Marine, Vietnam Vet killed when police chase suspect runs light

Marine, Vietnam vet dies as driver fleeing police crushes vehicle
WTVR News
April 1, 2013
by Alix Bryan and Jon Burkett

CHESTERFIELD, Va. (WTVR)- Marine and Vietnam veteran George Van Orden lost his life in a tragic car accident on Midlothian Turnpike Friday night.

His oldest son tells CBS 6 that his dad lived the corps instilled values until the very end, even though he was decades removed from military service.

George Van Orden, age 73, pulled two tours in Vietnam. He was considered an expert marksman while serving in the corps-spending his retirement years in Chesterfield County “Probably one of the most patriotic people you’d ever meet in your entire life,” his son said.

Van Orden– a husband, a father, a grandfather– had just finished dinner with his wife and daughter Friday night. His daughter headed off to the movies and he and his wife got in the car to return home.

Police said Van Orden had a green light when he pulled onto Midlothian Turnpike; only to be broad sided by a driver fleeing from police.
read more here

Air Force spending on Resiliency Training and Chaplains

Air Force Posture Statement 2012
Michael B. Donley, Secretary of the Air Force
General Norton A. Schwartz Chief of Staff
$31.0 Billion Agile Combat Support but does not break it down the way it was in prior year.

Air Force Posture Statement 2011
THE HONORABLE MICHAEL B. DONLEY
SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE
GENERAL NORTON A. SCHWARTZ
CHIEF OF STAFF, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
FEBRUARY 17, 2011
AGILE COMBAT SUPPORT
Underpinning the work of all Air Force Core Functions are the capabilities included in agile combat support (ACS). ACS is the ability to create, protect, and sustain air and space forces across the full spectrum of military operations and spans a diverse set of Air Force functional capabilities. The FY12 budget request of $33.8 billion for ACS accounts for efforts affecting our entire Air Force—from the development and training of our Airmen to regaining acquisition excellence.

Airmen and Families. The Air Force is proud of its commitment to supporting its Airmen and families. The nearly two decades of sustained combat operations has imposed extraordinary demands on them and underscores the need to remain focused on sustaining quality of life and supporting programs as a top priority. To help address the demands, in 2010 the Air Force executed the Year of the Air Force Family and highlighted support programs focused on three outcomes: Fostering a Strong Air Force Community; Strengthening an Airman's Sense of Belonging; and Improving Airman and Family Resiliency.

The Year of the Air Force Family deepened leadership’s understanding of current support services and capabilities and what needs to be done in the future to maintain and improve outcomes in the three primary focus areas.

First, the Air Force will maintain an enduring emphasis on Airmen and families by actively engaging the entire Air Force Community: Total Force Airmen, Department of the Air Force civilians, single and married personnel, primary and extended family members, retirees, and on and off-base community partners. The Air Force will maintain an atmosphere that is supportive, team-oriented, and inclusive, but diverse enough to meet the current and emerging needs of the entire Air Force Community. Policy and process priorities have been translated into actions and tasks that will be accomplished over the next few years, perpetuating the Air Force’s commitment to strengthening our ties to one another, improving our operational abilities and ensuring our Air Force Community is best positioned to meet future commitments and requirements.

Second, we continue to strengthen our Air Force Community by expanding child care through different programs such as the Extended Duty Program, Home Community Care, Missile Care, and the new Supplemental Child Care initiative to provide flexibility in meeting child care needs. In FY11, the Air Force will continue to demonstrate our commitment to military child education, funding full time School Liaison Officers (SLO) Air Force-wide. SLOs and our new Air Force Exceptional Family Member Program Coordinators will work in close collaboration to address educational and other assistance for families with special needs. The Air Force FY12 budget request includes $4 million to assist with respite child care for military family members with special needs children.

Third, the budget reflects a $4.4 million increase to our Air Force Mortuary Affairs program, supporting travel for family members from home of record to Dover Port Mortuary to receive and honor fallen loved ones. Increases also reflect our commitment to maintaining the Port Mortuary's Center for the Families of the Fallen, used as the reception facility and host site for visiting family members at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.

