What does Wounded Warrior Project do for the wounded?

UPDATE July 22, 2012
Here's a great example of how the events they do are sponsored.

Wounded Warriors hit the surf at Camp Pendleton
By SABRINA LOUNSBURY / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

CAMP PENDLETON – About 15 wounded combat veterans got their first taste of surfing Saturday, as the Wounded Warriors Project teamed up with Doheney Longboard Association, Hobe Surf Shop and Quicksilver to host a fun day at Sanford Beach on the Camp Pendleton Marine base.

The day started with surfing lessons and included barbecue, with volunteers and families relaxing in the sun while their wounded warriors received surfing lessons. Each surfer was given a longboard, along with a wetsuit, and more than 30 volunteers were on hand to assist the beginner surfers.
click link for more

What does Wounded Warrior Project do for the wounded?
by
Chaplain Kathie

I get involved in a lot of conversations regarding Wounded Warrior Project and most of them turn out to be bad. While they have a great PR campaign and corporate sponsors like Brawny showing up lately on top of what A and E is doing, no one seems to know what they do for the money they are getting.

Here's a look at what they say they are doing so that you can judge for yourself if this is a good place to send your money or not.

What does Wounded Warrior Project do?
Who does Wounded Warrior Project™ serve?
The WWP mission is to honor and empower Wounded Warriors who incur service-connected wounds, injuries and illnesses (physical or psychological) on or after September 11, 2001. You may also be eligible for the program if you are the spouse or family member and joining on behalf of a warrior.


Where is WWP located? Do you have a location near me?
We're a national organization and offer services to warriors throughout the nation, regardless of whether WWP teammates are in your area. We have field staff across the country and maintain offices in:

Chicago, Illinois
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Jacksonville, Florida
New York, New York
San Diego, California
San Antonio, Texas
Seattle, Washington
Washington, DC

Why don't you offer services to ALL veterans?
WWP began as a small, grassroots effort to provide immediate assistance when a warrior of this generation was injured. We felt we could do the most good by providing more comprehensive programs and services to the newly injured, rather than spread ourselves too thin by trying to help all veterans. We also knew there were many terrific veterans' organizations for warriors from previous conflicts, but very few focused on serving our newest generation.


Other than the backpacks, what type of services do you provide?
WWP provides more than 13 programs to Wounded Warriors and their families, in addition to numerous services and valuable resources. Please visit our Program page and browse all our offerings that are categorized by Mind, Body, Economic Empowerment and Engagement.

What percentage of my donation goes directly to Wounded Warriors?
We continuously strive to keep administrative and fundraising costs associated with the operation of WWP as low as possible. Based on our FY2010 audited financial statements ending September 30, 2010, 82% of total expenditures went to provide services and programs for our Wounded Warriors and their families. We're proud to far exceed the Better Business Bureau's minimum standard of $0.65 for every dollar. We're consistently working to improve our efficiency and better serve warriors.

This is from an interview with Raytheon.

Beyond Backpacks: The Story of the Wounded Warrior Project
Last Updated: 05/09/2012
Adam Silva
Chief Development Officer
Wounded Warrior Project

It all began with a car full of care packages. Nine years later, the Wounded Warrior Project® has grown into a $130 million charity offering a raft of programs for veterans injured in the wars since 9/11.

This month Raytheon has launched a Twitter campaign, Hashtags for Heroes, aimed at rallying support for the Jacksonville, Fla.-based group. In this interview, Wounded Warrior’s chief development officer, Adam Silva, explains how the organization began, what it does and where it’s headed.

How did the Wounded Warrior Project start?

We were founded in 2003, shortly after the push into Afghanistan.

Our founders recognized that we had men and women who were being taken off the battlefields with severe wounds and injuries. We knew they were going to come back to hospitals without basic comfort items like a medicine kit, shorts, underwear, socks, a sweatshirt.

And so our first executive director, John Melia, came up with the idea to create a backpack and put comfort items in it. He drove to a local Wal-Mart, bought all the backpacks they had, filled them with a bunch of comfort items, packed his car, drove up to Walter Reed (Military Medical Center) and started handing them out.

About two days later the people at Walter Reed called him up and said, “You know what, we need 50 more. When can you come back?”

How many backpacks have you given out since then?
We have distributed somewhere in the neighborhood of 15,000 backpacks. Our transition care packs are another 34,000. That’s for warriors that aren’t necessarily evacuated to a stateside hospital.

But now you offer many more programs to veterans, right?

Empowerment starts at the bedside with just a simple gift, like a backpack. But it also means walking them through the myriad of programs so that ultimately you’ve got a wounded warrior who’s well adjusted in mind, body and spirit.

We now have 18 programs and services, everything from wellness retreats to job training.

How many veterans have you helped?

Our active alumni database just eclipsed the 17,000 mark. That includes all kinds of help: people who have gone to our Restore Warriors website for some help with post-traumatic stress, people who came to an event or a leadership summit, or someone we helped with filing a benefits claim.

These services are needed partly because so many more U.S. soldiers are surviving their injuries than ever before. What’s behind that trend?

The everyday foot soldier on the ground is being trained so effectively at combat, life-saving medicine that they’re literally saving their brothers and sisters who otherwise would have died. That’s the first thing.

Then you’ve got warriors wearing body armor, where in past conflicts it was something that you could either put on or not put on. So now we’re seeing more instances of double, triple and even quadruple amputations than we ever did in the past.

What about combat stress?

There are estimates that 400,000 men and women are going to suffer from some form of post-traumatic stress as a result of their deployments.

So when you try to paint a picture of a cause that’s going to go forward for years to come, those are numbers that are very important.

Post-traumatic stress, or as we call it, combat stress, can manifest itself immediately or it can take years — if not decades — to manifest. If it’s gone untreated or undiagnosed, that’s where the bigger problems can come in. They lead to the inability to keep a job, unemployment, homelessness, spousal abuse, substance abuse.

That why it’s so important for us to engage the Wounded Warrior alumni so we can try to get them in and at least expose them to the programs and services we offer. We treat emotional and brain injuries just as seriously as we do physical wounds.

Where does your funding come from?

Our support comes from the American people. We don’t accept any federal or state money in any way. So 100 percent of our donations are private, whether they come from individual donors or corporations like Raytheon.

Raytheon has really been kind of a pioneer for us at WWP, stepping up to the plate and saying, “Look, we’ve seen what you guys are doing. We’re obviously in the business of helping warriors fight more efficiently. We want to support you.”

They came to us with very little agenda and very little expectations, even after they did a tremendous amount of homework on us.

Do you also advocate on veterans' issues?

Our mission statement is actually to honor and empower wounded warriors. A big part of that is to elevate the discourse and the dialogue about veterans’ issues as a nation. That’s the honor part.

Can you tell us about the Hashtags for Heroes campaign?

We’ve been able to do some really creative things in the last year and a half with our corporate partners, everything from QR code scans on the back of a ketchup bottle to using Facebook to create a call to action for supporters.

So when Raytheon, being such a technologically advanced company, came to us and said, “Hey, let’s look into doing some stuff with Twitter,” we were thrilled. It’s really a home run for us.

This is their tax report September 30, 2011

Here is the breakdown of what this report has. The $89,466,336 listed as Program Services goes to:
Media ad value $41,630,358
Salaries $8,869,206
Consulting and outside services $5,548,329
Advertising $8,680,552
Postage and shipping $2,724,686
Direct mail $2,419,282
Meetings and events $4,640,963
Travel $2,577,577
Payroll tax and benefits $2,366,948
Grants $3,035,031
Promotional items $2,666,894
Occupancy $816,099
Depreciation $673,939
Office equipment and services $790,534
Telephone $400,305
Miscellaneous $153,167
Supplies $428,585
Organizational and membership fees $474,775
Printing $220,550
Professional fees $57,324
Insurance $84,478
Education and development $88,683
Utilities $67,736
Books and subscriptions $50,365


When you look at their other page you also see
Management and general at $4,727,106
Fundraising at $13,883,984

Net assets for the end of the year was $30,357,444

When you look up the "program" services Wounded Warrior Project offers for PTSD

SUPPORT THROUGH SHARED EXPERIENCES

The Alumni program provides long-term support and camaraderie for Wounded Warriors through events, discounted services, and an online community. No dues here - you paid those on the battlefield. We have a wide range of complimentary programs and events designed to give you the ongoing support you need to heal from your experiences. Since many fellow warriors face similar challenges, our Alumni program provides warriors with long-term support through communication, events, and networking.

In addition to all WWP programs and services, WWP alumni have access to the following benefits:

Alumni Events & Activities - Throughout the year you can participate in Alumni sporting events, educational sessions, personal and professional development summits, and recreational activities. Since helping others is instrumental in the healing process, as an alumnus, you may also support activities and events for newly injured service members.

Veterans Advantage - By being an active WWP alumni, you are entitled to receive a free membership with Veterans Advantage, which offers discounts on various services and products. Upon your verification as a WWP alumni, a membership card and introductory letter will be mailed to you. Your Veterans Advantage membership remains active as long as your contact information is updated annually with WWP. Learn more. WWP Connect™ - This exclusive online community allows alumni, caregivers, and WWP staff to share information, support, and resources including updates on programs and events, photos, and blogs.

WWP Resource Center provides warriors and their families/ caregivers with information on available programs and services to meet their needs. The Center is equipped to help warriors and caregivers identify resources to meet a range of needs. Call 888.997.2586 today! Experiencing a crisis?

