Joint Chiefs recommend quarantine for all US troops returning from West Africa
Stars and Stripes
By Jon Harper and Chris Carroll
Published: October 28, 2014
WASHINGTON — The military’s top brass has recommended that all American troops returning from the mission to combat Ebola in West Africa be quarantined, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.
Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters that Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel “shares the concerns by the chiefs about the safety and well-being not only of our troops but also of their families,” but has not yet made a decision about whether to approve the recommendation from the Joint Chiefs.
Hagel received the chiefs’ recommendation on Tuesday, shortly after Army leadership decided to isolate Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams and 10 other soldiers for three weeks to ensure they are not infected after spending time in Liberia, where they were participating in Operation United Assistance.
They and other soldiers arriving in Vicenza, Italy, will be allowed no physical contact with family members but will have access to telephones and the Internet, Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Alayne Conway said.
read more here
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
MLB: Are Veteran Tributes Too Much?
A veteran says enough is enough when it comes to tributes for the soldiers
NBC Sports
Hardball Talk
Craig Calcaterra
Oct 28, 2014
KANSAS CITY — We’ve touched on the idea of conspicuous patriotism and tributes to the soldiers before — ESPN’s Howard Bryant wrote an excellent article about it last year — but today we have a thought-provoking piece from a veteran, Rory Fanning, talking about tribute concerts and the public thanking of the troops at sporting events:
Fanning makes the argument that by doing things like these, we necessarily give our approval to the country’s military policies of the past 13 years and stifle dissent. I think there is a lot of truth to that. But more broadly, I think the obligatory manner in which we have imported patriotism and honoring of the military into baseball has caused us to lose sight of the fact that — even if doing these things are good and admirable — when we make our patriotism mindless, we lose an essential part of it, which is thoughtfulness. And, yes, to Fanning’s point, when we make our acts of patriotism obligatory we take away another essential thing: the freedom of dissent.
I think we’ve reached that point in baseball. Major League Baseball’s charitable efforts, specifically for the Welcome Back Veterans and Wounded Warrior charities are admirable. And there is no question in my mind that they are well-intentioned. But, at times, one does feel the sense of formality and a sense of the obligatory with respect to all of this. And no small amount of corporate sponsorship is involved, in effect, allowing corporations to ride on the back of patriotic sentiment in an effort, intentionally or unintentionally, to bolster their own image.
read more here
Are there ever too many things being done for them? My vote is HELL NO!
NBC Sports
Hardball Talk
Craig Calcaterra
Oct 28, 2014
KANSAS CITY — We’ve touched on the idea of conspicuous patriotism and tributes to the soldiers before — ESPN’s Howard Bryant wrote an excellent article about it last year — but today we have a thought-provoking piece from a veteran, Rory Fanning, talking about tribute concerts and the public thanking of the troops at sporting events:
"We use the term hero in part because it makes us feel good and in part because it shuts soldiers up (which, believe me, makes the rest of us feel better). Labeled as a hero, it’s also hard to think twice about putting your weapons down. Thank yous to heroes discourage dissent, which is one reason military bureaucrats feed off the term . . . Then you have Bruce Springsteen and Metallica telling them “thank you” for wearing that uniform, that they are heroes, that whatever it is they’re doing in distant lands while we go about our lives here isn’t an issue. There is even the possibility that, one day, you, the veteran, might be ushered onto that stage during a concert or onto the field during a ballgame for a very public thank you. The conflicted soldier thinks twice."
Fanning makes the argument that by doing things like these, we necessarily give our approval to the country’s military policies of the past 13 years and stifle dissent. I think there is a lot of truth to that. But more broadly, I think the obligatory manner in which we have imported patriotism and honoring of the military into baseball has caused us to lose sight of the fact that — even if doing these things are good and admirable — when we make our patriotism mindless, we lose an essential part of it, which is thoughtfulness. And, yes, to Fanning’s point, when we make our acts of patriotism obligatory we take away another essential thing: the freedom of dissent.
