Johnson found guilty of last two counts; awaits sentencing
By NANCY MONTGOMERY
Stars and Stripes
Published: June 13, 2012
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — The former commander of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team was found guilty Wednesday of two charges of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.
A jury of five colonels found Col. James H. Johnson III guilty of the two specifications at his court-martial in Kaiserslautern after more than three hours of deliberation.
His two teenage children sitting in the gallery, who are estranged from their father, smiled at the verdicts. His parents, Edna and retired Lt. Gen. James H. Johnson Jr., looked stricken. Col. Johnson showed no emotion.
He had already pleaded guilty to 15 other charges, including fraud, bigamy, adultery, wrongful cohabitation and violating regulations or orders.
read more here
Col. charged with fraud, adultery, forgery, but not charged for blown up ego
Col. pleads guilty to bigamy; some charges dropped
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Iraq Veteran-Amputee-Artist Peter Damon fights for childhood friend
Iraq War veteran from Middleboro decries Brockton beating of boyhood friend
Peter Damon and two other longtime friends pay emotional bedside visit
By Maria Papadopoulos
Enterprise Staff Writer
Posted Jun 13, 2012
BROCKTON
Iraq War veteran Peter Damon is speaking out against a violent beating that left his boyhood friend fighting for his life at a Boston hospital.
Damon, who lost his right arm and left hand serving in Iraq in 2003, said Brian Bishop, 41, did not deserve the severe injuries he sustained when two men beat Bishop outside an Ames Street barroom on Friday night. The attack was captured on surveillance video.
“Whatever Brian was doing, he didn’t deserve to get the beating he did,” Damon, 39, a Brockton native and married father of two who now lives in Middleboro, said Tuesday.
Kent Johnson, 44, of Brockton, is being held on $750,000 cash bail following the beating in the parking lot of The Lit about 7:20 p.m. Friday.
Assistant District Attorney Russ Eonas declined comment on any other suspects Tuesday, but said the investigation is ongoing. One witness told authorities the altercation stemmed from Bishop sitting on a sports car, court records show.
read more here
Peter Damon and two other longtime friends pay emotional bedside visit
By Maria Papadopoulos
Enterprise Staff Writer
Posted Jun 13, 2012
BROCKTON
Iraq War veteran Peter Damon is speaking out against a violent beating that left his boyhood friend fighting for his life at a Boston hospital.
Damon, who lost his right arm and left hand serving in Iraq in 2003, said Brian Bishop, 41, did not deserve the severe injuries he sustained when two men beat Bishop outside an Ames Street barroom on Friday night. The attack was captured on surveillance video.
“Whatever Brian was doing, he didn’t deserve to get the beating he did,” Damon, 39, a Brockton native and married father of two who now lives in Middleboro, said Tuesday.
Kent Johnson, 44, of Brockton, is being held on $750,000 cash bail following the beating in the parking lot of The Lit about 7:20 p.m. Friday.
Assistant District Attorney Russ Eonas declined comment on any other suspects Tuesday, but said the investigation is ongoing. One witness told authorities the altercation stemmed from Bishop sitting on a sports car, court records show.
read more here
Military retirement will cost more than active personnel
Pentagon soon to spend more on vets’ benefits than active personnel, study says
Published: June 13, 2012
A new bipartisan study projects that by 2014 the Pentagon will spend more on veterans’ benefits than on active duty servicemembers, according to a story in U.S. News and World Report.
As a decade of war slows down, the Bipartisan Policy Center report expects health care and other retirement benefit costs to pick up speed in a few years.
According to the article, military retirement cost $52.2 billion last year; by 2035, that cost is expected to more than double to $116.9 billion.
read more here
Published: June 13, 2012
A new bipartisan study projects that by 2014 the Pentagon will spend more on veterans’ benefits than on active duty servicemembers, according to a story in U.S. News and World Report.
As a decade of war slows down, the Bipartisan Policy Center report expects health care and other retirement benefit costs to pick up speed in a few years.
According to the article, military retirement cost $52.2 billion last year; by 2035, that cost is expected to more than double to $116.9 billion.
read more here
Gulf War veteran Stanley Gibson's widow seeks justice
Widow Remembers Husband on Anniversary of Metro Shooting
Posted: Jun 12, 2012
By Chris Saldana, Reporter
By Matt Bell, Photojournalist
LAS VEGAS -- Six months after a Gulf War veteran was shot and killed by Metro Police, his widow held a vigil in his honor. Rhonda Gibson said her husband had Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and suffered from anxiety.
Metro Police did admit a non-lethal approach should have been used in this case but wasn't.
Rhonda Gibson spent Tuesday, in near triple-digit heat, sitting next to her husband's grave and reflecting.
"He didn't deserve to be shot in the head seven times. Seven times in the back of the head. Can you give me a reason why that happened?"
Stanley Gibson was killed by Metro officers six months ago. Police said, they were responding to an attempted break in, and Gibson's vehicle matched the description so the suspect's vehicle. Gibson was shot when he didn't follow police commands.
"I am doing it for my husband and doing it for the other families so they can see justice too," Gibson said.
for video and to read more here
Posted: Jun 12, 2012
By Chris Saldana, Reporter
By Matt Bell, Photojournalist
LAS VEGAS -- Six months after a Gulf War veteran was shot and killed by Metro Police, his widow held a vigil in his honor. Rhonda Gibson said her husband had Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and suffered from anxiety.
Metro Police did admit a non-lethal approach should have been used in this case but wasn't.
Rhonda Gibson spent Tuesday, in near triple-digit heat, sitting next to her husband's grave and reflecting.
"He didn't deserve to be shot in the head seven times. Seven times in the back of the head. Can you give me a reason why that happened?"
Stanley Gibson was killed by Metro officers six months ago. Police said, they were responding to an attempted break in, and Gibson's vehicle matched the description so the suspect's vehicle. Gibson was shot when he didn't follow police commands.
"I am doing it for my husband and doing it for the other families so they can see justice too," Gibson said.
for video and to read more here
2 Green Berets Receive Distinguished Service Cross
2 Green Berets Receive Distinguished Service Cross
Jun 13, 2012
Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer
by Drew Brooks
Battling insurgents hiding in fortified bunkers, Staff Sgt. Corey Calkins led a group of Afghan soldiers over a road littered with bombs and into a hail of gunfire.
A month later, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jason Myers ran up and down a trapped convoy amid a barrage of enemy fire to find a way to escape an ambush.
Both soldiers, members of the 3rd Special Forces Group, received the nation's second-highest military award for valor -- the Distinguished Service Cross -- at a ceremony Tuesday on Fort Bragg.
read more here
Jun 13, 2012
Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer
by Drew Brooks
Battling insurgents hiding in fortified bunkers, Staff Sgt. Corey Calkins led a group of Afghan soldiers over a road littered with bombs and into a hail of gunfire.
A month later, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jason Myers ran up and down a trapped convoy amid a barrage of enemy fire to find a way to escape an ambush.
Both soldiers, members of the 3rd Special Forces Group, received the nation's second-highest military award for valor -- the Distinguished Service Cross -- at a ceremony Tuesday on Fort Bragg.
read more here
Fort Hood had 7 confirmed suicides in 5 months
Fort Hood reflects Army’s increase in suicides
Dallas Morning News
By David Tarrant
June 12, 2012
Fort Hood, one of the nation’s largest military bases, has had seven confirmed suicides through the first five months of 2012, a spokesman at the base said. Fort Hood, located in central Texas about 150 miles south of Dallas, is on pace to eclipse last year’s total of 10 suicides, reflecting a nationwide trend.
A study by the Associated Press found that through May, U.S. active-duty troops averaged nearly one suicide a day – 154 suicides in the first 155 days of the year — a faster pace than at any time since the nation went to war after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
read more here
Dallas Morning News
By David Tarrant
June 12, 2012
Fort Hood, one of the nation’s largest military bases, has had seven confirmed suicides through the first five months of 2012, a spokesman at the base said. Fort Hood, located in central Texas about 150 miles south of Dallas, is on pace to eclipse last year’s total of 10 suicides, reflecting a nationwide trend.
A study by the Associated Press found that through May, U.S. active-duty troops averaged nearly one suicide a day – 154 suicides in the first 155 days of the year — a faster pace than at any time since the nation went to war after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
read more here
U.S. Military, Experts Working To Curb Suicides
U.S. Military, Experts Working To Curb Suicides
Pictures
By Stephanie Czekalinski
National Journal
Updated: June 12, 2012
Mental-health experts, the U.S. military, the groups that aid returning service members, their families are trying to provide a sense of support for veterans and active-duty troops in an attempt to prevent the growing number of suicides.
read more here
Here's one of my videos on military suicide.
Pictures
By Stephanie Czekalinski
National Journal
Updated: June 12, 2012
Mental-health experts, the U.S. military, the groups that aid returning service members, their families are trying to provide a sense of support for veterans and active-duty troops in an attempt to prevent the growing number of suicides.
read more here
Here's one of my videos on military suicide.
VA now studying black women to prevent veteran suicides?
When will they ever learn?
by
Chaplain Kathie
June 13, 2012
First, ARE THEY OUT OF THEIR MINDS? Did they think this would get them more kudos than add to the miserable disaster? Next, the findings of support and encouragement were already known when the Disabled American Veterans commissioned this study going back to 1978!
Yet now they waste more time studying something experts already knew.
But this could be the the worst news coming out of this article.
As it is almost one a day active duty service member and 18 veterans a day committing suicide no one is holding anyone accountable for any of this. Congress keeps holding the same hearings, asking the same questions and government keeps pushing what has already been proven to be a failure. When will they ever learn?
When it comes to what they point to as success, like the suicide prevention hotline, it has been an accident waiting to happen that has resulted in so many in crisis they feel so hopeless suicide seems to be the only way out!
by
Chaplain Kathie
June 13, 2012
First, ARE THEY OUT OF THEIR MINDS? Did they think this would get them more kudos than add to the miserable disaster? Next, the findings of support and encouragement were already known when the Disabled American Veterans commissioned this study going back to 1978!
Yet now they waste more time studying something experts already knew.
Are black women key to easing military suicides?
By Stephanie Czekalinski
National Journal
Black women have the lowest rates of suicide in the country, and although it’s not completely understood why, Veterans Affairs officials hope to re-create elements of black female culture that may help stop military veterans from killing themselves.
Women - particularly black women - provide each other social support and encouragement categorized by the opportunity to speak honestly with their peers, said Jan Kemp, mental health director for suicide prevention at the VA.
“The sense of community among themselves, and the ... built-in support that they get from each other is something we’re paying a lot of attention to, and trying to find ways to emulate,” Kemp said. “I think often that veterans and men don’t have that same sort of personal support, and we have to build that for them,” she said.
In general, white men are more likely to commit suicide than people in other groups. The suicide rate among white men was 25.96 per 100,000 from 2005 to 2009, according to the Centerns for Disease Control and Prevention. By comparison, the rate for black women was less than three suicides per 100,000. Government data for suicide deaths among military personnel is not available by race.
Combine that with the stress that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have put on troops, and the risk of suicide increases. “We’re working with the highest-risk group in the nation,” Kemp said.
Stories abound of vets dying at their own hands after slipping through the cracks in the care network or not seeking help because of the stigma surrounding mental health issues.
read more here
But this could be the the worst news coming out of this article.
The VA launched its suicide-prevention program in earnest in 2007, Kemp said. Since then, the crisis line has received more than 600,000 calls and 50,000 contacts via computer chat.For all the money being spent in the DOD and the VA treating PTSD, including the pure BS of changing the title of what they have from PTSD to PTSI, topped off by the military's use of the failed "Resiliency Training" we have the outcome of increased military suicides, attempted suicides along with veterans committing suicide topped off with the much overlooked fact that if they are discharged by the military, they are not counted and if they are not in the VA system, they are not counted. Now consider another overlooked fact. No one is counting the deaths from suicide by vehicular causes or overdoses of medications because these can be also considered accidents.
As it is almost one a day active duty service member and 18 veterans a day committing suicide no one is holding anyone accountable for any of this. Congress keeps holding the same hearings, asking the same questions and government keeps pushing what has already been proven to be a failure. When will they ever learn?