The Veterans Crisis Line connects veterans in crisis and their families and friends with qualified, caring Department of Veterans Affairs responders through a confidential toll-free hotline or online chat. The website offers additional valuable resources. Visit the website Locate additional resources.

The National Resource Directory (NRD) connects wounded warriors, service members, and veterans, as well as their families and caregivers with services and resources at the national, state, and local levels to support recovery, rehabilitation, and community reintegration.

Search now

A few more thoughts on this.

Adam Silva said that they began in 2003 "after the push into Afghanistan" but that is odd since troops were sent into Afghanistan in 2001 and into Iraq in 2003.

He said they have "18 programs and services, everything from wellness retreats to job training" but their tax filings under Program Services lists only 5

Warriors to Work with expenses at $4,180,581
Transition Training Academy with expenses at $1,780,277
TRACK with expenses at $4,447,842
Campus Services with expenses at $1,056,198
Warriors Speak with expenses at $1,853,265

These programs are part of the total expenses listed above.

In addition to the breakdown of expenses to account for the $89,466,336, they also list Supporting Services expenses at

Management and General $4,727,106
Fundraising $13,883,984.

I almost forgot to mention what got me started on this today. I was drinking my first cup of coffee when I came across this press release,,,,,,

Tax Defense Network Participates in the Wounded Warrior Project

Tax Defense Network spent two weeks raising funds through employees and their families for the Wounded Warrior Project. See how well the company did.

JACKSONVILLE, FL, July 15, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- As of May 1st, there were 6,436 casualties, 48,011 wounded soldiers, 320,000 soldiers with traumatic brain injuries, and 400,000 soldiers with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder estimated in those who served our country in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Tax Defense Network has a long history of assisting many military men and women and their families with their tax problems, but felt compelled to get involved in helping wounded veterans coming back from combat to give America's heroes the happy lives they deserve.

Tax Defense Network spent two weeks raising funds through employees and their families for the Wounded Warrior Project. Employees were encouraged to donate to the worthy cause, and were rewarded with the option to wear casual clothes to work for certain contribution levels. Tax Defense Network offered employees the opportunity to wear jeans for a day with a $5 donation, jeans for a week with a $20 donation, shorts for a week with a $25 donation, and any sized amounts were rewarded with red, white, and blue starred necklaces.

Inspirational and informative emails were delivered company-wide about the many ways that the Wounded Warrior Project helps our returning soldiers. Their services include:

Combat Stress Recovery

Family Support

Transition Training

Workforce Placement

Adaptive Sports Events

Engagement with Other Wounded Warriors and Peer Mentors

Upcoming: Two education facilities located in Jacksonville, FL and San Antonio, TX.

Employees proudly donated a total of $1246 to the wonderful cause, while Tax Defense Network continues to look for ways to assist military men and women and their families.

For more information, or to find out how you can get involved with the Wounded Warrior Project, contact the organization's Jacksonville, Florida, office at 877-832-6997.

Tax Defense Network is a national tax debt relief firm, which has assisted thousands of taxpayers resolve their tax debt with the IRS for over 10 years. Tax Defense Network's high standard of ethics has helped it maintain an "A" rating with the Better Business Bureau, and its contributions to local and national charities has given it a reputation as a company that truly cares about its clients and community.

Here's something that Wounded Warrior Project has done.

The Wounded Warriors Project represents approximately 17,000 Wounded Warriors in the U.S. and overseas.

“Golf is very near and dear to the Wounded Warriors Project’s heart. It’s a sport that allows veterans with several disabilities to get out and still be competitive and have a good time and to do a sport,” said Marine Cpl. Andrew Music, who is from Downers Grove, Ill.

This article reports that "volunteers" did this.

Then there is this.

Wounded Warriors to investigate the paranormal
Wounded Warriors will be led on a ghost hunt this weekend at a mansion outside of Beeville.
By Julie Silva
Posted July 14, 2012

CORPUS CHRISTI — Wounded warriors will be led on a ghost hunt this weekend at a mansion outside Beeville.

Many have said footsteps and music can be heard throughout the Berclair Mansion, built in 1936 by Etta Wilkinson Terrell. Saturday night, about 15 wounded soldiers will investigate the home for themselves with Golden Crescent Paranormal, an investigation team based in Victoria.

“It’s a novel idea, never been done before,” said Rob Calzada, founder and lead investigator for Golden Crescent Paranormal.

Sgt. Brian Neuman, regional director for the Wounded Warrior Project, said the organization is focused on honoring and empowering wounded soldiers while helping them adapt. Ghost hunting is an unusual request, but Neuman said if the wounded warriors are interested in something, the organization will do it.

“We want to be very careful about situations that we put warriors into,” Neuman said. “From the warriors’ perspective, they’re really just excited about it, but it’s not for everybody.
read more here

And yet another fundraiser,,,,

Soldier Ride to Yankee Stadium set for Wednesday
By Spencer Fordin
MLB.com
07/13/12

The Wounded Warrior Project will bring its Soldier Ride to Yankee Stadium on Wednesday.

One of America's most prestigious sporting venues will play host to some of the nation's great heroes next week. The Wounded Warrior Project will bring its Soldier Ride to Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, allowing the local community to show its support for the country's soldiers at home and abroad.

Soldier Ride began in 2004 as part of a cross-country pledge drive by civilian Chris Carney, who rode coast-to-coast on his bicycle and raised more than $1 million for the Wounded Warrior Project. Carney rode again in 2005, this time with veterans, and an annual tradition was born.

The project expanded to seven regional rides in 2007, and President Bush welcomed a group of Wounded Warriors to the White House the following year. President Obama also recognized the effort, inviting the members of the Washington D.C. Soldier Ride to the White House in April.

click link above for more.

This commercial showed up on TV even though it was done last year. In it notice that no one is talking about what Wounded Warrior Project did or plans to do for this wounded soldier. They talk about his courage. They talk about the care he received in the hospital. So what does Wounded Warriors plan on doing with the $19 a month they are asking us for?

Self-reliance biggest barrier to preventing military suicides

Self-reliance biggest barrier to preventing military suicides in a nutshell. They get it done no matter what "it" is, no matter what they're going through because of the guy standing next to them. Use whatever reason you want but the bottom line is they do it for each other, plain and simple. Oh sure, patriotism, county and the rest play a role in why they join but it is the members of their "family" in harms way they are willing to take a bullet for. Not for politicians and often, not even for the reasons they were given behind them having to go into combat. We have to face that too often politicians lie for whatever reason they have but they are not the ones who have to go. They send others to put their lives on the line and our troops pray to God that the reason is worth their lives and all the sacrifices they make. They leave that part up to history to figure out because today their friends are counting on them as much as they are counting on them.

Resiliency training bullshit is great for getting them from one fight to another but most make it home and then fall apart. It is not that suddenly they get hit with what they just went through, but it is more at time when they allow themselves to feel it. Their friends are back home and out of danger so they allow themselves to wake up and feel again.

Any idea how much it takes to be able to do that?

Resiliency training gets them through combat but it makes coming home worse when it feeds that same quality that allows them to do what they do and then feeds the pain of knowing they need help but can't ask for it. The suicides will keep going up until they come up with the real answers and programs that will help them to believe in themselves again.

Soldier Suicide: The Stigma to Seeking Help
The biggest barrier to preventing suicide among our service members and veterans is countering the disciplined self-reliance that they've been trained to embrace
By RAJIV SRINIVASAN
July 12, 2012

It’s never a highly publicized affair on a military post. When we pass through our commissary and pick up the installation newsletter, we are used to seeing an official photograph of a soldier, their obituary, their age — typically under 30. But more and more frequently, the words “killed in action” will be conspicuously missing from the narrative, and other clues will eliminate the possibility of a training accident or drug use or a car crash.

The complexity of solving our veteran mental health crisis is not a question of the availability of services, it’s in encouraging soldiers to use those services. How do we tell someone who has been shot at and blown up for multiple tours of duty that the biggest danger they face now is themselves? For me, my mind was strong enough to get me through combat. It was the ultimate weapon against complacency and emotional breakdown. My mind was my saving grace, and to hear that it was now my biggest burden when I returned from a tour with post-traumatic stress sounded like a joke. Besides, I didn’t even have it that bad. We saw a lot of fights, but I came home in one piece; but many of my company-mates did not. How was I supposed to sit in a hospital waiting room to cry to a doctor about my bad dreams when there were soldiers with amputated legs sitting next to me?

But my mother and girlfriend wouldn’t take no for an answer. I started going to see a counselor. But I was about to transfer posts (as most soldiers do within six months of a deployment) so we decided not to do much more than talk from time to time. When I finally moved to my new posting, took a month of leave, and settled into my new job, there was enough stimuli around me to make me feel like I didn’t need anything else. And so when I started having trouble sleeping, over indulging in food and alcohol, and pushing away family and friends, I drowned myself in work to keep myself so busy that I wouldn’t think about the underlying causes of my behavior.
Read more

Hidden camera found in patient's room at James A Haley VA hospital

Family discovers 'covert camera' in Haley VA patient's room
By William R. Levesque
Times Staff Writer
In Print: Tuesday, July 10, 2012

TAMPA — Joseph Carnegie's son-in-law last month noticed an odd-looking smoke detector on the ceiling of the severely brain-damaged 80-year-old's private room at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center.

It wasn't there the day before.

