Honor for Marine came just in time
October 2, 2012
By RUSTY DENNE
BACK IN JUNE, I got a handwritten note from Lawrence “Reggie” Lucas. He asked whether I might be interested in mentioning that he’d be getting some recognition for a long-ago stint in the Montford Point Marines.
He said his daughter, Cheryl Hepburn, and son-in-law, Marty, would be driving him to Washington to receive a Congressional Gold Medal for his service in the Marine Corps’ first all-black unit.
The medal is the nation’s highest civilian honor; George Washington was among the recipients.
I dropped by Lucas’ home in Spotsylvania County for an interview a few days later. After greeting me in the driveway, he welcomed me inside and told his story of the black men who received little recognition during World War II and for long afterward.
At 88, he was articulate, with a vivid memory and a wicked sense of humor that had me wishing our two-hour visit had been longer.
read more here
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Veterans wanted for The Job reality TV
They want veterans for this,,,,,,,
THE JOB
Received in email. I gave her a couple of leads but now it is your turn! This is a great chance to get a job and maybe a new career.
From reality show masters Michael Davies ("Who Wants To Be A Millionaire," "Watch What Happens Live") and Mark Burnett ("Survivor," "The Voice") comes a new reality series, THE JOB, where every week talented candidates are chosen from across the country for a chance to win their dream job at one of America's most prestigious companies.
Host Lisa Ling guides participants through several rounds of challenges as they compete for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to land the job of their dreams. If you're interested in applying, contact the casting department ASAP! Please include your name, age, and contact information. Also attach an updated résumé, two recent photos of yourself, and a brief cover letter/bio stating why you'd be perfect for "The Job".
Applicants must be at least 18 years old and legally eligible to live and work in the United States. Produced by Sony Pictures Television and Embassy Row.
We would absolutely love to aide our true American heroes in finding their next venture and hope that you and the National Guard can help point us in the right direction in finding veterans or service members looking for a career.
Received in email. I gave her a couple of leads but now it is your turn! This is a great chance to get a job and maybe a new career.
Oregon Vietnam Veteran believed to have been eaten by pigs
Dentures and body parts of Terry Vance Garner were discovered by a relative in his farm's pigsty
LAST UPDATED AT 12:46 ON Tue 2 Oct 2012
IN
A scene reminiscent of Thomas Harris's serial killer film Hannibal, a 69-year-old farmer in Oregon, US, is thought to have been eaten by his own pigs.
Terry Vance Garner, a former serviceman who served in the Vietnam war and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), was last seen when he left his farm in Riverton to go out to feed his swine, some of which weighed in excess of 700lb, the Associated Press reports.
An unidentified member of Garner's family went to look for his relative several hours later, concerned at his disappearance, and discovered the farmer's dentures and parts of his body in the pigsty at his small farm.
read more here
LAST UPDATED AT 12:46 ON Tue 2 Oct 2012
IN
A scene reminiscent of Thomas Harris's serial killer film Hannibal, a 69-year-old farmer in Oregon, US, is thought to have been eaten by his own pigs.
Terry Vance Garner, a former serviceman who served in the Vietnam war and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), was last seen when he left his farm in Riverton to go out to feed his swine, some of which weighed in excess of 700lb, the Associated Press reports.
An unidentified member of Garner's family went to look for his relative several hours later, concerned at his disappearance, and discovered the farmer's dentures and parts of his body in the pigsty at his small farm.
read more here
Senator Jim Webb defends Vietnam Veterans
Mitt Romney protested for the Vietnam War, not a problem. He protested for the draft. Not such a huge problem except for the fact that while he supported drafting young men his age, he took off for France and a sandy beach where he wrote how he loved Ann.
There were a lot of guys his age, also in love, but they did their duty and over 58,000 died, but they kept dying of Agent Orange and suicides, much like we talk about today. Back then, no one talked about PTSD or what happened to them when they came home. Now everyone seems to have something to say about the debt we owe all we send. Great thoughts but on the other hand is usually a fist when it comes to really taking care of them. Read about the Romney/Ryan plan and know what's coming if they have their way. Jim Webb went. Vietnam veterans need to hear what he has to say.
