Clergy Helping Vets
By Lauren Green
Published October 28, 2011
FoxNews.com
When American service members come home, smiles can quickly turn to sadness. The emotional wounds of war have become an invisible epidemic.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) ARE SAID TO affect 31 percent of America’s service members, or 300,000 men and women who have served their country.
Colonel David Sutherland recounts, "When I came home I had difficulties fitting in and I had difficulties connecting."
Sutherland is the Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for Warrior and Family Support. He's the point man for the for coordinating a myriad of non-governmental agencies including faith-based initiatives. He's open about his own experiences in hopes that other service members will seek help as well.
He says "My issues manifested themselves in front of my family. My wife of 25 years didn't understand what I was going through and neither did my kids and I used to isolate myself or lash out and I had to ask for help."
The military has reached out to clergy members like the Rev. Tom Carter, for help.
read more here
Friday, October 28, 2011
Mental health care not meeting VA standards
Mental health care not meeting VA standards
Friday - 10/28/2011, 1:30pm ET
Mental health care at the Department of Veterans Affairs "is as good as or better" than the care the private sector provides civilians with comparable conditions. However, a new report from the RAND Corporation said the care still doesn't meet standards set by the VA.
read more here
Friday - 10/28/2011, 1:30pm ET
Mental health care at the Department of Veterans Affairs "is as good as or better" than the care the private sector provides civilians with comparable conditions. However, a new report from the RAND Corporation said the care still doesn't meet standards set by the VA.
read more here
Soldier from Winthrop Harbor dies in Saudi Arabia
Soldier from Winthrop Harbor dies in Saudi Arabia
28-year-old's death was noncombat-related, Army says
October 28, 2011
As they awaited more details about how he died, relatives of a soldier from Winthrop Harbor remembered him Thursday as a fun-loving family man who was dedicated to the Army.
Sgt. 1st Class David G. Robinson, 28, a father of two, died Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while supporting Operation New Dawn, the U.S. rebuilding effort in Iraq. An Army spokesman said only that Robinson's death was noncombat-related and under investigation, and family members said they had gotten no additional information.
Robinson had a wife, Emily, 28, and sons Matthew, 7, and Jackson, 4. The family was stationed in El Paso, Texas.
read more here
28-year-old's death was noncombat-related, Army says
Sgt. 1st Class David G. Robinson, a 28-year-old father of two, died Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while supporting Operation New Dawn, the U.S. rebuilding effort in Iraq. (October 27, 2011)By Andrea L. Brown, Special to the Tribune
October 28, 2011
As they awaited more details about how he died, relatives of a soldier from Winthrop Harbor remembered him Thursday as a fun-loving family man who was dedicated to the Army.
Sgt. 1st Class David G. Robinson, 28, a father of two, died Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while supporting Operation New Dawn, the U.S. rebuilding effort in Iraq. An Army spokesman said only that Robinson's death was noncombat-related and under investigation, and family members said they had gotten no additional information.
Robinson had a wife, Emily, 28, and sons Matthew, 7, and Jackson, 4. The family was stationed in El Paso, Texas.
read more here
Veteran defies death to serve in a different way
Veteran defies death to serve in a different way
By Phil Fairbanks
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: October 27, 2011, 11:57 AM
As bad as it was -- and it was bad -- it could have been worse, a lot worse.
"I could be talking to the wizard," said Frederick Goldacker. "I could be on a couch somewhere."
Only one thing stood between the former Army sergeant and an emotional crisis -- and that was his focus on the men in his infantry unit coming home alive and well from the war in Afghanistan.
The sergeant came home, too -- Goldacker is now living in Niagara Falls -- but thanks to a freak combat incident, he arrived with thyroid cancer and a permanent disability.
"The doctor said, 'I have some bad news for you,'" Goldacker recalls. "And I jokingly said, 'I have cancer.'
"And he said, 'Yes, you do.'"
So what does Rick Goldacker, just 18 months away from combat and still in the midst of cancer treatment, do next?
