Married Marines serve together in Afghanistan
Helicopter technicians say they don’t see each other much despite shared deploymen
BY GEOFF PURSINGER
The Times, Aug 4, 2011
Tigard native Branden McClintock doesn’t get to see his wife Krystal much these days.
As a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps serving in Afghanistan, that’s not too surprising.
What is surprising is that his wife is right there beside him.
McClintock is married to fellow avionics technician Sgt. Krystal Palace-McClintock from Kansas City, Mo. The couple met while serving in the Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 267 and are currently serving their second tour together as helicopter technicians.
The McClintocks are one of three married couples currently deployed with the Camp Pendleton, Calif.,-based helicopter squadron in Helmand Province in Afghanistan.
read more here
Married Marines serve together in Afghanistan
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Marine Injured in Oceanside Motorcycle Crash
Marine Injured in Oceanside Motorcycle Crash
He attempted to split lanes in stopped traffic at a high rate of speed, the Highway Patrol reports.
By Tom Roebuck
August 3, 2011
A 22-year-old Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton was hospitalized with a compound fracture to his right leg Wednesday morning after the motorcycle he was driving hit a stopped car in Oceanside, according to the Highway Patrol.
read more here
Marine Injured in Oceanside Motorcycle Crash
He attempted to split lanes in stopped traffic at a high rate of speed, the Highway Patrol reports.
By Tom Roebuck
August 3, 2011
A 22-year-old Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton was hospitalized with a compound fracture to his right leg Wednesday morning after the motorcycle he was driving hit a stopped car in Oceanside, according to the Highway Patrol.
read more here
Marine Injured in Oceanside Motorcycle Crash
House doesn't care if you have a job or not
Wonder why the unemployment rate is going up? Look in one place for the answer. Hint, it's in Washington DC. The building is supposed to be housing people with one mission. That mission is supposed to take care of the people in this country. They called it "the people's house" for that reason.
Ever since January when this congress began session, it has not been about what the people in this country need. It has not been about our jobs or making this country a better place for all of her citizens. It has been all about focusing on the wealthy, protecting their tax discounts and cutting everything else so that the people in this country not interested in paying taxes won't have to. How unAmerican is that? It sounds good because no one wants to pay taxes but most of the people in this country fully understand that we have to pay to have this country succeed.
The military, funded by taxes, is not just about contractors making millions off every contract. It is also about the men and women serving this country, putting their physical lives on the line and their personal lives on hold. It's their families wondering how to make ends meet at the same time they are wondering if their loved one is in danger, hurt or if they will get the stranger in uniform at the door with sad news. It is about their retirement after they served their 20 years or more being able to collect military retirement and Social Security after paying into both systems. It is about knowing they will be able to take care of their families if they are wounded in action and if they will have their medical needs met.
You want to be able to fly with some assurance you will arrive safely? We're heading into the tenth year after this nation was attacked on that bright September morning. Four planes were taken over and since then security at airports across the country has been increased so that people will be safe to fly and no more plans will be used as weapons against civilians. We all understood this ten years ago but the people working for the TSA and the FAA don't do it for free. They have bills to pay just like everyone else. What did Congress do? They took off for vacations without funding the FAA. Now we have people out of work and money paid by passengers not collected for the country.
FAA
$200 million a week not being collected in taxes but paid by passengers. Fiscal responsibility? Nope. Then there are the employees out of jobs and in the unemployment line.
There are 4,000 of them in the unemployment line now along with 70,000 construction workers.
Then there are the weakest among us. The homeless. Since there are not enough jobs to go around even though some folks in congress kept the tax discounts for the rich going claiming they are the job creators instead of terminators, more people became homeless under their watch. Well, it looks like once we finally arrived at a time when there was a lot being done to help the homeless, we did a u-turn. Not only are they being left to fend for themselves more and more, now there are wonderful people out of work who used to take care of them.
Chicago
In state after state public employees are losing their jobs, yet the same folks responsible for them walking the streets are the ones screaming about the unemployment rate pointing a twisted finger at the President as if they had nothing to do with any of this. Well, in a way they are right. They had nothing to do with putting people back to work but plenty to do with putting them out of work and as for the term "the People's House" they should put a sing up "Sold to the highest bidder."
One third of the homeless are veterans. Veteran lose their homes all the time because they cannot work and their claims are not approved fast enough leaving them with no income. National Guards and Reservist usually work in public service on their regular jobs, as police officers, firefighters, emergency responders and every other agency the rest of us depend on. Imagine being notified you will be deployed at the same time you get a layoff notice.
Now we may be able to appreciate the folks saying they don't want to pass on the debt to their kids but that is only if we don't look at them right now. What kind of country do we want them growing up in? One that takes care of the wealthy on the backs of the rest of the population or one that manages to do the right thing? Do we want them growing up worrying about their roads, bridges and tunnels being safe for us to take them for a ride? Safe to fly down to Disney for a vacation? Safe to take medicine, drink water, eat food without being made sick? Do we want to know that if they do get sick they can go to a doctor to get better?
Do we want them to grow up worried they will not learn enough in school because their classroom is overcrowded due to teacher layoffs? What kind of future will they have with a lousy education? Do we want them to know that they do matter and we fully accept the responsibility to make sure they have the best education possible no matter what income class their parents belong in?
