A big salute to Staten Island's Vietnam Vets
March 26, 2012
By Staten Island Advance
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- To recognize the sacrifices of those who served in the Vietnam War, state Sen. Andrew Lanza and Assemblyman Matthew Titone joined veterans and elected officials yesterday afternoon at the fourth annual Vietnam Veterans Day Celebration.
In 2008, Lanza (R-South Shore) and Titone (D-North Shore) authored legislation designating March 29 as Vietnam Veterans Day in the state of New York after hearing the stories of Vietnam veteran Lester Modelowitz.
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Monday, March 26, 2012
Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day attracts crowd
Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day attracts crowd
March 26, 2012
The Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day attracted hundreds of people Sunday to Guadalupe for a ceremony, barbecue and more.
The Central Coast Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 982 organized the third annual event, which this year included unveiling the signs naming a segment of Highway 1 as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway.
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March 26, 2012
The Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day attracted hundreds of people Sunday to Guadalupe for a ceremony, barbecue and more.
The Central Coast Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 982 organized the third annual event, which this year included unveiling the signs naming a segment of Highway 1 as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway.
read more here
Vietnam veterans to be honored at Homecoming in Charlotte
Vietnam veterans to be honored at Homecoming in Charlotte
March 26, 2012
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina residents who served in Vietnam will be honored at a special event in Greensboro this week.
The USO of N.C., Charlotte Motor Speedway and N.C. Association of Broadcasters have worked together to organize the Vietnam Veterans Homecoming Celebration for military members and their friends and family.
The event, which was announced last December as the first of its kind in the region, is set to be held at Charlotte Motor Speedway on March 31.
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March 26, 2012
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina residents who served in Vietnam will be honored at a special event in Greensboro this week.
The USO of N.C., Charlotte Motor Speedway and N.C. Association of Broadcasters have worked together to organize the Vietnam Veterans Homecoming Celebration for military members and their friends and family.
The event, which was announced last December as the first of its kind in the region, is set to be held at Charlotte Motor Speedway on March 31.
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Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans event held in Tulare
Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans event held in Tulare
Mar. 25, 2012
Written by
DAVID CASTELLON
Plans were to hold the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans event at Veterans Park in Tulare, but with a strong storm approaching over the weekend, organizers arranged Saturday to move it indoors, inside the neighboring Tulare Memorial Building
Despite the rain, the event drew about 500 people — well above the 300 to 400 estimated to have attended last year in the park, said Kent McNatt, a Tulare native and one of the event's organizers.
Sunday marked the third year in a row that Central Valley Vietnam Veterans has put on the event in Tulare.
The event was organized to support a 2009 proclamation signed by then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger designating March 30 as "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day" in the state. That date signifies the date the last U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam in 1973.
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Mar. 25, 2012
Written by
DAVID CASTELLON
Post of colors by the Tule River Native Veterans Post 1987 and the Blood River Drum group and Joey Garfield of Native Blessing during the welcome home Vietnam Veterans Day program hosted by Central Valley Vietnam Veterans on Saturday at the Tulare Veterans Memorial building. Michael AlvarezA little rain didn't stop Valley veterans from honoring Vietnam War veterans Sunday in Tulare.
Plans were to hold the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans event at Veterans Park in Tulare, but with a strong storm approaching over the weekend, organizers arranged Saturday to move it indoors, inside the neighboring Tulare Memorial Building
Despite the rain, the event drew about 500 people — well above the 300 to 400 estimated to have attended last year in the park, said Kent McNatt, a Tulare native and one of the event's organizers.
Sunday marked the third year in a row that Central Valley Vietnam Veterans has put on the event in Tulare.
The event was organized to support a 2009 proclamation signed by then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger designating March 30 as "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day" in the state. That date signifies the date the last U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam in 1973.
read more here
Vietnam War Mom talks about son being killed by another soldier
During a Vietnam War Veterans Day, a woman spoke about losing her son at the age of 19, but he didn't die in the usual way. Back then, it probably didn't even make the news. He was killed with three others others by one of their own.