When it comes to what they point to as success, like the suicide prevention hotline, it has been an accident waiting to happen that has resulted in so many in crisis they feel so hopeless suicide seems to be the only way out!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Common sense says employers should hire veterans
Let's look at this logically and use some common sense. I used to be in management and if I had a veteran apply for a job I can tell you that I'd give them more of a chance than anyone else for very simple reasons.
Their last boss had them working 24-7, when they felt sick or not, in all kinds of weather and yes, even made them leave their families for a year. Yet this same boss kept them on their jobs knowing what kind of worker they were beyond what any other potential applicant would have exposed their last boss to. In other words, their last boss lived with them under extreme conditions and saw them tested along with witnessing their training tested, temperament pushed, dedication proven and their loyalty to their co-workers demonstrated every day.
As for being able to teach them a new skill, I'd first consider that after they left high school not knowing how to drive a Humvee, or use a weapon, or have the communication skills necessary to save lives, training them for a new skill should be the last concern potential employers have.
Granted I sucked at management and never want to be a manager again, but I probably would still be one if I got to work with this bunch of veterans.
Employers never know what they are getting when they hire someone. Do they really know how hard the person in front of them worked on their last job? Do they really know if they got along with their co-workers? Do they know if they were honest, called in sick because they just didn't feel like showing up or if they like to pass their duty onto someone else? That's the biggest problem with hiring anyone.
Look at the last job a combat veteran had and then think if they worked that hard under those conditions, how much of an asset will they be working for you?
Their last boss had them working 24-7, when they felt sick or not, in all kinds of weather and yes, even made them leave their families for a year. Yet this same boss kept them on their jobs knowing what kind of worker they were beyond what any other potential applicant would have exposed their last boss to. In other words, their last boss lived with them under extreme conditions and saw them tested along with witnessing their training tested, temperament pushed, dedication proven and their loyalty to their co-workers demonstrated every day.
As for being able to teach them a new skill, I'd first consider that after they left high school not knowing how to drive a Humvee, or use a weapon, or have the communication skills necessary to save lives, training them for a new skill should be the last concern potential employers have.
Granted I sucked at management and never want to be a manager again, but I probably would still be one if I got to work with this bunch of veterans.
Employers never know what they are getting when they hire someone. Do they really know how hard the person in front of them worked on their last job? Do they really know if they got along with their co-workers? Do they know if they were honest, called in sick because they just didn't feel like showing up or if they like to pass their duty onto someone else? That's the biggest problem with hiring anyone.
Look at the last job a combat veteran had and then think if they worked that hard under those conditions, how much of an asset will they be working for you?
Employers: Hiring vets has advantages, risks
By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jun 11, 2012
Many private-sector employers are eager to hire today’s veterans, citing attributes like leadership skills, character and good discipline, according to a recent study.
But businesses are also reluctant to hire veterans for several reasons, including a fear of mental health problems or the risk that the veteran could be called up for future deployments, according to an extensive survey of businesses conducted by the Center for a New American Security.
The study highlights the complex challenges that young veterans face when making the transition into the civilian workplace.
Government data shows that young veterans ages 22 to 24 have, on average, an unemployment rate 3 percentage points higher than their civilian counterparts; in 2009, the rate for that group soared above 20 percent, the study said.
The CNAS research team interviewed people from 69 companies about their perceptions of veteran job applicants. More than 70 percent said they wanted to hire veterans because they have good leadership and teamwork skills. About 50 percent cited character as a good reason to hire a veteran.
Nearly 30 percent said hiring veterans is the “right thing” to do, and more than 10 percent said hiring veterans garners good publicity for their firm.
However, the majority of those employers also cited a range of reason for not hiring veterans. The problem that employers cited most often was “skill translation,” where employers who do not know much about the military — its force structure, career fields and acronyms — have trouble understanding exactly what kinds of experience veterans have.
read more here
Soldier thankful for Army review of Combat PTSD care
Local Soldier Thankful For Army Decision on PTSD Care
The army is launching an independent review of how it evaluates soldiers with possible post-traumatic stress disorder. Top army leaders say they want to make sure soldiers are receiving the care and treatment they deserve. At least one area soldier welcomes this review. Local 12 troubleshooter Howard Ain says this man has been suffering from PTSD for the past several years.
Mark Echler says, "I look out the window every five minutes. I have horrible anxiety, and I spent the last four years I lay awake at night for hours thinking about the war. I can't get it out of my head."
Twenty-eight-year-old Echler served in Iraq from 2005 to 2007 as a driver and sniper in the infantry.
The Hamilton man says he's considered 90 percent disabled due to post-traumatic stress disorder from his time in Iraq.
read more here
The army is launching an independent review of how it evaluates soldiers with possible post-traumatic stress disorder. Top army leaders say they want to make sure soldiers are receiving the care and treatment they deserve. At least one area soldier welcomes this review. Local 12 troubleshooter Howard Ain says this man has been suffering from PTSD for the past several years.
Mark Echler says, "I look out the window every five minutes. I have horrible anxiety, and I spent the last four years I lay awake at night for hours thinking about the war. I can't get it out of my head."
Twenty-eight-year-old Echler served in Iraq from 2005 to 2007 as a driver and sniper in the infantry.
The Hamilton man says he's considered 90 percent disabled due to post-traumatic stress disorder from his time in Iraq.
read more here
Ohio vets say added VA staffing too low for mental healthcare
Ohio vets say added VA staffing
too low
As more war veterans seek help, Dayton VA to get only 2 of 14 in Ohio.
By John Nolan, Staff Writer
8:02 PM Tuesday, June 12, 2012
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ decision to add 14 mental health professionals in Ohio — including two at the Dayton facility — is being questioned by veterans and elected officials who say more help is needed.
“I would hope that it’s just the beginning,” said Huber Heights resident Justin Weis, a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq war who has sought treatment for post-traumatic stress. disorder. Waits for service at the VA have been an issue.
Veterans across the country have complained of lengthy waits before getting mental health assessments and treatment. The VA’s inspector general issued a report earlier this year rejecting as “not accurate or reliable” the department’s claim that veterans who need first-time mental health evaluations are seen within 14 days.
read more here
As more war veterans seek help, Dayton VA to get only 2 of 14 in Ohio.
By John Nolan, Staff Writer
8:02 PM Tuesday, June 12, 2012
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ decision to add 14 mental health professionals in Ohio — including two at the Dayton facility — is being questioned by veterans and elected officials who say more help is needed.
“I would hope that it’s just the beginning,” said Huber Heights resident Justin Weis, a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq war who has sought treatment for post-traumatic stress. disorder. Waits for service at the VA have been an issue.
Veterans across the country have complained of lengthy waits before getting mental health assessments and treatment. The VA’s inspector general issued a report earlier this year rejecting as “not accurate or reliable” the department’s claim that veterans who need first-time mental health evaluations are seen within 14 days.
read more here
Death Of Camp Pendleton Marine In Afghanistan Under Investigation
Death Of Camp Pendleton Marine In Afghanistan Under InvestigationMonday, June 11, 2012
By Beth Ford Roth
The Department of Defense is investigating the death of Cpl. Anthony R. Servin, 22, of Moreno Valley, California. He died in Afghanistan on June 8th, according to the Pentagon.
Servin was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment at Camp Pendleton.
read more here
Fort Hood Soldier Found Unresponsive In Barracks Dies
Fort Hood Soldier Found Unresponsive In Barracks DiesFORT HOOD
June 11, 2012
An investigation was underway Monday after Fort Hood Spc. Gregory Justin Pike, 24, of Pilot Mountain, N.C., was found unresponsive in his barracks room and later died.
read more here
Help for Wounded Souls
Invisible Wounds
What stress does to the soul.
by Eric Newhouse
Help for Wounded Souls
The Soul Repair Center will help emotional injuries.
Published on June 11, 2012 by Eric Newhouse in Invisible Wounds
There’s new hope for combat vets who have what I’ve been calling “wounded souls.” (See my blogs Wounded Souls I-III.)
Last week, the military newspaper “Stars and Stripes” reprinted an article about a new treatment facility called the Soul Repair Center at the Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University.
It reflects a growing recognition that post-traumatic stress disorder is a medical diagnosis that’s too broad. Part of PTSD involves the stress of being targeted, shot at, mortared or bombed; warriors have experienced these symptoms for thousands of years. But after observing returning Iraq and Afghanistan vets, some mental-health professionals, military chaplains and civilian ministers now call some of those symptoms "moral injuries."
"In the medical model, all the bad mental-health things that can happen come from PTSD," Brett Litz, a clinical psychologist and professor in Boston who is conducting research funded by the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "That's simplistic thinking. It says that the only harmful aspects of war are about life threats. That's too narrow. Even though it's controversial, it is critically important that we think about other ways that war affects people psychologically, biologically, spiritually and morally."
About 2.6 million men and women have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, including hundreds of thousands of National Guardsmen and reservists. Most of them have served multiple tours of duty in guerilla warfare combat. Roughly 2 million of them have already left military service, and the VA is finding that one vet in three is seeking medical help for emotional injuries such as PTSD, anxiety or major depression.
According to the current DSM-4, PTSD is a medically defined anxiety problem caused by a life-threatening event, with symptoms that include flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance and emotional withdrawal.
Moral injuries are different in that they are brought about by "perpetrating, failing to prevent or bearing witness to acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations," according to the VA. While an individual can have both PTSD and moral injuries, experts said, the causes of moral injuries are often different.
read more here
What stress does to the soul.
by Eric Newhouse
Help for Wounded Souls
The Soul Repair Center will help emotional injuries.
Published on June 11, 2012 by Eric Newhouse in Invisible Wounds
There’s new hope for combat vets who have what I’ve been calling “wounded souls.” (See my blogs Wounded Souls I-III.)
Last week, the military newspaper “Stars and Stripes” reprinted an article about a new treatment facility called the Soul Repair Center at the Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University.
It reflects a growing recognition that post-traumatic stress disorder is a medical diagnosis that’s too broad. Part of PTSD involves the stress of being targeted, shot at, mortared or bombed; warriors have experienced these symptoms for thousands of years. But after observing returning Iraq and Afghanistan vets, some mental-health professionals, military chaplains and civilian ministers now call some of those symptoms "moral injuries."
"In the medical model, all the bad mental-health things that can happen come from PTSD," Brett Litz, a clinical psychologist and professor in Boston who is conducting research funded by the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "That's simplistic thinking. It says that the only harmful aspects of war are about life threats. That's too narrow. Even though it's controversial, it is critically important that we think about other ways that war affects people psychologically, biologically, spiritually and morally."
About 2.6 million men and women have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, including hundreds of thousands of National Guardsmen and reservists. Most of them have served multiple tours of duty in guerilla warfare combat. Roughly 2 million of them have already left military service, and the VA is finding that one vet in three is seeking medical help for emotional injuries such as PTSD, anxiety or major depression.
According to the current DSM-4, PTSD is a medically defined anxiety problem caused by a life-threatening event, with symptoms that include flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance and emotional withdrawal.
Moral injuries are different in that they are brought about by "perpetrating, failing to prevent or bearing witness to acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations," according to the VA. While an individual can have both PTSD and moral injuries, experts said, the causes of moral injuries are often different.
read more here
VA Announces New Mental Health Clinic in Tampa
Hope this happens a lot faster than Orlando. The ground breaking was in 2008 for Lake Nona!
VA Announces New Mental Health Clinic in Tampa
Facility Slated for Summer 2013 Opening
WASHINGTON (June 12, 2012)– The Department of Veterans Affairs has selected University Corporate Park of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., to build a new mental health clinic for Veterans in Tampa, Fla.
“This new facility will ensure that Florida’s Veterans continue to have access to high-quality medical care that they’ve earned through their service to our Nation,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.
The facility will be located at 10770 N. 46th Street in Building E. The project, which will create 13 construction jobs, will be completed in the summer of 2013.
The contract calls for a 22,300-square-foot, one-story building, with 154 parking spaces. VA will pay an annual rent of nearly $600,000 under the 10-year contract. Mental health services are now provided at another leased facility adjacent to the James A. Haley VA Hospital.
