Twenty States File Settlement To Shut Down Veterans Services Website
June 27, 2012
by Daniela Perallon
WHNT News
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) – Twenty states, including Alabama, will be reaping the benefits of the $2.5 million settlement filed against QuinStreet, Inc. on Wednesday.
The company runs GIBill.com, a website aiming to help veterans make sense of their benefits, but is accused of misleading and deceiving users by directing them to for-profit clients.
“It’s really tragic that organizations would intentionally be deceptive and take advantage of veterans,” said William Webb, a spokesperson for Still Serving Veterans in Huntsville.
read more here
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Veterans comfort dying Vietnam vet
Veterans comfort dying Vietnam vet
Posted: Jun 27, 2012
By Bob Hallmark
GREGG COUNTY, TX
(KLTV)
A small group of Vietnam veterans gather every Wednesday in Longview to be with a fellow veteran, in the final days of his life with an effort they call the Donut Club.
He was a staunch advocate of Vietnam veterans issues in Gregg County for decades, but life has taken mobility away from Navy Vietnam veteran Brad Bemis.
"Its very frustrating, I used to love working in my yard, now its full of weeds I can't even mow my own yard. I can't walk more than about 20 feet before being out of breath," Bemis says.
A 20 year Navy veteran, Bemis is visited twice a week by the Donut Club, his fellow Vietnam vets.
Bemis has stage four emphysema, and is tethered on oxygen 24/7.
These gatherings mean everything to him.
"Means the world to me," he says.
read more here
Posted: Jun 27, 2012
By Bob Hallmark
GREGG COUNTY, TX
(KLTV)
A small group of Vietnam veterans gather every Wednesday in Longview to be with a fellow veteran, in the final days of his life with an effort they call the Donut Club.
He was a staunch advocate of Vietnam veterans issues in Gregg County for decades, but life has taken mobility away from Navy Vietnam veteran Brad Bemis.
"Its very frustrating, I used to love working in my yard, now its full of weeds I can't even mow my own yard. I can't walk more than about 20 feet before being out of breath," Bemis says.
A 20 year Navy veteran, Bemis is visited twice a week by the Donut Club, his fellow Vietnam vets.
Bemis has stage four emphysema, and is tethered on oxygen 24/7.
These gatherings mean everything to him.
"Means the world to me," he says.
read more here
Orlando VFW Medal Ceremony
Orlando VFW Medal Ceremony
With the help of Senator Nelson's office, the Orlando VFW was able to get medals to veterans they had not received when they should have. A WWII veteran and others were presented their awards including a Vietnam Veteran getting two Bronze Stars! The ceremony had to be moved because the fire department wouldn't let people inside the post after smoke was detected on June 23, 2012.
With the help of Senator Nelson's office, the Orlando VFW was able to get medals to veterans they had not received when they should have. A WWII veteran and others were presented their awards including a Vietnam Veteran getting two Bronze Stars! The ceremony had to be moved because the fire department wouldn't let people inside the post after smoke was detected on June 23, 2012.
Three Families Unite to Raise $30-Million for Aid to Veterans
Three Families Unite to Raise $30-Million for Aid to Veterans
June 27, 2012
By Maria Di Mento
Three affluent families are forming a fund with the purpose of raising $30-million to support programs that serve military veterans, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America announced today.
The families have donated more than $1-million and plan to seek contributions especially from other wealthy people, including those without personal connections to any service members.
Philip Green, president of PDG Consulting, a health-care consultancy, and his wife, Elizabeth Cobbs, chief of geriatrics at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C., joined with their friends Glenn and Laurie Garland and with the Jim Stimmel family to create the fund, Mr. Green said in an interview with The Chronicle.
The money raised for the new Veterans Support Fund will be funneled to five nonprofits that help returning service members and their families.
In addition to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which will operate the fund and conduct fundraising for it, the other beneficiaries include the National Military Family Association, Operation Homefront, Operation Mend, and the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.
read more here
June 27, 2012
By Maria Di Mento
Three affluent families are forming a fund with the purpose of raising $30-million to support programs that serve military veterans, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America announced today.
The families have donated more than $1-million and plan to seek contributions especially from other wealthy people, including those without personal connections to any service members.
Philip Green, president of PDG Consulting, a health-care consultancy, and his wife, Elizabeth Cobbs, chief of geriatrics at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C., joined with their friends Glenn and Laurie Garland and with the Jim Stimmel family to create the fund, Mr. Green said in an interview with The Chronicle.
The money raised for the new Veterans Support Fund will be funneled to five nonprofits that help returning service members and their families.
In addition to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which will operate the fund and conduct fundraising for it, the other beneficiaries include the National Military Family Association, Operation Homefront, Operation Mend, and the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.
read more here
Neighbors oppose plans for Calif. PTSD center
Neighbors oppose plans for Calif. PTSD center
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jun 27, 2012
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego City Council delayed voting Tuesday on a controversial plan to open a 40-bed treatment center for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder across the street from a charter elementary school.
City officials decided to hold off until negotiations wrap up between the Old Town Academy’s attorney, Cynthia Morgan, and the Department of Veteran Affairs medical director in San Diego, Jeffrey Gering.
read more here
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jun 27, 2012
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego City Council delayed voting Tuesday on a controversial plan to open a 40-bed treatment center for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder across the street from a charter elementary school.
City officials decided to hold off until negotiations wrap up between the Old Town Academy’s attorney, Cynthia Morgan, and the Department of Veteran Affairs medical director in San Diego, Jeffrey Gering.
read more here
Wounded Iraq war vet paroled, will receive treatment for PTSD
Wounded Iraq war vet paroled, will receive treatment
BY PETER E. BORTNER
STAFF WRITER
Republican Herald.com
Published: June 28, 2012
Jonathan T. Porter received another chance Tuesday in Schuylkill County Court to recover from both the physical and emotional wounds he suffered while in combat in Iraq.
"Thank you, Your Honor. I'm not too far gone," Porter told President Judge William E. Baldwin after being paroled for a second time on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. "I just want to be the person I was before this."
"This" consisted of two tours of duty as a combat medic beginning in 2004 in Iraq, climaxing in one terrible day that changed his life forever.
"I was blown up while riding in a Humvee," testified Porter, 27, of Pottsville.
As a result, he received his second Purple Heart, the medal awarded to troops who are wounded in combat, but also a shove down the dark road of disability, post-traumatic stress disorder and drug addiction, the dual diagnosis for which he must receive help as a condition of his parole.
"I'm on nine medications," after never having had a problem with either drugs or alcohol before his military service, Porter said. "I haven't been idle in trying to deal with my addiction."
One benefit he did receive from his service was the opportunity to meet President Obama.
"Obama shook my hand and said, 'We need more soldiers like you'," Porter recalled.
However, neither meeting Obama nor the Purple Hearts helped Porter overcome PTSD, drug addiction or the traumatic brain injury that has left him permanently disabled.
read more here
BY PETER E. BORTNER
STAFF WRITER
Republican Herald.com
Published: June 28, 2012
Jonathan T. Porter received another chance Tuesday in Schuylkill County Court to recover from both the physical and emotional wounds he suffered while in combat in Iraq.
"Thank you, Your Honor. I'm not too far gone," Porter told President Judge William E. Baldwin after being paroled for a second time on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. "I just want to be the person I was before this."
"This" consisted of two tours of duty as a combat medic beginning in 2004 in Iraq, climaxing in one terrible day that changed his life forever.
"I was blown up while riding in a Humvee," testified Porter, 27, of Pottsville.
As a result, he received his second Purple Heart, the medal awarded to troops who are wounded in combat, but also a shove down the dark road of disability, post-traumatic stress disorder and drug addiction, the dual diagnosis for which he must receive help as a condition of his parole.
"I'm on nine medications," after never having had a problem with either drugs or alcohol before his military service, Porter said. "I haven't been idle in trying to deal with my addiction."
One benefit he did receive from his service was the opportunity to meet President Obama.
"Obama shook my hand and said, 'We need more soldiers like you'," Porter recalled.
However, neither meeting Obama nor the Purple Hearts helped Porter overcome PTSD, drug addiction or the traumatic brain injury that has left him permanently disabled.
read more here
Brush fire at Camp Pendleton 90 percent contained
Brush fire at Camp Pendleton 90 percent contained
June 27, 2012
A fire that has burned nearly 400 acres poses no threats to buildings or residents, base officials reported.
By SALVADOR HERNANDEZ and SEAN EMERY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
CAMP PENDLETON – A fire that has burned nearly 400 acres in a remote part of the Marine base is 90 percent contained, base officials said.
The fire was first seen about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, about 3 miles northwest of the Marine Corps Air Station. Since then, the fire has burned about 395 acres.
read more here
June 27, 2012
A fire that has burned nearly 400 acres poses no threats to buildings or residents, base officials reported.
By SALVADOR HERNANDEZ and SEAN EMERY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
CAMP PENDLETON – A fire that has burned nearly 400 acres in a remote part of the Marine base is 90 percent contained, base officials said.
The fire was first seen about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, about 3 miles northwest of the Marine Corps Air Station. Since then, the fire has burned about 395 acres.
read more here
Fort Carson scrambled to build fire breaks
Fire Forces Air Force Academy to Evacuate
Jun 28, 2012
UPI
Army combat engineers rushed to stop a major wildfire that left tens of thousands of people homeless, from consuming the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
The military school for officer candidates relocated about 550 cadets off academy grounds Wednesday night, 200 new cadets were moved to the University of Colorado's
Colorado Springs campus and 350 moved in with local sponsor families, the Army said.
Commanders suspended all training programs as an engineer battalion from the Army's Fort Carson near Colorado Springs scrambled to build fire breaks around the 18,500-acre school's boundaries.
The Army, which initially committed 121 troops, along with construction and demolition equipment, to helping the Academy -- said in a statement Fort Carson would devote as much resources as it had to fighting the Waldo Canyon fire, which doubled in size Wednesday and blackened more than 30 square miles by Thursday morning.
An aerial photograph taken Wednesday and published in The Denver Post Thursday showed approximately 300 homes, all of them inside the Colorado Springs city limits, evidently reduced to charred rubble.
read more here
also
News: Fort Carson assists displaced service members, Families
Jun 28, 2012
UPI
Army combat engineers rushed to stop a major wildfire that left tens of thousands of people homeless, from consuming the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
The military school for officer candidates relocated about 550 cadets off academy grounds Wednesday night, 200 new cadets were moved to the University of Colorado's
Colorado Springs campus and 350 moved in with local sponsor families, the Army said.
Commanders suspended all training programs as an engineer battalion from the Army's Fort Carson near Colorado Springs scrambled to build fire breaks around the 18,500-acre school's boundaries.
The Army, which initially committed 121 troops, along with construction and demolition equipment, to helping the Academy -- said in a statement Fort Carson would devote as much resources as it had to fighting the Waldo Canyon fire, which doubled in size Wednesday and blackened more than 30 square miles by Thursday morning.
An aerial photograph taken Wednesday and published in The Denver Post Thursday showed approximately 300 homes, all of them inside the Colorado Springs city limits, evidently reduced to charred rubble.
read more here
also
News: Fort Carson assists displaced service members, Families
Supreme Court says you can lie about valor
Update July 1, 2012
What bothers me is this Stolen Valor ruling. This court does not support the military and that is now very clear. First it was the right of Westboro hate group to protest at military funerals, thus giving them the right to single out families and stalk them when they are simply trying to bury a family member who gave their lives for this country. Now they gave the right to people to lie about being a hero.
Some say it is not a big deal because sooner or later these people are proven to be liars. The problem is what happens before the "later" comes and they have swindled generous people out of a lot of money. The American people are generous and while they hear little about the servicemen and women, when they do, they rush to help those in need. Knowing someone can no legally lie about being wounded in combat or being awarded the highest honors in this country will cause them to think longer and harder about doing anything for anyone.
UPDATE 1:25 pm est
From Stars and Stripes
Veterans respond to court overturning lying lawUPDATE The mandate to buy health insurance coverage was a no-brainer since we already have one and if you look at your pay stub, you see the deduction for it.
Published July 01, 2012
Associated Press
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Jack Jacobs can proudly — and truthfully — say he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor in Vietnam. After a recent Supreme Court ruling, anyone else is free under the First Amendment to make the same claim, whether it's true or not.
Some military veterans say they consider the ruling a slap in the face. For Jacobs, though, it was the right decision. He said he wore the uniform to protect people's rights — even if he doesn't agree with how they exercise those rights.
"There are lots of things people do that revolt me, but I'm happy that I fought for this country not to give them the right to do something stupid, but for the majority of the people to do the right thing," said Jacobs, 66, who earned the Medal of Honor in 1969 for carrying several of his buddies to safety from a shelled rice field despite the shrapnel wounds in his head, the streaming blood clouding his vision.
"I'm a free speech guy," he said.
read more here
What bothers me is this Stolen Valor ruling. This court does not support the military and that is now very clear. First it was the right of Westboro hate group to protest at military funerals, thus giving them the right to single out families and stalk them when they are simply trying to bury a family member who gave their lives for this country. Now they gave the right to people to lie about being a hero.
Some say it is not a big deal because sooner or later these people are proven to be liars. The problem is what happens before the "later" comes and they have swindled generous people out of a lot of money. The American people are generous and while they hear little about the servicemen and women, when they do, they rush to help those in need. Knowing someone can no legally lie about being wounded in combat or being awarded the highest honors in this country will cause them to think longer and harder about doing anything for anyone.
Opinion 1 is out.
