Afghan soldier kills US Maj. Gen. Harold Greene, wounds 15
By ROBERT BURNS, RAHIM FAIEZ and LOLITA C. BALDOR
Aug 5th 2014
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - An American major general was shot to death Tuesday in one of the bloodiest insider attacks of the long Afghanistan war when a gunman dressed as an Afghan soldier turned on allied troops, wounding about 15 including a German general and two Afghan generals.
Maj. Gen. Harold Greene, who was on his first deployment to a war zone, was involved in preparing Afghan forces for the time when U.S.-coalition troops leave at the end of this year. An engineer by training, he was the deputy commanding general, Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan.
Greene was the highest-ranked American officer killed in combat in the nation's post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the highest-ranked officer killed in combat since 1970 in the Vietnam War.
read more here
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees Snow Job
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
August 5, 2014
The longer problems for veterans goes on, the more it seems as if the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees are pulling a snow job on veterans.
A new poll from NBC says voters are not happy with congress. Majority disapprove of their own House member but the other part of this is, "Americans’ frustration with Congress is reflected in other polls, too: just 3% said they thought Congress had been “very productive” this year in a recent NBC News/Marist poll."
Well, my fellow Americans, welcome to the world veterans have lived in for decades. They haven't been happy in, well, forever.
As much as I frankly do not like the national news stations, especially cable news, CNN did do a pretty good job of trying to explain how long veterans have suffered while members of congress just promised them everything, usually around election time and they needed the votes. Here are some highlights.
The VA's troubled history
We can also rely on CSPAN and their video coverage. While listening to members of congress talk can be less attractive than going to the dentist, these videos are vital to anyone wanting to know how we got where we are. Think of them as a GPS to let you know how to get away from the big rig on bald tires. JULY 10, 1989
Yes you read that right! By this time troops were in Afghanistan and Iraq yet these yahoos were talking about closing down VA hospitals.
FEBRUARY 4, 2004
There are a lot more of these videos but as with everything else, it all boils down to what they really intended to achieve. Was it to take care of veterans or was it to pretend they were doing enough to get their votes again?
This video is from a hearing on disabled veterans. It is from February of 2014 months before the "crisis" House members decided they would scream about. FEBRUARY 25, 2014
Summing this up think of it this way. There are some folks doing whatever they can to avoid going to the dentist. Lose a filling, they take Super Glue and stick it back in the hole. While this may look ok on the outside, it erodes the rest of the tooth and by the time they are forced to do the right thing, so much damage is done, the tooth gets pulled leaving a hole. That is what congress has been doing. Filling the whole long enough to get past the next election hoping what they "did" will hold long enough so one on notices they didn't do the right thing in the first place. In the long run, more pain is caused and it costs a lot more money to fix the problem. All too often, it is beyond repair. Are we really going to let them do this to the VA and our veterans?
When do we hold them accountable?
Kathie Costos
August 5, 2014
The longer problems for veterans goes on, the more it seems as if the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees are pulling a snow job on veterans.
A new poll from NBC says voters are not happy with congress. Majority disapprove of their own House member but the other part of this is, "Americans’ frustration with Congress is reflected in other polls, too: just 3% said they thought Congress had been “very productive” this year in a recent NBC News/Marist poll."
Well, my fellow Americans, welcome to the world veterans have lived in for decades. They haven't been happy in, well, forever.
As much as I frankly do not like the national news stations, especially cable news, CNN did do a pretty good job of trying to explain how long veterans have suffered while members of congress just promised them everything, usually around election time and they needed the votes. Here are some highlights.
The VA's troubled history
CNN) -- Scandal, controversy and veterans care in the United States have gone hand-in-hand for virtually as long as there's been a republic.