I think we’ve reached that point in baseball. Major League Baseball’s charitable efforts, specifically for the Welcome Back Veterans and Wounded Warrior charities are admirable. And there is no question in my mind that they are well-intentioned. But, at times, one does feel the sense of formality and a sense of the obligatory with respect to all of this. And no small amount of corporate sponsorship is involved, in effect, allowing corporations to ride on the back of patriotic sentiment in an effort, intentionally or unintentionally, to bolster their own image.
read more here
Are there ever too many things being done for them? My vote is HELL NO!
Sgt. Maj. Paul Archie talks about career and what happened besides viral video
Sgt. Major speaks out: 'My career was defaced'
Marine Corps Times
By Hope Hodge Seck
Staff writer
October 27, 2014
Sgt. Maj. Paul Archie was fuming.
All day Marines had been coming to him with questions about a man who stood protesting outside Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, wearing the distinctive drill instructor’s campaign cover, known affectionately as a “Smokey Bear.” Like the Marines he spoke with, Archie felt that wearing the uniform item in a political protest was inappropriate and even against official regulations.
When he confronted Marine vet and former drill instructor Ethan Arguello, the heated exchange was caught on video by another protester. The 32-second clip that showed the two nose-to-nose in a shouting match was uploaded to YouTube and went viral, watched by more than 200,000 people.
The firestorm of news coverage the video created, coupled with third-degree assault charges pressed by Arguello that were later dropped, would ultimately result in Archie’s resignation from his post as sergeant major for Parris Island and the Eastern Recruiting District, along with his retirement from the Marine Corps soon after.
read more here
Marine Corps Times
By Hope Hodge Seck
Staff writer
October 27, 2014
Sgt. Maj. Paul Archie was fuming.
All day Marines had been coming to him with questions about a man who stood protesting outside Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, wearing the distinctive drill instructor’s campaign cover, known affectionately as a “Smokey Bear.” Like the Marines he spoke with, Archie felt that wearing the uniform item in a political protest was inappropriate and even against official regulations.
When he confronted Marine vet and former drill instructor Ethan Arguello, the heated exchange was caught on video by another protester. The 32-second clip that showed the two nose-to-nose in a shouting match was uploaded to YouTube and went viral, watched by more than 200,000 people.
The firestorm of news coverage the video created, coupled with third-degree assault charges pressed by Arguello that were later dropped, would ultimately result in Archie’s resignation from his post as sergeant major for Parris Island and the Eastern Recruiting District, along with his retirement from the Marine Corps soon after.
read more here
Police Officers Win Lawsuit Against C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center
VA settles suit by its police officers at Young VA for nearly $1 million
Tampa Bay Times
William R. Levesque
Times Staff Writer
Monday, October 27, 2014
The Department of Veterans Affairs has formally settled a federal lawsuit filed by eight agency police officers who worked at the C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center for $960,000, according to court documents filed Monday.
With recent settlements to three other VA police officers at the Pinellas facility, the total payout by the VA is $1.3 million.
Such settlements are usually confidential, and the public rarely sees confirmation of cash paid out. But in a highly unusual move, the officers' attorney, Ward Meythaler, and the VA asked a federal judge in Tampa to enforce the terms of the settlement. The court file does not show why they made the request.
As a result, U.S. District Court Judge Mary Scriven ordered the settlement to be filed and made part of the public record.
Meythaler and a VA spokesman declined to comment. In the settlement, the VA acknowledged no wrongdoing.
A trial would have offered a potentially embarrassing glimpse into the Young VA's small police force and its operations. Police leadership and officers have long been at odds over allegations that include sexual harassment, racial discrimination, physical altercations among officers and even disputes concerning policing strategies.
read more here
Tampa Bay Times
William R. Levesque
Times Staff Writer
Monday, October 27, 2014
The Department of Veterans Affairs has formally settled a federal lawsuit filed by eight agency police officers who worked at the C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center for $960,000, according to court documents filed Monday.
With recent settlements to three other VA police officers at the Pinellas facility, the total payout by the VA is $1.3 million.