The son-in-law, Mike Coleman, took a closer look that day, June 15. He thought he could see a tiny camera lens inside. His wife, Natalie Carnegie, asked a nurse, who she said assured her it was just a new smoke alarm.

In fact, it was a camera.

Officials of the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital confirmed to the Tampa Bay Times that they ordered the installation of a small camera in Carnegie's room without his family's consent. They say it is medically necessary to monitor Carnegie's fragile health 24 hours a day.

Haley administrators deny it is a hidden camera, though they could not explain why they selected this particular model. The camera's manufacturer, Vonnic, describes it like this on its website: "C401W Smoke Detector Covert Camera."
read more here

DoD does not know if PTSD programs work, duh

Obviously THEY DO NOT WORK OF WE WOULDN'T BE SEEING SO MANY SUFFERING ALL THESE YEARS!

Report: DoD does not know if PTSD programs work
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 13, 2012

The Defense Department has a woeful lack of information on the effectiveness and related costs of its post-traumatic stress disorder treatment programs, despite having spent millions on various initiatives to address psychological health and traumatic brain injury, a panel of top scientists concluded in a report released Friday.

In a review of DoD and Veterans Affairs Department PTSD treatments mandated by Congress in 2010, an Institute of Medicine panel found fewer than half of all service members and veterans who screen positive for the disorder’s symptoms — 40 percent — have received referrals for care, and of those, just 65 percent actually go on to get help.

RELATED READING:

• Read the report

The group also concluded that DoD and VA should improve tracking of treatment and outcomes and institute research programs to evaluate the effectiveness of their programs.

“Treatment isn’t reaching everyone who needs it, and the departments aren’t tracking which treatments are being used or evaluating how well they work in the long term,” said committee chairman Sandro Galea, head of the epidemiology department at Columbia University.

The withering report comes as DoD and VA grapple with rising mental health issues within their ranks, including suicide.

Of the more than 2.6 million active-duty, National Guard and reserve members who deployed to combat operations in the past decade, an estimated 13 percent to 20 percent have or might develop PTSD, according to other Defense Department and Rand Corp. studies.
read more here

Hundreds of veterans rally for a VA Hospital in Roane Co

Hundreds of veterans rally for a VA Hospital in Roane Co.
Jul 13, 2012
Written by
Mary Scott

Roane County's veterans want Washington to know they need a VA hospital.

"I've been having to travel six hours to go the VA hospital in Murfreesboro which is a burden on me," said Dr. Ron Higgs, a retired physician in Roane County.

For the second time, hundreds of veterans rallied together Friday in Kingston to show their support of a new hospital.

Dr. Higgs is deeply connected to this fight.

"I'm a patient of the VA hospital and I've spent my entire career at Roane County Medical Center," he said.

Local mayors teamed up to get Congressman Chuck Fleischmann (R) and House Veterans Affairs Chairman Representative Jeff Miller (R-FL) to the rally.

read more here

Army veteran can't run for office in Alaska

Army vet disqualified from running as election candidate... because she was HOMELESS
By CHRISTINE SHOW
PUBLISHED:13 July 2012
Daily Mail UK

A U.S. Army veteran was disqualified from running for a seat as a state representative because she was homeless.

Barbara Bachmeier, a Republican from Anchorage, Alaska, was told she was ineligible to run for a seat in the state's District 13 because she didn't meet residency requirements.

The woman had lived in her truck for a time while she struggled to find a permanent home.
Read more

Home from War, Reservists Struggle to Find Support

Home from War, Reservists Struggle to Find Support
WNYC News
Friday, July 13, 2012
By Abbie Fentress Swanson : Culture Editor & Interactive Content Producer

Listen to WNYC host Soterios Johnson talk with David Segal, who teaches Sociology at the University of Maryland, about the particular challenges facing members of the National Guard and Reserves.

Amid the spa, cocktail bar and other trappings of The Heldrich Hotel, a luxury hotel in New Brunswick, NJ, are eight couples who have signed up for a weekend retreat – who are trying to get quality time without the kids. But it’s not all relaxing, these couples are here to work on their marriages, and they’re being led by Staff Sergeant Anthony Mauro in a Strong Bonds for Couples training for New Jersey Army National Guard members and their spouses.

In an afternoon session, Staff Sergeant Mauro asks the couples to split up by gender and make ‘Top 10’ lists of what they think their spouses need in a relationship.

The women go first.

“Of course at the top of the list we put that men want sex from their wives,” the spokeswoman for the group said. “Followed by food and/or a personal chef.”

She says men also want submissive women. They don’t want to be nagged but they do want a “man cave,” an ego boost and a stylist.

The men go next.

“Romance, money, security, communication, honesty, empathy, love and affection … quality time and a lot of chocolate,” one of the husbands reads from the list.

Actually, says Staff Sergeant Mauro, studies show love is what most women want in relationships and respect is what men are looking for.

Due to the nature of the National Guard and the Reserves, it’s not always easy to get help before or after deployments. Unlike active duty servicemembers, National Guard members and reservists train near their hometowns one weekend a month and two weeks each summer with the expectation that they’ll help out with disaster response. Many who joined prior to 9/11 never imagined they would do two, three or four combat tours in Iraq or Afghanistan.
read more here

Honorable Service, Dishonorable Treatment

A Marine's Struggle: Honorable Service, Dishonorable Treatment
By KARIN MARINARO
COMMENTARY
The Hartford Courant
July 13, 2012


To lose a child is one of the worst tragedies in life. I have almost lost my son, Marine 1st Lt. Robert Marinaro, 26, twice — once in Afghanistan and once here — by suicide.

My son was raised with strong morals. Upon graduation from high school, Rob received scholarships to college and was nominated to attend theU.S. Naval Academy. Although an issue with his eyes medically disqualified him from the academy, he received a Navy ROTC scholarship to Carnegie Mellon University and excelled. Rob was commissioned at the top in his ROTC class, received honors from Carnegie Mellon in 2008 and graduated with distinction from the Marine Corps' Basic and Intelligence schools.

In 2010, Rob deployed to Afghanistan where he collected intelligence from Afghans. In one particular situation, Rob was in a firefight with enemy forces when one of his Marines was lost, dying in my son's arms.

"Please don't die!" the Navy corpsman said to the mortally wounded lance corporal.

Every day since, my son deals with that memory.

With his tour complete in September 2010, Rob returned to Camp Pendleton in California. Soon thereafter, Rob began to struggle.

I watched my beautiful, bright, loving son, wrestle with his mental demons and implored him to get help. Unfortunately, as a military officer, he faced an even greater stigma for those seeking psychiatric help than that experienced by younger Marines or junior leaders. The tough culture of the Marine Corps is harsh on those who seek help.

Nevertheless, I told him that a true leader recognizes his own weaknesses and seeks help.

Sadly, Rob did not receive the help he needed until it was too late.
read more here

Army suicides, same report, two different headlines

The Army released one report for June on soldiers committing suicide. The news however ended up producing two different headline.

This is from Army Times

Active-duty suicide numbers decline in June
Staff report
Posted : Friday Jul 13, 2012 16:32:28 EDT

As many as 11 active-duty soldiers are believed to have committed suicide in June, five fewer than in the previous month, the Army announced Friday.

Of those, one has been confirmed as suicide and the other 10 are still under investigation. Among the 11 soldiers who died, two were women.

So far this year, 89 active-duty soldiers are believed to have killed themselves.

Also in June, 12 reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty are believed to have committed suicide. Ten of the soldiers were in the Army National Guard; two were in the Army Reserve.

All 12 deaths remain under investigation.
read more here

This is from Stars and Stripes

Army reports 23 suicides in June
By CHRIS CARROLL
Published: July 13, 2012

WASHINGTON—Twenty-three soldiers are believed to have committed suicide in June, slightly fewer than in May, the Army reported Friday.

There were 11 likely suicides among active duty troops last month, while for reserve troops not on active duty, 12 suicides were reported. In May, 16 active-duty and nine reserve soldiers are thought to have killed themselves.

There have been 147 reported Army suicide cases through June. In 2011, 283 soldiers committed suicide.
read more here

Former Navy Doctor Looks At PTSD From Within

Former Navy Doctor Looks At PTSD From Within
July 14, 2012
By John Ostapkovich

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is the hell of war that follows you home and a former Navy doctor’s book looks at the ailment, from the inside.

Dr. John Parrish can give you a medical description of PTSD.

“It’s a rewiring of parts of the brain that learn to process dangerous conditions and the person thinks, inappropriately, that they’re in a dangerous position either all the time or after certain triggers,” says Dr. Parrish.

But Dr. Parrish, author of Autopsy of War, knows from personal experience how it nearly destroyed his life, until he admitted he had a problem and got treatment.
read more here

Marine's death under investigation

MCAS investigating Marine's death
July 13, 2012
Yuma Sun
BY JAMES GILBERT

Officials at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma are investigating the death of a Marine from New Jersey who was found dead inside a barracks room Sunday morning.

The Marine, 24-year-old Richard Cummings Jr., was a member of Marine Tactical Air Command Squadron 48 and was based at Great Lakes Naval Base in Illinois.
read more here

Marine's brain taken to examiner's house for family show and tell

We just assume the fallen servicemen and women are shown the utmost respect when they gave their lives for the sake of others. One of the biggest reasons we are shocked by a story like this is when we discover some people put in charge of taking care of them do not hold the same level of respect for them. He didn't think about the family of this Marine when he decided to let his own family have some fun with part of someone they loved.