Court rules in favor of man who lied about receiving the medal of honor.
Court says lies protected by 1st amendment.
28 Jun 12
At issue is the constitutional value of false statements of fact, and whether Congress went too far when passing the Stolen Valor Act in 2006.
The Supreme Court ruling effectively has thrown out the Stolen Valor act, a federal law that would make it a crime to lie about receiving certain military honors.
Some justices expressed concerns during February arguments that the act could "chill" other types of speech, while others said they felt the law was narrowly tailored and preserved the integrity of military honors.
also
Supreme Court upholds entire health care law
June 28th, 2012
Editor's note: We're live blogging from the Supreme Court today as the nation waits to see how the justices will rule on the health care law. You can follow along below as CNN Supreme Court Producer Bill Mears and Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin get the latest details live from the court as well as analysis when the opinion is delivered.
[Updated at 10:16 a.m. ET] Kate Bolduan reports that the Chief Justice John Roberts issued a long opinion in which he said the controversial individual mandate may be upheld and is within Congress’ power under the taxing clause rather than the commerce clause.
[Updated at 10:15 a.m. ET] The Supreme Court has upheld the entire health care law by a vote of 5 to 4, Supreme Court Producer Bill Mears said. That includes the medicare provision
[Updated at 10:06 a.m. ET] In a landmark decision that will impact the nation for decades, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a key provision of President Barack Obama's health care law, ruling that requiring people to have health insurance violates the Constitution.
Chief Justice John Roberts had noted that however that the mandate would have been struck down based on the commerce clause , saying it would "open a new and vast domain" for Congressional power.
read more here
UPDATE 1:25 pm est
From Stars and Stripes
2 minutes ago
Supreme Court strikes down Stolen Valor Act
By CHRIS CARROLL
Stars and Stripes
Published: June 28, 2012
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday tossed out a 2006 law making it a federal misdemeanor to lie about receiving a military service medal, but left the door open for Congress to try again with a more finely tuned law.
In a 6-3 ruling, the court said the Stolen Valor Act violated First Amendment free-speech protections, ruling in favor of Xavier Alvarez, a California man prosecuted for false claims in 2007 that he had received the Medal of Honor.
Alvarez, a former member of the Three Valleys Municipal Water District Board, speaking at his first meeting as a board member, said: “I’m a retired Marine of 25 years. I retired in the year 2001. Back in 1987, I was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. I got wounded many times by the same guy.”
read more here
Community rallies behind wounded Maine soldier
Community rallies behind wounded Maine soldier
Jun 27, 2012
Written by
Sarah Delage
LIVERMORE FALLS, Maine (NEWS CENTER)
The community is rallying behind a local family whose daughter was critically injured in a suicide bomber attack in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Helaina Lake is being treated at Walter Reed hospital near Washington D.C. Lake's mother, Jeannine Lake, is heading to D.C. to see her daughter for the first time since last Wednesday's attack. She has had brief conversations with her daughter over the phone, and has said that she is in a lot of pain, and just wants to be reunited with her family, especially her two year-old son Aden.
During the bombing, Sergeant Lake was hit with shrapnel and ball bearings on the right side of her body. She was in a medically-induced coma until Monday morning as doctors performed several surgeries and worked to control her pain.
read more here
Jun 27, 2012
Written by
Sarah Delage
LIVERMORE FALLS, Maine (NEWS CENTER)
The community is rallying behind a local family whose daughter was critically injured in a suicide bomber attack in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Helaina Lake is being treated at Walter Reed hospital near Washington D.C. Lake's mother, Jeannine Lake, is heading to D.C. to see her daughter for the first time since last Wednesday's attack. She has had brief conversations with her daughter over the phone, and has said that she is in a lot of pain, and just wants to be reunited with her family, especially her two year-old son Aden.
During the bombing, Sergeant Lake was hit with shrapnel and ball bearings on the right side of her body. She was in a medically-induced coma until Monday morning as doctors performed several surgeries and worked to control her pain.
read more here
Disrespect for Vietnam vets is fact, not fiction
There are stories of Vietnam veterans coming home, pretty much ignored by the general public. There are other stories of them being spit on or beaten. The truth is, both. It depended on when they came home and where they came home to.
I interviewed Sammy Davis and he told the story of what happened to him when he came home. He was beaten among other things, after his actions as a Pfc. saved lives and he earned the Medal of Honor. After being beaten, Sammy turned around and joined the National Guards.
Disrespect for Vietnam vets is fact, not fiction
Article by: BOB FEIST
June 26, 2012
Spitting stories, while true, aren't the point. But denial of what we suffered dishonors us again. Counterpoint
I am a combat-disabled Army veteran who served in Vietnam in 1968-69. I was infantry, in the field, fighting the most misunderstood and unpopular war in American history.
I've studied the history, and I've lived it.
And David Sirota is wrong about the history and policies of that war and about the treatment of returning military men and women ("The myth of the spat-upon war veteran," June 8).
Contrary to protesters' claims, then and now, the Vietnam War did not begin without good reasons. It was a direct result of the 1945 Yalta Conference, where Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill agreed to abandon the Vietnamese (who had helped defeat the Japanese in World War II) and give all of Indo-China back to the French. Despite U.S. economic support and military advisers, the French lost the ensuing Vietnamese independence struggle and withdrew from all of Indo-China. Vietnam ended up divided.
In the era when the North Vietnamese invaded the South, the world was facing Russian colonialism, the spread of communism, nuclear arms, the Cuban missile crisis and other threats to world peace. We fought to "contain" communist aggression and adopted the "domino theory," believing that if one country in a region fell, the rest would.
Although the history of the past 50 years is complex, it's fair to observe that the spread of communism has been contained.
We need to remember that it was the South Vietnamese government that lost their war, not the much-maligned American soldier. American service members did not suffer defeat, even though most of us felt defeated. Policy and politics out of Washington had failed, not the military.
read more here
I interviewed Sammy Davis and he told the story of what happened to him when he came home. He was beaten among other things, after his actions as a Pfc. saved lives and he earned the Medal of Honor. After being beaten, Sammy turned around and joined the National Guards.
At the Orlando Nam Knights fundraiser for Homes For Our Troops, Vietnam Veteran and Medal of Honor hero Sammy Davis talked to me about what it was like coming home after all he'd been through. It is a story few have heard before. As Sammy put it, it is one of the reasons no other veteran will ever come home treated like that again.
Timothy couldn't believe the brave soldier he worshipped shot himself on purpose
Soldier's son on a mission to help others after father's suicide
He has a message for other grieving military children
By Lindsay Wise
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Timothy Swenson was 6 years old when his father, a soldier, died by suicide at Fort Hood. Thinking to spare the little boy, his mother told him that Daddy had died of a heart attack.
But Timothy's grandparents, who had been taking care of him at their home in Humble, wanted to be as open as possible. They told him the truth.
"He didn't believe us," said his grandmother, Judi Swenson. "He said, 'Nobody was in the apartment when he died. Nobody knows. I know he didn't commit suicide.' "
It took Timothy years to come to terms with how his father died. Now 13 and a student at Timberwood Middle School, he wants to help other grieving military kids heal.
"Let your feelings out. And just, like, don't hide it," Timothy advises. "Don't keep it to yourself."
For adults, he has this message: "Suicide is not the answer."
Timothy's father, Spc. David Paul Swenson Jr., served in the U.S. Army and Texas Army National Guard. He is among a record number of Guard members, reservists and active-duty service members who have killed themselves in the decade since the start of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Their children, like Timothy, grow up grappling with a complicated legacy of patriotism and pain.
"Timmy was extremely close to his daddy," Judi said. "His daddy was his hero."
read more here
He has a message for other grieving military children
By Lindsay Wise
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Timothy couldn't believe that the brave soldier he worshipped had shot himself on purpose.
When his father returned from Iraq in 2004, Timothy, dressed in a mini version of a miliatry uniform, welcomed him home. Photo: Karen Warren / © 2012 Houston Chronicle
Timothy Swenson was 6 years old when his father, a soldier, died by suicide at Fort Hood. Thinking to spare the little boy, his mother told him that Daddy had died of a heart attack.
But Timothy's grandparents, who had been taking care of him at their home in Humble, wanted to be as open as possible. They told him the truth.
"He didn't believe us," said his grandmother, Judi Swenson. "He said, 'Nobody was in the apartment when he died. Nobody knows. I know he didn't commit suicide.' "
It took Timothy years to come to terms with how his father died. Now 13 and a student at Timberwood Middle School, he wants to help other grieving military kids heal.
"Let your feelings out. And just, like, don't hide it," Timothy advises. "Don't keep it to yourself."
For adults, he has this message: "Suicide is not the answer."
Timothy's father, Spc. David Paul Swenson Jr., served in the U.S. Army and Texas Army National Guard. He is among a record number of Guard members, reservists and active-duty service members who have killed themselves in the decade since the start of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Their children, like Timothy, grow up grappling with a complicated legacy of patriotism and pain.
"Timmy was extremely close to his daddy," Judi said. "His daddy was his hero."
read more here
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
States’ Attorneys General Action A Victory for Veterans and the GI Bill
States’ Attorneys General Action A Victory for Veterans and the GI Bill
WASHINGTON (June 27, 2012) – Officials of the Department of Veterans Affairs applauded a decision by the attorneys general of several states to give VA the rights to use the GIBill.Com website, after the website’s original owners QuinStreet Inc. agreed to give up the internet site to settle a lawsuit by the states.
“This action is a victory for Veterans and a victory for the GI Bill. Veterans and VA applaud the great work by the states’ attorneys general, along with Holly Petraeus and her team,” said W. Scott Gould, Deputy Secretary for Veterans Affairs. “We all want Veterans to be informed consumers and for schools to meet their obligations in training this Nation’s next ‘Greatest Generation.’”
Holly Petraeus is assistant director for service member affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The attorneys general of several states had sued QuinStreet Inc., the owner of the GI Bill.com domain, charging it with deceptive practices by directing Veterans and Service Members on its website exclusively to for-profit schools that were clients of QuinStreet.
The announcement comes as VA is seeking legal authority to trademark the term GI Bill. An executive order by President Obama on April 26 directed VA and the Department of Defense to undertake a number of measures to “stop deceptive and misleading” promotional efforts that target the GI Bill educational benefits of Service members, Veterans, and eligible family members and survivors.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill, which was authorized by Congress in 2008, is the most extensive educational assistance program since the original GI Bill was signed into law in 1944. VA has issued nearly $20 billion in Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit payments to more than 759,000 people and their educational institutions.
All of VA's education benefits are designed to be flexible and give Veterans the power of choice by enabling them to pursue college degrees, technical certifications, or vocational training according to their preferences and needs, at public, private non-profit and private for-profit schools.
For-profit schools are held to the same approval standards as all other schools, and VA education programs at for-profit institutions are approved by the State Approving Agencies, which act independently on behalf of the federal government to ensure quality education and training is provided to Veterans within each state.
Gould said Veterans should not be recruited aggressively by institutions principally because of financial motives, and that VA’s and other federal and state agencies’ oversight activities provide strong monitoring. VA is engaging with other federal agencies to provide this oversight, including the departments of Defense, Education, and Justice, as well as the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
“VA looks forward to helping Veterans make informed decisions by accepting this gift of the GIBill.com domain. We will continue to support our Veterans by helping them obtain the best education of their choosing—a right for which they have bravely served, and which they have rightly earned,” Gould said.
For more information on GI Bill programs, please visit www.GIBILL.va.gov or call 1-888-GI-Bill-1 (1-888-442-4551) to speak with a GI Bill representative.
WASHINGTON (June 27, 2012) – Officials of the Department of Veterans Affairs applauded a decision by the attorneys general of several states to give VA the rights to use the GIBill.Com website, after the website’s original owners QuinStreet Inc. agreed to give up the internet site to settle a lawsuit by the states.
“This action is a victory for Veterans and a victory for the GI Bill. Veterans and VA applaud the great work by the states’ attorneys general, along with Holly Petraeus and her team,” said W. Scott Gould, Deputy Secretary for Veterans Affairs. “We all want Veterans to be informed consumers and for schools to meet their obligations in training this Nation’s next ‘Greatest Generation.’”
Holly Petraeus is assistant director for service member affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The attorneys general of several states had sued QuinStreet Inc., the owner of the GI Bill.com domain, charging it with deceptive practices by directing Veterans and Service Members on its website exclusively to for-profit schools that were clients of QuinStreet.
The announcement comes as VA is seeking legal authority to trademark the term GI Bill. An executive order by President Obama on April 26 directed VA and the Department of Defense to undertake a number of measures to “stop deceptive and misleading” promotional efforts that target the GI Bill educational benefits of Service members, Veterans, and eligible family members and survivors.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill, which was authorized by Congress in 2008, is the most extensive educational assistance program since the original GI Bill was signed into law in 1944. VA has issued nearly $20 billion in Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit payments to more than 759,000 people and their educational institutions.
All of VA's education benefits are designed to be flexible and give Veterans the power of choice by enabling them to pursue college degrees, technical certifications, or vocational training according to their preferences and needs, at public, private non-profit and private for-profit schools.
For-profit schools are held to the same approval standards as all other schools, and VA education programs at for-profit institutions are approved by the State Approving Agencies, which act independently on behalf of the federal government to ensure quality education and training is provided to Veterans within each state.
