MILITARY: Thousands raised for injured Marine
By City News Service | Posted: Saturday, August 6, 2011
EL CAJON - More than $14,000 was raised today at a fundraiser held for the 34-year-old Marine injured in a hit and run crash in Rancho Bernardo, an event organizer said.
More than 700 people attended the event for Gunnery Sgt. Dave Smith, who remained hospitalized in critical condition following the July 31 crash, according to the event's coordinator Tina Hook.
Among them were several riders from the Legion Riders of 146 Oceanside Elks Lodge, who attended the event together.
``People have given tremendously today,'' Hook said of the event held at the El Cajon Harley Davidson dealership.
Smith is a 17-year veteran who deployed four times and survived a roadside bomb blast. He was awarded a Bronze Star for valor.
read more here
Thousands raised for injured Marine
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Roaches rotten wood flooring shut down services at West Virginia VA Clinic
VA suspends services at W.Va. clinic
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Aug 8, 2011 13:51:57 EDT
WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — Services have been suspended at a veterans outpatient clinic in Williamson because of roaches, rotten wood flooring and other problems, U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall said.
Rahall, D-W.Va, said in a news release that he wants answers about the situation at the Community-Based Outpatient Clinic.
Rahall sent a letter on Friday to Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki asking for a report on what actions are being taken to correct the problems, which also included leaking plumbing, inoperable toilets and overflowing trash. He said the conditions found at the clinic during an unscheduled inspection were “deplorable.”
Rahall staffer Diane Luensmann told The Williamson Daily News that she didn’t know who conducted the inspection.
read more here
VA suspends services at W.Va. clinic
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Aug 8, 2011 13:51:57 EDT
WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — Services have been suspended at a veterans outpatient clinic in Williamson because of roaches, rotten wood flooring and other problems, U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall said.
Rahall, D-W.Va, said in a news release that he wants answers about the situation at the Community-Based Outpatient Clinic.
Rahall sent a letter on Friday to Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki asking for a report on what actions are being taken to correct the problems, which also included leaking plumbing, inoperable toilets and overflowing trash. He said the conditions found at the clinic during an unscheduled inspection were “deplorable.”
Rahall staffer Diane Luensmann told The Williamson Daily News that she didn’t know who conducted the inspection.
read more here
VA suspends services at W.Va. clinic
Settlement reached in Army malpractice claim
Settlement reached in Army malpractice claim
By Kristin M. Hall - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Aug 8, 2011 13:42:25 EDT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An Army soldier who filed a lawsuit over the treatment of his wife’s cancer at a military hospital at Fort Campbell, Ky., has reached a settlement with the federal government for $2.15 million.
U.S. District Court Judge John Nixon in Nashville on Friday approved the settlement of the medical malpractice claim made by Staff Sgt. Adam Cloer, of Missouri, on behalf of his wife Melodee Cloer, who died last year after being diagnosed with rectal cancer. The settlement is subject to final approval by the U.S. Attorney General.
The lawsuit claimed that medical staff at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at the installation on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line failed to screen her for rectal cancer despite persistent symptoms. The lawsuit said her cancer spread and despite multiple surgeries, she died in May 2010 at the age of 53.
read more here
Settlement reached in Army malpractice claim
By Kristin M. Hall - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Aug 8, 2011 13:42:25 EDT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An Army soldier who filed a lawsuit over the treatment of his wife’s cancer at a military hospital at Fort Campbell, Ky., has reached a settlement with the federal government for $2.15 million.
U.S. District Court Judge John Nixon in Nashville on Friday approved the settlement of the medical malpractice claim made by Staff Sgt. Adam Cloer, of Missouri, on behalf of his wife Melodee Cloer, who died last year after being diagnosed with rectal cancer. The settlement is subject to final approval by the U.S. Attorney General.
The lawsuit claimed that medical staff at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at the installation on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line failed to screen her for rectal cancer despite persistent symptoms. The lawsuit said her cancer spread and despite multiple surgeries, she died in May 2010 at the age of 53.
read more here
Settlement reached in Army malpractice claim
Army vet says VA blinded and disabled him
Army vet says VA blinded and disabled him
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Aug 8, 2011 14:18:11 EDT
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A 77-year-old Army veteran who is blind and brain damaged since getting an eye injection at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Nashville has filed a damage claim against the VA.
The $4 million claim first obtained by The Tennessean says Lloyd Sylvis of Nashville walked in the hospital in March seeking new glasses as an outpatient.
read more here
Army vet says VA blinded and disabled him
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Aug 8, 2011 14:18:11 EDT
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A 77-year-old Army veteran who is blind and brain damaged since getting an eye injection at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Nashville has filed a damage claim against the VA.
The $4 million claim first obtained by The Tennessean says Lloyd Sylvis of Nashville walked in the hospital in March seeking new glasses as an outpatient.
read more here
Army vet says VA blinded and disabled him
Maryland Psychiatrist Mom Who Killed Son And Self Agonized Over School Costs
Margaret Jensvold, Maryland Mom Who Killed Son Ben Barnhard, Agonized Over School Costs
ERIC TUCKER
WASHINGTON — Ben Barnhard finally had reason to be optimistic this summer: The 13-year-old shed more than 100 pounds at a rigorous weight-loss academy, a proud achievement for a boy who had endured classmates' taunts about his obesity and who had sought solace in the quiet of his bedroom, with his pet black cat and the intricate origami designs he created.
But one month before school was to start for the special-needs teen, his mother, psychiatrist Margaret Jensvold, shot him in the head, then killed herself. Officers found their bodies Tuesday in the bedrooms of their home in Kensington, Md., an upper-middle class Washington suburb. They also found a note.
"School – can't deal with school system," the letter began, Jensvold's sister, Susan Slaughter, told The Associated Press.
And later: "Debt is bleeding me. Strangled by debt."
read more here
Maryland Mom Who Killed Son Ben Barnhard, Agonized Over School Costs
ERIC TUCKER
WASHINGTON — Ben Barnhard finally had reason to be optimistic this summer: The 13-year-old shed more than 100 pounds at a rigorous weight-loss academy, a proud achievement for a boy who had endured classmates' taunts about his obesity and who had sought solace in the quiet of his bedroom, with his pet black cat and the intricate origami designs he created.
But one month before school was to start for the special-needs teen, his mother, psychiatrist Margaret Jensvold, shot him in the head, then killed herself. Officers found their bodies Tuesday in the bedrooms of their home in Kensington, Md., an upper-middle class Washington suburb. They also found a note.
"School – can't deal with school system," the letter began, Jensvold's sister, Susan Slaughter, told The Associated Press.
And later: "Debt is bleeding me. Strangled by debt."
read more here
Maryland Mom Who Killed Son Ben Barnhard, Agonized Over School Costs
Video shows white teens driving over, killing black man, says DA
Video shows white teens driving over, killing black man, says DA
See show times »
By Drew Griffin and Scott Bronstein, CNN Special Investigations
August 7, 2011 10:52 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
James Craig Anderson, 49, was run over and killed on June 26
Authorities say a group of white teens targeted Anderson because he was black
The suspected ringleader, Deryl Dedmon, Jr., 18, has been charged with murder
Dedmon faces possible double life sentence for the murder
Editor's note: The following story contains language some readers may consider offensive.
Jackson, Mississippi (CNN) -- On a recent Sunday morning just before dawn, two carloads of white teenagers drove to Jackson, Mississippi, on what the county district attorney says was a mission of hate: to find and hurt a black person.
In a parking lot on the western side of town they found their victim.
James Craig Anderson, a 49-year-old auto plant worker, was standing in a parking lot, near his car. The teens allegedly beat Anderson repeatedly, yelled racial epithets, including "White Power!" according to witnesses.
Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith says a group of the teens then climbed into their large Ford F250 green pickup truck, floored the gas, and drove the truck right over Anderson, killing him instantly.
read more here
Video shows white teens driving over, killing black man, says DA
See show times »
By Drew Griffin and Scott Bronstein, CNN Special Investigations
August 7, 2011 10:52 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
James Craig Anderson, 49, was run over and killed on June 26
Authorities say a group of white teens targeted Anderson because he was black
The suspected ringleader, Deryl Dedmon, Jr., 18, has been charged with murder
Dedmon faces possible double life sentence for the murder
Editor's note: The following story contains language some readers may consider offensive.
Jackson, Mississippi (CNN) -- On a recent Sunday morning just before dawn, two carloads of white teenagers drove to Jackson, Mississippi, on what the county district attorney says was a mission of hate: to find and hurt a black person.
In a parking lot on the western side of town they found their victim.
James Craig Anderson, a 49-year-old auto plant worker, was standing in a parking lot, near his car. The teens allegedly beat Anderson repeatedly, yelled racial epithets, including "White Power!" according to witnesses.
Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith says a group of the teens then climbed into their large Ford F250 green pickup truck, floored the gas, and drove the truck right over Anderson, killing him instantly.
read more here
Video shows white teens driving over, killing black man, says DA
American Legion calls for Congressional hearing on VA useless drugs
The American Legion Greatly Concerned About VA Treatment of PTS With "Useless" Drug - Calls for Congressional Hearings
WASHINGTON, Aug. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The head of the nation's largest veterans service organization says he is "greatly concerned" about the widespread use of an apparently ineffective medication by VA (Department of Veterans Affairs) doctors treating patients with post traumatic stress (PTS).
"It is alarming," said Jimmie L. Foster, national commander of The American Legion, "that fully 20 percent of the nearly 87,000 veterans VA physicians treated for PTS last year were given a medication that has proven to be pretty much useless."
According to a study conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs itself and published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Risperdal, an antipsychotic medication commonly prescribed to veterans with post traumatic stress when antidepressants have failed to help, does not alleviate the symptoms of PTS.
"Not only that," said Foster, "but Risperdal is not even approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of PTS." Only two medications, Zoloft and Paxil, both antidepressants, are government-approved to treat PTS and neither drug, say researchers, is very effective at treating patients with a chronic form of the disorder. "I am greatly concerned that veterans suffering the 'invisible wounds of war' are receiving equally invisible care," said Foster.
read more here
The American Legion Greatly Concerned About VA Treatment of PTS
WASHINGTON, Aug. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The head of the nation's largest veterans service organization says he is "greatly concerned" about the widespread use of an apparently ineffective medication by VA (Department of Veterans Affairs) doctors treating patients with post traumatic stress (PTS).
"It is alarming," said Jimmie L. Foster, national commander of The American Legion, "that fully 20 percent of the nearly 87,000 veterans VA physicians treated for PTS last year were given a medication that has proven to be pretty much useless."
According to a study conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs itself and published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Risperdal, an antipsychotic medication commonly prescribed to veterans with post traumatic stress when antidepressants have failed to help, does not alleviate the symptoms of PTS.
"Not only that," said Foster, "but Risperdal is not even approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of PTS." Only two medications, Zoloft and Paxil, both antidepressants, are government-approved to treat PTS and neither drug, say researchers, is very effective at treating patients with a chronic form of the disorder. "I am greatly concerned that veterans suffering the 'invisible wounds of war' are receiving equally invisible care," said Foster.
read more here
The American Legion Greatly Concerned About VA Treatment of PTS
Suffering was not in God's plan for you
If you have PTSD, especially if you are a veteran with it, you need to know one thing the military never taught you. Suffering was not part of God's plan for you.
