddenly everything went black," Delacerda recalled. An improvised explosive device had exploded under the truck.
The blast didn't tear Delacerda's body apart, but it violently knocked his brain around inside his skull. Everyone in the squad survived, but Delacerda's military career really was over this time.
Now he suffers severe headaches, numbness in his arms and legs, nightmares, post-traumatic stress disorder and profound memory loss. Sometimes he doesn't recognize close friends. On one occasion he found himself inside a Walmart, unable to remember his own name, let alone why he was there, he said.
read more here
Real-life guitar heroes
Warrior Spirit Band
“Our Story”
THE ULTIMATE MISSION OF THE WARRIOR SPIRIT BAND IS TO EMPOWER WOUNDED WARRIORS THROUGH MUSIC.
As musicians we have the ability to share our love of music with others and present our story through lyrics and sound. The Warrior Spirit Band has the potential to do so much for our men and women of the armed forces that have sacrificed their ability to lead a normal life after being wounded or disabled in a combat zone. Warrior Spirit will help bring selected veterans outreach programs to the spotlight and will raise awareness of the struggles that our service men and women go through upon returning home and reacclimating to a normal life.
According to recent VA estimates, approximately 6,400 veterans take their own lives each year. A growing number of these veterans are those that served in either Iraq or Afghanistan. The Warrior Spirit Band wants to help reduce those numbers by using music as a positive tool for veteran transition and support. Studies have also shown that music can have a positive effect on various mental conditions, including PTSD.
Veterans' homes slip away
Veterans' homes slip away
By DONALD L. BARLETT AND JAMES B. STEELE
The Philadelphia Inquirer
After the Second World War, returning veterans were welcomed home to two of the most successful government initiatives ever - the FHA and VA housing programs - which put millions of them into their own homes for the first time.
Today, later generations of veterans are being confronted by much different housing policies - ones that can toss them out of homes they've bought with their life savings.
John Aguiar is a veteran of the Gulf War, a former intelligence analyst for the Army who took part in Operation Desert Storm in 1990 when U.S. forces brought Saddam Hussein to heel after he invaded Kuwait.
Aguiar and his wife, Syrena, built a house in Cape Coral, Fla., after relocating from Chicago to be nearer her parents. Using proceeds from the sale of their Chicago house, they bought a lot in a new subdivision in the Cape, a middle-class suburb across from Fort Myers in southwest Florida.
read more here
Veterans homes slip away
By DONALD L. BARLETT AND JAMES B. STEELE
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Aguiars have lots of company. Veterans have always faced daunting problems in finding jobs, obtaining promised benefits, and meeting other challenges when they reenter civilian life. But to those problems has been added the fear of losing their homes. The Fort Myers-Cape Coral region, home to about 60,000 veterans, is a microcosm of what is happening to former service people all over America.
After the Second World War, returning veterans were welcomed home to two of the most successful government initiatives ever - the FHA and VA housing programs - which put millions of them into their own homes for the first time.
Today, later generations of veterans are being confronted by much different housing policies - ones that can toss them out of homes they've bought with their life savings.
John Aguiar is a veteran of the Gulf War, a former intelligence analyst for the Army who took part in Operation Desert Storm in 1990 when U.S. forces brought Saddam Hussein to heel after he invaded Kuwait.
Aguiar and his wife, Syrena, built a house in Cape Coral, Fla., after relocating from Chicago to be nearer her parents. Using proceeds from the sale of their Chicago house, they bought a lot in a new subdivision in the Cape, a middle-class suburb across from Fort Myers in southwest Florida.
read more here
Veterans homes slip away
Teams deliver ‘psychological first aid’ on the street
July 29, 2011
Teams deliver ‘psychological first aid’ on the street
By Emily Younker
news@joplinglobe.com
JOPLIN, Mo. — When Daryl Whitecotton came to his front door on Wednesday, he was greeted by his new friend, Susan Myers.
For a few minutes, Myers drilled him on his post-tornado living conditions. Did he need more ice? More water? Any help in getting some of his utilities hooked up?
And then came a question Whitecotton likely wasn’t expecting: Had she given him a stress ball yet?
“I ain’t got stress,” he joked, accepting the red ball and squeezing it in his right hand as he talked.
Whitecotton is one of about 21,000 people across Joplin who have received “psychological and emotional first aid” from Healing Joplin, a collaborative effort led by Ozark Center to help tornado survivors put their lives back together, said Debbie Fitzgerald, project manager.