Airman dining facilities remain an important commitment of the Air Force as we plan to increase funding for dining facilities at basic military training and technical training bases by $14.9 million in FY12. In FY11, we launched the Food Transformation Initiative (FTI) to address Airmen’s concerns with dining facility closings, lack of healthy food options, and insufficient hours of operation. FTI is designed to enhance food quality, variety and availability while maintaining home base and warfighting capabilities. The Air Force continues to expand our efforts to improve resiliency of Airmen and their families before, during, and after deployments and has significantly expanded capabilities to ensure support and reintegration of our Total Force. In continuing its efforts to improve the resiliency of Airmen and their families, the Air Force moved forward with several initiatives in 2010.

We established a new Resiliency Division at the Air Force level to take the lead and develop an overarching Air Force Resiliency Roadmap. The Deployment Transition Center (DTC) was established at Ramstein Air Base, Germany on July 1, 2010. The DTC and Chaplain Corps Care for the Caregiver programs provide valuable decompression, reintegration and resiliency training for those exposed to significant danger and stress in combat zones. To support these efforts, the Air Force FY12 budget request includes $8 million for the Air Force Resiliency Program for research, curriculum development, materials and intervention training for the DTC. We will continue to develop our Airman Resiliency Program by identifying needs, researching best practices, partnering with internal and external organizations, and developing targeted and tiered training that is integrated into an Airman's career to allow a building block approach that leads to life-long resiliency that benefits both Airmen and their families. We are also requesting an increase in the Chaplain Recruitment program by $1.5 million in FY12 to better provide for religious accommodation and support of Airmen. This includes chaplain-led MarriageCare Retreats, that help heal and save marriages, and deployment reintegration programs expanded to meet the needs of redeploying Airmen.

The Air Force is highly committed to the Wounded Warrior Program that ensures access to medical and rehabilitation treatments for the ill and wounded. The Air Force Warrior and Survivor Care Division is dedicated to building a culture of understanding and concern for wounded, ill and injured Airmen. The Air Force has hired 33 Recovery Care Coordinators and a Program Manager to support 31 locations across the Air Force. Recovery Care Coordinators serve as the focal point for non-clinical case management, development of comprehensive recovery plans and creation of timelines for personal and career accomplishments. Additionally, the Air Force has implemented new personnel policies regarding retention, retraining, promotions, assignments and evaluation of Wounded Warriors. In FY12, the Air Force is requesting $2.8 million for additional case workers and program managers to provide non-clinical case management services to meet the growing demands of the Wounded Warrior population.

Suicides. Air Force suicide rates have been on the rise since 2007, although primary risk factors for suicide among Airmen remain the same. The most commonly identified stressors and risk factors have remained the same over the last ten years: relationships, financial problems and legal problems. Although deployments can stress Airmen and their families, deployment does not seem to be an individual risk factor for Airmen—many Airmen who have committed suicide have never deployed. The Air Force is providing additional support to our most at-risk Airmen by providing additional frontline supervisor suicide prevention training to all supervisors in career fields with elevated suicide rates. In addition, mental health providers are based in primary care clinics across the Air Force to counsel patients who may not otherwise seek care in a mental health clinic because of the perceived stigma. The Air Force has significantly expanded counseling services in addition to those available through the chaplains or the mental health clinic. Other helpful programs that provide non-medical counseling include Military Family Life Consultants, which can see individuals or couples, and Military OneSource, which provides sessions for active duty for up to twelve off-base sessions.

Fort Hood. In the wake of the Fort Hood shooting, the Secretary of Defense directed the Air Force to conduct a follow-on review to identify ways to better protect Airmen and families. Our review yielded 118 findings and 151 recommendations. The key revelation of the study is that we must do a better job of preventing and responding to violence. Specifically, we must improve our ability to identify indicators of potential violence and share that information with those who are best positioned to prevent a violent outcome. This will require improved understanding, education, processes and training, as well as more integrated processes at both the installation and interagency levels. To undertake these efforts, the FY12 budget request includes $37 million across the FYDP. We anticipate that our resource requirements will increase as we refine the implementation of our recommendations. We are confident that the resources Congress provides, coupled with our sustained effort, will help the Air Force reduce the likelihood of tragedies like Fort Hood and position us to respond more effectively should prevention fail.

More money from the Marines on Suicide Prevention

If you think with all money I've discovered over the last few weeks is all there is, there is more. This is from the Marine Corps.