There are so many lessons Vietnam taught us but we just never learned them.
Vietnam veterans honored decades after traumatic war
By NATALIE SHERMAN
March 26, 2012
"Things like this bring everything back," said Louise Pina, 87, of New Bedford, whose son Luiz Pina Jr. enlisted in 1964 and was killed Dec. 2, 1966, at the age of 19, when another man he was serving with "went berserk" and shot him and three other men.
NEW BEDFORD — Former Mayor Scott Lang called on the country to expedite troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, speaking Sunday at an event in honor of Vietnam War veterans about the parallels between the two conflicts.
"We are seeing history repeat itself," he said at the Vietnam War Veterans Day of Recognition in the Fort Taber museum. "The moment we ask as a nation, just as we did during the Vietnam War and what's happening right now, 'For what purpose are we there?' it's time to bring our troops home.
"The Vietnam War veterans can understand and explain this circumstance better than any other individuals in the United States."
Lang's speech Sunday afternoon was met by loud applause from the audience of more than 100, including at least 32 veterans of wars from World War II to Iraq.
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Habitat for Humanity program helps veterans by giving them homes
Habitat for Humanity program helps veterans by giving them homes, home repairs
By Marian Rizzo
Correspondent
Published: Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 9:49 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 9:49 p.m.
Dexter and Maricel "Marty" Smith love to show off their home.
The four-bedroom dwelling — with its gable roof, screened front porch and landscaped yard — satisfied a longtime dream for the couple.
They and their four boys had been living with Marty's sister since they moved to Ocala in 2003, but they wanted a fresh start and a home of their own. They applied with Habitat for Humanity of Marion County and moved into their new home in September 2006.
As veterans of the U.S. Army, the Smiths are among a half-dozen veteran families serving as role models for Habitat's new housing program, Project Patriot. The program began March 1 and will be providing homes or home repairs for area veterans.
read more here
By Marian Rizzo
Correspondent
Published: Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 9:49 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 9:49 p.m.
Dexter and Maricel "Marty" Smith love to show off their home.
The four-bedroom dwelling — with its gable roof, screened front porch and landscaped yard — satisfied a longtime dream for the couple.
They and their four boys had been living with Marty's sister since they moved to Ocala in 2003, but they wanted a fresh start and a home of their own. They applied with Habitat for Humanity of Marion County and moved into their new home in September 2006.
As veterans of the U.S. Army, the Smiths are among a half-dozen veteran families serving as role models for Habitat's new housing program, Project Patriot. The program began March 1 and will be providing homes or home repairs for area veterans.
read more here
N.Y. Officer Stabbed By Former Officer-ex Marine
N.Y. Officer Stabbed By Former Officer
MATTHEW CHAYES
NEWSDAY, MELVILLE, N.Y.
An emergency services police officer suffered a stab wound to his stomach and arm in a Hempstead home Sunday during a confrontation with an emotionally disturbed former correction officer.
March 25--An emergency services police officer suffered a stab wound to his stomach and arm in a Hempstead home Sunday during a confrontation with an emotionally disturbed man, Nassau County police said. The injury is not considered life-threatening, police said.
The man was identified by police as Christopher Sargeant, 32. He is a former correction officer in New York City who was terminated March 12 for a medical disability, according to department spokeswoman Sharman Stein.
MATTHEW CHAYES
NEWSDAY, MELVILLE, N.Y.
An emergency services police officer suffered a stab wound to his stomach and arm in a Hempstead home Sunday during a confrontation with an emotionally disturbed former correction officer.
March 25--An emergency services police officer suffered a stab wound to his stomach and arm in a Hempstead home Sunday during a confrontation with an emotionally disturbed man, Nassau County police said. The injury is not considered life-threatening, police said.
