Alaska war veterans' charity boss indicted for using donations to fund lifestyle
Published May 07, 2012
NewsCore
KENAI, Alaska
An Alaskan man who ran a charity raising money to send care packages to US soldiers deployed overseas has been indicted by Alaskan authorities for using donations to fund his own lifestyle, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
Prosecutors say an employee from Alaska Veteran Outreach Boxes for Heroes (AVOBH) tipped authorities off to the alleged scam run by Frank Roach, 52, of Kenai, Alaska, last October.
"The employee believed the vast majority of the donations were not being used for shipping costs but were going to the pockets of those involved in the organization," according to a statement from the State of Alaska Department of Law.
read more here
Monday, May 7, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Army probes CIB given to lt. who shot soldier
Army probes CIB given to lt. who shot soldier
Award upsets father of friendly fire victim
By Joe Gould - Staff writer Posted : Sunday May 6, 2012
The Army is investigating the awarding of a Combat Infantryman Badge to a lieutenant who fatally shot a member of his squad, Pfc. David H. Sharrett, during a 2008 friendly fire incident in Iraq.
Then-Lt. Timothy R. Hanson was awarded the badge for his service Jan. 16, 2008, according to Army orders supplied to Sharrett’s father, David Sharrett. On that day, Hanson led a squad into a fierce predawn firefight in which he mistakenly shot Sharrett. After the battle, Hanson left unhurt on a helicopter before Pfc. Sharrett was found.
“This could not have been just a horrible faux pas,” said the elder Sharrett, of Oakton, Va. “They were well aware of what had happened, and this guy was given a medal for killing my kid and leaving him to die.”
Hanson has since been promoted to captain and joined a Reserve unit in Wisconsin. He was initially given a local reprimand and last year was recommended for a harsher general officer reprimand in the Army’s third investigation of the incident.
read more here
Award upsets father of friendly fire victim
By Joe Gould - Staff writer Posted : Sunday May 6, 2012
The Army is investigating the awarding of a Combat Infantryman Badge to a lieutenant who fatally shot a member of his squad, Pfc. David H. Sharrett, during a 2008 friendly fire incident in Iraq.
Then-Lt. Timothy R. Hanson was awarded the badge for his service Jan. 16, 2008, according to Army orders supplied to Sharrett’s father, David Sharrett. On that day, Hanson led a squad into a fierce predawn firefight in which he mistakenly shot Sharrett. After the battle, Hanson left unhurt on a helicopter before Pfc. Sharrett was found.
“This could not have been just a horrible faux pas,” said the elder Sharrett, of Oakton, Va. “They were well aware of what had happened, and this guy was given a medal for killing my kid and leaving him to die.”
Hanson has since been promoted to captain and joined a Reserve unit in Wisconsin. He was initially given a local reprimand and last year was recommended for a harsher general officer reprimand in the Army’s third investigation of the incident.
read more here
Fort Bragg female soldier Kelli Bordeaux still missing
Fort Bragg soldier disappears after night out
By Martha Waggoner
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday May 6, 2012
RALEIGH, N.C. — Kelli Bordeaux took a break from life as a soldier at Fort Bragg, N.C., to do what many 20-somethings do on a Friday night: Maybe have a few drinks, play pool and belt out some songs at a local karaoke night.
Three weeks later, the 23-year-old woman still hasn’t come home. Investigators say phone calls and text messages show nothing out of the ordinary happened that night. Their only lead? She left the bar with a man who is a registered sex offender and swears he had nothing to do with her disappearance.
Now her relatives, some of whom came to Fayetteville for the first couple weeks of the investigation and searches, have returned home, where they wait for the phone to ring with the good news that Bordeaux has been found.
“It just feels like it’s been an eternity already,” said Matt Henson, the older brother of the missing private first class.
read more here
By Martha Waggoner
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday May 6, 2012
RALEIGH, N.C. — Kelli Bordeaux took a break from life as a soldier at Fort Bragg, N.C., to do what many 20-somethings do on a Friday night: Maybe have a few drinks, play pool and belt out some songs at a local karaoke night.
Three weeks later, the 23-year-old woman still hasn’t come home. Investigators say phone calls and text messages show nothing out of the ordinary happened that night. Their only lead? She left the bar with a man who is a registered sex offender and swears he had nothing to do with her disappearance.
