Minnesota specialist to give take on PTSD in Horner trial
Defense attorneys hoping to build insanity defense
October 12, 2011
By Kay Stephens
HOLLIDAYSBURG - Attorneys representing Nicholas A. Horner are turning to a St. Paul, Minn., psychologist who may be able to help them build a not guilty by reason of insanity defense in a double-homicide case.
Ernest Boswell, a specialist in post-traumatic stress disorders who has worked with veterans since 1998, is being asked to review materials related to Horner's alleged actions on April 6, 2009, when police said Horner killed two people and wounded a third during the robbery of an Eldorado sandwich shop and the subsequent police pursuit.
Boswell's identification was revealed in the latest court documents filed Friday, which led Blair County President Judge Jolene G. Kopriva to delay Horner's trial until January and set a pre-trial hearing for Oct. 18. The trial was supposed to start next week with jury selection.
read more here
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Dead Soldier From Chinatown Believe He May Have Been Harassed And Beaten
Family Of Dead Soldier From Chinatown Believe He May Have Been Harassed And Beaten
October 11, 2011
Reporting Cindy Hsu
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — There is more heartbreak for a family from Chinatown whose son died in Afghanistan.
Private Danny Chen died last week at just 19. He was found in his barracks with non-combat injuries. On Tuesday, CBS 2′s Cindy Hsu met with his parents at the American Legion in Chinatown.
Chen’s mother was in tears as she showed pictures of her son, who dreamed of serving in the military since he was a child. What makes the heartbreak even more painful is what the family found out shortly after learning of his death.
Through a translator his parents said someone within their son’s unit told the family that Chen had been beaten up by fellow soldiers.
Translator Frank Gee said the family was told that Chen was “harassed and beaten up by six soldiers.”
The family said they were told it was over Chen not shutting off the water, but his father had been concerned Chen faced race problems in the Army and had asked his son about it.
read more here
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Veteran's family seeks answers to his death after leaving VA hospital
Veteran's family seeks answers to his death after leaving hospital
By James Halpin
Staff writer
Anthony Carrol Hayes walked out the door of the Fayetteville Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Jan. 18, 2010, and vanished.
When his bones were found Sept. 26 in a field off Ramsey Street, his family was left with more questions than answers.
Now they want to know what happened to the 51-year-old Army veteran and father of six who seemed to be making progress in his treatment for bipolar disorder - and why he was out on the streets at all.
"This guy is not capable of being out there on his own. He has no family in Fayetteville, not one person. He has nowhere to go. Why would you release him?" said his wife, Cynthia Hayes. "The end result is he's not here now. He's gone. And I think that could have been prevented."
A spokesman for the VA hospital said patients are free to leave when they want as long as they are competent and do no appear to pose a threat to themselves or others.
read more here
By James Halpin
Staff writer
Anthony Carrol Hayes walked out the door of the Fayetteville Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Jan. 18, 2010, and vanished.
When his bones were found Sept. 26 in a field off Ramsey Street, his family was left with more questions than answers.
Now they want to know what happened to the 51-year-old Army veteran and father of six who seemed to be making progress in his treatment for bipolar disorder - and why he was out on the streets at all.
"This guy is not capable of being out there on his own. He has no family in Fayetteville, not one person. He has nowhere to go. Why would you release him?" said his wife, Cynthia Hayes. "The end result is he's not here now. He's gone. And I think that could have been prevented."
A spokesman for the VA hospital said patients are free to leave when they want as long as they are competent and do no appear to pose a threat to themselves or others.
read more here
Ex-soldier's Pa. trial delayed due to PTSD defense
Ex-soldier's Pa. trial delayed due to PTSD defense
Posted: Monday, October 10, 2011
Associated Press
A former soldier's death penalty trial for a double-murder prosecutors say occurred during a central Pennsylvania sandwich shop robbery has been delayed until January, because his defense hopes to argue post-traumatic stress disorder contributed to his alleged crimes.
Jury selection had been scheduled to begin Oct. 18 at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, but a judge delayed it because of motions filed late Friday.
read more here
Posted: Monday, October 10, 2011
Associated Press
A former soldier's death penalty trial for a double-murder prosecutors say occurred during a central Pennsylvania sandwich shop robbery has been delayed until January, because his defense hopes to argue post-traumatic stress disorder contributed to his alleged crimes.
Jury selection had been scheduled to begin Oct. 18 at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, but a judge delayed it because of motions filed late Friday.
read more here
Poster Girl, Oscar nominated film on female veteran with PTSD
Oscar-nominated film to premiere at Middlebury's Town Hall Theater
Posted on October 10, 2011 | Middlebury
By John Flowers
MIDDLEBURY — Sara Nesson was a student at the University of Vermont during the late 1990s when she developed an interest in the stories of Iraq War veterans living in Burlington.
That experience led her to Robynn Murray, a teenager from upstate New York who joined the U.S. Army in 2003 as an enthusiastic recruit and returned from a tour in Iraq at age 20 fighting a personal war against the ravages of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Nesson spent two years chronicling Murray’s emotional and physical struggles following her return, struggles that include depression, nightmares, guilt associated with PTSD, battles with the Veterans Affairs (VA) for benefits, and attempts to navigate a civilian world that hardly recognizes her. Nesson turned Murray’s story into a 2011 Oscar-nominated short-subject documentary titled “Poster Girl,” which will be aired on HBO on Nov. 9.
“Poster Girl” will get a special premier on Friday, Oct. 14, at Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater.
The event is being sponsored by the Gailer School, a grade 7-12 independent school in Middlebury that is partnering with the Vermont Veterans’ Place — a nonprofit, temporary housing organization in Northfield — to bring young people and veterans together to help create community bonds between students and veterans in transition.
read more here
Posted on October 10, 2011 | Middlebury
By John Flowers
MIDDLEBURY — Sara Nesson was a student at the University of Vermont during the late 1990s when she developed an interest in the stories of Iraq War veterans living in Burlington.
That experience led her to Robynn Murray, a teenager from upstate New York who joined the U.S. Army in 2003 as an enthusiastic recruit and returned from a tour in Iraq at age 20 fighting a personal war against the ravages of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Nesson spent two years chronicling Murray’s emotional and physical struggles following her return, struggles that include depression, nightmares, guilt associated with PTSD, battles with the Veterans Affairs (VA) for benefits, and attempts to navigate a civilian world that hardly recognizes her. Nesson turned Murray’s story into a 2011 Oscar-nominated short-subject documentary titled “Poster Girl,” which will be aired on HBO on Nov. 9.
“Poster Girl” will get a special premier on Friday, Oct. 14, at Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater.
The event is being sponsored by the Gailer School, a grade 7-12 independent school in Middlebury that is partnering with the Vermont Veterans’ Place — a nonprofit, temporary housing organization in Northfield — to bring young people and veterans together to help create community bonds between students and veterans in transition.
read more here
'Forgotten' soldier remembered at Wall that Heals
'Forgotten' soldier remembered at Wall that Heals
BY LAURA LEGERE (STAFF WRITER)
Published: October 10, 2011
Charlie Boylan worked for years to bring Jimmy Reddington back from obscurity.
A solider killed at 19 in Vietnam, Marine Lance Cpl. James T. Reddington seemed lost to history decades after his death except for the pair of fellow Marines who visited his grave at Cathedral Cemetery. Then Mr. Boylan tirelessly tracked down a constellation of friends and brought them together to remember him, first in 2009 and again in the years since.
On Sunday, at the Wall That Heals, a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial visiting Nay Aug Park, Mr. Boylan's efforts were rewarded by the several people who stopped by Cpl. Reddington's name and paused to think of him.
"Did you know Jimmy?" Vince Fitch, a former schoolmate, asked when he saw Andy and Sharon Kitch looking at Cpl. Reddington as a boy in a Central City Little League photo propped by his name.
They did. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kitch went to school with him in Scranton and remembered his swagger and charm. Cpl. Reddington's sister had stitched together the halves of two pairs of pants for her brother, so the front of the new pair was green and the back blue, Mr. Kitch remembered.
read more here
BY LAURA LEGERE (STAFF WRITER)
Published: October 10, 2011
Charlie Boylan worked for years to bring Jimmy Reddington back from obscurity.
A solider killed at 19 in Vietnam, Marine Lance Cpl. James T. Reddington seemed lost to history decades after his death except for the pair of fellow Marines who visited his grave at Cathedral Cemetery. Then Mr. Boylan tirelessly tracked down a constellation of friends and brought them together to remember him, first in 2009 and again in the years since.
On Sunday, at the Wall That Heals, a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial visiting Nay Aug Park, Mr. Boylan's efforts were rewarded by the several people who stopped by Cpl. Reddington's name and paused to think of him.
"Did you know Jimmy?" Vince Fitch, a former schoolmate, asked when he saw Andy and Sharon Kitch looking at Cpl. Reddington as a boy in a Central City Little League photo propped by his name.
They did. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kitch went to school with him in Scranton and remembered his swagger and charm. Cpl. Reddington's sister had stitched together the halves of two pairs of pants for her brother, so the front of the new pair was green and the back blue, Mr. Kitch remembered.
read more here
A Hero Is Welcomed Home With 100 Motorcycles
A Hero Is Welcomed Home
Oct 11, 2011
Private First Class Ian Edge of Brinson Georgia received a hero's welcome home on Sunday afternoon. Ian was critically injured in Afghanistan on June 25th when he stepped on an IED (Improvised Explosive Device). He now walks with a prosthetic leg and is working to regain full use of one hand.
A tremendous welcome awaited PFC Edge as he drove in from Florida and greeted in Chattahoochee by over 100 people and law enforcement to escort him home. The Deep South Riders pulled together probably a hundred bikers that proudly led the way bringing him home.
Florida law enforcement led the group out of Florida on Highway 97 where Decatur County Sheriff's Deputies and Decatur County Fire took over. Georgia State Patrol took the lead as the procession neared Bainbridge and led him on to Brinson. Along the way, citizens waited by the road to salute him with signs and American flags waving.
read more here and see great video with motorcycle escort.
Oct 11, 2011
Private First Class Ian Edge of Brinson Georgia received a hero's welcome home on Sunday afternoon. Ian was critically injured in Afghanistan on June 25th when he stepped on an IED (Improvised Explosive Device). He now walks with a prosthetic leg and is working to regain full use of one hand.
A tremendous welcome awaited PFC Edge as he drove in from Florida and greeted in Chattahoochee by over 100 people and law enforcement to escort him home. The Deep South Riders pulled together probably a hundred bikers that proudly led the way bringing him home.
Florida law enforcement led the group out of Florida on Highway 97 where Decatur County Sheriff's Deputies and Decatur County Fire took over. Georgia State Patrol took the lead as the procession neared Bainbridge and led him on to Brinson. Along the way, citizens waited by the road to salute him with signs and American flags waving.
read more here and see great video with motorcycle escort.
Marine Lance Corporal Justin Rokohl Gets A Legup
Saturday was a day for being around heroes. It began with meeting this young man and his future wife Trish Yocum. It ended up at the Nam Knights annual Biketoberfest Party that included a service to lay memorial bricks for the members that passed away since last year.
They came to pick up Justin's modified motorcycle so that he could ride again after losing both legs in Afghanistan.
