The war inside
By Katie Burford
The Durango Herald
June 30, 2012
As a Marine stationed in Ramadi, Iraq, in 2007, Christian Warren spent his days and nights living among the Iraqis the Americans were trying to help. This meant delivering aid like a humanitarian but being ready at any moment to respond like a soldier should an attack occur.
That state of hypervigilance that served him in Iraq isn’t so useful now when Warren is studying for classes at Fort Lewis College, where he plans to major in adventure education.
Memories, flashes, sensations all flood in unbidden. Sleeplessness, anxiety and resignation result.
“Some days it becomes overwhelming, and I just break down for a day,” Warren said.
He has done counseling and group therapy and briefly found himself approaching dependence on painkillers. These days, his medicine is the outdoors, where he hikes and climbs.
The term used to describe this reaction, post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, has become part of the mainstream vernacular as vets like Warren stream home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Sunday, July 1, 2012
Thousands turn out for Iowa event honoring vets
Thousands turn out for Iowa event honoring vets
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jul 1, 2012
DES MOINES, Iowa — Several thousand people lined the streets of downtown Des Moines on Saturday for a parade honoring veterans and current members of the armed services.
Gov. Terry Branstad’s office organized the parade, which began at the state Capitol with a flyover of F-16 fighter jets. Branstad, who served in the Army from 1969 to 1971, also marched in the parade, wearing his old uniform.
Daryl Johnson, of Mason City, carried a POW/MIA flag as part of the parade’s color guard, the Des Moines Register reported. The 65-year-old Johnson, who served in the U.S. Army from May 1968 to 1971 and is a Vietnam veteran, said it was an honor to participate.
“It helps us recognize the extra pain and suffering that those individuals and their families go through,” Johnson said of the flag honoring prisoners of war and those missing in action.
The parade served another important function, Johnson said.
“As a Vietnam veteran, I certainly want to welcome back veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.
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The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jul 1, 2012
DES MOINES, Iowa — Several thousand people lined the streets of downtown Des Moines on Saturday for a parade honoring veterans and current members of the armed services.
Gov. Terry Branstad’s office organized the parade, which began at the state Capitol with a flyover of F-16 fighter jets. Branstad, who served in the Army from 1969 to 1971, also marched in the parade, wearing his old uniform.
Daryl Johnson, of Mason City, carried a POW/MIA flag as part of the parade’s color guard, the Des Moines Register reported. The 65-year-old Johnson, who served in the U.S. Army from May 1968 to 1971 and is a Vietnam veteran, said it was an honor to participate.
“It helps us recognize the extra pain and suffering that those individuals and their families go through,” Johnson said of the flag honoring prisoners of war and those missing in action.
The parade served another important function, Johnson said.
“As a Vietnam veteran, I certainly want to welcome back veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.
read more here
Military veterans find new firefight
Military veterans find new firefight
By PAUL FATTIG
The (Medford, Ore.) Mail Tribune
Published: June 30, 2012
Armed with a fire hose attached to a pump that's pulling water from a fold-a-tank, firefighter Jeff Darner kept a fire-drowning spray on the tree in front of him.
Behind him, fellow firefighters Charles Dusenberry and Michael Tucker worked to keep the engine running and the water flowing.
The men are veterans whose experience in the military will be counted on as members of Team 10, a U.S. Bureau of Land Management squad of wildland firefighters that includes 10 young military veterans on the 20-person team.
Based at the BLM's Medford District, the team has grown out of a nationwide program by Uncle Sam to put young veterans to work and on a career path.
It is one of three teams being organized in Oregon and Washington, including one in Klamath Falls and another in Spokane. Several other teams of young veterans are being mustered in California and Nevada.
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By PAUL FATTIG
The (Medford, Ore.) Mail Tribune
Published: June 30, 2012
Armed with a fire hose attached to a pump that's pulling water from a fold-a-tank, firefighter Jeff Darner kept a fire-drowning spray on the tree in front of him.
Behind him, fellow firefighters Charles Dusenberry and Michael Tucker worked to keep the engine running and the water flowing.
The men are veterans whose experience in the military will be counted on as members of Team 10, a U.S. Bureau of Land Management squad of wildland firefighters that includes 10 young military veterans on the 20-person team.
Based at the BLM's Medford District, the team has grown out of a nationwide program by Uncle Sam to put young veterans to work and on a career path.
It is one of three teams being organized in Oregon and Washington, including one in Klamath Falls and another in Spokane. Several other teams of young veterans are being mustered in California and Nevada.
read more here
A community mourns slain Guardsmen
A community mourns slain Guardsmen
Thousands pay their respects to 2 of the guardsmen killed in Afghanistan
By MINDY LUCAS and NOELLE PHILLIPS
First Lt. Ryan Rawl and Sgt. John David Meador II shared a lot in life and in death. Both graduated from Lexington High School. Both wrestled. Both worked in law enforcement. Both were married with children. Both volunteered for the S.C. National Guard. Both deployed to Afghanistan in November with the 133rd Military Police Company.