Now her relatives, some of whom came to Fayetteville for the first couple weeks of the investigation and searches, have returned home, where they wait for the phone to ring with the good news that Bordeaux has been found.
“It just feels like it’s been an eternity already,” said Matt Henson, the older brother of the missing private first class.
read more here
Soldier found dead in Afghan living quarters
Soldier found dead in Afghan living quarters
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday May 5, 2012
FORT RILEY, Kan. — The Army says it’s investigating the death of a Fort Riley soldier who was found unresponsive in his living quarters in Afghanistan.
Staff Sgt. Zachary Hargrove, 32, of Wichita, died Thursday at a medical facility at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. Fort Riley officials said Friday the cause of death was under investigation.
read more here
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday May 5, 2012
FORT RILEY, Kan. — The Army says it’s investigating the death of a Fort Riley soldier who was found unresponsive in his living quarters in Afghanistan.
Staff Sgt. Zachary Hargrove, 32, of Wichita, died Thursday at a medical facility at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. Fort Riley officials said Friday the cause of death was under investigation.
read more here
Wartime stress as a defense for murder
Wartime stress as a defense for murder
By Chris Lawrence and Jennifer Rizzo
Raymond Williams had just retired and was looking forward to traveling out west with his wife and spending time with his three grandchildren. But all those plans were shattered on April 6, 2009. As Williams, 64, went to get the mail on that spring day, he was gunned down by a man he'd never met.
His wife found his body. "She said, you know 'Matt! Matt! Somebody shot Dad,'" recalled Williams' son, Matt. "It didn't register. I'm thinking, 'OK where is he now? Did they take him to the hospital? What hospital is he in?' And before I could even get another word out, she goes 'And he's dead.'" A short time earlier, the same gunman had killed a teenager and wounded a woman at a store in the same working-class town of Altoona in central Pennsylvania.
The gunman, Nicholas Horner, was a husband, a father, and a veteran soldier who had been awarded multiple medals for his service in Iraq, including a combat action badge. Less than a year after returning from combat, Horner faced two first degree murder charges and the possibility of the death penalty. "Not in a million years could I believe this was true because Nick would never, he could never hurt anyone," said Horner's mother, Karen. "I know Nick. Nick pulled the trigger, but that wasn't Nick."
read more here
By Chris Lawrence and Jennifer Rizzo
Raymond Williams had just retired and was looking forward to traveling out west with his wife and spending time with his three grandchildren. But all those plans were shattered on April 6, 2009. As Williams, 64, went to get the mail on that spring day, he was gunned down by a man he'd never met.
His wife found his body. "She said, you know 'Matt! Matt! Somebody shot Dad,'" recalled Williams' son, Matt. "It didn't register. I'm thinking, 'OK where is he now? Did they take him to the hospital? What hospital is he in?' And before I could even get another word out, she goes 'And he's dead.'" A short time earlier, the same gunman had killed a teenager and wounded a woman at a store in the same working-class town of Altoona in central Pennsylvania.
The gunman, Nicholas Horner, was a husband, a father, and a veteran soldier who had been awarded multiple medals for his service in Iraq, including a combat action badge. Less than a year after returning from combat, Horner faced two first degree murder charges and the possibility of the death penalty. "Not in a million years could I believe this was true because Nick would never, he could never hurt anyone," said Horner's mother, Karen. "I know Nick. Nick pulled the trigger, but that wasn't Nick."
read more here
Army wife explains what happened during Skype call that changed her life
UPDATE
Capt. who died during chat was not shot: Army
By Joe Gould - Staff report
Posted : Monday May 7, 2012
An Army nurse who suddenly collapsed during a Skype video chat with his wife was not shot and foul play is not suspected in his death, Army Criminal Investigation Command said in a statement Monday.
Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark showed no alarm or discomfort before he collapsed and his wife saw a bullet hole in a closet behind him, his family said on Sunday.
But Monday, CID released a statement saying Clark’s body had no trauma beyond minor scrapes and a possible broken nose “most likely caused from Captain Clark striking his face on his desk when he collapsed.”
read more here
Capt. who died during chat was not shot: Army
By Joe Gould - Staff report
Posted : Monday May 7, 2012
An Army nurse who suddenly collapsed during a Skype video chat with his wife was not shot and foul play is not suspected in his death, Army Criminal Investigation Command said in a statement Monday.
Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark showed no alarm or discomfort before he collapsed and his wife saw a bullet hole in a closet behind him, his family said on Sunday.
