Syria? What about the humanitarian crisis of veterans right here?

Syria? What about the humanitarian crisis of veterans right here?
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 4, 2013

When thinking about Syria, think of this. We have a humanitarian crisis right here. We didn't take care of the veterans of Afghanistan, or Iraq, or the Gulf War, or Vietnam or any other war. If they do what they want to in Syria do they really have plans this time? Plans to end it? Plans to pay for it? Plans to take care of the widows? Plans to take care of the wounded?

Too many have said no one knew how long it would take in Afghanistan but that is a lie since the government was involved with getting Russia out of Afghanistan. Too many said they didn't know how long it would take for Iraq to be finished. That is a lie as well since after the Gulf War the warnings about going into Iraq from Kuwait were also known. They knew it would not be over fast.

Too many said there was evidence of this and that back then but just like most wars they got the troops into, it turned out to be wrong. Listening to the heads talk about "what we know" when it comes to Syria causes most of us to remember what we were told before.

As for the wounded and disabled we already have consider the simple fact of the VA being responsible for less than 4 million disabled veterans out of 22,328,000 and this nation of over 300 million can't even take care of them.

U.S. Military Deaths In Afghanistan Reach 2,133, Injuries At 19,200
CBS News
September 3, 2013

Since the start of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, 19,200 U.S. service members have been wounded in hostile action, according to the Defense Department.

WASHINGTON (AP) – As of Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013, at least 2,133 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count.
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At least 2,122 dead? How about the thousands of suicides tied to Afghanistan and even more tied to Iraq? The VA latest "study" found at least 22 veterans a day take their own lives. That is 8,030 a year.

That means during 12 years of war there have been 96,360 suicides.

Secretary Hagel said "The Department of Defense has no more important responsibility than supporting and protecting those who defend our country and that means we must do everything possible to prevent military suicide." but as we have already witnessed, the $100 million he is talking about in new funding is a fraction of what they already spent. If it worked, no amount of money would be too much but considering the results of the Pentagon spending over $4 billion for 2007 to 2012, added to the money spent by other departments, money spent on the suicide prevention hotline and the VA, they have been on the wrong track but fail to notice they have been wrong on this as well.

Charities set up for veterans has become a billion dollar a year industry but we see more and more veterans suffering as the fundraisers make money for themselves.

So exactly when will the leaders of this country talking about what Syria is doing to their own people when they can't notice what they are doing to the people they expected to fight the other wars?

More veterans seek treatment for sleep disorders

More veterans seek treatment for sleep disorders
Fort Hood Herald
Sarah Rafique
Herald staff writer
September 4, 2013

More chronically fatigued active-duty soldiers are getting treatment for sleep disorders at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center’s Sleep Center.

While deployment-related injuries that cause post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury can result in sleep disorders, specialists say a rise in the number of soldiers seeking treatment is attributed to increasing knowledge in a relatively new field of medicine.

Lt. Col. Karin Nicholson, chief of Sleep Services at Darnall, said the hospital’s Sleep Center has seen more than 6,000 patients since it opened its sleep lab in 2012.

More than 600 patients with sleep-related disorders had studies performed on them in the lab, Nicholson said. The full sleep treatment center provides comprehensive sleep evaluations for all sleep disorders, but the two most common disorders the center sees are for obstructive sleep apnea and insomnia.

Obstructive sleep apnea is an upper airway disorder that causes disrupted sleep, Nicholson said. “The soft tissue in the back of the throat is floppy and thickened and will block the airway during sleep.”
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Surveillance video shows Missouri Iraq veteran pulled gun on armed robber faster

Tables turned on armed robber who tried to hold up an Iraq war veteran
Daily Mail
By HELEN COLLIS
4 September 2013

Thief stares down the barrel of quick thinking victim's gun after trying to steal from a store
Thief pulled out gun and demanded all the money in a store in Marionville, Mo
But war veteran store clerk reacted quickly, and pulled out his own firearm
Within seconds he had his weapon in the thief's mouth and was in control
The attacker slowly backed off as the clerk followed him with his handgun

A thief who pulled a gun on a store cashier coyly left with his tail between his legs when the clerk - an Iraq War veteran - reacted quickly using his years of training.

