Once Denied A Purple Heart, A Soldier Gets Her Medal
NPR
By DANIEL ZWERDLING
September 3, 2012
In 2010, NPR reported that some Army commanders refused to award the Purple Heart to many troops who got concussions in combat because they didn't consider these "real" injuries. As a result of our story, the Army did its own investigation and put out new guidelines on Purple Hearts. Last week, the Army told NPR that under the new rules, they've finally awarded the medal to almost 1,000 soldiers, including Michelle Dyarman, whom we profiled in our original 2010 reports.
Michelle Dyarman is at the American Legion on a recent Sunday more than two hours before the ceremony is supposed to begin. Her local American Legion is in a drab brick building in Hanover, Pa. They've set up three long folding tables in the social hall, covered with red, white and blue plastic tablecloths. There are platters with cubes of salami, cheese and vegetable dip.
Dyarman keeps tearing up and wiping her eyes. "It's a big day," she says.
She has set up poster boards on a side table with mementos and photos from her Army career. Her Army cap, her Army boots — they're tiny, like they belong to a kid.
One photo shows Dyarman with a group of Iraqi children around her. "We were delivering shoes and school supplies, and toys, clothing, food," she says. Another poster features pictures of her and some of the famous people who visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center while she was there — including President George H.W. Bush and Tom Hanks.
Dyarman, a major in the Army reserves in 2005, had been setting up meetings around Baghdad between Army commanders and Iraqi leaders. A roadside bomb exploded right beside her Humvee. A few months later, she was in a second explosion. The Army sent her to Walter Reed to treat her paralyzing headaches, muscle spasms and post-traumatic stress disorder.
read more here
Monday, September 3, 2012
Veterans Labor Day is no day off
Veterans Labor Day is no day off
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
September 3, 2012
This is Labor Day for Americans enjoying a day to sleep late and relax. There are other Americans waking up this morning after another night of little or no sleep without any time to relax at all. They are in Afghanistan because it is the profession they chose to do but not where they chose to be. We forget that part. They don't get to decide where they go, how long they'll be there or when they go home.
Argue about the reason behind sending them in the first place all you want but the fact is, we sent them and then forgot all about them.
You may have a nasty coworker you're glad to be away from today. They have to worry about coworkers they are training while wondering if they will end up killing them or not. You may have a job in a dangerous neighborhood. They have a dangerous job in a combat zone.
When it comes to really supporting the troops, we suck at it because we didn't demand the 24-7 cable news stations reminded us they were still there.
We suck at it just as much when they come home and find it harder to survive here than in combat. Suicides go up and families grieve while we pretend to be shocked as if it is the first time we heard about any of it.
This is what I hear all the time. While reporters keep repeating what they are told about what the military is doing to stop military suicides, they never seem interested in asking why everything else they have done has failed. No one is ever held accountable for this.
Every month since 2007 there has always been one claim after another posted on this blog by military folks saying they are doing all that is possible to prevent suicides but they are always followed by another month of more suicides. With at least 6,000 veterans suicides a year that adds up to 30,000 the government admits to just since this blog started.
With all the press conferences and interviews they've been doing, you'd think by now reporters would once and fall all finally ask them why they should be believed at all anymore.
Jared's death is still under investigation, so it is listed as that and not counted as a suicide. The problem is, there are too many still under investigation.
His widow talks about how he was suffering from Combat PTSD.
We tell them to get help, Jared tried to get it. He's dead now and not even counted in the suicide data. His widow says the Army Rangers won't even give him a memorial.
30,000 families expected that when their combat veterans came home, it was the end of the danger to their lives but ended up having to visit their graves.
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
September 3, 2012
This is Labor Day for Americans enjoying a day to sleep late and relax. There are other Americans waking up this morning after another night of little or no sleep without any time to relax at all. They are in Afghanistan because it is the profession they chose to do but not where they chose to be. We forget that part. They don't get to decide where they go, how long they'll be there or when they go home.
Argue about the reason behind sending them in the first place all you want but the fact is, we sent them and then forgot all about them.
You may have a nasty coworker you're glad to be away from today. They have to worry about coworkers they are training while wondering if they will end up killing them or not. You may have a job in a dangerous neighborhood. They have a dangerous job in a combat zone.
When it comes to really supporting the troops, we suck at it because we didn't demand the 24-7 cable news stations reminded us they were still there.
We suck at it just as much when they come home and find it harder to survive here than in combat. Suicides go up and families grieve while we pretend to be shocked as if it is the first time we heard about any of it.