After the Revolutionary War, for instance, payments promised by Congress to disabled veterans were left up to the states, and only a few thousand of those who served ever received anything, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.1932 -- Thousands of World War I veterans and their families march on Washington to demand payment of promised war bonuses. In an embarrassing spectacle, federal troops forcibly remove veterans who refuse to end their protest.1984 -- Congressional investigators find evidence that VA officials had diverted or refused to spend more than $40 million that Congress approved to help Vietnam veterans with readjustment problems, the Washington Post reports at the time.2003 -- A commission appointed by President George W. Bush reports that as of January 2003, some 236,000 veterans had been waiting six months or more for initial or follow-up visits, "a clear indication," the commission said, "of lack of sufficient capacity or, at a minimum, a lack of adequate resources to provide the required care."2009 -- The VA discloses that than 10,000 veterans who underwent colonoscopies in Tennessee, Georgia and Florida were exposed to potential viral infections due to poorly disinfected equipment. Thirty-seven tested positive for two forms of hepatitis and six tested positive for HIV. VA Director Eric Shinseki initiates disciplinary actions and requires hospital directors to provide written verification of compliance with VA operating procedures. The head of the Miami VA hospital is removed as a result, the Miami Herald reports.
We can also rely on CSPAN and their video coverage. While listening to members of congress talk can be less attractive than going to the dentist, these videos are vital to anyone wanting to know how we got where we are. Think of them as a GPS to let you know how to get away from the big rig on bald tires. JULY 10, 1989
Agent Orange Studies The subcommittee held a hearing on Agent Orange studies. Witnesses from the Office of Technology Assessment, the VA and the Air Force testified that numerous Agent Orange studiesJUNE 9, 1994
Gulf War Veteran Benefits Secretary Brown spoke about the administration’s decision to afford Gulf War veterans benefits for the "Gulf War Syndrome"MARCH 6, 2001
Veterans Affairs Budget Witnesses testified about veterans issues and funding needs for the department. Among the issues they addressed were benefits claims procedures and delays,JUNE 10, 2003
Veterans Affairs Operations Officials testified about recent reports of fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement in the Veterans Administration. Among the topics they addressed were absentee doctorsSEPTEMBER 11, 2003
Veterans' Hospitals Consolidation and Closure Witnesses testified about a proposal to scale back, consolidate or close selected Veterans' Administration health care…
Yes you read that right! By this time troops were in Afghanistan and Iraq yet these yahoos were talking about closing down VA hospitals.
FEBRUARY 4, 2004
Fiscal Year 2005 Veterans Affairs Budget Witnesses testified about the fiscal year 2005 budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Among the topics they addressed were services provided, efforts to make delivery of service more efficient, and moving away from hospital based health care.DECEMBER 12, 2007
Veterans Mental Health Care The House Committee on Veterans' Affairs held a hearing to examine and identify mental health challenges within the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system, including increasing numbers of cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suicide, substance abuse, and homelessness. Witnesses included the parents of Specialist Tim Bowman (U.S. Army, Illinois National Guard, Bravo Troop, 106th Calvary), who committed suicide, authors with personal connections to the problem, and representatives of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Due to the length of testimony some other witness were deferred to a later hearing.MAY 6, 2008
Penny Coleman is the author of Flashback: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide, And the Lessons of War, published by Beacon Press, Ilona Meagher is the author of Moving a Nation to Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America’s Returning Troops, published by Ig Publishing.
Suicides of Veterans Department of Veterans Affairs officials testified about charges the department had misled the public about the numbers of suicides committed by active duty personnel and veterans. Committee chairman Bob Filner accused the agency of criminal negligence in the handling of data about the number of veterans who have committed suicide of being more concerned about how data was interpreted than the health of veterans. Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake told panel members the agency is actively reaching out to veterans to encourage them to get help if they are at risk for suicide.JULY 31, 2008
Veterans Administration Spending Practices The Veterans Affairs Committee held an oversight hearing on the issue of overspending at Department of Veterans' Affairs. Witnesses testified about lapses in competitive bidding, poor auditing programs, and lack of financial mechanisms to control spending.
There are a lot more of these videos but as with everything else, it all boils down to what they really intended to achieve. Was it to take care of veterans or was it to pretend they were doing enough to get their votes again?
This video is from a hearing on disabled veterans. It is from February of 2014 months before the "crisis" House members decided they would scream about. FEBRUARY 25, 2014
Disabled Veterans Officials from the Disabled American Veterans organization outlined their 2014 legislative priorities at a joint hearing of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees. In opening remarks, the organization’s national commander Joseph Johnston said the highest priority was to make advanced appropriations for all Veterans Affairs Department funding accounts, including mandatory disability payments. Topics during questioning included the backlog of veterans benefit claims, veterans' homelessness, and VA infrastructure funding.
