400,000 veterans in Central Florida deserve better

I still have the shovel with 10-24-08 on it. That's the date they had a huge ground breaking event at where the Lake Nona VA was promised to be built. News came later it wouldn't be ready until 2012. Now it looks like 2014. Now it seems very appropriate to have been given a shovel at the event filled with promises.

VA hospital delays hurt veterans
Beth Kassab, Local News Columnist
June 4, 2012

The real loss from the delayed opening of the new VA Medical Center in Lake Nona isn't in the multimillion dollar disputes over construction contracts.

It's in the disappointment of men such as Earle Denton, Joe Kittinger and Jerry Pierce. The veterans fought for their country and then fought government bureaucracy and obstinacy to finally win a VA hospital in Orlando — the largest city in the nation without one.

Now the delays could mean some of them won't be around to see it open.

"I'm probably one of them," said Denton, 82, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who served in Korea and Vietnam.

The construction disputes on the $656 million hospital could delay the opening by 18 months from October of this year to spring of 2014, according to the project's main contractor, Brasfield & Gorrie.

The VA says it will be done sooner, about a year from now.

Either way, the delay is the latest broken promise for local veterans.

"It's an absolute disgrace," said hall-of-fame aviator Kittinger, who was held captive during the Vietnam War. "It's because our politicians were not keeping the VA in gear. The people who suffer are the veterans."

Pierce, who served as an Army first lieutenant in Korea during Vietnam, said there are 400,000 veterans in Central Florida. And 90,000 are enrolled in the VA system for medical care.
read more here

Wounded Times told you resiliency training was a failure, now some psychologists agree

Maybe some reporters and politicians will listen to me now but I doubt it.


DOES COMPREHENSIVE SOLDIER FITNESS WORK?

JUNE 04, 2012
A Call for Retraction
The Army’s Flawed Resilience-Training Study
by STEPHEN SOLDZ and ROY EIDELSON

Ten years of continuous war — characterized by multiple deployments, elusive guerilla adversaries, and occupied populations seemingly more tilted toward resentment than gratitude — have taken a significant toll on US troops. In addition to those who have been killed, physically maimed, or neurologically impaired by combat, many soldiers have experienced debilitating psychological disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety. Large numbers are on antidepressants and other psychotropic medications, while the suicide rate among troops has risen to alarming levels.

The sobering realities of the psychological effects of war pose a serious challenge for the US military tasked with simultaneously fighting multiple wars and anticipating years of “persistent conflict” ahead. The good news is that key sectors within the military have now identified the mental health of our troops as a major issue that must be addressed. Indeed, in addition to treatment for those suffering psychological impairment, the military leadership is pursuing intervention efforts aimed at preventing such adverse outcomes by increasing soldiers’ psychological resilience to combat exposure. The largest of these new initiatives is the Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program, launched in 2009 and based upon the “positive psychology” framework of psychologist Martin Seligman. And that brings us to the bad news: despite the over-hyped claims of CSF’s leading proponents, at this point there is little evidence to suggest that CSF works.
read more here

Since 2008 I've been coming out against this program because it does not work, has reduced the survival rate of the men and women after they survived combat and has left servicemen/women thinking they are mentally weak, thus leaving them with the notion PTSD is their fault! Now it looks like there have been brilliant minds looking at this even longer.

This pretty much sums up what veterans have been telling me since 2008.

Program participants may subsequently take greater risks if they think they have received some form of preventative protection. Participants may suffer from even greater stigma and shame perhaps interfering with help-seeking if after training they fail to effectively handle an adverse event. And the strategies taught may disrupt the participants prior effective coping strategies.

Most people "naturally" respond in a resilient manner when exposed to potentially traumatic events. It cannot be assumed that resilience training will be more helpful than harmful to these individuals.

Scoops picked up on the story too.
Army’s Flawed Resilience-Training Study

Here are some more links to what I posted about this
DOD message has been PTSD is your fault



The $125-million Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Failure

Pentagon has not evaluated PTSD and TBI programs, just repeated them

Repeat Iraq Tours Raise Risk of PTSD, Army Finds
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 20, 2006; Page A19
U.S. soldiers serving repeated Iraq deployments are 50 percent more likely than those with one tour to suffer from acute combat stress, raising their risk of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Army's first survey exploring how today's multiple war-zone rotations affect soldiers' mental health........

Vietnam veterans names being added to museum's Wall

Veteran's names added to county wall
Chris Agee
CNHI
June 4, 2012

PARKER COUNTY — Saturday’s third annual update of the only permanent Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall outside of Washington D.C., located in far west Parker County, included the addition of five names.

