First Gay Marriage Proposal on Military Base at Camp Pendleton

How would anyone know this is the first one?

First Gay Marriage Proposal on Military Base at Camp Pendleton
Friday, April 27, 2012
By Beth Ford Roth

A Navy veteran and active-duty Marine may be the first gay couple ever to have gotten publicly engaged on a military installation. It happened this week when Cory Huston proposed to Avarice Guerrero at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County.

San Diego LGBT Weekly broke the story, and was there when Huston got down on bended knee to ask Guerrero to marry him. Guerrero had just returned from a ten-month deployment to Afghanistan.
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Vietnam Veterans in Nashville PTSD group ends?

For ten years these men have been able to meet and support each other. Does the VA have any clue how much these Vietnam veterans need it? Do they even have a clue how they are an example of what does work when it comes to PTSD?

Vietnam veterans worry VA to end local PTSD support group
Posted: Apr 27, 2012
Reported by Jonathan Martin

NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV)
A group of veterans fear the Nashville VA Medical Center is turning its back on them.

The Vietnam veterans said living with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is tough enough. Now, they are worried that a support group for those dealing with anxiety from the Vietnam War could be cut.

"It's not good. It's not a good feeling," said veteran Jack Fann.

"This group is my livelihood. Without these people, I don't know how much longer I'll be alive," said veteran John Baglin.

For more than 10 years, the group of about 15 men has been meeting to talk through their issues with help from a VA facilitator.
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Marine no one helped now helping others

One Marine veteran's story: Rick Collier
Published: Thursday, April 26, 2012
By Mike Francis
The Oregonian

My name is Rick Collier. I'm a Marine Iraq Veteran and Founder of No Soldier Left Behind, a 501 (c)3 nonprofit for Military Veterans. I’m writing you today in hopes to share my story, and help thousands of Veterans like myself. Stories like mine aren’t shared often and I think it’s time we speak up and start healing together. Helping me share my story might also save lives. Here’s a small version of my story.

9/11 was where it all started. I was a senior in high school as I stood and watched the news coverage in my school's library. The horror of the planes hitting the twin towers shocked all who watched and we just stood silent. The pain I felt watching our own be attacked and murdered lit a fire inside. Within six weeks of the attacks I was fully contracted with the Marine Corps. Infantry was my job.

Not one person wanted to help me; my time in Iraq meant nothing. I meant nothing.

Finally in 2009, 6 years later, I found a Veteran Service Officer willing to help me. He not only took my case, he fought for me like my command should have. I took some time to build my case but I worked hard every step of the way. I collected letters from over a dozen Marines I served with in Iraq, letters from friends and family, from local teachers to Sheriffs and even a fighter pilot in the USAF. I even went as far as getting a Congressman to back me in my fight.

By summer of 2010 I was not only reinstated with VA benefits, but I was diagnosed with several injuries including Severe PTSD and TBI (traumatic brain injury). I was then back paid and enrolled into mental health treatment. I was finally able to start healing. I also gained recognition for my service, and that was something I lived without for many years. I even utilized my VA home loan and bought a house, despite my Bad Conduct Discharge. I started to defy all odds and overcame what others said I couldn’t.

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Army announced plans Thursday to improve discipline at Joint Base Lewis-McChord

Army bringing more management to troubled JBLM
April 26, 2012 

The U.S. Army announced plans Thursday to improve discipline at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, an installation that has been linked to a string of recent violence.

By MIKE BAKER
Associated Press

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash.
The U.S. Army announced plans Thursday to improve discipline at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, an installation that has been linked to a string of recent violence.

Army Secretary John McHugh said a layer of management will be added in a reorganization that will bring a new division headquarters to the troubled base.

McHugh said the move was largely in response to the massive growth Lewis-McChord has seen over the past decade. But he also acknowledged a recent string of high-profile cases and indicated that stronger oversight might have assisted in containing those issues.
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Is military training so intense it causes PTSD too?

Inside a military training exercise in Yuma Royal Canadian Regiment trains in Ariz. desert
Published : Thursday, 26 Apr 2012

“Yeah I think some of the soldiers might get PTSD from being here, but it is a great training environment, it simulates the common environment we are all faced with, its great.”

YUMA, Ariz. - It’s not just US Armed Forces taking on terrorism around the world. We get a lot of help from our allies.

FOX 10 cameras were watching as the Royal Canadian Regiment went into action recently, capturing a high-value target.

A battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment launches its air assault in clouds of swirling dust, as a platoon ropes into the hideout of a high value terrorist target.

“Our unit has deployed several times and I have as well,” said Major David Hill, Royal Canadian Regiment.

But this isn't Afghanistan. It isn't Iraq. That tire burning next to a saguaro cactus means only one thing. This is Arizona. To be exact, the US Army's Yuma proving ground.

“The landscape is a similar type of landscape to places we could potentially deploy in the future,” says Hill.

It's a mock Middle East village built years ago to help U.S. forces train for overseas missions. This month it helped Canadian forces sharpen their skills.

“It’s a great opportunity for the solders to get a chance to see the sights and smells and sounds of places in the future they might find themselves.”

Before the assault, we put a portable camera on one of the bad guys. Our volunteer, plus other Canadians and some U.S. Marines, play terrorist bodyguards.

They are protecting a high value target: another Canadian soldier. She's dressed to look like a terrorist leader.
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Inside a military training exercise in Yuma: MyFoxPHOENIX.com

10,000 new patients with PTSD checking in at VA every three months

Montana poised to benefit from increase in VA mental health staff
April 26, 2012
By CINDY UKEN

At a time when the VA Montana Health Care System is struggling to recruit psychiatrists to treat veterans with mental health problems, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has announced an immediate, nearly 10 percent increase in mental health staffing across the country.

VA Montana has not yet been told how many new staff members it will receive or the specific type of mental health professionals it will receive, but VA officials are heralding the notification.

Some 1,600 mental health clinicians, including nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers, as well as nearly 300 support staffers, will be added to the existing mental health workforce of 20,590. The expanded mental-health services will include professionals from two additional health care fields: marriage and family therapists and licensed professional mental health counselors.

The infusion of mental health professionals coincides with the scores of men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The VA currently treats 1.3 million veterans for mental health problems, including an estimated 400,000 who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Since 2007, VA has seen a 35 percent increase in the number of veterans receiving mental health services. There are 10,000 new patients with PTSD checking in at hospitals every three months, according to the VA.
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Dr. Phil Issues “Apology” and blames media for "monster" title

This just goes to show that the title was meant to get attention and they just didn't care who got hurt using it.

Dr. Phil Issues “Apology”
April 26, 2012
By Marcus the Redshirt
Cassy highlighted the gross disservice provided by The Dr. Phil Show to PTS sufferers last week. Ever since we have campaigned for the show to issue an apology. That “apology” came yesterday after thousands of people contacted Dr. Phil, the producers, and the sponsors.

We’ve received a lot of response about last week’s show, “Heroes in Pain,” which focused on the epidemic of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a condition that torments so many lives, including soldiers who’ve put their lives on the line serving our country.

Some viewers expressed concern, and even disappointment, with the show’s original title, “Heroes to Monsters?” Our intent was to acknowledge the question so often cited in the media, not to make a statement, and to emphasize the severity of the pain and suffering our guests say they experience. In doing so, we unintentionally offended some of our viewers, and have therefore changed the title to more accurately reflect the show’s content.

I’m glad the show stirred so many of you to respond. Our goal is, and always will be, to call attention to the challenges our returning soldiers face, including PTSD. I really wanted you to hear firsthand the effects that PTSD can have on war heroes and their families, and I’m grateful to our guests for being so candid and honest about their experiences. I hope other media outlets will join us in talking openly about these challenges and our need as a society to respond with compassionate action. Two of my three sisters married fighter pilots (Vietnam era), and my nephew flew many missions as a Navy fighter pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan, so the lives of our veterans hits very close to home.
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original story
Dr. Phil didn't care who he hurt with his "monsters" PTSD connection

Active Duty Marine Shot 37 Times by Deputy Will Go To Trial

Wife of Active Duty Marine Shot 37 Times by Local Deputy and CHP Can Proceed to Trial
By REBEKAH KEARN
Thursday, April 26, 2012

SAN DIEGO (CN) - A wrongful death suit against a San Diego deputy sheriff is proceeding to trial after the deputy along with a group of California Highway Patrol officers killed an active duty Marine who was a veteran of the Iraq war, by shooting him 37 times after pinning his car at the side of the freeway.

After an argument with his wife, Robert Medina led 18 officers and 13 police cars on a slow-speed chase down the I-5 through Oceanside, which is near Camp Pendleton, before he was eventually trapped and penned in near Encinitas a few miles south.