Summing this up think of it this way. There are some folks doing whatever they can to avoid going to the dentist. Lose a filling, they take Super Glue and stick it back in the hole. While this may look ok on the outside, it erodes the rest of the tooth and by the time they are forced to do the right thing, so much damage is done, the tooth gets pulled leaving a hole. That is what congress has been doing. Filling the whole long enough to get past the next election hoping what they "did" will hold long enough so one on notices they didn't do the right thing in the first place. In the long run, more pain is caused and it costs a lot more money to fix the problem. All too often, it is beyond repair. Are we really going to let them do this to the VA and our veterans?
When do we hold them accountable?
Veteran sought help for PTSD claim, Congressman Lamborn used Sgt. Schultz Excuse
Congressman Doug Lamborn can make all the speeches he wants, say whatever he wants but the truth remains that veterans do in fact complain to their elected officials and ask them for help with claims. They believe if it is happening to them, it is happening to other veterans as well. None of them can pretend they didn't know there were problems in the VA. The really can't when you also consider that they are all on the record making speeches over and over again, usually every two years, about the crisis in the VA.
Nothing we're seeing is new but they want to use the Sgt. Schultz Excuse of "I know nothing" as if they are fooling anyone.
Well it looks like a veteran came out to complain about this exact issue.
In the report it is stated that Lamborn has held meetings over the years about troubles veterans face. One more example of what they knew and when they knew it, but did nothing to fix. Not just the 113th, but decades of dismissing veterans.
This is one of Lamborn's speeches.
Nothing we're seeing is new but they want to use the Sgt. Schultz Excuse of "I know nothing" as if they are fooling anyone.
Well it looks like a veteran came out to complain about this exact issue.
Retired U.S. Army captain struggles to receive VA health care
KRDO News
Eric Fink, Multimedia Journalist
Aug 04, 2014
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.
Colorado Springs native, retired Army Capt. Don Martinez says he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, flashbacks, sleep apnea and numerous physical injuries.
The Iraq War vet argues he hasn't received proper care from the Veterans Administration clinic. Martinez claims only two weeks ago that administrators at the clinic on Fontanero Street didn't have his name down for a scheduled appointment.
Back in 2012, Martinez claims he called Congressman Doug Lamborn's office with concerns about the VA.
"Nothing," Martinez said. "No return phone call, no confirmation email that he received my message, it was like he wasn't even there."
read more here
In the report it is stated that Lamborn has held meetings over the years about troubles veterans face. One more example of what they knew and when they knew it, but did nothing to fix. Not just the 113th, but decades of dismissing veterans.
This is one of Lamborn's speeches.
Responding to the VA Scandal
Following his service on the Joint House-Senate VA Reform Conference Committee, Congressman Doug Lamborn was honored to support legislation instituting important reforms to the Veterans Administration.
The bill passed the House by an overwhelming vote of 420 to 5.
Highlights of the Legislation
Increases the flexibility for VA leadership to fire incompetent VA employees
Provides more ability for veterans to obtain outside, private sector care
Will lead to the hiring of more doctors and the construction of more facilities, in order to lower wait times for our veterans
"Nothing is more important than providing our veterans with the care and respect that they have earned. It was a privilege to serve as a chief negotiator on the VA Reform Conference Committee. I am pleased that we were able to come to a bipartisan solution. These reforms expand the private sector care options available to our veterans, ensuring that wait times are lower, and convenience is increased.
However, this alone will not fix the cultural problems that plague the department so as to guarantee quality care for our veterans in the long run. That's why I worked hard to ensure that the bill included measures that will hold bureaucrats accountable for failing to put our veterans first. These are important steps in the process of rebuilding the trust that has been broken between our brave veterans and the VA that should serve them. The corrupt culture at the VA won't be purged overnight and there is still a lot of work to do. I will continue to work with local veterans on individual cases and on the Veterans Affairs Committee to address systemic problems that remain."