The five names of Vietnam veterans whose deaths were attributed, at least in part, to injuries sustained while on active duty, were added to the official memorial last year. Ten more names added to the Washington D.C. Memorial this year will be added to the half-size local replica next year, in accordance with law.

Following the arrival of the Patriot Guard Riders to the National Vietnam War Museum grounds, accompanied by the American Legion Riders of Anderson Post 75 in Mineral Wells, attendees witnessed an authentic representation of U.S. horse-drawn artillery units during World War I performed by the Fort Sill Artillery Half Section.

Friends of the National Vietnam War Museum Treasurer Jim Messinger introduced the ceremony’s special guests, including the widow of one soldier whose name was added to the wall Saturday. Judy Woodall traveled to Mineral Wells from Alabama to attend Saturday’s ceremony.
read more here

Vietnam veteran kept up the fight

Vietnam veteran kept up the fight
By Lou Michel
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: June 4, 2012

At 19 years old and recently graduated with a degree in aviation mechanics from Burgard Vocational High School, Al Brusetti attempted to enlist in the Air Force and the Army.

“There was no work in the area, and I wanted to continue in aviation,” Brusetti said.

He received disappointing news from both branches.

“They said I was overweight. I weighed about 220 pounds, but it was from weightlifting and sports.”

Though the economy was hurting, Brusetti secured a maintenance position with the county at E.J. Meyer Memorial Hospital starting in 1961.

But by 1965, when Brusetti was almost 26, Uncle Sam sent him a draft notice. This time Brusetti was looking pretty good, though he was still the same weight.

“The doctor who gave me the physical said I wasn’t overweight. I was ‘heavily muscled.’ Those words are actually in the report from the physical,” said Brusetti, who still gets a chuckle from them.

The muscular soldier arrived in Vietnam in August 1966 as a member of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade.
read more here

Male Iraq Veteran wants to return to service as female

John Ackley, an Iraq vet, is looking to return to the military as Ashley Ackley
10:38 AM, Jun 4, 2012
Written by
CBS NEWS


PINE CITY, Minn. (WCCO) - A Minnesota soldier is trying to pave the way for change in the military.

Specialist Ackley is a war veteran who served in Iraq with the 34th Red Bull infantry division in 2009. But a lot has changed since her return two years ago.

Specialist John Ackley is now Ashley.

She would be the first to tell you she tries to avoid gender ideals.

"I've tried to stay away from gender roles," said Ashley.

As she works on her Chevy Corvair, she's a contradiction of stereotypes.
read more here

What was Obama thinking about Memorial Day?

What was Obama thinking about Memorial Day?

From the White House website.

President Barack Obama is reflected in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall as he delivers remarks during the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War commemoration ceremony in Washington, D.C., May 28, 2012.
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)


These pictures were sent by email of what this ended up looking like for all the people trying to go and honor the fallen on the Wall!





Was he thinking about the people traveling from all across the country to honor the fallen from Vietnam and Vietnam veterans or was he thinking about himself?

For all the good he has done for veterans and should be proud of, he does something like this and fuels the animosity. It is doubtful he understood what Memorial Day weekend in Washington means to our veterans.

Several groups are very upset about this. There is one place where politicians should never turn a time to honor into a time to promote themselves. THE WALL IS A PLACE TO HONOR THE FALLEN AND ALL THE VETERANS OF VIETNAM.

Montford Point Marines to receive Congressional Gold Medal

Montford Point Marines to receive Congressional Gold Medal
June 03, 2012
AMANDA WILCOX
DAILY NEWS STAFF
The Montford Point Marines will be awarded Congress’ highest civilian award later this month.

"It’s been a long time coming," said retired Sgt. Maj. Nethaniel James, president of the Montford Point Marine Association, Camp Lejeune, Chapter 10. "I think it’s well deserved and it’s long been waited on."

Congress announced recently that a ceremony will be held June 27 in Washington D.C. to award the Montford Point Marines the Congressional Gold Medal.

The Montford Point Marines were the first blacks to ever serve in the U.S. Marine Corps. Overall, 19,168 black men trained at the segregated Montford Point in Jacksonville from 1942 to 1949.
read more here

In February I interviewed Charles Forman at the Orlando Nam Knights Club House

Feb 12, 2012 Last night at the Orlando Nam Knights there was a surprise guest. Charles O. Foreman, a WWII veteran, member of the Montford Point Marines came. He is part of the group of Marines receiving the Congressional Gold Medal. At 87 he is just amazing. No matter what he had to go through because of the color of his skin, he'd do it all over again. He credits the Marines with making him the man he is today.