Gould said Veterans should not be recruited aggressively by institutions principally because of financial motives, and that VA’s and other federal and state agencies’ oversight activities provide strong monitoring. VA is engaging with other federal agencies to provide this oversight, including the departments of Defense, Education, and Justice, as well as the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
“VA looks forward to helping Veterans make informed decisions by accepting this gift of the GIBill.com domain. We will continue to support our Veterans by helping them obtain the best education of their choosing—a right for which they have bravely served, and which they have rightly earned,” Gould said.
For more information on GI Bill programs, please visit www.GIBILL.va.gov or call 1-888-GI-Bill-1 (1-888-442-4551) to speak with a GI Bill representative.
Soldier accused in firefight with police is prisoner to PTSD
Soldier accused in firefight with police is prisoner to PTSD
Joshua Eisenhauer, believing he was under attack by insurgents, opened fire from in his North Carolina apartment. His lawyer wants the military to take over the case so the veteran can get the treatment he needs.
By David Zucchino
Los Angeles Times
June 24, 2012
RALEIGH, N.C. — There were shouts and footsteps in the darkness, then a banging on the door.
Staff Sgt. Joshua Eisenhauer rose from his mattress on the floor of his apartment in Fayetteville, N.C. He reached under the bedding for his Glock 19 pistol. He fired into the night.
The noises had come from firefighters responding to a minor fire Jan. 13. But to Eisenhauer, a veteran of two Afghanistan combat tours diagnosed with severepost-traumatic stress disorder, the firefighters were insurgents storming his position.
Eisenhauer's ensuing gun battle with police lasted nearly two hours. He was shot in the face, chest and thigh, finally passing out from blood loss. When he was first able to speak in a hospital two days later, according to his lawyer, he asked a nurse: "Who's got the roof?"
Now Eisenhauer is inmate No. 1304704 in Raleigh's Central Prison. He faces 17 counts of attempted murder of firefighters and police officers, nine counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and other charges. No firefighters or police were hit.
read more here
Joshua Eisenhauer, believing he was under attack by insurgents, opened fire from in his North Carolina apartment. His lawyer wants the military to take over the case so the veteran can get the treatment he needs.
By David Zucchino
Los Angeles Times
June 24, 2012
RALEIGH, N.C. — There were shouts and footsteps in the darkness, then a banging on the door.
Staff Sgt. Joshua Eisenhauer rose from his mattress on the floor of his apartment in Fayetteville, N.C. He reached under the bedding for his Glock 19 pistol. He fired into the night.
The noises had come from firefighters responding to a minor fire Jan. 13. But to Eisenhauer, a veteran of two Afghanistan combat tours diagnosed with severepost-traumatic stress disorder, the firefighters were insurgents storming his position.
Eisenhauer's ensuing gun battle with police lasted nearly two hours. He was shot in the face, chest and thigh, finally passing out from blood loss. When he was first able to speak in a hospital two days later, according to his lawyer, he asked a nurse: "Who's got the roof?"
Now Eisenhauer is inmate No. 1304704 in Raleigh's Central Prison. He faces 17 counts of attempted murder of firefighters and police officers, nine counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and other charges. No firefighters or police were hit.
read more here
Visible Honor For Invisible Wounds
Visible Honor For Invisible Wounds
Jun 26, 2012
Written by
Anita Brikman
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WUSA)-- An event entitled "Visible Honor for Invisible Wounds" will be taking place in Upper Senate Park on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning, June 27th.
The idea is to recognize how post traumatic stress, traumatic brain injuries, severe depression, and survivor's guilt can wound our veterans as much as roadside bombs or a sniper's fire.
In particular, the urgent focus is on the tremendous loss of our veterans to suicide and how to help them before it is too late.
In addition to remarks by high-ranking members of the Armed Services, lawmakers, and mental health professionals, there will be a young but powerful voice coming from the podium.
Barbara Webb is just 10 years old. She will be speaking about the day she almost lost her father Steven to suicide, and what needs to be done to help other veterans suffering in silence.
Barbara and her mother Megan joined WUSA 9's Anita Brikman in the studio to talk about their family's experience with PTSD.
read more here
Jun 26, 2012
Written by
Anita Brikman
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WUSA)-- An event entitled "Visible Honor for Invisible Wounds" will be taking place in Upper Senate Park on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning, June 27th.
The idea is to recognize how post traumatic stress, traumatic brain injuries, severe depression, and survivor's guilt can wound our veterans as much as roadside bombs or a sniper's fire.
In particular, the urgent focus is on the tremendous loss of our veterans to suicide and how to help them before it is too late.
In addition to remarks by high-ranking members of the Armed Services, lawmakers, and mental health professionals, there will be a young but powerful voice coming from the podium.
Barbara Webb is just 10 years old. She will be speaking about the day she almost lost her father Steven to suicide, and what needs to be done to help other veterans suffering in silence.
Barbara and her mother Megan joined WUSA 9's Anita Brikman in the studio to talk about their family's experience with PTSD.
read more here
Soldier sent back to duty after asking for help
AWOL and Ailing
JBLM soldier Brook Thomas Lindsey says the Army's mental-health system needs help.
By Keegan Hamilton
Seattle Weekly
Wednesday, Jun 27 2012
An Iraq War veteran stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord says struggles with PTSD and a lack of responsiveness to his condition by Army doctors forced him to go AWOL.
The soldier, 26-year-old Sgt. Brook Thomas Lindsey, met with members of the media on Friday, June 22 at Coffee Strong, a nonprofit organization headquartered across the street from JBLM that advocates for military mental-health treatment reform. Lindsey recounted why he decided to leave the base without permission on March 26.
"I'd go over to Madigan [Army Medical Center], right across the street, and I'd tell them, 'I'm having suicidal thoughts,' " Lindsey says. "They would just tell me to breathe. They'd talk me down. The next day I'm still feeling the same way, but they'd return me to duty, tell my leaders everything was fine."
read more here
JBLM soldier Brook Thomas Lindsey says the Army's mental-health system needs help.
By Keegan Hamilton
Seattle Weekly
Wednesday, Jun 27 2012
An Iraq War veteran stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord says struggles with PTSD and a lack of responsiveness to his condition by Army doctors forced him to go AWOL.
The soldier, 26-year-old Sgt. Brook Thomas Lindsey, met with members of the media on Friday, June 22 at Coffee Strong, a nonprofit organization headquartered across the street from JBLM that advocates for military mental-health treatment reform. Lindsey recounted why he decided to leave the base without permission on March 26.
"I'd go over to Madigan [Army Medical Center], right across the street, and I'd tell them, 'I'm having suicidal thoughts,' " Lindsey says. "They would just tell me to breathe. They'd talk me down. The next day I'm still feeling the same way, but they'd return me to duty, tell my leaders everything was fine."
read more here
Private Needham's War
UPDATE
While millions of veterans return from combat with PTSD, few commit crimes and even fewer commit them "in their right mind" but we don't talk about them. They are just not "newsworthy" enough to have their stories told the same way Needham's story was.
When you watch this I hope you take away what happened to Needham while he tried to get help and his Dad fought hard for him. Needham's trouble got worse when he tried to commit suicide in Iraq but his buddy stopped him. During the struggle, the gun went off.
Before you watch this, keep an open mind and watch the whole thing. The ending shocked me too.
original story PTSD on Trial Private John Needham
Tuesday's "48 Hours Mystery" Was #1 in Households and ViewersI watched this last night and wanted to share it with you. There are so many stories out there that do not get the attention of the national media, but are reported all across the country.
CBS spins the numbers for Tuesday, June 26.
[via press release from CBS]
"48 HOURS MYSTERY" TUESDAY'S EXAMINATION OF THE ROLE PLAYED BY POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER IN PVT. JOHN NEEDHAM'S KILLING OF HIS GIRLFRIEND WAS #1 IN HOUSEHOLDS AND VIEWERS
CBS News' 48 HOURS MYSTERY TUESDAY (R) was first in households (4.0/07) and viewers (5.66m), while delivering a 1.5/04 in adults 25-54, according to preliminary Nielsen same day ratings for June 26. Compared to last week, 48 HOURS MYSTERY TUESDAY was even in both adults 25-54 and adults 18-49.
The broadcast, which aired on the eve of National PTSD Awareness Day, featured Troy Roberts' emotional report on Pvt. John Needham, who beat to death the woman he loved, 19-year-old Jacque Villagomez. Needham's story started in Iraq where he was severely injured in combat and exposed to multiple IED and grenade attacks. He was later diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. Needham's father says the war took a heavy toll on his son, and ravaged his mind and body. From the beginning, Needham took responsibility for Villagomez's death but said he remembered little of the incident. He said that as they argued one night, something inside him snapped. He blamed his brain injury and PTSD for the beating that came next.
Read more
While millions of veterans return from combat with PTSD, few commit crimes and even fewer commit them "in their right mind" but we don't talk about them. They are just not "newsworthy" enough to have their stories told the same way Needham's story was.
When you watch this I hope you take away what happened to Needham while he tried to get help and his Dad fought hard for him. Needham's trouble got worse when he tried to commit suicide in Iraq but his buddy stopped him. During the struggle, the gun went off.
Before you watch this, keep an open mind and watch the whole thing. The ending shocked me too.
Private Needham's War
CBS News
original story PTSD on Trial Private John Needham
Military suicides alarms VFW's national commander
Military suicides alarms VFW's national commander
Jun 23, 2012
Written by
Jeff Matthews
More U.S. military personnel committed suicide in the first five months of 2012 than were killed in action in Afghanistan.
Of all the issues affecting soldiers, veterans and their families, that one concerns Richard DeNoyer the most. DeNoyer, national commander in chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, was in Alexandria this week appearing at the VFW state convention.
"The bottom line is that's just about a suicide a day," DeNoyer said. "Why are these young people committing suicide? It's obvious our country as a whole is not doing enough to recognize it and deal with it."
According to a recent Associated Press report, there were 154 suicides among active-duty troops in the first 155 days of the year -- 50 percent higher than the number of U.S. forces killed in action in Afghanistan over that time.
DeNoyer said VFW is lobbying Congress to provide more psychiatric care and counseling both in the military and the veterans hospital system.
In addition, he said efforts need to be stepped up to combat the stigma of active-duty soldiers seeking psychiatric care.
read more here
Jun 23, 2012
Written by
Jeff Matthews
Richard DeNoyer, VFW’s national commander, says military suicide rates need attention. Tia Owens-Powers
More U.S. military personnel committed suicide in the first five months of 2012 than were killed in action in Afghanistan.
Of all the issues affecting soldiers, veterans and their families, that one concerns Richard DeNoyer the most. DeNoyer, national commander in chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, was in Alexandria this week appearing at the VFW state convention.
"The bottom line is that's just about a suicide a day," DeNoyer said. "Why are these young people committing suicide? It's obvious our country as a whole is not doing enough to recognize it and deal with it."
According to a recent Associated Press report, there were 154 suicides among active-duty troops in the first 155 days of the year -- 50 percent higher than the number of U.S. forces killed in action in Afghanistan over that time.
DeNoyer said VFW is lobbying Congress to provide more psychiatric care and counseling both in the military and the veterans hospital system.
In addition, he said efforts need to be stepped up to combat the stigma of active-duty soldiers seeking psychiatric care.
read more here
Gov. Haley's husband called state Senate cowards on Facebok
Haley defends military husband's Facebook post
SUSANNE M. SCHAFER
Associated Press
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The head of South Carolina's National Guard said Tuesday he will conduct an internal review of the Guard's policy on social media use after Gov. Nikki Haley's husband used Facebook to call members of the state Senate cowards for not voting on a bill favored by his wife.
Maj. Gen. Robert Livingston said he spoke with Michael Haley about the matter, and Michael Haley told the general he intended to express himself as a private citizen, not as a member of the Guard.
Michael Haley is an officer the South Carolina Army National Guard.
Sen. Jake Knotts, a Lexington Republican who has often clashed with Gov. Haley, called late Tuesday for Michael Haley to resign his commission if he can't abstain from "contentious partisan issues."
In speeches, Gov. Nikki Haley frequently talks about her husband's military service and says she is proud that he puts on his uniform daily when he goes to work.
read more here
SUSANNE M. SCHAFER
Associated Press
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The head of South Carolina's National Guard said Tuesday he will conduct an internal review of the Guard's policy on social media use after Gov. Nikki Haley's husband used Facebook to call members of the state Senate cowards for not voting on a bill favored by his wife.
Maj. Gen. Robert Livingston said he spoke with Michael Haley about the matter, and Michael Haley told the general he intended to express himself as a private citizen, not as a member of the Guard.
Michael Haley is an officer the South Carolina Army National Guard.
Sen. Jake Knotts, a Lexington Republican who has often clashed with Gov. Haley, called late Tuesday for Michael Haley to resign his commission if he can't abstain from "contentious partisan issues."
In speeches, Gov. Nikki Haley frequently talks about her husband's military service and says she is proud that he puts on his uniform daily when he goes to work.
read more here
Marines not doing enough to stop sexual assaults
Report Finds Marine Corps Has Failed To Cut Down On Sexual Assaults
June 26, 2012
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The Marine Corps has admitted its failure to cut down sexual assaults within its ranks.
Just last year, there were 88 reported sexual assaults at Camp Pendleton and 24 at Twentynine Palms’ Air Ground Combat Center, according to a Marine Corps report cited by the Los Angeles Times.
read more here
June 26, 2012
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The Marine Corps has admitted its failure to cut down sexual assaults within its ranks.