- Congressman Doug Lamborn
PTSD Marine Veteran Ticketed at VA Over Service Dog
Man claims he was attacked for having service dog in VA hospital
Local 10 News
Published On: Aug 04 2014
From 10 News Transcript
I WAS TREATED LIKE CRAP. VETERANS INJURED IN POWER. BETRAYED EQUALLY BY HIS OWN COUNTRY. HOW COULD YOU TREAT ME LIKE THIS? TONIGHT A LOCAL 10 INVESTIGATION UNCOVERS ALLEGATIONS OF A SOLDIER.
TRAMPLED ON MY RIGHTS. NOT JUST ME. HIS SERVICE DOG. AND THE WHOLE TIME HE'S THERE. AND SHOCKING DISSERVICE FROM MIAMI VETERANS HOSPITAL.
HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE WITH THAT DISABILITY CAN COME IN TO THE V.A. AND RECEIVE THIS TYPE OF TREATMENT?
THE TREATMENT HE SAYS WASN'T JUST SHOCKING BUT ILLEGAL. ALL THIS HAPPENING TO A DISABLED VETERAN AT THE ONLY HOSPITAL HE CAN GO TO. INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER ROSS HAS THE ONE AND ONLY STORY FOR US. ROSS?
THE VETERAN HAS POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND IT'S VERY COMMON AMONG VETS. NOW, TONIGHT, HE SAYS THE TREATMENT THAT HE GOT AT THE V.A. IS SHOCKINGLY COMMON AS WELL. FRIENDS DYING AND GETTING INJURED. 9 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AND A FEW SHORT WEEKS SINCE THE SHELLING AND SHOOTING AND SCREAMING. YOU KNOW. AND NOW ALL OF IT, TO THIS DAY.
I STILL REMEMBER THE ROADS I PATROLED OUT THERE. ONLY ONE DAY AWAY FOR THIS MARINE. I STILL REMEMBER LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY. TODAY THE MEMORIES STILL HAUNT HIM. IT WAS TOUGH, YOU KNOW? LEAVING HIM IN THE TOUGH BATTLE AGAINST POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER. I FREAK OUT THE LAST 30 SECONDS BUT THAT LAST 30 SECONDS IN YOUR BRAIN IS SO REAL!
MARTINEZ NOW FIGHTS THAT REALITY WITH A SERVICE DOG DONATED BY A FAMED NATIONAL TRAINER TO DEAL WITH PSTATISTICSER D. I GOT DUKE SO HE'S ON ALERT SO I DON'T HAVE TO BE ON ALERT.
read more here
Local 10 News
Published On: Aug 04 2014
From 10 News Transcript
I WAS TREATED LIKE CRAP. VETERANS INJURED IN POWER. BETRAYED EQUALLY BY HIS OWN COUNTRY. HOW COULD YOU TREAT ME LIKE THIS? TONIGHT A LOCAL 10 INVESTIGATION UNCOVERS ALLEGATIONS OF A SOLDIER.
TRAMPLED ON MY RIGHTS. NOT JUST ME. HIS SERVICE DOG. AND THE WHOLE TIME HE'S THERE. AND SHOCKING DISSERVICE FROM MIAMI VETERANS HOSPITAL.
HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE WITH THAT DISABILITY CAN COME IN TO THE V.A. AND RECEIVE THIS TYPE OF TREATMENT?
THE TREATMENT HE SAYS WASN'T JUST SHOCKING BUT ILLEGAL. ALL THIS HAPPENING TO A DISABLED VETERAN AT THE ONLY HOSPITAL HE CAN GO TO. INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER ROSS HAS THE ONE AND ONLY STORY FOR US. ROSS?
THE VETERAN HAS POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND IT'S VERY COMMON AMONG VETS. NOW, TONIGHT, HE SAYS THE TREATMENT THAT HE GOT AT THE V.A. IS SHOCKINGLY COMMON AS WELL. FRIENDS DYING AND GETTING INJURED. 9 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AND A FEW SHORT WEEKS SINCE THE SHELLING AND SHOOTING AND SCREAMING. YOU KNOW. AND NOW ALL OF IT, TO THIS DAY.