The man was identified by police as Christopher Sargeant, 32. He is a former correction officer in New York City who was terminated March 12 for a medical disability, according to department spokeswoman Sharman Stein.
Neighbors said Sargeant served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Public records show that in 2001 he lived at the Marine base in Camp Pendleton in San Diego.
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Thousands wrongfully discharged for personality disorders
Veterans study says thousands wrongfully discharged for personality disorders
By ERIK SLAVIN
Stars and Stripes
Published: March 26, 2012
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The Defense Department violated regulations by discharging thousands of servicemembers under the pretense of personality disorders during the past decade, according to a study by Vietnam Veterans of America and the Veterans Services Clinic at Yale Law School.
The study data — obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests — reinforces previous smaller studies from the General Accountability Office and supports claims by others that the military diagnosed combat veterans with personality disorders to avoid paying retirement benefits to servicemembers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
While PTSD constitutes a medical disability, personality-related diagnoses are considered pre-existing conditions by the Defense Department.
The data showed that 31,000 servicemembers were discharged from 2001 to 2010 because of personality disorders, a group of disorders in which a person’s behaviors and thoughts differ from their culture’s expectations, causing work and relationship problems.
The Army alone discharged 734 soldiers for personality disorders in 2002, but that number steadily climbed to 1,078 by 2007, according to the report, which was released last week.
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By ERIK SLAVIN
Stars and Stripes
Published: March 26, 2012
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The Defense Department violated regulations by discharging thousands of servicemembers under the pretense of personality disorders during the past decade, according to a study by Vietnam Veterans of America and the Veterans Services Clinic at Yale Law School.
The study data — obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests — reinforces previous smaller studies from the General Accountability Office and supports claims by others that the military diagnosed combat veterans with personality disorders to avoid paying retirement benefits to servicemembers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
While PTSD constitutes a medical disability, personality-related diagnoses are considered pre-existing conditions by the Defense Department.
The data showed that 31,000 servicemembers were discharged from 2001 to 2010 because of personality disorders, a group of disorders in which a person’s behaviors and thoughts differ from their culture’s expectations, causing work and relationship problems.
The Army alone discharged 734 soldiers for personality disorders in 2002, but that number steadily climbed to 1,078 by 2007, according to the report, which was released last week.
read more here
Combat PTSD: Understanding the menace of memories
Understanding should have started with the reporter getting some real numbers.
Combat PTSD: Understanding the menace of memories
Sunday, March 25, 2012 - Tango of Mind and Emotion
by Jacqueline Marshall
WASHINGTON, March 25, 2012 - The more combat situations a soldier experiences, the greater is his or her chance of acquiring post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Many of us consider that to be stating the obvious, but there are statistics that make the obvious concrete.
A study assessing the incidence of PTSD in troops leaving Iraq found that soldiers not involved in fighting had a PTSD incidence rate of 4.5%. For those in intense combat once or twice, the incidence rate more than doubled to 9.3%. The number is 13% for troops in three to five combat situations. More than five exposures and the occurrence rate of PTSD shoots up to 20%.
The study’s “silver lining” is that after five or more combat experiences, 80% of the troops studied did not report symptoms of PTSD. Still, the number of troops with them is significant. The Military Health System reported 39,365 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2003 and 2007 were given a diagnosis of PTSD.
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Military Scrambles To Limit Malaria Drug Just After Afghanistan Massacre
It is looking more and more like the medication Bales was on was part of this.
This was posted here January, 2008. Just goes to show what they new back then. It is a long post with some of the results of what they got wrong in human terms.
When I wrote about the connection between what Bales is accused of doing and medications he was probably on for PTSD and TBI, I didn't think about Mefloquine. Army: PTSD treatable; some diagnosed return to war,,,with meds
By most accounts, Sgt. Robert Bales has PTSD and TBI. If true, then sending him back into combat, more than likely, included medications for both. Is anyone looking into what medications he was on and if they played a role in what happened more than PTSD and TBI? Most medications the troops are given come with clear warnings about side effects.