But Monday, CID released a statement saying Clark’s body had no trauma beyond minor scrapes and a possible broken nose “most likely caused from Captain Clark striking his face on his desk when he collapsed.”
read more here
Army wife Skyping with husband sees him die, bullet hole
May 06, 2012
By Natalie DiBlasio
USA TODAY An Army wife who witnessed her husband's death during a Skype video chat said she saw a bullet hole in a closet behind him after he collapsed, the (New York) Daily News reported. Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark, stationed in Afghanistan, fell suddenly on Monday during a routine Skype conversation with his wife, Susan Orellana-Clark, the Daily News reported.
The family released a statement today describing what Orellana-Clark saw in the video feed.
read more here
Marine missing on California and Arizona border
Valley Police Beat: Marine missing on California/Arizona border
By ELIZABETH VARIN
Staff Writer
May 5, 2012
A Marine out of Yuma was reported missing Friday afternoon after not reporting to duty, according to Imperial County Sheriff’s Office logs. The Sheriff’s Office was called in about 4 p.m. to help search the area around Senators Wash near Winterhaven for the unnamed Marine who voluntarily left Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, according to the logs.
The man, with blond hair, blue eyes, weighing about 150 pounds and 5 feet, 8 inches tall, was last seen midnight Friday and did not report to duty.
read more here
By ELIZABETH VARIN
Staff Writer
May 5, 2012
A Marine out of Yuma was reported missing Friday afternoon after not reporting to duty, according to Imperial County Sheriff’s Office logs. The Sheriff’s Office was called in about 4 p.m. to help search the area around Senators Wash near Winterhaven for the unnamed Marine who voluntarily left Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, according to the logs.
The man, with blond hair, blue eyes, weighing about 150 pounds and 5 feet, 8 inches tall, was last seen midnight Friday and did not report to duty.
read more here
New name for PTSD could mean less stigma?
How is it possible with over 40 of studying PTSD, they could still know so little? Do they really think changing the name again will do anything worthwhile while they are screwing up every place else? Changing the name given won't get them to seek help when the failures still exist in the DOD and the VA. It won't do any good when they are still being told by their commanders PTSD is their fault because they didn't train right with the "resiliency" training they were given. If they don't understand what it is and why they have it, then no name change will do any good. As a matter of fact it may even make things worse when they discover they have been walking around thinking they have PTSD only to be told, wait a second, we changed our minds and now it it injury instead of disorder. That'll make them feel better about getting help! Sure it will.....
New name for PTSD could mean less stigma
Washington Post
By Greg Jaffe, Published: May 5
It has been called shell shock, battle fatigue, soldier’s heart and, most recently, post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Now, military officers and psychiatrists are embroiled in a heated debate over whether to change the name of a condition as old as combat.
The potential new moniker: post-traumatic stress injury.
Military officers and some psychiatrists say dropping the word “disorder” in favor of “injury” will reduce the stigma that stops troops from seeking treatment. “No 19-year-old kid wants to be told he’s got a disorder,” said Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who until his retirement in February led the Army’s effort to reduce its record suicide rate.
read more here
Community comes together to give last gift from fallen soldier
This country is full of people trying to make a point and dedicating their lives to their own glory. We see them everyday on TV. What we don't see is what most of us live with. We see neighbors helping each other but the news shows everything bad. We see strangers standing in the rain, holding a flag so they can honor the body of a fallen soldier coming home. The news reports on what is bad so often we end up thinking it isn't safe to go outside our comfort zone of home, work or church. Once in a while though a news crew shows up to bring us a story like this. If you want your heart warmed this Sunday morning, here it is.
After I watched it I felt sure this is not the "last gift" but the beginning of the gifts Captain Hays left behind for everyone.
After I watched it I felt sure this is not the "last gift" but the beginning of the gifts Captain Hays left behind for everyone.
Volunteers, Students And Donors Help Deliver Fallen Soldier, Capt. Bruce Hays's Last Gift To Wife Terry Hays
Posted: 05/05/2012
Thanks to the time and money of hundreds of volunteers and well-wishers, a fallen soldier's last wish -- a gift to his beloved wife -- has been fulfilled, 9News reports.
Several years ago, Bruce Hays purchased a battered 1959 Chevrolet Apache pickup truck for his wife, Terry, as an anniversary gift.
