Fallen Palm Bay soldier returns home as hero
Palm Bay soldier, 23, killed by bomb in Afghanistan
10:50 AM, Oct. 26, 2011
Written by
R. Norman Moody
FLORIDA TODAY
PALM BAY — “I love you the ‘mostest,’ ” Army Specialist Jeremiah “Jerry” Sancho told his wife the last time they talked.
“I would say, ‘I love you,’ ” his wife, RaiAnne Sancho told FLORIDA TODAY this week, fighting back tears. “He would say, ‘I love you the mostest.’ ”
Sancho, 23, of Palm Bay, who was serving with the Army’s 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division, died Oct. 13 in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, when a roadside bomb hit his patrol.
“I’m missing him horribly, I’m screaming inside,” his mother, Janet Diaz, said this week. “I was proud to say that was my son.”
Sancho returned home Tuesday, his body met at Melbourne International Airport by family and a police-led escort of more than 100 veterans on motorcycles, plus two dozen cars and trucks. Police maintained rolling roadblocks for the motorcade’s seven-mile trip to Buggs Funeral Home.
read more here
Fallen soldier taken to final resting place: The body of Jerry Sancho is led by a veterans procession from Melbourne Airport to Buggs Funeral Home in Melbourne. By Tim Shortt Posted Oct. 25, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Coffee shop is talk therapy for vets in distress
Coffee shop is talk therapy for vets in distress
By Barry Petersen
October 26, 2011
(CBS News) TACOMA, Wash. - Deborah Flagboam is still traumatized by a sexual assault during during boot camp, and needs a post-traumatic stress disorder therapy dog to help her cope with her thoughts of suicide.
"It wasn't just a cry of help, it was real," Flagboam tells CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen. "My life really wasn't the same, I couldn't really find a way to live any more."
But the former Marine was told by military officials there was a two-month waiting list for long-term psychiatric therapy. So she came to Coffee Strong, a coffee shop just outside Joint Base Lewis McChord.
Iraq war veteran Jorge Gonzales is executive director of Coffee Strong. The veteran-owned shop opened three years ago to serve free coffee to soldiers and Marines. Over time, it became a place for troops to share their problems and treat the mental scars of war. Veterans at Coffee Strong found help for Flagbom within 24 hours.
"I dont think i would be alive today to be honest," Flagboam said, "I could have ended up like Sgt. Jared Hagemann. Army Ranger Jared Hagemann killed himself this past June. He was facing his eighth combat deployment as a member of the Special Forces.
read more here
By Barry Petersen
October 26, 2011
(CBS News) TACOMA, Wash. - Deborah Flagboam is still traumatized by a sexual assault during during boot camp, and needs a post-traumatic stress disorder therapy dog to help her cope with her thoughts of suicide.
"It wasn't just a cry of help, it was real," Flagboam tells CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen. "My life really wasn't the same, I couldn't really find a way to live any more."
But the former Marine was told by military officials there was a two-month waiting list for long-term psychiatric therapy. So she came to Coffee Strong, a coffee shop just outside Joint Base Lewis McChord.
Iraq war veteran Jorge Gonzales is executive director of Coffee Strong. The veteran-owned shop opened three years ago to serve free coffee to soldiers and Marines. Over time, it became a place for troops to share their problems and treat the mental scars of war. Veterans at Coffee Strong found help for Flagbom within 24 hours.
"I dont think i would be alive today to be honest," Flagboam said, "I could have ended up like Sgt. Jared Hagemann. Army Ranger Jared Hagemann killed himself this past June. He was facing his eighth combat deployment as a member of the Special Forces.
read more here
Did "friendly fire" kill Lance Cpl. Benjamin Schmidt?