He signs up to become a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent.
For anyone who knows Goldacker, it's probably no surprise that the combat infantry leader is now patrolling the rivers and lakes around Buffalo. And doing it just a year after undergoing thyroid surgery and being declared disabled by the Army.
It's an uncommon tale of a soldier who saw a lot in Afghanistan, probably more than most men should, and could understandably have walked away from it.
Goldacker did just the opposite. He asked to serve his country again.
read more here
By Phil Fairbanks
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: October 27, 2011, 11:57 AM
"I really hope in my heart that they find a place for me here." Frederick Goldacker, Afghan War veteran now training with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Charles Lewis / Buffalo News
As bad as it was -- and it was bad -- it could have been worse, a lot worse.
"I could be talking to the wizard," said Frederick Goldacker. "I could be on a couch somewhere."
Only one thing stood between the former Army sergeant and an emotional crisis -- and that was his focus on the men in his infantry unit coming home alive and well from the war in Afghanistan.
The sergeant came home, too -- Goldacker is now living in Niagara Falls -- but thanks to a freak combat incident, he arrived with thyroid cancer and a permanent disability.
"The doctor said, 'I have some bad news for you,'" Goldacker recalls. "And I jokingly said, 'I have cancer.'
"And he said, 'Yes, you do.'"
So what does Rick Goldacker, just 18 months away from combat and still in the midst of cancer treatment, do next?
He signs up to become a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent.
For anyone who knows Goldacker, it's probably no surprise that the combat infantry leader is now patrolling the rivers and lakes around Buffalo. And doing it just a year after undergoing thyroid surgery and being declared disabled by the Army.
It's an uncommon tale of a soldier who saw a lot in Afghanistan, probably more than most men should, and could understandably have walked away from it.
Goldacker did just the opposite. He asked to serve his country again.
read more here
Outrage Over Veteran Injured at ‘Occupy’ Protest
When an Iraq veteran ends up in the hospital because of what police did, it makes news. It is not as if the police targeted him but that is the way this has been spun. Why? Because it causes people to get pumped up over it. If anyone should understand doing what you have to do because it is your job, it should be a veteran. The police did what they had to do no matter if they side with the protestors or not. Stop and think about the simple fact many of the members of police force have lost their jobs too. It is doubtful an officer tried to hit someone and even more doubtful they wanted to hit a combat veteran.
While I totally sympathize with the protestors, especially since I have been out of work for over three years, appalled no one in the media every stopped to think of who is responsible for even more jobs being cut with the "budget" talks or how much people have been suffering while the wealthy are more protected than anyone else, I do feel their pain, but this story has been spun.
These cops, many of them veterans, have a job to do and they are doing the best they can. If they don't do what they have to, then one of their own could end up hurt. Why can't the media understand that? Why can't they report on what is behind all of the anger the protestors feel? Why can't they stop and ask cops how they feel having to face off with citizens trying to make things better for everyone including the police losing their jobs too?
I am glad that Olsen is doing better and hope he recovers soon but this story is not the whole story about what happened.
While I totally sympathize with the protestors, especially since I have been out of work for over three years, appalled no one in the media every stopped to think of who is responsible for even more jobs being cut with the "budget" talks or how much people have been suffering while the wealthy are more protected than anyone else, I do feel their pain, but this story has been spun.
These cops, many of them veterans, have a job to do and they are doing the best they can. If they don't do what they have to, then one of their own could end up hurt. Why can't the media understand that? Why can't they report on what is behind all of the anger the protestors feel? Why can't they stop and ask cops how they feel having to face off with citizens trying to make things better for everyone including the police losing their jobs too?
I am glad that Olsen is doing better and hope he recovers soon but this story is not the whole story about what happened.