“I used to tell Bruce about how, when we were kids, we would go to the drive-in in my dad’s Chevy Apache," Terry told Fox News. "He remembered that. He knew how much it meant to me."
Though the truck was an old wreck when he bought it, Hays had hoped that he and his wife would be able to restore it together.
But before they got the chance, Hays -- a captain in the Wyoming Army National Guard -- was deployed to Afghanistan.
Less than a month later, in September 2008, Captain Hays was killed by a roadside bomb, leaving behind his wife and their family.
He also left behind a final, uncompleted gift for his family -- that old Chevy Apache.
read more here
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Panel to vote: Shield vets spending from cuts?
Panel to vote: Shield vets spending from cuts?
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday May 4, 2012
The House Budget Committee is poised to pass two measures on Monday to avoid across-the-board federal budget cuts in January and also restore $8 billion in previously approved defense cuts.
In the process, the committee also will move to clarify that veterans’ health care and benefits funds and administrative accounts are exempt from the across-the-board cuts during this sequester or any in the future. It also exempts Defense Department mandatory funds — used for some retirement, health care and education programs — from the automatic budget cuts.
This will not be the final word. Republicans who control the House plan to pass the two measures before Memorial Day, allowing them to claim they have presented a plan to avoid the dreaded across-the-board cuts that would require a 10 percent reduction in defense programs and an 8 percent reduction in most domestic programs. But the White House and Democratic-controlled Senate do not agree on the details.
read more here
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday May 4, 2012
The House Budget Committee is poised to pass two measures on Monday to avoid across-the-board federal budget cuts in January and also restore $8 billion in previously approved defense cuts.
In the process, the committee also will move to clarify that veterans’ health care and benefits funds and administrative accounts are exempt from the across-the-board cuts during this sequester or any in the future. It also exempts Defense Department mandatory funds — used for some retirement, health care and education programs — from the automatic budget cuts.
This will not be the final word. Republicans who control the House plan to pass the two measures before Memorial Day, allowing them to claim they have presented a plan to avoid the dreaded across-the-board cuts that would require a 10 percent reduction in defense programs and an 8 percent reduction in most domestic programs. But the White House and Democratic-controlled Senate do not agree on the details.
read more here
Who killed Iraq Veteran Yosbel Millares
Family Of Murdered Iraq War Veteran Pleads For Help In Unsolved Homicide
Reporting Peter D’Oench
MIAMI (CBS4) — Twenty-eight-year-old Yosbel Millares survived a dangerous tour of duty in Iraq. But the former U.S. Marine would not survive a shooting on the streets of Miami when he was closing up a store.
Now, four and a half years after his murder, his loved ones are asking for help in solving this crime.
“We were really close,” said his sister Magnolia Millares. “He was my youngest brother and he was such a great person. He was very humble.”
read more here
Reporting Peter D’Oench
MIAMI (CBS4) — Twenty-eight-year-old Yosbel Millares survived a dangerous tour of duty in Iraq. But the former U.S. Marine would not survive a shooting on the streets of Miami when he was closing up a store.
Now, four and a half years after his murder, his loved ones are asking for help in solving this crime.
“We were really close,” said his sister Magnolia Millares. “He was my youngest brother and he was such a great person. He was very humble.”
read more here
Who made Justin Bieber T-shirts an Internet hit
Who made Justin Bieber T-shirts an Internet hit?
Canadians!
Toronto Star
Chantaie Allick Staff Reporter Canadians aren't known for their “laugh out loud” sense of humour, so when pictures surfaced earlier this week of soldiers on a military base striking a pose in too-tight Justin Bieber T-shirts
read more here
Canadians!
Pete McLean, left, said the soldiers in his regiment often played jokes on each other to boost moral.
Toronto Star
Chantaie Allick Staff Reporter Canadians aren't known for their “laugh out loud” sense of humour, so when pictures surfaced earlier this week of soldiers on a military base striking a pose in too-tight Justin Bieber T-shirts
read more here
Homeless man shot 2 at Maryland church, then killed himself
Police: Homeless man shot 2 at Maryland church
By DAVID DISHNEAU
Associated Press
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (AP) - A disgruntled homeless man fatally shot a secretary and critically wounded a priest in the office of a Maryland Episcopal church after he was turned away from the food bank because of his increasingly aggressive behavior, police said Friday.