You may have heard the expression "God only gives us what we can handle" meaning anything bad that happens in our lives came from God as some kind of test. People don't understand that they are telling you God did it to you. Why would you pray to God for help if you believed He caused you the harm? You wouldn't. You'd think you deserved it for something you did wrong. The truth is, bad things happen to everyone and good things sometimes happen to bad people.
You were there to help others now let others be there for you.
If you doubt this then think of it this way. If you were meant to suffer, then why did God send so many people out to help veterans just like you? Why would He send you help to heal?
You may have run into people who are supposed to be helping you but without a clue about what you need. This happens all the time no matter what you are seeking. This does not mean the help you need is not there. You just haven't found it yet. Keep looking until you walk in the door and know you belong there. If you walk out the door feeling relief, that is where you need to be. If you walk out the door feeling worse, keep looking. Shake the dust off your feet and know that God will help you get to wherever it is you need to be. Just do your part and keep trying.
He loved you the day your soul was sent into your tiny body and He will love you until your soul returns home to Him. He loved you when He put the calling to serve this nation into your heart and He knew it would come with many hardships for you. He also put what you need to heal from it within you. All you have to do is learn how to find it again.
PTSD is not God's judgment.
Jeremiah 29 11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
You may have heard the expression "God only gives us what we can handle" meaning anything bad that happens in our lives came from God as some kind of test. People don't understand that they are telling you God did it to you. Why would you pray to God for help if you believed He caused you the harm? You wouldn't. You'd think you deserved it for something you did wrong. The truth is, bad things happen to everyone and good things sometimes happen to bad people.
You were there to help others now let others be there for you.
If you doubt this then think of it this way. If you were meant to suffer, then why did God send so many people out to help veterans just like you? Why would He send you help to heal?
You may have run into people who are supposed to be helping you but without a clue about what you need. This happens all the time no matter what you are seeking. This does not mean the help you need is not there. You just haven't found it yet. Keep looking until you walk in the door and know you belong there. If you walk out the door feeling relief, that is where you need to be. If you walk out the door feeling worse, keep looking. Shake the dust off your feet and know that God will help you get to wherever it is you need to be. Just do your part and keep trying.
He loved you the day your soul was sent into your tiny body and He will love you until your soul returns home to Him. He loved you when He put the calling to serve this nation into your heart and He knew it would come with many hardships for you. He also put what you need to heal from it within you. All you have to do is learn how to find it again.
PTSD is not God's judgment.
Ex-drill sergeant soldiers on to become a gospel chart-topper
Ex-drill sergeant soldiers on to become a gospel chart-topper
By Hamil R. Harris, Published: August 7
Earnest Pugh’s old Army uniform, decorated with medals, hangs in the closet of his Bowie home. He wore it proudly for 15 years, the first dozen in active duty and three more in the Texas National Guard.
But in 2000, he retired as a first sergeant to pursue his other passion: music.
read more here
Ex drill sergeant soldiers on to become a gospel chart topper
By Hamil R. Harris, Published: August 7
Earnest Pugh’s old Army uniform, decorated with medals, hangs in the closet of his Bowie home. He wore it proudly for 15 years, the first dozen in active duty and three more in the Texas National Guard.
But in 2000, he retired as a first sergeant to pursue his other passion: music.
read more here
Ex drill sergeant soldiers on to become a gospel chart topper
Massacre Fort Hood hero police officers losing jobs over budget cuts
Officers who responded to 2009 Fort Hood shootings, hailed as heroes, losing their jobs
By Jeremy Schwartz
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
FORT HOOD — The two Fort Hood police officers celebrated as heroes for responding first to the 2009 shooting massacre at this Army post were told recently they would lose their jobs as part of broader military budget cuts.
Kimberly Munley and Mark Todd, who is credited with taking down suspected shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan, have both left Fort Hood in advance of the termination of their jobs. Fort Hood officials said other civilian police officers on the post who were hired on a year-to-year basis will likewise not see their employment renewed.
"We all hold Fort Hood in our hearts and never thought we would be facing cutbacks," said Munley, who has taken an unpaid leave of absence.
Fort Hood officials said the civilian police officers will be replaced with military police soldiers, or MPs, in a sign that the wartime posture of the Army's busiest deployment hub is slowing down. Officials said Fort Hood increased hiring of civilian officers in 2003 as military police soldiers were increasingly deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, a trend that is reversing.
read more here
Officers who responded to 2009 Fort Hood shootings
By Jeremy Schwartz
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
FORT HOOD — The two Fort Hood police officers celebrated as heroes for responding first to the 2009 shooting massacre at this Army post were told recently they would lose their jobs as part of broader military budget cuts.
Kimberly Munley and Mark Todd, who is credited with taking down suspected shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan, have both left Fort Hood in advance of the termination of their jobs. Fort Hood officials said other civilian police officers on the post who were hired on a year-to-year basis will likewise not see their employment renewed.
"We all hold Fort Hood in our hearts and never thought we would be facing cutbacks," said Munley, who has taken an unpaid leave of absence.
Fort Hood officials said the civilian police officers will be replaced with military police soldiers, or MPs, in a sign that the wartime posture of the Army's busiest deployment hub is slowing down. Officials said Fort Hood increased hiring of civilian officers in 2003 as military police soldiers were increasingly deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, a trend that is reversing.
read more here
Officers who responded to 2009 Fort Hood shootings
Lie detector equipment being put to use on PTSD
While it is a fact a veteran with PTSD has physical signs of it with racing heartbeats, nervous twitches and sweating along with facial reactions, this may help, but depending on what questions are asked the answers might not meet what their bodies are saying.
Researchers Look for Veterans to Help with PTSD Study
Posted Mon, Aug 08, 2011
By Bobbie O'Brien
TAMPA (2011-8-8) -
A team of researchers in Tampa and Cambridge is using current technology to measures physiological responses linked to PTSD symptoms in the hopes of developing a test for PTSD that any clinician can use.
An increasing number of combat veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq are in danger of developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Diagnosing the anxiety disorder is difficult and has led to denied claims and delayed help for some veterans.
Andrea Webb, a psychophysiologist with Draper Laboratories, studies physiological responses such as heart rate and perspiration that are linked to ones mental state. She specialized in lie detectors but is expanding to use the current technology to help diagnose PTSD.
read more here
Researchers Look for Veterans to Help with PTSD Study
Fort Levenworth hearing set for Sgt. John Russell
Before you judge, what happened is one of the reasons things changed for soldier seeking help with PTSD. There were lapses in how the Army addressed soldiers seeking help but this discovery was too late to save the lives of the five service members he is accused of killing.
Hearing set for soldier in health clinic shootings
By JOHN MILBURN
Associated Press
Published: Monday, Aug. 8, 2011 - 12:09 am
Last Modified: Monday, Aug. 8, 2011 - 12:39 am
FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. -- A key military hearing will begin Monday for a U.S. soldier charged in a 2009 shooting that killed five service members at a mental health clinic in Iraq.
Army Sgt. John Russell is accused of carrying out the deadliest act of soldier-on-soldier violence during the war in Iraq. The case brought attention to the issues of combat stress and morale as troops increasingly served multiple combat tours.
Russell had gone to counseling to deal with combat stress, but an investigation found lapses in how the military monitored him and how authorities responded once the shooting began at a base on the edge of Baghdad.
Russell faces five counts of premeditated murder, two counts of attempted premeditated murder and one count of assault. During the hearing beginning Monday at Fort Leavenworth, a military officer will hear evidence and decide if Russell should face a military trial. The proceedings are similar to a civilian grand jury.
Read more: Hearing set for soldier in health clinic shootingsKilled in the shooting wereNavy Cmdr. Charles Springle, 52, of Wilmington, N.C.Pfc. Michael Edward Yates Jr., 19, of Federalsburg, Md.Dr. Matthew Houseal, of Amarillo, TexasSgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, 25, of Paterson, N.J.Spc. Jacob D. Barton, 20, of Lenox, Mo.
Neighbors rally against hateful "Glad you have cancer" sign
The spelling on the sign said it all. The person who wrote it was not very well educated aside from being hateful.
Neighbors rally against " Glad you have cancer" sign
People who live in one Rhode Island neighborhood are rallying around the cancer victim targeted by a hateful sign.
Hotel standoff ends peacefully with suicidal veteran
Hotel standoff ends peacefully
7:09 PM, Aug 7, 2011
Written by
KARE 11 Staff Writer
ROSEVILLE, Minn. -- Over 100 people were forced to evacuate a Roseville hotel early Sunday morning as police tried to make contact with a suicidal guest.
A 34-year-old St. Paul man threatened suicide and barricaded himself in his hotel room at the Roseville Residence Inn when police tried to talk to him.
Authorities say the man has a military background and may be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.
read more here
Hotel standoff ends peacefully
7:09 PM, Aug 7, 2011
Written by
KARE 11 Staff Writer
ROSEVILLE, Minn. -- Over 100 people were forced to evacuate a Roseville hotel early Sunday morning as police tried to make contact with a suicidal guest.
A 34-year-old St. Paul man threatened suicide and barricaded himself in his hotel room at the Roseville Residence Inn when police tried to talk to him.
Authorities say the man has a military background and may be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.
read more here
Hotel standoff ends peacefully
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Some troops killed in helo crash identified
Some troops killed in helo crash identified
The Associated Press and staff report
Posted : Sunday Aug 7, 2011 16:42:11 EDT
Reports identifying some of the U.S. troops killed when their helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan began circulating Sunday.
Thirty Americans and eight Afghans were killed in the crash, making it the deadliest single loss for U.S. forces in the decade-long war in Afghanistan.
The following is a collection of reports from the Associated Press where family members identified some of the Americans killed in the crash.
Some troops killed in helo crash identified
Also
Spc. Spencer Duncan
The Associated Press and staff report
Posted : Sunday Aug 7, 2011 16:42:11 EDT
Reports identifying some of the U.S. troops killed when their helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan began circulating Sunday.
Thirty Americans and eight Afghans were killed in the crash, making it the deadliest single loss for U.S. forces in the decade-long war in Afghanistan.
The following is a collection of reports from the Associated Press where family members identified some of the Americans killed in the crash.
read more hereAIR FORCE TECH SGT. JOHN W. BROWN LITTLE ROCK, Ark.
ARMY SPECIALIST 4 SPENCER C. DUNCAN OLATHE, Kan.
ARMY SGT. PATRICK HAMBURGER OMAHA, Neb.
PETTY OFFICER FIRST CLASS MICHAEL STRANGE, PHILADELPHIA
AARON CARSON VAUGHN NASHVILLE, Tenn.
Some troops killed in helo crash identified
Special Operation Soldier Killed
Also
Green Forest AR Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan helicopter crash
U.S. Navy SEAL Tommy Ratzlaff was a 1995 graduate of Green Forest High School.
Chad Plein, KY3 News
cplein@ky3.com
4:23 p.m. CDT, August 7, 2011
GREEN FOREST, Ark.—
Family members tell KY3 News, U.S. Navy SEAL Tommy Ratzlaff of Green Forest, Arkansas, was killed in action in the Afghanistan helicopter crash.