This is what I hear all the time. While reporters keep repeating what they are told about what the military is doing to stop military suicides, they never seem interested in asking why everything else they have done has failed. No one is ever held accountable for this.
Every month since 2007 there has always been one claim after another posted on this blog by military folks saying they are doing all that is possible to prevent suicides but they are always followed by another month of more suicides. With at least 6,000 veterans suicides a year that adds up to 30,000 the government admits to just since this blog started.
With all the press conferences and interviews they've been doing, you'd think by now reporters would once and fall all finally ask them why they should be believed at all anymore.
Families Testify Military’s Suicide Prevention Claims Were Hollow, as DoD Funds Yet Another Study
Posted on August 27, 2012
by The Military Suicide Report
Army widow Ashley Joppa-Hagemann says her Ranger husband Jared was facing his 9th deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan before he killed himself near Fort Lewis, Wash. Joppa-Hagemann says the Army ignored obvious signs her husband was struggling with the psychological “invisible” wounds of war. She participated in panel discussion for survivors of military suicides and was featured on PBS‘ news magazine Democracy Now.
Jared's death is still under investigation, so it is listed as that and not counted as a suicide. The problem is, there are too many still under investigation.
His widow talks about how he was suffering from Combat PTSD.
We tell them to get help, Jared tried to get it. He's dead now and not even counted in the suicide data. His widow says the Army Rangers won't even give him a memorial.
30,000 families expected that when their combat veterans came home, it was the end of the danger to their lives but ended up having to visit their graves.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier killed by police
UPDATE March 27, 2013
Fatal police shooting of JBLM medic justified says prosecutor
Man fatally shot by police was JBLM soldier
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Sep 2, 2012 15:41:41 EDT
TACOMA, Wash. — A man fatally shot by a Tacoma police officer last week has been identified as a 29-year-old Army sergeant stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.
A base spokesman says Sgt. Prince Gavin, of Chicago, deployed twice to Iraq. The combat medic was preparing to move to Fort Carson, Colo., before he died.
Gavin was killed Friday afternoon in a confrontation with Tacoma police. A police spokesman told the News Tribune that Gavin had a gun in his hand when he got out of his truck and ran toward a house in the Hilltop neighborhood.
read more here
UPDATE September 3, 2012
Man Tacoma police shot ‘follows the rules,’ girlfriend says Army Sgt. Prince Gavin was moving from Tacoma on the day he was shot and killed by a police officer, his girlfriend said Saturday.
This article mentions there was another domestic situation police had to respond to. This happened around the same time.
Lewis-McChord Family members say soldier fatally stabbed wife
Fatal police shooting of JBLM medic justified says prosecutor
Man fatally shot by police was JBLM soldier
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Sep 2, 2012 15:41:41 EDT
TACOMA, Wash. — A man fatally shot by a Tacoma police officer last week has been identified as a 29-year-old Army sergeant stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.
A base spokesman says Sgt. Prince Gavin, of Chicago, deployed twice to Iraq. The combat medic was preparing to move to Fort Carson, Colo., before he died.
Gavin was killed Friday afternoon in a confrontation with Tacoma police. A police spokesman told the News Tribune that Gavin had a gun in his hand when he got out of his truck and ran toward a house in the Hilltop neighborhood.
read more here
UPDATE September 3, 2012
Man Tacoma police shot ‘follows the rules,’ girlfriend says Army Sgt. Prince Gavin was moving from Tacoma on the day he was shot and killed by a police officer, his girlfriend said Saturday.
This article mentions there was another domestic situation police had to respond to. This happened around the same time.
Lewis-McChord Family members say soldier fatally stabbed wife
Fort Lee probes 4 deaths, possible suicides, average had been 1 a year
The Associated Press Posted : Sunday Sep 2, 2012
PETERSBURG, Va. — Fort Lee is investigating whether four deaths this year were suicides.
If they were, the deaths would represent a sharp increase in the number of suicides reported annually by the base.
The Progress-Index reports that the Army post has averaged 1.1 suicides per year over the past decade.
read more here
Director of Warbird Education Foundation killed in air show crash
Authorities release name of pilot killed in Q-C Air Show crash
Ed Tibbetts
Quad City Times
Update: 11:48 a.m.: Authorities have released the name of the pilot. He is Glenn A. Smith, 58, of Frisco, Texas. He also is listed as the director of the foundation, Warbird Education Foundation, that owned the plane.
Smith, whose nickname is “Skids” was a technology entrepreneur who founded a company in 1981 that provides information technology services to local governments, according to the Hoppers team website.
He started flying about 24 years ago and earned his commercial pilot’s license.