The clinic, which will be located five miles from the Haley VA facility, will provide services for nearly 148,000 Veterans in Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, and Polk counties.
In the last three years, VA has devoted more people, programs, and resources toward mental health services to serve the growing number of Veterans seeking mental health care from VA. The department is a pioneer in mental health research, high-quality, evidence-based treatment and access to care. VA has many entry points to care through the use of Vet Centers, the Veterans Crisis Line, and integration of mental health services in the primary care setting. Since 2007, VA has seen a 35 percent increase in the number of Veterans receiving mental health services, and a 41 percent increase in mental health staff.
In April, Secretary Shinseki announced VA would add approximately 1,600 mental health clinicians – to include nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers – as well as nearly 300 support staff to its existing workforce of 20,590 mental health staff as part of an ongoing review of mental health operations.
Florida soldier killed in Afghanistan returns to somber Homestead
Florida soldier killed in Afghanistan returns to somber Homestead
Army Spc. Gerardo Campos, 23, came home to Homestead in a flag-draped coffin Tuesday, 10 days after he was killed by enemy gunfire in Afghanistan just weeks into his first overseas assignment.
BY CAROL ROSENBERG
A fallen Florida soldier came home in a flag-draped coffin Tuesday to a somber hero’s welcome at Homestead Air Reserve Base from 200 U.S. forces and weeping family members.
Army Spc. Gerardo Campos, 23, of Homestead was killed in Afghanistan on June 2.
An infantryman, he was on his first overseas deployment from his U.S. Army base in Washington state and left behind a wife and 10-month-old daughter. The soldier had just deployed to Afghanistan in April, according to the military, meaning he had been serving abroad for just weeks.
read more here
Army Spc. Gerardo Campos, 23, came home to Homestead in a flag-draped coffin Tuesday, 10 days after he was killed by enemy gunfire in Afghanistan just weeks into his first overseas assignment.
BY CAROL ROSENBERG
A fallen Florida soldier came home in a flag-draped coffin Tuesday to a somber hero’s welcome at Homestead Air Reserve Base from 200 U.S. forces and weeping family members.
Army Spc. Gerardo Campos, 23, of Homestead was killed in Afghanistan on June 2.
An infantryman, he was on his first overseas deployment from his U.S. Army base in Washington state and left behind a wife and 10-month-old daughter. The soldier had just deployed to Afghanistan in April, according to the military, meaning he had been serving abroad for just weeks.
read more here
Walter Reed hospital motorcade takes 20 wounded to New York tribute
Walter Reed hospital motorcade may cause delays
June 12, 2012 - 05:50 am
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) - A motorcade traveling from Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda to New York city will result in minor delays in traffic along the route.
The Baltimore Police Department says the motorcade Tuesday will carry about 20 soldiers being treated at the medical center to a tribute event in New York.
read more here
June 12, 2012 - 05:50 am
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) - A motorcade traveling from Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda to New York city will result in minor delays in traffic along the route.
The Baltimore Police Department says the motorcade Tuesday will carry about 20 soldiers being treated at the medical center to a tribute event in New York.
read more here
Jupiter philanthropists Sandy and Sara Lankler help wounded veterans
Jupiter organization provides hope, healing for wounded servicemen
By Jodie Wagner
June 11, 2012
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Jupiter — Founded two years ago by Jupiter philanthropists Sandy and Sara Lankler, the non-profit Renewal Coalition has offered hope and healing to more than 100 wounded American military personnel and their families.
Through retreat experiences organized by a staff of about 35 volunteers, the organization offers support and assistance to injured servicemen who have endured lengthy stays at hospitals and rehabilitation facilities. Their families and caretakers often join them.
“Our mission is to help combat wounded military personnel and their families transition either back to active duty or civilian life,” executive director Mary Hinton said. “These families come to us after suffering unrelenting issues in their lives. Just the ability to be reunited with their families in a relaxed setting is so beneficial and so therapeutic for them.”
read more here
By Jodie Wagner
June 11, 2012
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Jupiter — Founded two years ago by Jupiter philanthropists Sandy and Sara Lankler, the non-profit Renewal Coalition has offered hope and healing to more than 100 wounded American military personnel and their families.
Through retreat experiences organized by a staff of about 35 volunteers, the organization offers support and assistance to injured servicemen who have endured lengthy stays at hospitals and rehabilitation facilities. Their families and caretakers often join them.
“Our mission is to help combat wounded military personnel and their families transition either back to active duty or civilian life,” executive director Mary Hinton said. “These families come to us after suffering unrelenting issues in their lives. Just the ability to be reunited with their families in a relaxed setting is so beneficial and so therapeutic for them.”
read more here
Tornado takes home of local vet, thieves take what was replaced
Tornado takes home of local vet, thieves take belongings again
EAST LAKE, Ala. (WIAT) Fred Swartz helps fix up houses with Three Hots and A Cot, a Birmingham organization that assists homeless veterans, which also helped him.
“I’ve gone from being homeless staying in a bus station, a homeless shelter into housing, into my own house shortly," he says.
He and others have worked on a house in East Lake for about 2 months and were a week from moving in when thieves broke in.
“They didn't get much, but they got everything that Fred had which is a lot," says JD Simpson, President of Three Hots and a Cot.
Before the thieves kicked in the back door trying to get in, they damaged brand new storm windows on their first attempt. On top of taking a few electronics and a TV that had been donated, the thieves also set him back in other ways.
read more here
EAST LAKE, Ala. (WIAT) Fred Swartz helps fix up houses with Three Hots and A Cot, a Birmingham organization that assists homeless veterans, which also helped him.
“I’ve gone from being homeless staying in a bus station, a homeless shelter into housing, into my own house shortly," he says.
He and others have worked on a house in East Lake for about 2 months and were a week from moving in when thieves broke in.
“They didn't get much, but they got everything that Fred had which is a lot," says JD Simpson, President of Three Hots and a Cot.
Before the thieves kicked in the back door trying to get in, they damaged brand new storm windows on their first attempt. On top of taking a few electronics and a TV that had been donated, the thieves also set him back in other ways.
read more here
Texas VA employees have target on their backs
SHAME ON TEXAS!
When they should be hiring more to take care of Texas veterans, they are doing this to the ones they have? How is this keeping the promise to veterans? Is this how they plan to put the VA into profit driven private hands?
Veterans should never be a political issue but should always be a national commitment! There is an interesting poll on the sidebar of this blog.
Who is better for veterans?
Democrats
8 (24%)
Republicans
10 (30%)
Neither one
15 (45%)
Vote on this poll
Votes so far: 33
Days left to vote: 18
So far neither party wins on this one!
When they should be hiring more to take care of Texas veterans, they are doing this to the ones they have? How is this keeping the promise to veterans? Is this how they plan to put the VA into profit driven private hands?
PRESS RELEASE
June 11, 2012
Hundreds to Rally in Front of Veterans Integrated Services Network (VISN) Headquarters to Protest Discriminatory Practices Against VA Employees
ARLINGTON, Texas
PRNewswire via COMTEX
Veterans and other groups say veterans care is jeopardized by downgrade of critical medical center support staff
Hundreds of Veterans Affairs workers, members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), plan to rally in front of the VISN Headquarters, Wednesday, June 13 at 11:00 a.m. The activists, from health care facilities in more than 4 states, will gather at 2301 East Lamar Blvd., Suite 650, Arlington, Texas to protest what they call unfounded and arbitrary position downgrades of patient support assistants, medical record clerks, transportation assistants and others providing vital support services within the agency. The group says the downgrades are hurting veterans' care. Many of those protesting are themselves veterans.
"VA employees have a target on their back," said AFGE National Vice President Roy Flores and President of the largest VA Local in Dallas, Texas, Donald Burrell. "The agency has spent the past two years devastating the lives of modest wage earners who play a crucial role in supporting medical center functions within the VA."
AFGE is demanding that a moratorium be imposed on the lowering of these critical support positions. The agency has been unable to demonstrate that the lowest paid segment of the VA workforce should be the sole target of classification reviews and has yet to produce any evidence that the downgrades of VA support personnel will improve the functioning of the agency or its ability to serve veterans, according to AFGE.
"These heartless actions are a discriminatory assault on veterans and other VA employees at the bottom of the pay scale," said Burrell. "This nation's public servants and veterans deserve better."
read more here
Veterans should never be a political issue but should always be a national commitment! There is an interesting poll on the sidebar of this blog.
Who is better for veterans?
Democrats
8 (24%)
Republicans
10 (30%)
Neither one
15 (45%)
Vote on this poll
Votes so far: 33
Days left to vote: 18
So far neither party wins on this one!
OEF and OIF veterans not using free healthcare?
Like many veterans my husband and his Dad came home from serving the country and wanted that to be the end of war. His Dad didn't go to the VA after WWII because "that was for guys who needed it like amputees." His thought was that he could work, so he pushed past whatever problems he had. He had a Purple Heart and Bronze Star. My husband came home from Vietnam feeling the same way. Like his Dad, he earned a Bronze Star but there was no award for what else came home with him. He went to work just like all the others.
Now Vietnam veterans are finally seeking what they earned so many years ago. It is understandable how they feel considering the lack of support and information on turning to the VA for their healthcare. No excuses now with this generation of veterans living off of trilobites of data at their fingers reach. For these veterans there is information overload but much of it is useless. They don't know where to look.
When a benefit they earned by serving this country is not being used by all of them, it is not from lack of the veteran searching or even needing, but a lack of the VA fully adapting to keep them informed. It is also the failure of the VA when they do not publicize the things they do get right. This is one of them. Free healthcare for 5 years for them and their families.
I know it doesn't make it right when a claim is tied up and they have no income to support their families because of the enormous backlog but at least they can see a doctor while they fight to see the government honor their end of the deal with them. But a small medical issue today can turn into a huge one if not found early. They should all go!
Now Vietnam veterans are finally seeking what they earned so many years ago. It is understandable how they feel considering the lack of support and information on turning to the VA for their healthcare. No excuses now with this generation of veterans living off of trilobites of data at their fingers reach. For these veterans there is information overload but much of it is useless. They don't know where to look.
When a benefit they earned by serving this country is not being used by all of them, it is not from lack of the veteran searching or even needing, but a lack of the VA fully adapting to keep them informed. It is also the failure of the VA when they do not publicize the things they do get right. This is one of them. Free healthcare for 5 years for them and their families.
I know it doesn't make it right when a claim is tied up and they have no income to support their families because of the enormous backlog but at least they can see a doctor while they fight to see the government honor their end of the deal with them. But a small medical issue today can turn into a huge one if not found early. They should all go!
Veterans passing up free health care
Thousands of uninsured Ohioans may qualify for VA coverage
By Cornelius Frolik, Staff Writer
Updated 12:22 AM Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Veterans who were recently discharged from the military after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are generally eligible for VA health care for a period of five years, while other veterans may be eligible based on service connection, their incomes or other criteria, Larson said.
About 52,000 military veterans in Ohio younger than 65 either do not have health insurance or are not enrolled in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health care system, leaving many of them and their families with unmet medical needs or leading them to forgo care because of costs, according to new research examining census data and other studies.
Veterans without insurance may be unemployed, unable to afford private coverage or unaware of VA-care eligibility.
“There are a lot of options available to veterans concerning health care,” said Mike McKinney of the Ohio Department of Veterans Services.
“The vast majority of our veterans from the last 10 years should be covered,” McKinney said.
The Washington-based Urban Institute reported that one in 10 veterans in Ohio younger than 65 and an additional 35,000 military spouses and children — or about 7 percent of the total 504,855 military family members in Ohio — are uninsured. The report analyzed state survey data for 2009 and 2010.
Uninsured veterans typically have poor access to health care, and they are less likely than their insured counterparts to visit a doctor regularly and seek out important preventive care.
Military officials are urging veterans to explore their options with the VA health care system to determine whether it can serve their needs.
read more here
Monday, June 11, 2012
Four seconds in Afghanistan: Was it combat, or a crime?
Four seconds in Afghanistan: Was it combat, or a crime?
By KIM MURPHY
Los Angeles Times
Published: June 10, 2012
BAMBERG, Germany — Sgt. 1st Class Walter Taylor’s life collapsed in four interminable seconds in a dusty field in central Afghanistan.