'Friendly fire' may have killed Camp Pendleton Marine in Afghanistan
October 25, 2011
The father of Lance Cpl. Benjamin Schmidt told the San Antonio Express-News that a Marine and an embedded reporter, in separate conversations, told him that his son was apparently killed by fire from a tank that had mistaken Schmidt and other members of his platoon for Taliban fighters during a firefight.
read more here
October 25, 2011
Photo: Lt. Col. William Vivian, commanding officer of the Two-Four, at a memorial service in Afghanistan for Lance Cpl. Benjamin Schmidt. Credit: Marine CorpsA Marine from Camp Pendleton who died in combat Oct. 6 in Afghanistan may have been killed by "friendly fire."
The father of Lance Cpl. Benjamin Schmidt told the San Antonio Express-News that a Marine and an embedded reporter, in separate conversations, told him that his son was apparently killed by fire from a tank that had mistaken Schmidt and other members of his platoon for Taliban fighters during a firefight.
read more here
Returning Troops Facing New Battle: PTSD
Returning Troops Facing New Battle: PTSD
Published : Tuesday, 25 Oct 2011
DAMALI KEITH
Reporter
HOUSTON - Forty thousand US troops are expected to return from Iraq by the end of the year.
Thousands have already returned home, but their struggle has not ended. The horrors of war may haunt many military veterans for years.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a very real monster plaguing the men and women in uniform.
"A soldier has to deal with the fact that he's taken somebody's life because somebody was trying to take his or somebody took your buddies life," Alvin Roy said.
The 54-year-old is a local artist now, but used to be an 18-year-old Marine fighting for his country and his life during the Vietnam War.
"It's a life and death struggle among people. I think at some point you can become cold,” Roy said. “It's not like a light switch where you can just turn it off. You never turn it off."
Nearly 40 years later, the war veteran says he still suffers from PTSD.
"There are people who experience agitation, anger, folks who internalize and suppress those experiences. (What did you experience?) All of the above. Depression, anger. I didn't get along with my family, my friends."
The returning troops from Iraq and Afghanistan are expected to suffer the same thing.
read more here
Published : Tuesday, 25 Oct 2011
DAMALI KEITH
Reporter
HOUSTON - Forty thousand US troops are expected to return from Iraq by the end of the year.
Thousands have already returned home, but their struggle has not ended. The horrors of war may haunt many military veterans for years.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a very real monster plaguing the men and women in uniform.
"A soldier has to deal with the fact that he's taken somebody's life because somebody was trying to take his or somebody took your buddies life," Alvin Roy said.
The 54-year-old is a local artist now, but used to be an 18-year-old Marine fighting for his country and his life during the Vietnam War.
"It's a life and death struggle among people. I think at some point you can become cold,” Roy said. “It's not like a light switch where you can just turn it off. You never turn it off."
Nearly 40 years later, the war veteran says he still suffers from PTSD.
"There are people who experience agitation, anger, folks who internalize and suppress those experiences. (What did you experience?) All of the above. Depression, anger. I didn't get along with my family, my friends."
The returning troops from Iraq and Afghanistan are expected to suffer the same thing.
read more here
10th Mountain Division soldier killed in a vehicle rollover at Fort Drum
Calif. soldier died in crash at NY's Fort Drum
Associated Press
FORT DRUM, N.Y. — Officials at Fort Drum have released the name of the 10th Mountain Division soldier killed in a vehicle rollover during training at the northern New York Army post.
Officials say 35-year-old Pvt. Michael Koepfle (KOHP'-fuhl) of San Bernardino, Calif., was in a Humvee with two other soldiers who were injured when it crashed Sunday at a training range.
read more here
Associated Press
FORT DRUM, N.Y. — Officials at Fort Drum have released the name of the 10th Mountain Division soldier killed in a vehicle rollover during training at the northern New York Army post.
Officials say 35-year-old Pvt. Michael Koepfle (KOHP'-fuhl) of San Bernardino, Calif., was in a Humvee with two other soldiers who were injured when it crashed Sunday at a training range.
read more here
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Disabled vet killed in Brockton accident helped pioneer spinal-cord medicine
Disabled vet killed in Brockton accident helped pioneer spinal-cord medicine
By Maria Papadopoulos
GateHouse News Service
Posted Oct 26, 2011
Taunton —
Edwin Nelson survived fierce battles as a Marine serving in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970, the height of the war, his family said.