1.7 billion for higher suicide from the Army was posted earlier today.

The 2011 Posture of the United States Marine Corps
March 8, 2011

Marines have expressed a desire for assistance navigating Department of Veterans Affairs benefit processes such as in cases of enrollment for and access to education benefits. We will modify existing websites to improve access and enhance opportunity for separating Marines to speak directly to Marine Corps support personnel who are trained to remove administrative benefit processing barriers. We will improve networking opportunities to help Marines find 27 meaningful employment and are adapting our current job fairs to support increased networking opportunities that will allow them to meet mentors and employers.

Combat Stress, Resiliency, Medical and Mental Health Care. We continue to advocate for the highest quality medical care and facilities for our service members, retirees, and their families. To ensure the Department can continue to provide the finest health care benefits in the country to our beneficiaries, we fully support the medical efficiencies and adjustments in TRICARE included in the President's budget proposal.

The evolving security environment requires a physically and mentally resilient Marine able to endure extended exposure to ambiguous, stressful, and ever-changing situations. Young leaders find themselves on the vanguard of a protracted war, adapting to a variety of situations and scenarios. To improve their resilience, we are working aggressively and creatively to build a training continuum that better prepares them for the inevitable stress of combat operations and to equip them with the necessary skills required to cope with the challenges of life as a Marine. Instruction founded and focused on our core values helps provide some of this resilience, especially in irregular warfare and complex environments. A program combining the “best practices” of mental, emotional and physical fitness will best instill in our Marines the resiliency needed to endure the stressors of combat and enhance their ability to perform effectively across the range of military operations. We are developing a comprehensive program to improve the resiliency of our Marines both in garrison and in combat.

We are partnered with the Navy to address the nation-wide dearth of qualified mental health care providers, which challenges our ability to provide care at some of our bases and stations and, in some cases, to our reservists in remote locations. During Calendar Year 2010, we saw a nearly 30 percent decrease in the number of suicides within our Total Force.15 We are too early in our suicide studies to identify what specific initiative(s) have resulted in this dramatic turnaround. However, we have implemented a number of measures on multiple fronts. Some of these include the following:
• Evocative Peer-led Training Program: "Never Leave a Marine Behind" suicide prevention program for non-commissioned officers and Junior Marines. We are expanding this training to include staff non-commissioned officers and commissioned officers this year.
• DSTRESS Line Pilot Program with TRICARE West: “By Marines-For Marines” call center designed to assist with problems at an early stage. The call center is staffed by veteran Marines, providing anonymous service to all current Marines, veteran Marines, their families and loved ones.
• Combat and Operational Stress Control and Operational Stress Control and Readiness Teams: Utilizing unique training programs across the Total Force and ensuring the presence of mental health professionals in front-line units as a primary prevention tool to help Marines identify and mitigate stress.
• Marine Resilience Study to Assess Risk and Resilience: We are participating in a longitudinal research study that will examine risk across three domains: biological, psychological and social. The outcome of this study will inform our future work in the area of building and maintain resiliency across the Corps.

Behavioral Health Integration. Behavioral health needs since 9/11 have become increasingly complex with individuals often requiring assistance in a number of areas at one time. Marines with more than two deployments have been identified as a higher risk population. According to the Joint Mental Health Assessment Team, psychological health problems remain steady at 11 percent of Marines for the first and second deployments, but increase to 22 percent for those who have deployed three or more times.
Sixty-five percent of Marines are under 25 years old. Associated with this young force are high-risk factors that include communication and coping skills, isolation, combat-related wounds and substance abuse. Drawdown of end strength following Operation ENDURING FREEDOM and return to garrison life will likely result in additional behavioral healthcare requirements as Marines redeploy and adjust to the garrison environment. We continue to move forward with our integration of prevention and intervention programs initiated in 2009. We have established a Behavioral Health Branch at our headquarters for Manpower & Reserve Affairs. Headquarters Marine Corps Health Services also has created and filled a new billet for a Director of Psychological Health.

Remember the Benghazi attack?
Posture of the Marine Corps 2012
Embassy Reinforcement for 2012

Embassy Reinforcement: We continue providing security for 154 U.S. Embassies and consulates in 137 countries around the world through the Marine Corps Embassy Security Group. To augment this mission, Marines from our Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Teams rapidly deployed to reinforce embassies. This past year they deployed to protect American lives and property in Bahrain, Egypt and Yemen as crisis events unfolded across the Middle East.