Looks like I should have.
Robert Bales Charged: Military Scrambles To Limit Malaria Drug Just After Afghanistan Massacre
Posted: 03/25/2012
Mark Benjamin
WASHINGTON -- Nine days after a U.S. soldier allegedly massacred 17 civilians in Afghanistan, a top-level Pentagon health official ordered a widespread, emergency review of the military’s use of a notorius anti-malaria drug called mefloquine.
Mefloquine, also called Lariam, has severe psychiatric side effects. Problems include psychotic behavior, paranoia and hallucinations. The drug has been implicated in numerous suicides and homicides, including deaths in the U.S. military. For years the military has used the weekly pill to help prevent malaria among deployed troops.
The U.S. Army nearly dropped use of mefloquine entirely in 2009 because of the dangers, now only using it in limited circumstances, including sometimes in Afghanistan. The 2009 order from the Army said soldiers who have suffered a traumatic brain injury should not be given the drug.
The soldier accused of grisly Afghanistan murders on March 17 of men, women and children, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, suffered a traumatic brain injury in Iraq in 2010 during his third combat tour. According to New York Times reporting, repeated combat tours also increase the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Bales' wife, Karilyn Bales, broke her silence in an interview Sunday with NBC's Matt Lauer, airing on Monday's Today show. "It is unbelievable to me. I have no idea what happened, but he would not -- he loves children. He would not do that," she said in excerpts released Sunday.
On March 20, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Jonathan Woodson ordered a new, urgent review to make sure that troops were not getting the drug inappropriately. The task order from Woodson, obtained by The Huffington Post, orders an immediate “review of mefloquine prescribing practices” to be completed by the following Monday, six days after the order was issued.
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This was posted here January, 2008. Just goes to show what they new back then. It is a long post with some of the results of what they got wrong in human terms.
VA issued warning on Lariam in 2004
VA Warns Doctors About Lariam
United Press International
25 June 2004
WASHINGTON - The Department of Veterans Affairs is warning doctors to watch for long-term mental problems and other health effects from an anti-malaria drug given to soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.The drug is mefloquine, known by the brand name Lariam, which has been given to tens of thousands of soldiers since the war on terrorism began. Some of those soldiers say it has provoked severe mental and physical problems including suicidal and violent behavior, psychosis, convulsions and balance disorders.
Last year the Food and Drug Administration began warning that problems might last "long after" someone stops taking it.
Fort Campbell tries to stop soldier suicides
Spc. Adam Kuligowski's problems began because he couldn't sleep.
Last year, the 21-year-old soldier was working six days a week, analyzing intelligence that the military gathered while he was serving in Afghanistan. He was gifted at his job and loved being a part of the 101st Airborne Division, just like his father and his great uncle.
But Adam was tired and often late for work. His eyes were glassy and he was falling asleep while on duty. His room was messy and his uniform was dirty.
His father, Mike Kuligowski, attributes his son's sleeplessness and depression to an anti-malarial medication called mefloquine that was found in his system. In rare cases, it can cause psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, paranoia, depression, hallucination and psychotic behavior.
Army curbs prescriptions of anti-malaria drug Mefloquine
Army curbs prescriptions of anti-malaria drug
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Almost four decades after inventing a potent anti-malarial drug, the U.S. Army has pushed it to the back of its medicine cabinet.
The dramatic about-face follows years of complaints and concerns that mefloquine caused psychiatric and physical side effects even as it was used around the globe as a front-line defense against the mosquito-borne disease that kills about 800,000 people a year.
"Mefloquine is a zombie drug. It's dangerous, and it should have been killed off years ago," said Dr. Remington Nevin, an epidemiologist and Army major who has published research that he said showed the drug can be potentially toxic to the brain. He believes the drop in prescriptions is a tacit acknowledgment of the drug's serious problems.
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