I STILL REMEMBER THE ROADS I PATROLED OUT THERE. ONLY ONE DAY AWAY FOR THIS MARINE. I STILL REMEMBER LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY. TODAY THE MEMORIES STILL HAUNT HIM. IT WAS TOUGH, YOU KNOW? LEAVING HIM IN THE TOUGH BATTLE AGAINST POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER. I FREAK OUT THE LAST 30 SECONDS BUT THAT LAST 30 SECONDS IN YOUR BRAIN IS SO REAL!
MARTINEZ NOW FIGHTS THAT REALITY WITH A SERVICE DOG DONATED BY A FAMED NATIONAL TRAINER TO DEAL WITH PSTATISTICSER D. I GOT DUKE SO HE'S ON ALERT SO I DON'T HAVE TO BE ON ALERT.
read more here
Iraq veteran shot after yelling at driver to slow down
Iraq War veteran served 3 tours, was wounded and has PTSD plus TBI. He is in the hospital again but this time, he was shot for yelling at a driver to slow down 3 blocks from home.
Antioch: Marine shot near home may have yelled at passing car
Mercury News
Contra Costa Times
By Karina Ioffee
POSTED: 08/04/2014
ANTIOCH -- The Iraq War veteran who survived three tours of duty only to be shot three blocks away from his house last Friday, may have yelled at a passing car, prompting someone in the vehicle to fire at him, a family friend said Monday.
Brandon Del Fiorentino, a 32-year-old Antioch resident, remains in serious but stable condition at a hospital, after being shot Friday night.
"He yelled at the car to slow down and they shot him," said Josie Monaghan, the founder and CEO of East County Veterans, an organization that offers counseling and support services for local veterans. "I'm mortified and just really upset. We shouldn't treat anyone like this, especially not someone who put his life on the line for his country."
For Del Fiorentino, who grew up in San Jose and enlisted in the Marines after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, moving to Antioch was a chance to start over. The veteran was gravely injured in 2004 by an explosive detonated by Iraqi insurgents and awarded the Purple Heart. But after the limelight faded, Del Fiorentino struggled with spine, brain and eye injuries and post-traumatic stress syndrome, even moving his family into his grandmother's home in Southern California for a time.
read more here
Monday, August 4, 2014
Program for TBI veterans saved for now with new VA funding
VA reform bill saves program for veterans with TBI
Stars and Stripes
By Travis J. Tritten
Published: August 4, 2014
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Thursday will sign into law landmark reform of the troubled Department of Veterans Affairs, but the stroke of his executive pen will also save an unrelated effort to rehabilitate veterans with traumatic brain injuries.
The massive $16.3-billion VA overhaul passed by Congress last week included a measure sponsored by Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Dean Heller, R-Nev., extending for three years a unique VA pilot program that provides assisted living and therapy to those with moderate to severe TBI.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday that Obama will sign the bill during an event at Fort Belvoir, Va.
Over 300,000 servicemembers have suffered TBI since 2000, according to the Department of Defense, and the injuries have become a grim signature of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan where improvised explosive devices were widely used to attack convoys and foot patrols.
As such injuries ballooned, Congress directed the VA to test out how assisted-living services could help veterans with rehabilitation, quality of life, and reintegration. In 2011, the department signed up 20 certified residential brain injury rehabilitation providers for services at 150 sites across the United States.
read more here
Stars and Stripes
By Travis J. Tritten
Published: August 4, 2014
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Thursday will sign into law landmark reform of the troubled Department of Veterans Affairs, but the stroke of his executive pen will also save an unrelated effort to rehabilitate veterans with traumatic brain injuries.
The massive $16.3-billion VA overhaul passed by Congress last week included a measure sponsored by Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Dean Heller, R-Nev., extending for three years a unique VA pilot program that provides assisted living and therapy to those with moderate to severe TBI.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday that Obama will sign the bill during an event at Fort Belvoir, Va.
Over 300,000 servicemembers have suffered TBI since 2000, according to the Department of Defense, and the injuries have become a grim signature of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan where improvised explosive devices were widely used to attack convoys and foot patrols.