Such settlements are usually confidential, and the public rarely sees confirmation of cash paid out. But in a highly unusual move, the officers' attorney, Ward Meythaler, and the VA asked a federal judge in Tampa to enforce the terms of the settlement. The court file does not show why they made the request.
As a result, U.S. District Court Judge Mary Scriven ordered the settlement to be filed and made part of the public record.
Meythaler and a VA spokesman declined to comment. In the settlement, the VA acknowledged no wrongdoing.
A trial would have offered a potentially embarrassing glimpse into the Young VA's small police force and its operations. Police leadership and officers have long been at odds over allegations that include sexual harassment, racial discrimination, physical altercations among officers and even disputes concerning policing strategies.
read more here
National Military Suicide Survivors Seminar Offered Support
Military suicide survivors help each other heal at seminar
Stars and Stripes
By Heath Druzin
Published: October 28, 2014
First she asked the hotel manager where her husband was staying, and he wordlessly backed into another room, shutting the door to avoid her. A trauma specialist told her to lie to her children about what had happened.
And then there was the priest.
Addressing the newly widowed woman, just steps away from her Catholic husband’s body, he said, “You know what Catholics believe about suicide? It’s a sin.”
“I said, ‘Are you telling me that I should tell my kids that their dad is not only dead, but that he’s also in hell?’” she recalled. “And he just looked at me.”
That experience in 2005 started Ruocco on what has become a full-time mission to help fellow survivors cope, heal and thrive. That often starts with an annual seminar for and by those who have lost troops and veterans to suicide.
Stars and Stripes
By Heath Druzin
Published: October 28, 2014
Two women hug at a remembrance ceremony at the National Military Suicide Survivor Seminar earlier this month in St. Petersburg, Fla. The program brings together survivors of service member loved ones who committed suicide.ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Sitting and sobbing outside the hotel room where her Marine husband had just hanged himself, Kim Ruocco said she was horrified to find that nearly everyone who responded to the scene somehow managed to make her feel worse.
Heath Druzin/Stars and Stripes
First she asked the hotel manager where her husband was staying, and he wordlessly backed into another room, shutting the door to avoid her. A trauma specialist told her to lie to her children about what had happened.
And then there was the priest.
Addressing the newly widowed woman, just steps away from her Catholic husband’s body, he said, “You know what Catholics believe about suicide? It’s a sin.”
“I said, ‘Are you telling me that I should tell my kids that their dad is not only dead, but that he’s also in hell?’” she recalled. “And he just looked at me.”
That experience in 2005 started Ruocco on what has become a full-time mission to help fellow survivors cope, heal and thrive. That often starts with an annual seminar for and by those who have lost troops and veterans to suicide.
As a testament to the seriousness of the epidemic and the growing willingness of survivors to talk about their experience, the TAPS database for suicide survivors has swelled to more than 5,000.
read more here
Crestview Florida On List for Successful Veterans
Where Do America’s Most Successful Veterans Live?
SpareFoot
Military Storage Station
Elizabeth Whalen
October 27, 2014
(Linked from AL.com)
From the first day of basic training to the last day of a long deployment, and all the time in between, members of the military develop high levels of discipline and focus. By the time they’re discharged, they know more than the average Joe or Jane about hard work.
Many also have developed specialized skills, such as flying helicopters or running sophisticated computer networks, that employers value highly.
In fact, in some parts of the U.S., veterans are substantially better off than their non-veteran counterparts in terms of income, employment and education. In honor of Veterans Day, MilitaryStorage.com assembled a list to salute the places where America’s most successful veterans live. These are the 12 metro areas where veterans are doing the best compared with non-veterans. Many of these areas, but not all of them, are home to military bases.
SpareFoot
Military Storage Station
Elizabeth Whalen
October 27, 2014
(Linked from AL.com)
From the first day of basic training to the last day of a long deployment, and all the time in between, members of the military develop high levels of discipline and focus. By the time they’re discharged, they know more than the average Joe or Jane about hard work.
Many also have developed specialized skills, such as flying helicopters or running sophisticated computer networks, that employers value highly.
