The Unsung Heroes Behind the Wounded Warriors
ABC News
BY TERI WHITCRAFT and BRINDA ADHIKARI
March 31, 2014
When Jessica Klein married her husband, Capt. Edward Klein, a 6-foot-tall, West Point graduate, the young couple had plans for adventure, in addition to raising a family.
"We were going to climb Mount Rainier," Klein told ABC News' Diane Sawyer. "We were going to go, just do all these amazing things when he got home."
Today, though, Klein is the primary caregiver as her husband, known as "Flip," fights his way back from a massive lower-body injury that he suffered in an IED explosion in Afghanistan.
He lost his legs, an arm and the muscles that allow him to sit. And those are just the visible wounds.
Former Sen. Elizabeth Dole said she witnessed the towering battle that caregivers face when she was at Walter Reed National Medical Center three years ago, caring for her husband, former war hero Sen. Bob Dole.
After speaking with the caregivers and hearing their frustrations, Elizabeth Dole said she decided it was time for the nation to help.
So she and her foundation -- The Elizabeth Dole Foundation -- commissioned a report from the RAND Corp., putting hard numbers to the caregivers to assess their needs and recommend programs that will help them.
read more here
Monday, March 31, 2014
Caregivers focus of ABC, at least some of us
It is fabulous that this generation has a lot more than senior veterans and our families have but it is unfair. We've been through all of this longer and had a harder time but Vietnam veterans and families just don't matter enough. All veterans deserve equal care.
Fort Carson Soldier's Son Missing After Landslide
Fort Carson soldier looking for son missing in Wash. landslide
FOX 31 Denver
Thomas Hendrick
March 31, 2014
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A Fort Carson soldier has traveled to Washington to help look for his 13-year-old son who went missing after a mudslide wiped out the town of Oso.
KRDO-TV reported Staff Sgt. Jose Mangual traveled to Washington last Monday to help look for his son Jovon Mangual.
Jovon lives with his mother in Washington.
“The feeling is nothing I can explain. I miss my son. I want my son and I will not stop until I find him,” Mangual said.
Managal said he plans to stay in Washington till he finds his son — no matter how long it takes.
“I haven’t had any luck. We’ve been searching for him. We haven’t been able to locate him,” the father said.
read more here
FOX 31 Denver
Thomas Hendrick
March 31, 2014
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A Fort Carson soldier has traveled to Washington to help look for his 13-year-old son who went missing after a mudslide wiped out the town of Oso.
KRDO-TV reported Staff Sgt. Jose Mangual traveled to Washington last Monday to help look for his son Jovon Mangual.
Jovon lives with his mother in Washington.
“The feeling is nothing I can explain. I miss my son. I want my son and I will not stop until I find him,” Mangual said.
Managal said he plans to stay in Washington till he finds his son — no matter how long it takes.
“I haven’t had any luck. We’ve been searching for him. We haven’t been able to locate him,” the father said.
read more here
Navy SEALS train 6 year old, show tender side
Mar 30, 2014
Mason Rudder, 6, of suburban Kansas City, Mo., trains with a former Navy Seal at a military training facility near Farmington, Mo.
The boy has a rare genetic neuromuscular disorder and aspires to join the Navy Seals
St. Louis Post Dispatch
By Joel Currier
ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY, MO. • Mason Rudder peppered bullets from a fully automatic M4 rifle into a car, charged through a field while firing an AR-15, and helped build and set off a wall bomb that blew the door off a building.
Though Mason is no war hero, he got to feel like one Sunday. He is 6 years old and dreams of joining the Navy SEALs.
Mason’s parents, George and Suzanne Rudder, former St. Louis County residents who now live near Kansas City, surprised Mason for his birthday by driving across the state to a tactical training center near Farmington, Mo., to shoot and train with a former member of the Navy SEALs.
“He didn’t know until today,” said Suzanne Rudder, 36. “I think he was just stunned when we got here.”