We're told it was Ratzlaff's childhood dream to serve his country. In 1995, Ratzlaff joined the Navy out of high school and Ratzlaff's sister told KY3's Chad Plein, Tommy would appreciate the well-wishes his family has received but added, "Tommy would want the focus of his sacrifice to be on the cause, not on the sacrifice itself."
The family received news of Ratzlaff's death by the U.S. Navy Saturday around 10:30 a.m. Services have yet to be finalized.
U.S. Navy SEAL Tommy Ratzlaff leaves behind a wife, two boys aged 11 and six, and a child on-the-way; a baby girl due in November. He was 35-years-old.
read more about him here
Green Forest AR Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan
In Copter Crash in Afghanistan, a Double Loss for Shreveport
By THOM SHANKER
Published: August 7, 2011
WASHINGTON — The helicopter crash in Afghanistan that killed 30 American servicemen, including 22 members of the Navy’s most elite counterterrorism unit, brought the pain of a double loss to a Louisiana river port on Sunday.
One town, Shreveport. Two high school friends, Robert James Reeves and Jonas Kelsall. Both overcame extreme tests and rigorous training to serve on the same elite Seal team. Both were assigned the same mission, and put in the same helicopter, only to perish together over the weekend.
read more here
Double Loss for Shreveport
Parents share memories of son killed in Afghanistan chopper crash
By Oscar Valenzuela - bio | email
Robert and Mary Vickers sat down at their home on Maui to share a few memories about their son Kraig.
Kraig's father had coached his son's high school wrestling team where he excelled, and wasn't too surprised when their son told him and his wife Mary he had some news.
"He came home one day and informed us he had enlisted." said his mother Mary.
Not one to miss an opportunity for humor, Kraig showed his father a coffee mug that the Navy recruiter had given him.
"I said what's with this, you know the coffee mug? 'I signed up' he said, 'if I sign up for an extra year they'll give me another cup.' He liked to make people laugh. I told him there's only one class clown in this family, that was me but he out did me." said his father Robert.
But Kraig Vickers new job was no laughing matter. He had signed on to be a part of the Navy's explosive ordinance disposal team, a bomb expert.
Robert Vickers explained part of what his son did for a living. "Part of his job was to set up the training for the Seals so he would go in and set up the booby traps and stuff like that."
read more here
Parents share memories of son killed in Afghanistan chopper crash
Blanding man among Navy SEALs killed in Afghanistan
Published: Sunday, Aug. 7, 2011 8:07 p.m. MDT
By Pat Reavy
and Sandra Yi, Deseret News
BLANDING, San Juan County — Jason Workman knew since he was a young boy that he wanted to be a Navy SEAL.
He knew the odds of making the elite fighting force were slim. Workman not only accomplished his goal, but he also became a member of the elite Navy SEAL Team 6.
Saturday, Petty Officer First Class Jason Workman, 32, was among the 31 Americans killed, including 22 members of SEAL Team 6, when their helicopter was shot down by insurgents in Afghanistan.
Members of the SEAL Team 6 were responsible for killing Osama bin Laden.
Sunday, the small southern Utah town of Blanding, where flags flew at half staff, was in mourning over the loss of their hometown hero. The town of about 3,000 people has already lost two other servicemen in the war.
"This community loved what this young man was doing for us, as well as our other soldiers are doing for us," said Blanding Mayor Toni Turk.
Workman was a man that even if residents hadn't personally met, they were proud to call him one of their own.
"We are so proud of someone like Jason being from a small town to become an elite special forces soldier," said his childhood friend Tate Bennett.
read more here
Blanding man among Navy SEALs killed in Afghanistan
Three Area Soldiers Among the 30 Killed in Taliban Chopper Attack
Three Area Soldiers Among the 30 Killed in Taliban Chopper Attack
KANSAS CITY, Mo.
The U.S. Army says three men from the Kansas City area were killed in the Chinook helicopter attack that took the lives of 30 American soldiers on Friday. Officials have not yet released the names of two of the men, pending family notification.
Those who knew the 21-year-old say he was a soldier through and through. Friends say he could've taken apart the Chinook helicopter he was on and put it back together again. Those same friends are having trouble keeping it together as they deal with the loss of Duncan.
Kansas boy wants world to recognize his fallen father
By Moni Basu, CNN
August 9, 2011 7:14 a.m. EDT
Bryan Nichols, left, is seen sitting with four of his Army buddies in front of a military aircraft.STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Braydon Nichols, 10, sent in a photo of his father to CNN's iReport
His father, Bryan Nichols, was killed when the Chinook went down in Afghanistan
Braydon couldn't understand why the Navy SEALs were drawing attention, but not his dad
Bryan Nichols was to have come home on leave in nine days
(CNN) -- A young boy in Kansas was among millions in America who watched the horrifying news this past weekend about the Chinook that went down in Afghanistan's Wardak province.
That boy in Kansas soon found out that his father, a U.S. Army pilot, was aboard the doomed helicopter.
In the midst of his world shattering, he could not understand why the Navy SEALs drew so much attention. There were 30 Americans on board that Chinook. Why wasn't anyone mentioning his father, a chief warrant officer with Bravo Company, 7th Battalion, 155th Aviation Regiment?
So he sent in a photograph to CNN's iReport of his dad, Bryan Nichols, sitting with four of his Army buddies in front of a military aircraft.
"My father was one of the 30 US Soldiers killed in Afghanistan yesterday with the Seals rescue mission," he wrote. "My father was the pilot of the chinook. I have seen other pictures of victims from this deadly mission and wish you would include a picture of my father. He is the farthest to the left."
read more here
Kansas boy wants world to recognize his fallen father
Update: Iowan killed in copter crash always wanted to be a SEAL
Written by
TIFFANY DE MASTERS
Jon Tumilson always wanted to be a U.S. Navy SEAL.
“He was going to be a Navy SEAL since I can’t remember when,” said Jan Stowe of Rockford, who has been a neighbor of the Tumilson family for 33 years. Tumilson, 35, was one of 30 Americans to die Saturday in Afghanistan when their helicopter was shot down.
“We watched him grow up,” Stowe said Sunday. “We had a tightknit group of kids in the neighborhood. … They played together every day.”
Family members declined to comment Sunday beyond confirming Tumilson’s death in the most deadly attack on American forces since the war in Afghanistan began 10 years ago.
read more here
Iowan killed in copter crash always wanted to be a SEAL
Fallen Navy SEAL was ‘special kid’
‘He died doing what he loved’
By Christine McConville
Monday, August 8, 2011
The Hyannis-raised Navy SEAL killed Saturday in the deadly helicopter crash in Afghanistan was just a little boy when he decided to become part of the elite Navy commando unit.
By age 36, Kevin Houston had more than accomplished his goal. During his three tours in Afghanistan, he’d earned a Purple Heart, two Bronze Stars and numerous other military honors, a longtime Cape Cod friend said yesterday.
“He died doing what he loved,” said Chris Kelly of Osterville, a Vietnam veteran who was a mentor to the younger Houston. “And he wouldn’t have done it any other way. He went out to rescue his buddies, and he got shot down.”
read more here
Fallen Navy SEAL was special kid
Navy SEAL Community Handles Grief Quietly
August 7, 2011
Stamford Man Died In Chinook Attack In Afghanistan
Brian Bill Is Remembered By Friends, Family And Comrades For His High Personal Standards, Strong Work Ethic And Selflessness
August 08, 2011|By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY, cdempsey@courant.com, The Hartford Courant
Brian Bill was a skier, pilot and triathlete who aspired to become an astronaut. He was also a member of the elite U.S. Navy SEALs fighting in Afghanistan.
The 1997 graduate of Trinity Catholic High in Stamford was one of 30 U.S. troops killed over the weekend when a Chinook helicopter crashed after being fired on in Afghanistan.
read more here
Stamford Man Died In Chinook Attack In Afghanistan
Former Hays resident killed in Afghanistan
8/9/2011
By GARY DEMUTH Salina Journal
HAYS -- Bryan Nichols, the pilot of the Chinook helicopter shot down Saturday in Afghanistan, was remembered as someone who didn't make a decision without a lot of thought.
"Once he made his mind up, he was on a path and didn't deviate from it," said Kathy Taylor, Nichols' former guidance counselor at Thomas More Prep-Marian High School in Hays, where Nichols graduated in 1998.
"He checked things out and knew what he was doing when he enlisted right after high school," she said.
After joining the Army Reserves, Nichols studied to become a helicopter pilot.
"He flew hundreds of missions, brought groups in and out," Taylor said.
Nichols, 31, a Kansas City resident, was among the 30 Americans killed when their North Atlantic Treaty Organization CH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down in Wardak province west of Kabul in eastern Afghanistan.
read more here
Former Hays resident killed in Afghanistan
Spc. Spencer Duncan
Group of Newark area vets working to help next generation
Group of Newark area vets working to help next generation
Written by
Anna Sudar
Advocate Reporter
NEWARK -- When Laird Lee returned home from the Vietnam war, he didn't receive a warm welcome.
Like many other Vietnam veterans, people called him names and spit on him.
A Purple Heart veteran, Lee decided to turn his negative experience into something positive. He joined the Glenn Cunningham Chapter 840 of The Military Order of the Purple Heart to make sure veterans of the next generation get the honor they deserve.
"We remember that, and that's why now we have an organization here in Newark. We are trying to let (veterans) know they deserve to be heroes and welcome them home," Lee said. "That's why we are putting our hearts and souls into this."
read more here
Group of Newark area vets working to help next generation
Written by
Anna Sudar
Advocate Reporter
NEWARK -- When Laird Lee returned home from the Vietnam war, he didn't receive a warm welcome.
Like many other Vietnam veterans, people called him names and spit on him.
A Purple Heart veteran, Lee decided to turn his negative experience into something positive. He joined the Glenn Cunningham Chapter 840 of The Military Order of the Purple Heart to make sure veterans of the next generation get the honor they deserve.
"We remember that, and that's why now we have an organization here in Newark. We are trying to let (veterans) know they deserve to be heroes and welcome them home," Lee said. "That's why we are putting our hearts and souls into this."
read more here
Group of Newark area vets working to help next generation
Donut Dollies provided touch of home in combat zones of Vietnam
Saluting Vietnam Vets: Donut Dollies provided touch of home
BY ALEX MCRAE
THE TIMES-HERALD
Today, women serve in almost every job in every branch of the U.S. military -- but during the Vietnam War, far fewer females were members of the military, and most of those who served in Vietnam were nurses.
The work that female members of the military did was vital. Not long after the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall was dedicated in Washington, D.C., in 1982, an effort began to honor the more than 260,000 women who served in the military during the Vietnam era.
In November 1993, the Vietnam Women's Memorial was dedicated. The memorial depicts three nurses tending to a fallen soldier. It is the first memorial in the nation's capital honoring the military service of American women.
But while military nurses played a crucial role in the war and saved the lives of thousands of soldiers, Vietnam veterans will never forget another group of females who didn't wear military uniforms, but dresses that marked them as workers with the American Red Cross.
They served at bases across the country, lifting spirits, helping with day-to-day needs of the troops and providing what the women called "A touch of home in the combat zone."
read more here
Donut Dollies provided touch of home
BY ALEX MCRAE
THE TIMES-HERALD
Today, women serve in almost every job in every branch of the U.S. military -- but during the Vietnam War, far fewer females were members of the military, and most of those who served in Vietnam were nurses.