Outrage Over Veteran Injured at ‘Occupy’ Protest
Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesBy JESSE McKINLEY and MALIA WOLLAN
A sign Wednesday in Oakland, Calif., refers to Scott Olsen, an Iraq war veteran who suffered a fractured skull Tuesday in an Occupy Oakland clash with the police
Published: October 27, 2011
OAKLAND, Calif. — For supporters of the Occupy Wall Street movement, whose diffuse anger has been a defining and sometimes distracting characteristic, the wounding of an Iraq war veteran here has provided a powerful central rallying point.
The veteran, Scott Olsen, 24, was critically injured on Tuesday night when he was hit in the head with a projectile thrown or shot by law enforcement officers combating protesters trying to re-enter a downtown plaza that had been cleared of an encampment earlier in the day. Mr. Olsen, who served two tours of duty in Iraq as a Marine, suffered a fractured skull.
read more here
Tampa VA lost equipment and camera with breast cancer patients data
I-Team: Tampa VA lost private medical photos of breast cancer patients
By: Alan Cohn
TAMPA - The I-Team has uncovered hundreds of thousands dollars' worth of expensive equipment and property at VA hospitals in Tampa and Bay Pines has been lost or stolen in the last two years.
The list includes televisions, laptop computers, and microscopes. But the most serious loss was not the most expensive item.
A camera, used to photograph women before and after surgery for breast cancer, was discovered missing from a clinic at the James A. Haley VA Hospital last November.
"The photos in question,” an investigative report obtained by the I-Team reads, "may potentially be graphic and personal in nature."
read more here
By: Alan Cohn
The camera disappeared from the Plastic Surgery Clinic. The VA's reports says it also contained “The social security information from the patients" whose photos were on it.
TAMPA - The I-Team has uncovered hundreds of thousands dollars' worth of expensive equipment and property at VA hospitals in Tampa and Bay Pines has been lost or stolen in the last two years.
The list includes televisions, laptop computers, and microscopes. But the most serious loss was not the most expensive item.
A camera, used to photograph women before and after surgery for breast cancer, was discovered missing from a clinic at the James A. Haley VA Hospital last November.
"The photos in question,” an investigative report obtained by the I-Team reads, "may potentially be graphic and personal in nature."
read more here
Retired Major shoots to save lives
For a military man, he's had to shoot with weapons. This time, the weapon is a video camera. This time the target is not an enemy he can see in the scope. This time, the enemy invisible but the camera can help people "see" it very clearly.
Retired Infantryman Writes, Directs PTSD Film
October 28, 2011
Army News Service|by Cheryl Rodewig
FORT BENNING, Ga. -- Sometimes people face a turning point -- a choice between heading down a wrong path or looking up for help. That's the central theme of "The Turning Point," a film written and directed by retired Maj. Ty Manns and filmed in the tricommunity over the past six days.
Drawing from 24 years of service as an Infantryman, during which he was always interested in filmmaking, Manns said he knew he wanted to create a movie focused on the military. Two events combined to give him the inspiration for the 40-minute feature, which deals with a sergeant's struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Inspiration
The title of the movie came directly from the title of a sermon preached by Farnsworth Coleman, the pastor of New Birth Outreach Church and executive producer of the film.
"By the time I left church that day, I pretty much had in my head exactly what I wanted to do with this movie," Manns said. "I went home that day and started writing, and it turned out I ended up writing a story about a Soldier who returns home from the war and unbeknownst to him, he's actually suffering from PTSD. And in order to overcome all the things in his life that are starting to crumble apart, he eventually finds his way back to the church."
read more here
Soldier shot himself before officers opened fire
Lakewood police: Soldier shot himself before officers opened fire
Lakewood police on Thursday said a Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier fatally shot by officers early Sunday shot himself in the head and pointed a gun at police when they arrived to investigate.
BY STACIA GLENN; STAFF WRITER
Published: 10/27/11
Lakewood police on Thursday said a Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier fatally shot by officers early Sunday shot himself in the head and pointed a gun at police when they arrived to investigate.
It was first release of information concerning the death of 32-year-old Trent Loyd Thorp since he was killed in a confrontation with officers up the street from his house in the 4800 block of Yew Lane Southwest.