In fact, in some parts of the U.S., veterans are substantially better off than their non-veteran counterparts in terms of income, employment and education. In honor of Veterans Day, MilitaryStorage.com assembled a list to salute the places where America’s most successful veterans live. These are the 12 metro areas where veterans are doing the best compared with non-veterans. Many of these areas, but not all of them, are home to military bases.
6. Crestview, FL
Crestview, about 50 miles northeast of Pensacola, is home to Eglin Air Force Base.
Metro population: 253,618
Veterans’ median income: $47,064
Non-veterans’ median income: $21,578
Non-veterans’ median income: $21,578
Veterans’ employment rate: 94 percent
Non-veterans’ employment rate: 94 percent
Non-veterans’ employment rate: 94 percent
Veterans with a bachelor’s degree or higher: 35 percent
Non-veterans with a bachelor’s degree or higher: 22 percent
Non-veterans with a bachelor’s degree or higher: 22 percent
Some See Higher Fraud Risk as More Vets Seek Compensation
They are still at it! Trying to blame veterans again. This article headlines "Some See Higher Fraud Risk as More Vets Seek Compensation, Overloading Doctors" but when you read the article, there are few examples of it happening. Just as in real life, fraud among veterans is pretty rare.
Does this mean mean frauds are a huge problem or does this mean they simply don't know yet?
Are investigators, doctors and claims processors overworked? You bet but they were before the rules were changed to help Vietnam Veterans file claims for PTSD and Agent Orange after decades of being left behind without hope of getting help to heal.
When we face how long there has been thousands in the backlog of claims, those claims represent a tiny fraction of frauds. The truth is, less than half seek help or compensation even though they need it and earned it. While some see "fraud" others see hope that veterans are finally seeking help.
"Regulators have seen evidence that fraud is slipping through. The VA’s Office of the Inspector General says it investigates only a small percentage of complaints it receives about possible false claims, but that “stolen valor” arrests—cases that involve false claims of military service or disability—are on the rise, with 72 arrests so far in 2014, up 71% since 2009."
Does this mean mean frauds are a huge problem or does this mean they simply don't know yet?
Are investigators, doctors and claims processors overworked? You bet but they were before the rules were changed to help Vietnam Veterans file claims for PTSD and Agent Orange after decades of being left behind without hope of getting help to heal.
When we face how long there has been thousands in the backlog of claims, those claims represent a tiny fraction of frauds. The truth is, less than half seek help or compensation even though they need it and earned it. While some see "fraud" others see hope that veterans are finally seeking help.
VA Disability Claims Soar
Some See Higher Fraud Risk as More Vets Seek Compensation, Overloading Doctors
Wall Street Journal
Daniel Huang
October 27, 2014
Requests for disability pay by veterans have ballooned during the past five years, overloading many doctors who evaluate the claims and increasing the possibility of fraud, according to current and former VA staff and government watchdogs.
From fiscal 2009 to 2013, the number of medical disability claims received by the Veterans Benefits Administration—a branch of the Department of Veterans Affairs—climbed 44%, while the number of doctors called upon to evaluate the claims rose only 22%, according to the VA.
“Claims are coming in a lot faster than what the VA is able to handle,” said Daniel Bertoni, a director at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which investigates federal spending. A March 2013 GAO report found that claims jumped 29% from 2009 to 2011 but the agency processed only 6% more.
read more here
Monday, October 27, 2014
Fort Campbell Boots Honor Fallen
UPDATE
A last-minute outpouring of support for massive memorial project at Fort Campbell ensures every fallen hero since 9/11 – all 7,000 – will be remembered for Military Survivor Appreciation Week
Clarksville Online
October 27, 2014
Fort Campbell, KY – In honor of Military Survivor Appreciation Week, formerly known as Gold Star Family Appreciation Week, more than 5,000 boots are on display on the lawn of the 101st Airborne Division Headquarters.
The boots have been collected from military service members across Fort Campbell and abroad to honor service members who died in support of the Global War on Terror since September 11th, 2001.