Records: Navy Doc Let Family Handle Marine's Brain
PORTSMOUTH, Va.
July 14, 2012
(AP)

A Navy medical examiner took a Marine's brain out of a specimen jar and let his children handle the organ, records show.

Dr. Mark E. Shelly has been fined $2,500 by the Virginia Board of Medicine and fired from his part-time job with the state medical examiner's office. A spokeswoman said the Navy was also taking disciplinary action but has not yet decided what to do.

Shelley was taking the brain from a naval hospital in Camp Lejeune, N.C., to Portsmouth Naval Medical Center in Virginia when he stopped at his home in Virginia Beach. He let his children handle the brain and his wife took pictures.

In an April 3 letter to the Board of Medicine, Shelly acknowledged he used "extremely poor judgment," The Virginian-Pilot (http://bit.ly/OBInOr) reported Friday. He said he realized the impact his actions had on the family of the deceased and wrote that it was not his intention to be disrespectful to the Marine sergeant or his family.
read more here

Over 30,000 veterans took their own lives since 2007

UPDATE DoD does not know if PTSD programs work

One of the hardest things I do is work on a suicide report. It rips me up inside. Today is one of those dark days when I have to read the stories all over again but I know for whatever pain I feel, the families feel it a lot worse. They are the reason I do this. For most of us we read the suicide numbers in headlines across the country. For the families and friends, they were more than numbers. If we are ever going to stop other families from suffering at the grave of someone they did not have to lose, it will be due to these families coming out and talking about someone they loved. I got as far as May of this year and had to stop. It dawned on me that since this blog started, over 30,000 veterans took their own lives if we believe the 18 veterans a day number.  The only problem with that number is, if they are not in the VA system, they are not counted by them and if they have been discharged, the military doesn't count them.  The only people counting them are the ones left to remember them and grieve.

In 2007 I created Death Because They Served about military suicides. It was on YouTube for a couple of years then I moved it to Great Americans.

NamGuardianAngel on September 10, 2009

Suicides are at an all time high. During and after Vietnam, it was easy to hide the true count of those who sacrificed their lives, one way of the other, but now there is a way to track them across the country. Their deaths should never be ignored. These over 100 names were taken from news reports. PTSD was at the root of most of them.

What should make us all very angry is the fact the men and women committing suicide because they served and didn't get the help they needed, grew.

Here are more
Spc. Travis Virgadamo

5 recruiter suicides from Houston battalion

Kelly Barber says her husband Josh couldn't handle what he saw and did in Iraq

Spc. Carl McCoy

Sgt. Coleman Bean

Josh Barber

Brian Norman

Private Jason Scheuerman

Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey

Spc. Larry Applegate

February 1, 2009
Another Warrior Transition Unit Death Ruled Suicide?
by
Chaplain Kathie

How much time is enough to get this right? How many more times do they need to find one more soldier dead before they figure out that what they are doing is not good enough? PTSD is not new! Humans have been on this planet long enough, facing traumatic events, going to war with each other, documenting what comes after war and suffering while telling their stories so that the "experts" should have some clue what the hell to do to help warriors heal. Not only are the veterans suffering, their families suffer and so do the people trying to take care of them while some pea brain without the slightest clue of what they are going through claims to have found the "right treatment" but they keep suffering and killing themselves! ENOUGH TALK! Enough re-researching what has been researched to death. Enough wasting time with what does not work. For Heaven's sake, we know what needs to be done and we know how to do it.

We've had over 30 years of studying this to know better.

Step one-get rid of BattleMind because it does more harm than good. I have yet to hear from one veteran BattleMind has helped.

Step two-normalize PTSD. It's a normal reaction to abnormal events. Let them know how many civilians end up with PTSD from the other causes then point out for them, it's a one time traumatic event that does it while they end up enduring event after event after event. Then they'll get it into their brains that to expect to walk away from combat without any changes is not realistic at all. They all change. Some change more than others. Others end up wounded by all of it instead of just changed.

Step three-Stop acting as if they are criminals. Do not belittle them because they seek help and honor the fact they have the courage enough to ask for help. Do not treat them like scum because they say they want to stop drinking or using drugs to cover up what they don't want to feel and then help them understand that is what medications can do for them a lot better than street drugs and getting drunk ever could.

Step four-spend as much time as need to get it into the brains of their families they are no longer dealing with "normal GI Joe" because Joe is no longer able to communicate with himself anymore. The "Joe" he used to be is trapped behind a wall of pain and he needs their help to find "himself" again. While he will never be totally the same person he was before PTSD, he can in fact end up even better as a person than he was before, even with living with flashbacks and nightmares that may never totally go away. Tell the exactly what a flashback is and what they see in their dreams without sugar coating any of it. They need to know what they are up against when confronting a zoned out veteran on a flashback trip from hell or a out of body nightmare so vivid they have no clue where they really are if you wake them up.

Step five-take the one third of Americans with a clue what PTSD is and get them to pound it into the brains of the other two thirds they better start paying attention to all of this before the National Guards and Reservists come home from yet another deployment and then have to face the next mudslide, hurricane, wildfire, tornado or flood. Make sure they get the message before they face another time when a police officer or firefighter comes back from deployment and needs their help for a change.

This isn't that hard people! Families of Vietnam Veterans have been doing it for years and found out the hard way what works to save their veterans lives along with saving their marriages. The only regret we have is that the people with the power to raise awareness of what our voices have to say ARE NOT LISTENING!

So now please tell me what there is about any of this that there is yet one more suicide from a GI that was supposed to be in the best care possible?

West Point, 2 suicides, 2 attempts in just 2 months

Army Specialist TJ Sweet

Utah National Guards lost 2 soldiers in combat, but ten more because of it

Pvt. Joseph Aaron McMath

Larry "Curtis" Applegate

"Kill yourself. Save us the paperwork" Pfc. Ryan Alderman

Martin Polignone

Timothy Scott

Army Specialist John Fish

Pvt. Paul Bridges

Jason Cooper

Kristin Kouis and her older brother, Jason Kouis

Army Pfc. Roy Brooks Mason Jr

Army Spc. Trevor Hogue

Staff Sgt. Charles Edward Dane Sergeant Larry Flores

Army Spc. Nokware Rosado Munoz

Lt. Col. Raymond Rivas

Spc. Jimmy Lee Foxworth

Sgt. Jacob Blaylock

Spc. Matthew Hastings

Keiffer Wilhelm

Spc. Jacob Sexton

Pfc. Gregory Tilton

Lance Cpl. Mills Palmer Bigham

Maj. Chris Galloway and Master Sgt. Jim Haus

Jesse C. Huff

Sgt. Thomas R. Bagosy and in the same report, Lance Cpl. Kevin P. Grant, Staff Sgt. Nigel Castor, Lance Cpl. Lucas Gary Lowe
Sgt. Tom Bagosy also on this Wife of N.C. Marine copes with husband's suicide
Benjamen Bugden

Andrew Velez

Kenneth Ellis III

Maj. Tad Hervas

Kevin P. Lucey

Orrin McCllelan

Robert Nichols

Staff Sgt. Thaddeus S. Montgomery Jr.

Peter Louis Kastner

Spc. Jonathan Hughey

Kortney Jensen and Jason Ermer

Grand Forks airman committed suicide

1st Lt. Ken Kunze

Sgt. 1st Class Spencer Kohlheim

Fort Hood had four suicides in one weekend

Pvt. Antonio E. Heath, Master Sgt. Baldemar Gonzales, Sgt. Timothy Ryan Rinella, Sgt. Michael F. Franklin and his wife, Jessie, were found dead of apparent gunshot wounds

Sgt. Amanda Sheldon
The family of Sgt. Amanda Sheldon hopes her death may spark change

Pfc. Bryant Evans

David Petrucci, Vietnam Vet

Col. Todd Hixson and Army Spc. Jeremy LaClaire

Travis A. Thomas

Maj. John Ruocco

Staff Sgt. James Wilson

Marine Clay Hunt another after combat casualty

Wendy Torrey

Kara Hinrichs

Cpl. Joshua Barron

Army Spc. Chancellor Keesling

Staff Sgt. Cody Anderson

William Hamilton

Jacob Andrews

Jeremy Campbell

Derrick Kirkland

James Keenan

Staff Sgt. Biel

Sgt. Adrian A. Simmons

Pfc. David L. Potter

Master Sgt. Jeff McKinney

Pvt. Brian Williams

Brian Hartsock

Sgt. Ian McConnell

Sgt. Adrian Simmons

Spc. Rory Johnson and Spc. Jonathon Gilbert

Sgt. 1st Class Jose J. Algarin-Colon

SSG. James Wilson

Sgt. Derrick Kirkland

Josh Fueston

Staff Sgt. Jared Hagemann

Christopher Lee Purcell

Sgt. 1st Class Brad Olden

Staff Sgt. David P. Senft

Christopher Hodges

Thomas Farley

Sean Alexander Dacus wrote that his organs should be donated to save someone else before he committed suicide.

Marcus Delon White

Sgt. Joseph H. Baker II

Pvt. Jordon DuBois

Bartholomew Ryan

Maj. Jeff Hackett

Capt. Michael McCaddon, M.D

Russell Hamrick

Edward Andrew Snyder

Michael and Ryan Yurchison's story

Jonathan Bartlett

Jacob Parmenter

Jacob Manning

Tricia Radenz’s 12-year-old son committed suicide during his dad's deployment in 2009

Lance Cpl. Michael J. Ronner

Pvt. Eric Watson

Giovanni Andres Orozco

Trever Gould

Spc. David Paul Swenson Jr

Steven Webb

More reports of interest

PTSD:Now here this, you're normal!