Mason was born with a genetic disorder (Escobar syndrome) that causes limited movement and a decreased range of motion, his parents say. Mason is about 3½ feet tall and weighs just 32 pounds. Mason’s sister, Haley, 7, also has the disorder; their brother, Collin, 9, does not.
read more here
linked from Stars and Stripes
Mason Rudder, 6, of suburban Kansas City, Mo., trains with a former Navy Seal at a military training facility near Farmington, Mo.
The boy has a rare genetic neuromuscular disorder and aspires to join the Navy Seals
St. Louis Post Dispatch
By Joel Currier
ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY, MO. • Mason Rudder peppered bullets from a fully automatic M4 rifle into a car, charged through a field while firing an AR-15, and helped build and set off a wall bomb that blew the door off a building.
Though Mason is no war hero, he got to feel like one Sunday. He is 6 years old and dreams of joining the Navy SEALs.
Mason’s parents, George and Suzanne Rudder, former St. Louis County residents who now live near Kansas City, surprised Mason for his birthday by driving across the state to a tactical training center near Farmington, Mo., to shoot and train with a former member of the Navy SEALs.
“He didn’t know until today,” said Suzanne Rudder, 36. “I think he was just stunned when we got here.”
Mason was born with a genetic disorder (Escobar syndrome) that causes limited movement and a decreased range of motion, his parents say. Mason is about 3½ feet tall and weighs just 32 pounds. Mason’s sister, Haley, 7, also has the disorder; their brother, Collin, 9, does not.
read more here
linked from Stars and Stripes
Two agencies become one for remains of missing U.S. war dead
Hagel announces restructuring of POW/MIA remains offices
Stars and Stripes
By Chris Carroll
Published: March 31, 2014
WASHINGTON — A single Pentagon office will now be in charge of the troubled effort to identify and recover the remains of missing U.S. war dead, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Monday.
The order will create a “single accountable organization that has complete oversight of personnel accounting resources, research and operations,” overseen by the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Hagel said.
The decision follows a series of damning reports in the past year about the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office, the two agencies that had primary responsibility for MIA recovery efforts. The two will now be combined, along with certain functions of the Air Force’s Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory, Hagel said.
To improve the search, identification and recovery process, DOD will create a centralized database and case management system containing all missing servicemembers’ information, Hagel said. The Armed Forces Medical Examiner working for the new agency will be the single identification authority. The medical examiner will oversee the science operations of the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii, as well as satellite labs in Omaha, Neb., and Dayton, Ohio.
Families of the missing — who Hagel admitted have not always received clear communications from DOD — will also have a single point of contact with the new agency to make it easier for them to learn about search and identification activities.
read more here
Stars and Stripes
By Chris Carroll
Published: March 31, 2014
WASHINGTON — A single Pentagon office will now be in charge of the troubled effort to identify and recover the remains of missing U.S. war dead, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Monday.
The order will create a “single accountable organization that has complete oversight of personnel accounting resources, research and operations,” overseen by the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Hagel said.
The decision follows a series of damning reports in the past year about the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office, the two agencies that had primary responsibility for MIA recovery efforts. The two will now be combined, along with certain functions of the Air Force’s Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory, Hagel said.
To improve the search, identification and recovery process, DOD will create a centralized database and case management system containing all missing servicemembers’ information, Hagel said. The Armed Forces Medical Examiner working for the new agency will be the single identification authority. The medical examiner will oversee the science operations of the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii, as well as satellite labs in Omaha, Neb., and Dayton, Ohio.
Families of the missing — who Hagel admitted have not always received clear communications from DOD — will also have a single point of contact with the new agency to make it easier for them to learn about search and identification activities.
read more here
VA Maryland to hold annual welcome home for returning veterans
VA Maryland to hold annual welcome home for returning veterans
The Star Democrat
BALTIMORE — For Aliyah Hunter, 32, an Army veteran who was deployed to Iraq, returning home proved to be less smooth than she anticipated. In fact, she was home for two years before she opted to try Veteran’s Affairs health care to address the residual impacts of the war. “The VA was the first to help me understand that something was a little different — that a change had occurred and that I was suffering from some post-traumatic symptoms from the war,” Hunter said.