This display of combat boots honors the memories and sacrifice of the military men and women who gave their lives while serving our country.
read more here
Durbin, an Iraq War veteran, testified Tuesday that he was accosted and shot while sleeping in his car on Allison Hill after giving a fellow soldier a ride home.Fort Campbell Survivor Outreach Services Honors Fallen Soldiers with Boot Display
Clarksville Online
October 27, 2014
Soldiers with the 551st Military Police Company and 1/506 Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team arrived first thing Friday morning to start setting up the Survivor Outreach Services boot display honoring service members who died in support of the Global War on Terror since Sept. 11, 2001.
(Photo by Nondice Thurman, Fort Campbell Public Affairs Office)
Fort Campbell, KY – In honor of Military Survivor Appreciation Week, formerly known as Gold Star Family Appreciation Week, more than 5,000 boots are on display on the lawn of the 101st Airborne Division Headquarters.
The boots have been collected from military service members across Fort Campbell and abroad to honor service members who died in support of the Global War on Terror since September 11th, 2001.
This display of combat boots honors the memories and sacrifice of the military men and women who gave their lives while serving our country.
read more here
Soldiers Fighting Ebola Coming Home to Quarantine
Will they get hazardous pay for this?
ARMY TO QUARANTINE TROOPS WHO WERE FIGHTING EBOLA
ABC News 7 Los Angeles
Luis Martinez
October 27, 2014
The Army has decided that troops returning from deployments to Liberia should be quarantined so they can be monitored for possible exposure to the Ebola virus and a general was among the first people affected.
The order immediately affected up to a dozen soldiers who returned to their home base in Italy this weekend, including Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams, the former top U.S. commander in Liberia.
"Out of an abundance of caution the Army directed a small number of personnel, about a dozen, that recently returned to Italy to be monitored in a separate location at their home station of Vicenza," Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said today. "None of these individuals have shown any symptoms of exposure."
The Army later released a statement confirming that the decision was made by Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff.
"The Army Chief of Staff has directed a 21-day controlled monitoring period for all redeploying soldiers returning from Operation United Assistance," the statement said. "He has done this out of caution to ensure soldiers, family members and their surrounding communities are confident that we are taking all steps necessary to protect their health."
read more here
While You Were in Vietnam, Michael Savage Was Hugging Trees!
In case you've been unplugged since last week, you may have missed Michael Savage's latest group to hate. Our troops and veterans with PTSD. He went on a rant about saying this nation needs more men like him. He said he was tired of the celebration of weakness after a caller said he was a veteran with PTSD. Savage didn't understand PTSD any more than he understood that someone could become a veteran by 20.
Guess he never heard of these
You can catch up on the rest of what Savage had to say using junk science on combat and PTSD
These are the most important things you really need to know when it comes to the source of the rant.
Michael Savage Old Enough to Serve, Didn't
It is amazing what you can find online. This one from 2009 about the hater holds a lot of information.
First, he hates a lot of different groups so much so that this happened
Profile: Michael Savage, the US shock jock banned from Britain
Instead of going to Vietnam he was doing this
So there you have it. While Vietnam veterans, most of them under 21, which Savage thinks is strange, were risking their lives,,,,Savage was hugging trees and pushing for tree czars.
So much for the claim this nation needs more men like him while slams veterans with PTSD. Now you know where he's coming from even though he has no clue where you were or why you have PTSD.
Guess he never heard of these
The youngest person ever to receive the Medal of Honor was probably William "Willie" Johnston, who earned the Medal during the Civil War just prior to his 12th birthday and received his award 6 weeks after his 13th. The oldest recipient was probably General Douglas MacArthur who was 62 years old when he earned the Medal. World War II hero Jack Lucas became the youngest man in THIS CENTURY to receive the award when he threw is body over TWO grenades at Iwo Jima just 5 days after his 17th birthday. (At the time of his heroism he had already been in the Marine Corps for THREE years.
You can catch up on the rest of what Savage had to say using junk science on combat and PTSD
These are the most important things you really need to know when it comes to the source of the rant.