16 The current yearly rate of PTS diagnosis in active duty Marines is less than 2 percent as compared to 3.5 percent in the civilian population. The percentage of Marines who will be diagnosed over their lifetime with PTS is estimated to be 10-18 percent while the civilian population lifetime diagnosis is estimated to be 6.8 percent.

Suicide Prevention in the Force: We continue to report a positive, steady decrease in the number of suicides within the Corps from high levels seen in 2009. While we cannot yet draw a conclusion between our prevention efforts and the reduced suicide rate, we are cautiously optimistic our programs are having a positive effect. However, reported suicide attempts have continued to increase. We suspect this increase in attempts may be due to improved surveillance—fellow Marines recognizing the signs of suicide and intervening to stop attempts, and more Marines reporting past attempts when coming forward for help.17 Regardless, we still need to do better because one suicide completed is one too many.
There were 33 confirmed suicides and 175 attempts in the Marine Corps during Calendar Year 2011.

4 This percentage is based on the enacted FY-12 Defense budget authorization and is slightly larger than the 7.8 percent sum cited in the past. This percentage includes $3 billion in FY-12 funding for amphibious warship new construction

as well as Navy funding for chaplains, medical personnel

, amphibious warships (operations and maintenance) and Marine Corps aircraft. 5 Five Year Forecast: 2012-2017 Assessment of International Challenges and Opportunities That May Affect Marine Expeditionary Forces January 2012, pg 1. 6

Subtitle I--Suicide Prevention and Resilience Sec. 580. Enhancement of oversight and management of Department of Defense suicide prevention and resilience programs. Sec. 581. Reserve component suicide prevention and resilience program. Sec. 582. Comprehensive policy on prevention of suicide among members of the Armed Forces. Sec. 583. Study of resilience programs for members of the Army.

$1.7 billion for higher suicides and attempts in 2012?

I have been posting on how much money has gone into "suicide prevention" because I am finishing up on THE WARRIOR SAW, SUICIDES AFTER WAR. Where has all the money gone on suicide prevention was just the start of more I found in searches. The question is, where has the media been on this?

$1.7 billion for higher suicides and attempts in 2012?
Title from the Army 2011 Posture Statement
A STATEMENT ON THE POSTURE OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY 2011
submitted by THE HONORABLE JOHN M. McHUGH and GENERAL GEORGE W. CASEY, Jr.
to the Committees and Subcommittees of the UNITED STATES SENATE and the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st SESSION, 112th CONGRESS
MARCH 2011
Page 5
FY 12 Budget Highlights for Sustain
Provides $1.7 billion to fund vital Soldier and Family programs to provide a full range of essential services to include the Army Campaign for Heath Promotion, Risk Reduction, and Suicide Prevention; Sexual Harassment/Assault
Expanded Survivor Outreach Services to over 26,000 Family members, providing unified support and advocacy, and enhancing survivor benefits for the Families of our Soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
★ Graduated more than 3,000 Soldiers and Civilians from the Master Resilience Trainer course.
★ Surpassed one million Soldiers, Civilians and Family members who have completed the Army’s Global Assessment Tool to begin their personal assessment and resilience training.

If you think that is bad, it gets worse because they have been spending that kind of money and ended up leaving more families grieving by the graves. Reminder, RAND along with many other experts said these programs do not work?


This is from Department of Veterans Affairs Health Services Research and Development Service
Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States (US), with nearly 100 suicides occurring each day and over 36,000 dying by suicide each year.1 Among Veterans and current military, suicide is a national public health concern. Recent estimates suggest current or former military represent 20 percent of all known suicides in the US2 and the rate of suicides among Veterans utilizing Veterans Health Administration (VHA) services is estimated to be higher than the general population.3 The enormity of the problem has led to several major public health initiatives and a growth in research funding for suicide prevention.
*no significant benefit of the intervention*study too short*study too small

FY 11 Budget Highlights
Provides $1.7 billion to standardize and fund vital Family programs and services to include welfare and recreation; youth services and child care; Survivor Outreach Services; and expanded education and employment opportunities for Family members.