U.S. Marine Corps, 1 suicide every two days, attempted ones, every 2 hours!
DoD Confirms Role Combat Plays in Suicide Epidemic January 2009
Battlemind study leaves too many questions

Veterans blame war and military culture for increased suicides

Army Sgt. Kristofer Goldsmith, whose job was to photograph Iraqi war victims to identify them. Goldsmith recounts how serving his country had always been his life's dream, but it turned into a nightmare when told he would be deployed again to Iraq.

"For over a year I knew something inside me wasn't right. I was drinking close to a gallon of vodka every weekend and starting fights," Goldsmith recalled Tuesday in Venice, where "Ward 54" had been screened the previous night.

When told he had to go back to Iraq for duty, Goldsmith recalled: "I said I can't go back to Iraq. I wasn't afraid of Iraq, but knew I couldn't return."

He said his colonel gave him three choices: "'One, you can suck it up and go back. Two, you can go AWOL and live your life as a felon and three, you can kill yourself.'"

He attempted suicide on Memorial Day 2007.

Master Sergeant Kevin Carter shares his story of surviving suicide

Family members of vets who commit suicide seek understanding

Wife of suicidal Iraq veteran seeks better support

1st Lt. Robert Marinaro

Stolen Valor McClanahan does something honorable

All of us get angry when someone is caught lying about being a hero. We got really angry when the Supreme Court ruled that lying about even this is covered under free speech. Richard David McClanahan was found guilty and sent to jail but after the ruling from the Supremes, giving him the chance to clear his record, he doesn't want it. He said "I'm not the victim here." WOW. He is doing something honorable now.

Stolen Valor Case Vet Doesn't Want Record Cleared
Jul 13, 2012
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
by Chris Vaughn

Federal prosecutors in North Texas used the Stolen Valor Act, a law recently declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, to prosecute exactly one person for lying about his military record.

The man, perhaps surprisingly, was a veteran, a sailor-turned-soldier who concocted a breathtaking series of tall tales of heroism and claimed a rack of medals supposedly earned in Iraq and Afghanistan, all to impress people in Amarillo. He became a frequent speaker at colleges, nursing homes and veterans events.

Richard David McClanahan served 30 months in federal prison for his lies, a lengthy penalty imposed because he also lied about his income to buy a pickup from a dealership. Now living in Fort Worth, the 34-year-old ex-convict has a chance to have at least part of his conviction overturned after the Supreme Court's decision.

But McClanahan said he has no interest in clearing his record.

"I have no desire to have my record expunged," he said. "I'm not the victim here. The law was put into place for a very good reason.

"I understand the legal reasons why it was overturned and have no doubt that it was the legitimate decision for the Supreme Court. But I respectfully disagree with the court's decision. I wish the law had remained to prevent people like me from making absurd statements."

McClanahan's case had nothing to do with the appeal that reached the Supreme Court, which involved a public official in California who falsely boasted that he had earned the Medal of Honor. That man, Xavier Alvarez, fought his prosecution on the grounds that the First Amendment protected his speech, even though his statements were lies.
read more here

Why is Ultimate Fighting Championship getting tax payer funds from Marine Corps?

Ok folks, we have Marines committing suicide, more attempted suicides and combat forces wounded in our name but instead of taking the tax payer money to help them and their families, it seems like the Marines would rather fund UFC. There is so much that goes on behind our backs that we should be worried about being at the mercy of the media. Seems really odd that for a bunch of "reporters" spending so much time on politics they never seem interested in what they are doing.

07/12/2012
VETERANS GROUP CALLS ON MARINE CORPS TO CUT TIES WITH UFC OVER HOMOPHOBIA, MISOGYNY, HATE SPEECH
The Veterans Committee of UNITE HERE, a union representing 250,000 workers in the hotel, food service and restaurant, textile, industrial laundry, and gaming industries in North America, will deliver 5,000 signed petitions to the Commandant of the Marine Corps in Washington D.C., as well as to Marine Corps recruiting stations in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, San Diego and Washington, D.C. on Thursday, asking for the Marine Corps to cut all ties with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the group says in a press release.

The veteran activists also will voice their support for a bipartisan amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 5856) that would ban military spending on professional sports. The proposed ban – the “UFC Amendment” -- would prohibit the use of taxpayer money to sponsor the UFC and other pro sports organizations.

The Marine Corps has spent more than $2 million sponsoring the UFC, the nation’s largest promoter of cage fighting events.
Read more

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503
STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY H.R. 5856

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2013
(Rep. Rogers, R-KY)
The Administration strongly opposes House passage of H.R. 5856, making appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year (FY) ending September 30, 2013, and for other purposes.

Last summer, the Congress and the President came to a bipartisan agreement to put the Nation on a sustainable fiscal course in enacting the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA). The BCA created a framework for more than $2 trillion in deficit reduction and provided tight spending caps that would bring discretionary spending to a minimum level needed to preserve critical national priorities.

Consistent with last summer's budget agreement, the FY 2013 Budget request provides the resources that the Department of Defense (DOD) needs to effectively meet the Nation's security requirements. By adding unrequested funding for defense, the House of Representatives departs from the bipartisan understanding reached a year ago. Upending the balance in the BCA has negative consequences that will, for example, cost jobs and hurt average Americans, especially seniors, veterans, and children – as well as degrade many of the basic Government services on which the American people rely such as air traffic control and law enforcement. In addition, these cuts were made in the context of a budget that fails the test of balance, fairness, and shared responsibility by giving millionaires and billionaires a tax cut and paying for it through deep cuts, including to discretionary programs.

Taking this into account, passing H.R. 5856 at its current funding level would mean that when the Congress constructs other appropriations bills, it would necessitate significant and harmful cuts to critical national priorities such as education, research and development, job training, and health care. Furthermore, the bill undermines key investments in high-priority programs, impeding the ability of the Secretary of Defense to carry out the defense strategic guidance issued earlier this year, and hindering the ability of the Armed Forces to carry out their missions consistent with the new strategy. The Administration also strongly objects to the inclusion of ideological and political provisions that are beyond the scope of funding legislation.

If the President were presented with H.R. 5856, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill.

The Administration would like to take this opportunity to share additional views regarding the Committee's version of the bill.

Administration Priorities. The Administration appreciates the Committee's support for certain priorities, including: funding for Overseas Contingency Operations; the requested pay raise for military personnel; DOD's program of basic research; the Defense Advanced Research Projects

June 28, 2012 (House Rules)

Agency; and air and missile defense programs, including support for the Government of Israel to purchase additional Iron Dome missile systems.

Limitations on Retirement of Aircraft. The Administration strongly objects to sections 8116 through 8118 of the bill that would restrict the Air Force and Army from divesting, transferring or retiring unneeded aircraft, including C-27Js, C-23s, and RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 30 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). These provisions would force DOD to operate, sustain, and maintain aircraft that are in excess to national security requirements, as defined by the new defense strategy, and are not affordable in an austere budget environment. They also would impair the ability of the Secretary to manage the Department and, by retaining large numbers of under-resourced aircraft in the fleet in today's fiscally constrained environment, could contribute to a hollow force.

Unnecessary Funding. The Administration is concerned about the billions of dollars the bill provides for items DOD did not request and does not need, as well as section 8006 of the bill, which makes spending on these unnecessary items statutorily required. This diverts resources from more important defense programs and limits the Secretary's flexibility to manage the Department efficiently.

Incremental Funding. The Administration strongly opposes the use of incremental funding, which undermines program stability and cost discipline. The bill would provide incremental funding for Space-Based Infrared System satellites rather than full funding through advance appropriations, as the Administration requested in the FY 2013 Budget request. In addition, the bill provides less than half of the $911 million requested to deactivate the USS Enterprise.

Army Depot Maintenance. The Administration strongly objects to the reduction in the Army's depot maintenance program as specified in section 8087 of the bill. The reduction of nearly $2.5 billion from the FY 2013 Budget request would create long-term delays in modernization and readiness for helicopters, radars, and the Stryker combat vehicle. Additionally, with this funding reduction the Army would not meet core depot logistics requirements for many of its systems. This cut would directly reduce Army readiness.

Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). The Administration strongly objects to the Committee's decision to omit funding for MEADS. If the Congress does not appropriate the funding in the FY 2013 Budget request, there is a high likelihood that this action would be perceived by our partners, Italy and Germany, as breaking our commitment under the Memorandum of Understanding. This could harm our relationship with our Allies on a much broader basis, including future multinational cooperative projects. It also could prevent the completion of the agreed Proof of Concept activities, which would provide data archiving, analysis of testing, and software development necessary to harvest technology from U.S. and partner investments in MEADS.

TRICARE Fees and Co-Payments. The Administration is disappointed that the Congress did not incorporate the requested TRICARE fee initiatives into either the appropriation or authorization legislation. The Administration asks the House to reconsider the TRICARE fee proposals, which are essential for DOD to successfully address rising personnel costs. The $1.8 billion in savings are part of a carefully balanced FY 2013 Budget request.

Advanced Drop-In Biofuel Production. The Administration objects to the reduction of $70 million from the FY 2013 Budget request intended to support the development of a domestic capability to produce cost-competitive advanced drop-in biofuels at a commercial scale, which is important to the country's long-term national security. Developing large-scale capacity to produce biofuels, in collaboration with the Departments of Agriculture and Energy, would help insulate the Nation as a whole, as well as the military, from price shocks arising from supply disruptions and price volatility of petroleum products.