The work that female members of the military did was vital. Not long after the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall was dedicated in Washington, D.C., in 1982, an effort began to honor the more than 260,000 women who served in the military during the Vietnam era.
In November 1993, the Vietnam Women's Memorial was dedicated. The memorial depicts three nurses tending to a fallen soldier. It is the first memorial in the nation's capital honoring the military service of American women.
But while military nurses played a crucial role in the war and saved the lives of thousands of soldiers, Vietnam veterans will never forget another group of females who didn't wear military uniforms, but dresses that marked them as workers with the American Red Cross.
They served at bases across the country, lifting spirits, helping with day-to-day needs of the troops and providing what the women called "A touch of home in the combat zone."
read more here
Donut Dollies provided touch of home
LORD my God has given me rest on every side
by
Chaplain Kathie
When we talk about the men and women serving in the military and the veterans in this country, this passage is used most of the time.
Why? Because they were willing to die for the sake of their friends and for strangers. Then there is this passage.
This is what they have inside of them making them so much different from the rest of us. We can't seem to wrap our brains around what makes them do it. How does a person surrender everything the rest of us seek, be prepared to endure every hardship, separation from their families and friends and put their lives on the line knowing when they come home, no one will really care that much about what they did?
It is already inside of them. It is what makes a cop willing to face off with criminals everyday. They do it because innocent people get hurt by the actions of others.
It is what makes a firefighter ready to rush into a burning building.
It is what makes National Guardsmen ready to face natural disasters in their communities and know that they can be sent away from their families, friends and jobs to be deployed into combat along side of regular military folks, knowing they will not be seen as equals by them.
It is what causes a high school student to think of nothing else than entering into military service.
It is what they are called to do but above that, all that is required for them to be able to do it has been within them since the day they were born.
When you talk to people and ask them why they decided to do what they do with their lives, the happiest people said they never thought of doing anything else. They have followed where they were led.
Most of the time their calling requires hardships and sacrifices but they are ready to face them. Sometimes these struggles overpower them and that is when they need help. The problem is, how does a person like this ask for help when they are the ones always there to help someone else?
I am not in the military and never served but I can tell you in my own life, asking for help is the hardest thing I have done. It doesn't matter how many times I've helped others, thinking no less of them, when it comes to my need for help. I try to do everything on my own first, sink myself into the work I do, then cry at night when there is nothing else but the sound of my own thoughts. I talk to God. I tell Him what He already knows as if any of my failures should surprise Him when He sees everything. I cry out to Him screaming for His help but as the joke goes, He sent me help in the form of other people, but I refused to accept it. Then guilt sets in. I must be suffering because it is my fault, which it is but not in the way it really was. I wasn't good enough. I wasn't strong enough. I didn't try hard enough. The real fault was that I didn't trust enough to let someone help me. Strange because I expect others to trust me.
So these men and women come home reluctant to ask for help as if there is any kind of shame in it and their souls pay the price. They think it is all their fault. What adds to this is the fact basically the military tells them it is their fault if they are suffering. They didn't train their brains to overcome it. They did not become resilient as if building a wall to separate them from all they go through would do any good when the military does not offer them a sledgehammer to take that wall back down when they are back home. That wall traps in the bad memories as much as it traps out the good ones.
When they do ask for help they are handed pills to take. Medications have their place in all of this but if no therapy is given, all these pills do is numb them to emotions.
When they are given therapy mentally and spiritually, the first thing they do is cry. A flood of tears comes rushing out and with every tear, the pain they carried. If therapy stops before they have addressed all the events causing the pain then there is a residual pain left behind.
When they understand that they will not be cured they are willing to accept being healed. What cannot be reversed, they are able to cope and make peace with it. This comes when they forgive themselves as well as know they were forgiven.
There is a passage in Kings addressing the building of the Temple. Solomon talks about finding rest on every side where there is no adversary or disaster.
Solomon was very wise but even he knew how to ask for help to build the Temple understanding there were people experienced in doing what he needed done. He did not expect God to just have supplied them automatically any more than he expected the men he had to suddenly know everything they needed to know. It is the same with the veterans in this country. They had to train to be able to do their jobs but no one trained them to ask for help to recover from all of it and find rest on every side.
There are people we face everyday wanting noting more than to destroy us just as we find people wanting nothing more than to help us. There are disasters, trials, tribulations entering into every life but the more we are able to feel, the more we are changed by these events. The more a person is able to feel good emotions, like love and compassion, the more they feel the bad emotions caused by events and the suffering of others. They need "skilled" people to help them to rebuild their lives and rediscover the equipped soul they were born with. This Temple is not built with cedar but with faith and knowing the love of God lasts forever. This enemy God can put under their feet is not man but the enemy within them trying to destroy all that God created within them that was good. They forget why they wanted to serve and why they were willing to lay down their lives. All they see is what was bad about what they had to do.
PTSD blocks their ability to see themselves for what they were and all the good that is still inside of them
They need help to see past the cedars surrounding them so they can once again see themselves as God sees them. The same person God placed on this earth to be able to face danger for the sake of someone else.
When they are healed they reach back to help others get to that place of rest where there is hope, compassion for them until the day comes when they know they are able to find peace with the warrior they had to be.
Chaplain Kathie
When we talk about the men and women serving in the military and the veterans in this country, this passage is used most of the time.
John 15:13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Why? Because they were willing to die for the sake of their friends and for strangers. Then there is this passage.
1 John 3:16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
This is what they have inside of them making them so much different from the rest of us. We can't seem to wrap our brains around what makes them do it. How does a person surrender everything the rest of us seek, be prepared to endure every hardship, separation from their families and friends and put their lives on the line knowing when they come home, no one will really care that much about what they did?
It is already inside of them. It is what makes a cop willing to face off with criminals everyday. They do it because innocent people get hurt by the actions of others.
It is what makes a firefighter ready to rush into a burning building.
It is what makes National Guardsmen ready to face natural disasters in their communities and know that they can be sent away from their families, friends and jobs to be deployed into combat along side of regular military folks, knowing they will not be seen as equals by them.
It is what causes a high school student to think of nothing else than entering into military service.
It is what they are called to do but above that, all that is required for them to be able to do it has been within them since the day they were born.
When you talk to people and ask them why they decided to do what they do with their lives, the happiest people said they never thought of doing anything else. They have followed where they were led.
Most of the time their calling requires hardships and sacrifices but they are ready to face them. Sometimes these struggles overpower them and that is when they need help. The problem is, how does a person like this ask for help when they are the ones always there to help someone else?
I am not in the military and never served but I can tell you in my own life, asking for help is the hardest thing I have done. It doesn't matter how many times I've helped others, thinking no less of them, when it comes to my need for help. I try to do everything on my own first, sink myself into the work I do, then cry at night when there is nothing else but the sound of my own thoughts. I talk to God. I tell Him what He already knows as if any of my failures should surprise Him when He sees everything. I cry out to Him screaming for His help but as the joke goes, He sent me help in the form of other people, but I refused to accept it. Then guilt sets in. I must be suffering because it is my fault, which it is but not in the way it really was. I wasn't good enough. I wasn't strong enough. I didn't try hard enough. The real fault was that I didn't trust enough to let someone help me. Strange because I expect others to trust me.
So these men and women come home reluctant to ask for help as if there is any kind of shame in it and their souls pay the price. They think it is all their fault. What adds to this is the fact basically the military tells them it is their fault if they are suffering. They didn't train their brains to overcome it. They did not become resilient as if building a wall to separate them from all they go through would do any good when the military does not offer them a sledgehammer to take that wall back down when they are back home. That wall traps in the bad memories as much as it traps out the good ones.
When they do ask for help they are handed pills to take. Medications have their place in all of this but if no therapy is given, all these pills do is numb them to emotions.
When they are given therapy mentally and spiritually, the first thing they do is cry. A flood of tears comes rushing out and with every tear, the pain they carried. If therapy stops before they have addressed all the events causing the pain then there is a residual pain left behind.
When they understand that they will not be cured they are willing to accept being healed. What cannot be reversed, they are able to cope and make peace with it. This comes when they forgive themselves as well as know they were forgiven.
There is a passage in Kings addressing the building of the Temple. Solomon talks about finding rest on every side where there is no adversary or disaster.
1 Kings 5
Preparations for Building the Temple
3 “You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD put his enemies under his feet. 4 But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. 5 I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God, as the LORD told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’
6 “So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.”
7 When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was greatly pleased and said, “Praise be to the LORD today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”
Solomon was very wise but even he knew how to ask for help to build the Temple understanding there were people experienced in doing what he needed done. He did not expect God to just have supplied them automatically any more than he expected the men he had to suddenly know everything they needed to know. It is the same with the veterans in this country. They had to train to be able to do their jobs but no one trained them to ask for help to recover from all of it and find rest on every side.
There are people we face everyday wanting noting more than to destroy us just as we find people wanting nothing more than to help us. There are disasters, trials, tribulations entering into every life but the more we are able to feel, the more we are changed by these events. The more a person is able to feel good emotions, like love and compassion, the more they feel the bad emotions caused by events and the suffering of others. They need "skilled" people to help them to rebuild their lives and rediscover the equipped soul they were born with. This Temple is not built with cedar but with faith and knowing the love of God lasts forever. This enemy God can put under their feet is not man but the enemy within them trying to destroy all that God created within them that was good. They forget why they wanted to serve and why they were willing to lay down their lives. All they see is what was bad about what they had to do.
PTSD blocks their ability to see themselves for what they were and all the good that is still inside of them
They need help to see past the cedars surrounding them so they can once again see themselves as God sees them. The same person God placed on this earth to be able to face danger for the sake of someone else.
When they are healed they reach back to help others get to that place of rest where there is hope, compassion for them until the day comes when they know they are able to find peace with the warrior they had to be.
Homeless Army Veteran Gets Help After Story Airs On WUSA 9
Homeless Army Veteran Gets Help After Story Airs On WUSA 9
7:09 PM, Aug 5, 2011
Written by
Lindsey Mastis
GREENBELT, Md. (WUSA) -- Desiree Curtis, 50, is a homeless veteran determined to get back on her feet. But a surgery she desperately needs is the reason she's being kept out of one transitional housing program.
9 NEWS NOW's Lindsey Mastis first learned about this story on Facebook.
The Army Veteran left her job last October. Her savings ran out, and she became homeless in June.
Curtis says she found transitional housing that helps her with her job search at Perry Point, located North of Baltimore. But there's a problem.
"In the midst of my job search, that's when I found out I have to have two surgeries," she said.
Doctors discovered she has fibroid tumors. Curtis needs to undergo a hysterectomy in a month.
"It takes four to six weeks to recover," she said.
According to the VA Maryland Health Care System, Curtis cannot move into the program at Perry Point because "Veterans... must not need acute psychiatric or medical care."
read more here
Homeless Army Veteran Gets Help After Story Airs On WUSA 9
7:09 PM, Aug 5, 2011
Written by
Lindsey Mastis
GREENBELT, Md. (WUSA) -- Desiree Curtis, 50, is a homeless veteran determined to get back on her feet. But a surgery she desperately needs is the reason she's being kept out of one transitional housing program.