His convoy was reeling from a roadside bomb, his fellow soldiers were engaged in combat with insurgents — and a mysterious black car had just screeched to a stop in the middle of the firefight.
Second 1: A figure dressed in dark, bulky clothing emerges from the back seat.
Second 2: The figure begins walking toward the trunk.
Second 3: Taylor, with five wounded comrades behind him, sees a thin trigger wire seeming to snake directly toward the black car. Could there be a second bomb in the trunk?
Second 4: Taylor squeezes the trigger on his M-4 carbine. The figure crumples to the dirt.
The figure was not an insurgent, but Dr. Aqilah Hikmat, a 49-year-old mother of four who headed the obstetrics department at the nearby Ghazni provincial hospital. Also dead inside the car were Hikmat’s 18-year-old son and her 16-year-old niece. Hikmat’s husband, in the front seat, was wounded.
Army prosecutors say Hikmat’s killing in July 2011 was not just a casualty of combat, but a crime. Charged with negligent homicide and dereliction of duty, Taylor will face a hearing June 19 before a U.S. military judge in Germany to determine whether the case goes to a full court-martial, with the possibility of three years in prison.
Ten days after the explosion and firefight, Taylor got what he is convinced was a dose of Afghan street justice: His vehicle was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, which blew off his nose, shattered his cheeks, ripped open his lips, drove his teeth back toward his throat, blinded him in one eye — in short, left him without a face as he had known it.
read more here
By KIM MURPHY
Los Angeles Times
Published: June 10, 2012
BAMBERG, Germany — Sgt. 1st Class Walter Taylor’s life collapsed in four interminable seconds in a dusty field in central Afghanistan.
His convoy was reeling from a roadside bomb, his fellow soldiers were engaged in combat with insurgents — and a mysterious black car had just screeched to a stop in the middle of the firefight.
Second 1: A figure dressed in dark, bulky clothing emerges from the back seat.
Second 2: The figure begins walking toward the trunk.
Second 3: Taylor, with five wounded comrades behind him, sees a thin trigger wire seeming to snake directly toward the black car. Could there be a second bomb in the trunk?
Second 4: Taylor squeezes the trigger on his M-4 carbine. The figure crumples to the dirt.
The figure was not an insurgent, but Dr. Aqilah Hikmat, a 49-year-old mother of four who headed the obstetrics department at the nearby Ghazni provincial hospital. Also dead inside the car were Hikmat’s 18-year-old son and her 16-year-old niece. Hikmat’s husband, in the front seat, was wounded.
Army prosecutors say Hikmat’s killing in July 2011 was not just a casualty of combat, but a crime. Charged with negligent homicide and dereliction of duty, Taylor will face a hearing June 19 before a U.S. military judge in Germany to determine whether the case goes to a full court-martial, with the possibility of three years in prison.
Ten days after the explosion and firefight, Taylor got what he is convinced was a dose of Afghan street justice: His vehicle was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, which blew off his nose, shattered his cheeks, ripped open his lips, drove his teeth back toward his throat, blinded him in one eye — in short, left him without a face as he had known it.
read more here
Iraq Vet's "Bastards" bar brews controversy
Iraq War veterans brewing controversy after naming bar 'Bastards' in honor of legendary Marine battalion
By SNEJANA FARBEROV
PUBLISHED: 11 June 2012
A pair of former U.S. Marines were surprised to find themselves in the middle of a controversy after naming their new Downey, California, bar 'Bastards.'
'Bastards' had its grand opening last week to coincide with Memorial Day.
Former Marine Corporal Nick Velez and his best friend and business partner Calvin Spencer were proud to be able to fulfill their dream of opening a bar after leaving the service, but say they did not expect the public's response to the name of the eatery.
According to the Marine Corps Times, 'Bastards' is a nod to the ‘Magnificent Bastards,’ the official nickname of 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, where both friends served at Camp Pendleton, California.
‘I’m a vet. I served my country, and I’m here to serve my community,’ said Velez, a rifleman who deployed to Iraq with the legendary battalion and served four years before his discharge in 2009.
read more here
PUBLISHED: 11 June 2012
A pair of former U.S. Marines were surprised to find themselves in the middle of a controversy after naming their new Downey, California, bar 'Bastards.'
'Bastards' had its grand opening last week to coincide with Memorial Day.
Former Marine Corporal Nick Velez and his best friend and business partner Calvin Spencer were proud to be able to fulfill their dream of opening a bar after leaving the service, but say they did not expect the public's response to the name of the eatery.
According to the Marine Corps Times, 'Bastards' is a nod to the ‘Magnificent Bastards,’ the official nickname of 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, where both friends served at Camp Pendleton, California.
‘I’m a vet. I served my country, and I’m here to serve my community,’ said Velez, a rifleman who deployed to Iraq with the legendary battalion and served four years before his discharge in 2009.
read more here
Report: US military admits to mistakes in Iraq, Afghanistan
Report: US military admits to mistakes in Iraq, Afghanistan
By R. JEFFREY SMITH
The Center for Public Integrity
Published: June 11, 2012
When President Obama announced in Aug. 2010 the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq, he complimented the soldiers who had served there for completing “every mission they were given.” But some of military’s most senior officers, in a little-noticed report this spring, rendered a harsher account of their work that highlights repeated missteps and failures over the past decade, in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
There was a “failure to recognize, acknowledge and accurately define” the environment in which the conflicts occurred, leading to a “mismatch between forces, capabilities, missions, and goals,” says the assessment from the Pentagon’s Joint Staff. The efforts were marked by a “failure to adequately plan and resource strategic and operational” shifts from one phase of the conflicts to the next.
From the outset, U.S. forces were poorly prepared for peacekeeping and had not adequately planned for the unexepected. In the first half of the decade, “strategic leadership repeatedly failed,” and as a result, U.S. military training, policies, doctrine and equipment were ill-suited to the tasks that troops actually faced in Iraq and Afghanistan.
read more here
By R. JEFFREY SMITH
The Center for Public Integrity
Published: June 11, 2012
When President Obama announced in Aug. 2010 the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq, he complimented the soldiers who had served there for completing “every mission they were given.” But some of military’s most senior officers, in a little-noticed report this spring, rendered a harsher account of their work that highlights repeated missteps and failures over the past decade, in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
There was a “failure to recognize, acknowledge and accurately define” the environment in which the conflicts occurred, leading to a “mismatch between forces, capabilities, missions, and goals,” says the assessment from the Pentagon’s Joint Staff. The efforts were marked by a “failure to adequately plan and resource strategic and operational” shifts from one phase of the conflicts to the next.
From the outset, U.S. forces were poorly prepared for peacekeeping and had not adequately planned for the unexepected. In the first half of the decade, “strategic leadership repeatedly failed,” and as a result, U.S. military training, policies, doctrine and equipment were ill-suited to the tasks that troops actually faced in Iraq and Afghanistan.
read more here
War of 1812 vet gets headstone in Illinois
War of 1812 vet gets headstone in Illinois
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jun 10, 2012
SUGAR GROVE, Ill. — The great-great-great-grandson of a War of 1812 veteran has made sure the soldier has a headstone in Sugar Grove Township Cemetery.
The (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reports that Mike Rowley of Iowa installed the headstone this month for Ashbel Rowley, the only known War of 1812 veteran buried in the west suburban Chicago cemetery.
read more here
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jun 10, 2012
SUGAR GROVE, Ill. — The great-great-great-grandson of a War of 1812 veteran has made sure the soldier has a headstone in Sugar Grove Township Cemetery.
The (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reports that Mike Rowley of Iowa installed the headstone this month for Ashbel Rowley, the only known War of 1812 veteran buried in the west suburban Chicago cemetery.
read more here
Veteran sues charity
UPDATE 9:55 pm est
Press Release
Murray, Blumenthal, Nelson Call on Departments of Justice, Treasury to Investigate Charitable Organizations Exploiting Veterans for Own Financial Gain
Recent findings raise serious questions as to whether organizations are violating federal law and abusing their tax exempt status by misrepresenting work on behalf of veterans
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee joined with Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) in sending two letters regarding the Veterans Support Organization (VSO), addressing potential violations of federal law and abuse of tax exempt status by the 501(c)(3) organization. The first letter was sent to Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, requesting an audit and, where appropriate, an investigation of the VSO for potential violations of federal law.
In a second letter, sent to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, Senator Murray, again joined by Senators Blumenthal and Nelson, expressed concern about the membership criteria used by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Voluntary Service National Advisory Committee (NAC) to evaluate prospective member organizations and the NAC’s failure to require any standards of conduct for its members. The Senators point out the lack of internal controls for membership on the advisory committee and call for the removal of any organization that fails to conduct itself in a manner befitting the Department’s mission or that exploits its relationship with the Department for its own financial gain.
“Without a meaningful review process or standards of conduct, the Department risks legitimizing organizations engaged in questionable business practices by permitting their membership on the NAC,” the Senators write in the letter to Secretary Shinseki. “For example, the Veterans Support Organization (VSO) has repeatedly touted its membership on the NAC as a way to represent itself as a reputable organization. But throughout the seventeen states in which it operates, VSO has drawn scrutiny from state authorities, veterans service organizations, local news organizations and veterans themselves. VSO’s business practices have been characterized as dishonest, misleading and fraudulent, and in at least one instance, VSO has acknowledged breaking state law.”
The full text of both letters follow:
May 30, 2012
The Honorable Eric H. Holder
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
The Honorable Timothy F. Geithner
Secretary of the Treasury
U.S. Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Dear General Holder and Secretary Geithner:
We write to request that the Departments of Justice and Treasury audit and investigate, as appropriate, the Veterans Support Organization (VSO), a registered 501(c)(3) tax exempt corporation, for potential violations of federal law.
Throughout the seventeen states in which it operates, including Connecticut and Florida, VSO has attracted scrutiny from state authorities, reputable veterans service organizations, local news organizations and individual veterans. VSO’s business practices have been characterized as dishonest, misleading, and fraudulent and in at least one instance, VSO has acknowledged breaking state law. Taken together, these actions and allegations raise serious questions as to whether VSO has repeatedly and intentionally misappropriated public donations and abused its tax exempt status in violation of federal law.
At the heart of VSO’s suspect practices is its use of paid solicitors, violation of state solicitation laws and financial irregularities. VSO presents its paid solicitors to the public as veterans, providing them with camouflage-style uniforms and instructing them to keep thirty percent of their collected donations as commission. Through its use of these paid solicitors, VSO has been found in violation of state charitable contribution laws and has faced civil penalties as a result. VSO’s paid solicitors program is its single largest expenditure, with executive and employee compensation following close behind. In 2009 alone, VSO paid its chief executive officer $255,000, or over four percent of its total revenue. That same year, VSO’s spending on its paid solicitor program and executive and employee compensation was over eight times greater than its direct grant awards to other veterans service organizations, government entities, and individual veterans. Clearly, VSO’s disproportionate spending on paid solicitors and its own executives, coupled with its admitted violation of state solicitation laws and general lack of transparency and accountability is cause for serious concern. For your reference, we have enclosed a background paper that details VSO’s questionable conduct in greater detail.
As an increasing number of our servicemembers return home and transition to civilian life, it is especially critical that charity organizations act as good stewards of the American people’s goodwill and generosity towards our veterans. On behalf of our nation’s veterans and those who serve them, we thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to your timely response detailing the steps you have taken auditing or investigating, as appropriate, VSO.
May 30, 2012
The Honorable Eric K. Shinseki
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20420
Dear Secretary Shinseki:
We write to express our concern about the membership criteria used by the Department’s Voluntary Service National Advisory Committee (NAC) to evaluate prospective member organizations and the NAC’s failure to require any standards of conduct for its members.
It is critical that organizations permitted to affiliate themselves with, or invoke the name of, the Department of Veterans Affairs conduct themselves in a manner befitting the Department’s mission, its reputation and the integrity of its work. Yet today, any organization that meets a minimum level of monetary and material support to VA facilities is eligible for membership on the NAC. No other review is undertaken by the Department to evaluate a potential member organization, nor does the NAC have in place any standards of conduct to which its member organizations must adhere.