Medina was an active-duty, 22-year-old Marine who had recently returned from a tour in Iraq and suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome, according to a federal court ruling. The syndrome often develops after a person experiences a violent personal attack or traumatic event, such as being in a war zone. Military personnel are especially at risk for developing PTSD, which includes symptoms like flashbacks, depression, and difficulty functioning in social situations.

In the early morning hours of November 16, 2006, Medina had a fight with his wife and left the house even though she asked him not to go.
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Iraq Veteran with PTSD saved by Vietnam Veteran

Iraq Veteran Credits Vietnam Veteran With Saving His Life
04/27/2012
By: Nick Winkle

An Iraq war veteran on the verge of suicide says a stranger miraculously stepped in and helped get him the benefits needed to save his life.

Michael Saniti says the VA did little to help him with the guilt, nightmares, and sleepless nights he suffered from after two tours in Iraq.

Saniti says he put a loaded gun to his head several weeks ago and was ready to end it all.

That is, until a stranger stepped in.

Saniti had secretly written his own obituary, which was published in a newspaper by mistake, and was subsequently featured in an article.

A Senior Claims Representative at the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, Robert Laguban, saw the article and reached out to help.

Within a few days, Laguban had Saniti enrolled in a weekly Post Traumatic Stress Disorder counseling program at the VA. More importantly, Laguban's help and support gave Saniti hope.

Saniti credits Laguban with saving his life.
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Why are soldiers dying in their sleep?

Why are soldiers dying in their sleep?
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Steve Daniels

RALEIGH (WTVD)

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have created heartbreak and anger for Stan and Shirley White.

"There's still a lot of raw emotion there. We've lost two sons," explained Shirley.

First, the Charleston, West Virginia couple's first son Bob - a Fort Bragg paratrooper - was killed in Afghanistan.

"There's nothing like the pain of losing a child," said Shirley.

Then, son Andrew survived his deployment to Iraq with Camp Lejeune Marines - only to die in his bedroom.

"It was like a double-whammy all over again, twice the pain," said Shirley.

The couple have kept Andrew's bedroom as it was the day he died as a memorial to him.

"He did a lot of things in 23 years," said Stan.

In the room are his Eagle Scout certificate, an award from his days in the Junior ROTC, his Marine medals, and pictures from his time in Iraq. But the walls do not tell the story of Andrew's psychological trauma from nine months in Iraq.

"He died because of his PTSD, because of what he saw in the war zone. The medication is what killed him. We consider him as being a casualty of war," Stan offered.
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Fort Benning families walk for suicide awareness

Suicide awareness walk on Fort Benning
By: RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ
WRBL News 3
Published: April 26, 2012

FORT BENNING, Ga.
Walkers organized on Fort Benning Thursday to bring awareness and education to the risk of suicide.

Tricia Radenz’s 12-year-old son committed suicide during his dad's deployment in 2009. The mom from Fort Hood, Texas wants to help other parents look for warning signs.
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Suicide awareness walk on Fort Benning
Walkers organized on Fort Benning Thursday to bring awareness and education to the risk of suicide.

1 out of 4 OEF OIF veterans are disabled

A cost of war: Soaring disability benefits for veterans
By Aaron Smith
CNNMoney
April 27, 2012
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
After more than a decade of continuous warfare, the cost of disability compensation for wounded veterans is surging to mammoth proportions.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs expects to spend $57 billion on disability benefits next year. That's up 25% from $46 billion this year, and nearly quadruple the $15 billion spent in 2000, before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began.

"This is the cost of going to war," said Larry Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress who served as assistant secretary of defense during the Ronald Reagan administration. "We've made so much progress in medicine [that] you're going to have a lot of people survive their injuries who didn't in the past."

About 4,500 U.S. troops were killed in Iraq and about 1,800 have been killed in Afghanistan. Some 633,000 veterans -- one out of every four of the 2.3 million who served in Iraq and Afghanistan -- have a service-connected disability, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Band of Brothers Hero John McGrath dies at 92

Soldier depicted in 'Band of Brothers' dies at 92
By JAY LEVIN
The Record
(Hackensack N.J.)
Published: April 26, 2012

John McGrath, a reluctant World War II hero whose derring-do became well known after his depiction in the HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers,” died on Tuesday. He was 92.

For decades, McGrath’s local claim to fame was his service to the Elmwood Park Fire Department in New Jersey, which he joined in 1952. He was chief in 1970 and 1971, when the borough was called East Paterson. After retiring as a truck driver, he worked as the borough’s part-time fire code official.