Legup Landingear owner Pete G. designed wheels to help riders like Justin to be able to do what they love but would have a hard time doing, ride on two wheels and have the help of others to hold the bike up when he needs it just by pushing a button.
I went out to Pete's Saturday and got to see these gears in action plus meet Justin and his family. Amazing people! Justin is an example that other amputees out there have lost their legs but not their freedom to ride their motorcycles.
Here's the video.
Justin Rokohl
At just 23 years old, Marine Lance Corporal Justin Rokohl has seen and experienced more than most will in a lifetime. In June of 2008, during his second tour of duty overseas, Justin sustained massive injuries after an attack and explosion that launched him 90 feet in the air. He suffered a broken back, broken hip, fractured tibia and fibulas, two broken femurs, and damage to both legs that could not be repaired or corrected. Today Justin is able to walk with the use of prosthetics. He works a fulltime job in the oil industry, drives a specially modified vehicle and even takes part in cowboy team roping. He is also the recipient of 11 different medals and ribbons from the United States military, including the Purple Heart.
They came to pick up Justin's modified motorcycle so that he could ride again after losing both legs in Afghanistan.
Legup Landingear owner Pete G. designed wheels to help riders like Justin to be able to do what they love but would have a hard time doing, ride on two wheels and have the help of others to hold the bike up when he needs it just by pushing a button.
I went out to Pete's Saturday and got to see these gears in action plus meet Justin and his family. Amazing people! Justin is an example that other amputees out there have lost their legs but not their freedom to ride their motorcycles.
Here's the video.
1 in 4 sexual assault hotlines fail in Navy audit
1 in 4 sexual assault hotlines fail in Navy audit
Published: October 10, 2011
The Naval Audit Service has found that one out of four test phone calls to Navy and Marine sexual assault hotlines either failed or was improperly handled, according to a Navy Times article.
Most of the failures came as a result of lack of voice mail, improperly handling reporting methods or failing to return phone calls in a timely manner.
read more here
Published: October 10, 2011
The Naval Audit Service has found that one out of four test phone calls to Navy and Marine sexual assault hotlines either failed or was improperly handled, according to a Navy Times article.
Most of the failures came as a result of lack of voice mail, improperly handling reporting methods or failing to return phone calls in a timely manner.
read more here
Monday, October 10, 2011
VA pulls PTSD Medicated hat from store
VA pulls questionable hat from D.C. store
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Oct 6, 2011 9:34:50 EDT
Someone at the Veterans Affairs Department Medical Center in Washington, D.C., has an odd sense of humor.
On Wednesday, outpatient Tom McCuin, an Afghanistan war veteran, snapped a photo of a hat emblazoned with the phrase: “Warning: This Vet is Medicated for your Protection,” available for sale in the lobby gift shop at the hospital.
He then posted it on Facebook and Twitter.
“My first reaction was, ‘Oh, that’s pretty funny,’ because I have a tendency to laugh at inappropriate things,” McCuin, an Army Reserve officer, said in a telephone interview. “My wife, who has much less a sense of humor about these things, thought it was awful.”
McCuin said that instead of purchasing the hat for his car’s dashboard as a joke, he shot VA’s social media department the photo he had taken, along with a tweet: “Nice message, guys,” he wrote.
VA officials quickly responded with their own message. “This does nothing except perpetuate stereotypes. Unacceptable anywhere near a VA Medical Center.”
That morning, VA had posted on its Vantage Point blog an article about post-traumatic stress disorder, urging veterans to seek treatment. “Don’t let stigmas about PTSD and TBI get in the way of treatment,” the VA social media sites urged.
read more here
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Oct 6, 2011 9:34:50 EDT
Someone at the Veterans Affairs Department Medical Center in Washington, D.C., has an odd sense of humor.
On Wednesday, outpatient Tom McCuin, an Afghanistan war veteran, snapped a photo of a hat emblazoned with the phrase: “Warning: This Vet is Medicated for your Protection,” available for sale in the lobby gift shop at the hospital.
He then posted it on Facebook and Twitter.
“My first reaction was, ‘Oh, that’s pretty funny,’ because I have a tendency to laugh at inappropriate things,” McCuin, an Army Reserve officer, said in a telephone interview. “My wife, who has much less a sense of humor about these things, thought it was awful.”
McCuin said that instead of purchasing the hat for his car’s dashboard as a joke, he shot VA’s social media department the photo he had taken, along with a tweet: “Nice message, guys,” he wrote.
VA officials quickly responded with their own message. “This does nothing except perpetuate stereotypes. Unacceptable anywhere near a VA Medical Center.”
That morning, VA had posted on its Vantage Point blog an article about post-traumatic stress disorder, urging veterans to seek treatment. “Don’t let stigmas about PTSD and TBI get in the way of treatment,” the VA social media sites urged.
read more here
15 percent of the active forces aren’t able to deploy for medical reasons
Army says number of medically unfit GIs on rise
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Oct 10, 2011 17:33:29 EDT
As the Army faces a prospective drawdown, it is grappling with a growing percentage of soldiers who aren’t medically fit for duty, Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker said Monday.
About 15 percent of the active forces aren’t able to deploy for medical reasons — a growing problem that has “begun to erode the readiness of the Army as a whole,” Schoomaker said during a forum on soldier resilience at the Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington.
With the elimination of stop-loss, attrition of surge forces and expansion of medical programs that better identify troops’ medical needs, the pool of those who are considered medically “not ready” for duty is broadening, and the Army must act quickly to ensure the burden doesn’t overwhelm the force, Schoomaker said.
Many of the soldiers involved are not those injured in combat, he added. For a variety of reasons, troops might not meet unit health standards for deployment, parameters set by the strategic commands for combat or they reside on the temporary disability retirement list awaiting discharge, under the Army fold of administrative oversight and personnel support.
read more here
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Oct 10, 2011 17:33:29 EDT
As the Army faces a prospective drawdown, it is grappling with a growing percentage of soldiers who aren’t medically fit for duty, Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker said Monday.
About 15 percent of the active forces aren’t able to deploy for medical reasons — a growing problem that has “begun to erode the readiness of the Army as a whole,” Schoomaker said during a forum on soldier resilience at the Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington.
With the elimination of stop-loss, attrition of surge forces and expansion of medical programs that better identify troops’ medical needs, the pool of those who are considered medically “not ready” for duty is broadening, and the Army must act quickly to ensure the burden doesn’t overwhelm the force, Schoomaker said.
Many of the soldiers involved are not those injured in combat, he added. For a variety of reasons, troops might not meet unit health standards for deployment, parameters set by the strategic commands for combat or they reside on the temporary disability retirement list awaiting discharge, under the Army fold of administrative oversight and personnel support.
read more here
From A Decade Of War, An Endless Struggle For The Severely Wounded
This is one of those pieces that make you marvel at what these men and women are like. Over the last couple of years I've met more amputees than I had before and I count myself blessed to have come into contact with them. Their bodies are damaged, some would say broken, but their character is full. Many of them came back home missing parts of their bodies and ended up falling in love because of their character. Think marriages like their's won't last? Think again. In the Orlando DAV, we have two triple amputees from Vietnam and both of them have been married for over 25 years.
Beyond The Battlefield: From A Decade Of War, An Endless Struggle For The Severely Wounded
David Wood
July 4, 2010, was a bad day for Tyler Southern. He dreamed he was with his older brothers, playing sandlot football, running and laughing, horsing around just like they used to when they were together as kids in Jacksonville, Fla.
In his dream, he was whole again.
Then he awoke in his hospital bed at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and reality came flooding back. Both of his legs and his right arm were gone, blown off in Afghanistan two months earlier by an improvised explosive device so powerful that only bits of his legs and boots were ever found. The explosion left one remaining limb, his left arm, broken and mangled.
Southern began to hyperventilate. His mother Patti, at his bedside, reached out to calm him. Mom, something's coming on, he cried. Breathe with me, she murmured. Breathe with me. She gathered him in her arms and held his head tight against her chest as sweat beaded over his body and his heart pounded wildly. He gulped lungfuls of air, his mother rocking him in her arms.
Breathe with me.
Suddenly Southern vomited. Patti rocked him gently in her arms until he was calm.
"My last big, bad day,” he recalled recently. "Everybody has 'em," he added, speaking of the other patients he knows who are struggling with severe wounds.
read more here
Lieutenant-governor launches new circle on mental health in Alberta
Lieutenant-governor launches new circle on mental health
Saturday, Oct 08, 2011
By Ryan Tumilty
St. Albert Gazette
Lt. Gov. Donald Ethell launched a new group focused on mental health on Wednesday, aiming to use his position to help end the stigma around mental illness.
Ethell launched the Lieutenant Governor’s Circle on Mental Health and Addiction at Government House with dozens of people involved in mental health on hand. The new circle intends to use forums, a speaker’s series and a new awards program to address mental health in Alberta.
Ethell, a retired colonel with the armed forces, fought his own battle with post-traumatic stress disorder. He said Wednesday that society is moving in the right direction when it comes to the stigma around mental health, but there is more work to be done.
“You go back 10 or 15 years ago, the stigma was such that people wouldn’t seek assistance when they had a problem, heaven forbid going through a door that says mental health. That wouldn’t happen.”
Ethell said his disorder manifested itself through excessive gambling, drinking and smoking.
“I make no excuses by standing up front and saying I have a problem, which I have solved. I have no problem standing up and saying we need help with this,” he said. “I have no problem using my position to advertise that need in our society.”
read more here
Saturday, Oct 08, 2011
By Ryan Tumilty
St. Albert Gazette
Lt. Gov. Donald Ethell launched a new group focused on mental health on Wednesday, aiming to use his position to help end the stigma around mental illness.
Ethell launched the Lieutenant Governor’s Circle on Mental Health and Addiction at Government House with dozens of people involved in mental health on hand. The new circle intends to use forums, a speaker’s series and a new awards program to address mental health in Alberta.
Ethell, a retired colonel with the armed forces, fought his own battle with post-traumatic stress disorder. He said Wednesday that society is moving in the right direction when it comes to the stigma around mental health, but there is more work to be done.
“You go back 10 or 15 years ago, the stigma was such that people wouldn’t seek assistance when they had a problem, heaven forbid going through a door that says mental health. That wouldn’t happen.”
Ethell said his disorder manifested itself through excessive gambling, drinking and smoking.
“I make no excuses by standing up front and saying I have a problem, which I have solved. I have no problem standing up and saying we need help with this,” he said. “I have no problem using my position to advertise that need in our society.”
read more here
Dogs2Vets program helping veterans heal
Chittenango facility helps veterans cope with effects of war
Published: Monday, October 10, 2011
By Alaina Potrikus / The Post-Standard
Artemis was found wandering near Fort Drum with more than 200 porcupine quills lodged in her face.
She found a new life with U.S. Army Sgt. Arthur Meyer, of Altmar, who was injured while serving in Afghanistan last year.
The pair are healing together through a new outreach center for military veterans at the former Skyridge Family Recreation Center on Salt Springs Road in Chittenango, on a 78-acre property that spans the border of Madison and Onondaga counties.
The facility was established as a country club in the 1960s adjacent to a nine-hole golf course.