As such injuries ballooned, Congress directed the VA to test out how assisted-living services could help veterans with rehabilitation, quality of life, and reintegration. In 2011, the department signed up 20 certified residential brain injury rehabilitation providers for services at 150 sites across the United States.
read more here
Report from LA Times brings rare PTSD fakers to headline news that isn't
Before you read this article, notice the uptick in VA PTSD claims.
The increase started around the time most veterans had access to the internet.
In 2007 there was a report about 148,000 Vietnam veterans seeking help from the VA for PTSD for the first time.
This is from the article on LA Times making the claim of veterans faking PTSD for financial gain.
That is the biggest problem when someone claims something is happening, there are always other researchers disproving what was claimed. Do some lie? Sure but most veterans won't seek help because they were accused of faking while in the military, as we've seen repeated for decades and the twisted concept of what the general public believes PTSD to be.
If you're a Vietnam veteran you'll remember all the reports about "crazy Vietnam veterans" being arrested for the same things they have Veterans Courts for now.
Read the article and notice how this report was twisted around to prove a point instead of prove the number of fakers is more important that taking care of disabled veterans needing help but still not getting it. Suicides went up after the government did more to take care of them for a reason. They wanted help but the help they received has not worked in too many parts of the country.
In 2007 there was a report about 148,000 Vietnam veterans seeking help from the VA for PTSD for the first time.
In the past 18 months, 148,000 Vietnam veterans have gone to VA centers reporting symptoms of PTSD "30 years after the war," said Brig. Gen. Michael S. Tucker, deputy commanding general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command and Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He recently visited El Paso.
This is from the article on LA Times making the claim of veterans faking PTSD for financial gain.
"A 2007 study of 74 Arkansas veterans with chronic PTSD, most of them from the Vietnam War, concluded that more than half were exaggerating symptoms. Other research has found little evidence of malingering."
That is the biggest problem when someone claims something is happening, there are always other researchers disproving what was claimed. Do some lie? Sure but most veterans won't seek help because they were accused of faking while in the military, as we've seen repeated for decades and the twisted concept of what the general public believes PTSD to be.
If you're a Vietnam veteran you'll remember all the reports about "crazy Vietnam veterans" being arrested for the same things they have Veterans Courts for now.
Read the article and notice how this report was twisted around to prove a point instead of prove the number of fakers is more important that taking care of disabled veterans needing help but still not getting it. Suicides went up after the government did more to take care of them for a reason. They wanted help but the help they received has not worked in too many parts of the country.
As disability awards grow, so do concerns with veracity of PTSD claimsLast question is: Why would a reporter from LA interview a doctor in Tampa about Combat PTSD claims when there are so many in California? Did Alan Zarembo have to search from coast to coast to find doctors agreeing with what he wanted to report on?
LA Times
By ALAN ZAREMBO
August 3, 2014
Thee 49-year-old veteran explained that he suffered from paranoia in crowds, nightmares and unrelenting flashbacks from the Iraq war. He said he needed his handgun to feel secure and worried that he would shoot somebody.
The symptoms were textbook post-traumatic stress disorder.
But Robert Moering, the psychologist conducting the disability examination at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Tampa, Fla., suspected the veteran was exaggerating. Hardly anybody had so many symptoms of PTSD so much of the time.
As disability awards for PTSD have grown nearly fivefold over the last 13 years, so have concerns that many veterans might be exaggerating or lying to win benefits. Moering, a former Marine, estimates that roughly half of the veterans he evaluates for the disorder exaggerate or fabricate symptoms.
PTSD disability Depending on severity, veterans with PTSD can receive up to $3,000 a month tax-free, making the disorder the biggest contributor to the growth of a disability system in which payments have more than doubled to $49 billion since 2002.
"It's an open secret that a large chunk of patients are flat-out malingering," said Christopher Frueh, a University of Hawaii psychologist who spent 15 years treating PTSD in the VA system. read the rest here
Bucs host Combat Wounded, Veteran Gave Purple Heart
Veteran spreads hope, handing over Purple Heart to Bucs
WTSP
Chris Fischer
August 3, 2014
Frey reminisces of that time in his life "There was just so many bad things that happened that day, we tried to go in and save him and that's when I got shot in my arm. It was just the fog of war clearing houses in Fallujah. I really thought I was a goner."