Both died June 20 when a suicide bomber attacked their unit while they were conducting a security checkpoint in Khost, Afghanistan.
Rawl’s and Meador’s funerals were held eight miles apart, both at 10 a.m. Saturday. The services drew thousands of mourners, who endured scorching heat to pay respects to the soldiers and their families.
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Thousands pay their respects to 2 of the guardsmen killed in Afghanistan
By MINDY LUCAS and NOELLE PHILLIPS
Sgt. John David "J.D." Meador II 's mother, Sharon Meador and brothers, James Meador, center, and Michael Meador, comfort each other during the graveside service. Meador was buried at Fort Jackson National Cemetery on June 30, 2012, with full military honors. - Rob Thompson /RTHOMPSON@THESTATE.COM
First Lt. Ryan Rawl and Sgt. John David Meador II shared a lot in life and in death. Both graduated from Lexington High School. Both wrestled. Both worked in law enforcement. Both were married with children. Both volunteered for the S.C. National Guard. Both deployed to Afghanistan in November with the 133rd Military Police Company.
Both died June 20 when a suicide bomber attacked their unit while they were conducting a security checkpoint in Khost, Afghanistan.
Rawl’s and Meador’s funerals were held eight miles apart, both at 10 a.m. Saturday. The services drew thousands of mourners, who endured scorching heat to pay respects to the soldiers and their families.
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Camp Lejeune Marine survives blast, inspires brothers
Marine survives blast, inspires brothers
By Cpl. Jeff Drew
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
June 27, 2012
2nd Marine Division
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. – “I was looking at Simone when it went off and where he was standing was just a big dust cloud,” Sgt. Bjorn Cantrell said. “Then we heard Simone scream out to us he was hurt.”
The morning of Aug. 24, 2011, began with the Marines of 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, preparing to step out on a blocking mission. They were tasked with protecting engineers along Route 611 in Sangin, Helmand province, Afghanistan, as they repaired a wall damaged by a roadside bomb. Not long after they were in place, 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Adrian Simone, carrying 110 pounds of ammunition, water and equipment – nearly his own bodyweight – stepped on a pressure plate and changed the course of his life indefinitely.
“I was standing over the (improvised explosive device), I bent down and heard a pop, not loud at all, then felt the concussion,” Simone said as he retold his experience. “There wasn’t any immediate pain. I remember seeing my legs fly off, because they were amputated right there. I came back to and heard the ‘EEEEE’ sound as the dust was settling. I was in a hole and I knew I had to get out so I started to climb out and realized my muscles were shot. I couldn’t move so I started screaming for help.”
Cantrell, Simone’s squad leader, rushed to his aid, applying tourniquets to his legs alongside squad members Lance Cpl. Cory Mays and Lance Cpl. Pat Sutton. The Marines began to treat him for shock and, when the corpsman arrived, he was given morphine for the pain.
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By Cpl. Jeff Drew
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
June 27, 2012
2nd Marine Division
“In Afghanistan, life is simple: you either die that day or you don’t die that day. You just do your job. When you go to a place like Sangin with a ton of IEDs, you have to put the thought in your mind you might die today. You can’t think about it, you can’t care about it, you just need to do your job. If you step on an IED then well, you step on an IED and hopefully you won’t lose that much. But, it’s a possibility. This is war.”
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. – “I was looking at Simone when it went off and where he was standing was just a big dust cloud,” Sgt. Bjorn Cantrell said. “Then we heard Simone scream out to us he was hurt.”
The morning of Aug. 24, 2011, began with the Marines of 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, preparing to step out on a blocking mission. They were tasked with protecting engineers along Route 611 in Sangin, Helmand province, Afghanistan, as they repaired a wall damaged by a roadside bomb. Not long after they were in place, 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Adrian Simone, carrying 110 pounds of ammunition, water and equipment – nearly his own bodyweight – stepped on a pressure plate and changed the course of his life indefinitely.
“I was standing over the (improvised explosive device), I bent down and heard a pop, not loud at all, then felt the concussion,” Simone said as he retold his experience. “There wasn’t any immediate pain. I remember seeing my legs fly off, because they were amputated right there. I came back to and heard the ‘EEEEE’ sound as the dust was settling. I was in a hole and I knew I had to get out so I started to climb out and realized my muscles were shot. I couldn’t move so I started screaming for help.”
Cantrell, Simone’s squad leader, rushed to his aid, applying tourniquets to his legs alongside squad members Lance Cpl. Cory Mays and Lance Cpl. Pat Sutton. The Marines began to treat him for shock and, when the corpsman arrived, he was given morphine for the pain.
read more here
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