9 NEWS NOW's Lindsey Mastis first learned about this story on Facebook.
The Army Veteran left her job last October. Her savings ran out, and she became homeless in June.
Curtis says she found transitional housing that helps her with her job search at Perry Point, located North of Baltimore. But there's a problem.
"In the midst of my job search, that's when I found out I have to have two surgeries," she said.
Doctors discovered she has fibroid tumors. Curtis needs to undergo a hysterectomy in a month.
"It takes four to six weeks to recover," she said.
According to the VA Maryland Health Care System, Curtis cannot move into the program at Perry Point because "Veterans... must not need acute psychiatric or medical care."
read more here
Homeless Army Veteran Gets Help After Story Airs On WUSA 9
Staff Sgt. James Wilson survives battleground but loses a war with another enemy
He was a Marine, a cop and citizen soldier. He was trained to do it all and he was fearless. He was still just a man. This man carried more on his shoulders than he could carry alone but that is what he thought he had to do.
He faced all of this and still did his job, did what was expected of him. This story tells of his life but it also shows just how strong PTSD is. They face bullets and bombs in combat, but walk away. What they cannot walk away from is a much stronger enemy determined to destroy them. This one won't retreat unless the men and women coming home from combat are trained to use the only weapon that can defeat it. Getting help.
Staff Sgt. James Wilson survives battleground but loses a war with another enemy
Published: Sunday, August 07, 2011, 12:01 AM
By IVEY DEJESUS, The Patriot-News
The truck barreled past Robert Rafferty as the light turned green. Rafferty swerved and slammed the brakes.
The 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee veered off into the opposite lane where Eisenhower Boulevard dips under the Pennsylvania Turnpike overpass in Lower Swatara Township. It hit the curve and flipped over twice, landing on the roof.
Rafferty jumped out of his car.
A man had crawled halfway out of the driver’s door. He was bald and wore a brown jacket.
“Hey, mister, are you OK?” Rafferty asked.
“Yeah,” said the man on the ground.
The truck was on fire.
“I have to get you out of here,” Rafferty said.
“OK,” said the man.
Rafferty leaned to pull him out, but the man reached back for something in the truck.
That man, Staff Sgt. James C. Wilson — Jimmy to everyone who knew him — had always carried a gun. A fascination kindled at a young age in the woods near his father’s Huntingdon home had lured him into the military and law enforcement.
read more here
Staff Sgt. James Wilson survives battleground but loses a war with another enemy
"Nothing frazzled Wilson. Not the enemy. Not the snipers. Not the landmines. Not the drug dealers he chased as a cop. Wilson was fearless. The Marine Corps had drilled that into him. “You eyeball me, boy, I’ll smack you,” he liked to taunt.
Wilson returned home in November, the Pennsylvania National Guard’s Company C, 1st Battalion, 110th Infantry having finished its 10-month tour in Afghanistan. Wilson had volunteered for it two years ago when he returned from his tour with the 56th Stryker Brigade in Iraq."
He faced all of this and still did his job, did what was expected of him. This story tells of his life but it also shows just how strong PTSD is. They face bullets and bombs in combat, but walk away. What they cannot walk away from is a much stronger enemy determined to destroy them. This one won't retreat unless the men and women coming home from combat are trained to use the only weapon that can defeat it. Getting help.
U.S. Army SSG. James Wilson, Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul security forces team leader during a village patrol in Afghanistan. DANIEL SHAKAL, For The Patriot-News/file
Staff Sgt. James Wilson survives battleground but loses a war with another enemy
Published: Sunday, August 07, 2011, 12:01 AM
By IVEY DEJESUS, The Patriot-News
The truck barreled past Robert Rafferty as the light turned green. Rafferty swerved and slammed the brakes.
The 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee veered off into the opposite lane where Eisenhower Boulevard dips under the Pennsylvania Turnpike overpass in Lower Swatara Township. It hit the curve and flipped over twice, landing on the roof.
Rafferty jumped out of his car.
A man had crawled halfway out of the driver’s door. He was bald and wore a brown jacket.
“Hey, mister, are you OK?” Rafferty asked.
“Yeah,” said the man on the ground.
The truck was on fire.
“I have to get you out of here,” Rafferty said.
“OK,” said the man.
Rafferty leaned to pull him out, but the man reached back for something in the truck.
That man, Staff Sgt. James C. Wilson — Jimmy to everyone who knew him — had always carried a gun. A fascination kindled at a young age in the woods near his father’s Huntingdon home had lured him into the military and law enforcement.
read more here
Staff Sgt. James Wilson survives battleground but loses a war with another enemy
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Price of Purple Heart, blood and $21 COD fee
Rob Dickerson, Army Veteran, Forced To Pay $21 C.O.D. For Purple Heart Medal
Ben Muessig
Retired Sgt. Major Rob Dickerson says that's the price he was forced to pay when his Purple Heart -- the medal issued to soldiers wounded in action -- arrived at his door, C.O.D.
Instead of being awarded the military honor in a formal ceremony, the vet with 29 years in the service was handed his award, and a shipping invoice, by a FedEx deliveryman outside his Sioux Falls, S.D., home.
"Leaders need to pay attention and take care of soldiers," Dickerson told The Huffington Post. "This is a gross injustice."
The shipping-and-handling fiasco was the last aggravation for Dickerson in his four-year quest to get the medal. His story was first reported by Keloland.com.
In 2007, he was a reservist embedded as an advisor to Iraqi soldiers. He was training troops to fight the insurgency, when a rocket exploded nearby and severely injured him.
"It threw me 20, 25 feet in the air -- it just crumpled me," said Dickerson, who said the blow inflicted a traumatic brain injury, shrapnel wounds, injuries to his right shoulder, lower back and neck and nerve damage in his hip.
read more here
Army Veteran, Forced To Pay COD For Purple Heart Medal
Ben Muessig
Retired Sgt. Major Rob Dickerson says he had to pay $21 in shipping fees for his Purple Heart award, earned after he was wounded in Iraq in 2007.War comes with an incalculable human cost. And apparently a shipping fee of about $21.
Retired Sgt. Major Rob Dickerson says that's the price he was forced to pay when his Purple Heart -- the medal issued to soldiers wounded in action -- arrived at his door, C.O.D.
Instead of being awarded the military honor in a formal ceremony, the vet with 29 years in the service was handed his award, and a shipping invoice, by a FedEx deliveryman outside his Sioux Falls, S.D., home.
"Leaders need to pay attention and take care of soldiers," Dickerson told The Huffington Post. "This is a gross injustice."
The shipping-and-handling fiasco was the last aggravation for Dickerson in his four-year quest to get the medal. His story was first reported by Keloland.com.
In 2007, he was a reservist embedded as an advisor to Iraqi soldiers. He was training troops to fight the insurgency, when a rocket exploded nearby and severely injured him.
"It threw me 20, 25 feet in the air -- it just crumpled me," said Dickerson, who said the blow inflicted a traumatic brain injury, shrapnel wounds, injuries to his right shoulder, lower back and neck and nerve damage in his hip.
read more here
Army Veteran, Forced To Pay COD For Purple Heart Medal
James A. Haley VA paid big bonuses in tight 2009 budget
Haley VA paid big bonuses in tight 2009 budget
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, August 6, 2011
TAMPA — One of the nation's busiest veteran hospitals found itself in a money crunch in 2009.
Leaders at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center worked frantically to find funds to offset a deficit that, at one point, was projected at more than $25 million, financial records show.
Travel costs were curtailed. Overtime scrutinized. Potential hires prioritized.
But amid the cuts, one budget item nearly tripled:
Employee bonuses.
Haley paid its 175 business office employees $553,000 in fiscal 2009 bonuses, up from $196,000 the year before, according to Haley and budget records. Bonuses largely went up, Haley officials say, because of a new hospital program that rewarded workers who exceeded goals collecting money owed by insurers and veterans.
Collections went up 14 percent that year to $82 million compared to 2008. Bonuses shot up 181 percent. As bonuses climbed, so, too, did billing refunds.
Refunds of veteran co-pays climbed from $426,525 in fiscal 2007 to $1.5 million in 2010, Haley confirmed.
Haley officials describe the refunds as routine for any Department of Veterans Affairs hospital and said they do not point to flawed billing.
Some say the VA needs to be more forthcoming about bonuses in trying financial times.
Haley's 2009 bonuses "stand out like a search beacon in the desert," said Paul Sullivan, a veterans advocate who is the executive director of Veterans for Common Sense in Washington, D.C.
read more here
Haley VA paid big bonuses in tight 2009 budget
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, August 6, 2011
About 87,000 patients get treatment at Haley, ranked 9th among VA facilities nationally. Haley boasts what may be the premier polytrauma unit in the nation, where the most severely wounded veterans are treated.
TAMPA — One of the nation's busiest veteran hospitals found itself in a money crunch in 2009.
Leaders at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center worked frantically to find funds to offset a deficit that, at one point, was projected at more than $25 million, financial records show.
Travel costs were curtailed. Overtime scrutinized. Potential hires prioritized.
But amid the cuts, one budget item nearly tripled:
Employee bonuses.
Haley paid its 175 business office employees $553,000 in fiscal 2009 bonuses, up from $196,000 the year before, according to Haley and budget records. Bonuses largely went up, Haley officials say, because of a new hospital program that rewarded workers who exceeded goals collecting money owed by insurers and veterans.
Collections went up 14 percent that year to $82 million compared to 2008. Bonuses shot up 181 percent. As bonuses climbed, so, too, did billing refunds.
Refunds of veteran co-pays climbed from $426,525 in fiscal 2007 to $1.5 million in 2010, Haley confirmed.
Haley officials describe the refunds as routine for any Department of Veterans Affairs hospital and said they do not point to flawed billing.
Some say the VA needs to be more forthcoming about bonuses in trying financial times.
Haley's 2009 bonuses "stand out like a search beacon in the desert," said Paul Sullivan, a veterans advocate who is the executive director of Veterans for Common Sense in Washington, D.C.
read more here
Haley VA paid big bonuses in tight 2009 budget
300 Montana veterans waiting for VA to hire orthopedic surgeon?
300 Montana veterans wait for orthopedic surgery as VA tries to recruit surgeon
By CINDY UKEN Of The Gazette Staff
Posted: Saturday, August 6, 2011
At least 300 Montana veterans who need orthopedic surgery are on a waiting list while the Department of Veterans Affairs Montana Health Care System works to recruit a full-time surgeon to help ease the growing backlog of disabled — and often disgruntled — veterans.
To receive surgery, Montana veterans without private insurance must travel out of state for care or pay for it out of their pockets. To compound this problem, Montana veterans are being told that the VA facilities in Denver and Salt Lake City are too busy to accept Montana patients.
Subsequently, they are being placed on a waiting list that is approaching two years.
Read more: 300 Montana veterans wait for orthopedic surgery
By CINDY UKEN Of The Gazette Staff
Posted: Saturday, August 6, 2011
At least 300 Montana veterans who need orthopedic surgery are on a waiting list while the Department of Veterans Affairs Montana Health Care System works to recruit a full-time surgeon to help ease the growing backlog of disabled — and often disgruntled — veterans.