Lakewood police on Thursday said a Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier fatally shot by officers early Sunday shot himself in the head and pointed a gun at police when they arrived to investigate.
BY STACIA GLENN; STAFF WRITER
Published: 10/27/11
Lakewood police on Thursday said a Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier fatally shot by officers early Sunday shot himself in the head and pointed a gun at police when they arrived to investigate.
It was first release of information concerning the death of 32-year-old Trent Loyd Thorp since he was killed in a confrontation with officers up the street from his house in the 4800 block of Yew Lane Southwest.
He was previously stationed at Fort Lee, VA and returned from Afghanistan in May after an 11-month deployment.read more here
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Three Marines face court-martial stemming from suicide
Three Marines face court-martial stemming from suicide
By Jorene Barut
HONOLULU
Oct 27, 2011 5:40am EDT
(Reuters) - Three U.S. Marines were ordered on Wednesday to face court-martial on charges they physically abused and humiliated a fellow Marine who later killed himself while they were serving in Afghanistan.
The case stems from the suicide of Lance Corporal Harry Lew, 21, who shot himself with his automatic rifle during a patrol in April after he was allegedly beaten and hazed by others in his unit for falling asleep while on sentry duty.
A suicide note that read, "May hate me now, but in the long run this was the right choice I'm sorry my mom deserves the truth," was found scrawled on Lew's arm, according to an investigative report cited by the Marine Corps Times newspaper.
Lew and the three men charged with abusing him -- Jacob Jacoby and Carlos Orozco, both lance corporals, and squad leader Sergeant Benjamin Johns -- were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division.
The unit is stationed at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay on Oahu, which is probably where the three men will be tried.
read more here
By Jorene Barut
HONOLULU
Oct 27, 2011 5:40am EDT
(Reuters) - Three U.S. Marines were ordered on Wednesday to face court-martial on charges they physically abused and humiliated a fellow Marine who later killed himself while they were serving in Afghanistan.
The case stems from the suicide of Lance Corporal Harry Lew, 21, who shot himself with his automatic rifle during a patrol in April after he was allegedly beaten and hazed by others in his unit for falling asleep while on sentry duty.
A suicide note that read, "May hate me now, but in the long run this was the right choice I'm sorry my mom deserves the truth," was found scrawled on Lew's arm, according to an investigative report cited by the Marine Corps Times newspaper.
Lew and the three men charged with abusing him -- Jacob Jacoby and Carlos Orozco, both lance corporals, and squad leader Sergeant Benjamin Johns -- were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division.
The unit is stationed at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay on Oahu, which is probably where the three men will be tried.
read more here
Soldier Serves Wife Chick-fil-A Surprise
Soldier Serves Wife Chick-fil-A Surprise
Husband Surprised Wife After Returning From Deployment
EUSTIS, Fla. -- A Central Florida wife got a surprise she never imagined while dining at the Chick-fil-A in Eustis.
Amy Reed, 24, knew her husband, Staff Sgt. Chris Reed , would be returning home from service in Afghanistan soon, but what she didn't know was when.
Amy's dad hatched a plan to stage a reunion at Chick-fil-A on a Tuesday night. The Reeds say Tuesday family nights at the restaurant helped Amy survive her husband's third deployment.
On Oct. 14, Amy thought an employee would bring out the meal she had ordered, but instead, it was her husband, Chris.
read more here
Husband Surprised Wife After Returning From Deployment
EUSTIS, Fla. -- A Central Florida wife got a surprise she never imagined while dining at the Chick-fil-A in Eustis.
Amy Reed, 24, knew her husband, Staff Sgt. Chris Reed , would be returning home from service in Afghanistan soon, but what she didn't know was when.
Amy's dad hatched a plan to stage a reunion at Chick-fil-A on a Tuesday night. The Reeds say Tuesday family nights at the restaurant helped Amy survive her husband's third deployment.
On Oct. 14, Amy thought an employee would bring out the meal she had ordered, but instead, it was her husband, Chris.
read more here
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