This is both troubling and unacceptable. Without a meaningful review process or standards of conduct, the Department risks legitimizing organizations engaged in questionable business practices by permitting their membership on the NAC. For example, the Veterans Support Organization (VSO) has repeatedly touted its membership on the NAC as a way to represent itself as a reputable organization. But throughout the seventeen states in which it operates, VSO has drawn scrutiny from state authorities, veterans service organizations, local news organizations and veterans themselves. VSO’s business practices have been characterized as dishonest, misleading and fraudulent, and in at least one instance, VSO has acknowledged breaking state law.
In response to VSO’s suspect practices, we have written to the Attorney General and to Secretary Geithner, requesting that their departments investigate whether VSO has misappropriated public donations or abused its tax exempt status in violation of federal law. We expressed our concern that charity organizations must act as good stewards of the American people’s generosity towards our veterans. Surely an organization, such as VSO, which has admitted breaking state law, should be ineligible to serve on the NAC or use the Department’s name in furtherance of its own financial interest.
To protect the integrity of the NAC’s work, we ask that you review this situation and take such action as you consider appropriate. It is our hope that you will rescind the membership of VSO and any other organization that fails to reflect the caliber and character of the Department’s mission and work, and institute safeguards to regulate the NAC’s membership accordingly. We look forward to hearing from you regarding your review of this issue. Thank you for all that you do on behalf of our nation’s veterans.
linked from Military.com
Press Release
Murray, Blumenthal, Nelson Call on Departments of Justice, Treasury to Investigate Charitable Organizations Exploiting Veterans for Own Financial Gain
Recent findings raise serious questions as to whether organizations are violating federal law and abusing their tax exempt status by misrepresenting work on behalf of veterans
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee joined with Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) in sending two letters regarding the Veterans Support Organization (VSO), addressing potential violations of federal law and abuse of tax exempt status by the 501(c)(3) organization. The first letter was sent to Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, requesting an audit and, where appropriate, an investigation of the VSO for potential violations of federal law.
In a second letter, sent to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, Senator Murray, again joined by Senators Blumenthal and Nelson, expressed concern about the membership criteria used by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Voluntary Service National Advisory Committee (NAC) to evaluate prospective member organizations and the NAC’s failure to require any standards of conduct for its members. The Senators point out the lack of internal controls for membership on the advisory committee and call for the removal of any organization that fails to conduct itself in a manner befitting the Department’s mission or that exploits its relationship with the Department for its own financial gain.
“Without a meaningful review process or standards of conduct, the Department risks legitimizing organizations engaged in questionable business practices by permitting their membership on the NAC,” the Senators write in the letter to Secretary Shinseki. “For example, the Veterans Support Organization (VSO) has repeatedly touted its membership on the NAC as a way to represent itself as a reputable organization. But throughout the seventeen states in which it operates, VSO has drawn scrutiny from state authorities, veterans service organizations, local news organizations and veterans themselves. VSO’s business practices have been characterized as dishonest, misleading and fraudulent, and in at least one instance, VSO has acknowledged breaking state law.”
The full text of both letters follow:
May 30, 2012
The Honorable Eric H. Holder
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
The Honorable Timothy F. Geithner
Secretary of the Treasury
U.S. Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Dear General Holder and Secretary Geithner:
We write to request that the Departments of Justice and Treasury audit and investigate, as appropriate, the Veterans Support Organization (VSO), a registered 501(c)(3) tax exempt corporation, for potential violations of federal law.
Throughout the seventeen states in which it operates, including Connecticut and Florida, VSO has attracted scrutiny from state authorities, reputable veterans service organizations, local news organizations and individual veterans. VSO’s business practices have been characterized as dishonest, misleading, and fraudulent and in at least one instance, VSO has acknowledged breaking state law. Taken together, these actions and allegations raise serious questions as to whether VSO has repeatedly and intentionally misappropriated public donations and abused its tax exempt status in violation of federal law.
At the heart of VSO’s suspect practices is its use of paid solicitors, violation of state solicitation laws and financial irregularities. VSO presents its paid solicitors to the public as veterans, providing them with camouflage-style uniforms and instructing them to keep thirty percent of their collected donations as commission. Through its use of these paid solicitors, VSO has been found in violation of state charitable contribution laws and has faced civil penalties as a result. VSO’s paid solicitors program is its single largest expenditure, with executive and employee compensation following close behind. In 2009 alone, VSO paid its chief executive officer $255,000, or over four percent of its total revenue. That same year, VSO’s spending on its paid solicitor program and executive and employee compensation was over eight times greater than its direct grant awards to other veterans service organizations, government entities, and individual veterans. Clearly, VSO’s disproportionate spending on paid solicitors and its own executives, coupled with its admitted violation of state solicitation laws and general lack of transparency and accountability is cause for serious concern. For your reference, we have enclosed a background paper that details VSO’s questionable conduct in greater detail.
As an increasing number of our servicemembers return home and transition to civilian life, it is especially critical that charity organizations act as good stewards of the American people’s goodwill and generosity towards our veterans. On behalf of our nation’s veterans and those who serve them, we thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to your timely response detailing the steps you have taken auditing or investigating, as appropriate, VSO.
May 30, 2012
The Honorable Eric K. Shinseki
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20420
Dear Secretary Shinseki:
We write to express our concern about the membership criteria used by the Department’s Voluntary Service National Advisory Committee (NAC) to evaluate prospective member organizations and the NAC’s failure to require any standards of conduct for its members.
It is critical that organizations permitted to affiliate themselves with, or invoke the name of, the Department of Veterans Affairs conduct themselves in a manner befitting the Department’s mission, its reputation and the integrity of its work. Yet today, any organization that meets a minimum level of monetary and material support to VA facilities is eligible for membership on the NAC. No other review is undertaken by the Department to evaluate a potential member organization, nor does the NAC have in place any standards of conduct to which its member organizations must adhere.
This is both troubling and unacceptable. Without a meaningful review process or standards of conduct, the Department risks legitimizing organizations engaged in questionable business practices by permitting their membership on the NAC. For example, the Veterans Support Organization (VSO) has repeatedly touted its membership on the NAC as a way to represent itself as a reputable organization. But throughout the seventeen states in which it operates, VSO has drawn scrutiny from state authorities, veterans service organizations, local news organizations and veterans themselves. VSO’s business practices have been characterized as dishonest, misleading and fraudulent, and in at least one instance, VSO has acknowledged breaking state law.
In response to VSO’s suspect practices, we have written to the Attorney General and to Secretary Geithner, requesting that their departments investigate whether VSO has misappropriated public donations or abused its tax exempt status in violation of federal law. We expressed our concern that charity organizations must act as good stewards of the American people’s generosity towards our veterans. Surely an organization, such as VSO, which has admitted breaking state law, should be ineligible to serve on the NAC or use the Department’s name in furtherance of its own financial interest.
To protect the integrity of the NAC’s work, we ask that you review this situation and take such action as you consider appropriate. It is our hope that you will rescind the membership of VSO and any other organization that fails to reflect the caliber and character of the Department’s mission and work, and institute safeguards to regulate the NAC’s membership accordingly. We look forward to hearing from you regarding your review of this issue. Thank you for all that you do on behalf of our nation’s veterans.
linked from Military.com
Makes my blood boil considering how long I've been doing this, how long it takes and I'm looking for a job because I DON'T GET PAID AT ALL but wait until you read down toward the end of this post.
Vet sues vet charity over firing, donations
By Kristin M. Hall
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jun 11, 2012
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A veterans charity has been sued in Tennessee by a former employee who said he was fired because he refused to solicit donations after being told not to by police.
Tonzil Jones, a former Marine who said he served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he was hired by The Veterans Support Organization, a Rhode Island incorporated charity, to take donations from the public while standing on the street or outside businesses in Murfreesboro in 2010.
The organization, which has chapters in multiple states, has been fined in Tennessee for false claims about their charity and for not registering with the state.
The VSO’s only source of funds comes from veterans and others who ask for donations outside stores or on street corners. Solicitors who work as independent contractors get to keep about 30 percent of what they raise. The charity receives no federal or state grants or funds, but they provide some funds to veterans hospitals and other groups and operate a 115-bed home for the homeless in Florida.
"According to the charity’s financial statements, the charity has grown significantly in last couple of years. They doubled the amount of money raised from fiscal 2009 to fiscal 2010, going from $2.5 million to over $5.6 million.
"But the amount they paid in grants to organizations and individuals actually decreased from $402,447 in 2009 to $379,038 in 2010."
"In the same time period, Van Houten’s own salary doubled to over $255,000 and salaries and wages for the charity increased to $1.4 million from $426,222."
read more here
VA hiring mental health professionals
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 11, 2012
VA Announces Aggressive National Recruitment Effort to Hire Mental Health Professionals
WASHINGTON (June 11, 2012)- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki recently announced the department would add approximately 1,600 mental health clinicians as well as nearly 300 support staff to its existing workforce to help meet the increased demand for mental health services. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has developed an aggressive national recruitment program to implement the hiring process quickly and efficiently.
“The mental health and well-being of our brave men and women who have served the Nation is the highest priority for this department,” said Secretary Shinseki. “We must ensure that all Veterans seeking mental health care have access to timely, responsive and high-quality care.”
VA has developed an aggressive national mental health hiring initiative to improve recruitment and hiring, marketing, education and training programs, and retention efforts for mental health professionals, to include targeted recruitment in rural and highly-rural markets. This will help VA to meet existing and future demands of mental health care services in an integrated collaborative team environment and continue to position VA as an exemplary workplace for mental health care professionals.
It is critical for VA to proactively engage psychiatrists and other mental health care providers about the vital mission to deliver high-quality mental health services, especially for returning combat Veterans.
“The VA mental health community is aggressively transforming the way mental health care services are provided to the Veteran population. As the mental health care workforce continues to increase, VA is committed to improving Veterans’ access to services, especially for at-risk Veterans,” said VA’s Under Secretary for Health Dr. Robert Petzel.
The national recruitment program provides VHA with an in-house team of highly skilled professional recruiters employing private sector best practices to fill the agency’s most mission critical clinical and executive positions. The recruitment team consists of 21 national, dedicated health care recruiters targeting physician and specialty health care occupations. These recruiters also understand the needs of Veterans because each member is a Veteran.
VHA has also established a hiring and tracking task force to provide oversight for this initiative to move the process forward expeditiously in a focused manner to ensure challenges, issues, or concerns are addressed and resolved. This task force is accountable for reporting progress in hiring of mental health professionals in these occupations: psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health nurses, social workers, mental health technicians, marriage and family therapists and licensed professional counselors.
VHA anticipates the majority of hires will be selected within approximately six months and the most “hard-to-fill” positions filled by the end of the second quarter of FY 2013. VA has an existing workforce of 20,590 mental health staff that includes nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers.
Interested mental health care providers can find additional information about VA careers and apply for jobs online atwww.vacareers.va.gov. To locate the nearest VA facility or Vet Center for enrollment and to get scheduled for care, Veterans can visit VA’s website at www.va.gov. Immediate help is available at www.VeteransCrisisLine.net or by calling the Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 (push 1) or texting 838255.
FLYOVER
FLYOVER
by
Chaplain Kathie
The military folks love acronyms, so here is one to think about.
FLYOVER
That has been the basic idea behind the best healing practices going back 40 years. Just about any worthwhile study I've read has had the PTSD veteran taking a look back at a time before that traumatic event claimed a freeze frame in his/her mind.
If the last image of something is evil in nature, they begin to believe they are evil now. If the last image is of extreme sadness, they begin to believe they do not deserve to feel anything else than sadness.
Many veterans begin to doubt God is real when they see so much horror and that is carried with them when they return home. They wonder how a "loving God" could allow so much and do nothing. They fail to notice one simple fact. The fact they lived through all of it and managed somehow to care so much, they cannot forget it. They didn't notice God was right there in the middle of all of it. Whenever they shed a single tear, He was there. Whenever they reached out a hand in kindness, He was there. There are so many times during war when there is evidence of God's love, but they cannot refocus their attention off the horror and onto the remarkable grace that lives even there.