Teams deliver psychological first aid on the street
Teams deliver ‘psychological first aid’ on the street
By Emily Younker
news@joplinglobe.com
JOPLIN, Mo. — When Daryl Whitecotton came to his front door on Wednesday, he was greeted by his new friend, Susan Myers.
For a few minutes, Myers drilled him on his post-tornado living conditions. Did he need more ice? More water? Any help in getting some of his utilities hooked up?
And then came a question Whitecotton likely wasn’t expecting: Had she given him a stress ball yet?
“I ain’t got stress,” he joked, accepting the red ball and squeezing it in his right hand as he talked.
Whitecotton is one of about 21,000 people across Joplin who have received “psychological and emotional first aid” from Healing Joplin, a collaborative effort led by Ozark Center to help tornado survivors put their lives back together, said Debbie Fitzgerald, project manager.
Additional supportread more here
U.S. Navy Chief Stanley “Mike” Wade will discuss his experience with post-traumatic stress disorder in talks this weekend. Wade was diagnosed with — and has since overcome — the disorder following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and several military deployments.
Wade’s presentation is set for 10 a.m. today in the Justice Center at the Missouri Southern State University, 3950 E. Newman Road. Residents who think they might be experiencing psychological effects from the tornado are encouraged to attend.
Teams deliver psychological first aid on the street
Marine's mission to help children
Marine's mission to help children
By Tyana Willams
BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -
Winston Fiore, 26, of Indianapolis is on a money making mission.
"I've raised a little past 25% of my goal of raising $25,000," said Fiore.
Curious why? The young marine says while deployed in Senegal earlier this year, he decided he wanted to see the world. But he wanted to have a reason to travel. He says after seeing all the poverty he decided to make a trek for charity.
"I decided I was going to spend a year, dedicate a year, to traveling part of the world I hadn't been to on foot. So I could connect with locals and decided if I was going to spend a year walking, I should tie in a good cause."
His cause is raising money for the International Children's Surgical Foundation.
read more here
Marine mission to help children
By Tyana Willams
BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -
Winston Fiore, 26, of Indianapolis is on a money making mission.
"I've raised a little past 25% of my goal of raising $25,000," said Fiore.
Curious why? The young marine says while deployed in Senegal earlier this year, he decided he wanted to see the world. But he wanted to have a reason to travel. He says after seeing all the poverty he decided to make a trek for charity.
"I decided I was going to spend a year, dedicate a year, to traveling part of the world I hadn't been to on foot. So I could connect with locals and decided if I was going to spend a year walking, I should tie in a good cause."
His cause is raising money for the International Children's Surgical Foundation.
read more here
Marine mission to help children
Stamps Commemorate Misunderstood Merchant Marine
'An Overdue Honor:' Stamps Commemorate Misunderstood Merchant Marine
All-volunteer maritime industry is recognized as the backbone of America's growth and strength, and unsung heroes of World War II.
By Bruce Goldfarb
July 29, 2011
Aboard the John W. Brown docked at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor--one of only two Liberty ships remaining out of a fleet of more than 2,700 built during World War II--people line up to buy an everyday household item, but one that holds special symbolism.
For Friday and Saturday, the venerable ship has been designated a special post office by the U.S. Postal Service. On Thursday, USPS issued a set of “forever” first-class stamps to commemorate the U.S. Merchant Marine, and they were going fast.
Since America’s founding, the maritime industry was integral to the nation’s growth and security, said Postal Service Vice President Jim Cochrane at a July 28 ceremony at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Port, NY.
The stamps “pay homage not only to the ships, but to also to the valor of the thousands of dedicated members of the U.S. Merchant Marine who served their country and served it honorably,” Cochrane said in a USPS statement.
read more here
Stamps Commemorate Misunderstood Merchant Marine
All-volunteer maritime industry is recognized as the backbone of America's growth and strength, and unsung heroes of World War II.
By Bruce Goldfarb
July 29, 2011
Aboard the John W. Brown docked at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor--one of only two Liberty ships remaining out of a fleet of more than 2,700 built during World War II--people line up to buy an everyday household item, but one that holds special symbolism.
For Friday and Saturday, the venerable ship has been designated a special post office by the U.S. Postal Service. On Thursday, USPS issued a set of “forever” first-class stamps to commemorate the U.S. Merchant Marine, and they were going fast.