But organizers thought the site’s pool, tennis courts and community center, which had fallen into disrepair from years of disuse, could hold immense possibilities for Clear Path for Veterans. The nonprofit was conceived as a safe haven for people recovering from the effects of military service, experiencing difficulties readjusting to civilian life and rejoining their families and communities.
“These men and women have voluntarily put their lives and health in jeopardy to support and defend our country and its principles,” said Steve Kinne, board president of Clear Path for Veterans and director of the Dogs2Vets program. “We owe them more than just our thanks — we owe them the opportunity to return from their military service and recover productive and meaningful lives.”
read more here
Published: Monday, October 10, 2011
By Alaina Potrikus / The Post-Standard
Gary Walts / The Post-Standard
Arthur Meyer, of Altmar, who is stationed at Fort Drum and was wounded in Afghanistan, works with his dog, Artemis, Friday at Clear Path for Veterans, a support facility in Chittenango for veterans dealing with war-related injuries and stress.
Artemis was found wandering near Fort Drum with more than 200 porcupine quills lodged in her face.
She found a new life with U.S. Army Sgt. Arthur Meyer, of Altmar, who was injured while serving in Afghanistan last year.
The pair are healing together through a new outreach center for military veterans at the former Skyridge Family Recreation Center on Salt Springs Road in Chittenango, on a 78-acre property that spans the border of Madison and Onondaga counties.
The facility was established as a country club in the 1960s adjacent to a nine-hole golf course.
But organizers thought the site’s pool, tennis courts and community center, which had fallen into disrepair from years of disuse, could hold immense possibilities for Clear Path for Veterans. The nonprofit was conceived as a safe haven for people recovering from the effects of military service, experiencing difficulties readjusting to civilian life and rejoining their families and communities.
“These men and women have voluntarily put their lives and health in jeopardy to support and defend our country and its principles,” said Steve Kinne, board president of Clear Path for Veterans and director of the Dogs2Vets program. “We owe them more than just our thanks — we owe them the opportunity to return from their military service and recover productive and meaningful lives.”
read more here
Spouses are often the first to notice effects of PTSD
Spouses are often the first to notice effects of PTSD
Posted: October 10, 2011
By Timothy J. Gibbons
Three days into Tony’s tour as a guard at a detention facility in Iraq, the first mortar attack came.
Pulling on every piece of protective equipment he could find, Tony rushed to a bunker. Inside: two soldiers, in shorts and helmets, shrugging off the entire thing. Outside: an airman sat playing a guitar, oblivious to his surroundings.
“It was surreal,” Tony said.
He got to talk to his wife a few days later, but communication system problems cut the conversations short.
“He never got to tell me what happened,” said his wife, Michelle. “I’m glad he didn’t.”
Michelle still hasn’t heard about some of Tony’s experiences, things she can’t understand for want of having lived through them.
That’s a common refrain from the spouses of those with post-traumatic stress disorder, who have to deal with the aftermath of a situation utterly alien to most of their lives in addition to the normal relationship stresses of being apart for months or a year.
The Times-Union is not using last names at the subjects’ request, to protect their privacy.
Wives are often the ones who notice symptoms, said Ken Harwood, a civilian psychologist who oversees several therapy groups at Jacksonville Navy Hospital, including the one Tony is in.
“They immediately see he’s different,” he said about wives welcoming husbands back, “[he’s] highly irritable, numb, isolating himself in his room.
“They feel they just got their man back, and he’s broken.”
read more here
Sunday, October 9, 2011
East Texas veteran receives a special welcome home
East Texas veteran receives a special welcome home
By Anthony Austin
(KYTX) - An East Texas Vietnam veteran dying of cancer receives a welcome home that's been long overdue.
John Rollins, like many Vietnam veterans, was never given a proper welcome home.
read more here
By Anthony Austin
(KYTX) - An East Texas Vietnam veteran dying of cancer receives a welcome home that's been long overdue.
John Rollins, like many Vietnam veterans, was never given a proper welcome home.
read more here
Vietnam war vets wanted for Veterans Day parade in Ogden
Vietnam war vets wanted for Veterans Day parade in Ogden
By Charles F. Trentelman
Standard-Examiner staff
Sat, 10/08/2011
OGDEN -- This year's Veterans Day parade in Ogden could break some sort of record for grand marshals: Utah has more than 50,000 Vietnam War-era veterans, the Veterans Administration says, and they're all invited.
That's more than half the population of Ogden.
The fifth annual parade will take place Nov. 12 on Washington Boulevard, marching from 18th Street to 24th Street and then over to Lindquist Field for a patriotic ceremony.
The grand marshals of the last two parades have been veterans of World War II and the Korean War. This year, the organizers want Vietnam War veterans to be the guests of honor.
Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander Dennis Howland, himself a Vietnam War veteran, said he's prepared to be surprised by the turnout.
"Two years ago, we thought if we had a dozen World War II vets we'd get excited, and we had 160," he said. "The Korean War vets were good, too."
This year, for Vietnam veterans, "we feel it's time to welcome them home again," he said.
read more here
By Charles F. Trentelman
Standard-Examiner staff
Sat, 10/08/2011
OGDEN -- This year's Veterans Day parade in Ogden could break some sort of record for grand marshals: Utah has more than 50,000 Vietnam War-era veterans, the Veterans Administration says, and they're all invited.
That's more than half the population of Ogden.
The fifth annual parade will take place Nov. 12 on Washington Boulevard, marching from 18th Street to 24th Street and then over to Lindquist Field for a patriotic ceremony.
The grand marshals of the last two parades have been veterans of World War II and the Korean War. This year, the organizers want Vietnam War veterans to be the guests of honor.
Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander Dennis Howland, himself a Vietnam War veteran, said he's prepared to be surprised by the turnout.
"Two years ago, we thought if we had a dozen World War II vets we'd get excited, and we had 160," he said. "The Korean War vets were good, too."
This year, for Vietnam veterans, "we feel it's time to welcome them home again," he said.
read more here
Nam Knights Eternal Chapter Remembers Brothers
Usually the sun is out when the Nam Knights has their Biketoberfest party but yesterday we had heavy rain in Central Florida all day. As you can see, the rain didn't stop these men from coming out to remember their brothers.
One million veterans are now unemployed
Private sector might have to do more to ease unemployment among military veterans
By ROB HOTAKAINEN
McClatchy Newspapers
Published: October 9, 2011
WASHINGTON - Democrats and Republicans rarely agree on anything in the nation's capital, but there's a growing bipartisan sense on Capitol Hill that the private sector will have to do much more to help Congress ease chronically high unemployment among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
In August, President Barack Obama called on the nation's businesses to hire or train 100,000 unemployed veterans by the end of 2013, a challenge that Microsoft answered with a pledge to train 10,000 of them.
Now, as part of his $447 billion jobs package, Obama wants Congress to approve a plan that would provide businesses a tax credit of $2,400 to $9,600 for each veteran they hire, depending on whether they're disabled and how long they've been unemployed.
One million veterans already are unemployed and more than a million are expected to leave the military by 2016. Julius Clemente, a 33-year-old Iraq veteran from Kirkland, Wash., told a congressional panel Thursday that there will be "systematic chaos" if more of them can't find jobs or get help going to college.
read more here
By ROB HOTAKAINEN
McClatchy Newspapers
Published: October 9, 2011
WASHINGTON - Democrats and Republicans rarely agree on anything in the nation's capital, but there's a growing bipartisan sense on Capitol Hill that the private sector will have to do much more to help Congress ease chronically high unemployment among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
In August, President Barack Obama called on the nation's businesses to hire or train 100,000 unemployed veterans by the end of 2013, a challenge that Microsoft answered with a pledge to train 10,000 of them.
Now, as part of his $447 billion jobs package, Obama wants Congress to approve a plan that would provide businesses a tax credit of $2,400 to $9,600 for each veteran they hire, depending on whether they're disabled and how long they've been unemployed.
One million veterans already are unemployed and more than a million are expected to leave the military by 2016. Julius Clemente, a 33-year-old Iraq veteran from Kirkland, Wash., told a congressional panel Thursday that there will be "systematic chaos" if more of them can't find jobs or get help going to college.
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Rooting out toxic leaders, soldiers rate bosses
Rooting out toxic leaders
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Oct 9, 2011 9:52:13 EDT
Soldiers will now be asked — and expected — to rate their bosses.
Effective Oct. 1, officers will be required to assert that they have completed a 360-degree evaluation — where the officer is graded by his subordinates, peers, subordinates and superiors — within the past three years.
Requiring officers to complete 360-degree evaluations should encourage them to grow and, at the same time, weed out potential toxic habits among officers, officials said.
A recent survey of more than 22,630 soldiers from the rank of E-5 through O-6 and Army civilians showed that roughly one in five sees his superior as “toxic and unethical,” while 27 percent said they believe their organization allows the frank and free flow of ideas.
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By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Oct 9, 2011 9:52:13 EDT
Soldiers will now be asked — and expected — to rate their bosses.
Effective Oct. 1, officers will be required to assert that they have completed a 360-degree evaluation — where the officer is graded by his subordinates, peers, subordinates and superiors — within the past three years.
Requiring officers to complete 360-degree evaluations should encourage them to grow and, at the same time, weed out potential toxic habits among officers, officials said.
A recent survey of more than 22,630 soldiers from the rank of E-5 through O-6 and Army civilians showed that roughly one in five sees his superior as “toxic and unethical,” while 27 percent said they believe their organization allows the frank and free flow of ideas.
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Virus infects computers piloting U.S. drones
Virus infects computers piloting U.S. drones
By Michael Winter - USA Today
Posted : Saturday Oct 8, 2011 14:20:45 EDT
A computer virus that logs keystrokes has infected computers used in Nevada to remotely pilot U.S. drones over Afghanistan and other war zones, Wired reports. As far as the Pentagon knows, no classified information has been lost or transmitted outside.
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By Michael Winter - USA Today
Posted : Saturday Oct 8, 2011 14:20:45 EDT
A computer virus that logs keystrokes has infected computers used in Nevada to remotely pilot U.S. drones over Afghanistan and other war zones, Wired reports. As far as the Pentagon knows, no classified information has been lost or transmitted outside.
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PTSD'S war toll: Buddy system helps veterans battle demons
PTSD'S war toll: Buddy system helps veterans battle demons
The military has been slower to deal with mental issues than with physical injuries
Posted: October 9, 2011
By Timothy J. Gibbons
It was a blow getting the letter from his ex-wife, the letter telling George Pappas his kids didn't want to see him.
Not what he needed on top of money issues and roommate strife, on top of back pain and mental issues that came from 22 years as a Marine.
But Pappas has someone he can call, a soldier fighting his own demons.
How you feeling? his friend asks.
"Like s---."
You take your medicine?
"I'm taking it now."
You eat yet?
Pappas tosses some waffles in the microwave, eats them, goes to bed. The next morning, 7:30, the phone rings.
You all right?
It rings most every morning after a bad day, one of his buddies checking on him. Other days, he's the one making the call.
Such support is what many wounded warriors say has helped them through their bad days, the days when nightmares and hallucinations don't seem to stop, when anger and grief and memory flood together, when thoughts of suicide or homicide or simply incoherent rage seem almost too much.