Then, in 1975, Nelson broke his neck in an accident that occurred during military maneuvers in North Carolina, said his former wife, Josephine Yungk of Enfield, Conn. The spinal cord injury led to other complications, including the amputation of both of his legs, she said.
“It was a freak accident. He’s been in a wheelchair ever since,” said Yungk, 61.
Nelson’s challenging life came to a tragic end Monday afternoon, when Nelson was struck and killed by a Hyundai Elantra as he tried to cross Belmont Street, Route 123, in his motorized wheelchair.
Police identified the driver as Frank Dernoga, 26, of 11 Stanley Ave., Taunton, who was alone in the car. Police said Tuesday they did not know yet if Dernoga would face charges.
Nelson, 65, had started crossing the street against the streetlight, witnesses said. He was knocked off his wheelchair near the crosswalk and rolled into the street. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
read more here
original report
By Maria Papadopoulos
GateHouse News Service
Posted Oct 26, 2011
Taunton —
Edwin Nelson survived fierce battles as a Marine serving in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970, the height of the war, his family said.
Then, in 1975, Nelson broke his neck in an accident that occurred during military maneuvers in North Carolina, said his former wife, Josephine Yungk of Enfield, Conn. The spinal cord injury led to other complications, including the amputation of both of his legs, she said.
“It was a freak accident. He’s been in a wheelchair ever since,” said Yungk, 61.
Nelson’s challenging life came to a tragic end Monday afternoon, when Nelson was struck and killed by a Hyundai Elantra as he tried to cross Belmont Street, Route 123, in his motorized wheelchair.
Police identified the driver as Frank Dernoga, 26, of 11 Stanley Ave., Taunton, who was alone in the car. Police said Tuesday they did not know yet if Dernoga would face charges.
Nelson, 65, had started crossing the street against the streetlight, witnesses said. He was knocked off his wheelchair near the crosswalk and rolled into the street. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
read more here
original report
Iraq war veteran in critical condition after police clashes
Occupy Oakland: Iraq war veteran in critical condition after police clashes
Scott Olsen, 24, in hospital with fractured skull and brain swelling after allegedly being hit by a police projectile in Oakland
Adam Gabbatt
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 26 October 2011
An Iraq war veteran has a fractured skull and brain swelling after allegedly being hit by a police projectile.
Scott Olsen is in a "critical condition" in Highland hospital in Oakland, a hospital spokesman confirmed.
Olsen, 24, suffered the head injury during protests in Oakland on Tuesday evening. More than 15 people were arrested after a crowd gathered to demonstrate against the police operation to clear two Occupy Oakland camps in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Jay Finneburgh, a photographer who was covering the protest, published pictures of Olsen lying on the ground.
"This poor guy was right behind me when he was hit in the head with a police projectile. He went down hard and did not get up," Finneburgh wrote.
Olsen was taken to Highland by fellow protesters.
read more here
Video from YouTube
Scott Olsen, 24, in hospital with fractured skull and brain swelling after allegedly being hit by a police projectile in Oakland
Adam Gabbatt
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 26 October 2011
An Iraq war veteran has a fractured skull and brain swelling after allegedly being hit by a police projectile.
Scott Olsen is in a "critical condition" in Highland hospital in Oakland, a hospital spokesman confirmed.
Olsen, 24, suffered the head injury during protests in Oakland on Tuesday evening. More than 15 people were arrested after a crowd gathered to demonstrate against the police operation to clear two Occupy Oakland camps in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Jay Finneburgh, a photographer who was covering the protest, published pictures of Olsen lying on the ground.
"This poor guy was right behind me when he was hit in the head with a police projectile. He went down hard and did not get up," Finneburgh wrote.