The website said Smith is the newest member of the team and flies a PT-17 Stearman, T-37 Tweet, MiG-17, L-39 and Super Cub, according to the site.
Glenn also was a certified scuba diver, licensed sailor and enjoyed sking and golf, the Hopper site said.
read more here
Ed Tibbetts
Quad City Times
Smith, whose nickname is “Skids” was a technology entrepreneur who founded a company in 1981 that provides information technology services to local governments, according to the Hoppers team website.
He started flying about 24 years ago and earned his commercial pilot’s license.
The website said Smith is the newest member of the team and flies a PT-17 Stearman, T-37 Tweet, MiG-17, L-39 and Super Cub, according to the site.
Glenn also was a certified scuba diver, licensed sailor and enjoyed sking and golf, the Hopper site said.
read more here
Unemployment, mental health remain concerns for Oklahoma Guardsmen
Unemployment, mental health remain concerns for Oklahoma Guardsmen who have returned from deployments
Officials said about 22 percent of the 3,000 Oklahoma National Guardsmen who returned from a deployment to Afghanistan this spring remain unemployed.
NewsOK.com
BY BRYAN DEAN
Published: September 2, 2012
Unemployment and mental health issues continue to concern military officials months after about 3,000 Oklahoma National Guard soldiers returned from deployments to Afghanistan and Kuwait.
About 30 percent of the soldiers who returned from the deployment in March and April were unemployed when they got home. That number is now down to 22 percent, said Warren Griffis, director of the Guard's employment coordination program.
“It's high, but some of the numbers are people who may not have reported to us they got a job,” Griffis said. “Getting the accurate data has been a little tough. We also have full-time students. That's about 10 percent. Those are in the unemployment number.”
read more here
Officials said about 22 percent of the 3,000 Oklahoma National Guardsmen who returned from a deployment to Afghanistan this spring remain unemployed.
NewsOK.com
BY BRYAN DEAN
Published: September 2, 2012
Unemployment and mental health issues continue to concern military officials months after about 3,000 Oklahoma National Guard soldiers returned from deployments to Afghanistan and Kuwait.
About 30 percent of the soldiers who returned from the deployment in March and April were unemployed when they got home. That number is now down to 22 percent, said Warren Griffis, director of the Guard's employment coordination program.
“It's high, but some of the numbers are people who may not have reported to us they got a job,” Griffis said. “Getting the accurate data has been a little tough. We also have full-time students. That's about 10 percent. Those are in the unemployment number.”
read more here
At least Clint Eastwood said 'Afghanistan' at GOP convention
At least Clint Eastwood said 'Afghanistan' at GOP convention
Danny Westneat
Seattle Times staff columnist
September 1, 2012
Thank you, Clint Eastwood. At least you went there.
OK, sure, your thoughts didn't neatly track from one to the next, to put it mildly. You're now officially the nation's crazy uncle, due to that rambling, imaginary talk you had with your invisible friend ... I mean, president.
But you said it. You said the word lost down the national memory hole: "Afghanistan."
When state Sen. Michael Baumgartner told me a week ago that he expected to hear "close to zero" talk at the Republican convention about how we're bogged down in the longest war in our history, I figured he was exaggerating.
There would be a forum or a protest or something. There'd at least be countless nods to the sacrifices of the troops.
Nope. The war was mentioned, in passing, just four times in hours of speeches comprising tens of thousands of words.
For the first time since 1952, the AP reported, Mitt Romney accepted a Republican nomination for president without mentioning the topic of war at all. Not the cost of war, which seems relevant. Nothing about what the mission is. No suggestion of what we might do.
Afghanistan was so out-of-mind Romney didn't even give a standard shout-out to the troops (roughly 80,000 of whom are still over there fighting — and probably wondering if they've been marooned).
read more here
My two cents on this one.
UPDATE at 8:38 est
I am really pissed off so here's some more to think about.
Paul Ryan is behind the cuts to funding. Plain and simple. The cuts to Defense spending were a product of the Tea Party politicians screaming about the deficit. The fact that Ryan's budget cuts.
Defense Cuts
And then there is this
Here is where the $11 Billion cut to veterans is even though Ryan's budget much like the convention, didn't mention the word "veterans" at all.
UPDATE
He just made it worse for himself. His "spokesman" said that Romney talked about Afghanistan the day before,,,,,,so, what? Does Romney think it is just too tiring to talk about men and women risking their lives in Afghanistan two days in a row?
Fehrnstrom told CNN that Romney didn't talk about war in his convention speech because he had already talked it in a previous speech.