There are folks in congress wanting to keep things plan and simple so that people will just think of their words instead of what their words mean. They want us to be deaf to the cries of our own neighbors, dumb enough to follow where they want us to go and blind to the fact they are being funded by the wealthy they owe their careers to.
The People's House is a colloquial term used to describe the institution of the United States House of Representatives.
The term comes from the populist characteristics of the House: smaller representative districts, shorter terms of office for its members and (perhaps most importantly) direct election by the people. The House of Representatives was the only branch of the Federal government to be directly elected by the people until ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1913, when the Senate was made a directly elected body.
Ever since January when this congress began session, it has not been about what the people in this country need. It has not been about our jobs or making this country a better place for all of her citizens. It has been all about focusing on the wealthy, protecting their tax discounts and cutting everything else so that the people in this country not interested in paying taxes won't have to. How unAmerican is that? It sounds good because no one wants to pay taxes but most of the people in this country fully understand that we have to pay to have this country succeed.
The military, funded by taxes, is not just about contractors making millions off every contract. It is also about the men and women serving this country, putting their physical lives on the line and their personal lives on hold. It's their families wondering how to make ends meet at the same time they are wondering if their loved one is in danger, hurt or if they will get the stranger in uniform at the door with sad news. It is about their retirement after they served their 20 years or more being able to collect military retirement and Social Security after paying into both systems. It is about knowing they will be able to take care of their families if they are wounded in action and if they will have their medical needs met.
You want to be able to fly with some assurance you will arrive safely? We're heading into the tenth year after this nation was attacked on that bright September morning. Four planes were taken over and since then security at airports across the country has been increased so that people will be safe to fly and no more plans will be used as weapons against civilians. We all understood this ten years ago but the people working for the TSA and the FAA don't do it for free. They have bills to pay just like everyone else. What did Congress do? They took off for vacations without funding the FAA. Now we have people out of work and money paid by passengers not collected for the country.
FAA
$200 million a week not being collected in taxes but paid by passengers. Fiscal responsibility? Nope. Then there are the employees out of jobs and in the unemployment line.
There are 4,000 of them in the unemployment line now along with 70,000 construction workers.
Then there are the weakest among us. The homeless. Since there are not enough jobs to go around even though some folks in congress kept the tax discounts for the rich going claiming they are the job creators instead of terminators, more people became homeless under their watch. Well, it looks like once we finally arrived at a time when there was a lot being done to help the homeless, we did a u-turn. Not only are they being left to fend for themselves more and more, now there are wonderful people out of work who used to take care of them.
Chicago
City Lays Off 24,
Owing to their homeless program's state funding being cut in half, the city's Department of Family and Support Services announced Tuesday that they have been forced to lay off 24 employees effective Sept. 1.
The majority of the workers being laid off staffed the overnight, midnight-to-8 a.m. shift, picking up homeless individuals and transporting them to shelters, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Now those individuals will likely go without the city's help during the evening, making an already bad system even worse, according to Julie Dworkin, director of policy for the Chicago Coalition of the Homeless.
"They tell you to go to a hospital or a police station and the van will come to take you to a shelter. But, people often have to wait hours for the van to come," Dworkin told the Sun-Times.
"From now on if you call in the middle of the night, you can add another eight hours to your wait."
read more here
Cuts Overnight Emergency Homeless Services
In state after state public employees are losing their jobs, yet the same folks responsible for them walking the streets are the ones screaming about the unemployment rate pointing a twisted finger at the President as if they had nothing to do with any of this. Well, in a way they are right. They had nothing to do with putting people back to work but plenty to do with putting them out of work and as for the term "the People's House" they should put a sing up "Sold to the highest bidder."
One third of the homeless are veterans. Veteran lose their homes all the time because they cannot work and their claims are not approved fast enough leaving them with no income. National Guards and Reservist usually work in public service on their regular jobs, as police officers, firefighters, emergency responders and every other agency the rest of us depend on. Imagine being notified you will be deployed at the same time you get a layoff notice.
Now we may be able to appreciate the folks saying they don't want to pass on the debt to their kids but that is only if we don't look at them right now. What kind of country do we want them growing up in? One that takes care of the wealthy on the backs of the rest of the population or one that manages to do the right thing? Do we want them growing up worrying about their roads, bridges and tunnels being safe for us to take them for a ride? Safe to fly down to Disney for a vacation? Safe to take medicine, drink water, eat food without being made sick? Do we want to know that if they do get sick they can go to a doctor to get better?
Do we want them to grow up worried they will not learn enough in school because their classroom is overcrowded due to teacher layoffs? What kind of future will they have with a lousy education? Do we want them to know that they do matter and we fully accept the responsibility to make sure they have the best education possible no matter what income class their parents belong in?
There are folks in congress wanting to keep things plan and simple so that people will just think of their words instead of what their words mean. They want us to be deaf to the cries of our own neighbors, dumb enough to follow where they want us to go and blind to the fact they are being funded by the wealthy they owe their careers to.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Tea Party elected put military pay and veterans programs in line for cuts
Is this what the people who voted for these Tea Party folks really wanted? Did they even pay attention to what they were up to before they voted for them? It has been clear from the start that anything to do with the government was not worth anything and now they just proved it.
Wasn't it bad enough with all the fighting over protecting tax cuts for the wealthy ended up making them worried about being deployed and not getting paid? What happened to the jobs these people said they wanted to create? Any bills done on getting people back to work? What happened to honoring the men and women serving this country? Any idea who the hell is supposed to process claims and take care of the wounded if employees get cut? There are not enough of them now!