Jon Lewis Alexander, 54, had a gun pulled on him while at work, but within a split second he'd pulled out his own firearm and had it inside the thief's mouth.

The tense exchange took place in a store in Marionville, Missouri, and was caught on CCTV.
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Fort Hood retired Army Sergeant survived Iraq but killed at BBQ

UPDATE
Fort Hood Soldier Charged with Murder

Reports: Vet from Ronkonkoma shot, killed on Texas Army base
Newsday
By DEON J. HAMPTON AND MARTIN C. EVANS
September 3, 2013

Photo credit: Newsday / Audrey C. Tiernan Heather Dickinson and her husband Specialist Ryan Dickinson at MacArthur Airport after his arrival to Long Island after 15 months in Iraq.
(March 15, 2009)

A retired Army sergeant from Ronkonkoma who helped clear roadside bombs in Iraq was shot to death on a Texas Army base early Sunday after an altercation with another soldier at a barbecue, his sister said Tuesday night.

Ryan Dickinson, 26, a 2005 graduate of Connetquot High School, was shot to death at a home on the Fort Hood Army base after he got into a verbal dispute with a soldier stationed there, said his sister, Kate Dickinson, 30, of Farmingville.

"I'm in shock," she said Tuesday night. "It's very unfair that someone can survive war and come home and be shot. You expect to get the phone call from over there, not at a Labor Day barbecue."

He returned home to Long Island in March 2009, arriving at MacArthur Airport to a hero's welcome amid hundreds of family and friends waving American flags.

Eight months later, Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan opened fire at Fort Hood, and a year after that, Dickinson was back at the Texas base, attending a memorial service for the 13 killed and more than 30 injured in the shooting.

His own mental trauma from his combat tour finally caught up with him last year, when he took a medical retirement after suffering from severe symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, his sister said.

read more here

Bikers rev up for Vietnam veterans in Michigan

Bikers rev up for Vietnam veterans
Citizen Voice
BY TOM RAGAN
STAFF WRITER
Published: September 3, 2013

For many, it is a grim reminder of the lost lives of brave soldiers who fought and died in Vietnam.

The names on the Traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall are the same as the memorial wall in Washington, D.C., but this memorial is half the size and moves around the nation to pre-determined sites across the nation.

The moving wall is currently in Sparta, Mich., and will soon move on to Pleasant Prairie, Wis., where it will be on display for a short period of time.

On Monday, a ceremony was held at the Laurel Mall in Hazle Township to honor Vietnam veterans and veterans of all wars.

About 200 people attended, including a large number of veterans on motorcycles from various clubs in the area.

Jim Waschko organized the event with the Laurel Mall to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the moving wall's appearance at the mall.

"Also to honor Agent Orange victims, for disabled American veterans, including Vietnam veterans, soldiers that have passed on and the Gold Star mothers and wives who are also victims," Waschko said.
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Green Beret's family shocked by outcome of murder trial

Local soldier Nic Moses' family shocked by verdict
KSDK.com
By Mike Rush
September 2, 2013

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (KSDK) - The trial is over, but a St. Charles family says justice was not served for their son.

Nic Moses, 26, was a green beret who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he was killed by a fellow soldier last year in Tennessee.

Even though his killer was convicted, the family is outraged by the outcome.

Benjamin Schweitzer could have spent decades in prison for killing Nic Moses and shooting at two police officers, hitting one during a standoff. But, instead he may be in prison for as little as two years and the family is hoping their outrage in St. Charles will reach the courts in Tennessee.

The shooting happened in March of last year in Clarksville, Tennessee, not far from Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
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Fort Hood soldier from New Hampshire killed in motorcycle crash

NH soldier killed in motorcycle crash in Texas
Houston Chronicle
September 3, 2013

LONDONDERRY, N.H. (AP) — A funeral service will be held this week for a 22-year-old soldier from New Hampshire who died in a motorcycle crash in Killeen, Texas, while stationed at Fort Hood.