MQ-8 Fire Scout UAV. The Administration opposes the $66 million reduction from the FY 2013 Budget request for the Fire Scout upgrade, which would enable the Special Forces to track potential targets at greater distances and for longer periods. The proposed reduction would prevent the Navy from fielding a system that meets the needs of the Special Forces in FY 2014.

Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB). The Administration opposes elimination of funding for AFSB. The $38 million requested in the FY 2013 Budget request is needed for advanced procurement of AFSB, which would meet Combatant Commanders' requirements for special operations and mine clearance. Further, AFSB is critical to the health of the shipbuilding industrial base as it is the only auxiliary ship in the Navy's shipbuilding plan until FY 2016.

Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Systems. The Administration objects to the 56- percent reduction from the FY 2013 Budget request for the CWMD Systems program, which integrates intelligence information about weapons of mass destruction for senior government officials. The Military Departments and Combatant Commands have repeatedly identified data fusion as a critical capability gap. The full $54 million requested in the FY 2013 Budget request is needed to start fusion center operations by the end of FY 2013. The proposed reduction would cause the Department to assume significant tactical, operational, and strategic risk.

Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund (DAWDF). The Administration opposes the reduction of $224 million from the FY 2013 Budget request for DAWDF. Failure to provide the full request of $274 million would require DOD to collect from other budget accounts the shortfall between the appropriation and the statutory minimum for DAWDF. The reduction in the appropriation would put unnecessary stress on the Operation and Maintenance budget at a time when funding levels are already constrained.

General Transfer Authority. The Administration opposes the reduction of general transfer authority provided in section 8005 of the bill. The $3 billion limit provided by the Committee significantly restricts DOD's ability to accommodate changing circumstances and to respond to urgent requirements in support of deployed forces, such as for force protection, in a timely manner. DOD needs sufficient transfer authority in order to match individual accounts to programmatic needs. Intelligence Community Management Account. The Administration opposes the exclusion of section 8045 proposed in the FY 2013 Budget request, which provides critical language to authorize the Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment (PM-ISE) to transfer funds to other Federal departments and agencies. Without transfer authority, PM-ISE would lose its ability to leverage agency efforts and work effectively with non-Federal partners to improve the performance of the information sharing environment in support of national security.

Classified Programs. The Administration understands that there could be problematic funding adjustments contained in the Classified Annex to the bill and looks forward to providing its views on this annex once it becomes available.

Civilian Pay Freeze. The Administration objects to section 8119 of the bill, which does not fund the 0.5 percent civilian pay raise for calendar year 2013 proposed in the FY 2013 Budget request. As the President stated in his FY 2013 Budget, a permanent pay freeze is neither sustainable nor desirable.

Riders

The Administration strongly opposes problematic policy and language riders that have no place in funding legislation, including, but not limited to, the following provisions in this bill:

Limitation on Reimbursement of the Government of Pakistan. Section 9015 would require the Secretary of Defense to certify Pakistan's cooperation on issues outside of his purview and would severely constrict DOD's ability to respond to emergent war-time coalition support requirements, negatively affecting our campaign in Afghanistan.

Veterans Memorial Object Transfer. Section 8120 would prohibit the transfer of a veterans memorial object to a foreign country or an entity controlled by a foreign government without specific authorization in law. This provision would restrict the President's ability to take actions to demonstrate goodwill toward foreign allies and partners by lending or giving historical artifacts in instances where doing so would serve the national security interests of the United States. Detainee Matters. The Administration strongly objects to and has constitutional concerns about the provisions of sections 8108 and 8109 that limit the use of funds to transfer detainees and otherwise restrict detainee transfers. Section 8108 undermines national security and this unnecessarily constrains the Nation's counterterrorism efforts, particularly where Federal courts are the best – or even the only – option for incapacitating dangerous terrorists. For decades, presidents of both political parties have leveraged the flexibility and strength of this country's Federal courts to incapacitate dangerous terrorists and gather critical intelligence. The continued prosecution of terrorists in Federal court is an essential element of counterterrorism efforts – a powerful tool that must remain an available option.

Additionally, the restrictions in section 8109 on the transfer of detainees to the United States and to the custody or effective control of foreign countries or entities in the context of an ongoing armed conflict may interfere with the Executive Branch's ability to determine the appropriate disposition of detainees and to make important foreign policy and national security determinations regarding whether and under what circumstances such transfers should occur. The restrictions or interferences in both these sections would, in certain circumstances, violate constitutional separation of powers principles.

In addition, the Administration strongly opposes section 8110 which would prohibit the use of funds to construct, acquire or modify a detention facility in the United States. This would constrain the flexibility that the Nation's Armed Forces and counterterrorism professionals need to deal with evolving threats, intruding upon the Executive Branch's ability to carry out its mission.

The Administration looks forward to working with the Congress as the FY 2013 appropriations process moves forward.

Silver Star for Valor to Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Cole

Face of Defense: Marine Earns Silver Star for Valor
By Marine Corps Cpl. Jeff Drew
2nd Marine Division
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.
July 12, 2012

He watched as five Marine buddies beside him were cut down by enemy machine gun fire during a fierce firefight against insurgents in Marjah, Afghanistan, nearly two years ago.

Within seconds, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Cole joined his brothers-in-arms on the ground as a three-round burst lifted his 200-pound frame and 80 pounds of gear completely off the ground, moved him five feet in the air, and slammed him into the dirt -- all in less than half a second.

Cole, a Woodstock, Ga., native, had taken three rounds into the ceramic plates protecting his body. He was down, but not wounded. The injured Marines made their way into a nearby canal for cover as Cole provided suppressive fire with his rifle. With half of the Marines on the patrol wounded, they tried radioing for extraction, but couldn’t reach anyone. No help was on the way and approximately 20 insurgents entrenched only 30 meters from their position were headed in their direction and they were out for blood.

The morning of August 17, 2010, in Afghanistan started early for Cole. He woke at 4 a.m. to stand four hours of guard duty. As he finished his time on post, an early-morning patrol returned and he helped cook food for them before cleaning his rifle and restocking on water. He heard through the grapevine about another patrol going out soon and he wanted in on the action. In the three and a half weeks that his unit, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, had been in-country, Cole had already been on 46 missions, luckily without incident.

The patrol that changed his life forever consisted of six Marines from his squad as well as a Navy corpsman and three Marines from a Professional Mentor Team, a group primarily responsible for training and working with Afghan National Security Forces. It was a reconnaissance mission -- to photograph the local landscape and populace and learn as much as they could about the area. At 1:30 p.m. the patrol made their way to a location they had visited just the night before. They spoke with local Afghans and searched mud compounds. Around 3:30 p.m. they left the final compound, then a crack of gunfire filled the air and they found themselves in the fight for their lives. The patrol was pinned down by heavy enemy fire; five Marines were wounded and they were unable to contact anyone on the radio.

“Thirty minutes into the firefight, I heard screams that the enemy was advancing toward us,” Cole said as he recounted his actions that day. “I took a machine gun from my buddy who was shot and gave him my rifle. I put the machine gun in my shoulder and started firing. Then I got up on the road and shot from my hip in a sweeping motion from left to right. I shot 150 rounds off, and as I did, I was shot three more times. A round hit my plates again and two rounds went through my arm.”
read more

Help for Families Worried About Their Service Member

Military Suicide: Help for Families Worried About Their Service Member
By ALEXANDRA SIFFERLIN
July 12, 2012

In this week’s TIME cover story, “One a Day” (available to subscribers here), journalists Mark Thompson and Nancy Gibbs explore why suicides among the U.S. military have reached crisis levels. Every day, one active-duty service member dies by his own hand, the authors note: “The U.S. military seldom meets an enemy it cannot target, cannot crush, cannot put a fence around or drive a tank across. But it has not been ale to defeat or contain the epidemic of suicides among its troops.”

The specific triggers for suicide are unique to each soldier. Each person deals differently with the stresses of war, frequent deployments, separation from family, death of comrades. Many contend with depression and post-traumatic stress upon returning home. There are several programs and support lines for these soldiers, but it also helps for their immediate families to remain vigilant and to monitor their behavior. Even still, many service members fall through the cracks.

Below is what we hope is helpful advice for military spouses, who want to know what warning signs to look for in their service member and how best to handle severe situations. One immediate sign, say experts, is a pervasive sense of uselessness, a feeling that they no longer belong. “What we learn from our families [who lost service family members to suicide] and what they saw in their loved ones, is behavior [in which they] pulled back and felt they were not able to be a useful part of unit that relied on them,” says Bonnie Carroll, founder and chairman of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPS, a non-profit that supports those who have lost a loved one in the military. “These men and women need to know they are still a part of a unit at home and overseas.”
read more here

Linked from Stars and Stripes

Mental disorders among troops up 65% since 2000

Mental disorders among troops up 65% since 2000
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
Army Times
Posted : Wednesday Jul 11, 2012

Diagnoses for mental disorders among active-duty troops have risen 65 percent in the past 12 years, with adjustment disorders the most common condition, according to a new Defense Department report.

Since 2000, adjustment disorders — a short-term emotional or physical response to an external stressor, such as sadness, acute anxiety, worry or trouble sleeping — have been the top mental health diagnoses among troops seen at military treatment facilities.