Since America’s founding, the maritime industry was integral to the nation’s growth and security, said Postal Service Vice President Jim Cochrane at a July 28 ceremony at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Port, NY.
The stamps “pay homage not only to the ships, but to also to the valor of the thousands of dedicated members of the U.S. Merchant Marine who served their country and served it honorably,” Cochrane said in a USPS statement.
read more here
Stamps Commemorate Misunderstood Merchant Marine
Couple commits suicide at Chapel where they married 40 years ago
40 years ago they took their vows but whatever happened between then and now may remain a mystery. Whatever happened to them ended when they traveled across the country to end their lives where they began.
Las Vegas couple commits suicide together outside Florida chapel where they married 40 years ago
BY LARRY MCSHANE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, July 29th 2011, 2:07 PM
NBC2
When death did them part, Patricia and Bruce Wright were together at the Florida church where they wed 40 years earlier.
The Las Vegas couple, after a 2,400-mile odyssey, committed suicide side-by-side beneath an oak tree at the Friendship United Methodist Church.
"It was a romantic tragedy," their nephew, Daniel Johnson, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
"Life started for the two of them there, and that's officially where life ended for them."
Bruce Wright, 60, put a shotgun to his head while wife Patricia, 57, used a rifle to inflict her fatal wound, said Bob Carpenter, spokesman for the Charlotte County, Fla., sheriff's office.
read more here
Las Vegas couple commits suicide
Soldier may be tried for fifth time for double murder charges
Military Hearing for Soldier Charged with Double Murder After Four Inconclusive Trials
By CHRISTINA NG
July 29, 2011
Prosecutors have been unable to convict Army Sgt. Brent Burke of a double murder in four civilian trials and had decided to not try him again. But Burke now faces the likelihood of a military trial in which a unanimous jury is not necessary to find him guilty.
After two hung juries and two dismissed mistrials, the case has been turned over to the military where only two-thirds of the jury would have to believe him guilty in order to convict him.
"I wouldn't say it's common," said Victor Hansen, a professor of law at New England Law and a retired Army lawyer, referring to the military trying a soldier for a crime that was previously tried in a civilian court.
Burke was charged with two counts of premeditated murder in the deaths of his estranged wife, Tracy Burke, and her former mother-in-law from a previous marriage, Karen Comer. The two women were found shot dead on Sept. 11, 2007 in Comer's Rineyville, Ky., home when one of three children at the house called police.
In June, after another mistrial, charges against Burke were dropped.
Less than two weeks later, the military charged Burke with two counts of premeditated murder. There is no issue of double jeopardy between a civilian court and a military court.
read more here
Military Hearing for Soldier Charged with Double Murder
By CHRISTINA NG
July 29, 2011
Prosecutors have been unable to convict Army Sgt. Brent Burke of a double murder in four civilian trials and had decided to not try him again. But Burke now faces the likelihood of a military trial in which a unanimous jury is not necessary to find him guilty.
After two hung juries and two dismissed mistrials, the case has been turned over to the military where only two-thirds of the jury would have to believe him guilty in order to convict him.
"I wouldn't say it's common," said Victor Hansen, a professor of law at New England Law and a retired Army lawyer, referring to the military trying a soldier for a crime that was previously tried in a civilian court.
Burke was charged with two counts of premeditated murder in the deaths of his estranged wife, Tracy Burke, and her former mother-in-law from a previous marriage, Karen Comer. The two women were found shot dead on Sept. 11, 2007 in Comer's Rineyville, Ky., home when one of three children at the house called police.
In June, after another mistrial, charges against Burke were dropped.
Less than two weeks later, the military charged Burke with two counts of premeditated murder. There is no issue of double jeopardy between a civilian court and a military court.
read more here
Military Hearing for Soldier Charged with Double Murder
Friday, July 29, 2011
Paying It Forward In New Oxford
Paying It Forward In New Oxford
One Woman Grabs The Cash To Give To A Helper Who Needs It
Nava Ghalili
Multi-media Journalist
10:30 p.m. EDT, July 27, 2011
LANCASTER, LANCASTER COUNTY— A mother of three is thanking her Babysitter in a big way in Oxford Township, Adams County.
read more here
Paying It Forward In New Oxford
One Woman Grabs The Cash To Give To A Helper Who Needs It
Nava Ghalili
Multi-media Journalist
10:30 p.m. EDT, July 27, 2011
LANCASTER, LANCASTER COUNTY— A mother of three is thanking her Babysitter in a big way in Oxford Township, Adams County.
read more here
Paying It Forward In New Oxford
Orlando Non-Profit Gets VA Grant to Help Homeless Vets
WMFE News
Orlando Non-Profit Gets VA Grant to Help Homeless Vets
Thursday, July 28, 2011
By: Tom Parkinson
July 28, 2011
WMFE
The US Department of Veterans Affairs is awarding $5.5 million dollars in grants to help homeless Florida veterans.