To receive surgery, Montana veterans without private insurance must travel out of state for care or pay for it out of their pockets. To compound this problem, Montana veterans are being told that the VA facilities in Denver and Salt Lake City are too busy to accept Montana patients.
Subsequently, they are being placed on a waiting list that is approaching two years.
Read more: 300 Montana veterans wait for orthopedic surgery
Hayworth Rallies Support for Bill to Save VA Hospitals from Developers
Hayworth Rallies Support for Bill to Save VA Hospitals from Developers
Buchanan press conference draws more than 100; H.R. 2642 would prevent Montrose, Castle Point campuses from being sold or leased
By Bryan Byrne
Rep. Nan Hayworth rallied support Friday, Aug. 5, from a Buchanan audience of more than 100 veterans and others for H.R. 2642, a bill she has introduced to protect hundreds of Veterans Administration acres along the Hudson River from being turned over to developers looking to use the land to build high-end condominiums.
"Decades ago a commision was was developed - with the best of intentions - to see how some of the VA campuses across the country might be repurposed," Hayworth told the gathering on the front lawn of Village Hall.
"A proposal, called an enhanced use lease, would lease 172 of the 184 acres of the Montrose VA campus for development. Our veterans have been very concerned about this plan and I can understand why."
H.R.2642 would prohibit the disposal of land or buildings by any means at the Montrose or Castle Point campuses of the Hudson Valley Health Care System. Both are in Hayworth's 19th District.
The congresswoman stressed the importance of the Montrose campus's capabilities for treating patients from the ongoing war on terror for such conditions as post-traumatic stress disorder.
read more here
Hayworth Rallies Support for Bill to Save VA Hospitals from Developers
Buchanan press conference draws more than 100; H.R. 2642 would prevent Montrose, Castle Point campuses from being sold or leased
By Bryan Byrne
"Do you know why we have freedom? There are five reasons: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard!" Karl Rohde
Rep. Nan Hayworth rallied support Friday, Aug. 5, from a Buchanan audience of more than 100 veterans and others for H.R. 2642, a bill she has introduced to protect hundreds of Veterans Administration acres along the Hudson River from being turned over to developers looking to use the land to build high-end condominiums.
"Decades ago a commision was was developed - with the best of intentions - to see how some of the VA campuses across the country might be repurposed," Hayworth told the gathering on the front lawn of Village Hall.
"A proposal, called an enhanced use lease, would lease 172 of the 184 acres of the Montrose VA campus for development. Our veterans have been very concerned about this plan and I can understand why."
H.R.2642 would prohibit the disposal of land or buildings by any means at the Montrose or Castle Point campuses of the Hudson Valley Health Care System. Both are in Hayworth's 19th District.
The congresswoman stressed the importance of the Montrose campus's capabilities for treating patients from the ongoing war on terror for such conditions as post-traumatic stress disorder.
read more here
Hayworth Rallies Support for Bill to Save VA Hospitals from Developers
Warrior Relaxation Response Center helping PTSD veterans to relax
Winning the battle against PTSD, fighting a battle for legitimacy
Comments 3
Therapy gets results, but not funding
August 08, 2011 1:00 PM
BARBARA COTTER
THE GAZETTE
In the two decades since Daniel Nieto served in the Gulf War, anxiety has dogged him nearly every day. He has trouble sleeping. Noises make him jump. He has panic attacks, an inability to concentrate and a social phobia that makes it difficult for him to be around people.
And this, he says, is just a “mild” case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
“I talk to guys who have it far worse than me,” the 42-year-old Army vet says.
Nieto is convinced that if active-duty military and vets with PTSD and other stress-related problems could spend time at Antione Johnson’s Warrior Relaxation Response Center in Colorado Springs, they’d find the same relief from anxiety that he has in just the few times he’s been there.
“Every day of your life, the problems follow you. Coming here to a place like this is tranquility,” says Nieto, who claims to be sleeping better and has greater control of his panic attacks.
Johnson would be delighted if more members of the military, past and present, availed themselves of his spa-like facility, tucked away in a nondescript strip mall near Circle Drive and Airport Road. A Gulf War vet himself, Johnson invested his and his wife’s savings to start the center in 2010, specifically to help people with PTSD, and he had high hopes that Fort Carson would send over the many “wounded warriors” who have suffered the emotional fallout from multiple deployments Iraq and Afghanistan.
Read more: Winning the battle against PTSD fighting a battle for legitimacy
Comments 3
Therapy gets results, but not funding
August 08, 2011 1:00 PM
BARBARA COTTER
THE GAZETTE
In the two decades since Daniel Nieto served in the Gulf War, anxiety has dogged him nearly every day. He has trouble sleeping. Noises make him jump. He has panic attacks, an inability to concentrate and a social phobia that makes it difficult for him to be around people.
And this, he says, is just a “mild” case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
“I talk to guys who have it far worse than me,” the 42-year-old Army vet says.
Nieto is convinced that if active-duty military and vets with PTSD and other stress-related problems could spend time at Antione Johnson’s Warrior Relaxation Response Center in Colorado Springs, they’d find the same relief from anxiety that he has in just the few times he’s been there.
“Every day of your life, the problems follow you. Coming here to a place like this is tranquility,” says Nieto, who claims to be sleeping better and has greater control of his panic attacks.
Johnson would be delighted if more members of the military, past and present, availed themselves of his spa-like facility, tucked away in a nondescript strip mall near Circle Drive and Airport Road. A Gulf War vet himself, Johnson invested his and his wife’s savings to start the center in 2010, specifically to help people with PTSD, and he had high hopes that Fort Carson would send over the many “wounded warriors” who have suffered the emotional fallout from multiple deployments Iraq and Afghanistan.
Read more: Winning the battle against PTSD fighting a battle for legitimacy
Veteran has to prove he isn't dead yet
False government death reports leave people in the lurch
BY SUSAN DEMAR LAFFERTY
The phrase “dead man walking” doesn’t tell the full story of what Tremayne Gray once had to go through.
The Country Club Hills man also was a “dead man” searching for a job, filling out an application — and being turned down.
Gray was 20 years old at the time, and his prospective employer, in conducting a background search, found that Gray was dead.
“I was so stunned,” said Gray, now 35 and still very much alive.
Gray did not get that job or others he applied for shortly afterward. Who wants to hire a dead person?
But Gray’s plight is similar to that of thousands of Americans who mistakenly are reported dead every year by the Social Security Administration or other federal agencies. And Illinois has one of the highest rates of making such grave mistakes, according to a recent report by Scripps Howard News Service.
“It’s weird,” South Chicago Heights resident Jeffrey Zych said of his similar experience with “death.” “It’s weird that you could stand there in front of someone and they would not take your word that you were alive.
read more here
False government death reports leave people in the lurch
BY SUSAN DEMAR LAFFERTY
The phrase “dead man walking” doesn’t tell the full story of what Tremayne Gray once had to go through.
The Country Club Hills man also was a “dead man” searching for a job, filling out an application — and being turned down.
Gray was 20 years old at the time, and his prospective employer, in conducting a background search, found that Gray was dead.
“I was so stunned,” said Gray, now 35 and still very much alive.
Gray did not get that job or others he applied for shortly afterward. Who wants to hire a dead person?
But Gray’s plight is similar to that of thousands of Americans who mistakenly are reported dead every year by the Social Security Administration or other federal agencies. And Illinois has one of the highest rates of making such grave mistakes, according to a recent report by Scripps Howard News Service.
“It’s weird,” South Chicago Heights resident Jeffrey Zych said of his similar experience with “death.” “It’s weird that you could stand there in front of someone and they would not take your word that you were alive.
read more here
False government death reports leave people in the lurch
St. Petersburg targets homeless veteran who lives in backyard shed
St. Petersburg targets homeless man who lives in backyard shed
By Luis Perez, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Aug 05, 2011
Times Staff Writer
ST. PETERSBURG — He's lived for years in the dirt alley off 18th Street and Burlington Avenue N, the white-bearded homeless veteran everyone knows as C.J.
His real name is Jon Bradshaw. For some, he is the neighborhood's trusted watchman. Those folks turned a blind eye when someone built a wooden shed so Bradshaw, 69, could lay his head.
Others view Bradshaw, often seen nursing a can of Natural Ice, as a neighborhood scar — an unwanted reminder of the old homeless tent city under Interstate 275.
Amid the city of St. Petersburg's much publicized crackdown on the homeless, an angry neighbor alerted a city code inspector to Bradshaw's makeshift home.
The resulting battle has pit neighbor against neighbor, and thrust Bradshaw from his life in the shadows into the city's high-profile effort to rid downtown streets of the homeless.
"I'm being treated like the poor fox running from the hounds," Bradshaw said. "I'm getting weary."
When William Bechtel bought his one-story wood-frame house on Burlington Avenue in 2008, he says Bradshaw came with it. The neighborhood was rougher then. Bradshaw shooed away prowlers and thieves.
"He helped me out, man," says Bechtel, 52, an audio technician.
Bechtel, whose father was a war veteran, sympathized with Bradshaw, who says he served in the U.S. military during Vietnam but refuses to offer specifics.
read more here
St. Petersburg targets homeless man
Last year a homeless veteran passed away. He lived in a shed behind a church. People said he was homeless but that was not really true since he was surrounded by love. One more thing is that after this story came out, a Marine in Iraq had some down time and was continuing searching for his father. He found him. He knew his Dad was loved and cared for. When we decide that we don't want them in our neighborhood maybe it would be a good idea to think about the fact these homeless veterans were willing to die for all of us. Read the story about the other homeless veteran and know what is possible if we care enough about them when they come home needing us.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Vietnam Vet Andrew Elmer Wright found a home as a homeless vet
A simple casket with an American flag for Vietnam Veteran Andrew Elmer Wright.
A simple bouquet of flowers was placed with a simple photo a church member snapped.
By all accounts, Andrew was a simple man with simple needs but what was evident today is that Andrew was anything but a "simple" man.
A few days ago I received an email from Chaplain Lyle Schmeiser, DAV Chapter 16, asking for people to attend a funeral for a homeless Vietnam veteran. After posting about funerals for the forgotten for many years across the country, I felt compelled to attend.
As I drove to the Carey Hand Colonial Funeral Home, I imagined an empty room knowing how few people would show up for a funeral like this. All the other homeless veteran stories flooded my thoughts and this, I thought, would be just one more of them.
When I arrived, I discovered the funeral home was paying for the funeral. Pastor Joel Reif, of First United Church of Christ asked them if they could help out to bury this veteran and they did. They put together a beautiful service with Honor Guard and a 21 gun salute by the VFW post.
I asked a man there what he knew about Andrew and his eyes filled. He smiled and then told me how Andrew wouldn't drink the water from the tap. He'd send this man for bottled water, always insisting on paying for it. When the water was on sale, he'd buy Andrew an extra case of water but Andrew was upset because the man didn't use the extra money for gas.
Then Pastor Joel filled in more of Andrew's life. Andrew got back from Vietnam, got married and had children. His wife passed away and Andrew remarried. For some reason the marriage didn't work out. Soon the state came to take his children away. Andrew did all he could to get his children back, but after years of trying, he gave up and lost hope.