Olsen was taken to Highland by fellow protesters.
read more here
Video from YouTube
Death highlights women’s role in Special Ops
Death highlights women’s role in Special Ops
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Oct 25, 2011 16:22:38 EDT
WASHINGTON — Army 1st Lt. Ashley White died on the front lines in southern Afghanistan last weekend, the first casualty in what the Army says is a new and vital wartime attempt to gain the trust of Afghan women.
White, like other female soldiers working with special operations teams, was brought in to do things that would be awkward or impossible for her male teammates. Things like frisking burqa-clad women, for example.
Her death, in a bomb explosion in the Taliban heartland of Kandahar, underscores the risks of placing women with elite U.S. special operations teams working in remote villages.
Military leaders and other female soldiers in the program say its rewards are great, even as it fuels debate over the roles of women in combat.
“We could do things that the males cannot do, and they are starting to realize that,” says Sgt. Christine Baldwin, who like White was among the first groups of women deployed to Afghanistan this year as specially trained “cultural support” troops.
Male soldiers often cannot even speak to an Afghan woman because of the strict cultural norms that separate the sexes and the tradition of women remaining behind closed doors most of the time. Forcing the issue has yielded only resentment, military officials say, and has jeopardized the trust and cooperation of villagers. From the start of the war 10 years ago, Afghans have especially resented the practice of “night raids” in which male foreign soldiers enter and search homes, the traditional sanctum of women.
read more here
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Oct 25, 2011 16:22:38 EDT
WASHINGTON — Army 1st Lt. Ashley White died on the front lines in southern Afghanistan last weekend, the first casualty in what the Army says is a new and vital wartime attempt to gain the trust of Afghan women.
White, like other female soldiers working with special operations teams, was brought in to do things that would be awkward or impossible for her male teammates. Things like frisking burqa-clad women, for example.
Her death, in a bomb explosion in the Taliban heartland of Kandahar, underscores the risks of placing women with elite U.S. special operations teams working in remote villages.
Military leaders and other female soldiers in the program say its rewards are great, even as it fuels debate over the roles of women in combat.
“We could do things that the males cannot do, and they are starting to realize that,” says Sgt. Christine Baldwin, who like White was among the first groups of women deployed to Afghanistan this year as specially trained “cultural support” troops.
Male soldiers often cannot even speak to an Afghan woman because of the strict cultural norms that separate the sexes and the tradition of women remaining behind closed doors most of the time. Forcing the issue has yielded only resentment, military officials say, and has jeopardized the trust and cooperation of villagers. From the start of the war 10 years ago, Afghans have especially resented the practice of “night raids” in which male foreign soldiers enter and search homes, the traditional sanctum of women.
read more here
More of the 2.6 million living veterans from OEF and OIF getting mental healthcare
More vets getting mental health care from VA
Laura Phelps - Medill News Service
Posted : Tuesday Oct 25, 2011 15:55:50 EDT
More Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are receiving mental health care from the Veterans Affairs Department, but officials in a recent report still cited barriers that may be preventing some from getting the care they need.
Only a little more than 8 percent of those who served in those wars sought help from VA from 2006 to 2010, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office.
The number of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan getting treatment increased from about 34,500 in 2006, or 4 percent of the total, to just more than 139,000 in 2010, the GAO reported. That means 12 percent of the 1.2 million veterans who sought mental health care last year are veterans from the latest wars.
Some veterans may not seek care because they’re concerned about their privacy, they may not know the services exist, or they simply cannot get to a treatment center if they live somewhere rural, the report said. VA officials also believe younger veterans may have a perception that the system caters to older veterans, the report said. Plus, veterans just starting out in their civilian lives are often balancing priorities such as school, family and work, and seeking help doesn’t always make the list.
There are an estimated 2.6 million living veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, and 23 million total veterans dating back to World War II, according to the GAO.
read more here
Laura Phelps - Medill News Service
Posted : Tuesday Oct 25, 2011 15:55:50 EDT
More Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are receiving mental health care from the Veterans Affairs Department, but officials in a recent report still cited barriers that may be preventing some from getting the care they need.
Only a little more than 8 percent of those who served in those wars sought help from VA from 2006 to 2010, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office.