Provides a 1.4% military basic pay raise and Civilian pay raise, a 3.9% basic allowance for housing increase, and a 3.4% basic allowance for subsistence increase.

Warrior Transition Units for our wounded Soldiers will continue to receive strong support in FY 11 with $18 million in Military Construction funds allocated to resource construction of barracks spaces.

Supports the Residential Communities Initiatives program, which provides quality, sustainable residential communities for Soldiers and their Families living on-post, and continues to offset out-of-pocket housing expenses for those residing off-post.

Progress and Accomplishments
The Army met 104% of its recruiting goals for 2009, and achieved both numeric goals and quality benchmarks for new recruits.

All components exceeded 105% of their reenlistment goals.

We reduced off-duty fatalities by 20%, to include a 15% reduction in overall privately-owned-vehicle fatalities and 37% reduction in motorcycle fatalities.

In collaboration with the National Institute of Mental Health, the Army began a seminal study into suicide prevention that will inform the Army Suicide Prevention Program and society’s approach to suicide.

We began instituting Comprehensive Soldier Fitness – an all-inclusive approach to emotional, social, spiritual, family, and physical fitness – as the foundation to building resiliency within the Army.

We initiated an unprecedented series of construction projects at five major hospitals as part of our commitment to modernize our healthcare system.

The Army established the Warrior Transition Command and reorganized Warrior Transition Brigades to provide centralized support, rehabilitation, and individualized transition planning to our recovering Warriors.

We expanded Survivor Outreach Services to over 26,000 Family members, providing unified support and advocacy, and enhancing survivor benefits for the Families of our Soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

We implemented the Post 9/11 GI Bill, significantly increasing educational benefits for active duty Soldiers, Veterans, and Family members.

The Army Reserve established Army Strong Community Centers to support geographically-dispersed Soldiers and Families. Together with Army National Guard Family Assistance Centers and Soldier and Family Assistance Centers on active duty installations, these centers provide help to Soldiers’ Families near their hometowns.

Behavioral Health
What is it? Army Medicine is committed to strengthening psychological resilience and improving the behavioral health of our Soldiers and their Families. Military research shows that approximately 15 percent of Soldiers deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom have Post-Traumatic Stress symptoms, and another 10 to 15 percent will experience other behavioral health problems that could benefit from treatment. The Army, as an enterprise, is moving towards a model of Comprehensive Soldier Fitness. This model will focus on enhancing the Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual fitness of Soldiers and their Families across the whole life spectrum.

What has the Army done?
The Army Medical Department offers an extensive array of behavioral health services to address the strain on Soldiers and Families who have experienced multiple deployments and other demands of military life during this period of increased operational tempo. These services include Combat and Operational Stress Control, routine behavioral healthcare, and suicide prevention programs. Chaplains, Military OneSource, Warrior Adventure Quest, and Family Morale Welfare Recreation Command also offer substantial support to these Soldiers and Families.

The Army has maintained a robust Combat and Operational Stress Control presence in Theater since the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are currently maintaining a behavioral health provider ratio of greater than one provider for every 700 (1:700) deployed Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. This equates to over 115 behavioral providers deployed in support of Afghanistan and over 135 behavioral providers deployed in support of Iraq. Behavioral health programs include:

Comprehensive Behavioral Health System of Care. The Comprehensive Behavioral Health System of Care (CBHSOC) is a new initiative nested under the Army Campaign Plan for Health Promotion, Risk Reduction, and Suicide Prevention. The CBHSOC will standardize and optimize the vast array of behavioral health policies and procedures across the Medical Command to ensure seamless continuity of care to better identify, prevent, treat and track behavioral health issues that affect Soldiers and families during every phase of the Army Force Generation cycle.

Child, Adolescent, and Family Behavioral Health Proponency. This is a pilot program established by the U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) to address the behavioral health care needs of Army children, adolescents, and families administered at the installation level.

Provider Resiliency Training. This training targets Army healthcare providers to address burnout and compassion fatigue. In 2010, the Army is expanding its Provider Resiliency Training Program across the force. This revised program will be renamed the Care Provider Support Program and provide enhanced compassion fatigue training to all healthcare providers in the Army inventory.