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The military has been slower to deal with mental issues than with physical injuries
Posted: October 9, 2011
By Timothy J. Gibbons
It was a blow getting the letter from his ex-wife, the letter telling George Pappas his kids didn't want to see him.
Not what he needed on top of money issues and roommate strife, on top of back pain and mental issues that came from 22 years as a Marine.
But Pappas has someone he can call, a soldier fighting his own demons.
How you feeling? his friend asks.
"Like s---."
You take your medicine?
"I'm taking it now."
You eat yet?
Pappas tosses some waffles in the microwave, eats them, goes to bed. The next morning, 7:30, the phone rings.
You all right?
It rings most every morning after a bad day, one of his buddies checking on him. Other days, he's the one making the call.
Such support is what many wounded warriors say has helped them through their bad days, the days when nightmares and hallucinations don't seem to stop, when anger and grief and memory flood together, when thoughts of suicide or homicide or simply incoherent rage seem almost too much.
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Terre Haute Marine unexpectedly dies
Terre Haute Marine unexpectedly dies
Sunday, 09 Oct 2011
Tom Brodbeck
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Lance Coporal Thomas J. “Tommy John” Soeurt, Jr. of Camp Lejeune, N.C. died unexpectedly while serving with the United States Marine Corps on Tuesday, October 4.
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Afghanistan War has hit home for many
Afghanistan War has hit home for many
America’s longest war has implications globally, but affects so many people on a personal level
By Jeff Gill
October 9, 2011
The Afghanistan War is more than just rooting out terrorists and others who would suppress freedom.
At 10 years and counting, it's even more than trying to establish democracy or to bring stability and prosperity to this rugged country that has defied foreign involvement for hundreds of years.
It's the story of a mother praying for her son or daughter in harm's way or a family's emotional embrace after a soldier returns home from deployment.
The war is very personal.
"I just want them all home. I just want all the guys and girls home," said Bonnie Marshall, Forsyth County mother of Spc. Taylor Marshall, who just turned 25 in the war zone as part of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division.
"They've done a great job."
She said she can log on anytime to a Family Readiness Group website for updates and see that there are other soldiers who have been lost in action in Taylor's troop.
"He doesn't even know about them. I find out about them and tell him ... so, I know there's still action going on over there."
The war has claimed at least 1,700 American soldiers since the U.S. invaded the country in South Central Asia on Oct. 7, 2001, in response to the terrorist attacks weeks earlier on Sept. 11.
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America’s longest war has implications globally, but affects so many people on a personal level
By Jeff Gill
October 9, 2011
The Afghanistan War is more than just rooting out terrorists and others who would suppress freedom.
At 10 years and counting, it's even more than trying to establish democracy or to bring stability and prosperity to this rugged country that has defied foreign involvement for hundreds of years.
It's the story of a mother praying for her son or daughter in harm's way or a family's emotional embrace after a soldier returns home from deployment.
The war is very personal.
"I just want them all home. I just want all the guys and girls home," said Bonnie Marshall, Forsyth County mother of Spc. Taylor Marshall, who just turned 25 in the war zone as part of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division.
"They've done a great job."
She said she can log on anytime to a Family Readiness Group website for updates and see that there are other soldiers who have been lost in action in Taylor's troop.
"He doesn't even know about them. I find out about them and tell him ... so, I know there's still action going on over there."
The war has claimed at least 1,700 American soldiers since the U.S. invaded the country in South Central Asia on Oct. 7, 2001, in response to the terrorist attacks weeks earlier on Sept. 11.
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Marine veteran is free to tell the story of America's nuclear test subjects
Marine veteran is free to tell the story of America's nuclear test subjects
Posted Saturday, Oct. 08, 2011
BY CHRIS VAUGHN
cvaughn@star-telegram.com
BURLESON -- James D. Tyler stuffed cotton balls into his ears and waited for the announcement.
He was kneeling at the bottom of a 6-foot-deep ditch, bearing every piece of his combat gear, too young at 18 to even consider that this might be the end of his life. If it was going to be, he wouldn't be alone. No one in Company F had any better odds.
Except that Tyler, then a grunt in 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, would not go over the ditch into the teeth of the enemy.
He and everyone else knew their orders -- hug the side of the ditch, close your eyes, put your face in the crook of your arm. Do not raise your head, under any circumstances.
"It was just before dawn," said Tyler, 72, of Burleson. "We assumed that the people in charge knew what they were doing."
The countdown began, and then everything went blindingly white.
Several decades ago, during the darkest days of the Cold War, with the threat of nuclear annihilation, the U.S. military tested more than 1,000 nuclear weapons in the deserts of Nevada and the waters of the Pacific. Many of the thermonuclear detonations involved the presence of large numbers of soldiers, sailors and Marines, who began to think of themselves as "guinea pig ground grunts."
It's a largely forgotten part of American history, mostly because the government didn't want it known. In today's world, it can be difficult to fathom using regular troops, given essentially no protection, as test subjects in an experiment in how to take advantage of the post-nuclear bomb drop.
"These guys were sworn to secrecy," said R.J. Ritter, national commander of the National Association of Atomic Veterans. "For the official record, it didn't happen. They were told by a CID officer, 'What you saw and heard here today didn't happen.' Now after all these years they're free to tell their story, but they are hard-pressed to find someone old enough, including in the military, to understand that it happened."
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Posted Saturday, Oct. 08, 2011
BY CHRIS VAUGHN
cvaughn@star-telegram.com
BURLESON -- James D. Tyler stuffed cotton balls into his ears and waited for the announcement.
He was kneeling at the bottom of a 6-foot-deep ditch, bearing every piece of his combat gear, too young at 18 to even consider that this might be the end of his life. If it was going to be, he wouldn't be alone. No one in Company F had any better odds.
Except that Tyler, then a grunt in 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, would not go over the ditch into the teeth of the enemy.
He and everyone else knew their orders -- hug the side of the ditch, close your eyes, put your face in the crook of your arm. Do not raise your head, under any circumstances.
"It was just before dawn," said Tyler, 72, of Burleson. "We assumed that the people in charge knew what they were doing."
The countdown began, and then everything went blindingly white.
Several decades ago, during the darkest days of the Cold War, with the threat of nuclear annihilation, the U.S. military tested more than 1,000 nuclear weapons in the deserts of Nevada and the waters of the Pacific. Many of the thermonuclear detonations involved the presence of large numbers of soldiers, sailors and Marines, who began to think of themselves as "guinea pig ground grunts."
It's a largely forgotten part of American history, mostly because the government didn't want it known. In today's world, it can be difficult to fathom using regular troops, given essentially no protection, as test subjects in an experiment in how to take advantage of the post-nuclear bomb drop.
"These guys were sworn to secrecy," said R.J. Ritter, national commander of the National Association of Atomic Veterans. "For the official record, it didn't happen. They were told by a CID officer, 'What you saw and heard here today didn't happen.' Now after all these years they're free to tell their story, but they are hard-pressed to find someone old enough, including in the military, to understand that it happened."
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Pawtucket father who suffered PTSD after Iraq makes up for lost time
Pawtucket father who suffered PTSD after Iraq makes up for lost time
October 9, 2011
By G. Wayne Miller
Journal Staff Writer
“I don’t know if we need time apart or whatever,” says Toure, in his soft-spoken voice, which carries a hint of a French accent. “I mean, it is what it is. I can’t dwell on that. All I can worry about is Sean –– make sure that he knows that I’m here for him, even though I wasn’t before. That’s the promise I have made to him. He knows that I am here for him, and I’ll do everything I can.”
Sean was a toddler when his father deployed the first time, in 2004, with the 103rd Field Artillery. And he was just 5 when Toure returned to Iraq, in 2007, with the 169th Military Police Company.
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October 9, 2011
By G. Wayne Miller
Journal Staff Writer
Sekou Toure with his son, Sean, in 2007, on the day of his second deployment to Iraq. Sean was 5 at the time.PAWTUCKET — Today is Sekou N. Toure’s turn to pick his son up at school. After stopping for a sandwich, he and 9-year-old Sean reach the apartment Toure has rented since he and his wife separated a few months ago. Their troubles are woven into the circumstances of Toure’s two deployments to Iraq as a Rhode Island Army National Guardsman.
Courtesy of Sekou Toure
“I don’t know if we need time apart or whatever,” says Toure, in his soft-spoken voice, which carries a hint of a French accent. “I mean, it is what it is. I can’t dwell on that. All I can worry about is Sean –– make sure that he knows that I’m here for him, even though I wasn’t before. That’s the promise I have made to him. He knows that I am here for him, and I’ll do everything I can.”
Sean was a toddler when his father deployed the first time, in 2004, with the 103rd Field Artillery. And he was just 5 when Toure returned to Iraq, in 2007, with the 169th Military Police Company.
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Decorated WWII veteran finally gets military funeral
Southtowns soldier finally gets military burial
Updated: Saturday, 08 Oct 2011, 6:24 PM EDT
Published : Saturday, 08 Oct 2011, 6:24 PM EDT
Posted by: Kellie Mazur
NORTH COLLINS, NY (WIVB) - It took four decades, but a Southtowns soldier has finally been give the military burial he deserved.
Tech Sergeant Millard Orton served with the U.S. Army during World War II and was highly decorated, earning silver and bronze star medals.
But when he died in 1971, his remains went unclaimed until the Patriot Guard Riders Veteran Recovery Program was able to locate his nephew William Orton.
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Updated: Saturday, 08 Oct 2011, 6:24 PM EDT
Published : Saturday, 08 Oct 2011, 6:24 PM EDT
Southtowns soldier finally gets military burial: wivb.com
Amelia SegalPosted by: Kellie Mazur
NORTH COLLINS, NY (WIVB) - It took four decades, but a Southtowns soldier has finally been give the military burial he deserved.
Tech Sergeant Millard Orton served with the U.S. Army during World War II and was highly decorated, earning silver and bronze star medals.
But when he died in 1971, his remains went unclaimed until the Patriot Guard Riders Veteran Recovery Program was able to locate his nephew William Orton.
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Love for wounded soldier upon return from Afghanistan
If you want to see pictures from what this couple looks past and get inspired, click the link below to see more and read about their story. If you know a disabled veteran, don't give them your sympathy. They don't need it. Give them your love, support and help in anyway they do need it. If they ask for help to get into their vehicle, don't offer to drive them instead. If they ask you to hold the door, just do it and then get out of their way. Don't offer to shop for them.
Love for wounded soldier upon return from Afghanistan
Washington Post
Dan Berschinski and Rebecca Taber’s relationship blossomed after Berschinski returned from Afghanistan with both of his legs blown off.
Taber kisses Berschinski as he arrives in Dover, Del.
Nikki Kahn / The Washington Post
By Greg Jaffe, Published: October 8
Rebecca Taber and the Army lieutenant kissed on the sidewalk outside her 16th Street apartment.
They had met through friends and had spent, at most, six hours together over the course of two evenings. In a few weeks, 1st Lt. Dan Berschinski was going to Afghanistan, where he would lead a platoon of 35 men. It was June 2009.
Rebecca, then 23, noticed the black memorial bracelet that he wore as a reminder that his soldiers’ lives would depend on his decisions. “It made me think that he was mature,” she recalled. The looming danger of his combat tour only added to the evening’s excitement. Rebecca felt as though she were playing a part in a movie.