Under debt deal, military pay, veterans programs in play for cuts
By Bob Brewinbbrewin@govexec.com
August 3, 2011
Military pay raises, funding for veterans health care and the Post-9/11 GI Bill could be sacrificed to new fiscal realities as the result of the deal signed by President Obama on Tuesday to raise the federal debt ceiling, according to the Military Officers Association and veterans groups. The law requires the federal budget be cut $2.1 trillion over 10 years.
The White House said it plans to cut $350 billion from the Defense Department budget (excluding war funding) over the next decade. Retired Air Force Col. Michael Hayden, the association's deputy director for government relations, said this means "everything is on the table," including military pay.
While Congress historically has been reluctant to freeze military pay, the 2011 Budget Control Act signed by Obama on Tuesday makes it clear upfront that military pay is no longer off-limits in budget discussions. If the administration and Congress fail to make the required reductions then across-the-board cuts in discretionary funding will be triggered through a procedure known as sequestration. The law gives the president "authority to exempt any [military] personnel account from sequestration" but only if "savings are achieved through across-the-board reductions in the remainder of the Department of Defense budget," states a House Rules Committee analysis of the bill.
read more here
Under debt deal, military pay, veterans programs in play for cuts
Wasn't it bad enough with all the fighting over protecting tax cuts for the wealthy ended up making them worried about being deployed and not getting paid? What happened to the jobs these people said they wanted to create? Any bills done on getting people back to work? What happened to honoring the men and women serving this country? Any idea who the hell is supposed to process claims and take care of the wounded if employees get cut? There are not enough of them now!
Decorated Vietnam veteran's valor is saluted
Vietnam veteran's valor is saluted
by Phil Keren & Ellin Walsh
FALLS NEWS-PRESS EDITOR, REPORTER
Cuyahoga Falls officials on July 22 recognized a decorated Vietnam veteran by renaming a portion of Front Street in his honor.
Bernard V Slider Jr., "J.R." to his friends, died Oct. 7, 2003, after a battle with cancer. He was 53.
About 20 people -- including Mr. Slider's brothers Don and Ken, and his father, Bernard V. Slider Sr. -- attended a brief ceremony in sweltering heat at the corner of Front Street and Grant Avenue across from American Legion Post 281.
Mayor Don Robart designated the day (July 22) as "Sgt. J.R. Slider Day" in Cuyahoga Falls. Donald and Ken Slider then unveiled the sign at Front Street and Grant Avenue which bears the name "Sgt. J.R. Slider Silver Memorial Way."
"It's beautiful," said Ken Slider moments after the ceremony concluded. A catalyst in getting the city to designate the stretch of street in his brother's honor, Don Slider says J.R. "was the most highly decorated Vietnam veteran in Summit County." The idea of honoring J.R. this way has been in the works for three years. "His dedication to our country set him apart," Ken Slider says, adding, "if your life had to be in somebody else's hands, you'd want it to be J.R.'s."
Sgt. Slider served in the U.S. Army -- Company E, 2nd Battalion (Airborne) 502nd Infantry as a radio-telephone operator during Vietnam. He received two Purple Heart medals, the Silver Star for gallantry in action, eight air medals, the Brave Eagle coin for valor and two Bronze Stars.
read more here
Vietnam veteran valor is saluted
by Phil Keren & Ellin Walsh
FALLS NEWS-PRESS EDITOR, REPORTER
Cuyahoga Falls officials on July 22 recognized a decorated Vietnam veteran by renaming a portion of Front Street in his honor.
Bernard V Slider Jr., "J.R." to his friends, died Oct. 7, 2003, after a battle with cancer. He was 53.
About 20 people -- including Mr. Slider's brothers Don and Ken, and his father, Bernard V. Slider Sr. -- attended a brief ceremony in sweltering heat at the corner of Front Street and Grant Avenue across from American Legion Post 281.
Mayor Don Robart designated the day (July 22) as "Sgt. J.R. Slider Day" in Cuyahoga Falls. Donald and Ken Slider then unveiled the sign at Front Street and Grant Avenue which bears the name "Sgt. J.R. Slider Silver Memorial Way."
"It's beautiful," said Ken Slider moments after the ceremony concluded. A catalyst in getting the city to designate the stretch of street in his brother's honor, Don Slider says J.R. "was the most highly decorated Vietnam veteran in Summit County." The idea of honoring J.R. this way has been in the works for three years. "His dedication to our country set him apart," Ken Slider says, adding, "if your life had to be in somebody else's hands, you'd want it to be J.R.'s."
Sgt. Slider served in the U.S. Army -- Company E, 2nd Battalion (Airborne) 502nd Infantry as a radio-telephone operator during Vietnam. He received two Purple Heart medals, the Silver Star for gallantry in action, eight air medals, the Brave Eagle coin for valor and two Bronze Stars.
read more here
Vietnam veteran valor is saluted
Vietnam MIA comes home to Knox
Vietnam veteran, missing for decades, comes home to Knox
By Terry Turner Post-Tribune correspondent
Updated: August 3, 2011 1:59AM
KNOX — Andy Howes, missing in action since 1970 and Starke County’s final casualty of the Vietnam War, came home Monday evening to a tremendous turnout of veterans, classmates and the Knox and Starke County community.