Michael Savage Old Enough to Serve, Didn't
It is amazing what you can find online. This one from 2009 about the hater holds a lot of information.
First, he hates a lot of different groups so much so that this happened
Profile: Michael Savage, the US shock jock banned from Britain
"Get Aids and die, you pig," the American radio "shock jock" told a purportedly homosexual man who once badmouthed his teeth.
Latinos "breed like rabbits"
Muslims "need deporting"
autistic children, "in 99 per cent of cases it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out".
Instead of going to Vietnam he was doing this
After being awarded a biology degree and seeking to emulate his hero, Charles Darwin, he moved to Hawaii in the 1960s where he earned master's degrees in anthropology and botany, travelling the South Pacific investigating the medicinal properties of plants. (Being abroad, he missed the Vietnam draft).
An expert on herbology and homeopathy, he has written 18 books, including one in which he advocated the therapeutic uses of marijuana and another about the importance of re-greening America in which he wrote about our "plant allies" and called for every state to have a "tree czar".
Angry that no publisher wanted a book he had written blaming Asian immigrants for bringing in infectious diseases, he recorded a mock radio show with his wife, Janet, and two of his friends acting as callers.
So there you have it. While Vietnam veterans, most of them under 21, which Savage thinks is strange, were risking their lives,,,,Savage was hugging trees and pushing for tree czars.
So much for the claim this nation needs more men like him while slams veterans with PTSD. Now you know where he's coming from even though he has no clue where you were or why you have PTSD.
VA Canceled Appointment for Mental Illness Awareness Week?
Update to the original story
Local veteran finds 'twisted humor' in VA's ironic decision -- but she's not laughing
Counseling session a victim of 'Mental Health Week'
By Kevin Leininger of The News-Sentinel
November 4, 2014
Leslie Haines figures it could have been worse.
"I'm just glad it wasn't "suicide prevention day," she said, remembering how her Oct. 9 counseling session for post-traumatic stress disorder had been canceled -- without warning, she says -- so 47 staff members at Fort Wayne's VA Medical Center could attend a Mental Health Awareness week training session.
But if the Army Reserve major and executive director of Lutheran Military Veterans and Families Ministry was able to appreciate the irony in her aggravation -- and she was -- Haines also believes the incident illustrates a potential danger for people already struggling with serious issues that may have been exacerbated by the very bureaucracy that is supposed to be helping them.
"I can generally find twisted humor in things," said Haines, who served as a military police officer at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and injured while serving in Iraq -- duty that also produced emotional scars she is reluctant to discuss but remain years later. "With PTSD you're already dealing with trust issues, and is somebody breaks that trust, it only erodes further. I'm glad (Lutheran Military Veterans) is a not-for-profit organization where we don't look at the clock, with no bureaucratic issues to deal with."
read more here
Veteran's canceled appointment drips with irony
Army Times
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
October 27, 2014
In October, Army Reserve Maj. Leslie Haines walked into the Fort Wayne campus of the Northern Indiana VA Health Care System for her regularly scheduled appointment at the PTSD clinic.
The session had been on the books for months; Haines says she attends appointments like clockwork to treat her “high-level PTSD, that’s often exacerbated” by her civilian job — counseling troops and veterans.
But on Oct. 9, the clinic receptionist told Haines her appointment that day had been canceled.
The reason?
Mental Illness Awareness Week.
The staff, it seems, was attending a guest lecture on resiliency from an inspirational speaker.
“Do they see the irony in that?” Haines said. “I was thinking, I’m glad it wasn’t National Suicide Prevention Day.”
read more here
Two Camp Pendleton Marines Injured After Humvee Crash
Humvee crash shuts down traffic near Camp Pendleton
FOX5 NEWS
BY FOX 5 DIGITAL TEAM
OCTOBER 26, 2014,
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Two Camp Pendleton Marines were injured Sunday when their Humvee crashed into a truck and overturned on southbound Interstate 5 near the Aliso Creek rest area.