Police said Cpl. Tyler Pimpis died Wednesday, Aug. 28, in a collision with a pickup truck. Pimpis, who wasn't wearing a helmet, was ejected from the motorcycle.

He joined the U.S. Army in January 2010, and served a combat deployment in Afghanistan in 2011 and 2012.
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Will the military ever wise up on military suicides?

General Campbell said he thinks Comprehensive Soldier Fitness is a good thing but the evidence says he has it wrong. This article points out the fact that it has not worked but when you consider they started this approach over 7 years ago, they should have no excuse to continue it. The simple truth is, they only know what they are told, so if they told it works, they believe it. If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, very little else will.

Suicide Prevention 365-Day Focus, says Vice
Fort Stewart Patch
Posted by Kelly (Editor)
September 03, 2013

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Sept. 3, 2013) -- September is suicide awareness month and while the Army will highlight suicide prevention this month, the service's vice chief said the effort is year-round.

"This is something we can't just look at in one month," said Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. John F. Campbell. "It has to be a 365-day mission to make sure we can provide our Soldiers with the tools they need to deal with the stressors of everyday life, and help them understand that seeking help is a sign of strength not weakness."

Comparing the March through July 2013 time period to the March through July 2012 time period, Army suicides have gone down slightly -- by about 17. But if January and February are included in those numbers, the Army has so far had the same number of suicides this year as it had last year during the same period: 184. In 2012, the Army had a total of 325 suicides.

One part of the Army's Ready and Resilient Campaign the vice chief considers critical is the Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness Program, responsible for helping Soldiers learn resilience by either becoming master resilience trainers, or by learning resilience at the unit level through Soldiers who have been through the master resilience trainer, or MRT, course.

"I can't stress enough the resiliency piece of it, and this CSF2, tied into MRT," Campbell said. "As I went out and traveled and talked to folks that had gone through the master resilience training ... everybody I've talked to that has been through the MRT has said it has changed their lives and they have been able to impact other Soldiers lives. That's really key."
read more here

Vietnam veteran gets justice after claim approved for half a million!

Vet's denied claim granted 10 years later — for $500,000
Stars and Stripes
By Leo Shane III
Published: August 28, 2013

WASHINGTON — The first time the Vietnam veteran filed his disability claim, he got nothing.

The second time, he got nearly $500,000.

“It was certainly a surprise,” said the veteran, who asked to remain anonymous because of his recent windfall. “I went ahead and paid off a bunch of overdue bills. I feel like I won’t have to worry about money from now on.”

The 66-year-old’s story is unusual but not unheard of, according to veterans advocates. And it speaks to the overwhelming nature of the veterans benefits system, which has come under increased scrutiny in recent months.

“I don’t think that the (Department of Veterans Affairs) is out of control,” said Gerald Manar, deputy director of the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ claims assistance programs. “But a lot of it is complex and complicated. It’s hard to navigate it alone.”
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Getting mental health help shows 'courage, honor and integrity'

Hagel: Getting mental health help shows 'courage, honor and integrity'
Army Times
By Patricia Kime
Staff Writer
September 3, 2013

At the outset of Suicide Prevention Awareness month, the Pentagon wants service members experiencing a crisis to make a call.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Tuesday that seeking mental health treatment is a “choice that embodies moral courage, honor and integrity” and recommended those who need help call the Military Crisis Line, 800-273-8255, anytime.

“The Department of Defense has no more important responsibility than supporting and protecting those who defend our country, and that means we must do everything possible to prevent military suicide. ... No one who serves this country in uniform should ever feel they have nowhere to turn,” Hagel said in a prepared statement.

This year, at least 157 active-duty and mobilized National Guard and reserve troops died by suicide, according to data provided by the military services.

The pace is down from last year during the same period, but 2012 was a record year for self-inflicted deaths — 350.
read more here

Reminder, it should start with honesty and that must include the National Guards and Reservists.

The latest report from the DOD on Army suicides says "CY 2012: 185 169 have been confirmed as suicides and 16 remain under investigation but the report also includes "CY 2012: 140 93 Army National Guard and 47 Army Reserve." When you add the totals together there were 492 military suicides along with over 8,000 veterans.