The emotional goodbye for the 1968 graduate of Knox High School, who was just 19 when the Huey he was co-piloting was lost as he and his fellow crew members were returning from a mission, continued Tuesday evening, in what family members termed “a homecoming.”
Howes’ casket was carried a block-and-a-half by fellow Vietnam veterans from the M.C. Smith Funeral Home to the Knox Community Center. A long line of flag-carrying Indiana Patriot Guards on both sides of the street stood at attention as the casket went by.
Howes will be buried in his final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery on Aug 5.
read more here
Vietnam veteran, missing for decades, comes home to Knox
By Terry Turner Post-Tribune correspondent
Updated: August 3, 2011 1:59AM
KNOX — Andy Howes, missing in action since 1970 and Starke County’s final casualty of the Vietnam War, came home Monday evening to a tremendous turnout of veterans, classmates and the Knox and Starke County community.
The emotional goodbye for the 1968 graduate of Knox High School, who was just 19 when the Huey he was co-piloting was lost as he and his fellow crew members were returning from a mission, continued Tuesday evening, in what family members termed “a homecoming.”
Howes’ casket was carried a block-and-a-half by fellow Vietnam veterans from the M.C. Smith Funeral Home to the Knox Community Center. A long line of flag-carrying Indiana Patriot Guards on both sides of the street stood at attention as the casket went by.
Howes will be buried in his final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery on Aug 5.
read more here
Vietnam veteran, missing for decades, comes home to Knox
VA Kicks Off National Caregiver Support Conference
VA Kicks Off National Caregiver Support Conference
Caring for Those Who Care for Our Veterans
WASHINGTON (Aug. 3, 2011) - Dr. Robert Petzel, Department of Veterans Affairs Under Secretary for Health, gave the keynote address Aug. 2 kicking off the 2011 National Caregiver Support Conference, "Caring for Those Who Care for Our Veterans."
The training conference, August 2-4 in Washington highlights VA's support of caregivers of all eras, with plenary sessions featuring national experts in care giving.
The conference follows the implementation of landmark legislation by VA that provides a direct benefit for the first time to designated, approved family caregivers of eligible Post 9/11 Veterans, which includes monthly stipends and health insurance.
"Family caregivers are full partners with VA who help to ensure that Veterans receive the top-quality care they have earned," said Dr. Petzel. "Expanded services will support family caregivers, improve their self-care, provide training and help them connect with each other
for support and encouragement."
Veterans and Servicemembers undergoing medical discharge may be eligible for the family caregiver program if they incurred or aggravated a serious injury in the line of duty on or after 9/11/2001, are in need of personal care services, and meet defined eligibility criteria.
The conference is part of the comprehensive program of caregiver support that VA is implementing.
"Staff from VA medical centers across the country are attending to share best practices and gain new understanding of the unique challenges faced by family caregivers of Veterans from all eras," said Deborah Amdur, chief consultant, Care Management and Social Work Service.
The department began accepting applications for caregiver stipend and benefits payments by mail, telephone and online May 9. As of July 26, there have been 1,644 total applications received and in process. To date, 567 stipends have been approved with a monthly average of $1,600.
In addition, caregiver support includes the new caregiver website that was launched May 31. The website -- www.caregiver.va.gov -- is now averaging more than 1,481 hits per day, 4.5 pages viewed per visit, for a total of at least 6,649 pages viewed daily.
As one of the primary outreach tools to reach caregivers and Veterans of all eras, the website includes a zip code search feature to locate the nearest VA medical center-based caregiver support coordinator, links to existing VA social media, and information on future caregiver-specific social media features.
In collaboration with Easter Seals, the VA core caregiver training continues to be conducted through home study as well as traditional classrooms. Classroom training was conducted June 9-10 in Silver Spring, Md.; July 7-8 in Reno, Nev.; and July 21-22 in Augusta, Ga. An additional 13 classroom training sessions are scheduled nationwide in the next 90 days. More classes will be scheduled as requested. Online training will be available Aug. 5.
VA's Caregiver Support Line (1-855-260-3274), located at the Canandaigua VA Medical Center in New York has responded to more than 12,132 calls since its inception Feb. 1. Clinical social workers respond to calls, provide information and referral to VA and community resources, and
offer supportive counseling to callers from across the country. Since May 21, the Caregiver Support Line has been staffed 24/7.
Congress created the new benefits for family caregivers of eligible Post 9/11 Veterans in legislation known as the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 (PL 111-163), which was signed by the President in May 2010.
Caring for Those Who Care for Our Veterans
WASHINGTON (Aug. 3, 2011) - Dr. Robert Petzel, Department of Veterans Affairs Under Secretary for Health, gave the keynote address Aug. 2 kicking off the 2011 National Caregiver Support Conference, "Caring for Those Who Care for Our Veterans."
The training conference, August 2-4 in Washington highlights VA's support of caregivers of all eras, with plenary sessions featuring national experts in care giving.
The conference follows the implementation of landmark legislation by VA that provides a direct benefit for the first time to designated, approved family caregivers of eligible Post 9/11 Veterans, which includes monthly stipends and health insurance.
"Family caregivers are full partners with VA who help to ensure that Veterans receive the top-quality care they have earned," said Dr. Petzel. "Expanded services will support family caregivers, improve their self-care, provide training and help them connect with each other
for support and encouragement."