After killing Brenda Brewington, 59, and wounding the Rev. Mary-Marguerite Kohn, 62, Douglas F. Jones killed himself with the handgun in the woods where he lived near St. Peter's Episcopal Church, about 14 miles west of Baltimore, police said.
"He's been described as argumentative and belligerent, and at some point they asked him to leave and not return. If there was a motive here, we believe that may have contributed in some way," Howard County Police Department spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said.
Brewington, of Ellicott City, was pronounced dead Thursday evening at the church after a custodian discovered the scene and called police.
Kohn, of Halethorpe, remained in critical condition Friday afternoon at Shock Trauma in Baltimore, according to police and hospital officials. She had been co-rector of the parish since 2009 and associate rector since 2003.
The incident provoked grief, anger and prayerful reflection at the opening Friday of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland's two-day annual convention in Hunt Valley, said the Right Rev. Eugene T. Sutton, bishop of Maryland.
He said the anger was directed at a society that would let a deranged man have a handgun.
"How is it that someone as mentally unstable, and who is on the edge, mentally, how does he get a gun to wreak that havoc?" Sutton said. "And of course, it's very painful for us that that violence happened in a holy place."
read more here
By DAVID DISHNEAU
Associated Press
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (AP) - A disgruntled homeless man fatally shot a secretary and critically wounded a priest in the office of a Maryland Episcopal church after he was turned away from the food bank because of his increasingly aggressive behavior, police said Friday.
After killing Brenda Brewington, 59, and wounding the Rev. Mary-Marguerite Kohn, 62, Douglas F. Jones killed himself with the handgun in the woods where he lived near St. Peter's Episcopal Church, about 14 miles west of Baltimore, police said.
"He's been described as argumentative and belligerent, and at some point they asked him to leave and not return. If there was a motive here, we believe that may have contributed in some way," Howard County Police Department spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said.
Brewington, of Ellicott City, was pronounced dead Thursday evening at the church after a custodian discovered the scene and called police.
Kohn, of Halethorpe, remained in critical condition Friday afternoon at Shock Trauma in Baltimore, according to police and hospital officials. She had been co-rector of the parish since 2009 and associate rector since 2003.
The incident provoked grief, anger and prayerful reflection at the opening Friday of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland's two-day annual convention in Hunt Valley, said the Right Rev. Eugene T. Sutton, bishop of Maryland.
He said the anger was directed at a society that would let a deranged man have a handgun.
"How is it that someone as mentally unstable, and who is on the edge, mentally, how does he get a gun to wreak that havoc?" Sutton said. "And of course, it's very painful for us that that violence happened in a holy place."
read more here
Soldier's wife weeps over coffin at Smyrna Airport
As you look at this picture, think of how much this picture changed us.
Up until this moment, you didn't know Ashely anymore than you knew her husband but as of today, this painful moment captured by the lens of a camera has been spread across nations. The Daily Mail UK picked up on the story.
They spend their days trying to live as normal as possible with the same problems the rest of us have but for them, the families of deployed servicemen and women, they worry about what the next moment can bring.
You see them in your office answering the phone but you don't know how often they worry that phone call may be the one with the bad news.
You see them in the grocery store with a couple of kids in the shopping cart as they hold a product in their hands and think about how much their loved one loved to eat it and the rush of worry pops into their brain.
This picture reminds all of us that men and women are paying the price for all we have today along with their families. We honor them on Memorial Day but the rest of the year we just forget all about them. Pictures like this, wake us up. What will it take to keep us awake and aware of them the rest of the year?
Body of Franklin soldier Jason Edens returns home to family
May. 4, 2012
Written by
Vicky Travis
The Tennessean
The body of Army Spc. Jason K. Edens of Franklin was flown home Thursday morning, to Smyrna Airport, where about 100 people, including friends, family and members of the Patriot Guard, had gathered to pay respects.
Ashley Edens says goodbye to her husband, Cpl. Jason Edens. / Cpt. Darrin Haas / Tennessee National GuardEdens, a 2007 Franklin High School graduate and aspiring Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent, was injured on April 15 during an enemy attack on his unit in Laghaman province in Afghanistan. He died April 26 at Walter Reed Hospital in Maryland.
“He was a remarkable guy,” said Jan Edens, Jason’s stepmother, who acted as a family spokeswoman. “He was a fun guy, loved by everyone, and so sweet. … I can’t put it all into words.”