Since 2005, “other mental health disorders,” a catch-all category covering diagnoses that didn’t fall into the nine defined categories examined by DoD analysts, has ranked second, with depression third, according to the report.

While cases of post-traumatic stress disorder have increased steadily, rising six-fold between 2003 and 2008, incident rates of this widely publicized disorder placed sixth among the 10 major diagnostic categories examined in 2011, say epidemiologists with the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center.
read more here

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales will face an Article 32 hearing in Sept

Bales to face Article 32 hearing in September
By Gene Johnson
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jul 11, 2012 19:34:24 EDT

SEATTLE — The Army has scheduled a preliminary court hearing in September for the soldier accused of slaughtering 16 civilians during a pre-dawn rampage on two Afghan villages in March.

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales will face an Article 32 hearing on Sept. 17, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Dangerfield said Wednesday. The location of the hearing has not been confirmed, but one of Bales’ lawyers, Emma Scanlan, said it is expected to be held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle.
read more here

Military Scrambles To Limit Malaria Drug Just After Afghanistan Massacre

Death of soldier on 5th deployment "not determined"

On his fifth deployment, Union City soldier is non-combat fatality on Afghanistan base
Published: Tuesday, July 10, 2012
By Matthew McNab
The Jersey Journal

A U.S. Army soldier and Union City resident died on July 4 in Afghanistan while on his fifth deployment as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Raul M. Guerra, 37, died Wednesday in Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, the Department of Defense announced yesterday.

The cause of his death has not yet been determined, but the Department of Defense said it was a non-combat death that occurred on base.

Guerra was assigned to the 502nd Military Intelligence Battalion, 201st Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

At the time of his death, Guerra was in the midst of his fifth deployment, which started in May.
read more here

Documentary uncovers scars of Vietnam

Documentary uncovers scars of Vietnam
By Elena Brown
Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Oscar Soliz has produced a documentary called "Deep Scars" that recounts the struggles of four Vietnam veterans on the battlefield and off.
Photo: Helen L. Montoya, San Antonio Express-News / ©SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

It's well after midnight by the time Oscar Soliz clicks off his lamps and shuts down his computer. His brown eyes are strained, his neck and back are stiff, his hands tingle. He rubs his salt-and-pepper beard; it's time for bed.

He's just finished another 13-hour day producing a documentary about four local Vietnam vets and how their powerful memories have barely diminished with the passage of time.

The hour-long documentary, titled "Deep Scars," features retired Staff Sgt. Edward Brown Jr., retired Sgt. Trini Cruz, retired 1st Sgt. William J. Johnson and retired Sgt. 1st Class Dion Soliz III. The veterans, all Purple Heart recipients, recount their struggles on the battlefield and off.

"I'm showing the feelings and fears of being in combat as well as its affect on their lives after returning home," says Soliz, a self-taught videographer and owner of Ozman Visual Media Productions. "There are so many stories. So much had happened to them."

The documentary opens with images and narration explaining the politics of the Vietnam War, the lives lost and the toll it took on men such as Brown.

"Hmm, lemme see, I've been recovering from my injuries for 44 years and counting," Brown, 63, says with a chuckle. "Physically, I spent 32 months in various hospitals."

Brown was injured on May 14, 1968, in Binh Duong Province, Vietnam. In the uncut version of the film, Brown recounted how his fellow soldier Ron E. Clark fell into him after being hit by a grenade from a rocket-propelled launcher. "I looked into his eyes as he died," Brown said. "His death was fast, and his survivors should know he didn't suffer (alone)."
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Camp Lejeune Marine receives Silver Star

Lejeune Marine receives Silver Star
July 11, 2012
CPL. JEFF DREW - USMC

A Camp Lejeune Marine received the Silver Star this week for his actions during a patrol that shifted from recon to firefight in a matter of minutes.

Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Cole was awarded the nation’s third highest award for valor Tuesday for his actions on Aug. 17, 2010, in Marjah, Afghanistan.

Cole, with 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, was part of a patrol that included six Marines from his squad, a Navy corpsman and three Marines from a Professional Mentor Team, a group primarily responsible for training and working with Afghan National Security Forces. It was a reconnaissance mission to photograph the local landscape and populace and learn as much as they could about the area. At 1:30 p.m., the patrol made its way to a location they had been the night before and spoke with local Afghans and searched the area. As they left the final compound two hours later, they came under attack from about 20 insurgents entrenched only 30 meters away.

Pinned down by heavy enemy fire and without radio contact, the five injured Marines made their way into a nearby canal for cover as Cole, who had himself taken three rounds into the ceramic plates protecting his body from small-arms fire, provided suppressive fire with his rifle.
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Biden escorts media out to talk to veterans openly

In the article Veterans appreciate Biden’s visit … and wardrobe on Las Vegas Sun, two veterans had a lot to say about PTSD, suicide and what they came home to.

DeCaprio, a 64-year-old Army veteran who served in Vietnam, said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after he saw an unarmed Vietnamese child shot to death. He was turned down 25 years ago when he asked for benefits related to his trauma, and he posed the first question to Biden: Why do so many veterans have to hire attorneys to win access to benefits?

DeCaprio said Biden pulled up a chair and sat down right in front of him to directly answer the question.

“He said it himself. A lot of the veterans from Vietnam fell through the cracks, the country turned its back on us,” said DeCaprio, who said some people spat on him when he first came back to the United States after the war. “I had to prove that a specific incident occurred for them to acknowledge that I had PTSD. (Biden) said today it is much easier to receive benefits related to PTSD. He did say that they need more people in the Veterans Administration to work on cases.”

Andrew Rocco, 65, also served in Vietnam and said he suffered from psychological and physical health problems from injuries, trauma and exposure to Agent Orange, a defoliant the military used to clear trees and brush from the Vietnam countryside. Agent Orange led to birth defects in the Vietnamese population, and nerve, digestive, skin and respiratory disorders to members of the armed forces.

Rocco said he has attempted suicide twice and has fought for years to get the benefits to which he feels entitled. U.S. VETS has provided Rocco with housing, food and counseling.

“My message to the government for us, and those coming back now, is: Be responsible for the people, for those coming back and those left behind,” said Rocco, who still wears his original dog tags around his neck.

DeCaprio and Rocco are supporters of President Barack Obama and liberals, but even some conservatives in the room appreciated the vice president’s visit.

“I won’t vote for (Obama and Biden), I’ll vote for (Mitt) Romney. I think Obama has done right by veterans, but I’m against his economic policies, taxing people to death, spreading the wealth,” said Marine veteran Damon D’Amico, 51. “What I really appreciated, though, was that the vice president told us, ‘Don’t be scared to ask for help. You deserve it.’ The whole thing made me feel good.”

D’Amico added that he supported the Obama administration’s efforts on behalf of veterans, such as allowing those returning from active duty to obtain professional licenses — for electrical engineering for example — more easily.
(click above link for more.)

Association of American Railroads planning to hire 5,000 veterans

There is an announcement about the Association of American Railroads planning to hire 5,000 veterans here. Joining Forces
This is one more step in the right direction. Joining Forces is about this country standing behind them for a change.

Rail industry aims to hire 5,000 veterans this year
By Alicia Tarancon
CNN
July 11, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
DOT Secretary Hood: "Our veterans have skills and real life experiences that we need"
Rail group official: "23 percent of the railroad workforce is eligible to retire by 2015"

Rail companies are among some 1,600 companies that have committed to hiring vets Washington (CNN) -- Facing an aging rail industry workforce and an influx of returning military veterans, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced Tuesday an initiative in which the growing rail sector will hire more than 5,000 veterans this year, matching the same number hired in 2011.

"Our veterans have skills and real life experiences that we need to help rebuild America," said DOT Secretary Ray LaHood during a conference call with reporters on Tuesday.

LaHood said veterans are valuable potential employees because of their prior training in the military. He pointed out military personnel have leadership and teamwork training and experience working with heavy machinery in demanding work conditions.
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PTSD veterans still "faking" after all these years?

This article is about a lot of things veterans face including being given dangerous drugs to "battle" PTSD. From getting "help" in the form of drugs to being told by a commander that he is "faking" it. We've been sold a bunch of lies that add up to dangerous conditions for our veterans trying to heal from where we sent them.

How is it that one soldier will get all the help and support they need to not only heal but return to the duty they love when others are accused of lying and drugged up to numb their pain instead of being helped to heal as well?

One woman's crusade on the dangers of PTSD treatment
Jul 10, 2012
By AJ Giardina
BILOXI, MS (WLOX)

According to military statistics, as many as 30 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Up until a few weeks ago, the military was treating the men and women with multiple drugs. It's a treatment that was deadly for one coast military man.

Alicia McElroy says her husband died from multiple drug toxicity as a result of medications to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Staff Sergeant James McElroy returned from his second tour in Afghanistan in 2010.

McElroy, a native of Vancleave, met her husband Mac on Valentine's Day 2005 in Mobile.

"We ended up getting married in 2007 and he was still in the military working at Camp Shelby. We bought a house in 2007. I just finished grad school and started my job. Everything was great. We had a baby that year. It was the perfect year."

McElroy said her husband served in the Marines from 1998 through 2002 and did one tour of duty in Afghanistan. He decided to move to Mississippi after he got out of the Marines and joined the Army National Guard in 2004.

McElroy said she, her husband, and their son, Dane, were so happy. That is until Mac was sent to Afghanistan in May of 2010. He returned to Hattiesburg on leave in October of that year.

"He was starting to adjust to living together and Dane was getting used to Daddy being home. Mac took a turn for the worse."