Suicide Prevention. There is a concerted effort to improve suicide prevention efforts. The Army Campaign Plan for Health Promotion, Risk Reduction, and Suicide Prevention continues to establish policy and programs in response to the Army’s increasing suicide rate.

RESPECT-MIL. This is a program designed to decrease stigma associated with seeking assistance from behavioral healthcare professionals and to improve access to care by providing behavioral health services in primary care settings.

Military Resilience Training. Lifecycle and Deployment Cycle Battlemind Resiliency products are being merged into the Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program.

Comprehensive Soldier Fitness will enhance overall readiness, improve unit and individual readiness, and sustain a balanced, healthy, campaign capable, expeditionary Army. Family and Morale, Welfare Recreation Command (FMWRC). This program plays a role in behavioral health support including the Community Recreation Division’s Outdoor Recreation program and Army Community Services. Through Army Community Services, Family and Military Life Counselors are available at each installation to provide confidential support to Soldiers and Families that is separate from Army resources. Warrior Adventure Quest offers redeploying units, of platoon size or larger, the opportunity to incorporate a high stress recreational activity (such as whitewater rafting, paintball, rock climbing, and rappelling) into its post-deployment training schedule to assist in post-deployment decompression.

What continued efforts does the Army have planned for the future?

In 2010, $168 million of additional funds will be used by the Army to sustain implementation of over 45 initiatives under the categories of access to care, resiliency, quality of care, and hiring over 300 behavioral health providers to augment behavioral health services across Army installations worldwide. The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command is currently evaluating numerous proposals to help identify ways to increase psychological and spiritual resilience in Soldiers and Families. The behavioral health research supports development and evaluation of interventions for prevention, treatment, and long-term recovery needs. This research program includes over 150 projects addressing post traumatic stress disorder and 10 projects dedicated toward suicide research. The research portfolio also includes a robust epidemiologic effort for continued monitoring of Soldier and Family behavioral health and wellbeing.

Why is this important to the Army?
Behavioral health is an important factor in enabling Soldiers to function effectively on the modern battlefield. The Army is aggressively working to remove the stigma associated with seeking help for behavioral health issues as a barrier to care, to improve access to care, and to incorporate suicide prevention training into all training programs. Leaders are talking openly about seeking help, and Soldiers are listening and acting to protect their buddies.

When it comes to Combat and PTSD, Jonathan Shay is the smartest guy in the room

When it comes to Combat and PTSD, Jonathan Shay is the smartest guy in the room
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
April 2, 2013

Way back in 1999 I had Achilles in Vietnam in my hands and was crying soon after I started reading it.

I wrote about Shay in my upcoming book, THE WARRIOR SAW, SUICIDES AFTER WAR for several reasons. He has been talking about PTSD before reporters cared but families like mine were living with it. He talked about the spiritual connection and how important community support was. Had Shay been listened to when the over 900 suicide prevention programs were being developed, we wouldn't have seen suicides go up and I wouldn't be writing a book on military suicides because families asked me to after they had to bury someone they loved.

This is one of the quotes from my book.

Jonathan Shay wrote Achilles in Vietnam and addressed this connection in 1994.

“Moral-ruin” Achilles possessed a highly developed social morality. This was reflected in his care for the welfare of other Greek soldiers, respect for enemies, living and dead, and the reluctance to kill prisoners. Achilles moral unluckiness, his tragedy was that events-simply what happened, created the desire to do things that he himself regarded as bad.”

Shay wrote about a three tour Vietnam veteran and how as a kid growing up thinking how God would judge what he did and what he was thinking at the time. Little things he was sure God would forgive him for even if He didn’t approve of what he did but in combat all that changed.

“But evil didn’t enter it ‘til Vietnam. I mean real evil. I wasn’t prepared for it at all. Why I became like that? It was all evil. Where before, I wasn’t. I look back, I look back today and I am horrified at what I turned into. What I was. What I did. I just look at it like it was somebody else.

War changes you. Strips you of all your beliefs, your religion, takes your dignity away, you become an animal.”
(Achilles in Vietnam, Jonathan Shay)

Moral Wounds of War: Jonathan Shay Part 1
ReligionEthics PBS

"Recovery happens only in community. Peers are the key to recovery."