She had graduated from Yale University one year earlier, where she had been student body president. She was slim and pretty with a high forehead and dark hair. People told her that she resembled actress Natalie Portman.
Like most of her friends, she knew no one her age in the military and gave only passing thought to the wars. Speaking to students at Duke University last year, former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates lamented that “for a growing number of Americans, service in the military, no matter how laudable, has become something for other people to do.” He could have been describing Rebecca.
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Army Spc. James Butz homecoming a tribute to his sacrifice
Soldier's homecoming a tribute to his sacrifice
Saturday, October 08, 2011
Evelyn Holmes
October 8, 2011 (PORTER, Ind.) (WLS) -- An emotional tribute was paid Saturday to Army Spc. James Butz, whose body was brought home to Indiana after he was killed in Afganistan.
Family, friends and supporters lined routes in Portage and Chesterton traveled by the hearse carrying his body. The Indiana Patriot Guard lead the hero's procession through both the soldier's hometown and into Chesteron where he will eventually be buried.
"Chesterton, Porter, Burns Harbor, we're pretty much one community and when one is fallen it affects all of us," Chesterson resident Maria Roths said.
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Saturday, October 08, 2011
Evelyn Holmes
October 8, 2011 (PORTER, Ind.) (WLS) -- An emotional tribute was paid Saturday to Army Spc. James Butz, whose body was brought home to Indiana after he was killed in Afganistan.
Family, friends and supporters lined routes in Portage and Chesterton traveled by the hearse carrying his body. The Indiana Patriot Guard lead the hero's procession through both the soldier's hometown and into Chesteron where he will eventually be buried.
"Chesterton, Porter, Burns Harbor, we're pretty much one community and when one is fallen it affects all of us," Chesterson resident Maria Roths said.
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Camp Pendleton Marine, Silver Star and Bronze for bravery in Afghanistan Sangin
Camp Pendleton Marine lauded for bravery in Afghanistan
October 8, 2011
Two medals for bravery in Afghanistan were awarded this week to a Marine at Camp Pendleton -- a reminder of how intense the clash between U.S. forces and Taliban fighters has been in the insurgent stronghold of Helmand province.
Master Sgt. David Jarvis received a Silver Star for courage and leadership during a firefight in Sangin on Oct. 25, 2010, and a Bronze Star with a Combat V for valor for a series of similar actions from June to November of the same year.
Jarvis, 34, from Bremerton, Wash., was serving with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and is now a training officer. Before deploying to Afghanistan, he had served two tours in Iraq.
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October 8, 2011
Master Sgt. David Jarvis received a Silver Star for courage and leadership during a firefight in Sangin on Oct. 25, 2010, and a Bronze Star with a Combat V for valor for a series of similar actions from June to November of the same year.
Jarvis, 34, from Bremerton, Wash., was serving with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and is now a training officer. Before deploying to Afghanistan, he had served two tours in Iraq.
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Saturday, October 8, 2011
Wedding fireworks trigger stress attack in Vietnam vet
Wedding fireworks trigger stress attack in Vietnam vet
Banquet facility adjoins his yard
By Barbara O’Brien
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
October 8, 2011, 6:32 AM
Wedding couples adding an extra zing to their special day contracted for the fireworks Aug. 20, and Sept. 4. at the Avanti Mansion, a banquet facility on South Park Avenue.
But for Bill and Denise Woods, whose backyard on West Highland Parkway adjoins the Avanti property, the unexpected explosions were anything but fun. They and their neighbors had no idea the fireworks would be set off so close to their homes.
Woods served in Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division in 1968 and 1969, and nearly lost his leg when a booby trap exploded. He will be 62 next month, and has had other health problems.
He would be the first to say “I buried Vietnam 40 years ago.”
But as he found out in August, some things don’t stay buried.
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Banquet facility adjoins his yard
By Barbara O’Brien
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
October 8, 2011, 6:32 AM
Denise Woods stands in her backyard, which adjoins the Avanti Mansion, a banquet facility where recent weddings had fireworks.Booming fireworks celebrating a wedding in August signaled the return to the nightmare of the Vietnam War for a Hamburg veteran.
Derek Gee / Buffalo News
Wedding couples adding an extra zing to their special day contracted for the fireworks Aug. 20, and Sept. 4. at the Avanti Mansion, a banquet facility on South Park Avenue.
But for Bill and Denise Woods, whose backyard on West Highland Parkway adjoins the Avanti property, the unexpected explosions were anything but fun. They and their neighbors had no idea the fireworks would be set off so close to their homes.
Woods served in Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division in 1968 and 1969, and nearly lost his leg when a booby trap exploded. He will be 62 next month, and has had other health problems.
He would be the first to say “I buried Vietnam 40 years ago.”
But as he found out in August, some things don’t stay buried.
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Philippines: Cancer-stricken ex-U.S. military man takes own life
Cancer-stricken ex-U.S. military man takes own life
Saturday, October 08, 2011
Written by : Bernard Galang
ANGELES City -- Citing lack of money and persistent pain due to cancer, a retired U.S. military personnel decided to end his life inside the room he was renting in Josefa Subd., Bgy. Malabanias, here, last Thursday.
“I have decided to take my life (because) I have no friends and been in constant pain for over six years,” David John Stevens, 59, said in his handwritten suicide letter found on the table of his room where his body was discovered at around 10:30 a.m.
Saturday, October 08, 2011
Written by : Bernard Galang
ANGELES City -- Citing lack of money and persistent pain due to cancer, a retired U.S. military personnel decided to end his life inside the room he was renting in Josefa Subd., Bgy. Malabanias, here, last Thursday.
“I have decided to take my life (because) I have no friends and been in constant pain for over six years,” David John Stevens, 59, said in his handwritten suicide letter found on the table of his room where his body was discovered at around 10:30 a.m.
PO1 Marlon Mamucud, officer on case, said Stevens had overdosed himself with valium and morphine tablets.
“VA (Veterans Affairs) refuses to help and especially Social Security. I cannot live on 1,000 USD a month. No family and friends,” the American said in his suicide note.
Stevens requested that his body be cremated and brought to a Lutheran Church and spread his ashes over the graves of his father and mother in Shawano, Wisconsin, USA.
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On forth tour, suicide claimed the life of Staff Sgt. David P. Senft
Julie Conover lost her son in Anbar Province in 2006. She sees his death as one of honor but cannot manage to see that when a serviceman or woman commits suicide because of their service, those deaths are because they served.
I am sitting here saddened by the attitude of people after all these years because heroes like Staff Sgt. David P. Senft's are regarded as someone no longer worthy of being called one because he committed suicide.
"According to the Army officer, he said, on at least one occasion when a wounded soldier was on the ground but the copter’s pilot wanted to take off because of heavy fire, the staff sergeant unhooked his harness and told the pilot to take off. He, however, wouldn’t leave anyone behind.
Senft hauled the casualty back to the Blackhawk — the pilot stayed, after all — and the wounded man lived.
The senior Senft recalled: “The lieutenant colonel said, ‘That’s what your son is known for. I’m not going to say it’s right or it’s wrong, but your son refused to leave anybody behind, and he never worried about himself.’”
If that’s not honorable service, I don’t know what is. And it’s worthy of remembrance."
It is a matter of honor. Honoring the fact these men and women are willing to risk their lives in service. Honor them for showing great courage and commitment to their comrades even if it means sacrificing their own lives to do it. Honor them when the weight of what they had to go through has become too great of a burden to carry and they take their own lives. Conover should be wondering more about why Senft had to carry that burden alone after showing he was a hero. This country has lost too many because of their service and because they cared more about others than themselves.
Second Thoughts: War memorial is a matter of honor
by Jon Mendelson / Tracy Press
Oct 07, 2011
Honor. It’s at the heart of military service. And it’s at the heart of a renewed debate about whether one former Tracy resident deserves his name on the city’s war memorial.
Staff Sgt. David P. Senft served three full tours of duty in the Middle East with the U.S. Army as a side gunner on a Blackhawk helicopter. He was twice given an Air Medal for meritorious achievement during flight. And until he died during his fourth tour of duty, his second in Afghanistan, he had a reputation for putting others first.
Earlier this year, the Tracy War Memorial Association decided Senft’s name should be carved onto the granite memorial near City Hall, the city’s way of honoring residents who gave their lives serving their country.
But less than two months before that solemn ceremony — names are revealed on Veterans Day and carved the day before — at least one local military family says Senft’s name doesn’t belong. The reason: The staff sergeant committed suicide at Kandahar Air Base, an act that just doesn’t square with his oath to serve.
“War is awful. Anytime you lose anyone, it’s a horrible thing,” said Julie Conover, whose son, Lance Cpl. Brandon Dewey, was wounded in fierce fighting in 2004 in Fallujah and died in Anbar Province in 2006 when a suicide bomber attacked his unit.
Though she and her husband, Scott, empathize with the loss felt by the staff sergeant’s loved ones, they say there’s a line to be drawn when it comes to the memorial. There’s a difference, Conover said, between service and taking one’s own life, which is counter to the ethos of the armed forces.
“It’s horrible. And I understand that he had some issues. … And it’s unfortunate that the military didn’t address that,” she said. “But I still do not think he deserves to be put on a war memorial for people who serve honorably.”
President Obama sent Senft’s family a letter “… in recognition of devoted and selfless consecration to the service of our country in the armed forces of the United States.” And Maj. Gen. James Terry, who oversaw the investigation of Senft’s death, concluded that Staff Sgt. Senft “died in the line of duty,” right above his signature.
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Deployed soldier learns of In-laws deaths in Oregon
Daughter says elderly Troutdale couple in apparent murder-suicide died in bed, side-by-side
Published: Friday, October 07, 2011
By Sally Ho, The Oregonian
TROUTDALE -- On Friday, the only child of Ed and Frances Lopes called their deaths "an act of desperation."
"It's a statement to society about people who fall through the cracks," Louise Lopes, 51, said.
The lives of her parents, ended Thursday with gunshot wounds to their heads in what authorities believe was a murder-suicide. They would have been married 64 years this month.
Police say that at about 11 a.m. Thursday, Ed Lopes, 87, called Troutdale police to say he had shot his wife, 92-year-old Frances. When police arrived at their home and there was no response, the Gresham-East Multnomah County SWAT Team was called to the home on Southwest Larsson Avenue. Neighbors said their homes were evacuated until about 3 p.m.
Louise Lopes was at home in Mulino when officials arrived around 8:45 p.m. to say her parents were dead, side-by-side in their bed. Louise said her father did not own a gun but may have come to her house for one while she was away at work because her husband's pistol is missing. Her husband, Gary Evans, is in the military and was headed home to Oregon from Afghanistan because of the deaths.
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Published: Friday, October 07, 2011
By Sally Ho, The Oregonian
TROUTDALE -- On Friday, the only child of Ed and Frances Lopes called their deaths "an act of desperation."
"It's a statement to society about people who fall through the cracks," Louise Lopes, 51, said.
The lives of her parents, ended Thursday with gunshot wounds to their heads in what authorities believe was a murder-suicide. They would have been married 64 years this month.