God does not interfere with freewill and it is man waging war on man. He understood the need of defenders when He created a Warrior before He created man and that warrior is Michael. Christ didn't even condemn the Roman Centurion when he wanted Christ to heal his servant. Some people want to say that the Bible says "thou shall not kill" but they simply don't understand that throughout the Bible there were many wars and most of the heroes of the Old Testament were in fact warriors fighting side by side with their men.
There is a very powerful reminder of this when Christ was trying to warn of the way He would die. He said "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." John 15:13
What our veterans forget is that they were not only willing to do that, they were willing to do it for total strangers.
They forget so much that when it is all over, they can only see themselves through the eyes of all that was bad and not what was still good inside of them.
A National Guardsman had horrible memories of a family bullets from his weapon killed in Iraq because that last image of them in the car held him captive. After much work, he was able to remember that he tried everything within his power to prevent it. He was able to forgive himself for what he had to do.
He began to heal but had to repeat the same process until he made peace with all the events troubling him.
It can be done if the military stops repeating the same mistakes they keep making. PTSD is not their fault and training had nothing to do with PTSD picking on them. They are not mentally weak but they are emotionally strong. They feel things more deeply and that is how they are able to find the tremendous courage they need to do their jobs and face whatever they are asked to do. It is how they are able to leave all they have at home for as long as they are needed someplace else.
Treating them as if they are responsible for what comes home with them is like pretending the war itself was their idea.
As for anyone thinking they are selfish, and you know who I mean, it is also the reason why most will not even think of suicide while deployed but only allow themselves to feel the pain when they are back home again and their men are out of danger.
by
Chaplain Kathie
The military folks love acronyms, so here is one to think about.
FLYOVER
Focus Looking at Yourself and Observe Variety of Events Reflectively
That has been the basic idea behind the best healing practices going back 40 years. Just about any worthwhile study I've read has had the PTSD veteran taking a look back at a time before that traumatic event claimed a freeze frame in his/her mind.
If the last image of something is evil in nature, they begin to believe they are evil now. If the last image is of extreme sadness, they begin to believe they do not deserve to feel anything else than sadness.
Many veterans begin to doubt God is real when they see so much horror and that is carried with them when they return home. They wonder how a "loving God" could allow so much and do nothing. They fail to notice one simple fact. The fact they lived through all of it and managed somehow to care so much, they cannot forget it. They didn't notice God was right there in the middle of all of it. Whenever they shed a single tear, He was there. Whenever they reached out a hand in kindness, He was there. There are so many times during war when there is evidence of God's love, but they cannot refocus their attention off the horror and onto the remarkable grace that lives even there.
God does not interfere with freewill and it is man waging war on man. He understood the need of defenders when He created a Warrior before He created man and that warrior is Michael. Christ didn't even condemn the Roman Centurion when he wanted Christ to heal his servant. Some people want to say that the Bible says "thou shall not kill" but they simply don't understand that throughout the Bible there were many wars and most of the heroes of the Old Testament were in fact warriors fighting side by side with their men.
There is a very powerful reminder of this when Christ was trying to warn of the way He would die. He said "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." John 15:13
What our veterans forget is that they were not only willing to do that, they were willing to do it for total strangers.
They forget so much that when it is all over, they can only see themselves through the eyes of all that was bad and not what was still good inside of them.
A National Guardsman had horrible memories of a family bullets from his weapon killed in Iraq because that last image of them in the car held him captive. After much work, he was able to remember that he tried everything within his power to prevent it. He was able to forgive himself for what he had to do.
He began to heal but had to repeat the same process until he made peace with all the events troubling him.
It can be done if the military stops repeating the same mistakes they keep making. PTSD is not their fault and training had nothing to do with PTSD picking on them. They are not mentally weak but they are emotionally strong. They feel things more deeply and that is how they are able to find the tremendous courage they need to do their jobs and face whatever they are asked to do. It is how they are able to leave all they have at home for as long as they are needed someplace else.
Treating them as if they are responsible for what comes home with them is like pretending the war itself was their idea.
As for anyone thinking they are selfish, and you know who I mean, it is also the reason why most will not even think of suicide while deployed but only allow themselves to feel the pain when they are back home again and their men are out of danger.
Pentagon and Congress Argue Over Landstuhl Regional Medical Center
Pentagon and Congress Argue Over Hospital for Troops
By THOM SHANKER
Published: June 10, 2012
WASHINGTON — As the Pentagon and Congress argue over how to shrink the military to fit smaller federal budgets, no debate over matching money to mission is more heartfelt than the order to shut down the premier overseas hospital for grievously wounded troops and replace it with a new one.
With scant public notice, the Defense Department is closing, and relocating, the aging hospital, the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the only top-level military trauma center outside the United States.
The hospital has earned its vaunted reputation over the past decade as it has evacuated, treated and stabilized all American military personnel wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq. It treats 500,000 patients a year.
There is no dispute that replacing the hospital, which opened 59 years ago, is a good idea. And building its replacement next to Ramstein Air Base in Germany would reduce transit time for patients. Additional savings would be found by closing Ramstein’s existing clinic and combining it with the Landstuhl replacement.
read more here
By THOM SHANKER
Published: June 10, 2012
WASHINGTON — As the Pentagon and Congress argue over how to shrink the military to fit smaller federal budgets, no debate over matching money to mission is more heartfelt than the order to shut down the premier overseas hospital for grievously wounded troops and replace it with a new one.
With scant public notice, the Defense Department is closing, and relocating, the aging hospital, the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the only top-level military trauma center outside the United States.
The hospital has earned its vaunted reputation over the past decade as it has evacuated, treated and stabilized all American military personnel wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq. It treats 500,000 patients a year.
There is no dispute that replacing the hospital, which opened 59 years ago, is a good idea. And building its replacement next to Ramstein Air Base in Germany would reduce transit time for patients. Additional savings would be found by closing Ramstein’s existing clinic and combining it with the Landstuhl replacement.
read more here
Honor Flight takes veterans to see WWII memorial
Honor Flight takes veterans to see WWII memorial
Sunday, June 10, 2012
ORLANDO
It was a homecoming these WWII veterans may never forget.
You could see the signs and hear the cheers throughout Orlando International Airport Saturday night for the 26 veterans from Central Florida, just back from Washington, D.C.
Fellow vets, spouses, children even great-grandchildren were all waiting to welcome home the heroes, from a trip to see the National World War Two Memorial, built to honor their service.
read more here
26 WWII veterans take Honor Flight to DC today
Sunday, June 10, 2012
ORLANDO
It was a homecoming these WWII veterans may never forget.
You could see the signs and hear the cheers throughout Orlando International Airport Saturday night for the 26 veterans from Central Florida, just back from Washington, D.C.
Fellow vets, spouses, children even great-grandchildren were all waiting to welcome home the heroes, from a trip to see the National World War Two Memorial, built to honor their service.
read more here
26 WWII veterans take Honor Flight to DC today
Darnall's Integrated Disability Evaluation System reviewed
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: June 6, 2012
Army deputy surgeon general reviews Darnall's Integrated Disability Evaluation System process
By Patricia Deal
CRDAMC Public Affairs
FORT HOOD, Texas--While the war and continuous deployments have started to dwindle down, the Army Medical Command is ramping up its efforts to take care of the thousands of wounded, ill or injured Warriors and their families.
“It’s been a long 10 ½ years, and a decade of combat has certainly taken its toll on our Soldiers,” said Maj. Gen. Richard Stone, deputy surgeon general, U.S. Army Medical Command, during his recent visit to Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood. “A vast majority of Soldiers come back healthy, but a small percentage doesn’t. We are committed to doing absolutely everything we can to help wounded, ill or injured Soldiers recover. If not, we are going to do everything we can to ensure their transition to civilian life goes smoothly and they are properly compensated for any disabilities.”
Stone and his team are visiting major medical treatment facilities (MTF) throughout the Army to review their Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) processes, the current processing system for determining disability services and benefits for injured or ill Soldiers.
Introduced in 2007, IDES is a joint initiative between the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs, partnering the disability rating systems of both departments to produce a single system resulting in benefits that begin after Soldiers separate from military service. Under the previous legacy system, Soldiers first went through the Army’s medical evaluation process and then would go to the VA to enter its disability evaluation system, sometimes waiting more than a year before receiving VA benefits.
On average, Soldiers evaluated through IDES receive their VA disability benefits more than 50 percent faster than those evaluated through the legacy system. In its early stages, the average wait time for benefits was 297 days, close to the IDES goal. Now with the increased surge of Soldiers needing medical evaluations, the wait time has increased to an average of 394 days, according to the Government Accountability Office.
read more here
DATE: June 6, 2012
Army deputy surgeon general reviews Darnall's Integrated Disability Evaluation System process
By Patricia Deal
CRDAMC Public Affairs
FORT HOOD, Texas--While the war and continuous deployments have started to dwindle down, the Army Medical Command is ramping up its efforts to take care of the thousands of wounded, ill or injured Warriors and their families.
“It’s been a long 10 ½ years, and a decade of combat has certainly taken its toll on our Soldiers,” said Maj. Gen. Richard Stone, deputy surgeon general, U.S. Army Medical Command, during his recent visit to Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood. “A vast majority of Soldiers come back healthy, but a small percentage doesn’t. We are committed to doing absolutely everything we can to help wounded, ill or injured Soldiers recover. If not, we are going to do everything we can to ensure their transition to civilian life goes smoothly and they are properly compensated for any disabilities.”
Stone and his team are visiting major medical treatment facilities (MTF) throughout the Army to review their Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) processes, the current processing system for determining disability services and benefits for injured or ill Soldiers.
Introduced in 2007, IDES is a joint initiative between the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs, partnering the disability rating systems of both departments to produce a single system resulting in benefits that begin after Soldiers separate from military service. Under the previous legacy system, Soldiers first went through the Army’s medical evaluation process and then would go to the VA to enter its disability evaluation system, sometimes waiting more than a year before receiving VA benefits.
On average, Soldiers evaluated through IDES receive their VA disability benefits more than 50 percent faster than those evaluated through the legacy system. In its early stages, the average wait time for benefits was 297 days, close to the IDES goal. Now with the increased surge of Soldiers needing medical evaluations, the wait time has increased to an average of 394 days, according to the Government Accountability Office.
read more here
Town in shock after 4 year old killed by falling tombstone cross
4-year-old girl killed by falling tombstone
June 10, 2012
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DEEP GAP — Officials say a 4-year-old girl has died after part of a tombstone fell on her at a Deep Gap cemetery.
The Rev. Rick Cornejo told WSOC-TV that the girl was one of several children playing in the churchyard and cemetery at Mt. Paran Baptist Church before Bible study classes on Friday night.
read more here
June 10, 2012
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DEEP GAP — Officials say a 4-year-old girl has died after part of a tombstone fell on her at a Deep Gap cemetery.
The Rev. Rick Cornejo told WSOC-TV that the girl was one of several children playing in the churchyard and cemetery at Mt. Paran Baptist Church before Bible study classes on Friday night.
read more here
Soldier who lost leg blazes 'legendary trail' as competitive marksman
Soldier who lost leg blazes 'legendary trail' as competitive marksman
By MATTHEW M. BURKE
Stars and Stripes
Published: June 10, 2012
Army Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Olson lost his right leg in Iraq, but not his fight.
Since recovering from the potentially career-ending war wound nine years ago, Olson has thrived as a shooting instructor and competitive marksman.
This year, he became the first active-duty, combat-wounded soldier nominated for the U.S. Paralympic Team and will become the first to compete in a Paralympic games, which begin in late August in London.
The 32-year-old has placed in about 20 international marksmanship competitions in recent years, winning gold at the French Grand Prix and the Alicante Cup in Spain in 2009.
Most importantly, Olson has shown that wounded soldiers can continue to serve.
Thanks in part to his success as a competitive rifle shooter and instructor for the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, the Army is creating two new sections for 24 wounded soldiers known as the Marksmanship Instructor Group and Paralympic Section.
read more here
By MATTHEW M. BURKE
Stars and Stripes
Published: June 10, 2012
Army Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Olson lost his right leg in Iraq, but not his fight.
Since recovering from the potentially career-ending war wound nine years ago, Olson has thrived as a shooting instructor and competitive marksman.