After separating from the military, and with help from the VA Maryland Health Care System, she began to embrace the transition of being home more openly.
Hunter is joining an estimated 200 other newly returning veterans for the VA Maryland Health Care System’s 2014 Welcome Home Information and Job Fair, which is being held Saturday, April 5, on the Essex Campus of the Community College of Baltimore County in the Community Center Building, 7201 Rossville Blvd., Baltimore.
read more here
The Star Democrat
BALTIMORE — For Aliyah Hunter, 32, an Army veteran who was deployed to Iraq, returning home proved to be less smooth than she anticipated. In fact, she was home for two years before she opted to try Veteran’s Affairs health care to address the residual impacts of the war. “The VA was the first to help me understand that something was a little different — that a change had occurred and that I was suffering from some post-traumatic symptoms from the war,” Hunter said.
After separating from the military, and with help from the VA Maryland Health Care System, she began to embrace the transition of being home more openly.
Hunter is joining an estimated 200 other newly returning veterans for the VA Maryland Health Care System’s 2014 Welcome Home Information and Job Fair, which is being held Saturday, April 5, on the Essex Campus of the Community College of Baltimore County in the Community Center Building, 7201 Rossville Blvd., Baltimore.
read more here
Security Guard kicked Vietnam Veteran out of Walgreens
Vietnam Vet Mistaken As Homeless, Kicked Out Of Walgreens
CBS Chicago
Bernie Tafoya
March 31, 2014
CHICAGO (CBS) – A Vietnam War veteran is hospitalized after reportedly suffering an episode of post-traumatic stress disorder for the way he was treated at a Hyde Park Walgreens last week.
Arnetha Habeel, says her 62-year-old husband, Daniel Habeel, walked into the Walgreens at 55th and Lake Park Avenue last Wednesday night and was promptly told by a security guard that he would have to leave or else face handcuffing and arrest by Chicago police.
Mrs. Habeel says that when her husband came out of the store he was visibly upset and kept saying to her that he didn’t do anything wrong. She says Habeel’s blood pressure got worse the more he thought or talked about it, so she took him to the Jesse Brown VA Hospital where he’s been for more than four days.
read more here
CBS Chicago
Bernie Tafoya
March 31, 2014
CHICAGO (CBS) – A Vietnam War veteran is hospitalized after reportedly suffering an episode of post-traumatic stress disorder for the way he was treated at a Hyde Park Walgreens last week.
Arnetha Habeel, says her 62-year-old husband, Daniel Habeel, walked into the Walgreens at 55th and Lake Park Avenue last Wednesday night and was promptly told by a security guard that he would have to leave or else face handcuffing and arrest by Chicago police.
Mrs. Habeel says that when her husband came out of the store he was visibly upset and kept saying to her that he didn’t do anything wrong. She says Habeel’s blood pressure got worse the more he thought or talked about it, so she took him to the Jesse Brown VA Hospital where he’s been for more than four days.
read more here
More Vietnam vets are getting assistance for PTSD
When the Vietnam Memorial Wall had been up for 25 years, I wrote the following.
When El Paso Times reported in 2007 148,000 Vietnam Veterans had sought help for the first time in 13 months, it was a mix of emotions. First and foremost, a relief that after years of trying to get Vietnam veterans to seek help, it was working. The downside was that as they were seeking help, the VA was putting off helping them. They were pushing OEF and OIF veterans to the head of the line.
By then I had several videos on PTSD up on YouTube and Google.
They had only been up for a year at that point. Eventually they had to be moved off of YouTube because their program of tracking music had blocked all the music. A couple of years ago, I earned the ability to use music again but I didn't see the point of moving these videos back again. You can watch most of these videos on De-tour Combat PTSD Survivor's Guide.
Yesterday I posted Vietnam Veterans are the majority of everything even though the press doesn't seem to care to remember this simple fact. Vietnam veterans have gone from being insulted and attacked for their service, to being admired for the battles they fought for all veterans, to being ignored as they were forced to suffer longer. It isn't a competition to them. They fought for all veterans to be treated properly and have their wounds taken care of. They can stand proud knowing that everything being done for this generation was due to their efforts.