Army Sgt. Steve Flaherty's letters home from Vietnam finally going to family

Servicemember's letters from Vietnam to be returned to families
By JENNIFER HLAD
Stars and Stripes
Published: June 4, 2012

HANOI, Vietnam — On the day that he died more than 40 years ago, Army Sgt. Steve Flaherty carried with him a stack of letters he’d written but not yet sent to loved ones back home.

In one, addressed to “Betty,” he thanked her for the “sweet card” she’d sent.

“It made my miserable day a much better one but I don’t think I will ever forget the bloody fight we are having,” he wrote.

After he was killed on March 25, 1969, the letters were taken from him and used as propaganda by Vietnamese forces during the war. Now, Flaherty’s family will finally receive his last written words.

Vietnamese Minister of National Defense Gen. Phung Quang Thanh gave the letters — along with two other sets of letters that may have belonged to other American servicemembers — to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Monday. In return, Panetta presented the diary of a Vietnamese soldier, which had been taken after a firefight in March 1966 by an American Marine.
read more here UPDATE from CNN

June 4th, 2012

Decades after war, US and Vietnam swap slain troops' papers By the CNN Wire Staff

Nearly four decades after the end of the Vietnam War, the United States and Vietnam exchanged personal papers taken from the dead bodies of each others' troops for the first time, the Pentagon announced Monday.

On a historic visit to Hanoi, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta handed over a diary taken by a U.S. Marine from the body of Vietnamese soldier Vu Dinh Doan in 1966.

In exchange, Vietnamese Defense Minister Phuong Quang Thanh gave Panetta letters taken from the body of U.S. Army Sgt. Steve Flaherty in 1969 and later used in Vietnamese propaganda broadcasts.
read more here

UPDATE

Vietnam soldier's letters make it home
Jun. 4, 2012 - Four decades ago, a U.S. soldier wrote home, telling of the horrors he saw in Vietnam. He was killed before he could mail the letters that were later stolen by the North Vietnamese. The letters were finally released by the Vietnamese military as part of a symbolic exchange with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. (CBS News)

POW-MIA Vietnam to open three sites to US remains recovery

Vietnam to open three sites to US remains recovery
By JENNIFER HLAD
Stars and Stripes
Published: June 4, 2012

HANOI, Vietnam – The Vietnamese government will open three previously restricted sites to allow U.S. teams to recover the remains of two airmen, a soldier and a Marine who have been missing since the Vietnam War, the top American and Vietnamese defense officials announced Monday.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Vietnamese Defense Minister Gen. Phung Quang Thanh met at the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense on Monday morning to discuss strengthening ties between the two countries.

In a joint press conference after the meeting, Thanh said through an interpreter that both men see the potential for mutually beneficial cooperation.

The U.S. and Vietnam in 2010 signed a memorandum of understanding that outlines five key areas for cooperation: high-level dialogues, maritime security, search-and-rescue operations, peacekeeping operations and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
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Documentary unveils rape in US military with testimonials

Documentary unveils rape in US military with testimonials
Stars and Stripes
Published: June 2, 2012

A new feature film documentary is winning festival awards and garnering national attention for its in-depth focus on the thousands of women raped every year within the U.S. military.

The makers of “The Invisible War” solicited personal stories from victims and interviewed about 70 for hours each.

At one point in the theatrical trailer, one woman, Kori Cioca, who says she was raped by her supervisor in the U.S. Coast Guard, brandished a hand knife with a blade longer than her fingers, explaining how she carries it on her at all times.

“You always have protection with Jesus but sometimes you need just a little bit more,” said Cioca, who was also holding a metal cross.

According to the Defense Department’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response report for 2011, of the 2,617 reported assaults, it is estimated that the figure represents only 14 percent of all actual offenses, making the total number of victims at 19,000 last year.

Of the 2011 sexual assaults, 191 military members were convicted as courts-martial, according to the film’s website.
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Jail Death of Gulf War Veteran Haunts Joe Arpaio

Jail Death of Veteran Haunts Joe Arpaio, 'America's Toughest Sheriff'
Jun 3, 2012
Controversial Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio faces a lawsuit over the suspicious death of a mentally ill veteran in a Phoenix jail.
Terry Greene Sterling reports.

