Cpl. Timothy "T.J." John Conrad Jr. one of two soldiers killed over Quran burning

Soldier with ties to Newport News is killed in Afghanistan

By Hugh Lessig
February 24, 2012

Cpl. Timothy John Conrad Jr., better known as "T.J.," would have celebrated his 23rd birthday on March 6. He was killed by an Afghan soldier or a man dressed in Afghan military fatigues, who then fled the scene.

A soldier with ties to Newport News was one of two American service members killed Thursday in Afghanistan during protests over the burning of Qurans at a U.S. base, family members confirmed.

Cpl. Timothy John Conrad Jr., better known as "T.J.," would have celebrated his 23rd birthday on March 6. He was killed by an Afghan soldier or a man dressed in Afghan military fatigues, who then fled the scene.

Conrad's wife, Holly, and their 7-month-old son, Bentley, live in Georgia where T.J. was stationed.

"He was a dedicated dad and husband," said Meland. "He joked a lot – a really funny guy. He had a lot of energy."

Conrad was looking forward to a promotion to sergeant and planned on re-enlisting for a move to Fort Eustis so he could be closer to his family, Meland said. He had deployed in January – his first to Afghanistan — with the 549th MP Company out of Fort Stewart, Ga.
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Fort Hood Soldiers React to Riots in Afghanistan after Quran burning

Fort Hood Soldiers React to Riots in Afghanistan

Posted: Feb 24, 2012
By Sophia Stamas

The death toll rises in Afghanistan as riots continue.

That's after the burning of Qurans and other religious texts at a U.S. military base there on Tuesday.

So far two American soldiers and at least 13 Afghan civilians have been killed.

On Fort Hood some soldiers are worried it will provoke more attacks from extremists, and other's are say it might undo some of the progress that's been made over there.

A fourth day of violence continues in Afghanistan, after what the Defense Department calls an unintentional burning of Qurans at Bagram Airbase.

WO1 Arnold Pearson is back at Fort Hood after serving in Afghanistan.

He says whether this will undermine progress will depend on how Afghan officials react.

"If they're looking for an excuse to have the U.S. take a step back or get out of the country, then they'll use it in that way, but if they want to proceed forward and continue to receive our assistance, then they'll be able to move past this," said Warrant Officer Pearson.
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Master Chief Petty Officer Richard D. Lamoureux of Florida going to White House

White House announces attendees at dinner honoring Iraq veterans
By CHRIS CARROLL
Published: February 24, 2012

WASHINGTON – The White House has announced the 78 servicemembers invited to a dinner next Wednesday honoring veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn.

Troops were selected by a committee of the Defense Department’s senior enlisted members, said Assistant Secretary of Defense Douglas Wilson, the Pentagon’s public affairs chief.

“This is the beginning of a thank you.” Wilson said. “We wanted to make sure the entire country was represented.

“So all states and territories, all ranks, all services, all backgrounds – the point of it was that in the East Room that night, that that room would look like the America that served on the battlefield in Iraq.”

Florida: Master Chief Petty Officer Richard D. Lamoureux; Navy
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Veterans accounted for a stunning 373 of Nevada's suicides in 2010

Veterans suicide rate: The war at home
By J. Patrick Coolican
Friday, Feb. 24, 2012

We know that suicide is a terrible problem in Nevada, with a rate 50 percent higher than the national average. Among military veterans and especially young veterans, however, it’s a crisis, according to new data from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services.

From 2008 to 2010, the Nevada veteran suicide rate was 2.5 times higher than the rate for all Nevadans and nearly quadruple the national nonveteran suicide rate.

In 2010, suicide accounted for more than a quarter of deaths among veterans 24 and younger.

All told, of the 1,545 Nevada suicides between 2008-2010, veterans accounted for a stunning 373 of them, or nearly a quarter.

The explanation: The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a brutal toll on our young men and women. And they have come home to a bad economy and communities that are often clueless about what veterans have experienced or how to help them.

“Those high numbers are reflective of a decade of war and the impact that has on those who have been asked to serve in that war,” said Luana Ritch, a veteran and public health expert who compiled the data for the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services.

There’s no great repository of data that tracks veterans’ health, other than the Department of Veterans Affairs. But many veterans aren’t in the VA system. And veterans’ death certificates sometimes neglect to mention military service.
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Baylor University student film features veteran's struggle with PTSD

Student film features struggles with PTSD
February 24, 2012

By Rob Bradfield
Staff Writer

In an upcoming film, Baylor students are picking up the story of some soldiers where war movies like “Jarhead” and “The Hurt Locker” end.

Written and directed by Waco senior Ben Palich, “To Depart Indefinitely” is the story of a soldier’s struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Palich will begin filming in early March and plans on premiering the film at Baylor’s Black Glasses Film Festival on April 28.

The film is based on the true story of a friend of Palich’s older brother who had trouble adjusting after coming home from a tour of duty. Palich said the personal connection is what drew him to the subject matter.