Everything done on Combat PTSD was accomplished because they fought for it but they are the last to receive it. The average citizen has no clue what is going on or how long it has been going on because the national news stations are too busy playing political games or covering international events instead of what is happening right here.
Vietnam veterans are too important to ignore. The worst part is, when you look back on so much being done, if nothing was done right, then we will in fact repeat history. 30 years from now it will be OEF and OIF veterans fighting for a place in line because another war somewhere in the world will create more disabled veterans moving to the front of the line.
THE WALL 25 YEARS LATER STILL THEY WEEP
This is in eyes of all who stand by the Wall. The reflection is not of today, but of all the yesterdays, of lives gone long ago and of the living with the ghosts of memories. The Wall makes no statement of politics or of right and wrong, but of the lives lost to war. The Wall cannot heal bodies, nor restore the dead to life, but it does heal the soul and arise the memories of who has gone from this earth. A granddaughter views the name of a grandparent she never met. A wife, long ago remarried touches the stone and wonders what could have been. Children see the name as a chill runs through them and some say the spirit of their parent is still found there in the Wall. Above all who walk the path from end to end are the veterans.
Some went willingly because they were asked. Some were forced to go. As the saying goes from Vietnam veterans "All gave some, some gave all" when it was there time to serve. It didn't matter if they wanted to be there or were forced to be there, they served side by side and what mattered the most was each other. They followed their orders equally, bravely and went through things they would have never thought they could have survived. Some still fight the battles to this very day. They say that if all the deaths connected to the Vietnam war were recorded, they would need two or three more walls to fit in all the names. There are names of those who perished from Agent Orange and from wounds of their bodies and minds. Some had their lives taken from them while others committed suicide. All gave some.
The Wall may not have all the names of all the fallen from Vietnam. We may never know all their stories but each one visiting the Wall holds someone in their heart. It may not be a name of someone they knew. It may not be a name recorded on the Wall at all, but it is written in their heart.
The Wall heals souls and in turn managed to begin the healing of this nation. Watch the video above and then plan on watching the documentary. See if we can find that same kind of compassion and passion behind the building of the Wall to do the same for this generation in harms way today. Then thank a Vietnam vet because had it not been for them coming back, fighting for all veterans, we would not have come as far as we are today to eliminating the stigma of PTSD. We have a lot further to go, but the Vietnam veterans paved the way. They are still reaching out their hands to each other and to all other veterans. To me, they will always be the greatest generation because they did not forget those who came after them.
When El Paso Times reported in 2007 148,000 Vietnam Veterans had sought help for the first time in 13 months, it was a mix of emotions. First and foremost, a relief that after years of trying to get Vietnam veterans to seek help, it was working. The downside was that as they were seeking help, the VA was putting off helping them. They were pushing OEF and OIF veterans to the head of the line.
An internal directive from a high-ranking Veterans Affairs official creates a two-tiered system of veterans health care, putting veterans of the global war on terror at the top and making every one else -- from World War I to the first Gulf War -- "second-class veterans," according to some veterans advocates.
"I think they're ever pushing us to the side," said former Marine Ron Holmes, an El Paso resident who founded Veterans Advocates. "We are still in need. We still have our problems, and our cases are being handled more slowly."
Vice Adm. Daniel L. Cooper, undersecretary for benefits in the Department of Veterans Affairs -- in a memo obtained by the El Paso Times -- instructs the department's employees to put Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans at the head of the line when processing claims for medical treatment, vocational rehabilitation, employment and education benefits...
By then I had several videos on PTSD up on YouTube and Google.
When War Comes Home PTSD
2418
50
Veterans and PTSD version 1
All time views:14,283
Wounded Minds Veterans and PTSD version 2
1567
36
Wounded Minds PTSD and Veterans version 3
7777
176
PTSD After Trauma on Google
1709
85
End The Silence of PTSD on Youtube
Views: 2,919
Hero After War Combat Vets and PTSD on Google
3697
38
Views: 1,772 on Youtube
This is on Vimeo
Hero After War from Kathleen "Costos" DiCesare on Vimeo.