Police say that at about 11 a.m. Thursday, Ed Lopes, 87, called Troutdale police to say he had shot his wife, 92-year-old Frances. When police arrived at their home and there was no response, the Gresham-East Multnomah County SWAT Team was called to the home on Southwest Larsson Avenue. Neighbors said their homes were evacuated until about 3 p.m.
Louise Lopes was at home in Mulino when officials arrived around 8:45 p.m. to say her parents were dead, side-by-side in their bed. Louise said her father did not own a gun but may have come to her house for one while she was away at work because her husband's pistol is missing. Her husband, Gary Evans, is in the military and was headed home to Oregon from Afghanistan because of the deaths.
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American Legion Post Ride to benefit homeless veterans
Ride to benefit homeless veterans
Post 11 hosting ride to help homeless veterans
Friday, 07 Oct 2011
Tiffanie Dismore
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Tippecanoe County veterans are rallying together to help veterans who come across hard times.
Military Family Research Institute Assistant Director Martina Sternberg said more than 900 families in the county with a military connection sought assistance from organizations last year.
Next month Lafayette will host its first Stand Down event which is a day that the community takes care of homeless veterans.
To raise money for the event, the American Legion Post 11 is hosting a benefit Sunday.
Post Commander Fred Klaverenga said this is an issue the community needs to get behind.
"We were sitting in here and a homeless vet came in and he wanted money for a hair cut and a shave. I really think these boys needs help," Klaverenga said.
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Post 11 hosting ride to help homeless veterans
Friday, 07 Oct 2011
Tiffanie Dismore
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Tippecanoe County veterans are rallying together to help veterans who come across hard times.
Military Family Research Institute Assistant Director Martina Sternberg said more than 900 families in the county with a military connection sought assistance from organizations last year.
Next month Lafayette will host its first Stand Down event which is a day that the community takes care of homeless veterans.
To raise money for the event, the American Legion Post 11 is hosting a benefit Sunday.
Post Commander Fred Klaverenga said this is an issue the community needs to get behind.
"We were sitting in here and a homeless vet came in and he wanted money for a hair cut and a shave. I really think these boys needs help," Klaverenga said.
read more here
Fort Bliss Soldier In Police Custody After Another Soldier Was Shot
Update: Police ID Soldier Involved In Northeast El Paso Shooting
Soldier In Police Custody, Other Hospitalized
Lauren Rozyla/KFOX14 News Reporter
Posted: 5:53 am MDT October 7, 2011
EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso Police identify a soldier who allegedly fired a shot at another soldier in northeast El Paso Thursday night.
Police said they have charged Blake Bochnicek, 21, with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Police said that around 10:30 p.m. they were called out to the 6900 block of Jericho Tree off of Mesquite Hills Drive.
They said when they arrived, they found a group of people outside one of the homes in the neighborhood. There, authorities also found Michael James Jr., 21, shot in the torso by Bochnicek.
James Jr. was rushed to Beaumont Hospital.
read more here
Soldier In Police Custody, Other Hospitalized
Lauren Rozyla/KFOX14 News Reporter
Posted: 5:53 am MDT October 7, 2011
EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso Police identify a soldier who allegedly fired a shot at another soldier in northeast El Paso Thursday night.
Police said they have charged Blake Bochnicek, 21, with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Police said that around 10:30 p.m. they were called out to the 6900 block of Jericho Tree off of Mesquite Hills Drive.
They said when they arrived, they found a group of people outside one of the homes in the neighborhood. There, authorities also found Michael James Jr., 21, shot in the torso by Bochnicek.
James Jr. was rushed to Beaumont Hospital.
read more here
Fort Bragg soldier charged with killing retired Sgt. Major Raymond Thompson
Fort Bragg soldier charged with killing retired Sgt. Maj. in North Carolina
By Associated Press, Published: October 7
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A Fort Bragg soldier has turned himself in to authorities to face charges in the shooting death of a retired sergeant major in North Carolina last month.
Fayetteville police spokesman Gavin MacRoberts said Friday that 41-year-old Staff Sgt. Clyde Terrell Cobb turned himself in on Thursday. He is charged with voluntary manslaughter in the shooting of retired Command Sgt. Maj. Raymond Thompson.
read more here
By Associated Press, Published: October 7
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A Fort Bragg soldier has turned himself in to authorities to face charges in the shooting death of a retired sergeant major in North Carolina last month.
Fayetteville police spokesman Gavin MacRoberts said Friday that 41-year-old Staff Sgt. Clyde Terrell Cobb turned himself in on Thursday. He is charged with voluntary manslaughter in the shooting of retired Command Sgt. Maj. Raymond Thompson.
read more here
Jacksonville Wounded Warrior Remembers Combat Duty
Jacksonville Wounded Warrior Remembers Combat Duty; Now Helps Troops Returning Home
Oct 7, 2011
Written by
Mike Lyons
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Zach Hudson said combat duty in Afghanistan changed his life, and now he spends it helping veterans when they return.
Afghanistan was invaded by the U.S. and coalition forces on Oct. 7, 2001 - 27 days after 9/11. The purpose was to crush the al-Qaida base of operations, remove the Taliban from power and train Afghan forces for a new government.
Then-Army sergeant Hudson went to war in 2006 and spent 16 months as an infantry medic, once suffering a shrapnel injury to his leg. "It is one of those things that sneaks up on you, 'Wow! It's been 10 years now'," said Hudson.
"We were trying to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people, because Afghan people as a whole are not bad people," said Hudson. "It was a small group of people that worked with the Taliban that started this entire conflict."
Hudson, 27, said he is proud of his service and would return if necessary.
Oct 7, 2011
Written by
Mike Lyons
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Zach Hudson said combat duty in Afghanistan changed his life, and now he spends it helping veterans when they return.
Afghanistan was invaded by the U.S. and coalition forces on Oct. 7, 2001 - 27 days after 9/11. The purpose was to crush the al-Qaida base of operations, remove the Taliban from power and train Afghan forces for a new government.
Then-Army sergeant Hudson went to war in 2006 and spent 16 months as an infantry medic, once suffering a shrapnel injury to his leg. "It is one of those things that sneaks up on you, 'Wow! It's been 10 years now'," said Hudson.
"We were trying to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people, because Afghan people as a whole are not bad people," said Hudson. "It was a small group of people that worked with the Taliban that started this entire conflict."
Hudson, 27, said he is proud of his service and would return if necessary.
Hudson now works for the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization whose mission is to "honor and empower wounded warriors." Hudson helps soldiers deal with post-traumatic stress disorder.read more here
Friday, October 7, 2011
Medal of Honor, 1st Sgt. David McNerney, leaves medal to Fort Carson
Sandpaper sgt. leaves 1 final gift for troops
By Tom Roeder - The Gazette via the AP
Posted : Saturday Oct 8, 2011 8:31:31 EDT
FORT CARSON, Colo. — First Sgt. David McNerney was a small man with a legendary temper and a stare that would blister paint.
His soldiers in a 4th Infantry Division company say they were terrified by him and compare him to John Wayne, only meaner.
But there was another side to McNerney. One that will be on display after his most prized possession was given to the soldiers of Fort Carson.
The crew-cut, 5-foot-8 sergeant earned the Medal of Honor in Vietnam, but said it was never really his.
He stood by that statement in his last will and testament.
read more here
By Tom Roeder - The Gazette via the AP
Posted : Saturday Oct 8, 2011 8:31:31 EDT
FORT CARSON, Colo. — First Sgt. David McNerney was a small man with a legendary temper and a stare that would blister paint.
His soldiers in a 4th Infantry Division company say they were terrified by him and compare him to John Wayne, only meaner.
But there was another side to McNerney. One that will be on display after his most prized possession was given to the soldiers of Fort Carson.
The crew-cut, 5-foot-8 sergeant earned the Medal of Honor in Vietnam, but said it was never really his.
He stood by that statement in his last will and testament.
read more here
Sgt. Julio Chavez carries 1st Sgt. David McNerney's Medal of Honor to the Fort Carson Historical Center following a ceremony Thursday, October 6, 2011. Before his death, Medal of Honor recipient McNerney instructed that his medal be presented to the 4th Infantry Division. Mark Reis, The Gazette
MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE
Fort Carson receives medal left by Vietnam War hero
October 06, 2011 4:24 PM
TOM ROEDER
THE GAZETTE
Fort Carson soldiers gathered in formation Thursday during a ceremony with a simple lesson.
The event honored 1st Sgt. David McNerney, a Vietnam War hero died in Texas last year and in his will left his Medal Honor to troops in Colorado Springs.
Friends, family members and comrades talked about McNerney and what he did in 1967 to earn the medal during a day long firefight in the jungle. They talked about McNerney’s generosity, loyalty to family and uncompromising values.
Soldiers with Fort Carson’s A Company of the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, McNerney’s old unit, heard all that and something else.
“I have some huge shoes to fill,” said 1st Sgt. Andrew Whittingham, who holds McNerney’s old job.
The medal will be displayed at the Mountain Post Historical Center near the post’s main gate and commanders will use it to teach young soldiers about the commitment it takes to serve in the Army.
read more here
Five soldiers remain in ICU following Germany training jump
Five soldiers remain in ICU following Germany training jump
By STEVEN BEARDSLEY
Stars and Stripes
Published: October 6, 2011
GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — Five soldiers remained in intensive care Thursday morning from injuries suffered during a parachute jump in the Hohenfels Training Area on Wednesday, according to a spokeswoman for the Joint Multinational Training Command.
Meanwhile, the monthlong exercise that began Wednesday will continue as planned, she said.
Twenty soldiers remained hospitalized in the nearby city of Regensburg as of Thursday morning, said Denver Makle, the JMTC spokeswoman. Four of the five soldiers in the intensive care unit were admitted directly upon transport from the field on Wednesday. The fifth was later transferred to the ICU.
read more here
By STEVEN BEARDSLEY
Stars and Stripes
Published: October 6, 2011
GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — Five soldiers remained in intensive care Thursday morning from injuries suffered during a parachute jump in the Hohenfels Training Area on Wednesday, according to a spokeswoman for the Joint Multinational Training Command.
Meanwhile, the monthlong exercise that began Wednesday will continue as planned, she said.
Twenty soldiers remained hospitalized in the nearby city of Regensburg as of Thursday morning, said Denver Makle, the JMTC spokeswoman. Four of the five soldiers in the intensive care unit were admitted directly upon transport from the field on Wednesday. The fifth was later transferred to the ICU.
read more here
Fort Bragg female soldier killed in murder suicide situation
Murder-suicide under investigation in Fayetteville
Authorities on scene of an abduction turned murder-suicide.
By: JONATHAN CARLSON
Published: October 06, 2011
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. --
Fayetteville police are investigating what they say was a domestic-related kidnapping and murder-suicide.
Officers say a 911 call was received at 8:11 a.m Thursday morning, reporting that a woman had been kidnapped from a Fayetteville area home where she was staying.
Authorities on scene of an abduction turned murder-suicide.
By: JONATHAN CARLSON
Published: October 06, 2011
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. --
Fayetteville police are investigating what they say was a domestic-related kidnapping and murder-suicide.
Officers say a 911 call was received at 8:11 a.m Thursday morning, reporting that a woman had been kidnapped from a Fayetteville area home where she was staying.
read more hereOfficials say the victim was in the military, stationed at Ft. Bragg.