About a million of that is going to the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida.
In a recent, one night head count, the group found 1125 homeless veterans in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties.
read more here
Orlando Non-Profit Gets VA Grant to Help Homeless Vets
Orlando Non-Profit Gets VA Grant to Help Homeless Vets
Thursday, July 28, 2011
By: Tom Parkinson
July 28, 2011
WMFE
The US Department of Veterans Affairs is awarding $5.5 million dollars in grants to help homeless Florida veterans.
About a million of that is going to the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida.
In a recent, one night head count, the group found 1125 homeless veterans in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties.
read more here
Orlando Non-Profit Gets VA Grant to Help Homeless Vets
Drill Sergeant archer misses target, hits woman in her house 100 yards away
Woman Struck by Drill Sergeant’s Errant Arrow
July 28, 2011
St. Louis Post-Dispatch|by Kim Bell
ST. JOHN, Mo. - An archer apologized Wednesday after an errant arrow sailed through the window of a house here, striking a woman in the face as she ate a doughnut.
The man, an Army drill sergeant who was practicing archery in his backyard Tuesday morning when a shot flew far beyond his target, said he prides himself on being safe.
"I can't explain how bad I feel," Robert "Ben" Joiner said Wednesday. "I thank the Lord she wasn't more injured than she was."
Joiner, 26, spoke to a reporter at his home after posting bail to be freed from the St. Louis County Jail. He faces two felonies after the incident: second-degree assault and armed criminal action.
The arrow traveled more than 100 yards - through Joiner's backyard, through a section of thick woods, and into a neighbor's backyard - before it crashed through a double-pane kitchen window of a house.
read more here
Woman Struck by Drill Sergeant Errant Arrow
July 28, 2011
St. Louis Post-Dispatch|by Kim Bell
ST. JOHN, Mo. - An archer apologized Wednesday after an errant arrow sailed through the window of a house here, striking a woman in the face as she ate a doughnut.
The man, an Army drill sergeant who was practicing archery in his backyard Tuesday morning when a shot flew far beyond his target, said he prides himself on being safe.
"I can't explain how bad I feel," Robert "Ben" Joiner said Wednesday. "I thank the Lord she wasn't more injured than she was."
Joiner, 26, spoke to a reporter at his home after posting bail to be freed from the St. Louis County Jail. He faces two felonies after the incident: second-degree assault and armed criminal action.
The arrow traveled more than 100 yards - through Joiner's backyard, through a section of thick woods, and into a neighbor's backyard - before it crashed through a double-pane kitchen window of a house.
read more here
Woman Struck by Drill Sergeant Errant Arrow
Dogs Helping Local Veterans to Regain Freedom
Dogs Helping Local Veterans to Regain Freedom
By Maria Scali
Fox 8 News Reporter
12:24 a.m. EDT, July 29, 2011
CLEVELAND— No doubt you've heard that dog is man's best friend. That is particularly true for some area veterans.
Specially trained dogs are helping those who fought for our freedom, regain their freedom. It is made possible through the local Veteran's Best Friend program.
Frank DeLorenzo served in Iraq and works with the Army Wounded Warriors program at the Cleveland VA Hospital. He is also the co-founder of the Veteran's Best Friend Program. His dog Nina, a Labrador/ Shepherd mix, is never far from his side.
read more here
Dogs Helping Local Veterans to Regain Freedom
By Maria Scali
Fox 8 News Reporter
12:24 a.m. EDT, July 29, 2011
CLEVELAND— No doubt you've heard that dog is man's best friend. That is particularly true for some area veterans.
Specially trained dogs are helping those who fought for our freedom, regain their freedom. It is made possible through the local Veteran's Best Friend program.