PTSD Expert Jonathan Shay to Hold Discussion with Veterans at UNC
Asheville
University of North Carolina
April 1, 2013

Dr. Jonathan Shay, a renowned psychiatrist who has specialized in treating veterans of war, will offer three public talks, April 9-11, at UNC Asheville. He also will meet with UNC Asheville's Student-Veteran Alliance as well as students and community members.

The following events take place on the UNC Asheville campus and are free and open to the public:

Tuesday, April 9 – "Moral Luck," an examination of philosophical experiences of soldiers in combat, from Homer's "The Iliad" to present day. 7:30 p.m., Sherrill Center, Mountain View Room.

Wednesday, April 10 – "Theatre of War," exploring the role of the arts in healing of the physically and psychologically wounded. 7.30 p.m.,Highsmith University Union, Alumni Hall.

Thursday, April 11 – "Open Discussion – Sleep, Community and other Hobby Horses." Dr. Shay will lead a discussion with veterans and members of the community encouraged to participate. 7.30 p.m., Sherrill Center, Mountain View Room.

A clinical psychiatrist and humanities scholar, Dr. Shay is the author of groundbreaking books on the nature and treatment of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), and he is a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship.

His visit to UNC Asheville is sponsored by the university's NEH Distinguished Teaching Professor in Humanities, Sophie Mills, who champions the use of ancient classics to understand contemporary issues. "By using Homer to illuminate modern veterans' experiences, he has created a powerful body of work that has broadened and deepened the understanding of humanists, military leaders and psychologists concerning military combat and its effects on human beings," she says.

Dr. Shay views PTSD as a psychological injury of war, not a mental disorder. In a New York Times interview, Shay said that when soldiers return home, they often retain behaviors they adopted for their survival in combat. "Most of it really boils down to the valid adaptations in the mind and body to the real situation of other people trying to kill you,'' he said. read more here

Family members charged with murder of Maj. Chester Garrett

Mother, Son Held in 1977 Fort Bliss Slaying
Apr 02, 2013
El Paso Times, Texas
by Adriana M. Chavez

EL PASO, Texas -- The wife and stepson of a decorated Army officer killed in 1977 have been formally charged with causing his death.

An autopsy found that Chester Garrett, an Army Special Forces officer and a Green Beret, had a fractured skull, severe brain contusions and numerous stab wounds. He may have been already dead or unconscious when stabbed.

Court records show a state district court grand jury indicted Roger Evan Garrett, 54, and his mother, Lisbeth Ann Garrett, 74, on murder charges in the Jan. 3, 1977, slaying of Maj. Chester Garrett, whose body was found in a desert area in East El Paso County.

Last month, Roger Garrett was extradited from Knoxville, Tenn., where he had been living, to El Paso. Both Roger and Lisbeth Garrett remain in the El Paso County Jail on bonds of $1 million each. The bond amounts were reduced from $5 million during a recent bond hearing.

Cheri Ellington, Chester Garrett's oldest sister, expressed joy after hearing the news of the indictments. However, she said she was also disappointed that the bond amounts for Roger and Lisbeth Garrett were reduced because she fears Roger Garrett will try to skip his court appearances.
read more here

Women veterans honored at Chicago VA, ABC dishonored with lousy story

Opened my email this morning with a link to a story I thought would be great. "Women vets honored at VA Hospital" sounded like a great thing to do until I saw the story was 95 words long including the title, date and the copyright saying WLS reserved all rights,,,,,they can keep all of 95 words they decided this story and women veterans being honored equaled. I think the whole thing could almost fit on a Tweet.

Sister War Fighters Double Up in Afghanistan

After two year separation, soldier twins reunite in Afghanistan
Apr 1, 2013
Written by
Spc. Brian Smith-Dutton
Task Force 3/101 Public Affairs

Army Spc. Janice Pagan (left) of Forward Support Company, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team 'Rakkasans,' 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), and her twin sister Army Spc. Janet Pagan (right) of 72nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion shop for perfume together at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, during a 3-day pass that reunited them after two years apart. / US ARMY/SPC. BRIAN SMITH-DUTTON

PAKTIYA PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN — Military service has long been, and still is, a family affair, and the Pagan twins are yet another example.

However, service in different units and places, especially in a war zone, can often keep family members apart for extended periods.