Just last year, there were 88 reported sexual assaults at Camp Pendleton and 24 at Twentynine Palms’ Air Ground Combat Center, according to a Marine Corps report cited by the Los Angeles Times.
read more here
Two tour Mom of two killed in car accident going to work
Iraq War vet killed in car wreck
Hinds Sheriff's employee served 2 tours, had 2 children
Jun. 26, 2012
Written by
Therese Apel
Shametra "Meme" Stamps survived two tours in Iraq, including one as a driver.
On Friday morning, the veteran driver with the 365th Combat Support Sustainment Battalion out of Jackson, also a recent Hinds County Sheriff's Department employee, was killed in a car crash on her way to work.
"She put down many a mile up and down those roads in Iraq," said Sgt. Maj. Dwayne Howard, for whom Stamps was a driver both overseas and at home.
Stamps was a pro, he said. Even under fire, she kept her head.
Stamps, 30, who her friends say was a "girly girl," always maintained a positive attitude in spite of the rigors of the job.
read more here
Hinds Sheriff's employee served 2 tours, had 2 children
Jun. 26, 2012
Written by
Therese Apel
Col. Samuel T. Nichols, Jr, shakes Shametra Stamps' hand at Camp Shelby recently. The mother of two who served two tours in Iraq died in a car wreck Friday in Hinds County. / File photo/Hattiesburg American
Shametra "Meme" Stamps survived two tours in Iraq, including one as a driver.
On Friday morning, the veteran driver with the 365th Combat Support Sustainment Battalion out of Jackson, also a recent Hinds County Sheriff's Department employee, was killed in a car crash on her way to work.
"She put down many a mile up and down those roads in Iraq," said Sgt. Maj. Dwayne Howard, for whom Stamps was a driver both overseas and at home.
Stamps was a pro, he said. Even under fire, she kept her head.
Stamps, 30, who her friends say was a "girly girl," always maintained a positive attitude in spite of the rigors of the job.
read more here
Vet Jobless Rate Leads to Fed, State Initiatives
If your Governor did not spend the stimulus money that was for your state, as too many did not including Florida, tell them to explain why they sit on all that money and veterans go without jobs!
Vet Jobless Rate Leads to Fed, State Initiatives
Detroit Free Press
by Katherine Young
In the early 1970s, Anthony Tarkowski learned the hard way that some employers did not want to hire soldiers returning from the Vietnam War.
The young veteran had just come back from Germany, where he had served after injuring his back during training. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't seem to get a job.
Then one day, a human resources manager gave him some advice: Don't put a check mark next to the veteran's box on job applications. Just skip it.
At his next job interview, Tarkowski followed this advice and scored well on a test for a data-processing position. He got the job.
"Veterans are highly trainable people," said Tarkowski, who is now CEO of Sygnetics, a staffing firm in Rochester Hills. "They will come to work. They are dedicated."
More than four decades later, veterans are still struggling to get hired. Their high jobless rate, particularly for the youngest ones, is a major problem, sparking a number of initiatives on the state and national levels. It's the reason Detroit's Cobo Center will play host to a massive job fair this week that's expected to draw 10,000 veterans.
read more here
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Naked For A Good Cause Army Wives Battling Bare
Army Wives Get Naked For A Good Cause
‘Battling Bare’ PTSD Awareness Campaign [video]
Posted: June 26, 2012
A group of military wives are baring their bodies (discreetly) to help support their patriotic spouses through the “Battling Bare” campaign. The women grew tired of “staying silent” about the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and created a media campaign to educate Americans about the affects PTSD has on the entire family, The Blaze reports. The military wives PTSD awareness campaign is a private organization in the process of securing non-profit status. The primary goal of the project is to empower “silent supporters” to “battle back” and provide resources to help returning veterans heal.
“Battling Bare” campaign photos of Army wives showing a bit of skin generated a lot of attention and helped relay the import message which is at the heart of the project. The pledge written on the bare skin of the participating military wife reads: Broken by battle, wounded by war, I support our troops forever – to them this I swore I will quiet your screams, help heal your shattered soul until once again every soldier is whole. Battle Bare.
read more here
‘Battling Bare’ PTSD Awareness Campaign [video]
Posted: June 26, 2012
A group of military wives are baring their bodies (discreetly) to help support their patriotic spouses through the “Battling Bare” campaign. The women grew tired of “staying silent” about the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and created a media campaign to educate Americans about the affects PTSD has on the entire family, The Blaze reports. The military wives PTSD awareness campaign is a private organization in the process of securing non-profit status. The primary goal of the project is to empower “silent supporters” to “battle back” and provide resources to help returning veterans heal.
“Battling Bare” campaign photos of Army wives showing a bit of skin generated a lot of attention and helped relay the import message which is at the heart of the project. The pledge written on the bare skin of the participating military wife reads: Broken by battle, wounded by war, I support our troops forever – to them this I swore I will quiet your screams, help heal your shattered soul until once again every soldier is whole. Battle Bare.
read more here
Vietnam vet in custody after shooting 2 family members?
The last to die in Vietnam was 1975. How is a 52 year old a Vietnam Veteran?
Is this yet another "headline" grabber for the news station or is it just bad reporting?
Is this yet another "headline" grabber for the news station or is it just bad reporting?
Police: Vietnam vet in custody after shooting 2 family members
Deputies say grandfather shot man, woman
KOCO Oklahoma City
COYLE, Okla. - A Coyle grandfather is facing charges Monday after police say he opened fire on his own family. Two people are now in the hospital recovering from gunshot wounds.
Family members of the 52-year-old grandfather say the Vietnam veteran suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Sky 5 flew over the scene just after the shooting Monday afternoon in the 10000 block of East 32nd Street about 4:21 p.m. as police moved in to arrest the man.
read more here
Bill proposed to change PTSD military programs
Bill proposed to change PTSD military programs
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., on Monday submitted legislation that would reshape behavioral health programs in the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs based in part on her review of controversial post-traumatic stress diagnoses at Madigan Army Medical Center.
ADAM ASHTON; STAFF WRITER
Published: 06/26/12
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., on Monday submitted legislation that would reshape behavioral health programs in the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs based in part on her review of controversial post-traumatic stress diagnoses at Madigan Army Medical Center.
For much of this year, Murray has pushed the Defense Department to “standardize” its post-traumatic stress programs across the service. She has been troubled by service members receiving different diagnoses from different doctors, as well as by reports of veterans experiencing long wait times for mental health services at the VA.
“The Department of Defense and the VA are losing the battle against the mental and behavioral wounds of these wars,” Murray said in introducing her bill. “To see that, you don’t need to look any further than the tragic fact that already this year over 150 active-duty service members have taken their own lives.”
Murray’s bill has a long road before it can become a law. The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, which Murray leads as chairwoman, will hold a hearing Wednesday on the legislation.
Her bill aims to:
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., on Monday submitted legislation that would reshape behavioral health programs in the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs based in part on her review of controversial post-traumatic stress diagnoses at Madigan Army Medical Center.
ADAM ASHTON; STAFF WRITER
Published: 06/26/12
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., on Monday submitted legislation that would reshape behavioral health programs in the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs based in part on her review of controversial post-traumatic stress diagnoses at Madigan Army Medical Center.
For much of this year, Murray has pushed the Defense Department to “standardize” its post-traumatic stress programs across the service. She has been troubled by service members receiving different diagnoses from different doctors, as well as by reports of veterans experiencing long wait times for mental health services at the VA.
“The Department of Defense and the VA are losing the battle against the mental and behavioral wounds of these wars,” Murray said in introducing her bill. “To see that, you don’t need to look any further than the tragic fact that already this year over 150 active-duty service members have taken their own lives.”
Murray’s bill has a long road before it can become a law. The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, which Murray leads as chairwoman, will hold a hearing Wednesday on the legislation.
Her bill aims to:
• Compel the Defense Department to standardize its various behavioral health and suicide-prevention programs.
• Provide more behavioral health services for families through the Department of Veterans Affairs.
• Create opportunities for veterans and active-duty service members to counsel each other as peers.
• Require the VA to create “credible” staffing plans and performance goals.
read more here
New University of South Florida therapy may ease PTSD
New University of South Florida therapy may ease PTSD
By HOWARD ALTMAN
Tampa Tribune
Published: June 25, 2012
TAMPA — For University of South Florida researchers studying the effectiveness of a new therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder, these are promising times.
They've just published the results of an initial study that indicates the treatment, accelerated resolution therapy, seems to work. The Department of Defense and the university have just given approval to test active-duty service members, a major restaurateur has kicked off a fundraising campaign and a Navy reserve station in Las Vegas now will serve as a satellite study center.
It all comes at a time when Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta says research into suicide prevention is one of the Department of Defense's main weapons in the fight against suicide, which kills more troops than the Taliban.
"With all of these things coming together, it looks like we are that much closer to getting a more efficient evidence-based treatment into place that will actually eliminate the traumatic response to memories and bring relief to the troops and their families," said one of the researchers, Carrie Elk, a psychologist and military liaison for the USF College of Nursing, which conducted the initial therapy studies.
read more here
By HOWARD ALTMAN
Tampa Tribune
Published: June 25, 2012
TAMPA — For University of South Florida researchers studying the effectiveness of a new therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder, these are promising times.
They've just published the results of an initial study that indicates the treatment, accelerated resolution therapy, seems to work. The Department of Defense and the university have just given approval to test active-duty service members, a major restaurateur has kicked off a fundraising campaign and a Navy reserve station in Las Vegas now will serve as a satellite study center.
It all comes at a time when Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta says research into suicide prevention is one of the Department of Defense's main weapons in the fight against suicide, which kills more troops than the Taliban.
"With all of these things coming together, it looks like we are that much closer to getting a more efficient evidence-based treatment into place that will actually eliminate the traumatic response to memories and bring relief to the troops and their families," said one of the researchers, Carrie Elk, a psychologist and military liaison for the USF College of Nursing, which conducted the initial therapy studies.
read more here
Ft. Lewis Soldier Says Poor PTSD Treatment Forced Him AWOL
Brook Thomas Lindsey: Ft. Lewis Soldier Says Poor PTSD Treatment Forced Him AWOL
By Keegan Hamilton
Mon., Jun. 25 2012
Categories: Military
An Iraq War veteran stationed at Ft. Lewis says struggles with PTSD and a lack of responsiveness to his condition by Army doctors forced him to go AWOL.
The soldier, 26-year-old Sgt. Brook Thomas Lindsey, met with members of the media on Friday at Coffee Strong, a non-profit organization, headquartered across the street from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, that advocates for military mental health treatment reform. Lindsey recounted why he decided to leave the base without permission on March 26.
"I'd go over to Madigan (Army Medical Center), right across the street and I'd tell them, 'I'm having suicidal thoughts,"' Lindsey says. "They would just tell me to breathe. They'd talk me down. The next day I'm still feeling the same way, but they'd return me to duty, tell my leaders everything was fine."
Wearing a baseball cap and a grey shirt with the sleeves rolled up to reveal several skeletal, military-themed tattoos on his forearms, Lindsey says he enlisted at age 19 because he felt it was his patriotic duty. He says he was deployed in Iraq for 22 months, and that he was an exemplary soldier prior to his return to the military base just south of Tacoma. Greg Wilson, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, says he served in Iraq with Lindsey in 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry, 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, and was always impressed with his fellow soldier's resolve.
read more here
By Keegan Hamilton
Mon., Jun. 25 2012
Categories: Military
An Iraq War veteran stationed at Ft. Lewis says struggles with PTSD and a lack of responsiveness to his condition by Army doctors forced him to go AWOL.
The soldier, 26-year-old Sgt. Brook Thomas Lindsey, met with members of the media on Friday at Coffee Strong, a non-profit organization, headquartered across the street from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, that advocates for military mental health treatment reform. Lindsey recounted why he decided to leave the base without permission on March 26.
"I'd go over to Madigan (Army Medical Center), right across the street and I'd tell them, 'I'm having suicidal thoughts,"' Lindsey says. "They would just tell me to breathe. They'd talk me down. The next day I'm still feeling the same way, but they'd return me to duty, tell my leaders everything was fine."
Wearing a baseball cap and a grey shirt with the sleeves rolled up to reveal several skeletal, military-themed tattoos on his forearms, Lindsey says he enlisted at age 19 because he felt it was his patriotic duty. He says he was deployed in Iraq for 22 months, and that he was an exemplary soldier prior to his return to the military base just south of Tacoma. Greg Wilson, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, says he served in Iraq with Lindsey in 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry, 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, and was always impressed with his fellow soldier's resolve.
read more here
Double-Whammy: PTSD and Substance Abuse
MILITARY MENTAL HEALTH
Double-Whammy: PTSD and Substance Abuse
By MARK THOMPSON
June 25, 2012
Battleland contributor Bingham Jamison, a Marine who saw action in Iraq and came home the worse for wear, is the subject of a new video by Veterans Healing Initiative.
That’s a nonprofit group dedicated to getting veterans treatment for substance abuse and PTSD. “VHI offers support to veterans from all conflicts, of all ages, men and women, regardless of military status or medical insurance coverage,” says Bingham, a member of VHI’s military advisory board.
Read more
Double-Whammy: PTSD and Substance Abuse
By MARK THOMPSON
June 25, 2012
Battleland contributor Bingham Jamison, a Marine who saw action in Iraq and came home the worse for wear, is the subject of a new video by Veterans Healing Initiative.
That’s a nonprofit group dedicated to getting veterans treatment for substance abuse and PTSD. “VHI offers support to veterans from all conflicts, of all ages, men and women, regardless of military status or medical insurance coverage,” says Bingham, a member of VHI’s military advisory board.