Veterans and Servicemembers undergoing medical discharge may be eligible for the family caregiver program if they incurred or aggravated a serious injury in the line of duty on or after 9/11/2001, are in need of personal care services, and meet defined eligibility criteria.
The conference is part of the comprehensive program of caregiver support that VA is implementing.
"Staff from VA medical centers across the country are attending to share best practices and gain new understanding of the unique challenges faced by family caregivers of Veterans from all eras," said Deborah Amdur, chief consultant, Care Management and Social Work Service.
The department began accepting applications for caregiver stipend and benefits payments by mail, telephone and online May 9. As of July 26, there have been 1,644 total applications received and in process. To date, 567 stipends have been approved with a monthly average of $1,600.
In addition, caregiver support includes the new caregiver website that was launched May 31. The website -- www.caregiver.va.gov -- is now averaging more than 1,481 hits per day, 4.5 pages viewed per visit, for a total of at least 6,649 pages viewed daily.
As one of the primary outreach tools to reach caregivers and Veterans of all eras, the website includes a zip code search feature to locate the nearest VA medical center-based caregiver support coordinator, links to existing VA social media, and information on future caregiver-specific social media features.
In collaboration with Easter Seals, the VA core caregiver training continues to be conducted through home study as well as traditional classrooms. Classroom training was conducted June 9-10 in Silver Spring, Md.; July 7-8 in Reno, Nev.; and July 21-22 in Augusta, Ga. An additional 13 classroom training sessions are scheduled nationwide in the next 90 days. More classes will be scheduled as requested. Online training will be available Aug. 5.
VA's Caregiver Support Line (1-855-260-3274), located at the Canandaigua VA Medical Center in New York has responded to more than 12,132 calls since its inception Feb. 1. Clinical social workers respond to calls, provide information and referral to VA and community resources, and
offer supportive counseling to callers from across the country. Since May 21, the Caregiver Support Line has been staffed 24/7.
Congress created the new benefits for family caregivers of eligible Post 9/11 Veterans in legislation known as the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 (PL 111-163), which was signed by the President in May 2010.
Ineligible contractors getting $500M a year from VA
Ineligible contractors getting $500M a year from VA, OIG says
Federal auditors found programs for vet-owned and disabled-vet-owned companies rife with problems
By Alice Lipowicz
Aug 02, 2011
Federal auditors took a hard look at procurement practices at the Veterans Affairs Department in two new reports, finding that VA is likely to be awarding about $500 million a year to ineligible contractors.
In a July 25 audit, investigators evaluated the veteran-owned small business (VOSB) and the service-disabled veteran-owned small business programs (SDVOSB), which together generated about $3.5 billion in procurements in fiscal 2010, or about 23 percent of total VA procurements.
The inspector general’s office reviewed 42 “statistically-selected” contracts in those two programs with a total value of $46.5 million that had been awarded to businesses alleged to be eligible for those programs. The review found that 32 of the businesses were ineligible to participate in the programs or were ineligible for the specific contracts they were awarded.
Based on that analysis, the inspector general’s office forecasted the total impact of contracts in those programs awarded to businesses that are ineligible for those programs.
read more here
Ineligible contractors getting $500M a year from VA
Federal auditors found programs for vet-owned and disabled-vet-owned companies rife with problems
By Alice Lipowicz
Aug 02, 2011
Federal auditors took a hard look at procurement practices at the Veterans Affairs Department in two new reports, finding that VA is likely to be awarding about $500 million a year to ineligible contractors.
In a July 25 audit, investigators evaluated the veteran-owned small business (VOSB) and the service-disabled veteran-owned small business programs (SDVOSB), which together generated about $3.5 billion in procurements in fiscal 2010, or about 23 percent of total VA procurements.
The inspector general’s office reviewed 42 “statistically-selected” contracts in those two programs with a total value of $46.5 million that had been awarded to businesses alleged to be eligible for those programs. The review found that 32 of the businesses were ineligible to participate in the programs or were ineligible for the specific contracts they were awarded.
Based on that analysis, the inspector general’s office forecasted the total impact of contracts in those programs awarded to businesses that are ineligible for those programs.
read more here
Ineligible contractors getting $500M a year from VA
Saginaw VA evacuated after bomb threat
UPDATE: Patients, workers return to VA hospital after evacuation
Published: Wednesday, August 03, 2011
By Justin L. Engel
The Saginaw News
SAGINAW — State police have given workers and patients the OK to return to Lutz Veterans Affairs Medical Center after someone called in a bomb threat this morning, a hospital spokeswoman said.
read more here
Patients, workers return to VA hospital after evacuation
Published: Wednesday, August 03, 2011
By Justin L. Engel
The Saginaw News
SAGINAW — State police have given workers and patients the OK to return to Lutz Veterans Affairs Medical Center after someone called in a bomb threat this morning, a hospital spokeswoman said.
read more here
Patients, workers return to VA hospital after evacuation
Iraq War veteran in 2010 Okemos standoff gets probation, rehab
Iraq War veteran in '10 Okemos standoff gets probation, rehab
Written by
Kevin Grasha
EAST LANSING - An Iraq War combat veteran who was involved last year in a standoff with police continued Tuesday on his path to rehabilitation.