At first, the family was going to keep the arrival very private. But once their military liaison let them know people wanted to come, they decided to open it up.
read more here
Up until this moment, you didn't know Ashely anymore than you knew her husband but as of today, this painful moment captured by the lens of a camera has been spread across nations. The Daily Mail UK picked up on the story.
They spend their days trying to live as normal as possible with the same problems the rest of us have but for them, the families of deployed servicemen and women, they worry about what the next moment can bring.
You see them in your office answering the phone but you don't know how often they worry that phone call may be the one with the bad news.
You see them in the grocery store with a couple of kids in the shopping cart as they hold a product in their hands and think about how much their loved one loved to eat it and the rush of worry pops into their brain.
This picture reminds all of us that men and women are paying the price for all we have today along with their families. We honor them on Memorial Day but the rest of the year we just forget all about them. Pictures like this, wake us up. What will it take to keep us awake and aware of them the rest of the year?
Friday, May 4, 2012
Sgt. Felipe Pereira Distinguished Service Cross
No Man Left Behind. 101st Airborne Division's Distinguished Service Cross
Apr 30, 2012 by FortCampbell101
Sgt. Felipe Pereira, an infantryman with Co. A, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), found himself and his platoon in the worst of conditions in Kandahar Afghanistan, Nov. 1, 2010, but never quit fighting and never left a man behind. This is his story.
Apr 30, 2012 by FortCampbell101
Sgt. Felipe Pereira, an infantryman with Co. A, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), found himself and his platoon in the worst of conditions in Kandahar Afghanistan, Nov. 1, 2010, but never quit fighting and never left a man behind. This is his story.
Wife watches husband die in Afghanistan on Skype
Update
Army wife explains what happened
Wife saw husband, a Beaumont Army Medical Center nurse in Afghanistan, die while on Skype chat
By Hayley Kappes
El Paso Times
Posted:05/04/2012
The wife of a Beaumont Army Medical Center nurse who died Monday in Afghanistan said the incident took place while she was talking with her husband through Skype's video chat.
Army officials have not released the cause of death for Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark, 43, of Spencerport, N.Y.
A statement from the family said they are waiting for results of a military investigation.
"Bruce's wife tragically witnessed her husband's death during one of their regular Skype video chats," the statement said.
"At the time of the incident, the family was hoping for a rescue and miracle, but later learned that it was not to be," according to the family's statement.
"Although the circumstances were unimaginable, Bruce's wife and extended family will be forever thankful that he and his wife were together in his last moments."
read more here
'Horses And Heroes' Offers Veterans New Approach To Therapy
'Horses And Heroes' Offers Veterans New Approach To Therapy
Local Equine Therapy Program Works To Expand
Matt Lupoli, WESH.com
May 4, 2012
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Eight U.S. military veterans in Central Florida have taken a unique approach to therapy. They're riding horses. Over the past eight weeks, eight veterans of various ages who sustained physical injuries or post traumatic stress disorder in Iraq, Afghanistan or Vietnam meet once each week for a three-hour therapy session, thanks to the University of Central Florida, Heavenly Hoofs Therapeutic Riding Center, and S.A.D.L.E.S. Equine Therapy of Umatilla.
"This is definitely a positive, therapeutic thing for veterans and people such as myself," Navy veteran Cliff Burton said. "My comfort level has definitely changed. I can do a whole bunch of stuff. I feel good."
Dr. Manette Monroe, a UCF assistant dean and professor, hopes the schools College of Medicine can develop research that will create best practices for this relatively new form of therapy.
read more here
Local Equine Therapy Program Works To Expand
Matt Lupoli, WESH.com
May 4, 2012
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Eight U.S. military veterans in Central Florida have taken a unique approach to therapy. They're riding horses. Over the past eight weeks, eight veterans of various ages who sustained physical injuries or post traumatic stress disorder in Iraq, Afghanistan or Vietnam meet once each week for a three-hour therapy session, thanks to the University of Central Florida, Heavenly Hoofs Therapeutic Riding Center, and S.A.D.L.E.S. Equine Therapy of Umatilla.
"This is definitely a positive, therapeutic thing for veterans and people such as myself," Navy veteran Cliff Burton said. "My comfort level has definitely changed. I can do a whole bunch of stuff. I feel good."