This year, he became the first active-duty, combat-wounded soldier nominated for the U.S. Paralympic Team and will become the first to compete in a Paralympic games, which begin in late August in London.
The 32-year-old has placed in about 20 international marksmanship competitions in recent years, winning gold at the French Grand Prix and the Alicante Cup in Spain in 2009.
Most importantly, Olson has shown that wounded soldiers can continue to serve.
Thanks in part to his success as a competitive rifle shooter and instructor for the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, the Army is creating two new sections for 24 wounded soldiers known as the Marksmanship Instructor Group and Paralympic Section.
read more here
Iraq veteran says faith and support help PTSD
Military Suicides On The Rise
By: CHAD PETRI
WKRG
Published: June 10, 2012
PENSACOLA, Florida
These are some of the injuries retired army captain Stephen David Fleming deals with--eight years after an attack in Iraq.
“I've had five hip replacements since then, spinal fusions, I've had close to 30 surgeries,” says Fleming. In addition to the physical scars he's also had mental scars like bouts of depression.
“It's a daily battle, the VA helps out with medication but also my friends family and faith is what gets me going,” says Fleming.
Fleming says he's been able to battle through the physical and mental challenges of post war life thanks to a strong support network. He says he's known two fellow veterans who committed suicide and dealt with suicidal thoughts himself. He says he volunteers and reaches out to other vets for help and to help them.
read more here
By: CHAD PETRI
WKRG
Published: June 10, 2012
PENSACOLA, Florida
These are some of the injuries retired army captain Stephen David Fleming deals with--eight years after an attack in Iraq.
“I've had five hip replacements since then, spinal fusions, I've had close to 30 surgeries,” says Fleming. In addition to the physical scars he's also had mental scars like bouts of depression.
“It's a daily battle, the VA helps out with medication but also my friends family and faith is what gets me going,” says Fleming.
Fleming says he's been able to battle through the physical and mental challenges of post war life thanks to a strong support network. He says he's known two fellow veterans who committed suicide and dealt with suicidal thoughts himself. He says he volunteers and reaches out to other vets for help and to help them.
read more here
Military Suicides On The Rise
There have been more suicides by active duty military than casualties in Afghanistan for the first five months of the year.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
"PTSD, acts like Velcro"
What is important to point out in this article is that this is one of the more complicated types of PTSD to treat. There is Combat PTSD, hardest because of the number of times they are exposed to traumatic events, then law enforcement, and then firefighters. They all put their lives on the line to do their jobs but the civilian world seems to do response for them better than the military.
Walking veterans "back" is the best way to help them heal.
Walking veterans "back" is the best way to help them heal.
Years later, Aurora firefighter battles PTSD
By Denise Crosby
June 9, 2012
It was Aug. 27, 2004, when the fire — and the controversy — ignited in the basement of a home in the 600 block of Palace Street on Aurora’s West Side.
Lt. Joseph Bartholomew, a 26-year veteran firefighter who had spent two decades with the Aurora Fire Department, was the first responder in Engine 1. When he and his two-man crew arrived, heavy smoke was already billowing out of the first and second floors of the home, with flames licking hungrily from the basement windows.
Engine 1’s job was search and rescue — they had no idea if people were in the house — and, in firefighter lingo, to “put the wet stuff on the red stuff” and get the damn fire out.
The flames did not look particularly menacing. But Bartholomew had been around long enough to know there’s no such thing as a routine fire. The beast can grow quickly ... doubling in size every minute.
After he healed from neck surgery for the blown disc, Joe Bartholomew returned to light duty while going through treatments. One of the things about PTSD is that it acts like Velcro, with other traumatic events from your past attaching to it, says Rooney. Therefore, in treating it, “you have to walk through everything in your past to deal with the present.”
read more here
'Mrs. Doubtfire' Horror Film: Classic Trailer Recut
'Mrs. Doubtfire' Horror Film: Classic Trailer Recut
(VIDEO)
Moviefone
By Alex Jeffries
Posted: 06/07/2012
After being a Digital Media Student at Valencia College for the last two years, I can tell you that turning Mrs. Doubtfire trailer into a horror clip took a lot of work and talent, but it first required a boat load of imagination.
This is a fine example of how most people will see something but others will see something totally different.
When it comes to Combat PTSD, it is basically the same thing. One person will see something harmless as something frightening when they have PTSD. If you have not been exposed to traumatic events, especially events in combat, then you won't fear something that sounds like a machine gun to them. It may just be one of those "what the heck was that" kind of second leaving you to return to whatever you were doing a second before.
For them it is a reminder of when they were facing real life or death moments and some of their buddies didn't make it home.
A trash bag on the side of the road looks like a trash bag to you but to them it could be hiding an IED.
A driver coming up behind you may startle you for a second as you watch him switch lanes to pass you but for them, it is a reminder of a car bomber.
You see the world one way but they look through different eyes. The eyes that have seen things you'll never have to because they did it for you. How about we return the favor and help them see the world through our eyes again?
(VIDEO)
Moviefone
By Alex Jeffries
Posted: 06/07/2012
After being a Digital Media Student at Valencia College for the last two years, I can tell you that turning Mrs. Doubtfire trailer into a horror clip took a lot of work and talent, but it first required a boat load of imagination.
This is a fine example of how most people will see something but others will see something totally different.
When it comes to Combat PTSD, it is basically the same thing. One person will see something harmless as something frightening when they have PTSD. If you have not been exposed to traumatic events, especially events in combat, then you won't fear something that sounds like a machine gun to them. It may just be one of those "what the heck was that" kind of second leaving you to return to whatever you were doing a second before.
For them it is a reminder of when they were facing real life or death moments and some of their buddies didn't make it home.
A trash bag on the side of the road looks like a trash bag to you but to them it could be hiding an IED.
A driver coming up behind you may startle you for a second as you watch him switch lanes to pass you but for them, it is a reminder of a car bomber.
You see the world one way but they look through different eyes. The eyes that have seen things you'll never have to because they did it for you. How about we return the favor and help them see the world through our eyes again?
Man, 38, dies after struggle with police in Southwest Washington
Man, 38, dies after struggle with police in Southwest Washington
By Clarence Williams and Martin Weil
Published: June 9
A 38-year-old man died Friday afternoon after a struggle with D.C. police officers who were sent to an address in Southwest Washington to assist personnel from the Department of Mental Health, police said.
The man, identified as Anthony Chambers, assaulted four officers after they arrived at an apartment in the unit block of P Street SW, police said.
After being subdued and handcuffed, police said, Chambers lost consciousness. He was taken to a hospital, where he died, police said. They said an autopsy would be done to determine the cause of death.
read more here
By Clarence Williams and Martin Weil
Published: June 9
A 38-year-old man died Friday afternoon after a struggle with D.C. police officers who were sent to an address in Southwest Washington to assist personnel from the Department of Mental Health, police said.
The man, identified as Anthony Chambers, assaulted four officers after they arrived at an apartment in the unit block of P Street SW, police said.
After being subdued and handcuffed, police said, Chambers lost consciousness. He was taken to a hospital, where he died, police said. They said an autopsy would be done to determine the cause of death.
read more here
Grief Camp for military families focus on kids healing
A weekend at grief camp: 'It's never going to be the same'
By Chelsea J. Carter
CNN
updated 7:25 AM EDT, Sun June 10, 2012
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Hundreds of children who've lost a parent or sibling in war attend annual grief camp
Some have been coming for years; for others it's their first time at Washington-area event
Children are paired with volunteer adult mentors, usually active-duty service members
Program gives kids a chance to talk about what happened with those who'll understand
Arlington, Virginia (CNN) -- Jordan Turner looks down at the scrap paper on the table in front of him. The instructions sound simple enough: On one side, write a negative word associated with grief; on the other, a positive word.
Words have always come easily to the lanky 15-year-old, who hours earlier walked into a Washington-area hotel conference room full of unfamiliar faces and easily fell into conversation with teens and adults alike.
read more here
By Chelsea J. Carter
CNN
updated 7:25 AM EDT, Sun June 10, 2012
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Hundreds of children who've lost a parent or sibling in war attend annual grief camp
Some have been coming for years; for others it's their first time at Washington-area event
Children are paired with volunteer adult mentors, usually active-duty service members
Program gives kids a chance to talk about what happened with those who'll understand
Arlington, Virginia (CNN) -- Jordan Turner looks down at the scrap paper on the table in front of him. The instructions sound simple enough: On one side, write a negative word associated with grief; on the other, a positive word.
Words have always come easily to the lanky 15-year-old, who hours earlier walked into a Washington-area hotel conference room full of unfamiliar faces and easily fell into conversation with teens and adults alike.
read more here
Camp Lejeune workshop on How to Avoid Falling for a Jerkette?
Military suicides up but this is what the DOD is spending time on?
DOD offering love and relationship workshop
June 10, 2012 7:45 AM
Department of Defense ID Card holders are invited to attend the “How to Avoid Falling for a Jerkette (or Jerk)” workshop on Camp Lejeune Monday.
The workshop will help those interested understand the “warning signs of love” and how to pick the right partner. The event will be at Building 62 on Camp Lejeune at the Central Area Recreation Center.
To register, call Resilience Education at 910-451-2865 or visit mccslejeune.com/health.
General Pittard blames "selfish" suicide comment taken out of context
I can tell you that I did not "take it out of context" and read the whole thing! It stunned me that it was on the Fort Bliss site from January when he put it up until it made the news
Up until then, the only people reading what he wrote were on the Fort Bliss site.
He was totally off base at best or actually feels that way. Considering he wrote the retraction after pressure from higher ups while "working out in the gym" it pretty much showed how much he thinks about what he writes.
Now he claims it was taken out of context? Sorry but a little too little and a lot too late.
Pittard's eureka moment didn't come the day after he wrote it, or a week when he thought better about it. It only came out after it was brought to the public's attention.
First ASIST is not new.
Uploaded by ChoicePeerAdvocacy on Sep 2, 2009
Josh Koerner Talks about ASIST: Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training A community solution to the community problem of Suicide
Battlemind is not new either but the name has changed to "Resiliency Training" basically telling the servicemen and women they can "toughen their mind" leaving them with the impression if they end up with PTSD, they were weak minded and didn't train right.
Is the Military Battle Mind based on this premiss?
Then they tried this.
CAM at Fort Bliss from 2008
Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Integrative Care for Acute Combat-induced PTSD
By Joe C. Chang, MAOM, diplOM, lAc
But that didn't work either considering this came out in 2010
What actually does work is a long list because there is no one size fits all in any of this. What does not work is telling them it is their fault because they didn't train right and are weak minded. It does not work to call the dead selfish because they ran out of hope of getting the help they needed to heal from where they've been especially when they cared so much about the men they were deployed with to push their pain aside for as long as they were in danger and wait until they returned back to the states to allow themselves to feel it all. It does not work when someone in Pittard's position cannot manage to see any of this and then blame others for taking what he wrote out of context!
also
Major General Dana Pittard blames soldiers for suicides?
General Pittard, was Marine Clay Hunt selfish too?
General Pittard retracts "selfish suicide" statement
General's blog post reignites Army suicide debate By Yochi J. Dreazen National Journal May 22, 2012
Up until then, the only people reading what he wrote were on the Fort Bliss site.
He was totally off base at best or actually feels that way. Considering he wrote the retraction after pressure from higher ups while "working out in the gym" it pretty much showed how much he thinks about what he writes.
Now he claims it was taken out of context? Sorry but a little too little and a lot too late.
Pittard's eureka moment didn't come the day after he wrote it, or a week when he thought better about it. It only came out after it was brought to the public's attention.
Army Maj. Gen. Pittard, in York for ceremony, says he regrets controversial comments about suicide
Pittard said statements on a blog post about suicide were taken out of context.
By BILL LANDAUER
Daily Record/Sunday News
Updated: 06/09/2012
York, PA - A U.S. Army general who came under fire recently for what he wrote about suicide said his comments were taken out of context.
Maj. Gen. Dana Pittard, commander of the 1st Armored Division, said he'd written the blog post in January to persuade soldiers suffering mental anguish to seek help.
The post, which Pittard later removed and replaced with a retraction, was about 20 lines long, he said. However, several lines from the post were quoted in the media recently.