Read more
IamVeteran wants you to get what you earned
Earlier this month I went to a job fair for veterans and met a lady, Annie Artis, doing all she can to help veterans. She runs IamVeteran
Yesterday while talking to Annie she told me about a video she created to help veterans fill out a form for non-service connected pensions. These forms can get people confused, so she walks you through how to do it.
Application to apply for VA Pension for Non-Service Connected Disability.
Annie mentioned to me a lot of female veterans need help but do not want to talk to a male, especially when they are healing from being raped.
2040 W Central Blvd
Orlando, FL 32805
Phone: 407-843-3722
IamVeteran was created to assist Veterans with transitioning from military life to civilian. Given the large number of veterans and soldiers exiting the military, the high rate of veteran unemployment and the lack of resources, IamVeteran was designed to be a one stop resource for veterans and their spouses.
IamVeteran will assist you with relocation, finding your local Veteran’s Representative, identify your local community service in all 50 states.
As a one stop resource IamVeteran will identify job fairs, virtual job fairs and provide job leads to top companies across the United States that desire to hire Veterans.
Yesterday while talking to Annie she told me about a video she created to help veterans fill out a form for non-service connected pensions. These forms can get people confused, so she walks you through how to do it.
Application to apply for VA Pension for Non-Service Connected Disability.
Annie mentioned to me a lot of female veterans need help but do not want to talk to a male, especially when they are healing from being raped.
The Orlando DAV Chapter 16 has female service officers they can talk to, highly trained and work for free as volunteers of the Disabled American Veterans.
Central FL Chapter 16 Service Officer Hours are currently two days a week. Our certified Service Officer Staff will now have hours of operation on Tuesday and Thursday every week. Opening from 9am to 1pm. This is a free service, all Service Officer
2040 W Central Blvd
Orlando, FL 32805
Phone: 407-843-3722
Monday, June 25, 2012
For soldier's family, heartache without end
For soldier's family, heartache without end
A soldier's blood from an iconic photo is permanent not only for his widow, and for a daughter he never saw, but touches the Oklahoma City tragedy
June 25, 2012
NOBLE, Okla. — Catherine Alaniz wasn't prepared for the sight. Three months after she buried her husband and one month after she gave birth to their daughter, the 19-year-old widow saw his blood on the cover of Parade magazine.
The Associated Press photograph became world-famous instantaneously and was published in newspapers and magazines around the world as a symbol of war's devastation.
In one of the most iconic battlefield images ever captured on film, two wounded Operation Desert Storm soldiers in an evacuation helicopter have just learned who's in the bloody body bag at their feet. It's their friend and Catherine's high school sweetheart, Andy Alaniz.
The photo eventually helped Catherine learn the truth about how her husband died and that the government had lied to her about it.
Throughout the ordeal, her parents were her support staff. She and Andy were married so briefly and he was deployed to the Middle East so quickly, they didn't have a chance to get their own place. So she lived with her parents and moved with them from Texas to Oklahoma City when her father got a promotion.
read more here
A soldier's blood from an iconic photo is permanent not only for his widow, and for a daughter he never saw, but touches the Oklahoma City tragedy
June 25, 2012
NOBLE, Okla. — Catherine Alaniz wasn't prepared for the sight. Three months after she buried her husband and one month after she gave birth to their daughter, the 19-year-old widow saw his blood on the cover of Parade magazine.
The Associated Press photograph became world-famous instantaneously and was published in newspapers and magazines around the world as a symbol of war's devastation.
In one of the most iconic battlefield images ever captured on film, two wounded Operation Desert Storm soldiers in an evacuation helicopter have just learned who's in the bloody body bag at their feet. It's their friend and Catherine's high school sweetheart, Andy Alaniz.
The photo eventually helped Catherine learn the truth about how her husband died and that the government had lied to her about it.
Throughout the ordeal, her parents were her support staff. She and Andy were married so briefly and he was deployed to the Middle East so quickly, they didn't have a chance to get their own place. So she lived with her parents and moved with them from Texas to Oklahoma City when her father got a promotion.
read more here
Army Times wants to know if the DOD is doing enough about suicides
Don't even get me started on this but it is a good place to let someone know what you think. Tell them the truth and then maybe finally something will change.
Tell us: Is enough done to deter suicides?
Staff report
Posted : Monday Jun 25, 2012
The suicide toll among service members has surpassed the number of troops who have fallen in combat. This year, suicides among troops average one a day, according to the Pentagon.
The Army struggles with the problem of soldiers killing themselves, yet the rate is about 20 a month.
Tell us what you think: Has the Army done enough about it? Is there more that leaders and buddies can do for them? Are soldiers themselves doing enough to seek help when they need it?
Send your opinion to armylet@gannettgov.com and use the word “suicide” in the message line.
Your response may be printed in an upcoming issue of Army Times.
Florida Marine has been killed in Afghanistan
Florida Marine killed in Afghanistan
The Associated Press
Published: Monday, Jun. 25, 2012
MIAMI -- Officials say a Florida Marine has been killed in Afghanistan.
The Department of Defense reports that Pfc. Steven P. Stevens II, 23, of Tallahassee, died Friday while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Stevens was assigned to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
The Associated Press
Published: Monday, Jun. 25, 2012
MIAMI -- Officials say a Florida Marine has been killed in Afghanistan.
The Department of Defense reports that Pfc. Steven P. Stevens II, 23, of Tallahassee, died Friday while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Stevens was assigned to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Doctor kept working for VA after medical license was suspended
Suspension doesn't stop VA doctor from practicing
By COLLEEN HEILD
Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
Published: June 24, 2012
ALBUQUERQUE — Dr. Frank Allen Zimba has been practicing medicine for 31 years, is board certified in neurological surgery — and has a disciplinary history in two other states of operating on the wrong part of his patients’ spines.
The 57-year-old Texas native was hired at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Albuquerque last August, even though disciplinary proceedings that resulted in a suspension of his Oklahoma medical license were pending.
The VA in Albuquerque isn’t saying whether Zimba has had any problems on the job so far — claiming it would be a personnel matter. But even if there have been, the state Medical Board has no jurisdiction to investigate.
That’s because under federal law Zimba is not required to be licensed in New Mexico, unlike most other physicians who work here. He only needs to be licensed in one state in the country, and he has licenses in Oklahoma, New York, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
That left Zimba — who, through a VA spokeswoman, declined to be interviewed for this story — able to work at the Albuquerque VA Hospital during the six months his Oklahoma license was suspended.
read more here
By COLLEEN HEILD
Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
Published: June 24, 2012
ALBUQUERQUE — Dr. Frank Allen Zimba has been practicing medicine for 31 years, is board certified in neurological surgery — and has a disciplinary history in two other states of operating on the wrong part of his patients’ spines.
The 57-year-old Texas native was hired at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Albuquerque last August, even though disciplinary proceedings that resulted in a suspension of his Oklahoma medical license were pending.
The VA in Albuquerque isn’t saying whether Zimba has had any problems on the job so far — claiming it would be a personnel matter. But even if there have been, the state Medical Board has no jurisdiction to investigate.
That’s because under federal law Zimba is not required to be licensed in New Mexico, unlike most other physicians who work here. He only needs to be licensed in one state in the country, and he has licenses in Oklahoma, New York, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
That left Zimba — who, through a VA spokeswoman, declined to be interviewed for this story — able to work at the Albuquerque VA Hospital during the six months his Oklahoma license was suspended.
read more here
Heroic soldier says "It was only one day" in his career
A soldier's story: It was only one day in his military career
By TIM TRAINOR
The Montana Standard, Butte
Published: June 24, 2012
Fueled by anger, suffering from a serious back injury and with no feeling in his legs, Nick Keene fired 2,800 rounds into a group of Taliban fighters.
Then he picked up a machine gun and emptied that. He put seven or eight clips into his own personal weapon and did the same until the pain was too much and he lost consciousness.
He woke up in a hospital somewhere. Kandahar maybe, Germany. There were generals gathered around his bed. He wasn’t wearing a shirt so they pinned a Purple Heart to his blanket before he fell back into unconsciousness.
Keene, 24, a 2006 graduate of Butte High School, spent five dramatic and violent months in the Panjwayi District in Afghanistan, known as the “birthplace of the Taliban.” Located in the southeastern part of the country along the Pakistan border, it has been home to some of the most sustained fighting in the now decade-long war.
Yet, it is a place Keene was not looking to leave so soon.
“I wish I could have stayed longer,” he said. “It was hard to think that while my guys were sweating, bleeding in the mud, I’m sitting on a couch doing nothing.”
By TIM TRAINOR
The Montana Standard, Butte
Published: June 24, 2012
Fueled by anger, suffering from a serious back injury and with no feeling in his legs, Nick Keene fired 2,800 rounds into a group of Taliban fighters.
Then he picked up a machine gun and emptied that. He put seven or eight clips into his own personal weapon and did the same until the pain was too much and he lost consciousness.
He woke up in a hospital somewhere. Kandahar maybe, Germany. There were generals gathered around his bed. He wasn’t wearing a shirt so they pinned a Purple Heart to his blanket before he fell back into unconsciousness.
Keene, 24, a 2006 graduate of Butte High School, spent five dramatic and violent months in the Panjwayi District in Afghanistan, known as the “birthplace of the Taliban.” Located in the southeastern part of the country along the Pakistan border, it has been home to some of the most sustained fighting in the now decade-long war.
Yet, it is a place Keene was not looking to leave so soon.
“I wish I could have stayed longer,” he said. “It was hard to think that while my guys were sweating, bleeding in the mud, I’m sitting on a couch doing nothing.”
Commendations
It was only one day in his military career, but Keene’s actions resulted in a Purple Heart and an Army Commendation Medal with valor. He may have saved the lives of each of those soldiers lying prone on the roadside and his injured lieutenant, who was able to be transported from the fight with shrapnel wounds from which he recovered.
Nick will never be the same. Discs and vertebrae in his back were more than broken — they disintegrated and were ground into sand and chalk. It took months for doctors to confirm they did not need to amputate, but even then Keene thought he would be confined to a wheelchair. After months of painful physical therapy he learned to walk with the help of a cane that he will use for the rest of his life. He cannot climb steps and he has a lifetime of surgeries ahead of him, some of which carry the possibility of paralysis if one of the already-frayed nerves is severed.
read more here
Norton blocking Blog pages
If you are having a hard time getting onto this site, Norton has it along with other blogs as "fraudulent" so there has to be a glitch somewhere. I was just on my laptop and it uses Norton. I couldn't get right on my page without having to go through the warning. Just wanted to let you know if you manage to get that message.
Orlando News Producers should be ashamed of themselves
As many suggested, they love it when I rant so they are in for a real treat right now. I am about to blast the media again!
Yesterday I went to another event for veterans. There were four reporters running their cameras and stayed for the whole event. As always, they were interested, showed they cared and were very professional. Considering we have over 400,000 veterans in Central Florida and well over a million in the state there is always something going on. I want to get to every event but I am only one person, so there are events I can't cover. When that happens, I turn to the media sites so that people know what is going on.
Just like yesterday when the news crews show up, veterans expect to see their story on the stations sending the reporters. It breaks their hearts when they discover they were just not important enough to watch it on the news.
It isn't the reporters fault. After all they show up and spend their time filming these events. It it up to the producers to put it on or not. Here's a piece of advice to producers. If you are not going to show it, don't show up at these events.
Veterans are giving up on Florida's news stations. It hurts them when you don't send anyone but it hurts them more when you do but it is never on the news.
They go home, call their families and friends telling them they were on the news and then watch for hours along with searching the Internet hoping to find the link. Every think about how that feels to these veterans?
Sure you manage to make sure that when one of them gets into trouble, you cover it and play it over and over again but when they are honored or do something wonderful, they are replaced by something else.
SHAME ON YOU! What the hell is wrong with you when you just can't fit them in? Ever hear of a thing called YouTube? Other stations can do it and so do small newspapers. Put the footage you don't have time for on YouTube so at least they can find it with the help of their kids and grandkids if they can't use a computer.
I am with them almost every weekend and often at events during the week. I keep seeing the station's vans that I will not mention here but I wanted you to know that you may get a few more viewers or hits on your site while they search but in the end, they don't want to bother with your station after you don't bother to show what you sent someone to film.
If you wonder why so many veterans don't want to talk to reporters when they do show up, you have your answer. They don't trust your motives when you have proven they are not "newsworthy" enough to put their stories on TV or even on your website.
UPDATE
Here's the video from the Orlando VFW Medals Ceremony. Notice how many news crews were there.
Yesterday I went to another event for veterans. There were four reporters running their cameras and stayed for the whole event. As always, they were interested, showed they cared and were very professional. Considering we have over 400,000 veterans in Central Florida and well over a million in the state there is always something going on. I want to get to every event but I am only one person, so there are events I can't cover. When that happens, I turn to the media sites so that people know what is going on.
Just like yesterday when the news crews show up, veterans expect to see their story on the stations sending the reporters. It breaks their hearts when they discover they were just not important enough to watch it on the news.
It isn't the reporters fault. After all they show up and spend their time filming these events. It it up to the producers to put it on or not. Here's a piece of advice to producers. If you are not going to show it, don't show up at these events.
Veterans are giving up on Florida's news stations. It hurts them when you don't send anyone but it hurts them more when you do but it is never on the news.
They go home, call their families and friends telling them they were on the news and then watch for hours along with searching the Internet hoping to find the link. Every think about how that feels to these veterans?
Sure you manage to make sure that when one of them gets into trouble, you cover it and play it over and over again but when they are honored or do something wonderful, they are replaced by something else.