On a quiet day in early January, the family of Marty Atencio, a mentally ill Gulf War veteran who had died under suspicious circumstances at one of Sheriff Joseph Arpaio’s jails in Arizona, gathered to pay their respects at a funeral home in Phoenix. In their tributes to Atencio, who was 44, the grieving family recalled his recoveries, his relapses, his homelessness—and their struggle to help him.

Last Friday, six months after Atencio was buried with full military honors, the Maricopa County medical examiner released an unusual autopsy report that paints a horrifying picture of his last hours.

Atencio’s cause of death was tied to “complications of cardiac arrest” due to “acute psychosis, law enforcement subdual and multiple medical problems,” wrote the medical examiner, Mark Fischione. The medical examiner didn’t specify whether Atencio died of natural causes or was killed by the officers.

Atencio is at least the 12th inmate to die under strange circumstances in the Maricopa County jail system. (The Phoenix New Times lists 11 other such cases here.) And listing “law enforcement subdual” as one cause of death, according to former Maricopa County chief prosecutor Rick Romley, is particularly unusual because it could implicate law enforcement in Atencio’s death.

The former soldier’s allegedly rough treatment by officers at Arpaio’s infamous Fourth Avenue jail in Phoenix was caught on routine jail video tape. By then, Atencio had been in police custody for over four hours and had been showing signs of “acute psychosis,” the medical examiner reports. The video appears to show burly officers from Phoenix and Maricopa County piling on Atencio, apparently after he said something, though exactly what remains unclear because jail cameras don’t record audio.
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Wounded Marine, family stunned by generosity

Wounded Marine, family stunned by generosity
Double amputee will get customized van, power wheelchair
Becca Y. Gregg
Reading Eagle
6/4/12

Sitting in the sun outside the Reading Country Club on Sunday, Lance Cpl. Mark I. Fidler was unsure of what to say.

"We're pretty much blown away by the generosity of people," said his mother, Stacy Fidler, breaking the silence until her son chimed in.

"Right now, we have a little car," Mark explained. "We have to fold the wheelchair up every time we go somewhere."

"This will make him more independent," added his older sister, Amanda Umberger.

The Fidlers of Upper Tulpehocken Township were referring to the handicapped-accessible van and motorized wheelchair that Mark will soon receive in a donation facilitated through the James E. "Bing" Miller Charitable Foundation.

A U.S. Marine and 2007 Hamburg High School graduate, Fidler lost both of his legs after stepping on an improvised explosive device less than a week into his first combat tour in Afghanistan last October.
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Decade of service, no benefits, living in car

Decade of service, no benefits, living in car
Jun. 2, 2012
Written by
Dustin Barnes

Fast Facts

•There are an estimated 205,644 veterans living in Mississippi as of Sept. 30, 2010.
•Veterans comprise roughly 7 percent of the state population.
•In the tri-county area, there are more than 31,300 veterans.
•Nearly 5 percent of homeless veterans in the country are female.
•An estimated 67,000 veterans in the U.S. are homeless on any given night.
•8 percent of the general population can claim veteran status, but nearly one-fifth of the homeless population are veterans.
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; National Coalition for Homeless Veterans

Paula Frazier is an average, middle-aged woman who doesn't draw attention to herself.

But over the last six months, she's had to reach out - make herself known - because she needs help.

Even though she served with the Army National Guard for roughly a decade, Frazier doesn't meet the requirements to receive veterans benefits.
v So, she's living out of her car.

"I feel lost. Empty," said Frazier, 47. "It's just a constant roll of stress going over me.

"What do I do tomorrow? What do I do today?"

Frazier's efforts to reach out may be paying off - not with the local Veterans Affairs office but with a homeless advocacy group.
read more here


Former Army National Guardsman Paula Frazier, 47, lives out of her car. After learning she doesn't qualify for many benefits because she was never deployed, Frazier has been struggling to find work and save enough money to put a roof over her head. / Greg Jenson/The Clarion-Ledger

Secret Millionaire Jacobs brought to tears by homeless veterans

How could a guy that loves Harley's go wrong? After all, with all the motorcycle groups doing good work for veterans, I had a feeling this guy would have his heart tugged more by homeless veterans than anything else. I was right.

I don't usually watch the show but once I heard homeless veterans would be one of the causes, I had to watch and I ended up crying.

Last night ABC Secret Millionaire was Scott Jacobs and his daughter Alexa.
One of the places they went to was G.I. Go Transition Center in New Jersey.