Thus, when U.S. Army Spc. Janice Pagan was granted a 3-day pass to reunite with her twin sister at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, it was a cause for celebration.

“I am very excited to see my sister,” said Janice, an automated logistical specialist assigned to Forward Support Company, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team “Rakkasans,” 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

“After telling my family what is going to happen they are very happy as well.”

The twins have not been able to come together in more than two years due to being in different units within the Army.
read more here

Gulf War Veteran's body found in car, 4 months after he died

Body of former soldier, 42, lay in van parked at pub for FOUR MONTHS
Paul O'Brien, 42, found in vehicle after it was finally towed by council
Fought in first Gulf War and served two tours of Northern Ireland
Pub landlady made repeated calls to police to have van removed
Daily Mail
By SIMON TOMLINSON
1 April 2013

The body of a former soldier lay undiscovered in a van parked at a pub for four months despite attempts by the landlord to have the vehicle removed.

Paul O'Brien, from Cambridge, who fought in the first Gulf War and served two tours in Northern Ireland, was found in the back of the vehicle after it was towed away by the council.

The 42-year-old, who once carried the body of his best friend for five miles after he was killed on a reconnaissance mission in Southern Ireland, has been described as a 'kind man.' The maroon van had been parked at the Lazy Otter pub car park, near Stretham in the Cambridgeshire Fens from late October until the end of February.

But despite repeated calls from the owner of the pub to the police, no one came to look at it.

'It was a total shock for all of us to learn that his body had been in the van all that time and very tragic,' said Annette Gwinnett, owner of the Lazy Otter.
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Longer Wait For Disability Benefits In VA Secretary's Home State

While veterans know the care they get depends on what state they live in, the average American has no clue. Simply assuming this one nation treats all veterans the same is part of the reason they have suffered this long. The other factor is too many reporters take the narrow view. They report in lumps based on what they are told today completely forgetting about what they reported last year. When we're talking about this many years of war fighters coming home, especially National Guardsmen and Reservist, we've had plenty of time to get it right but expected the to wait plenty of time to get the care they were promised.

While the following report is out of Honolulu, you can read what states do a better job on this interactive map from Center for Investigative Reporting. Map: Where is the veterans' backlog the worst?

Longer Wait For Disability Benefits In VA Secretary's Home State
Honolulu Civil Beat
By Kery Murakami
04/01/2013

Although the federal Veterans Administration has been taking heat nationally for a growing backlog and increased times to process disabled veterans benefits, the office in VA Secretary Eric Shinseki’s home state of Hawaii has been doing particularly poorly in processing claims in a timely manner.

And despite promises to improve its performance, agency data examined by Civil Beat, shows that in the Veterans Benefits Administration’s Honolulu office, veterans are waiting months longer and the backlog of disability claims has gotten significantly worse than a year ago.

In January, the latest period for which figures were available, 70 percent of compensation disability claims nationally had been pending longer than the goal of 125 days. That’s brought protests from veterans groups and criticism from Congress. However, the backlog was worse in the Honolulu office, where 77 percent of those claims had been pending longer than the 125 days.

The backlog of cases in Honolulu has grown since January 2012, when 69.4 percent of similar claims had been pending for that long.

It was also taking longer in the Honolulu office than the average nationally to process disability claims that require an assessment of the severity of a disability. Nationally, it took the VA an average of 279 days to complete such claims. It the Honolulu office, it took almost four months longer — an average of 390.2 days.
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UPDATE out of Nashville

Nashville VA office failures cited in report
Nashville staffers did not properly serve veterans in 4 of 5 areas, inspection finds
The Tennessean
Apr 1, 2013
One veteran lost $10,000 in disability benefits.

Others underwent incomplete evaluations for traumatic brain injury.

Homeless veterans went without help because no one tried to find them.

These are the service failures highlighted in a report issued last week by the Office of Inspector General that determined the Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Nashville came up short on four of five measures. The report was based on an inspection conducted in September. Edna MacDonald, the director of the Nashville office, did not dispute the findings and submitted a checklist for correcting the problems.

However, a spokeswoman noted that the report is not a comprehensive evaluation. The Nashville regional office, which has jurisdiction over VA services in the entire state, has an overall 91.2 percent accuracy record for rating claims, said public affairs officer Jan Dew.
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