SHAME ON YOU! What the hell is wrong with you when you just can't fit them in? Ever hear of a thing called YouTube? Other stations can do it and so do small newspapers. Put the footage you don't have time for on YouTube so at least they can find it with the help of their kids and grandkids if they can't use a computer.
I am with them almost every weekend and often at events during the week. I keep seeing the station's vans that I will not mention here but I wanted you to know that you may get a few more viewers or hits on your site while they search but in the end, they don't want to bother with your station after you don't bother to show what you sent someone to film.
If you wonder why so many veterans don't want to talk to reporters when they do show up, you have your answer. They don't trust your motives when you have proven they are not "newsworthy" enough to put their stories on TV or even on your website.
UPDATE
Here's the video from the Orlando VFW Medals Ceremony. Notice how many news crews were there.
Military's suicide prevention plan too late for Sarasota family
Military's suicide prevention plan too late for Sarasota family
By HOWARD ALTMAN
The Tampa Tribune
Published: June 25, 2012
Friday afternoon, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told the Department of Defense/ Department of Veterans Affairs suicide prevention conference that "we can do more. We must do more. And together we will do more to prevent suicide."
The next day, on a rainy afternoon in Sarasota, Luzdary Yepes cried and, over the phone, told me she wishes they did do more.
Two years ago. Before her son, Giovanni Andres Orozco, a 20-year-old veteran of the Iraq war, held his friends at gunpoint and then turned the weapon on himself June 10, 2010.
Yepes said that when her son came home from Iraq, he had a week to "detox" in New Jersey.
"A week is not enough when they see the kind of crap we don't even know about," she said. "They train them so well to fight, but they don't train them to come back. It's almost like when you train a dog to bite, and then you have to bring them to where little kids are and let them loose. It is not right."
Speaking at the conference in Washington, Panetta unveiled a four-track suicide prevention plan. It calls for increased responsibility by military leaders, especially junior officers and NCOs; improved quality and access to health care; elevated mental fitness and increased research into suicide prevention.
read more here
By HOWARD ALTMAN
The Tampa Tribune
Published: June 25, 2012
Friday afternoon, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told the Department of Defense/ Department of Veterans Affairs suicide prevention conference that "we can do more. We must do more. And together we will do more to prevent suicide."
The next day, on a rainy afternoon in Sarasota, Luzdary Yepes cried and, over the phone, told me she wishes they did do more.
Two years ago. Before her son, Giovanni Andres Orozco, a 20-year-old veteran of the Iraq war, held his friends at gunpoint and then turned the weapon on himself June 10, 2010.
Yepes said that when her son came home from Iraq, he had a week to "detox" in New Jersey.
"A week is not enough when they see the kind of crap we don't even know about," she said. "They train them so well to fight, but they don't train them to come back. It's almost like when you train a dog to bite, and then you have to bring them to where little kids are and let them loose. It is not right."
Speaking at the conference in Washington, Panetta unveiled a four-track suicide prevention plan. It calls for increased responsibility by military leaders, especially junior officers and NCOs; improved quality and access to health care; elevated mental fitness and increased research into suicide prevention.
read more here
Disabled Iraq veteran was attacked in a road rage incident
Disabled Iraq veteran punched by teenager
12:04 AM, Jun 25, 2012
Written by
Mike Lyons
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A disabled veteran was attacked in a road rage incident on the Westside Saturday and a teenager was arrested on battery charges.
50-year old Robert Dodd lives in Baker County. The single father of two walks with a cane, injured by mortar attacks while in the Navy in Iraq in 2004. He was driving his pickup east on Normandy Blvd. near Yellow Water Road when a young driver pulled out in front of him and he had to slam on brakes.
Dodd says he almost ran into the small car that pulled out in front of his pickup while he was driving just under 60 miles per hour. He said if he would have hit the car with his pickup, the driver could have been seriously hurt. Dodd said he then tried to go around the car.
read more here
12:04 AM, Jun 25, 2012
Written by
Mike Lyons
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A disabled veteran was attacked in a road rage incident on the Westside Saturday and a teenager was arrested on battery charges.
50-year old Robert Dodd lives in Baker County. The single father of two walks with a cane, injured by mortar attacks while in the Navy in Iraq in 2004. He was driving his pickup east on Normandy Blvd. near Yellow Water Road when a young driver pulled out in front of him and he had to slam on brakes.
Dodd says he almost ran into the small car that pulled out in front of his pickup while he was driving just under 60 miles per hour. He said if he would have hit the car with his pickup, the driver could have been seriously hurt. Dodd said he then tried to go around the car.
read more here
Rain and fire department didn't stop Orlando from honoring heroes
Yesterday I went to the Orlando VFW Post on Edgewater Drive. After finally finding a place to park in the pouring rain, when I got out of the car, I heard the fire alarm. People were getting back into their cars. The VFW Band was waiting outside and no one knew what was going on. It didn't take the heads of the heads of the VFW long to figure out a plan of action. They began directing people to the pavilion so everyone could stay dry while they waited for the fire department to come. Sure enough, they came fast and figured out what the problem was. There was a problem with the air conditioner from what I was told. The planned ceremony had to be canceled but they gave the awards out and honored these veterans.
I'll have the video up on this later. As usual several news stations showed up but I haven't been able to find any reports. If you find them please leave the link in the comment section of this post.
Local vets to be awarded medals, ribbons at Orlando VFW Post
June 23, 2012
By Orlando Sentinel
A group of local war veterans will receive medals and ribbons that they are entitled to in a ceremony at an Orlando VFW Post on Sunday.
Veterans from the first Gulf War, Vietnam, Korea and World War II who never received the awards they were entitled to will get them in a 4 p.m. ceremony at VFW Post #2093 located at 4444 Edgewater Dr.
One Vietnam vet will receive 32 ribbons from his three tours of duty; another will receive his Bronze Star. Korean War veterans will receive their Korean Defense Service Medals and several Purple Heart medals will be awarded.
read more here
I'll have the video up on this later. As usual several news stations showed up but I haven't been able to find any reports. If you find them please leave the link in the comment section of this post.
Montford Marines WWII groundbreakers
Montford Marines, the first black Marines, to get highest civilian honor
By MICHAEL FUTCH
The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.
Published: June 24, 2012
Few people know their story.
Unlike the Army's Triple Nickels and the Army Air Corps' Tuskegee Airmen, the history of the groundbreakers who went through Montford Point has been largely overlooked.
Fayetteville's James Robert Simpson was among the roughly 20,000 Marines who lived it, training on a small, swampy peninsula jutting into the New River on the North Carolina coast. The World War II veteran, the eldest son of a farming couple from rural Cumberland County, was a "Point man" - one of the first blacks to serve in the Marine Corps.
"I'm proud of that," Simpson said. "To be a part of history, for sure."
At 88 and in poor health, he plans to fly to Washington this week to attend two ceremonies paying tribute to the fighting men known as the Montford Point Marines. These veterans will receive the nation's highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal.
About 400 of the estimated 420 living Montford Point veterans are expected to attend. In addition to Simpson, five men from Fayetteville are expected to make the trip: Robert Burns Sr., Cosmas Eaglin Sr., Linwood Haith, David Montgomery and Joseph Stinchcomb, said Capt. Kendra Motz, a spokeswoman for the Marine Corps.
"It's most of them, which is awesome," Motz said.
Simpson said he will go to Washington, where he and his fellow Marines will receive a bronze replica of the medal, with mixed feelings.
read more here
I had the pleasure of interviewing Charles Foreman in February.
By MICHAEL FUTCH
The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.
Published: June 24, 2012
Few people know their story.
Unlike the Army's Triple Nickels and the Army Air Corps' Tuskegee Airmen, the history of the groundbreakers who went through Montford Point has been largely overlooked.
Fayetteville's James Robert Simpson was among the roughly 20,000 Marines who lived it, training on a small, swampy peninsula jutting into the New River on the North Carolina coast. The World War II veteran, the eldest son of a farming couple from rural Cumberland County, was a "Point man" - one of the first blacks to serve in the Marine Corps.
"I'm proud of that," Simpson said. "To be a part of history, for sure."
At 88 and in poor health, he plans to fly to Washington this week to attend two ceremonies paying tribute to the fighting men known as the Montford Point Marines. These veterans will receive the nation's highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal.
About 400 of the estimated 420 living Montford Point veterans are expected to attend. In addition to Simpson, five men from Fayetteville are expected to make the trip: Robert Burns Sr., Cosmas Eaglin Sr., Linwood Haith, David Montgomery and Joseph Stinchcomb, said Capt. Kendra Motz, a spokeswoman for the Marine Corps.
"It's most of them, which is awesome," Motz said.
Simpson said he will go to Washington, where he and his fellow Marines will receive a bronze replica of the medal, with mixed feelings.
read more here
I had the pleasure of interviewing Charles Foreman in February.
Last night at the Orlando Nam Knights there was a surprise guest. Charles O. Foreman, a WWII veteran, member of the Montford Point Marines came. He is part of the group of Marines receiving the Congressional Gold Medal. At 87 he is just amazing. No matter what he had to go through because of the color of his skin, he'd do it all over again. He credits the Marines with making him the man he is today.
Homes For Our Troops Home Award Program
Russ and Carol Gambill don't think they have better things to do than to spend so much time working to make coming home better for our combat wounded men and women. They love what they do because they love them. If you ever wanted to get involved with an organization doing great works, this is it. Homes For Our Troops is making sure more veterans have a place to come home to!
Homes for Our Troops has partnered up with a couple of the largest banking corporations in the country.
These banks are taking their bank owned homes and want to give them to qualifying Veterans and the surviving families of our servicemen and women who have perished during the OIF/OEF and Iraqi War.
Please read the email inserted below for instruction on applying and more information. If you are or know of someone who may qualify please pass this on.
Russ and Carol Gambill
Homes for Our Troops Volunteers
Homes For Our Troops.org
Florida Veterans Network
Homes for Our Troops has partnered up with a couple of the largest banking corporations in the country.
These banks are taking their bank owned homes and want to give them to qualifying Veterans and the surviving families of our servicemen and women who have perished during the OIF/OEF and Iraqi War.
Please read the email inserted below for instruction on applying and more information. If you are or know of someone who may qualify please pass this on.
Russ and Carol Gambill
Homes for Our Troops Volunteers
Homes For Our Troops.org
Florida Veterans Network
Are you a wounded or injured, post-9/11/01 Veteran or a Gold Star spouse? Please read this email to see if you meet the basic qualification critera then apply for a mortgage-free home!
Do you know a qualifying Veteran/Gold Star family that needs a mortgage-free home? Please forward this email to them!
Homes for Our Troops - "Home Award Program"
Dear HFOT Families, Friends, and Supporters,
We are excited to tell you about an expansion to Homes for Our Troops mission. We have recently added a “Home Award Program” that will allow us to provide the "American Dream" of home ownership to a broader population of deserving Americans; our nation's wounded and injured Veterans and to the spouses of our fallen service members, completely mortgage-free.
As an organization, we feel as though our nation's Veterans, especially the wounded and injured and Gold Star families have paid enough through their service and sacrifice and it's time for us to give back. We give back by providing mortgage-free homes to our deserving military families that would not normally qualify for our original “Specially Adapted Home Program.”
Homes for Our Troops will soon begin receiving donations of homes that are currently owned by national banks. These top-quality homes are in move-in condition and located throughout the country. The banks want to donate these homes to HFOT for Veterans and their families, mortgage-free! We would like to help as many applicants as possible and need your help in disseminating this word. Please share this email with anyone you know that could potentially qualify for the Home Award Program.
Basic Qualification Criteria
You are a Veteran that sustained injuries during combat or while deployed in support of combat operations after September 11, 2001.
You are Widow/Widower or dependent of a service member due to injuries sustained in combat or while deployed in support of combat operations after September 11, 2001. You plan to make your new "HFOT Home Award" home your primary residence for a minimum of three years.
You accept the responsibility of home ownership and have the resources to maintain a home. (ongoing maintenance and upkeep, taxes, utilities etc.)
HOME AWARD PROGRAM CONTACT INFO
Carlo Gaita
Home Award Program Manager
Cheryl Wick
Program Support Representative
Email: HAP@homesforourtroops.org.
Potential Home Award Candidates: Please fill out the open application using the link above and provide the required documentation to start the application process. The open application gives you the opportunity to become pre-qualified for a "Home Award Program" home by the selection committee. When we receive notification from our banking partners that a home becomes available that fits the criteria you specify, we will send you an email notification with all the information on the home(s). You will then have seven (7) calendar days to notify Homes for Our Troops if you want one of the homes on the list.
I am sure you may have some questions about this program; please feel free to visit our web site, Homes For Our Troops Home Award or to contact us at HAP@homesforourtroops.org.
Thank you for your continued support of the Homes for Our Troops mission, we look forward to being able to provide more Veterans and their families the “American Dream” of home ownership through our “Home Award Program.”
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Army Releases May 2012 Suicide Data, DOD head in the sand
Army Releases May 2012 Suicide Data, DOD head in the sand
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times
June 24, 2012
The DOD still has their head in the sand, pushing what does not work and listening to the people they should be blaming.
A friend sent me a link and wanted to know what I thought so reluctantly I just read The “Myth” of our Returning Veterans and Violent Crime by Lt.Col. Dave Grossman, USA, Ret. Author of On Killing, and On Combat "An Obscene Bid to Smear our Veterans" (the granddaddy of Battlemind) and his latest rant trying to blame the media, the left wing and NPR for reporting on what is happening to a lot of men and women when they come home from combat. (You know, the place we sent them and then forgot all about them.) If there really was a "liberal" media, don't you think they'd be daily coverage from all these years and two wars?