Death of Fort Leonard Wood soldiers in Afghanistan hits base hard
Death of Fort Leonard Wood soldiers in Afghanistan hits base hard
BY PHILLIP O'CONNOR
October 7, 2011
The deaths last week of three Fort Leonard Wood soldiers equaled the largest loss of life from a single incident for those deployed from Missouri's biggest military installation since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began.
First Lt. Ivan Lechowich, Spc. Steven Gutowski and Pvt. David Drake, all members of the 5th Engineer Battalion, were killed Sept. 28 in Afghanistan's Ghazni province when their mine-resistant vehicle was struck by a hidden explosive. It was the third time three battalion soldiers had died from a single roadside bomb.
Located about 130 miles southwest of St. Louis, Fort Leonard Wood might best be known for its role as a training installation. Each year, about 90,000 military members pass through the post, including about 30,000 Army recruits who spend nine weeks learning the fundamentals of being a soldier. But recent years also have seen an increase in the number of combat-ready troops based at the 63,000-acre post. In 2008, the 4th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade was established. Its 4,000 soldiers tripled the number of forces based at the fort that could deploy to a war zone.
That includes engineers who are charged with ridding roads of the enemy's most effective weapon — the improvised explosive device, or IED.
read more here
BY PHILLIP O'CONNOR
October 7, 2011
From left: Pvt. David Drake, 1st Lt. Ivan Lechowich and Spc. Steven Gutowski
The deaths last week of three Fort Leonard Wood soldiers equaled the largest loss of life from a single incident for those deployed from Missouri's biggest military installation since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began.
First Lt. Ivan Lechowich, Spc. Steven Gutowski and Pvt. David Drake, all members of the 5th Engineer Battalion, were killed Sept. 28 in Afghanistan's Ghazni province when their mine-resistant vehicle was struck by a hidden explosive. It was the third time three battalion soldiers had died from a single roadside bomb.
Located about 130 miles southwest of St. Louis, Fort Leonard Wood might best be known for its role as a training installation. Each year, about 90,000 military members pass through the post, including about 30,000 Army recruits who spend nine weeks learning the fundamentals of being a soldier. But recent years also have seen an increase in the number of combat-ready troops based at the 63,000-acre post. In 2008, the 4th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade was established. Its 4,000 soldiers tripled the number of forces based at the fort that could deploy to a war zone.
That includes engineers who are charged with ridding roads of the enemy's most effective weapon — the improvised explosive device, or IED.
read more here
Cable news forgets ten years of war in Afghanistan
Ten years after troops were sent to Afghanistan, 1,801 fallen according to iCasualties.org thousands wounded and many suffering with PTSD topped off with suicides, yet the national media doesn't seem to think the American people care enough to dedicate the top story to the men and women fighting this battle.
Top stories on CNN at 8:20 am est
Notice that after ten years in Afghanistan, not one of these stories was about it.
MSNBC
They did have a great photo section including this.
Fox News
Obama: I Share Protests' 'Frustration'
AP
Three weeks into a growing protest movement targeting Wall Street, President Obama expresses empathy for the demonstrators and even elevates them as a force in the 2012 election cycle.
Obama Backs Millionaire Surtax in Jobs Bill
Dozens Arrested as Cops Block Wall Street Protests
OPINION: Protesters Have Demands, What Are Yours?
Senate Dems Change Rules, Postponing Vote on China Currency
Feds take a new role in the nation's health care, designing a basic package for the privately insured
Head of Program Behind Solyndra Loan Steps Down
Justice Dept. Lashes Back Over Holder Claim
Iraq Vet Fights for Kids Taken by Wife to Japan
Marine has been pleading for U.S., Japan to help ever since his estranged wife abducted their kids 3 years ago
OPINION: Child Abduction Is Child Abuse
Fox & Friends Looks
Back at 15 Years of Fun
VIDEO: As Fox News celebrates its 15th anniversary, the Fox & Friends team looks back at 15 wild years
FULL COVERAGE: 15th Anniversary
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Can anyone really wonder anymore why the troops and military families feel the public is totally detached from them?
Top stories on CNN at 8:20 am est
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Notice that after ten years in Afghanistan, not one of these stories was about it.
MSNBC
Top stories
Young Afghans reflect on 10 years since invasion
AFP
Afghanistan as war began: Looking back over a decade
US military eyes next threats, missions
Nightly News
Steve Jobs said
he authorized biography so his kids can know him
They did have a great photo section including this.
Shannon Spann, wife of CIA officer Johnny Michael "Mike" Spann, follows her husband's casket to the graveside as she holds her 6-month old son, Jake, at Arlington National Cemetery, Dec. 10, 2001 in Arlington, Va. Spann was the first American known to be killed in combat in Afghanistan. Johnny "Mike'' Spann, 32, who entered the Marine Corps and then joined the CIA in June 1999, was killed in action during a prison riot at Mazar-e-Sharif.
Fox News
Obama: I Share Protests' 'Frustration'
AP
Three weeks into a growing protest movement targeting Wall Street, President Obama expresses empathy for the demonstrators and even elevates them as a force in the 2012 election cycle.
Obama Backs Millionaire Surtax in Jobs Bill
Dozens Arrested as Cops Block Wall Street Protests
OPINION: Protesters Have Demands, What Are Yours?
Senate Dems Change Rules, Postponing Vote on China Currency
Feds take a new role in the nation's health care, designing a basic package for the privately insured
Head of Program Behind Solyndra Loan Steps Down
Justice Dept. Lashes Back Over Holder Claim
Iraq Vet Fights for Kids Taken by Wife to Japan
Marine has been pleading for U.S., Japan to help ever since his estranged wife abducted their kids 3 years ago
OPINION: Child Abduction Is Child Abuse
Fox & Friends Looks
Back at 15 Years of Fun
VIDEO: As Fox News celebrates its 15th anniversary, the Fox & Friends team looks back at 15 wild years
FULL COVERAGE: 15th Anniversary
Watch Friday 10 p.m. ET: 15 Years: Fair and Balanced
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Most Read
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- VIDEO: Signs of a Concussion
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Feds Plan Crackdown on California Pot Shops
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'No Justification' for Jailing Drivers for Tags
U.S. Panel to Recommend Against Prostate Test
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Pentagon - POLITICS
In Washington, 10-Year Afghanistan War Mark to Pass Quietly
Published October 07, 2011
Associated Press
AP
A U.S. Marine of 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company, 3/4 Marines, covers other Marines carrying boxes of U.S. Mail into their small outpost, Patrol Base 302, in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Friday, Aug. 26, 2011.
WASHINGTON -- A decade of war will pass quietly at the White House this week.
President Obama plans no public events Friday to mark a moment the nation never really expected: 10 years of war in Afghanistan. Out of sight and off the minds of millions of Americans, the war is the most prolonged conflict this country has been engaged in since Vietnam. Obama has gone so far as to declare it "the longest war in American history."
The lack of attention to the 10-year milestone is driven in part by White House thinking that Obama has already helped lead a national reflection on a decade of costly sacrifice and battle.
read more here
Can anyone really wonder anymore why the troops and military families feel the public is totally detached from them?
10 years in Afghanistan: Long war, deep scars
10 years in Afghanistan: Long war, deep scars
BY SUSAN DEMAR LAFFERTY and MAUDLYNE IHEJIRIKA
Sun-Times Media October 6, 2011
The War on Terror in the Middle East began 10 years ago Friday in Afghanistan.
While it still rages on thousands of miles away, the most painful reminders for many on this grim anniversary are in their own neighborhoods.
In New Lenox, there’s a park and U.S. post office named after Jacob Lowell. In Evergreen Park, a street dedication later this month will honor Jared Stanker. In Midlothian, the historical society has uniforms that once belonged to Christopher Abeyta.
All were among the regional service members killed in tours of duty in Afghanistan.
There are others, like Andrew Meari of Plainfield, remembered also by the anguish in the hearts of loved ones.
“I would ask that as people reflect on the 10th anniversary, that they take a moment to think about those who are serving and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice,” said Deb Pyznarski, a Chicago Ridge military mom and co-founder of Southside Parents of Military Personnel.
Her son Bryan, 22, is in the Marines, currently serving stateside. She was traveling Thursday to visit him for his birthday, which coincides with the anniversary.
read more here
BY SUSAN DEMAR LAFFERTY and MAUDLYNE IHEJIRIKA
Sun-Times Media October 6, 2011
The War on Terror in the Middle East began 10 years ago Friday in Afghanistan.
While it still rages on thousands of miles away, the most painful reminders for many on this grim anniversary are in their own neighborhoods.
In New Lenox, there’s a park and U.S. post office named after Jacob Lowell. In Evergreen Park, a street dedication later this month will honor Jared Stanker. In Midlothian, the historical society has uniforms that once belonged to Christopher Abeyta.
All were among the regional service members killed in tours of duty in Afghanistan.
There are others, like Andrew Meari of Plainfield, remembered also by the anguish in the hearts of loved ones.
“I would ask that as people reflect on the 10th anniversary, that they take a moment to think about those who are serving and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice,” said Deb Pyznarski, a Chicago Ridge military mom and co-founder of Southside Parents of Military Personnel.
Her son Bryan, 22, is in the Marines, currently serving stateside. She was traveling Thursday to visit him for his birthday, which coincides with the anniversary.
read more here
WWII veteran honor flight takes him to Vietnam Wall and his son's name
Angelo Papale didn't have a way to get to the Vietnam Memorial Wall until a flight to take him to the WWII Memorial brought him to Washington. The other WWII veterans wanted to go to the Vietnam Memorial Wall where Angelo was able to see the name of his son. Arthur was shot down after the third trip to save the lives of Rangers.
A veteran's emotional goodbye to son at Vietnam Memorial
Oct 06, 2011
By Jeff Lawson
WASHINGTON D.C., (WLOX)
Angelo Papale was one of nearly 90 World War II veterans who traveled to see their memorial in the nation's capital in late September. During the war, Angelo flew 30 bombing missions as a gunner on board a B24. Somehow, he made it back alive and unscathed.
At 88, this was the first time he has ever gone to the WWII Memorial. Like the rest of the veteran's on the trip, he called it a great honor.
For Angelo and the other vets, the day also included a stop at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall, where they saw all those names of soldiers gone too soon. For Angelo, the stop was personal, because one of those 58,195 names, is that of Arthur L. Papale, Angelo's son.
It was 1969, when Arthur Papale was shot down while piloting a helicopter.
"He had gone in and picked up two rangers," Angelo said. "He went back to pick up more, and there was too much firepower. So he went back a third time and that is when they shot him down."
Angelo and his wife did not learn of their son's fate until several days later, while at their Biloxi home.
read more here
If you want to see a powerful video report on two heroes watch this video.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Big welcome home for troops in Titusville Florida
Happy homecoming: Patrick AFB airmen return from Afghanistan
About 40 Reserve Airmen from the 920th Rescue Wing returned to Patrick Air Force Base today after a four-month deployment in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
read more here
About 40 Reserve Airmen from the 920th Rescue Wing returned to Patrick Air Force Base today after a four-month deployment in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
read more here
Man picked wrong house to rob, National Guard soldier's house!