A few years ago, after going to the church for help from the food pantry, for himself and his cats, Andrew lost what little he had left. The tent he was living in was bulldozed down in an attempt to clear out homeless people from Orlando. Nothing was left and he couldn't find his cats.
Andrew ended up talking to Pastor Joel after his bike was stolen again, he'd been beaten up and ended up sleeping on church grounds in the doorway. Pastor Joel offered him the shed in the back of the church to sleep in so that he wouldn't have to face more attacks.
The shed had electricity and they put in a TV set, a frying pan and a coffee maker. They wanted to give Andrew more but he said they had already given him enough.
Pastor Joel told of how Andrew gave him a Christmas card with some money in it one year. Pastor Joel didn't want to take money from someone with so little, but Andrew begged him to take it saying "Please, don't take this away from me" because it was all he had to give and it meant a lot to give it to the Pastor. Much like the widow with two cents gave all she had in the Bible, Andrew was truly grateful for what little he had been given from the church.
What was soon made clear is that Pastor Joel gave him even more than he imagined. Andrew took it on himself to be the church watchman. While services were going on after Andrew greeted the parishioners, he would travel around the parking lot to make sure the cars were safe. At night he made sure any guests of the church were equally watched over. Pastor Joel not only gave him a roof over his head and food, he gave him something to make him feel needed.
More and more people came to the service and there was a lot of weeping as Pastor Joel spoke. What was very clear this day is that Andrew was called a homeless veteran but he was not homeless. He found one at the church. He lost his family and his children, but he found a family at the church.
From what was said about Andrew, he was a Vietnam veteran with PTSD and he wanted no help from the VA. Too many of them feel the same way and they live on the streets, depending on the kindness of strangers to help them out. Andrew wasn't one of the panhandlers we see in Orlando. He refused to beg for money and he wanted to work for whatever he was given. His health got worse but he still did what he could. Right up until March 16, 2010 when Andrew passed away, no matter what happened to him during his life, Andrew proved that this veteran was not hopeless, not helpless because he found the fulfillment of hope in the arms of strangers who took him in and he found help as he asked as well as gave.
The legacy of this homeless veteran is that he touched the lives of so many hearts and will never be forgotten.
read more here
Jacksonville soldier killed in Afghanistan
Jacksonville soldier killed in Afghanistan
Posted: August 6, 2011 - 12:05am
By Jeff Brumley
Morris News Service
A 21-year-old Jacksonville man is among two soldiers killed Wednesday in Afghanistan.
The U.S. Department of Defense said Friday that Army Pfc. Gil I. Morales Del Valle and Pfc. Cody G. Baker, 19, of Holton, Kan., died in an enemy attack on their vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
They were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Wardak province, Afghanistan. The men were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Polk, La.
read more here
Jacksonville soldier killed in Afghanistan
Marine Recruit Helps Police Nab Fleeing Suspect
Marine Recruit Helps Police Nab Fleeing Suspect
Geneseo, N.Y. - For what Dylan Knights lacks in muscle and brawn, he makes up for in bravery.
Reported by: Angela Hong
Knights was in Geneseo Thursday afternoon when police and deputies stopped a man who was driving more than 100 miles per hour.
Livingston County Sheriff's deputies caught up with Tom Sheflin in the Village.
Dylan Knights was outside Pizza Paul's Restaurant with his girlfriend when he saw Sheflin crash into two vehicles.
"Nothing was going through my mind," Knights said. "I wasn't worried about getting hurt."
Knights then ran up to Sheflin’s car, jumped through the passenger window, turned off the car, and took the keys out of the ignition.
Sheflin then tried running away from deputies.
Knights, a Marine Corps recruit, ran after Sheflin and tackled him.
read more here
Marine Recruit Helps Police Nab Fleeing Suspect
Geneseo, N.Y. - For what Dylan Knights lacks in muscle and brawn, he makes up for in bravery.
Reported by: Angela Hong
Knights was in Geneseo Thursday afternoon when police and deputies stopped a man who was driving more than 100 miles per hour.
Livingston County Sheriff's deputies caught up with Tom Sheflin in the Village.
Dylan Knights was outside Pizza Paul's Restaurant with his girlfriend when he saw Sheflin crash into two vehicles.
"Nothing was going through my mind," Knights said. "I wasn't worried about getting hurt."
Knights then ran up to Sheflin’s car, jumped through the passenger window, turned off the car, and took the keys out of the ignition.
Sheflin then tried running away from deputies.
Knights, a Marine Corps recruit, ran after Sheflin and tackled him.
read more here
Marine Recruit Helps Police Nab Fleeing Suspect
31 Special Operation Soliders killed in Afghanistan Helicopter Crash
UPDATE 8/6/11
31 American Troops Killed In NATO Helicopter Crash In Afghanistan
By SOLOMON MOORE
08/ 6/11
KABUL, Afghanistan -- A helicopter crash in Afghanistan's eastern Wardak province has killed 31 U.S. special operation troops and seven Afghan soldiers, the country's president said on Saturday. It was the highest number of casualties recorded in a single incident in the decade-long war.
President Hamid Karzai sent his condolences to President Barack Obama, according to a statement issued by his office.
"A NATO helicopter crashed last night in Wardak province," Karzai said in the statement, adding that 31 American special operations troops were killed. "President Karzai expressed his deep condolences because of this incident and expressed his sympathy to Barack Obama."
NATO confirmed the overnight crash and said the alliance was conducting a recovery operation at the site and investigating the cause of the crash, but did not release details or a casualty figure. The coalition said there "was enemy activity in the area."
read more here
31 American Troops Killed In NATO Helicopter Crash
U.S. official: Killed forces were reinforcing troops in Afghanistan
By David Ariosto and Barbara Starr, CNN
August 6, 2011 -- Updated 2224
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Helicopter was on a reinforcement mission, U.S. military official says
22 of the dead are U.S. Navy SEALs, U.S. officials say
A majority belonged to the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden
7 Afghans died in the incident, President Karzai says
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- In the single deadliest loss for U.S. troops since the Afghan war began in late 2001, 30 service members died early Saturday when a helicopter carrying them went down while they were reinforcing other troops, officials said.
Insurgents are believed to have shot down the CH-47 Chinook, a U.S. military official said. The Taliban claimed militants downed the helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade.
Among the 25 U.S. special operations forces killed in Wardak province were 22 Navy SEALS, considered to be the "best of the best." Seven Afghan troops also died.
read more here
Killed forces were reinforcing troops in Afghanistan
UPDATE from CNN
U.S. official: about two dozen U.S. deaths in Afghan copter crash
By David Ariosto and Barbara Starr, CNN
August 6, 2011
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Most of the dead are U.S. Navy SEALs, U.S. officials say
Obama and others express their condolences
A U.S. military official identified the helicopter as a CH-47 Chinook
A Taliban spokesman says insurgents shot down the helicopter in a rocket attack.
7 Afghans died in the crash, his office said
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Most of those killed when a Chinook helicopter crashed in eastern Afghanistan overnight were U.S. Navy SEALs, two U.S. government officials said.
"It's a big loss" for the SEALs," one of the officials said. The numbers are high."
"It is believed that about two dozen Special Operations Forces, including some from other services, were on board the aircraft, in addition to the Army crew flying the craft."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a statement saying as many as 31 U.S. special forces and seven Afghans were killed.
About two dozen U.S. deaths in Afghan copter crash
31 American Troops Killed In NATO Helicopter Crash In Afghanistan
By SOLOMON MOORE
08/ 6/11
KABUL, Afghanistan -- A helicopter crash in Afghanistan's eastern Wardak province has killed 31 U.S. special operation troops and seven Afghan soldiers, the country's president said on Saturday. It was the highest number of casualties recorded in a single incident in the decade-long war.
President Hamid Karzai sent his condolences to President Barack Obama, according to a statement issued by his office.
"A NATO helicopter crashed last night in Wardak province," Karzai said in the statement, adding that 31 American special operations troops were killed. "President Karzai expressed his deep condolences because of this incident and expressed his sympathy to Barack Obama."
NATO confirmed the overnight crash and said the alliance was conducting a recovery operation at the site and investigating the cause of the crash, but did not release details or a casualty figure. The coalition said there "was enemy activity in the area."
read more here
31 American Troops Killed In NATO Helicopter Crash
Friday, August 5, 2011
VA Quality Data Released to Public on CMS Hospital
VA Quality Data Released to Public on CMS Hospital Compare Web Site
WASHINGTON (August 5, 2011) - Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers are now included in the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) Hospital Compare Web site, which measures hospital quality based on what matters most to patients - the outcomes of care.
"VA is committed to providing Veterans and their family members with a transparent accounting of the quality and safety of its health care system," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "In collaborating with CMS, we show our determination to be open and accountable to Veterans and their families."
Release of outcomes data to the public is not new for VA. Mortality and readmission results were first posted in 2010 on the VA Hospital Compare Web site (www.hospitalcompare.va.gov/) using a similar method limited to only VA patients. VA results posted on VA's site are updated quarterly and will not match the results on CMS Hospital Compare, which are only updated annually and lag about year.
CMS is reporting 30-day measures for three common and high-cost conditions: acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure (HF), and pneumonia to the public through its Web site, www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/. This year CMS is reporting results for patients treated in VA's health care system. The inclusion of VA data on CMS Hospital Compare is indicative of VA's commitment to transparency, accountability and quality. Annual reporting on these measures furthers the goal of measuring and rewarding quality as a strategy for improving health care outcomes for Veterans and for patients overall.
Results of VA medical centers' risk-adjusted mortality and readmission are available to the public on the CMS Hospital Compare Web site starting today.
Veterans, stakeholders and the general public will be able to directly compare the mortality rates and readmission rates at individual VA medical centers against non-VA hospitals for AMI, HF and pneumonia. The cases reported are from July 2007 through June 2010 for approximately 4,530 non-federal U.S. acute care hospitals (including critical access hospitals) and Indian Health Services hospitals.
WASHINGTON (August 5, 2011) - Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers are now included in the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) Hospital Compare Web site, which measures hospital quality based on what matters most to patients - the outcomes of care.
"VA is committed to providing Veterans and their family members with a transparent accounting of the quality and safety of its health care system," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "In collaborating with CMS, we show our determination to be open and accountable to Veterans and their families."
Release of outcomes data to the public is not new for VA. Mortality and readmission results were first posted in 2010 on the VA Hospital Compare Web site (www.hospitalcompare.va.gov/) using a similar method limited to only VA patients. VA results posted on VA's site are updated quarterly and will not match the results on CMS Hospital Compare, which are only updated annually and lag about year.
CMS is reporting 30-day measures for three common and high-cost conditions: acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure (HF), and pneumonia to the public through its Web site, www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/. This year CMS is reporting results for patients treated in VA's health care system. The inclusion of VA data on CMS Hospital Compare is indicative of VA's commitment to transparency, accountability and quality. Annual reporting on these measures furthers the goal of measuring and rewarding quality as a strategy for improving health care outcomes for Veterans and for patients overall.
Results of VA medical centers' risk-adjusted mortality and readmission are available to the public on the CMS Hospital Compare Web site starting today.