Frank DeLorenzo served in Iraq and works with the Army Wounded Warriors program at the Cleveland VA Hospital. He is also the co-founder of the Veteran's Best Friend Program. His dog Nina, a Labrador/ Shepherd mix, is never far from his side.
read more here
Dogs Helping Local Veterans to Regain Freedom
Vets with PTSD, government reach settlement
Vets with PTSD, government reach settlement
By KIMBERLY HEFLING Associated Press
Posted: 07/29/2011
WASHINGTON—More than a thousand Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder would be given lifetime disability retirement benefits such as military health insurance under the terms of a settlement reached between the government and the veterans.
Attorneys for the veterans, the Justice Department and the military jointly filed a motion on Thursday that spelled out the terms. The settlement must be approved by a judge to be final.
It also affects another thousand veterans who already had lifetime retirement benefits, but would receive a higher disability rating from the military. All of the veterans affected by the settlement would potentially receive new monthly disability compensation.
The settlement stems from a 2008 class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington by veterans unable to serve, at least in part, because of the anxiety disorder who said they were illegally denied benefits.
The law requires the military to give a disability rating of at least 50 percent to troops discharged for PTSD, but each of the plaintiffs received a disability less than that, said Bart Stichman, co-executive director of the National Veterans Legal Services Program, a nonprofit organization that represented the veterans.
read more here
Vets with PTSD government reach settlement
from CNN
Vets with PTSD get benefits under settlement
From the CNN Wire Staff
July 29, 2011 9:09 a.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder filed a class-action lawsuit
They claimed they were denied benefits
A settlement in the case will afford them compensation
Thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan vets suffer from PTSD
Washington (CNN) -- Anthony Koller's squad was ambushed in Iraq. He saw his friend die. He spent 14 months at war and returned home with a diagnosis that has become all too common for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans: post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Army discharged him but he did not receive medical benefits to which he said he was entitled. There were times when the family, with three small children, did not have any health care coverage at all.
But relief is on its way for Koller and more than 1,000 other Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who suffer from PTSD. Under the terms of a class-action lawsuit settlement announced Friday by a veterans advocacy group, those veterans will now receive lifetime disability benefits.
The National Veterans Legal Services Program said the U.S. military violated the law by failing to assign the veterans a 50% or higher disability rating that is needed to qualify for benefits.
"These veterans served our country in time of war, but have waited three to eight years to receive the disability benefits which they've earned for their service," said Bart Stichman, co-executive director of the veterans advocacy group.
"Today, a terrible wrong to our nation's war veterans is being righted," he said.
read more of this here
Vets with PTSD get benefits under settlement
“Pattern of conduct” by Assistant Secretary of Labor for VETS
Probe requested by McCaskill results in resignation of senior Administration official
Senator pursued whistleblower allegations of contractor fraud, waste at Labor Department
By Press Release
Waynesville Daily Guide
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A top official at the U.S. Department of Labor has resigned after an Inspector General investigation, requested by U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, found that the official, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans’ Employment and Training Services (VETS) Raymond Jefferson, circumvented rules and regulations to secure government contracts for friends and colleagues.
McCaskill, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, was approached late last year by a whistleblower who shared allegations of contracting fraud committed by senior officials within the Department. A thorough investigation by the Labor Department’s Inspector General (McCaskill’s request for an investigation is available on her website, HERE) resulted in a report released publicly today.
The report (executive summary HERE) describes a “pattern of conduct” by Assistant Secretary of Labor for VETS, Raymond Jefferson, “which reflects a consistent disregard of federal procurement regulations, federal ethics principles, and the proper stewardship of appropriated dollars.”
McCaskill was informed yesterday that as a result of the investigation, Jefferson has resigned.
The Labor Department has also taken control of procurement authority in the VETS program to ensure that no contracts can be awarded without approval of senior officials outside the program.
read more here
Probe requested by McCaskill results in resignation
Senator pursued whistleblower allegations of contractor fraud, waste at Labor Department
By Press Release
Waynesville Daily Guide
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A top official at the U.S. Department of Labor has resigned after an Inspector General investigation, requested by U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, found that the official, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans’ Employment and Training Services (VETS) Raymond Jefferson, circumvented rules and regulations to secure government contracts for friends and colleagues.
McCaskill, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, was approached late last year by a whistleblower who shared allegations of contracting fraud committed by senior officials within the Department. A thorough investigation by the Labor Department’s Inspector General (McCaskill’s request for an investigation is available on her website, HERE) resulted in a report released publicly today.