Webb drops the hammer on Romney
By CHARLES MAHTESIAN
9/27/12
From Webb’s introductory remarks before Obama’s Virginia Beach appearance:
Governor Romney and I are about the same age. Like millions of others in our generation, we came to adulthood facing the harsh realities of the Vietnam War. 2.7 million in our age group went to Vietnam, a war which eventually took the lives of 58,000 young Americans and cost another 300,000 wounded. The Marine Corps lost 100,000 killed or wounded in that war. During the year I was in Vietnam, 1969, our country lost twice as many dead as we have lost in Iraq and Afghanistan combined over the past 10 years of war. 1968 was worse. 1967 was about the same. Not a day goes by when I do not think about the young Marines I was privileged to lead.
This was a time of conscription, where every American male was eligible to be drafted. People made choices about how to deal with the draft, and about military service. I have never envied or resented any of the choices that were made as long as they were done within the law. But those among us who stepped forward to face the harsh unknowns and the lifelong changes that can come from combat did so with the belief that their service would be honored, and that our leaders would, in the words of President Abraham Lincoln, care for those who had borne the battle, and for their widows and their children.
Those young Marines that I led have grown older now. They’ve lived lives of courage, both in combat and after their return, where many of them were derided by their own peers for having served. That was a long time ago. They are not bitter. They know what they did. But in receiving veterans’ benefits, they are not takers. They were givers, in the ultimate sense of that word. There is a saying among war veterans: “All gave some, some gave all.” This is not a culture of dependency. It is a part of a long tradition that gave this country its freedom and independence. They paid, some with their lives, some through wounds and disabilities, some through their emotional scars, some through the lost opportunities and delayed entry into civilian careers which had already begun for many of their peers who did not serve.
And not only did they pay. They will not say this, so I will say it for them. They are owed, if nothing else, at least a mention, some word of thanks and respect, when a presidential candidate who is their generational peer makes a speech accepting his party’s nomination to be commander-in-chief. And they are owed much more than that — a guarantee that we will never betray the commitment that we made to them and to their loved ones.
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Veterans hired to help others not getting their paychecks?
'I can't afford to live like this': VA weeks, months late paying student veterans
By Bill Briggs
NBC News contributor
Student veterans hired by the Department of Veterans Affairs to help fellow ex-service members transition into college have routinely waited four to six weeks — and, in one case, four months — for unpaid wages, prompting eviction worries and mounting debt, according to a survey of program members obtained by NBC News.
Ashley Metcalf, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan — and the student veteran who organized the survey of other VA "work-study" employees at 18 campuses — said he’s been living on credit cards since June and was forced to obtain an emergency loan because the VA has failed to compensate him for about 100 hours he's logged in the VA program.
“How can this happen? If I was working for McDonald’s and they said they’re not going to pay me for 10 weeks, I’d have a lawsuit,” said Metcalf, an Air Force veteran now enrolled at the University of Colorado Denver.
read more here
By Bill Briggs
NBC News contributor
Student veterans hired by the Department of Veterans Affairs to help fellow ex-service members transition into college have routinely waited four to six weeks — and, in one case, four months — for unpaid wages, prompting eviction worries and mounting debt, according to a survey of program members obtained by NBC News.
Ashley Metcalf, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan — and the student veteran who organized the survey of other VA "work-study" employees at 18 campuses — said he’s been living on credit cards since June and was forced to obtain an emergency loan because the VA has failed to compensate him for about 100 hours he's logged in the VA program.
“How can this happen? If I was working for McDonald’s and they said they’re not going to pay me for 10 weeks, I’d have a lawsuit,” said Metcalf, an Air Force veteran now enrolled at the University of Colorado Denver.
read more here
Veteran says VA treatment caused frostbitten penis
Kentucky man says VA treatment caused frostbitten penis
Published October 02, 2012
Associated Press
An Army veteran is seeking $10 million from the federal government, accusing a Veterans Administration nurse of repeatedly put ice packs on his penis after surgery, causing frostbite and gangrene and ultimately leading to the organ's partial amputation.