Dr. Manette Monroe, a UCF assistant dean and professor, hopes the schools College of Medicine can develop research that will create best practices for this relatively new form of therapy.
read more here
140 European lives have been saved because troops donated organs
Troops’ donated organs save European recipients
By Gregg Zoroya
USA TODAY
Posted : Thursday May 3, 2012
After Kelly Hugo flew through a snowstorm to reach the bedside of her mortally wounded son at a U.S. Army hospital in Germany, where he had just been brought from Afghanistan, she didn’t hesitate when asked about organ donation.
“I said, ‘Oh, yes,’” the junior high school counselor recalls, memories still fresh of that December in 2010 when she last saw her son, Marine Cpl. Sean Osterman, 21, of Princeton, Minn., “because something good has to come out of something bad.”
Since 2006, about 140 European lives have been saved because organs — hearts, lungs, livers, kidneys and pancreases — were harvested from 36 U.S. service members determined to be brain dead from wounds suffered in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to statistics from the German foundation that oversees organ removal and implantation.
All casualties from combat funnel through the Army’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for care before being flown to the U.S.
read more here
By Gregg Zoroya
USA TODAY
Posted : Thursday May 3, 2012
After Kelly Hugo flew through a snowstorm to reach the bedside of her mortally wounded son at a U.S. Army hospital in Germany, where he had just been brought from Afghanistan, she didn’t hesitate when asked about organ donation.
“I said, ‘Oh, yes,’” the junior high school counselor recalls, memories still fresh of that December in 2010 when she last saw her son, Marine Cpl. Sean Osterman, 21, of Princeton, Minn., “because something good has to come out of something bad.”
Since 2006, about 140 European lives have been saved because organs — hearts, lungs, livers, kidneys and pancreases — were harvested from 36 U.S. service members determined to be brain dead from wounds suffered in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to statistics from the German foundation that oversees organ removal and implantation.
All casualties from combat funnel through the Army’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for care before being flown to the U.S.
read more here
VA mental health called "unconscionable crisis" for PTSD veterans
VA mental health hiring is flawed, critic says
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday May 3, 2012
A representative of a major mental health organization blasted the Veterans Affairs Department for failing to hire therapists whom he says could ease VA staffing shortages and eliminate prolonged waiting periods for veterans in need of care.
David Kaplan, chief professional officer for the American Counseling Association, said Wednesday that VA has ignored licensed professional counselors, or LPCs, in its efforts to fill mental health vacancies in its medical system.
Requirements for LPC licensure vary from state to state, but in general, they are masters degree-level professionals with education and clinical experience in psychotherapy treatment and counseling.
“There’s an unconscionable crisis going on now with mental health treatment for those who have served our country, and the really sorry thing about this is it doesn’t have to be,” Kaplan said.
VA has 1,500 vacancies for mental health staff. It announced in April it plans to hire an additional 1,600 professionals.
But with a nationwide shortage of trained mental health workers, the department will be hard-pressed to fill its staffing needs without recruiting LPCs, Kaplan said.
read more here
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday May 3, 2012
A representative of a major mental health organization blasted the Veterans Affairs Department for failing to hire therapists whom he says could ease VA staffing shortages and eliminate prolonged waiting periods for veterans in need of care.
David Kaplan, chief professional officer for the American Counseling Association, said Wednesday that VA has ignored licensed professional counselors, or LPCs, in its efforts to fill mental health vacancies in its medical system.
Requirements for LPC licensure vary from state to state, but in general, they are masters degree-level professionals with education and clinical experience in psychotherapy treatment and counseling.
“There’s an unconscionable crisis going on now with mental health treatment for those who have served our country, and the really sorry thing about this is it doesn’t have to be,” Kaplan said.
VA has 1,500 vacancies for mental health staff. It announced in April it plans to hire an additional 1,600 professionals.
But with a nationwide shortage of trained mental health workers, the department will be hard-pressed to fill its staffing needs without recruiting LPCs, Kaplan said.
read more here
Sgt. Able Felipe Duran found unresponsive in his residence
Fort Hood Public Affairs Office
Courtesy Story
FORT HOOD, Texas – Fort Hood officials have released the name of a soldier who was found unresponsive in his residence April 30 in Copperas Cove, Texas. Coryell County Justice of the Peace John Guinn pronounced him deceased the same day.
Sgt. Able Felipe Duran, 47, whose home of record is listed as Colorado Springs, Colo., entered the military in December 1992 as a signal support systems specialist, and was assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, Warrior Transition Brigade, Fort Hood, since March 2011.
read more here
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)