She said Mac was always depressed, agitated and wasn't sleeping.

"I went into the room to check on him, like I always did throughout the day. He was just balled up in the sheets crying. Like, okay, it's alright. What's wrong? He wouldn't talk, and I really couldn't comfort him. I sat there held his hand and rubbed his back and he looked up at me and said, 'I need help. Help me, please.'"

She said she took her husband to the emergency room at Keesler Medical Center and later checked in at the VA. McElroy said a doctor told her Mac needed to be treated for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

She said things were going well with his treatment until he was released from the military, because his commanders thought he was faking his illness.
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2 Fort Bliss soldiers killed in Afghanistan from Florida

Friends, family: 6 Fort Bliss MPs among those killed in Afghanistan
By DAVID BURGE
El Paso (Texas) Times
Published: July 11, 2012

The Fort Bliss community is in mourning after one of the darkest days for the post in more than 10 years of the war on terror.

Six soldiers, all from the 978th Military Police Company of Fort Bliss, were killed Sunday in a roadside blast in eastern Afghanistan, according to family members and news media reports across the country.

The MPs killed were:

Spc. Erica Alecksen, 21, of Eatonton, Ga.

Pfc. Cameron Stambaugh, 20, of York, Pa.

Spc. Clarence Williams III, 23, of Brooksville, Fla.

Pfc. A.J. Pardo, 21, of Porterville, Calif.

Staff Sgt. Ricardo Seija, 31, Tampa Bay, Fla.

Pfc. Trevor Adkins, age and hometown unknown.

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Intense emotional distress number one reason for Military Suicide Attempts

Study reveals top reason behind soldiers' suicides
By Gregg Zoroya
USA TODAY

When researchers asked 72 soldiers at Fort Carson, Colo., why they tried to kill themselves, out of the 33 reasons they had to choose from, all of the soldiers included one in particular — a desire to end intense emotional distress.

"This really is the first study that provides scientific data saying that the top reason … these guys are trying to kill themselves is because they have this intense psychological suffering and pain," said Craig Bryan, co-author of the study by the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah that will be published in the coming months.

Suicide within the military has soared since 2005 as the military has waged two wars at once, and this year may set a record with troops committing suicide at the rate of one per day, according to Pentagon figures.

But military scientists say that finally, after years of congressional funding and the launch of randomized studies of a subject rarely researched, a few validated results are beginning to surface.
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I guess I should feel really glad that I was right so long ago but this is one of the saddest days of my life. How many lives could have been saved if someone listened? Think of it from my perspective. I've been reading what experts had to say about Combat PTSD and reports about veterans for 30 years. If I could figure this out when the troops were sent into Afghanistan in 2001, why couldn't the military and the government?

Iraq vet accused of election fraud in Pa.

Iraq vet accused of election fraud in Pa.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — A disabled Iraq war veteran and his wife are charged with forging dozens of names on nominating petitions in a bid for a seat in the Pennsylvania legislature.

Lycoming County detectives say Christopher Bain and his wife Misty faked 61 signatures on petitions he filed seeking a spot in April's 83rd district Republican primary.
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Veterans Affairs backlog leaves half a million waiting for benefits

Massive Veterans Affairs backlog leaves half a million waiting for benefits
July 10, 2012
by David Martin
CBS News

(CBS News) MANASSAS, Va. - It's Iraq, 2003, and a tragedy is about to happen. A photo shows a marine preparing to pull the trigger on a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. When he did, it blew up. After the smoke cleared two marines lay dead and Aaron Helstrom was riddled with shrapnel.

"I've got a fused spine that's causing me pain every day," Helstrom said.

He returned to active duty, served a tour in Afghanistan, and went on to become a master sergeant. Several months before he finally retired, Helstrom submitted a disability claim to the Department of Veterans Affairs, or VA.

After War: Eye on Veterans Affairs

It lists a total of 65 conditions ranging from his shrapnel wounds to PTSD which would qualify him for $2,800 a month in disability pay.

"They say at the time of your retirement or when you get out you will start receiving your compensation claim," Helstrom said. "That's not the case."
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Tampa soldier dies in Afghanistan attack that claimed 6

Tampa soldier dies in Afghanistan attack that claimed 6
By Marlene Sokol and Robbyn Mitchell
Times Staff Writers
Wednesday, July 11, 2012

TAMPA — It was 6:15 Monday morning and Ignacia Seija was getting ready for her job as an airport custodian.

Her two dogs started barking. Her husband saw two men in military uniforms approaching their West Tampa home.

"When I saw those two men, I knew it wasn't anything good," Ignacia Seija said in Spanish. "I knew my son had died."

Her son, Army Staff Sgt. Ricardo Seija, 31, was killed Sunday in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan.

It was the same attack, a family member said, that had killed Army Sgt. Clarence Williams III, 23, of Brooksville and four other Americans. They were riding in an armored vehicle in Wardak province, just south of Kabul, when an improvised explosive device went off.

The knock on the door of the West Tampa home was the second visit military officers had made early Monday to deliver grim news. At 5 a.m., officers told the Williams family that their son, a 2008 Hernando High grad who hoped to someday become a Florida Highway Patrol trooper, had died in the attack.

Williams and Seija became the 27th and 28th Tampa Bay area service members to have died in Afghanistan.
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Push to hire veterans working, veterans finding jobs

New Veteran Unemployment Falls in June
STARS AND STRIPES

WASHINGTON -- The unemployment rate for veterans of the post-Sept. 11 era dropped to 9.5 percent in June, potentially indicating a positive trend in veterans hiring even as national employment remains stagnant.

The June young veteran unemployment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics mark the fourth month this year that the rate has dipped below 10 percent. From January 2010 to December 2011, it dropped below 10 percent only twice. Last month, the rate was 12.7 percent, and a year ago, more than 13 percent of those veterans were out of work.

The White House and Congress in recent months have pushed government agencies and private companies to hire veterans, especially those who recently returned from fighting overseas. Legislation creating new jobs programs for veterans of all eras was one of the few significant pieces of legislation signed into law last year.
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Vietnam Veteran hung flag upside down over "Obamacare"

The Supreme Court ruled that the Affordable Care Act was legal and the government could impose fines for people able to buy health insurance but refused to do it. This law says everyone has to be covered or pay a fine. Poor people with no means to pay for insurance will be covered much like Medicaid covered some. Adult children under 26 are able to be on their parents plans. No one will be turned down for coverage because they were already sick (preexisting) or cut off because they got sick.

These things happened and sent families into crisis after crisis over health insurance issues that were unfair. While some healthy people today decide to not buy insurance, they never stop to think who will pay for them if they end up with a very expensive illness, like cancer, in the future. Our healthcare is not broken but paying for it has been making people "sick" trying to figure out how to take care of themselves.

This whole debate has been hyped to death so much so that a Vietnam Veteran decided to hang his American Flag upside down over this issue but not for the other ruling the Supreme Court came out with the same day saying it was ok for someone to lie about being a war hero. They said Stolen Valor was unconstitutional and lying was covered under freedom of speech.

Looks like politicians have been practicing that right to perfection.

Local veteran explains why he hung flag upside down
GRAYSON COUNTY, TX -- Hundreds of people across the nation were outraged when the supreme court upheld President Barack Obama's health care law. One Sherman man showed his disapproval with a controversial action that met with disapproval of it's own. Jul 9, 2012
Reporter: Kristen Shanahan

GRAYSON COUNTY, TX -- Hundreds of people across the nation were outraged when the supreme court upheld President Barack Obama's health care law. One Sherman man showed his disapproval with a controversial action that met with disapproval of it's own.

A Veteran of the Armed Services, Tim Deater, says he was so upset when he saw a flag flying upside down he wrote a letter to the editor of a local newspaper. Bill Cowan says he did hang up the flag with the union down for more than a week and he wants people to know why.

Bill Cowan, a Vietnam Veteran, says he hung the American Flag upside down June 28th when the high court upheld President Obama's health care overhaul. A law that affects the way americans receive and pay for their personal medical care.
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We have a Rottweiler/Hound and he will go into contortions just to bite his own tail. He walks sideways just to keep it in his mouth. For some reason he doesn't seem to understand it is attached to him. A lot of people in this country are doing the same thing because instead of hearing truth about things that really do effect their lives, they are lied into forgetting about common sense.

Medicare, Medicaid and the VA are "socialized" medical coverage programs. They are all paid for by taxpayers. In the case of the VA, it was also paid for by the men and women after they served this country putting their lives on the line and getting wounded for it, or at least were willing to do it but cannot afford private insurance and have no other way to take care of their health.

Has anyone stopped to think about them? Ever wonder what all the layoffs did to the veterans who would normally go to a civilian doctor? Ever wonder if disabled veterans would have to wait so long to see a doctor if non-disabled veterans were able to go someplace else?

Neighborhood evacuated over lost Fort Carson bomb

Jogger Finds Military Device Along Trail
KMGH News
Deb Stanley
New Media Producer
July 10, 2012

FALCON, Colo. -- Bomb squads from two different agencies were sent to Falcon Monday night, after a jogger discovered a suspicious device.

The jogger found the device along Black Hills Drive in the Meridian Estates subdivision, according to KRDO-TV.

Deputies with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office called the Colorado Springs Bomb Squad and explosives experts with Fort Carson.

They determined the ordnance came from the military, KRDO reported.

People living in the area were evacuated for a short time until the device was deemed safe.
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