Michael D. Nash of Louisville filed suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Louisville for what he calls medical malpractice.
Nash, who served in the Army in 1968 and 1969, went to the VA hospital in Lexington for medically necessary surgery on his penis. Nash's attorney, Larry Jones of Jones Ward law firm in Louisville, said that after the procedure a nurse packed Nash's groin in ice for 19 hours.
"It basically caused frostbite on his penis, which eventually caused gangrene," Jones said. "In addition to robbing someone of their manhood, they've robbed him of the simple ability to urinate just like every other person who lives in this world."
read more here
Published October 02, 2012
Associated Press
An Army veteran is seeking $10 million from the federal government, accusing a Veterans Administration nurse of repeatedly put ice packs on his penis after surgery, causing frostbite and gangrene and ultimately leading to the organ's partial amputation.
Michael D. Nash of Louisville filed suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Louisville for what he calls medical malpractice.
Nash, who served in the Army in 1968 and 1969, went to the VA hospital in Lexington for medically necessary surgery on his penis. Nash's attorney, Larry Jones of Jones Ward law firm in Louisville, said that after the procedure a nurse packed Nash's groin in ice for 19 hours.
"It basically caused frostbite on his penis, which eventually caused gangrene," Jones said. "In addition to robbing someone of their manhood, they've robbed him of the simple ability to urinate just like every other person who lives in this world."
read more here
Iraq veteran sued Pentagon for lost job and won
Vet Sues Pentagon, Wins Back Pay
Sep 28, 2012
Knight Ridder/Tribune
CHIPPEWA FALLS -- When Mike Hanke returned to the Chippewa Valley in spring 2010 after a tour in Iraq, he expected to go back to work as an ROTC cadre at UW-Stout in Menomonie.
But Hanke, a 47-year-old Chippewa Falls city councilman, was surprised to learn he had lost his job with the Department of Defense while he was overseas and would not be rehired.
Hanke's active duty status ended March 27, 2010. On April 6 of that year he went to UW-Stout to request to begin working again.
"That's when I found out I no longer had a position," Hanke said.
Hanke filed a complaint against his termination, arguing federal law prohibits soldiers from losing their jobs because they were activated into service. He was part of the 128th Infantry unit of the Wisconsin Army National Guard that went to Baghdad. Earlier this month, Hanke reached a settlement with the DOD, which oversaw Hanke's job.
Hanke declined to reveal the size of the settlement but said it is believed to be the second-largest of its kind.
read more here
Sep 28, 2012
Knight Ridder/Tribune
CHIPPEWA FALLS -- When Mike Hanke returned to the Chippewa Valley in spring 2010 after a tour in Iraq, he expected to go back to work as an ROTC cadre at UW-Stout in Menomonie.
But Hanke, a 47-year-old Chippewa Falls city councilman, was surprised to learn he had lost his job with the Department of Defense while he was overseas and would not be rehired.
Hanke's active duty status ended March 27, 2010. On April 6 of that year he went to UW-Stout to request to begin working again.
"That's when I found out I no longer had a position," Hanke said.
Hanke filed a complaint against his termination, arguing federal law prohibits soldiers from losing their jobs because they were activated into service. He was part of the 128th Infantry unit of the Wisconsin Army National Guard that went to Baghdad. Earlier this month, Hanke reached a settlement with the DOD, which oversaw Hanke's job.
Hanke declined to reveal the size of the settlement but said it is believed to be the second-largest of its kind.
read more here
Documentary takes sobering look at women veterans
Chagrin Documentary Film Fest to include sobering look at women veterans
Published: Tuesday, October 02, 2012
By Clint O'Connor
The Plain Dealer
The problems of women soldiers who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan are addressed in the new documentary "Service: When Women Come Marching Home." It tells their stories of lost limbs, homelessness, psychological issues, sexual assault and how they can get help.
The film, produced by two former Clevelanders, will be featured in the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival, which kicks off Wednesday and runs through Sunday.
Director Marcia Rock and composer-writer Patricia Lee Stotter, who were classmates at Shaker Heights High School in the 1960s, collaborated on the project.