True to the Greatest Generation, the humorously gruff McGrath, who was known as Jack, seldom spoke about what he did in the war.

Stephen E. Ambrose blew his cover.

The historian and biographer immortalized the soldiers of Easy Company, the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, in his 1992 book “Band of Brothers.” McGrath belonged to the legendary company, whose successes stretched from D-Day to the capture of Hitler’s Bavarian outpost. The Carlstadt-born soldier had his moment on page 100, where Ambrose describes how McGrath blew up a German tank with a bazooka shot — “the critical moment,” Ambrose writes, in the Allied forces’ taking of Carentan, France, during the invasion of Normandy.

“Band of Brothers” became a critically acclaimed miniseries in 2001, and McGrath’s exploits were officially out in the open.

“I had no idea of his war record until the miniseries — he never said anything,” said Richard Mola, a longtime friend and Elmwood Park’s mayor since 1972.
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Florida homeless veterans get help

Governor's $1 million grant helps homeless veterans
A grant by the governor will give veteran support groups in the state of Florida a $1 million boost.
By Craig Rubadoux, Malcolm Denemark and Tim Walter
Posted April 27, 2012

Heroic Vietnam veteran always there for comrades

Heroic Vietnam veteran always there for comrades

Luc Pieterbourg Jim Basta, right with Barry Spear, helped put together the Vietnam War Memorial at Veterans Memorial Park.

By HOWARD ALTMAN
The Tampa Tribune
Published: April 26, 2012

TAMPA
Jimmy Basta hovered the Huey helicopter gunship over a mountainous stretch northwest of Kon Tum, a provincial capital in Vietnam, laying down a barrage of rockets and bullets at the enemy below.

Known by the call signal "Tornado White," Basta was doing what he did best in the jungle: protecting buddies regardless of risk.

"It was his hallmark," said Charlie Rayl. Now a lawyer in Kansas, Rayl was then a fellow member of the Ruthless Riders, 7th Armored Squadron, 17th Air Cavalry. Rayl's chopper had crashed. Basta was saving his life on March 9, 1968.

Years later, Basta would move to Tampa, where he was part of what eventually would become the Joint Communications Support Element at MacDill Air Force Base. He helped put together the Vietnam War Memorial at Veterans Memorial Park, off U.S. 301 in Tampa, volunteered for Meals-on-Wheels and became known as the guy who would cart around the little scout helicopter to parades and schools.

On Tuesday, Basta died after a long bout with lung cancer. He was 72.

His family and friends remember him as a straight shooter who ignored danger, be it to his life in the form of enemy fire or to his career in the form of general officers he was not afraid to criticize.

Before leaving Vietnam, where he did three tours, Basta would be shot down six times, said his wife, Marie, also 72. He earned the Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal and, because he flew so many missions, 55 Air Medals.
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Blind Iraq Veteran taking Walk for Vision

Moorhead man who lost sight in Iraq War to take part in Walk for Vision

By: Helmut Schmidt,
INFORUM
April 26, 2012
MOORHEAD -


Eric Marts made it a point to take care of the soldiers he led in battle in Iraq, even as repeated roadside blasts were robbing him of his eyesight.

Now blind, the 50-year-old former Army National Guard master sergeant is still helping others, hoping to give people in the same situation – whether veterans or lifelong civilians – the same advantages.

Marts plans to walk with his guide dog, “Corporal” Deacon, at North Dakota State University on Saturday in the Fargo version of “Walk for Vision,” the main fundraiser for the North Dakota Association of the Blind.

“I’m pretty blessed,” Marts says matter-of-factly.

After all, the Army and the Department of Veterans Affairs helped get him the training and the technology to make a life without sight more navigable, as well as his big, friendly English Labrador guide dog.

He wants to be part of the walk to raise money so that those without his support system can go to camps and get the same sort of help to ease their way through the world.

“So I guess that’s a good cause,” Marts said.
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Lance Cpl. Cory Killgore 'use this tragedy for good'

Marine whose wife was killed wants to 'use this tragedy for good'
April 26, 2012

The husband of the slain Brittany Dawn Killgore said in a statement Thursday that he is searching for a way "to use this tragedy for good."

"Brittany's death cannot be in vain," Marine Lance Cpl. Cory Killgore said in a statement released by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. "At this point I don't know how to use this tragedy for good, but others have found their way, and I hope to do the same. Brittany meant too much to do any less."