As it is, I have to spend hours finding their stories. The most read ones are about healing, heroes and what we can do to help. I thank God that I have read less and less the kind of thing coming out from Grossman because it doesn't help anyone.
What keeps getting missed, and there is a boatload, is a question I haven't heard anyone ask. Did they really want to die? The latest suicide number are below. For all the numbers reported between active military and veterans we are seeing 19 a day taking their own lives. These men and women are only accounted for when they are either in the DOD or VA system. No longer on active duty or listed as disabled by the VA, no one counts them but their families. Answering the question with what we do know for sure is easy.
Men and women do not manage to survive hell in combat, protect the comrades they are with, risk their lives to save someone else, make it all the way back home again and suddenly say "I want to die today" for no reason at all. They did not want to die but because of the loss of hope that the next day would be better, they decided to not take any more breaths waiting for someone to let them in on the secret of healing.
They wanted to stay alive during combat but were not afraid to do what they had to do in order to protect the lives of their buddies, so no, they are not cowards and they sure as hell are not selfish as a few hacks suggested because it was just too tough for then to have to go to another funeral after another life ended by suicide. They wanted to come home to their families and friends so that last thing on their minds was not leaving them with their fingers on triggers or putting a ropes around their necks or crashing their cars into trees.
The truth is they are dying because no one is being held accountable. Failures like Battlemind replaced by "Resiliency Training" has been killing them off and forcing them to blame themselves for "not training right" and being "weak minded" but no one has paid any price for pushing this failure. Worse is the fact they now have "master trainers" and the program is being pushed harder. Talk to any veteran after they had this training and you'll see what I mean. Does the media have a clue? Do they know about it? Do they care? Any of them ask for answers on this? Anyone asking congress why they still fund it? Anyone asking the DOD to account for this when the numbers kept going up? Calls to the suicide prevention hotline kept going up and so did the number of veterans filing VA claims for PTSD? Any clue anyone? All these years and we have the following results to show for it but no reporter has done a damn thing about any of this other than to either ignore it or report on the face value of it and whatever the talking heads have to say about it.
Few commit suicide while deployed and if they do, it is usually not their first time in combat.
If Grossman really wanted to make a difference then he should have pointed out the real numbers about how few do in fact commit crimes and then address why the suicide numbers have all gone up while he wants to blame the media for reporting on what little they do spend time on.
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times
June 24, 2012
The DOD still has their head in the sand, pushing what does not work and listening to the people they should be blaming.
A friend sent me a link and wanted to know what I thought so reluctantly I just read The “Myth” of our Returning Veterans and Violent Crime by Lt.Col. Dave Grossman, USA, Ret. Author of On Killing, and On Combat "An Obscene Bid to Smear our Veterans" (the granddaddy of Battlemind) and his latest rant trying to blame the media, the left wing and NPR for reporting on what is happening to a lot of men and women when they come home from combat. (You know, the place we sent them and then forgot all about them.) If there really was a "liberal" media, don't you think they'd be daily coverage from all these years and two wars?
As it is, I have to spend hours finding their stories. The most read ones are about healing, heroes and what we can do to help. I thank God that I have read less and less the kind of thing coming out from Grossman because it doesn't help anyone.
What keeps getting missed, and there is a boatload, is a question I haven't heard anyone ask. Did they really want to die? The latest suicide number are below. For all the numbers reported between active military and veterans we are seeing 19 a day taking their own lives. These men and women are only accounted for when they are either in the DOD or VA system. No longer on active duty or listed as disabled by the VA, no one counts them but their families. Answering the question with what we do know for sure is easy.
Men and women do not manage to survive hell in combat, protect the comrades they are with, risk their lives to save someone else, make it all the way back home again and suddenly say "I want to die today" for no reason at all. They did not want to die but because of the loss of hope that the next day would be better, they decided to not take any more breaths waiting for someone to let them in on the secret of healing.
They wanted to stay alive during combat but were not afraid to do what they had to do in order to protect the lives of their buddies, so no, they are not cowards and they sure as hell are not selfish as a few hacks suggested because it was just too tough for then to have to go to another funeral after another life ended by suicide. They wanted to come home to their families and friends so that last thing on their minds was not leaving them with their fingers on triggers or putting a ropes around their necks or crashing their cars into trees.
The truth is they are dying because no one is being held accountable. Failures like Battlemind replaced by "Resiliency Training" has been killing them off and forcing them to blame themselves for "not training right" and being "weak minded" but no one has paid any price for pushing this failure. Worse is the fact they now have "master trainers" and the program is being pushed harder. Talk to any veteran after they had this training and you'll see what I mean. Does the media have a clue? Do they know about it? Do they care? Any of them ask for answers on this? Anyone asking congress why they still fund it? Anyone asking the DOD to account for this when the numbers kept going up? Calls to the suicide prevention hotline kept going up and so did the number of veterans filing VA claims for PTSD? Any clue anyone? All these years and we have the following results to show for it but no reporter has done a damn thing about any of this other than to either ignore it or report on the face value of it and whatever the talking heads have to say about it.
Few commit suicide while deployed and if they do, it is usually not their first time in combat.
If Grossman really wanted to make a difference then he should have pointed out the real numbers about how few do in fact commit crimes and then address why the suicide numbers have all gone up while he wants to blame the media for reporting on what little they do spend time on.
Army Releases May 2012 Suicide Data
FRIDAY, 22 JUNE 2012
PRESS RELEASE
MILITARY
Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—June 22, 2012. The Army released suicide data today for the month of May. During May, among active-duty soldiers, there were 16 potential suicides: four have been confirmed as suicides and 12 remain under investigation.
For April, the Army reported 14 potential suicides among active-duty soldiers. Since the release of that report, one case has been added for a total of 15 potential suicides: four have been confirmed as suicides and 11 remain under investigation.
For 2012, there have been 78 potential active-duty suicides: 42 have been confirmed as suicides and 36 remain under investigation. Updated active-duty suicide numbers for 2011: 165 (confirmed as suicides and no cases remain under investigation).
During May, among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were nine potential suicides (two Army National Guard and seven Army Reserve): two have been confirmed as suicides and seven remain under investigation.
For April, among that same group, the Army reported 13 potential suicides. Since the release of that report, three cases have been added for a total of 16 potential suicides (seven Army National Guard and nine Army Reserve): 11 have been confirmed as suicides and five remain under investigation. For 2012, there have been 46 potential not on active-duty suicides (26 Army National Guard and 20 Army Reserve): 33 have been confirmed as suicides and 13 remain under investigation. Not on active-duty suicide numbers for 2011: 118 (82 Army National Guard and 36 Army Reserve) confirmed as suicides and no cases remain under investigation.
In a May 10, 2012, memorandum titled “Suicide Prevention for Department of Defense Personnel,” Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta stated, “Suicide prevention is first and foremost a leadership responsibility. To that end, leaders throughout the chain of command must actively promote a constructive climate that fosters cohesion and encourages individuals to reach out for help when needed. We must continue to fight to eliminate the stigma from those with post-traumatic stress and other mental-health issues. Seeking help is a sign of strength, and department personnel, both military and civilian, must show this strength or assist those in need of help.”
read more here
Twist and turns in WWII veteran's story
National outcry erupts over bankruptcy of 89-year-old Plains veteran
By VINCE DEVLIN
of the Missoulian
PLAINS – An 89-year-old widower and World War II hero, facing too many bills from his late wife’s 10-year battle with cancer, files for bankruptcy – but fails to list what is reported to be $66,000 worth of gold and silver buried in his yard as assets.
A national organization called Oath Keepers reports on its website that the bankruptcy court ordered the veteran to vacate his home outside Plains, but erroneously claims that he is also being forced to exhume his wife’s body from her grave on the property and move it.
Oath Keepers’ founder calls the attitude of the trustee in the case “brutal and callous” in a 29-minute video posted on the website.
The resulting uproar includes death threats against the trustee, a Bigfork attorney who has since filed a motion to vacate the sale of the veteran’s home, and requested a protective order from the court.
The case of Renn Bodeker has a lot of twists, turns and fallout.
read more here
By VINCE DEVLIN
of the Missoulian
PLAINS – An 89-year-old widower and World War II hero, facing too many bills from his late wife’s 10-year battle with cancer, files for bankruptcy – but fails to list what is reported to be $66,000 worth of gold and silver buried in his yard as assets.
A national organization called Oath Keepers reports on its website that the bankruptcy court ordered the veteran to vacate his home outside Plains, but erroneously claims that he is also being forced to exhume his wife’s body from her grave on the property and move it.
Oath Keepers’ founder calls the attitude of the trustee in the case “brutal and callous” in a 29-minute video posted on the website.
The resulting uproar includes death threats against the trustee, a Bigfork attorney who has since filed a motion to vacate the sale of the veteran’s home, and requested a protective order from the court.
The case of Renn Bodeker has a lot of twists, turns and fallout.
read more here
Vietnam Veteran beaten and robbed in Chicago
Vietnam veteran beaten, robbed; 2 held
By Rosemary R. Sobol
Tribune reporter
June 23, 2012
Sixty-five-year-old Vietnam vet and retired factory worker Willie Haynes was just trying to pick up his cousin from a doctor's appointment but ended up needing one himself after two robbers “jumped him’’ early Friday on the Near West Side.
The two suspects, Eric L. Thomas and Elon Love, were apprehended by police and appeared in court today, charged with aggravated robbery and aggravated battery to a senior citizen.
In court today, Judge James Brown set bails at $100,000 each for Thomas and Love.
“I didn’t deserve this,’’ Hayes said when reached by phone this afternoon. “I couldn’t believe it was happening to me.’’
read more here
By Rosemary R. Sobol
Tribune reporter
June 23, 2012
Sixty-five-year-old Vietnam vet and retired factory worker Willie Haynes was just trying to pick up his cousin from a doctor's appointment but ended up needing one himself after two robbers “jumped him’’ early Friday on the Near West Side.
The two suspects, Eric L. Thomas and Elon Love, were apprehended by police and appeared in court today, charged with aggravated robbery and aggravated battery to a senior citizen.
In court today, Judge James Brown set bails at $100,000 each for Thomas and Love.
“I didn’t deserve this,’’ Hayes said when reached by phone this afternoon. “I couldn’t believe it was happening to me.’’
read more here
New programs for combat PTSD conflict with scarcity of personnel
Psychiatrists on point back home
New programs conflict with scarcity of personnel
Jun 15, 2012
Written by
Philip Grey
Leaf-Chronicle
FORT CAMPBELL, KY. — While the Army anticipates a considerable shrinkage of resources and personnel in coming years, at least one aspect of Army operations is expected to grow rapidly, out of sheer necessity.
Due to an increasing and acknowledged need, resources aimed at addressing a host of problems coming under the term, “behavioral health,” are the big news at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital in 2012.
As a result, Lt. Col. Marla Hemphill, chief of the Department of Behavioral Health at BACH, and Maj. Joe Wise, chief of Adult Behavioral Health – both on the frontline of a vast new frontier of military medicine – are looking forward to getting some new troops to man that line.
Meanwhile, they have to manage being at the center of issues that are complex and contentious, while operating under a microscope due to the high visibility of the issues involved.
read more here
New programs conflict with scarcity of personnel
Jun 15, 2012
Written by
Philip Grey
Leaf-Chronicle
At Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at Fort Campbell, Lt. Col. Marla Hemphill and Maj. Joe Wise are psychiatrists manning the frontlines of the Army's war against suicide, PTSD and other behavioral health problems. / LEAF-CHRONICLE/PHILIP GREY
FORT CAMPBELL, KY. — While the Army anticipates a considerable shrinkage of resources and personnel in coming years, at least one aspect of Army operations is expected to grow rapidly, out of sheer necessity.
Due to an increasing and acknowledged need, resources aimed at addressing a host of problems coming under the term, “behavioral health,” are the big news at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital in 2012.
As a result, Lt. Col. Marla Hemphill, chief of the Department of Behavioral Health at BACH, and Maj. Joe Wise, chief of Adult Behavioral Health – both on the frontline of a vast new frontier of military medicine – are looking forward to getting some new troops to man that line.
Meanwhile, they have to manage being at the center of issues that are complex and contentious, while operating under a microscope due to the high visibility of the issues involved.
read more here
Why did we let Trever Gould die?
Why did we let Trever Gould die?
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
June 24, 2012
Every 24 hours there are at least 19 suicides tied to military service. 18 veterans and 1 active military.
The military ran out of excuses years ago because none of these reports are new. While they said they were doing something about it, it all turned out to be massive failures. Why? The numbers have been screaming about this simple, ignored fact. Numbers go up and so do the families having to plan a funeral for someone who managed to come survive combat but could not survive one more day back home.
So why did we let Trever Gould die? Why didn't we do enough to save his life?
We can blame the military all we want but you see, when we as the collective we of this country, elect people to run this country, we are supposed to hold them accountable but congress hasn't really given a damn while pretending they care. Stop and think about the hearings they've had on military suicides and veterans committing suicide. How many have they had? Have they really done anything about any of this? Do they hold anyone accountable for failures? Do they even know the right questions to ask?
Resiliency Training is still going on no matter how pitiful and congress still wonders why suicides have gone up instead of asking why this program is still funded.
We allowed all of it to go on and didn't demand any answers from them so they in turn didn't really demand any answers from the DOD or the VA.