"I have now come to the conclusion that suicide is an absolutely selfish act. I am personally fed up with soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess," the lines read. "Be an adult, act like an adult, and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us." But Pittard said he understands the criticism.
If he read the offending lines out of context, "I'd be outraged, too," he said.
Pittard has written nine other blog posts about suicide prevention at Fort Bliss since July 2010, a matter he says he is both "compassionate and passionate" about. He pointed to his base's lower-than-average suicide rates and the success of programs such as Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training.
Some soldiers think "it's a weakness to get help," Pittard said. "I myself have been in behavioral health. I believe in behavioral health."
Pittard said he and his family sought behavioral health care before he took his job at Fort Bliss. "There's not stigma at Fort Bliss," he said. "But there's enough out there that a senior leader was reluctant to get help."
read more here
First ASIST is not new.
Uploaded by ChoicePeerAdvocacy on Sep 2, 2009
Josh Koerner Talks about ASIST: Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training A community solution to the community problem of Suicide
Battlemind is not new either but the name has changed to "Resiliency Training" basically telling the servicemen and women they can "toughen their mind" leaving them with the impression if they end up with PTSD, they were weak minded and didn't train right.
Battle for the Mind
A Physiology of Conversion and Brainwashing [Paperback]
William Sargant (Author)
October 1, 1997
How can an evangelist convert a hardboiled sophisticate? Why does a POW sign a "confession" that he knows is false? How is a criminal pressured into admitting his guilt? Do the evangelist, the POW's captor, and the policeman use similar methods to gain their ends? These and other compelling questions are discussed in the definitive work by William Sargant, who for many years until his death in 1988 was a leading physician in psychological medicine. Sargant spells out and illustrates the basic techniques used by evangelists, psychiatrists, and brain-washers to disperse the patterns of belief and behavior already established in the minds of their hearers, and to substitute new patterns for them.
Is the Military Battle Mind based on this premiss?
Then they tried this.
CAM at Fort Bliss from 2008
Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Integrative Care for Acute Combat-induced PTSD
By Joe C. Chang, MAOM, diplOM, lAc
The initiatives at the Ft. Bliss and Ft. Hood Restoration and Resilience Center, Ft. Bliss, Texas, were developed through the strong advocacy of supervising psychologist, Dr. John E. Fortunato of the Department of Mental Health at William Beaumont Army Medical Center, El Paso, Texas, who supports an inte- grative approach in the treatment of PTSD in post-deployment soldiers. Dr. Fortunato saw a benefit in CAM modalities and believed that the use of CAM therapies in conjunction with standard Western protocols would provide the best treatment approach. He was inspired to develop the program by his frustration at seeing soldiers with PTSD who had difficulty coping forced out of the military against their wishes. Dr. Fortunato was convinced that the traditional methods of treating PTSD were not long enough in duration and were not intense or comprehensive enough.
This integrative approach treats many of the symptoms of PTSD that are not addressed through standard mental health protocols that include cognitive-behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy. Dr. Fortunato’s concept eventually led to the implementation of the Ft. Bliss Restoration & Resilience Center, incorporating massage therapy, pool therapy, expressive art therapy, meditation, yoga, acupuncture, marital/family therapy and reiki with the standard treatment protocols of cognitive-behavioral & cathartic psychothera- pies and pharmacotherapy.
But that didn't work either considering this came out in 2010
As a Brigade Returns Safe, Some Meet New Enemies
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
Published: July 13, 2010
FORT BLISS, Tex. — The soldiers of the Fourth Brigade, First Armored Division, have been home from Iraq for three months now, the danger of snipers and roadside bombs no longer a threat, the war for them over.
But the odds that some of them will die violent deaths continues, so just as he did when his battalion was operating in Iraq, Command Sgt. Maj. Sa’eed Mustafa constantly warns his soldiers about the perils of letting their guard down where they are supposed to be safest — in their own homes.
“We talk about the enemy here, which is different from the enemy downrange, but which is just as deadly,” he said, using the military term used for a combat zone.
In fact, given the brigade’s record at Fort Bliss of suicide, murder, assault, drunken driving and drug use, its troops are statistically at greater risk at home than while deployed in Iraq. During the past year, only one of the unit’s soldiers died in combat, but in 2008, the last time the brigade was home from Iraq, seven soldiers were killed and six others committed crimes in which at least four civilians and soldiers from outside the brigade died in a little more than a year.
What actually does work is a long list because there is no one size fits all in any of this. What does not work is telling them it is their fault because they didn't train right and are weak minded. It does not work to call the dead selfish because they ran out of hope of getting the help they needed to heal from where they've been especially when they cared so much about the men they were deployed with to push their pain aside for as long as they were in danger and wait until they returned back to the states to allow themselves to feel it all. It does not work when someone in Pittard's position cannot manage to see any of this and then blame others for taking what he wrote out of context!
also
Major General Dana Pittard blames soldiers for suicides?
General Pittard, was Marine Clay Hunt selfish too?
General Pittard retracts "selfish suicide" statement
Command Sgt. Major charged with lying about service in Vietnam
Prosecutors: Soldier lied about Purple Hearts, military combat
By the CNN Wire Staff
Wed June 6, 2012
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
William John Roy is charged with defrauding the VA and the Department of Defense
An indictment accuses him of lying to obtain $57,000 in benefits
Prosecutors say Roy said he fought in Vietnam, receiving two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star
Investigation reveals he had been in Germany in a noncombat role, prosecutors say
(CNN) -- A U.S. Army command sergeant major who authorities accuse of lying about receiving Purple Hearts for bravery during combat and making false claims about fighting in Vietnam and Afghanistan was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday.
William John Roy, 57, is charged with seven felony counts of defrauding the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense, prosecutors said.
The indictment accuses the Winchester, California, resident of using "bogus military documentation" in applications that allowed him to receive $27,000 in disability benefits for himself and $30,000 in educational benefits for his daughter.
"In the documents, Roy falsely claimed that in 1974 he served as a combat medic in Vietnam in a special forces unit and was twice injured in combat. With false records that purported to detail his bravery during combat incidents in Vietnam, Roy further claimed he was awarded two Purple Hearts, as well as a Bronze Star for valor," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said.
Prosecutors said that an investigation revealed Roy had been in Germany in a noncombat role during the time when he claimed to be fighting in Vietnam.
red more here
also
Stolen Valor soldier indicted on federal charges
By the CNN Wire Staff
Wed June 6, 2012
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
William John Roy is charged with defrauding the VA and the Department of Defense
An indictment accuses him of lying to obtain $57,000 in benefits
Prosecutors say Roy said he fought in Vietnam, receiving two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star
Investigation reveals he had been in Germany in a noncombat role, prosecutors say
(CNN) -- A U.S. Army command sergeant major who authorities accuse of lying about receiving Purple Hearts for bravery during combat and making false claims about fighting in Vietnam and Afghanistan was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday.
William John Roy, 57, is charged with seven felony counts of defrauding the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense, prosecutors said.
The indictment accuses the Winchester, California, resident of using "bogus military documentation" in applications that allowed him to receive $27,000 in disability benefits for himself and $30,000 in educational benefits for his daughter.
"In the documents, Roy falsely claimed that in 1974 he served as a combat medic in Vietnam in a special forces unit and was twice injured in combat. With false records that purported to detail his bravery during combat incidents in Vietnam, Roy further claimed he was awarded two Purple Hearts, as well as a Bronze Star for valor," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said.
Prosecutors said that an investigation revealed Roy had been in Germany in a noncombat role during the time when he claimed to be fighting in Vietnam.
red more here
also
Stolen Valor soldier indicted on federal charges
Another Weapon for Fighting Fear, again?
This is based on a small study but it could be useful for someone out there. As the article points out, "treatment does not work for everyone" and you should keep trying until you find what works best for you. Medications are different person to person because what works for your buddy may not work for you. Treatment is different as well. Some do great in group sessions while others need one-on-one. It all depends on you. Keep looking for "your space" in all of this and talk to your doctor if what you're getting is not helping.
Another Weapon for Fighting Fear
PTSD exposure therapy treatment enhanced by d cycloserine drug
Reviewed By: Joseph V. Madia, MD
By: Tara Haelle
Published: Jun 8, 2012
(dailyRx)
While exposure therapy remains the first line of defense for post-traumatic stress disorder, it remains an imperfect treatment. But an inexpensive drug may enhance its effectiveness.
A recent study has found some evidence that patients experiencing especially severe PTSD may respond better to psychotherapy if they supplement it with the drug D-cycloserine.
Dr. Rianne de Kleine, of the Radboud University Nijmegen Behavioral Science Institute and Center for Anxiety Disorders Overwaal in the Netherlands, led the study to see if it was possible to improve exposure therapy outcomes for patients suffering from PTSD.
Exposure therapy involves repeatedly exposing a person to thinking about, discussing or even experiencing the traumatic events that caused their PTSD in a safe place.
The goal is for people to begin associating those traumatic experiences with a safer environment as they get used to living with their memories and for the memories to lose their power over the person.
The treatment works, but it doesn't work for everyone. Many people drop out of psychotherapy, and others' symptoms persist. read more here
Bikers "Ride Around the Clock" for PTSD awareness
The motorcyclists are riding to raise awareness of PTSD
(WTOP/Max Smith)
Meghin Moore, special to wtop.com
Saturday - 6/9/2012
ARLINGTON, Va. - About a dozen motorcycle riders roared out of the parking lot by the Air Force Memorial Saturday morning to start a 24-hour ride to raise awareness for the war wounds never seen, namely post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain Injury.
Pentagon statistics released Friday show suicides of active duty troops are at the highest rate in the last decade of war, and the groups involved in the "Ride Around the Clock" want to reach out to veterans and their families to give them extra support.
read more here
(WTOP/Max Smith)
Meghin Moore, special to wtop.com
Saturday - 6/9/2012
ARLINGTON, Va. - About a dozen motorcycle riders roared out of the parking lot by the Air Force Memorial Saturday morning to start a 24-hour ride to raise awareness for the war wounds never seen, namely post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain Injury.
Pentagon statistics released Friday show suicides of active duty troops are at the highest rate in the last decade of war, and the groups involved in the "Ride Around the Clock" want to reach out to veterans and their families to give them extra support.
read more here
"Momma Medic" saved by PTSD service dog
Options expand for wounded as more heal PTSD with alternative treatments
By MATTHEW M. BURKE
Stars and Stripes
Published: June 9, 2012
Army Sgt. Angel Morrow watched as countless Marines and soldiers she knew were killed or maimed by improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan.
The woman they called “Momma Medic,” the medical readiness noncommissioned officer in charge of her Oregon National Guard unit, returned to the United States in 2010 and processed 650 soldiers, about 70 of which had “severe issues” from the deployment.
When one of her soldiers shot and killed himself outside her office, she started to break.
“I did everything I could for him,” she said.
She became reclusive, showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder: anxiety, anger, severe depression. She thought she was “going crazy” and took a medical leave of absence. A few months later, she resigned her active-duty position.
Veterans Affairs doctors prescribed her several different drugs that didn’t help. The two civilian counselors she saw did not understand military life.
Morrow might have become a suicide statistic — one of the 18 veterans who kill themselves every day on average — had she not found Bianca, a 70-pound pit bull.
read more here
By MATTHEW M. BURKE
Stars and Stripes
Published: June 9, 2012
Army Sgt. Angel Morrow watched as countless Marines and soldiers she knew were killed or maimed by improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan.
The woman they called “Momma Medic,” the medical readiness noncommissioned officer in charge of her Oregon National Guard unit, returned to the United States in 2010 and processed 650 soldiers, about 70 of which had “severe issues” from the deployment.
When one of her soldiers shot and killed himself outside her office, she started to break.
“I did everything I could for him,” she said.
She became reclusive, showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder: anxiety, anger, severe depression. She thought she was “going crazy” and took a medical leave of absence. A few months later, she resigned her active-duty position.
Veterans Affairs doctors prescribed her several different drugs that didn’t help. The two civilian counselors she saw did not understand military life.
Morrow might have become a suicide statistic — one of the 18 veterans who kill themselves every day on average — had she not found Bianca, a 70-pound pit bull.
read more here
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