Coming Out of The Dark of PTSD on Google
889
33
Coming Out Of The Dark-PTSD and Veterans on Youtube
Views: 4,304
This is on Vimeo
Coming Out of the Dark from Kathleen "Costos" DiCesare on Vimeo.
Death Because They Served PTSD Suicides
1442
14
They had only been up for a year at that point. Eventually they had to be moved off of YouTube because their program of tracking music had blocked all the music. A couple of years ago, I earned the ability to use music again but I didn't see the point of moving these videos back again. You can watch most of these videos on De-tour Combat PTSD Survivor's Guide.
Yesterday I posted Vietnam Veterans are the majority of everything even though the press doesn't seem to care to remember this simple fact. Vietnam veterans have gone from being insulted and attacked for their service, to being admired for the battles they fought for all veterans, to being ignored as they were forced to suffer longer. It isn't a competition to them. They fought for all veterans to be treated properly and have their wounds taken care of. They can stand proud knowing that everything being done for this generation was due to their efforts.
Everything done on Combat PTSD was accomplished because they fought for it but they are the last to receive it. The average citizen has no clue what is going on or how long it has been going on because the national news stations are too busy playing political games or covering international events instead of what is happening right here.
Vietnam veterans are too important to ignore. The worst part is, when you look back on so much being done, if nothing was done right, then we will in fact repeat history. 30 years from now it will be OEF and OIF veterans fighting for a place in line because another war somewhere in the world will create more disabled veterans moving to the front of the line.
More Vietnam vets are getting assistance for PTSD
Akron Beacon Journal
By Jim Carney
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published: March 30, 2014
Nearly 46 years after being wounded in Vietnam, Peter Halas applied for and received a post-traumatic stress disorder disability from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The former Akron resident is not alone.
Dr. Edgardo Padin-Rivera, chief of psychology and PTSD expert at the Louis Stokes VA Cleveland Medical Center, said many Vietnam vets are applying for disability as they remember more about their combat experiences.
In Halas’ case, he already had a disability from physical wounds he received in Vietnam. He was injured by a land mine in 1968.
But his PTSD disability was awarded only recently after specific memories came back while talking about the war with VA counselors.
Padin-Rivera said there are 326,530 Vietnam veterans with a PTSD disability — a figure that is climbing every year.
As veterans age, the ways they had to defend against memories of combat begin to fade and they become more troubled by their war experiences, he said.
“It is about emotions of vulnerability and helplessness,” he said. “And this brings up memories of those time periods when they felt vulnerable and helpless and those experiences have to do with war experiences.”
read more here
Two Tour Afghanistan Marine Reservist-Police Officer Shot
"No Update" From Police, City Officials On New Bern Officer's Condition
WITN News
Mar 31, 2014
By Monday morning, police and city officials had no updated information available to share as a New Bern officer remained hospitalized after a Friday night gunfire exchange.
Officers said 22-year-old Alexander Thalmann was one of two policemen shot by a suspect during a foot chase in New Bern Friday night.
Chief Toussaint Summers Jr. said both Thalmann and Officer Justin Wester were hit in a gunfire exchange with 35-year-old Bryan Stallings.
WITN News
Mar 31, 2014
By Monday morning, police and city officials had no updated information available to share as a New Bern officer remained hospitalized after a Friday night gunfire exchange.
Officers said 22-year-old Alexander Thalmann was one of two policemen shot by a suspect during a foot chase in New Bern Friday night.
Chief Toussaint Summers Jr. said both Thalmann and Officer Justin Wester were hit in a gunfire exchange with 35-year-old Bryan Stallings.
Officials with Camp Lejeune told WITN Thalmann is a Lance Corporal with the Marine Corps Forces Reserve. We’re told that Thalmann is a warehouseman with the Combat Logistic Battalion 451 out of Raleigh.