"The day before the convention speech, Candy, Governor Romney traveled to Indianapolis on Wednesday and he gave a speech before the American Legion," he said.
Then he said the defense cuts were Obama's fault? I'm sure you're wondering if he has a real clue about anything.
The war in Afghanistan was mentioned, in passing, just four times in hours of speeches comprising tens of thousands of words at the Republican convention. Mitt Romney, the nominee, avoided any mention at all. Not even a shout-out to the troops.
Danny Westneat
Seattle Times staff columnist
September 1, 2012
Thank you, Clint Eastwood. At least you went there.
OK, sure, your thoughts didn't neatly track from one to the next, to put it mildly. You're now officially the nation's crazy uncle, due to that rambling, imaginary talk you had with your invisible friend ... I mean, president.
But you said it. You said the word lost down the national memory hole: "Afghanistan."
When state Sen. Michael Baumgartner told me a week ago that he expected to hear "close to zero" talk at the Republican convention about how we're bogged down in the longest war in our history, I figured he was exaggerating.
There would be a forum or a protest or something. There'd at least be countless nods to the sacrifices of the troops.
Nope. The war was mentioned, in passing, just four times in hours of speeches comprising tens of thousands of words.
For the first time since 1952, the AP reported, Mitt Romney accepted a Republican nomination for president without mentioning the topic of war at all. Not the cost of war, which seems relevant. Nothing about what the mission is. No suggestion of what we might do.
Afghanistan was so out-of-mind Romney didn't even give a standard shout-out to the troops (roughly 80,000 of whom are still over there fighting — and probably wondering if they've been marooned).
read more here
My two cents on this one.
Well put except Afghanistan is not the longest war. Vietnam is still the longest.The date on the Wall ends at 1975.
I don't know what reporter decided to call Afghanistan the longest, but it seems everyone jumped on that one.
I didn't watch the convention coverage. I've read about what they have to say too much along with people on the other side. I've also been fed up with all the coverage on politicians with hardly nothing on what they do after they get elected. Reporters have a habit of just letting all of them say whatever they want, without having to explain anything. Unless they say something so outrageous as what Ryan claimed, their fact checkers have been AWOL.
I have a feeling the Democrats' convention will be just about the same way but considering how the GOP convention left out our troops and veterans, I hope the Democrats learned something from that. Time will tell.
Romney doesn't care about the troops. He doesn't care about our veterans either. He doesn't even know the difference between TRICARE and CHAMPVA. Reporters are not really interested Afghanistan anymore than they were interested in Iraq.
Really strange considering after 2001, that was all we heard all the time from politicians trying to explain what they were doing, what they were spending money on and how much we needed to allow them to do it if we supported the troops. In 2004 that was all we heard with September 11th and Iraq in nearly every speech while Afghanistan was hardly mentioned at all. It was repeated in 2008 so much so they could have just played a tape.
Do you think that they have finally proven all the talk about supporting the troops from them really boiled down to support of defense contractors instead?
UPDATE at 8:38 est
I am really pissed off so here's some more to think about.
At a Pentagon press briefing on Monday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said congressional tinkering with the $613 billion 2013 Defense Department budget could have unintended consequences and result in a hollow force. Flanked by Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Panetta also defended the long-term Defense strategy unveiled in January, saying it will help the Pentagon to slash its budget by $487 billion over the next 10 years.
In March, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairman of the House Budget Committee, told a National Journal forum that senior military commanders were dishonest in presenting Congress with a budget request he doesn't believe they fully support. After Dempsey charged Ryan with calling senior military leaders liars, Ryan backed off and said, "I really misspoke."
Paul Ryan is behind the cuts to funding. Plain and simple. The cuts to Defense spending were a product of the Tea Party politicians screaming about the deficit. The fact that Ryan's budget cuts.
Budget panel may cut VA care for 1.3 million vets The House Budget Committee, led by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has told a veterans’ group it is studying a plan to save $6 billion annually in Veterans Affairs health care costs by canceling enrollment of any veteran who doesn’t have a service-related medical condition and is not poor.
Defense Cuts
An Associated Press "fact check" in July after Mitt Romney made a similar claim said that Romney "ignores the central role that Congress played last summer in setting the stage for such a massive cut in the Pentagon's budget."
The House-passed bill to which Ryan referred passed in May without a single Democratic vote and has no chance of passing in the Democratically-controlled Senate. The bill would swap defense cuts for sharp reductions in spending for social programs, specifically Medicaid and food stamp spending, and reduce money for Obama's health care reform law while taking away the ability of regulators to wind down failing financial firms and end a White House program meant to assist struggling homeowners.