Veterans, stakeholders and the general public will be able to directly compare the mortality rates and readmission rates at individual VA medical centers against non-VA hospitals for AMI, HF and pneumonia. The cases reported are from July 2007 through June 2010 for approximately 4,530 non-federal U.S. acute care hospitals (including critical access hospitals) and Indian Health Services hospitals.
First responders tell of 9/11, aftermath at Fresh Kills landfill
In documentary, first responders tell of 9/11, aftermath at Fresh Kills landfill
Published: Friday, August 05, 2011
ISLANDIA, N.Y. — Anthony Yacapino was sitting at home, watching a Bugs Bunny cartoon in 2004 when he felt the first signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. “My heart felt like it was leaping out of my chest. I thought I was dying. It was seriously scary,” he recalls.
The retired New York City police detective, like thousands of colleagues, worked for months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks dealing with the aftermath. He interviewed relatives of the dead at a bereavement center and later searched for human remains and victims’ belongings at the former Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island.
After that first scare, Yacapino remained silent for months, trying to avoid letting on to his superiors that he was ailing years after working near Ground Zero. Then he had to go to court one day in lower Manhattan, not far from the World Trade Center site, and he went into a panic attack.
That’s when he finally decided to seek medical help, enlisting in a program run by Stony Brook University on New York’s Long Island. “The best move I ever made,” he admits.
read more here
First responders tell of 9/11, aftermath at Fresh Kills landfill
Published: Friday, August 05, 2011
ISLANDIA, N.Y. — Anthony Yacapino was sitting at home, watching a Bugs Bunny cartoon in 2004 when he felt the first signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. “My heart felt like it was leaping out of my chest. I thought I was dying. It was seriously scary,” he recalls.
The retired New York City police detective, like thousands of colleagues, worked for months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks dealing with the aftermath. He interviewed relatives of the dead at a bereavement center and later searched for human remains and victims’ belongings at the former Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island.
After that first scare, Yacapino remained silent for months, trying to avoid letting on to his superiors that he was ailing years after working near Ground Zero. Then he had to go to court one day in lower Manhattan, not far from the World Trade Center site, and he went into a panic attack.
That’s when he finally decided to seek medical help, enlisting in a program run by Stony Brook University on New York’s Long Island. “The best move I ever made,” he admits.
read more here
First responders tell of 9/11, aftermath at Fresh Kills landfill
Obama uses tax cuts to put veterans back to work
Obama unveils major jobs initiative for vets
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Aug 5, 2011 5:31:42 EDT
Facing another dismal report about high unemployment for veterans, President Obama is proposing new tax breaks to encourage employers to give a hiring edge to veterans.
The initiatives come as the Labor Department reported Friday that the unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans was 12.4 percent in July, up from 11.8 percent in July 2010.
Unemployment problems for these veterans, separated from the service since 2001, come despite the fact that the overall unemployment rate for all veterans is 8.6 percent — slightly lower than the 9.1 percent national unemployment rate.
The White House proposals, similar to other initiatives discussed in Congress in recent years, would provide businesses a $2,400 tax credit for hiring any unemployed veteran, a $4,800 tax credit for hiring a veteran who has been out of work for at least six months and a $9,600 tax credit for hiring a veteran with a service-connected disability who has been out of work for six months.
read more here
Obama unveils major jobs initiative for vets
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Aug 5, 2011 5:31:42 EDT
Facing another dismal report about high unemployment for veterans, President Obama is proposing new tax breaks to encourage employers to give a hiring edge to veterans.
The initiatives come as the Labor Department reported Friday that the unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans was 12.4 percent in July, up from 11.8 percent in July 2010.
Unemployment problems for these veterans, separated from the service since 2001, come despite the fact that the overall unemployment rate for all veterans is 8.6 percent — slightly lower than the 9.1 percent national unemployment rate.
The White House proposals, similar to other initiatives discussed in Congress in recent years, would provide businesses a $2,400 tax credit for hiring any unemployed veteran, a $4,800 tax credit for hiring a veteran who has been out of work for at least six months and a $9,600 tax credit for hiring a veteran with a service-connected disability who has been out of work for six months.
read more here
Obama unveils major jobs initiative for vets
What is wrong with these pictures?
If you want to laugh today, click the link. Some of these are just too funny and we all need to laugh.
4 Marines committed suicide in July, 13 more attempted it
MILITARY: Four Marine Corps suicides recorded in July
July's four suicides came after five Marines killed themselves in June.
By MARK WALKER mlwalker@nctimes.com
Posted: Friday, August 5, 2011
Four U.S. Marines took their own lives in July, raising the service's number of suicides recorded in 2011 to 21.
An additional 13 troops attempted suicide, raising that number for the year to 107, according to the latest figures from the Marine Corps' Suicide Prevention Program.
The Marine Corps has launched a wide array of outreach and counseling efforts at Camp Pendleton and all its bases in recent years, and instituted mandatory suicide prevention training in response to a growing rate of self-inflicted deaths since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were launched.
read more here
Four Marine Corps suicides recorded in July
Suicide attempts higher for veterans on campus
Suicide attempts higher for veterans on campus
By Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – College students who served in the military have a suicide attempt rate six times higher than the average college student, suggests research presented today at a meeting of the American Psychological Association. It found students who are veterans also report thinking about suicide or planning their death at significantly higher rates.
Researchers with the National Center for Veterans' Studies at the University of Utah surveyed 525 veterans, average age 26. Almost all (98%) had been deployed in either Iraq or Afghanistan and 58% to 60% reported experiencing combat.
Nearly half (46%) of the 415 men and 110 women studied reported having had suicidal thinking sometime in their lives; 20% had suicidal thoughts with a plan. That compares to 2010 data from the American College Health Association, which showed 6% of college students reported seriously considering suicide.
Suicidal thinking with a plan is considered a serious suicidal risk, says lead author M. David Rudd, a psychologist at the Utah center, who presented the study.
"That's more than triple the general student population," he says. "There's been an enormous amount of research on veterans in general, but not veterans on campus."
The veteran survey also found that 7.7% reported a suicide attempt, compared to 1.3% of college students overall who reported attempting suicide.
read more here
Suicide attempts higher for veterans on campus
Original
Veterans in college six times more likely to attempt suicide
By Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – College students who served in the military have a suicide attempt rate six times higher than the average college student, suggests research presented today at a meeting of the American Psychological Association. It found students who are veterans also report thinking about suicide or planning their death at significantly higher rates.
Researchers with the National Center for Veterans' Studies at the University of Utah surveyed 525 veterans, average age 26. Almost all (98%) had been deployed in either Iraq or Afghanistan and 58% to 60% reported experiencing combat.
Nearly half (46%) of the 415 men and 110 women studied reported having had suicidal thinking sometime in their lives; 20% had suicidal thoughts with a plan. That compares to 2010 data from the American College Health Association, which showed 6% of college students reported seriously considering suicide.
Suicidal thinking with a plan is considered a serious suicidal risk, says lead author M. David Rudd, a psychologist at the Utah center, who presented the study.
"That's more than triple the general student population," he says. "There's been an enormous amount of research on veterans in general, but not veterans on campus."
The veteran survey also found that 7.7% reported a suicide attempt, compared to 1.3% of college students overall who reported attempting suicide.
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Suicide attempts higher for veterans on campus
Original
Veterans in college six times more likely to attempt suicide
Utah scholar calls suicide risk among student vets ‘alarming’
(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Research led by psychologist David Rudd, the dean of the University of Utah's College of Social and Behavioral Science, has found that student veterans are at far greater risk for suicide and severe psychological disorders than the general student population.BY BRIAN MAFFLY
The Salt Lake Tribune
Aug 04 2011
After returning home to Utah from the Iraq war and a year-long hospital stay to recover from major injuries, Brad Chidester sat in college classrooms surrounded by other young people and felt utterly alone. His combat experience made it impossible to relate to the seeming frivolity of undergraduate life at Dixie State College.
"They are enjoying their life and you don’t feel like you belong anymore. Life was different for me," said Chidester, 28, who lives in the central Utah town of Fountain Green. There were times in college when Chidester felt he couldn’t go on, before he was admitted to a hospital to begin treatment for his psychological injuries. He is among the near-majority of college student veterans whom scholars now believe have experienced suicidal feelings.
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Utah scholar calls suicide risk among student vets alarming
Why would a soldier walk into a Chaplain's office with a gun?
Why would a soldier walk into a Chaplain's office with a gun?
These are the questions the reporter wanted to know.
He was in the military for 12 years! He must have had some run in with the Chaplain before this but so far, no one knows what happened. He walked in with a gun but was not arrested for threatening the Chaplain according to the reports. What happened here and why is he dead?
Soldier found dead after arrest for gun
Wed, 08/03/2011
BY BILL HESS
Herald/Review
FORT HUACHUCA — A 12-year Army veteran died “of an apparent gunshot wound,” a few hours after being arrested Monday for carrying a gun into a fort building, post spokeswoman Tanja Linton stated in a press release Wednesday.
The death of Sgt. 1st Class Jose J. Algarin-Colon occurred Monday afternoon, but the release was delayed until 24 hours after his family was notified.
Monday morning, the soldier was arrested by military police for “bringing a loaded weapon to Greely Hall,” Linton’s press release stated. That incident was reported as a brief, without the soldier’s name, in Tuesday’s edition of the Herald/Review, with no other details coming from the post public affairs office.
Sources said the 38-year-old soldier had gone into the building carrying the gun and had gone to the chaplain’s office, which reported him to post law enforcement for carrying a weapon into the building.
Such actions generally violate military law, which only allows law enforcement officials or soldiers during exercises to enter military structures with weapons, although generally during exercises the non-law enforcement soldiers do not have ammunition.
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Soldier found dead after arrest for gun
Original story
Army releases name of soldier found dead
These are the questions the reporter wanted to know.
"The unanswered queries include: Was the soldier going to the chaplain’s office as a cry for help? He had recently returned from deployment, so was he provided any mental health assistance on the day of his arrest? Was he considered a danger to himself?"
He was in the military for 12 years! He must have had some run in with the Chaplain before this but so far, no one knows what happened. He walked in with a gun but was not arrested for threatening the Chaplain according to the reports. What happened here and why is he dead?
Soldier found dead after arrest for gun
Wed, 08/03/2011
BY BILL HESS
Herald/Review
FORT HUACHUCA — A 12-year Army veteran died “of an apparent gunshot wound,” a few hours after being arrested Monday for carrying a gun into a fort building, post spokeswoman Tanja Linton stated in a press release Wednesday.
The death of Sgt. 1st Class Jose J. Algarin-Colon occurred Monday afternoon, but the release was delayed until 24 hours after his family was notified.
Monday morning, the soldier was arrested by military police for “bringing a loaded weapon to Greely Hall,” Linton’s press release stated. That incident was reported as a brief, without the soldier’s name, in Tuesday’s edition of the Herald/Review, with no other details coming from the post public affairs office.
Sources said the 38-year-old soldier had gone into the building carrying the gun and had gone to the chaplain’s office, which reported him to post law enforcement for carrying a weapon into the building.
Such actions generally violate military law, which only allows law enforcement officials or soldiers during exercises to enter military structures with weapons, although generally during exercises the non-law enforcement soldiers do not have ammunition.
read more here
Soldier found dead after arrest for gun
Original story
Army releases name of soldier found dead
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