Yet still after all these years, Fort Hood managed to keep Trevor's suffering from combat PTSD a secret from his family along with the fact he was suicidal. This is after all the "help" they DOD could buy, all the funding handed over, calls flooded into the Suicide Prevention Hotline and veterans charities sprung up with their hands out pulling in hundreds of millions of dollars a year. We donated and then felt as if we were doing something to help but in the end, we were part of the problem and now another Mom has to bury her son after she thought he came home to safety.
UPDATE
Fulda family aims to get more help for reintegrating soldiers
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
June 24, 2012
Every 24 hours there are at least 19 suicides tied to military service. 18 veterans and 1 active military.
The military ran out of excuses years ago because none of these reports are new. While they said they were doing something about it, it all turned out to be massive failures. Why? The numbers have been screaming about this simple, ignored fact. Numbers go up and so do the families having to plan a funeral for someone who managed to come survive combat but could not survive one more day back home.
So why did we let Trever Gould die? Why didn't we do enough to save his life?
We can blame the military all we want but you see, when we as the collective we of this country, elect people to run this country, we are supposed to hold them accountable but congress hasn't really given a damn while pretending they care. Stop and think about the hearings they've had on military suicides and veterans committing suicide. How many have they had? Have they really done anything about any of this? Do they hold anyone accountable for failures? Do they even know the right questions to ask?
Resiliency Training is still going on no matter how pitiful and congress still wonders why suicides have gone up instead of asking why this program is still funded.
We allowed all of it to go on and didn't demand any answers from them so they in turn didn't really demand any answers from the DOD or the VA.
Yet still after all these years, Fort Hood managed to keep Trevor's suffering from combat PTSD a secret from his family along with the fact he was suicidal. This is after all the "help" they DOD could buy, all the funding handed over, calls flooded into the Suicide Prevention Hotline and veterans charities sprung up with their hands out pulling in hundreds of millions of dollars a year. We donated and then felt as if we were doing something to help but in the end, we were part of the problem and now another Mom has to bury her son after she thought he came home to safety.
Soldier took his life, family mourns with anger
Jun 23, 2012
By Courtney Collen
Trevor Gould at 25 years old was an active member of the United States Army out of Fort Hood, Texas.
He was job hunting in his hometown of Fulda, MN, for the summer but would head back to school in Mankato in the fall.
"Everybody loved him. He had a heart of gold. He always wanted to be a leader," Sheri Johnson said.
Sheri Johnson is Trevor's mom. After Trevor served overseas in 2010, his mom said he changed, he had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.
Just last week, he took his life which is fifteen years after his dad took his.
After Trevor died, Sheri looked through his military paperwork and shocked by what she saw.
"I found out he had talked to doctors in the Army saying he was suicidal. They didn't contact me, they didn't send him to help, they just pushed the paperwork through.
That's the only way I found out is through military papers," Sheri said.
read more here
UPDATE
Fulda family aims to get more help for reintegrating soldiers
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Home Depot makes better home for DAV Orlando
Home Depot, Celebration of Service, returned to Chapter 16, Orlando Disabled American Veterans to finish the repairs to the building.
A new roof, paint, landscaping, widows, air conditioners, and the list goes on but one of the best changes was putting in a wider doorway into the meeting hall so that wheelchairs could get through without a struggle. Considering we have two triple amputees from the Vietnam War, it was a blessing.
As a matter of fact, Home Depot's crew was a blessing because there is no way we could have afforded to do any of what they did for us.
A new roof, paint, landscaping, widows, air conditioners, and the list goes on but one of the best changes was putting in a wider doorway into the meeting hall so that wheelchairs could get through without a struggle. Considering we have two triple amputees from the Vietnam War, it was a blessing.
As a matter of fact, Home Depot's crew was a blessing because there is no way we could have afforded to do any of what they did for us.
Tulsa American Legion honors female veterans
Female veterans honored at Tulsa American Legion post event
By CHASE COOK
World Staff Writer
Published: 6/23/2012
World War II veteran Pietje Wall served in the Marine Corps from 1945 to 1950, with 13 months of that time on active duty.
Her job during active duty was to help give the military ships returning from combat new orders, she said. It was a time when women were finding their place in the military and were allowed to serve only in limited roles.
Now, female troops are serving in more positions in the military, and the number of female veterans is expected to rise in the coming years, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The United States has about 1.8 million female veterans, and about 26,000 of them live in Oklahoma, according to the VA.
Wall and other women were recognized for their service during a dinner held by the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 1 on Friday. The dinner is an opportunity to recognize the veterans that may be overlooked, said Maxine Mackie, the auxiliary unit's president.
"It's nice to recognize the ladies and say, 'Hey, we recognize the service you have done for us,' " Mackie said.
Christina Smith, president of the Tulsa Chapter of the Oklahoma Women Veterans Organization, said events such as the dinner are special because they are a reminder that women serve in the military, too.
People often hear male references, such as "bring the boys home," she said, but she asks that people "just remember us all."
"It's a rite of passage to serve this country," Smith said.
read more here
By CHASE COOK
World Staff Writer
Published: 6/23/2012
World War II veteran Pietje Wall served in the Marine Corps from 1945 to 1950, with 13 months of that time on active duty.
Her job during active duty was to help give the military ships returning from combat new orders, she said. It was a time when women were finding their place in the military and were allowed to serve only in limited roles.
Now, female troops are serving in more positions in the military, and the number of female veterans is expected to rise in the coming years, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The United States has about 1.8 million female veterans, and about 26,000 of them live in Oklahoma, according to the VA.
Wall and other women were recognized for their service during a dinner held by the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 1 on Friday. The dinner is an opportunity to recognize the veterans that may be overlooked, said Maxine Mackie, the auxiliary unit's president.
"It's nice to recognize the ladies and say, 'Hey, we recognize the service you have done for us,' " Mackie said.
Christina Smith, president of the Tulsa Chapter of the Oklahoma Women Veterans Organization, said events such as the dinner are special because they are a reminder that women serve in the military, too.
People often hear male references, such as "bring the boys home," she said, but she asks that people "just remember us all."
"It's a rite of passage to serve this country," Smith said.
read more here
Did Sgt. Rafael Peralta's actions deserve MOH or not?
Sgt. Rafael Peralta’s Medal of Honor case shifts again
JUNE 22ND, 2012
POSTED BY DAN LAMOTHE
Sgt. Rafael Peralta’s case for the Medal of Honor has shifted again, according to a congressman who has pressed the Pentagon to review new evidence that he says shows the Marine chose to smother a grenade to save his buddies in Iraq.
Peralta, 25, died Nov. 15, 2004, in Fallujah. He was awarded the Navy Cross in 2008 for disregarding his own personal safety while already mortally wounded, pulling the grenade to his body, “absorbing the brunt of the blast and shielding fellow Marines only feet away,” according to his award citation.
Despite the extraordinary heroism, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates shot down Peralta’s case for the Medal of Honor in 2008, leading the Navy Department to authorize the Navy Cross instead.
Pentagon officials cited “contradictory evidence” on whether he had the cognitive ability to choose to cover the grenade despite already being mortally wounded in the head, outraging his family, fellow Marines and veterans.
The Navy Department acknowledged in March that it was reviewing new evidence — two videos recorded shortly after the blast by fellow Marines and a new pathology report — but declined to characterize the move as a “re-opening” of the case.
read more here
JUNE 22ND, 2012
POSTED BY DAN LAMOTHE
Sgt. Rafael Peralta’s case for the Medal of Honor has shifted again, according to a congressman who has pressed the Pentagon to review new evidence that he says shows the Marine chose to smother a grenade to save his buddies in Iraq.
Peralta, 25, died Nov. 15, 2004, in Fallujah. He was awarded the Navy Cross in 2008 for disregarding his own personal safety while already mortally wounded, pulling the grenade to his body, “absorbing the brunt of the blast and shielding fellow Marines only feet away,” according to his award citation.
Despite the extraordinary heroism, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates shot down Peralta’s case for the Medal of Honor in 2008, leading the Navy Department to authorize the Navy Cross instead.
Pentagon officials cited “contradictory evidence” on whether he had the cognitive ability to choose to cover the grenade despite already being mortally wounded in the head, outraging his family, fellow Marines and veterans.
The Navy Department acknowledged in March that it was reviewing new evidence — two videos recorded shortly after the blast by fellow Marines and a new pathology report — but declined to characterize the move as a “re-opening” of the case.
read more here
Panetta: Junior leaders can stop suicides
Panetta: Junior leaders can stop suicides
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
Army Times
Posted : Friday Jun 22, 2012
Calling suicide “the most frustrating challenge” of his position, Panetta said the Defense Department can create programs, conduct research and lead innovation in neuroscience, but leaders must tackle the issue “head on” because prevention falls to them.
“We will not tolerate actions that belittle, that haze, that ostracize any individual, particularly those who have made the decision to get help. Leadership throughout the department must make it understood that seeking help is a sign of strength, not a sign of weakness,” he said. read more here
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
Army Times
Posted : Friday Jun 22, 2012
According to monthly service reports, the Army had 76 suicides through June 1 while the Marine Corps had 18. The Air Force had 35 as of May 1, according to figures provided to Air Force Times. The Navy does not publish monthly statistics, but at least 20 sailors have committed suicide this year.Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Friday that preventing suicides is a foremost leadership responsibility shouldered by all commanders, but especially by junior leader, non-commissioned officers and petty officers with direct oversight over troops.
Calling suicide “the most frustrating challenge” of his position, Panetta said the Defense Department can create programs, conduct research and lead innovation in neuroscience, but leaders must tackle the issue “head on” because prevention falls to them.
“We will not tolerate actions that belittle, that haze, that ostracize any individual, particularly those who have made the decision to get help. Leadership throughout the department must make it understood that seeking help is a sign of strength, not a sign of weakness,” he said. read more here
Healing military vets’ PTSD starts with understanding
Healing military vets’ PTSD starts with understanding
Posted: Friday, June 22, 2012
By Dr. Mike Rosmann
IFT columnist
Iowa Farmer Today
Last week I explained how Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can develop.
Reacting to a traumatic event with alarm is normal, but when we overreact with alarm to any reminder or cue of the trauma to the degree that distress interferes with our daily lives, it’s time to take corrective actions.
PTSD is fairly common for people involved in farming because farming is one of the most-stressful occupations and many of the factors that affect success or failure are beyond our control.
When I use the term “farming,” I am also referring to ranching, working on a farm as a laborer and related jobs that involve the production of food, fiber and biofuel.
One of my first professional experiences with PTSD after completing training in clinical psychology involved helping a farmer who became emotionally paralyzed while undergoing farm-foreclosure proceedings in court. He couldn’t sleep, he was unable to go about his daily chores on the farm, he became numb and was hardly able to speak. PTSD in the military
PTSD among soldiers who completed tours of duty in Iraq and/or Afghanistan is also common. Recent estimates range from 2.5 percent to 35 percent among U.S. veterans returning stateside (Richardson, Frueh & Acierno, 2010; Curry, 2012).
As might be expected, the prevalence of PTSD is positively correlated with the number of tours of duty and the number of exposures to fire-fights, bombs and other life-threatening events.
Many returning U.S. military who originated from rural areas find access to care for PTSD is an added burden.
Dr. Joel Kupersmith, chief research and development officer of the Department of Veteran Affairs, commented, “Providing comprehensive, high-quality health care to veterans in rural areas is a challenge.”
Of 5.6 million veterans who received care from the VA in 2006, about 40 percent lived in rural areas.
U.S. military personnel tend to originate in greater numbers from states that are rural, with Alaska having the highest number of military personnel on a per capita basis.
read more here
Posted: Friday, June 22, 2012
By Dr. Mike Rosmann
IFT columnist
Iowa Farmer Today
PTSD seldom goes away on its own. The most-effective help with PTSD is usually obtained from professionals and trained peer support counselors who understand the experiences of those struggling with PTSD.
Last week I explained how Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can develop.
Reacting to a traumatic event with alarm is normal, but when we overreact with alarm to any reminder or cue of the trauma to the degree that distress interferes with our daily lives, it’s time to take corrective actions.
PTSD is fairly common for people involved in farming because farming is one of the most-stressful occupations and many of the factors that affect success or failure are beyond our control.
When I use the term “farming,” I am also referring to ranching, working on a farm as a laborer and related jobs that involve the production of food, fiber and biofuel.
One of my first professional experiences with PTSD after completing training in clinical psychology involved helping a farmer who became emotionally paralyzed while undergoing farm-foreclosure proceedings in court. He couldn’t sleep, he was unable to go about his daily chores on the farm, he became numb and was hardly able to speak. PTSD in the military
PTSD among soldiers who completed tours of duty in Iraq and/or Afghanistan is also common. Recent estimates range from 2.5 percent to 35 percent among U.S. veterans returning stateside (Richardson, Frueh & Acierno, 2010; Curry, 2012).
As might be expected, the prevalence of PTSD is positively correlated with the number of tours of duty and the number of exposures to fire-fights, bombs and other life-threatening events.
Many returning U.S. military who originated from rural areas find access to care for PTSD is an added burden.
Dr. Joel Kupersmith, chief research and development officer of the Department of Veteran Affairs, commented, “Providing comprehensive, high-quality health care to veterans in rural areas is a challenge.”
Of 5.6 million veterans who received care from the VA in 2006, about 40 percent lived in rural areas.
U.S. military personnel tend to originate in greater numbers from states that are rural, with Alaska having the highest number of military personnel on a per capita basis.
read more here
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