The number of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan getting treatment increased from about 34,500 in 2006, or 4 percent of the total, to just more than 139,000 in 2010, the GAO reported. That means 12 percent of the 1.2 million veterans who sought mental health care last year are veterans from the latest wars.
Some veterans may not seek care because they’re concerned about their privacy, they may not know the services exist, or they simply cannot get to a treatment center if they live somewhere rural, the report said. VA officials also believe younger veterans may have a perception that the system caters to older veterans, the report said. Plus, veterans just starting out in their civilian lives are often balancing priorities such as school, family and work, and seeking help doesn’t always make the list.
There are an estimated 2.6 million living veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, and 23 million total veterans dating back to World War II, according to the GAO.
read more here
Marine accused of choking wife at hotel
Marine accused of choking wife at hotel
October 26, 2011 3:51 AM
LINDELL KAY - DAILY NEWS STAFF
A Camp Lejeune Marine remained in the Onslow County Jail late Tuesday after being charged over the weekend with choking his wife in front of the couple’s young child.
Lance Cpl. Mark David Reinhold Jr., 21, was charged by the Jacksonville Police Department with assault by strangulation, assault inflicting serious injury with a minor present, assault on a female and failure to store a firearm to protect a minor.
Reinhold is accused of grabbing his wife around the neck and punching her in the face. His alleged grip supposedly left red marks on her neck, according to arrest warrants on file at the Onslow County Courthouse.
read more here
Does he have PTSD? Not sure but on thing is clear, he isn't the only one being charged with a crime.
There are more and more reports coming out about veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan coming home and being involved with law enforcement for the wrong reasons. Flashback to the years after Vietnam when many of them were arrested and jailed instead of being helped to recover from where we sent them. The percentage of Vietnam veterans compared to these new veterans ending up in jail will be a lot worse. Why? Because of all the redeployments increasing the risk of PTSD by 50% for each time redeployed. Most Vietnam veterans served one year and then they were done. There was a recent report of an Army Ranger killed in action on his 14th deployment. Think about that the next time you don't want to understand the constant threat to their lives ten years after troops were sent to Afghanistan and eight years after they were sent into Iraq.
Do we have a huge problem? Yes. Last night on Current TV I came across these reports putting together news stories like the ones I've been tracking here since 2007. Does it mean they are all in trouble with the law? Hell no. When you consider there were 2 million deployed into these war zones, you realize the vast majority of them are not involved with any kind of criminal charges. What we do have is a lot of suffering veterans at all different levels with just as many different outcomes.
If you take nothing else away from these videos, consider that these men and women were willing to die for the sake of someone else but when they came home, things ended up much differently.
Colorado Springs Is PTSD City: Scenes From Vanguard
In this scene from Vanguard's "War Crimes," correspondent Kaj Larsen investigates why Colorado Springs has become ground zero in what may be a coming tsunami: the alarming rise in the number of soldiers who have been traumatized by war and are now accused of bringing the violence home. Since the start of the Iraq War, 17 soldiers from nearby Fort Carson have been charged with murder or attempted murder.
Of the more than 2 million men and women who have served in the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as many as a third of them may now have post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. A growing number of these vets are being charged with violent crimes, and Kaj travels to prisons and mental health facilities in Arizona, Colorado and Oregon to hear their stories.
read more here
You Can't Take the Army Out of the Boy: Scenes From Vanguard
In this scene from Vanguard's "War Crimes," Clark Fish, an inmate at Maricopa County Jail in Arizona, tells correspondent Kaj Larsen about his time in Iraq as an Army medic. Fish, who has been convicted of murdering his girlfriend but still awaits sentencing, has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Kaj investigates the alarming rise in the number of soldiers who have been traumatized by war and are now accused of bringing the violence home. Of the more than 2 million men and women who have served in the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as many as a third of them may now have PTSD. A growing number of these vets are being charged with violent crimes, and Kaj travels to prisons and mental health facilities in Arizona, Colorado and Oregon to hear their stories.
read more here
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)