"I had previously created a theater piece about widows of Vietnam veterans who had committed suicide, and woke up to the issue of PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder]," said Stotter. "I started working with veterans and using theater as a way to heal them." That led to creating a Facebook group for women vets to share information. About three years ago, she re-connected with Rock, whom she had worked with previously, and they started sketching out plans for "Service."
read more here
Published: Tuesday, October 02, 2012
By Clint O'Connor
The Plain Dealer
The problems of women soldiers who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan are addressed in the new documentary "Service: When Women Come Marching Home." It tells their stories of lost limbs, homelessness, psychological issues, sexual assault and how they can get help.
The film, produced by two former Clevelanders, will be featured in the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival, which kicks off Wednesday and runs through Sunday.
Director Marcia Rock and composer-writer Patricia Lee Stotter, who were classmates at Shaker Heights High School in the 1960s, collaborated on the project.
"I had previously created a theater piece about widows of Vietnam veterans who had committed suicide, and woke up to the issue of PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder]," said Stotter. "I started working with veterans and using theater as a way to heal them." That led to creating a Facebook group for women vets to share information. About three years ago, she re-connected with Rock, whom she had worked with previously, and they started sketching out plans for "Service."
read more here
Website has advice for military parents
AP
October 2, 2012
BOSTON (AP) — A new website has launched that is aimed at giving advice to military parents on helping their children cope with stress.
Content will deal with helping children get through a parent’s military deployment and adjust to the service member’s return to family life.
The website at Staying Strong.org is connected to the Home Base Program.
read more here
PTSD declines for some Marines with healing touch
Keep in mind that there is no "one size fits all" for every veteran. Here's some common sense advice on this.
Mind: Medication and therapy. Medication is usually necessary in the beginning of treatment, but not the cure-all. If the medication you are on is not working or you feel worse, talk to your doctor so something else can be used for you. Your buddy may do fine on what you've been given but that does not always mean it is right for you. Do not drink alcohol or take street drugs.
Body:Meditation, Yoga, Martial Arts or walking needs to be added to your treatment. You have to teach your body to calm down again. Have a good diet with proper foods and limit fast foods that give your body empty calories.
Spirit:Faith based or spiritual help to address the basis of what feeds PTSD. Survival guilt and believing you are guilty of something eats away at you. You need help to forgive yourself for whatever you believe you did wrong as much as you need to forgive others. Your family members should also receive this. They are going through a lot too and most of the time they don't understand or how to help you.
Mind: Medication and therapy. Medication is usually necessary in the beginning of treatment, but not the cure-all. If the medication you are on is not working or you feel worse, talk to your doctor so something else can be used for you. Your buddy may do fine on what you've been given but that does not always mean it is right for you. Do not drink alcohol or take street drugs.
Body:Meditation, Yoga, Martial Arts or walking needs to be added to your treatment. You have to teach your body to calm down again. Have a good diet with proper foods and limit fast foods that give your body empty calories.
Spirit:Faith based or spiritual help to address the basis of what feeds PTSD. Survival guilt and believing you are guilty of something eats away at you. You need help to forgive yourself for whatever you believe you did wrong as much as you need to forgive others. Your family members should also receive this. They are going through a lot too and most of the time they don't understand or how to help you.
Marine PTSD declines with healing touch and guided imagery
Digital Journal
By Nancy Houser
Oct 1, 2012
A study at Camp Pendleton, California's Marine Corps Base Camp, has found that Marines diagnosed with moderate to severe PTSD show a significant reduction of symptoms when treated with healing touch and guided imagery --- alternative healing methods.
The randomized controlled trial was run from July 2008 to August 2010, led by San Diego's Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine.
The alternative healing methods were combined with each returning marine's traditional healthcare program. Each marine was working with a Scripps practitioner for three-weeks; after six sessions, the random group practicing the alternative healing methods reported a significant improvement in PTSD symptoms.
The report finds that patients receiving these complementary medicine interventions showed significant improvement in quality of life, as well as reduced depression and cynicism, compared to soldiers receiving treatment as usual alone.
read more here
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