Joseph Beaudoin, president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), said in a statement today that the Ryan plan would cost the national security bureaucracy 100,000 jobs.
"Chairman Ryan's belief that it is permissible to penalize middle-class federal workers, who protect Americans and keep our nation moving forward, is frightening. Whatever happened to 'shared sacrifice'? What does he hope to gain by prolonging pay freezes, pinching paychecks, and eliminating employees, including those who inspect the safety of our food and nuclear power plants?" he said. "It's worth remembering that losing one in 10 federal workers means losing more than 100,000 employees at the U.S. Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Justice and Homeland Security."
And then there is this
Here is where the $11 Billion cut to veterans is even though Ryan's budget much like the convention, didn't mention the word "veterans" at all.
Veteran spending missing from Paul Ryan’s budget
Martin Bashir
Aired on March 23, 2012
Jon Soltz, chairman of VoteVets.org, joins guest host Karen Finney to explain the billions of dollars cut from veterans spending under budget plan offered by Rep. Paul Ryan.
UPDATE
He just made it worse for himself. His "spokesman" said that Romney talked about Afghanistan the day before,,,,,,so, what? Does Romney think it is just too tiring to talk about men and women risking their lives in Afghanistan two days in a row?
Fehrnstrom told CNN that Romney didn't talk about war in his convention speech because he had already talked it in a previous speech.
"The day before the convention speech, Candy, Governor Romney traveled to Indianapolis on Wednesday and he gave a speech before the American Legion," he said.
Then he said the defense cuts were Obama's fault? I'm sure you're wondering if he has a real clue about anything.
Drone Is Suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?
This came in this morning and right away I felt my blood pressure go up. I clicked the link and it was broken. No surprise there but it did leave me wondering what the hell they were thinking putting it up in the first place.
This Lethal Drone Is Suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder And Can No ...
Business Insider
At least no more real than the concern of troops who wrote it. Kandahar, Afghanistan – In the latest setback to America's drone war over Pakistan, one of its MQ-9 Reapers was recently diagnosed with a severe case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.
broken link
Army investigating Fort Stewart soldier missing at sea
Army investigates soldier missing at sea from cruise
Posted: Aug 31, 2012
SAVANNAH, GA
WTOC
The Army's Criminal Investigation Division has joining the case of a Fort Stewart soldier who went missing at sea after going overboard on a cruise ship.
Army Sgt. Ronald Kemp, 31, who is assigned to Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield, went overboard Tuesday morning when a Carnival cruise ship Fascination was 25 miles off of New Smyrna Beach, Fla., according to the Coast Guard.
read more here
Army sergeant still missing after jumping off Carnival cruise ship August 30, 2012
Posted: Aug 31, 2012
SAVANNAH, GA
WTOC
The Army's Criminal Investigation Division has joining the case of a Fort Stewart soldier who went missing at sea after going overboard on a cruise ship.
Army Sgt. Ronald Kemp, 31, who is assigned to Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield, went overboard Tuesday morning when a Carnival cruise ship Fascination was 25 miles off of New Smyrna Beach, Fla., according to the Coast Guard.
read more here
Army sergeant still missing after jumping off Carnival cruise ship August 30, 2012
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Almost half of crisis calls to suicide prevention are from OEF OIF veterans
VA Working with Returning Vets to Prevent Suicides
Almost half of all calls to the Veterans Affairs’ suicide-prevention program are younger vets, officials say.
August 31, 2012
A total of 126 San Diego-area veterans attempted suicide and 22 of them succeeded in the fiscal year that ends next month, according to Veteran Affairs officials.
The data comes from the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System Suicide Prevention Program in advance of National Suicide Prevention Week, which runs Sept. 9-15.
San Diego County is home to roughly 30,000 veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it’s those troops who are showing up in suicide statistics at a greater degree than others, according to the VA.
Almost half of crisis calls received by the VA’s suicide-prevention program are people who have served since 9/11, officials said.
read more here
Almost half of all calls to the Veterans Affairs’ suicide-prevention program are younger vets, officials say.
August 31, 2012
A total of 126 San Diego-area veterans attempted suicide and 22 of them succeeded in the fiscal year that ends next month, according to Veteran Affairs officials.
The data comes from the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System Suicide Prevention Program in advance of National Suicide Prevention Week, which runs Sept. 9-15.
San Diego County is home to roughly 30,000 veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it’s those troops who are showing up in suicide statistics at a greater degree than others, according to the VA.
Almost half of crisis calls received by the VA’s suicide-prevention program are people who have served since 9/11, officials said.
read more here
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