A family friend said Thalmann has served two tours of duty in Afghanistan. Officials did not have information on how long Thalmann has served, but said it was within four years.
read more here
Vietnam Veteran Didn't Live Long Enough to See Documentary
Freedom not free for many vets
New Jersey Herald
By ERIC OBERNAUER
Posted: Mar 30, 2014
SPARTA -- The young men and women returning from Afghanistan and Iraq may not have suffered the disparagement and scorn heaped upon their forebears returning from Vietnam, but the toll of war and its lasting impact remain a common thread that cuts across all generations.
"Many of our young veterans are suffering terribly," said Frankford resident Norman Seider, himself a veteran of the Korean War. "We send 18- and 19-year-old children off to war, and many of them come back damaged for life."
The physical and emotional toll they face -- captured movingly in a 28-minute documentary titled "Freedom Is Not Free" -- was told again and again Sunday through the film and personal stories at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, where a screening of the documentary and panel discussion were hosted by the church in cooperation with the Sussex County affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
The documentary -- which is dedicated to Gary Webber, a local Vietnam veteran who died during the filming process from the lasting effects of Agent Orange exposure -- is the product of work that Seider, a professional photographer, began two years ago after marching in Newton's Memorial Day parade and hearing others thanking him and his fellow veterans for their service.
Despite their well-meaning gestures, Seider began to wonder if many of them fully understood what that service entails and the challenges faced by a new generation of veterans coming home from war. Soon afterward, Seider asked his friend and fellow Frankford resident, Carl Ohlson, to join him in co-producing the documentary.
The film, in addition to detailing the symptoms of post-traumatic stress and Agent Orange suffered to this very day by those who fought in Vietnam, focuses on a more recent concern -- residue from depleted uranium released by exploding shells -- for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
read more here
New Jersey Herald
By ERIC OBERNAUER
Posted: Mar 30, 2014
SPARTA -- The young men and women returning from Afghanistan and Iraq may not have suffered the disparagement and scorn heaped upon their forebears returning from Vietnam, but the toll of war and its lasting impact remain a common thread that cuts across all generations.
"Many of our young veterans are suffering terribly," said Frankford resident Norman Seider, himself a veteran of the Korean War. "We send 18- and 19-year-old children off to war, and many of them come back damaged for life."
The physical and emotional toll they face -- captured movingly in a 28-minute documentary titled "Freedom Is Not Free" -- was told again and again Sunday through the film and personal stories at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, where a screening of the documentary and panel discussion were hosted by the church in cooperation with the Sussex County affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
The documentary -- which is dedicated to Gary Webber, a local Vietnam veteran who died during the filming process from the lasting effects of Agent Orange exposure -- is the product of work that Seider, a professional photographer, began two years ago after marching in Newton's Memorial Day parade and hearing others thanking him and his fellow veterans for their service.
Despite their well-meaning gestures, Seider began to wonder if many of them fully understood what that service entails and the challenges faced by a new generation of veterans coming home from war. Soon afterward, Seider asked his friend and fellow Frankford resident, Carl Ohlson, to join him in co-producing the documentary.
The film, in addition to detailing the symptoms of post-traumatic stress and Agent Orange suffered to this very day by those who fought in Vietnam, focuses on a more recent concern -- residue from depleted uranium released by exploding shells -- for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
read more here
Family searches for Iraq Veteran missing in Georgia
Friends, family search for missing local Iraq war veteran
WSBTV News
March 30, 2014
COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Friends and family of an Iraq war veteran who hasn't been seen since Thursday are pleading for the public's help finding him.
Friends have been out in Cobb County all day Sunday passing out these fliers with photos of Chase Massner.
Massner visited a friend near Bells Ferry Road and got some food Thursday and hasn't been seen since.
"He disappeared, I mean he completely disappeared,” said Massner’s wife Amanda Massner.
read more here
WSBTV News
March 30, 2014
COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Friends and family of an Iraq war veteran who hasn't been seen since Thursday are pleading for the public's help finding him.
Friends have been out in Cobb County all day Sunday passing out these fliers with photos of Chase Massner.
Massner visited a friend near Bells Ferry Road and got some food Thursday and hasn't been seen since.
"He disappeared, I mean he completely disappeared,” said Massner’s wife Amanda Massner.
read more here
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