Police: Man tried to rob Cape soldier's home
Oct 04, 2011
By Meaghan Smith, NBC2 Reporter
CAPE CORAL -
A robber, armed with a machine gun, broke into Cape Coral man's home near Skyline Boulevard. But we found out the gunman picked the wrong homeowners to mess with.
In a nice Cape Coral neighborhood, Mike Ponton, a soldier with the National Guard, was just trying to enjoy his day off at home.
"I was watching TV," says Ponton.
What happened next was something made for a movie.
It involved a threatening phone call followed by a man with a ski mask, baseball bat and machine gun sneaking up to his house - which is right off Cape Coral Parkway near Skyline Blvd.
Ponton said it was about 1:30 in the afternoon.
"You come in my house and you bring a weapon to do bodily harm on me, I have no other choice but to protect myself and my family," he said.
read more here
Oct 04, 2011
By Meaghan Smith, NBC2 Reporter
CAPE CORAL -
A robber, armed with a machine gun, broke into Cape Coral man's home near Skyline Boulevard. But we found out the gunman picked the wrong homeowners to mess with.
In a nice Cape Coral neighborhood, Mike Ponton, a soldier with the National Guard, was just trying to enjoy his day off at home.
"I was watching TV," says Ponton.
What happened next was something made for a movie.
It involved a threatening phone call followed by a man with a ski mask, baseball bat and machine gun sneaking up to his house - which is right off Cape Coral Parkway near Skyline Blvd.
Ponton said it was about 1:30 in the afternoon.
"You come in my house and you bring a weapon to do bodily harm on me, I have no other choice but to protect myself and my family," he said.
read more here
Homeless Brevard vet finds way to get life back on track
Homeless Brevard vet finds way to get life back on track
Written by
R. Norman Moody
FLORIDA TODAY
After getting to know him, the owners of the gas station and convenience store offered Campbell a job. Soon after that, the U.S. Marine Corps veteran began to have hope that he could beat homelessness. And he did, thanks to the kindness of several in the community.
“If I can do it, you can, because I’m not that smart,” he said, sitting at a picnic table outside the store.
In the three months since gaining employment, Campbell has not only emerged from more than a year of living in the woods, but he also continues his work at the convenience store and his schooling at Brevard Community College. His story moved someone he never met to donate a car to him earlier this month.
read more here
Written by
R. Norman Moody
FLORIDA TODAY
Phil Campbell, a former Marine, was homeless. With help from the National Veteran's Homeless Support, he now has an apartment, a car, a job and is attending BCC. He works at the Chevron store on US 1 just south of the Beachline. _photo by Malcolm Denemark / Malcolm DenemarkCOCOA — Philip Campbell would trek from his primitive, tarp-covered camp hidden in the thick brush in Cocoa to a nearby gas station every day. There, he was allowed to use the Internet connection to do college classwork.
After getting to know him, the owners of the gas station and convenience store offered Campbell a job. Soon after that, the U.S. Marine Corps veteran began to have hope that he could beat homelessness. And he did, thanks to the kindness of several in the community.
“If I can do it, you can, because I’m not that smart,” he said, sitting at a picnic table outside the store.
In the three months since gaining employment, Campbell has not only emerged from more than a year of living in the woods, but he also continues his work at the convenience store and his schooling at Brevard Community College. His story moved someone he never met to donate a car to him earlier this month.
read more here
Camp Pendleton Marine Awarded Silver Star
Camp Pendleton Marine Awarded Silver Star
Marine Master Sgt. David Jarvis Awarded Medal For Heroism In Afghanistan Last Year
October 5, 2011
CAMP PENDLETON -- A Camp Pendleton Marine was awarded the third highest medal for his actions in Afghanistan last year but it was not the only recognition he received.
Marine Master Sgt. David Jarvis was awarded the Silver Star on Wednesday for heroism during an hour-long battle with the Taliban last year in Afghanistan.Jarvis was also awarded the Bronze Star for his actions during the entire deployment.
read more here
Marine Master Sgt. David Jarvis Awarded Medal For Heroism In Afghanistan Last Year
October 5, 2011
CAMP PENDLETON -- A Camp Pendleton Marine was awarded the third highest medal for his actions in Afghanistan last year but it was not the only recognition he received.
Marine Master Sgt. David Jarvis was awarded the Silver Star on Wednesday for heroism during an hour-long battle with the Taliban last year in Afghanistan.Jarvis was also awarded the Bronze Star for his actions during the entire deployment.
read more here
Less than 1% of respondents reported using functional assessment scales for PTSD
How Do We Know If Someone Has PTSD?
Posted by Mark Thompson Thursday, October 6, 2011
Post-traumatic stress disorder is one of the most troubling legacies of our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of troops and their families are affected. How do we ensure the help – both medical and financial – is going to those who need it? Well, that requires, one would think, a uniform yardstick so folks working for the Department of Veterans Affairs can separate the deserving from the rest.
But according to a new paper in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, that's not the case:
Posted by Mark Thompson Thursday, October 6, 2011
Post-traumatic stress disorder is one of the most troubling legacies of our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of troops and their families are affected. How do we ensure the help – both medical and financial – is going to those who need it? Well, that requires, one would think, a uniform yardstick so folks working for the Department of Veterans Affairs can separate the deserving from the rest.
But according to a new paper in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, that's not the case:
One hundred thirty-eight Veterans Affairs mental health professionals completed a 128-item Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Practice Inventory that asked about their practices and attitudes related to disability assessment of PTSD. Results indicate strikingly wide variation in the attitudes and practices of clinicians conducting disability assessments for PTSD. In a high percentage of cases, these attitudes and practices conflict with best-practice guidelines. Specifically, 59% of clinicians reported rarely or never using testing, and only 17% indicated routinely using standardized clinical interviews. Less than 1% of respondents reported using functional assessment scales.read more here
Highly decorated Fort Hood soldier dies in Harker Heights
Fort Hood soldier dies in Harker Heights
Updated: Wednesday, 05 Oct 2011, 11:42 AM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 05 Oct 2011, 11:42 AM CDT
FORT HOOD, Texas (KXAN) - Officials this week have released the name of a soldier who died from an apparent gunshot wound Sept. 24 in Harker Heights.
Sgt. 1st Class Washington Vaalele Ale, 39, whose home of record is listed as Pago Pago, American Samoa, entered active-duty service in April 1992 as a cannon crewmember. He was assigned to 479th Field Artillery Brigade, First Army Division West, since April 2011.
Ale's deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from October 2006 through December 2007 and again from August 2008 through October 2008.
read more here
Disappointed in Criminal Minds Dorado Falls
While they have had shows on PTSD before, as in the case of the veteran suffering in flashback mode after ending up in a construction zone and killing anyone he felt threatened by, this one was totally different.
First the good points of last night. They talked about combat and PTSD a lot. Rossi talked about his time in the Marines and showed he understood this SEAL was deeply troubled. The SEAL was not killed unlike the other episode with a PTSD veteran. His ex-wife and daughter still loved him and wanted him to get the help he needed. Those were the good parts.
The rest was wrong to do. The SEAL was blowing away people while "thinking" they were impostors and out to get him. He blew away his boss then the rest of his coworkers. Imagine being an employer thinking about hiring a veteran with PTSD and then watching this on TV. He killed his parents. Imagine being a parent with a PTSD veteran. If you don't think thoughts went through the minds of viewers then you don't understand how popular this show is. Later in the show it showed the trigger. He killed a couple of children.
To blindfold the SEAL while taking him into custody was stupid beyond belief. That would be the last thing anyone should do. The enemy blindfolds so this only enforced the idea the SEAL was facing off with the enemy.
Here are some facts. Given the staggering number of PTSD combat veterans in this country, there are very few crimes committed by them. While there is a need for veterans courts, these are non-violent cases. For the most part the justice system does take into account PTSD and combat when considering sentencing for violent crimes but again, these cases are few compared to over 2 million veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan along with Gulf War and Vietnam Veterans.
Veterans with PTSD are generally not violent, more depressed than anything else. The rise in suicides is an powerful indication of this. At least 18 veterans a day take their own lives.
Families of these veterans either understand what PTSD and help them heal or they don't and end up turing their backs on them. Homeless veterans are on the rise.
On this blog I track reports from around the country. While there have been many cases involving law enforcement and veterans, the reports are tiny when compared to the over 24 million veterans in this country and that should have been the message delivered last night. Actually it would have been better for veterans with PTSD if they didn't do the show at all. In the four years this blog has been up there hasn't been any veteran serial killers like last night out of 12,937 posts. If they really want to do an episode on PTSD, wow do I have a script for them!
Criminal Minds show with PTSD as topic Dorado Falls
Home Depot Celebration of Service at Marietta GA VFW
Veterans helping veterans: 'This is personal'
6:55 AM, Oct 5, 2011
Written by
Matt Pearl
MARIETTA, Ga. -- Of the 200+ Home Depot volunteers who came to fix up a VFW post in Marietta, nearly two dozen were veterans themselves.
Last month, the Atlanta-based home improvement retailer began its Celebration of Service, a two-month collection of community service projects designed to help veterans. They kicked the efforts off locally by renovating VFW Post 2681 in Marietta.
What made the event special were the handful of veterans who came out to work to help other veterans.
"This is personal, this is professional, and this is a tremendous opportunity," said one such veteran, Oregon Emerson III.
read more here
6:55 AM, Oct 5, 2011
Written by
Matt Pearl
MARIETTA, Ga. -- Of the 200+ Home Depot volunteers who came to fix up a VFW post in Marietta, nearly two dozen were veterans themselves.
Last month, the Atlanta-based home improvement retailer began its Celebration of Service, a two-month collection of community service projects designed to help veterans. They kicked the efforts off locally by renovating VFW Post 2681 in Marietta.
What made the event special were the handful of veterans who came out to work to help other veterans.
"This is personal, this is professional, and this is a tremendous opportunity," said one such veteran, Oregon Emerson III.
read more here
SGT Sophie Champoux, U.S. Army, Funeral Set In Clermont, FL
SGT Sophie Champoux U.S. Army Clermont, FL
10 Oct. 2011
Becker Funeral Home
806 Minneola Drive
Clermont, FL 34711-2118
The family of Sophie Champoux has invited the Patriot Guard Riders to stand in silent respect for this hero.
SGT Champoux, 25, was born and raised in Clermont, Florida and attended South Lake and East Ridge High Schools. She loved the sport of softball and played short stop for awhile. She was a member of the ROTC while at South Lake High School. SGT Champoux served three (3) years in the Army and was on active duty when she passed. She served at White Sands, New Mexico, Afghanistan and Ft. Stewart, Georgia.
editor's note: comment left by reader corrected her name from Sophia to Sophie
10 Oct. 2011
Becker Funeral Home
806 Minneola Drive
Clermont, FL 34711-2118
The family of Sophie Champoux has invited the Patriot Guard Riders to stand in silent respect for this hero.
SGT Champoux, 25, was born and raised in Clermont, Florida and attended South Lake and East Ridge High Schools. She loved the sport of softball and played short stop for awhile. She was a member of the ROTC while at South Lake High School. SGT Champoux served three (3) years in the Army and was on active duty when she passed. She served at White Sands, New Mexico, Afghanistan and Ft. Stewart, Georgia.
editor's note: comment left by reader corrected her name from Sophia to Sophie
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