At a hearing that was part of Ingham County's veterans' court program, Judge David Jordon sentenced Brad Eifert to 24 months of probation and ordered him to complete treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
That treatment will take place at a residential program near Rochester, N.Y., that accepted Eifert after his case was publicized last month in a New York Times article. The program, called Warrior Salute, typically offers three to six months of treatment. It is designed to help soldiers who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and/or traumatic brain injury.
"The direction you're going is forward," Jordon told Eifert. "I think this program will be a great jump-start for you."
read more here
Iraq War veteran in Okemos standoff gets probation, rehab
Written by
Kevin Grasha
EAST LANSING - An Iraq War combat veteran who was involved last year in a standoff with police continued Tuesday on his path to rehabilitation.
At a hearing that was part of Ingham County's veterans' court program, Judge David Jordon sentenced Brad Eifert to 24 months of probation and ordered him to complete treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
That treatment will take place at a residential program near Rochester, N.Y., that accepted Eifert after his case was publicized last month in a New York Times article. The program, called Warrior Salute, typically offers three to six months of treatment. It is designed to help soldiers who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and/or traumatic brain injury.
"The direction you're going is forward," Jordon told Eifert. "I think this program will be a great jump-start for you."
read more here
Iraq War veteran in Okemos standoff gets probation, rehab
Marine Corps pushing for congressional medal for first black Marines
Marine Corps pushing for congressional medal for first black Marines amid push to diversify
By Associated Press, Published: August 2
SAN DIEGO — The top leader of the Marine Corps said Tuesday that he wants the first black members of the Marines to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and hopes their story will inspire more black men and women to join the Corps and rise through its ranks.
Commandant Gen. James Amos told hundreds of Marine Corps officers at the National Naval Officers Association meeting that it was time for Congress to honor the group known as the Montford Point Marines.
About 20,000 black Marines underwent basic training in the 1940s after President Franklin D. Roosevelt integrated the Marine Corps. They were trained at the segregated Camp Montford Point in Jacksonville, N.C., as racism continued in the Marine Corps and society.
The black troops were not allowed to enter the main base of nearby Camp Lejeune unless accompanied by a white Marine.
By 1945, many of the black recruits had become drill instructors and non-commissioned officers at Montford Point. The segregated camp was closed down in 1949 and black recruits were sent to Parris Island and Camp Pendleton like all new Marines. The Corps was fully integrated during the Korean War.
The Congressional Gold Medal is awarded to a civilian or group of civilians as the highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions.
read more here
Marine Corps pushing for congressional medal for first black Marines
By Associated Press, Published: August 2
SAN DIEGO — The top leader of the Marine Corps said Tuesday that he wants the first black members of the Marines to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and hopes their story will inspire more black men and women to join the Corps and rise through its ranks.
Commandant Gen. James Amos told hundreds of Marine Corps officers at the National Naval Officers Association meeting that it was time for Congress to honor the group known as the Montford Point Marines.
About 20,000 black Marines underwent basic training in the 1940s after President Franklin D. Roosevelt integrated the Marine Corps. They were trained at the segregated Camp Montford Point in Jacksonville, N.C., as racism continued in the Marine Corps and society.
The black troops were not allowed to enter the main base of nearby Camp Lejeune unless accompanied by a white Marine.
By 1945, many of the black recruits had become drill instructors and non-commissioned officers at Montford Point. The segregated camp was closed down in 1949 and black recruits were sent to Parris Island and Camp Pendleton like all new Marines. The Corps was fully integrated during the Korean War.
The Congressional Gold Medal is awarded to a civilian or group of civilians as the highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions.
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Marine Corps pushing for congressional medal for first black Marines
Veterans’ unclaimed remains buried in emotional ceremony
Veterans’ unclaimed remains buried in emotional ceremony
By Melissa Treolo
August 3, 2011
Fort Leavenworth — Sun Rodgers of Leavenworth and Betty Wright of Shawnee cried and clung together during last week’s funeral service at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.
The two Gold Star Mothers didn’t know the 14 veterans and three veterans’ wives who were buried July 26 in a military funeral organized by the Missing in America Project, but they said the experience was still an emotional one. It brought fresh to mind the sons they had lost — Rodgers’ son, Sgt. Ricky Rodgers, to an illness in 2005 while stationed at Fort Polk, La.; and Wright’s son, Pvt. Shawn Wright, to suicide in 1991 while home on leave.
Shortly after their deaths, Ricky Rodgers and Shawn Wright received appropriate burials with military honors. The honors bestowed on the 14 veterans buried last week, however, were long overdue.
Pvt. George McCarthy served in the Civil War and died in 1946 at the age of 102. He was cremated and his ashes sat unclaimed in the storage of Missouri-based funeral home D.W. Newcomer’s Sons for more than 60 years. Cremains of the 13 other veterans, all of whom served in World War I, suffered a similar fate, having no one to claim them for decades.
That is, until the Missing in America Project stepped in. The national nonprofit organization works closely with funeral homes to validate and give proper burial services to veterans left unclaimed by family members. Linda Smith, head of operations for the organization, says any given funeral home in the United States could have anywhere from 10 to 1,000 sets of veterans’ cremains in its storage. Usually state laws dictate that funeral homes must hold onto those remains until such time as they are claimed, Smith said. It is the Missing In America Project’s goal to claim and validate as many unclaimed veterans as possible, making sure each and every one is buried, with appropriate military honors, in a national cemetery.
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Veterans unclaimed remains buried in emotional ceremony
Photo by Melissa Treolo.