Frey received the first purple heart in 2004, following a RPG attack in Fallujah; yet the second nearly took his life just two weeks prior to returning home. Still haunting him to this day is when his friend, Hudson native, Lance Corporal Josh Dickinson went into a house to battle insurgents.
Severely bleeding, Frey required 6 blood transfusions and 22 operations to repair his right arm.
At that point, Frey thought he wasn't going to come home.
But Friday night, Frey felt right at home, as the Bucs honored wounded warriors at their annual night practice. The story of his grand gesture fresh in the minds of the Bucs players and staff.
read more here
WTSP
Chris Fischer
August 3, 2014
Frey reminisces of that time in his life "There was just so many bad things that happened that day, we tried to go in and save him and that's when I got shot in my arm. It was just the fog of war clearing houses in Fallujah. I really thought I was a goner."
Severely bleeding, Frey required 6 blood transfusions and 22 operations to repair his right arm.
At that point, Frey thought he wasn't going to come home.
But Friday night, Frey felt right at home, as the Bucs honored wounded warriors at their annual night practice. The story of his grand gesture fresh in the minds of the Bucs players and staff.
read more here
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Vietnam Veteran "redefined gratitude" for Corpsman
Semper fi: Vietnam veteran salutes corpsman who saved his life
High Point Enterprise
Jimmy Tomlin
Aug. 02, 2014
ARCHDALE
One day in late January 1968, the High Point Enterprise published a somewhat grisly, front-page photograph of a wounded U.S. Marine, lying flat on his back at a first-aid station in South Vietnam.
The young soldier’s gritty face reflected the anguish he was in as a medical corpsman tended to his left ear, which had nearly been ripped from the Marine’s face by enemy rocket and mortar rounds.
“Shocked And Wounded,” the caption read, explaining that the corpsman was talking quietly to the injured Marine to calm him.
For most readers, it was just another grainy, black-and-white war photo — an Associated Press dispatch from a divisive conflict being staged some 9,000 miles from North Carolina.
For one High Point family, though, the photo hit close to home. The injured soldier, though not identified in the caption, was their son — Lance Cpl. William Michael “Mike” Welch.
“Yeah, my dad saw it in the paper and recognized me, but he didn’t show it to my mother until about a week after I got wounded,” says Welch, now 65 and living in Archdale. “He was afraid my mom would flip out and have a heart attack or something.”
Joseph Grayson Welch tried desperately to find out what had happened to his son — and whether he was even still alive — all the while keeping the newspaper from his wife, Mildred, and hoping nobody else would recognize their son in the photo and call it to her attention.
One day, finally, a cab pulled into the Welches’ driveway on Brentwood Street — a universally understood sign that they were about to receive a telegram from the military about their son. To their great relief, Welch had not died, but the telegram reported he had sustained “fragmentation wounds to the left ear, neck, both hands, back and both buttocks, with an open fracture of the left arm.” Hostile mortar fire, the telegram said. His condition was listed as “serious,” his prognosis “guarded.”
Subsequent telegrams provided medical updates — and some measure of comfort — for Welch’s parents, who are now deceased.
read more here
High Point Enterprise
Jimmy Tomlin
Aug. 02, 2014
ARCHDALE
For Welch, though he may not have realized it at the time, a new journey was just beginning. The day he was injured — Jan. 25, 1968 — redefined his life.
And that newspaper photo, which ran the next day, redefined his sense of gratitude.
The young soldier’s gritty face reflected the anguish he was in as a medical corpsman tended to his left ear, which had nearly been ripped from the Marine’s face by enemy rocket and mortar rounds.
“Shocked And Wounded,” the caption read, explaining that the corpsman was talking quietly to the injured Marine to calm him.
For most readers, it was just another grainy, black-and-white war photo — an Associated Press dispatch from a divisive conflict being staged some 9,000 miles from North Carolina.
For one High Point family, though, the photo hit close to home. The injured soldier, though not identified in the caption, was their son — Lance Cpl. William Michael “Mike” Welch.