“We tried to make it more about his coming home and trying to readjust to society,” Palich said.
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Chaplains comfort families after Marine helicopter crash

Chaplains comfort families after Marine crash

By ERIKA I. RITCHIE / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

CAMP PENDLETON – Within hours of Wednesday's nighttime midair collision between two Marine Corps helicopters over a remote section of the California desert, chaplains gathered — dress uniforms in hand — to give news to the families and to provide spiritual support to fellow Marines.

The crash which happened at 8:45 p.m. killed seven Marines. Two were aboard an AH-1W Cobra and the rest were in a UH-1 Huey utility helicopter when the crash occurred near the Chocolate Mountains along the California-Arizona border. Six Marines were stationed at Camp Pendleton and were part of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, one Marine was from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.

In the minutes and hours after the collision, word spread quickly. Many in the Air Wing knew there was something wrong and chaplains and Casualty Assistance Call Officers or CACO's — specially trained Marines who work as liaisons between military and families — worked quickly to begin notification of the next of kin.

"This is a dynamic, very tight-knit wing," said U.S. Navy Capt. Irving Elson, the Aircraft Wing's senior chaplain. The tragedy didn't just happen to the squadron, it happened to the Marine Corps, it happened to the nation and it happened to us."
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Midair helicopter collision kills 7 Marines

Veterans missing out on benefits as backlog slows claims

Congressmen: Veterans missing out on benefits as backlog slows claims at Detroit Benefit Center
Published: Thursday, February 23, 2012
By Jonathan Oosting

U.S. Reps. Hansen Clarke and Dan Benishek are crossing party lines to help Michigan veterans suffering as a result of a substantial request backlog at the Detroit Benefit Center.

Clarke, a Detroit Democrat, and Benishek, a Republican representing parts of northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, met with officials today at the Veterans Affairs regional office in the McNamara Federal Building, which processes benefit requests from veterans around the state.

An influx in vets returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with aging Vietnam veterans developing symptoms later in life as a result of chemical warfare, has created a backlog of benefit requests around the nation.
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Washington State Trooper killed at traffic stop

Wash. trooper killed at traffic stop; suspect, ex-con, commits suicide as SWAT team closes in

By Associated Press, Published: February 23

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. — A Washington State Patrol trooper was gunned down at a traffic stop early Thursday, and the suspect — an ex-con with a history of antagonizing police — killed himself as a tactical team closed in on the home where he was hiding, authorities said.

The 28-year-old suspect, Joshua Jearl Blake, had served time for drugs, assaulting his pregnant girlfriend, and kicking out the window of a police car, among other things, court records show. He was the registered owner of a pickup truck that Trooper Tony Radulescu pulled over just before he was shot to death early Thursday.
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Fort Hood soldier dies from gunshot wound on post

Death of a Fort Hood soldier

Fort Hood Public Affairs Office

FORT HOOD, Texas - Fort Hood officials have released the name of a soldier who died Feb. 22 in Temple, Texas, from injuries suffered from a gunshot wound Feb. 20 at Fort Hood.

Sgt. 1st Class Christopher David Atkinson, 33, whose home of record is listed as Lakeside, Mont., joined the military in April 1998 as an infantryman. He arrived at Fort Hood in January 2005. His last assignment here was with 1st Battalion, 393rd Infantry Regiment, 479th Field Artillery Brigade, Fort Hood since September 2009.

Atkinson deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from December 2005 to November 2006 and from June 2008 to May 2009.
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Texas Today: Fort Hood identifies two dead soldiers
Posted On: Thursday, Feb. 23 2012
FORT HOOD — Post officials released the name of two soldiers who died this week.

Spc. Sharod Ahkeim Carroll, 31, of Philadelphia, Pa., died Tuesday in Killeen, from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.

He entered active-duty service in March 2003 as a cable system installer and arrived at Fort Hood's former 4th Infantry Division in July 2009. His last assignment was with 62nd Expeditionary Support Battalion, 11th Signal Brigade, since January.

Carroll deployed to from July 2003 to April 2004; November 2005 to November 2006; November 2007 to February 2009; and April 2011 to August 2011.

Carroll's awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, two Army Achievement Medals, two Army Good Conduct Medals, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal with campaign service star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon and Army Service Ribbon.

Sgt. 1st Class Christopher David Atkinson died Wednesday in Temple from injuries suffered from a gunshot wound Sunday at Fort Hood.
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PTSD and TBI veterans don't seem to get better

MILITARY MENTAL HEALTH
They Don’t Seem to Get Better…
By MARK THOMPSON
February 23, 2012

That might be one conclusion to be drawn from this wrenching chart in a new Congressional Budget Office report on how the Department of Veterans Affairs is handling wounded troops suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. The chart shows that nearly all the troops afflicted with both ailments remain under the VA’s care after four years of care. In contrast, only 42% of the troops seeking VA care with neither diagnosis were still under VA care after four years’ treatment.

Vets suffering from PTSD and/or TBI are likely treated longer because “those patients might have had more clinically complicated conditions that took longer to resolve. In addition, those patients’ more intensive initial use of services might have predisposed them to continue pursuing care,” the study says. “Because of their conditions, moreover, some patients could also have had limited opportunities for employment, a common source of alternative health care options.”
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