The report (executive summary HERE) describes a “pattern of conduct” by Assistant Secretary of Labor for VETS, Raymond Jefferson, “which reflects a consistent disregard of federal procurement regulations, federal ethics principles, and the proper stewardship of appropriated dollars.”
McCaskill was informed yesterday that as a result of the investigation, Jefferson has resigned.
The Labor Department has also taken control of procurement authority in the VETS program to ensure that no contracts can be awarded without approval of senior officials outside the program.
read more here
Probe requested by McCaskill results in resignation
GOP elected and veterans? Frankly my dear they don't give a damn!
If there is anyone left in this country still under the delusion the Republican party is for veterans, they will never wake up. The people who really cared about the troops and veterans in the GOP retired a long time ago yet some just assume they care because they say so.
All you have to do is look at all the Bills over the last ten years to know what the truth is, who voted for veterans and who voted against them.
Social Security and Medicare are part of how veterans pay bills just like their disability checks. Everything we need on a daily basis to live is on the line while most of the Republican elected fight tooth and nail for the sake of the tax breaks for the rich. They are not fighting for us. Frankly my dear, they just don't give a damn about the debt this nation owes veterans. After all, since most of the members of congress are in the ranks of the rich, how could they possibly understand that the debt they are talking about putting on hold was due payable as soon as the men and women entered into the military. They will let everyone suffer so that their rich friends get to keep their tax cuts no matter who has to suffer.
This goes on to print how some veterans are blaming Obama for telling them what's on the line but when you stop and think about all of this, the target of righteous anger should be the members of congress not fighting for us. They expect us to forget about all the money that went missing in Iraq they never even thought of looking into. Any idea how far billions could go in taking care of the wounded coming home? They allowed the wars to be ongoing with no one checking on where the money was going but now they complain? They didn't even demand the two wars were made part of the budget as if they were not worth it. All they did was demand the money be there so that we would "support the troops" and now, now suddenly they care about the debt because both wars are in the budget?
I feel sorry for anyone blindly supporting members of both parties without knowing who is the "friendly" and who is the "enemy" of veterans.
All you have to do is look at all the Bills over the last ten years to know what the truth is, who voted for veterans and who voted against them.
Social Security and Medicare are part of how veterans pay bills just like their disability checks. Everything we need on a daily basis to live is on the line while most of the Republican elected fight tooth and nail for the sake of the tax breaks for the rich. They are not fighting for us. Frankly my dear, they just don't give a damn about the debt this nation owes veterans. After all, since most of the members of congress are in the ranks of the rich, how could they possibly understand that the debt they are talking about putting on hold was due payable as soon as the men and women entered into the military. They will let everyone suffer so that their rich friends get to keep their tax cuts no matter who has to suffer.
White House to veterans: Boehner's plan will endanger your benefits
Joe Newby, Spokane Conservative Examiner
On Tuesday, Obama Administration officials met with representatives of veterans groups in an effort to frighten them - just as the President did with seniors earlier in July - into believing that the Republicans would endanger their benefits in the event America defaulted on its debt.
Although Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to the president, said she believes the military will continue to be paid in the event of a default, officials said the plan being worked on by House Speaker John Boehner “would endanger veterans benefits,” according to Joseph R. Chenelly of the Disabled American Veterans.
“They said the president understood veterans’ anxiety and regretted it,” he said, the Washington Post reported.
According to the Post:
Tuesday’s meeting came on the eve of an online protest meant to protect veteran benefits during the debt crisis negotiations. DAV, the nation’s largest group representing disabled veterans and their families, is organizing a “virtual march on Washington” on Facebook for Wednesday.
Thousands of virtual marchers have registered for the online protest, according to the DAV. Though it will take place primarily on Facebook, links to participate will also be available at http://www.dav.org and on Twitter, using the hashtag #March4Vets, organizers said.
read more here
White House to veterans
This goes on to print how some veterans are blaming Obama for telling them what's on the line but when you stop and think about all of this, the target of righteous anger should be the members of congress not fighting for us. They expect us to forget about all the money that went missing in Iraq they never even thought of looking into. Any idea how far billions could go in taking care of the wounded coming home? They allowed the wars to be ongoing with no one checking on where the money was going but now they complain? They didn't even demand the two wars were made part of the budget as if they were not worth it. All they did was demand the money be there so that we would "support the troops" and now, now suddenly they care about the debt because both wars are in the budget?
I feel sorry for anyone blindly supporting members of both parties without knowing who is the "friendly" and who is the "enemy" of veterans.
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