A student at Fort Leavenworth’s Command and General Staff College silently pays tribute over the remains formerly unclaimed World War I veterans during Tuesday’s funeral services at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery. In all, the cremains of14 veterans, including one dating to the Civil War, were laid to rest after decades languishing on the storage shelves of a Missouri-based funeral home.
By Melissa Treolo
August 3, 2011
Fort Leavenworth — Sun Rodgers of Leavenworth and Betty Wright of Shawnee cried and clung together during last week’s funeral service at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.
The two Gold Star Mothers didn’t know the 14 veterans and three veterans’ wives who were buried July 26 in a military funeral organized by the Missing in America Project, but they said the experience was still an emotional one. It brought fresh to mind the sons they had lost — Rodgers’ son, Sgt. Ricky Rodgers, to an illness in 2005 while stationed at Fort Polk, La.; and Wright’s son, Pvt. Shawn Wright, to suicide in 1991 while home on leave.
Shortly after their deaths, Ricky Rodgers and Shawn Wright received appropriate burials with military honors. The honors bestowed on the 14 veterans buried last week, however, were long overdue.
Pvt. George McCarthy served in the Civil War and died in 1946 at the age of 102. He was cremated and his ashes sat unclaimed in the storage of Missouri-based funeral home D.W. Newcomer’s Sons for more than 60 years. Cremains of the 13 other veterans, all of whom served in World War I, suffered a similar fate, having no one to claim them for decades.
That is, until the Missing in America Project stepped in. The national nonprofit organization works closely with funeral homes to validate and give proper burial services to veterans left unclaimed by family members. Linda Smith, head of operations for the organization, says any given funeral home in the United States could have anywhere from 10 to 1,000 sets of veterans’ cremains in its storage. Usually state laws dictate that funeral homes must hold onto those remains until such time as they are claimed, Smith said. It is the Missing In America Project’s goal to claim and validate as many unclaimed veterans as possible, making sure each and every one is buried, with appropriate military honors, in a national cemetery.
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Veterans unclaimed remains buried in emotional ceremony
Two Lewis-McChord soldiers committed suicide in front of others
Police investigating two apparent soldiers suicides in recent weeks
By Austin Jenkins
Police in Lakewood, Wash., are investigating the apparent suicides of two soldiers from the nearby Joint Base Lewis-McChord in recent weeks. In both cases, police say the soldiers shot themselves in the presence of someone else.
The first soldier to die was Spc. Rory Johnson, age 29. He was part of the hard hit 5th Stryker Brigade that deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010.
Eleven days after Johnson's death, Spc. Jonathon Gilbert shot himself. He was just 21 and had deployed to Iraq in 2009.
Lakewood police are releasing few details, but they will say the suicides took place at social gatherings and other soldiers were present.
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Police investigating two apparent soldiers suicides
As sad as these stories are, keep in mind that the witnesses of these suicides had to deal with shock on top of the loss. They will need more help because of this. After trauma there is a 30 window. If the symptoms do not fade over a month, then they need to seek help. If they talk to someone right after the event, PTSD does not usually take hold. Friends and family members need to be watchful for signs of change in the soldiers. Often they cannot see the changes in themselves or will deny they are suffering believing they will just get over it.
Study shows anti-depressants aren't enough to treat PTSD
"Eighty-nine percent of veterans diagnosed with PTSD who are treated with medication are given antidepressants, the only type of medication that's FDA-approved to treat the disorder. But for many, anti-depressants aren't enough."That is what this new study found but it has been the way the DOD has been "treating" PTSD. Servicemen and women end up being given pills when they finally seek treatment for PTSD but they do not receive the therapy needed in order to heal.
Medications will only numb emotions. They do not take away the reason the person has PTSD. That can only come from therapy. The strongest recommendation came years ago when Vietnam veterans were suffering and forced the VA to treat it. Taking care of the whole person is vital. Treat the mind, yes, but you also have to treat the body so they learn to calm down and relax. You also have to treat the spirit or soul, in order to sort things out and find peace.
Medication is the easiest, quickest way to get them out of the office and send them on their way but it is not the best way to heal them.
Antipsychotic Meds Not Effective for Combat PTSD
By LARA SALAHI (@LaraSalahiABC)
August 2, 2011
Risperidone, antipsychotic medication normally prescribed to treat symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, may not be effective in treating symptoms of chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Risperidone is commonly prescribed as an add-on treatment for veterans with the more severe forms of PTSD who do not respond to antidepressants.
"There are many in the VA that are exposed to multiple traumatic situations," said Dr. John Krystal, director of the clinical neuroscience division for the Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD and lead author of the study.
Eighty-nine percent of veterans diagnosed with PTSD who are treated with medication are given antidepressants, the only type of medication that's FDA-approved to treat the disorder. But for many, anti-depressants aren't enough.
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Antipsychotic Meds Not Effective for Combat PTSD
also
And then there is this new report coming out about child soldiers from Uganda being treated with "narrative therapy" that shows talk therapy works.
"One-third were treated with narrative exposure therapy, in which 'the participant constructs a detailed chronological account of his or her own biography in cooperation with the therapist to reconstruct fragmented memories of traumatic events and to achieve habituation,' the study said.
Eighty per cent of those subjects (20 of 25 participants) 'were found to have improved with regard to PTSD severity' after eight sessions of 90-120 minutes each."