Killgore was deployed in Afghanistan when his 22-year-old wife went missing April 13. Her body was found dumped near Lake Skinner in Riverside County on April 17. He is now home on emergency leave arranged by the Red Cross and the Marine Corps.
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also

Man pleads not guilty in death of deployed Marine's wife
By the CNN Wire Staff
Fri April 27, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Marine sergeant pleads not guilty in woman's death
Authorities have said he was with Brittany Killgore when she was last seen alive
Killgore's body was found in a rural area; authorities haven't said how she died

(CNN) -- On the day one of two suspects in his wife's death was arraigned, a deployed Marine said Thursday he was devastated but wanted to ensure her death was not in vain.

"My wife, Brittany, was beautiful beyond words and her murder has left me devastated. My duty to her memory is now to ensure her good reputation remains intact, and help law enforcement and prosecutors secure justice for the person or persons who took her away from me," Lance Cpl. Cory Killgore said in a statement.

Marine Staff Sgt. Luis Ray Perez, 45, was arraigned on a suspicion of murder charge in San Diego County, California, in the death of Brittany Killgore, 22. He pleaded not guilty, according to CNN affiliate KGTV.
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Marine so badly hurt he filmed himself giving himself the Last Rites

Ex-Marine aims camera at self to heal from the war
By John Rogers
Associated Press
April 27, 2012

This Feb. 2006 photo provided by Josh Echeverria shows U.S. Marine Garrett Anderson in a prone firing position in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. Anderson, an ex-Marine filmmaker whose unit carried pocket digital cameras into some of the worst fighting in Iraq is using that footage, and post-war interviews, to open viewers' eyes about combat and help himself deal with the lasting emotional impact. (AP Photo/Josh Echeverria)

LOS ANGELES—An ex-Marine filmmaker whose unit carried pocket digital cameras into some of the worst fighting in Iraq is using that footage, and post-war interviews, to open viewers' eyes about combat and help himself deal with the lasting emotional impact.

The videos are stark. One Marine is so badly hurt he filmed himself giving himself the Last Rites.

Some of the fighters seem unaffected years later in civilian life, while others have gone through severe bouts of post-traumatic stress and one man, who in Iraq saved fellow Marines' lives, wound up in prison back home.

Garrett Anderson hopes to show this all up close with "And Then They Came Home," a documentary he is making from footage he and his comrades gathered on Nov. 22, 2004, one of the bloodiest days of fighting during Iraq's second battle of Fallujah.

One of Anderson's comrades died that day and six others in his platoon were wounded as they fought building to building in the city of Fallujah, searching for snipers. One of those shot was so badly wounded that he pulled out his digital camera and hit the record button as he gave himself the Last Rites so his family would have a record of it. Anderson plans to include that footage in his film.

"We were probably the first group of people who were allowed to go into combat with a digital camera in your pocket," Anderson said recently from his home in Portland, Ore.
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New Hampshire VA psychopharmacologist was intoxicated while providing patient care

“Why I Quit the VA”
By MARK THOMPSON
April 26, 2012


Nicholas Tolentino spelled out the reasons he resigned from New Hampshire’s main Department of Veterans Affairs health center Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.

While his prepared remarks also detail just how flexible the VA’s data are when it comes to showing that vets are getting adequate mental-health care, it’s why the 14-year Navy vet says he left the VA last December after two years that may be most illuminating – and frustrating:

I could detail other instances of unethical practice at the Manchester VAMC that contributed to my decision to resign, but the final straw occurred when the medical center failed to take meaningful action in response to the discovery that a VA clinical psychopharmacologist was intoxicated while providing patient care. On October 31st, 2011 the Mental Health Service Line Manager discovered that a psychopharmacologist at our facility was noticeably intoxicated and slurring his speech. The Service Line Manager became aware of this situation when a veteran reported that the clinician had failed to appear for an appointment. Looking into the matter, I discovered that he had written numerous prescriptions during that day, presumably during the period of his intoxication.
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Hundreds of Fort Carson soldiers came home

Soldiers, Families Reunited After Months Apart

Hundreds of Fort Carson soldiers were welcomed home from Afghanistan Thursday morning, after almost a year away.

Apr 26, 2012

Reporter: KKTV


After nearly a year, hundreds of Fort Carson soldiers are back in the arms of their loved ones.

For months, the only contact these soldiers had with their families and friends were phone calls and e-mails. For months, loved ones felt the painful absence as they navigated their daily lives with their father, daughter, spouse an ocean away.

That's all over for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, who returned to Fort Carson early Thursday morning.
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