G.I. Go Veterans Transition Center
The transition center was founded after a friend of the men behind the place was killed in Iraq six years ago. They help veterans adjust to life when they get back home. Scott and Alexa take part in a training session for a midnight mission to search for homeless veterans. Alexa meets Ray, a Vietnam vet who suffers from PTSD. Scott is overwhelmed to see his daughter being so courageous so far out of her comfort zone.

Scott and Alexa take part in a "Stand Down" event which provides food, clothing and medical assistance to homeless veterans and their families. They meet the mother of Seth Dvorin, the 24-year-old who saved 18 men in Iraq.

The G.I. Go fund exists to keep his memory alive. Seth's friends don't take a salary, they live at home and they barely scrape by. Scott wants to help them out right away. He presents the organization with a check for $75,000. Tears of joy stream down the face of Seth's mother. His friends are speechless. As for Scott and Alexa, they leave the place with smiles on their faces that will last the rest of the day.

ABC Secret Millionaire Scott Jacobs

Link to the video from last night

If you ever want to find a reason to like rich people again, this show will do it. They are not all greedy and out for themselves. It was easy to see how much Scott and daughter Alexa cared about these homeless veterans.

Jacobs couldn't even wait for the next day to hand them the check once he decided to donate to them. He said another day is one more day they cannot help. Lord I wish I could have given him a hug when he handed the check to them!

GI Go Fund and Mayor Cory Booker Announce the Nationwide Launch of “Midnight Missions” for Homeless Veterans, as seen on the Season Premiere of ABC’s “Secret Millionaire”

Sunday, June 3rd 2012
GI Go Fund Executive Director Jack Fanous and Newark Mayor Cory Booker will reach out to homeless vets in Philadelphia, PA, Baltimore, MD, and Washington, DC. Announcement comes during a screening of the Season Premiere of ABC’s “Secret Millionaire”, highlighting the GI Go Fund’s work with homeless veterans.
Newark, NJ (PRWEB) June 03, 2012

GI Go Fund Executive Director Jack Fanous and Mayor Cory A. Booker announced that they will conduct nationwide “Midnight Missions” for homeless veterans, a comprehensive effort spreading through several major cities that will provide veterans who have the misfortune of living on the streets with critical services that will help them find a home. The "Midnight Missions" will reach the cities of Philadelphia, PA, Baltimore, MD, and Washington, DC.

The announcement came during a live screening of the Season Premiere of ABC’s “Secret Millionaire”, which shows millionaires concealing their identity while volunteering with nonprofit groups as they assist people in their community. The first episode of the season highlighted the work that the GI Go Fund does with the homeless veteran population, specifically their “Midnight Missions”, where volunteers go out at 4:00 am to areas densely populated with homeless veterans, including Newark Penn Station and Newark Liberty International Airport, to provide them with food, clothes, emergency medical assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), as well as to collect information critical to help homeless veterans get off the street and into a home of their own.

The episode also featured the GI Go Fund’s “Stand Down for Homeless Veterans”, which provides homeless veterans with food, clothing, medical screenings from the VA, legal assistance, haircuts, and connections to housing opportunities. Following these events, the organization was awarded a $75,000 donation by “Secret Millionaire” and acclaimed Harley Davidson artist Scott Jacobs and his daughter, Alexa.
read more here

Fallen soldier in Iraq didn't tell family he was there

One thing about tracking all of this across the country is that some reports stun me. This is one of them. A US soldier, born in South Korea, wanted to join the military and serve this country. He didn't want his family to worry about him, so he didn't tell them he had been deployed. If that isn't strange enough, this part really got me.

"I didn't trust this document, so they called someone in the military. They were told when a soldier is born outside of the United States, they change his birthplace to a U.S. state. His had been changed to Kansas.

Slain Soldier Didn't Tell Parents He Was at War
Knight Ridder
by Imani Tate
Jun 02, 2012

Besides helping freedom-loving citizens of his adopted homeland and countries fighting tyranny, Jang Ho Kim of Placentia was fighting to protect his parents and sister.

Jang Ho, the son of La Verne's Nikuni Japanese Grill owner Steve Kim, thoroughly believed people everywhere should be free of worry and fear, so he enlisted in the Army in June 2005.

Not wanting his dad, mother Sang Soon Kim or little sister Michelle to fret about his safety, he fudged in conversations about his exact whereabouts after finishing basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., and combat training in Germany.

So, when two soldiers came to tell them Jang Ho had been killed in Baghdad, Steve Kim knew it had to be a mistake.

"I had just come back from lunch when I got a phone call from my wife," said Kim, then Samsung's information technology director in La Mirada. "She said two soldiers were at the house and asked me to come home."
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