LAURA GREENE | HPE
Marine Corps veteran Mike Welch, of Archdale, tracked down the corpsman who saved his life in Vietnam more than 45 years ago.
“Yeah, my dad saw it in the paper and recognized me, but he didn’t show it to my mother until about a week after I got wounded,” says Welch, now 65 and living in Archdale. “He was afraid my mom would flip out and have a heart attack or something.”
Joseph Grayson Welch tried desperately to find out what had happened to his son — and whether he was even still alive — all the while keeping the newspaper from his wife, Mildred, and hoping nobody else would recognize their son in the photo and call it to her attention.
One day, finally, a cab pulled into the Welches’ driveway on Brentwood Street — a universally understood sign that they were about to receive a telegram from the military about their son. To their great relief, Welch had not died, but the telegram reported he had sustained “fragmentation wounds to the left ear, neck, both hands, back and both buttocks, with an open fracture of the left arm.” Hostile mortar fire, the telegram said. His condition was listed as “serious,” his prognosis “guarded.”
Subsequent telegrams provided medical updates — and some measure of comfort — for Welch’s parents, who are now deceased.
read more here
US Army fighting Ebola in West Africa
Military Responders Help Battle Ebola Outbreak
US Department of Defense
By Terri Moon Cronk and Cheryl Pellerin
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2014
Defense Department personnel are on the ground in West Africa and in U.S. laboratories fighting to control the worst outbreak in the African history of the Ebola virus, which a senior Army infectious disease doctor called a “scourge of mankind.”
Army Col. (Dr.) James Cummings, director of the Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System, or GEIS, a division of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, said the battle against the virus since the outbreak began in West Africa in March focuses on trying to stop disease transmission. At the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, or CDC, in Atlanta, Director Dr. Tom Frieden has announced that the health agency has raised the travel advisory to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone where he said the Ebola outbreak is worsening, to Level 3 -- a warning to avoid unnecessary travel to those countries.
CDC already has disease detectives and other staff in those countries to track the epidemic, advise embassies, coordinate with the World Health Organization, or WHO, strengthen ministries of health, and improve case finding, contact tracing, infection control and health communication.
Over the next 30 days, in what Frieden described as a surge, CDC will send another 50 disease-control specialists into the three countries to help establish emergency operations centers and develop structured ways to address the outbreak.
“They will also help strengthen laboratory networks so testing for the disease can be done rapidly,” the director said.
For travelers in and out of the three West African countries, CDC experts will strengthen country capacity to monitor those who may have been exposed to Ebola, and each country in the region has committed to doing this, Frieden said.
“It's not easy to do,” he added, “but we will have experts from our division that do airport screening and try to ensure that people who shouldn't be traveling aren't traveling.”
read more here
US Department of Defense
By Terri Moon Cronk and Cheryl Pellerin
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2014
Defense Department personnel are on the ground in West Africa and in U.S. laboratories fighting to control the worst outbreak in the African history of the Ebola virus, which a senior Army infectious disease doctor called a “scourge of mankind.”
Army Col. (Dr.) James Cummings, director of the Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System, or GEIS, a division of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, said the battle against the virus since the outbreak began in West Africa in March focuses on trying to stop disease transmission. At the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, or CDC, in Atlanta, Director Dr. Tom Frieden has announced that the health agency has raised the travel advisory to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone where he said the Ebola outbreak is worsening, to Level 3 -- a warning to avoid unnecessary travel to those countries.
CDC already has disease detectives and other staff in those countries to track the epidemic, advise embassies, coordinate with the World Health Organization, or WHO, strengthen ministries of health, and improve case finding, contact tracing, infection control and health communication.
Over the next 30 days, in what Frieden described as a surge, CDC will send another 50 disease-control specialists into the three countries to help establish emergency operations centers and develop structured ways to address the outbreak.
“They will also help strengthen laboratory networks so testing for the disease can be done rapidly,” the director said.
For travelers in and out of the three West African countries, CDC experts will strengthen country capacity to monitor those who may have been exposed to Ebola, and each country in the region has committed to doing this, Frieden said.
“It's not easy to do,” he added, “but we will have experts from our division that do airport screening and try to ensure that people who shouldn't be traveling aren't traveling.”
read more here
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