If you're wondering what this has to do with our young servicemen and women, think of this. Most join the military right out of high school. In other words, well before the emotional part of their brain has fully developed, which happens around the age of 25. Humans are still just human no matter what country they are from. War traumas are war traumas.
Aug 3, 2011
Narrative therapy helps child soldiers: Study
WASHINGTON - BRIEF therapy to help Ugandan former child soldiers talk about their experiences showed the best results in getting rid of post-traumatic stress disorder, said a study published in the US on Tuesday.
The method could be performed by local volunteers at low cost, and was more effective than academic catch-up classes or being put on a waiting list for treatment, said the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The practice could offer an inexpensive way to ease the transition back to regular life for the 250,000 young people estimated to be actively involved in fighting conflicts in 14 countries around the world, according to UN figures. A total of 85 former child soldiers aged 12-25 who were clinically diagnosed with PTSD took part in what researchers at Germany's Bielefeld University described as the first-ever randomised controlled study of mental health interventions.
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Narrative therapy helps child soldiers
The problem with this type of therapy is, as the saying goes, "talk is cheap" so there aren't any corporations charging millions for medications over a lifetime. Psychiatrists cannot take simple medication appointments every ten minutes if the veterans of combat are being treated with talk therapy and sorting things out emotionally.
Depending on how long PTSD was not treated, there may be a need to continue medications to keep the chemicals in the brain in balance, but with therapy, these medications can be reduced according to most of the experts without an axe to grind.
There are service groups around the county doing it. For the mind there is Give an hour has volunteer therapists ready to help.
Then for the spirit, there is Point Man Ministries with a mission statement that reads;
“ To connect the hurting veteran as well as their families and friends with others who have already begun the transition home after war. With Jesus Christ as our focal point it is our desire is to provide spiritual and emotional healing through our existing Outpost and Home Front system.”
They offer support and address the spiritual part of the veteran but they also take care of the family members to help them get through all of what comes with PTSD, thus helping the veteran heal from knowledge, understanding and spiritual strength of their own.
We can keep doing what has failed hoping the rates of suicides and attempted suicides goes down or we can do what is necessary to make that happen for more veterans. When they want to dedicate their lives in the military it should not mean they have to surrender the rest of their lives to suffering for it. We can get serious about helping them or we can keep repeating the same mistakes that have produced more deaths by suicide, more divorces, more unemployment, more homeless veterans and yes, even more crimes.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Vietnam Vets being pushed out of Legion Post
Debate over military credentials in Auburn
VIETNAM VETS SAY THEY'RE BEING PUSHED OUT
By Shaun Sutner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
ssutner@telegram.com
AUBURN — Members of a Vietnam veterans group who questioned the military credentials of a former state commander of the American Legion say they are being retaliated against, including being ordered to remove their Vietnam-era helicopter from post property.
The Vietnam veterans say that rather than disciplining the local Legion post official, William R. Barbour Jr., local Legion leaders have made them out to be the villains.
About 50 Vietnam veterans, most of whom also are members of the Auburn Legion post, say they have been told that their Vietnam Veterans of America chapter can no longer meet at the Auburn post, and that they have two months to remove the Cobra attack helicopter, which has been on display at the post since the late 1990s.
“That's just retaliation, pure unadulterated retaliation,” said Lawrence J. Corbin III, a member of the VVA group and service officer and former chairman of the executive committee of the Legion's Chester B. Tuttle Post 279 in Auburn.
“Barbour has been exposed for being a fraud,” Mr. Corbin said. “I told them ‘you can't just ignore this.' ”
Mr. Barbour's alleged embellishment of his military record was reported by the Telegram & Gazette June 26 after several veterans associated with the Auburn post said Mr. Barbour had claimed to be an Air Force lieutenant colonel and had often appeared in public with a badge worn by naval officers.
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Debate over military credentials in Auburn
VIETNAM VETS SAY THEY'RE BEING PUSHED OUT
By Shaun Sutner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
ssutner@telegram.com
From left, Fran Bujnowski, Fred A. Carley, Dave L. Peckham and Dean O. Stevens are seen with a Vietnam War-era helicopter at Legion Post 279. (T&G Staff/TOM RETTIG)
AUBURN — Members of a Vietnam veterans group who questioned the military credentials of a former state commander of the American Legion say they are being retaliated against, including being ordered to remove their Vietnam-era helicopter from post property.
The Vietnam veterans say that rather than disciplining the local Legion post official, William R. Barbour Jr., local Legion leaders have made them out to be the villains.
About 50 Vietnam veterans, most of whom also are members of the Auburn Legion post, say they have been told that their Vietnam Veterans of America chapter can no longer meet at the Auburn post, and that they have two months to remove the Cobra attack helicopter, which has been on display at the post since the late 1990s.
“That's just retaliation, pure unadulterated retaliation,” said Lawrence J. Corbin III, a member of the VVA group and service officer and former chairman of the executive committee of the Legion's Chester B. Tuttle Post 279 in Auburn.
“Barbour has been exposed for being a fraud,” Mr. Corbin said. “I told them ‘you can't just ignore this.' ”
Mr. Barbour's alleged embellishment of his military record was reported by the Telegram & Gazette June 26 after several veterans associated with the Auburn post said Mr. Barbour had claimed to be an Air Force lieutenant colonel and had often appeared in public with a badge worn by naval officers.
read more here
Debate over military credentials in Auburn
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