The 45-year-old truck driver told California Highway Patrol officers he saw the Humvee approaching from behind shortly before 10 a.m., CHP Officer Jim Bettencourt said. The Humvee struck the back right corner of the truck and spun out of control, first up the right shoulder embankment and then across all four lanes of traffic before hitting the center divider.
read more here
FOX5 NEWS
BY FOX 5 DIGITAL TEAM
OCTOBER 26, 2014,
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Two Camp Pendleton Marines were injured Sunday when their Humvee crashed into a truck and overturned on southbound Interstate 5 near the Aliso Creek rest area.
The 45-year-old truck driver told California Highway Patrol officers he saw the Humvee approaching from behind shortly before 10 a.m., CHP Officer Jim Bettencourt said. The Humvee struck the back right corner of the truck and spun out of control, first up the right shoulder embankment and then across all four lanes of traffic before hitting the center divider.
read more here
Tami Mielke, who was retired by the time she ended her life
Tami's Torment: 'Suicides are a problem in the Guard'
Argus Leader
Steve Young
October 25, 2014
Retired members say National Guard doesn’t understand how to deal with PTSD
Tami Mielke's decision to end her life raises serious questions about South Dakota's care of its emotionally wounded warriors.
A gunshot June 24 at Mielke's rural Sioux Falls acreage silenced the demons that came back from Iraq with the 50-year-old former Air National Guardsman. But it hasn't quieted concerns about the way the Guard helped and supported her after she returned — or any other members who struggle with their war experiences.
And there have been others.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America, 12 South Dakota Army National Guardsmen and one airman have died by suicide, including three who took their lives this year. None of those include Tami Mielke, who was retired by the time she ended her life.
Though just six of those 13 guardsmen had deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, "Suicides are a problem in the Guard nationally, and we're a cross section of that," said Maj. Gen. Tim Reisch, head of the South Dakota National Guard. "We acknowledge that it's a problem here."
read more here
National Guard PTSD I Grieve
Argus Leader
Steve Young
October 25, 2014
Tami Mielke, a lieutenant colonel in the South Dakota Air National Guard who suffered from PTSD after a deployment in Iraq in 2010, in her official portrait as Mission Support Group Commander.
(Photo: Submitted Photo)
Retired members say National Guard doesn’t understand how to deal with PTSD
Tami Mielke's decision to end her life raises serious questions about South Dakota's care of its emotionally wounded warriors.
A gunshot June 24 at Mielke's rural Sioux Falls acreage silenced the demons that came back from Iraq with the 50-year-old former Air National Guardsman. But it hasn't quieted concerns about the way the Guard helped and supported her after she returned — or any other members who struggle with their war experiences.
And there have been others.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America, 12 South Dakota Army National Guardsmen and one airman have died by suicide, including three who took their lives this year. None of those include Tami Mielke, who was retired by the time she ended her life.
Though just six of those 13 guardsmen had deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, "Suicides are a problem in the Guard nationally, and we're a cross section of that," said Maj. Gen. Tim Reisch, head of the South Dakota National Guard. "We acknowledge that it's a problem here."
read more here
National Guard PTSD I Grieve
Delta Airline Pilot-Navy Reserve Officer Death Under Investigation in Qatar
Navy officer dies in Qatar
Cmdr. Christopher Kalafut, 49 of Oceanside, dies in non-combat incident
UT San Diego
By Jeanette Steele
OCT. 26, 2014
A 49-year-old Navy officer from Oceanside died Friday in Qatar in a non-combat incident, the Pentagon said Sunday.
Cmdr. Christopher E. Kalafut was in Doha at Al Udeid Air Base. He was part of U.S. Central Command's Naval Amphibious Liaison Element.
He was serving in Qatar as part of the war effort in Afghanistan.
The Pentagon said the incident is under investigation.
Kalafut was a Navy Reservist who had worked as an airline pilot for Delta since 2001, based out of Atlanta. He and his spouse, Mary, bore five children ranging from age 12 to 21.
A Delta release said the family resides in Acworth, Ga., and noted that he was the subject of an article in Georgia's Marietta Daily Journal on Father's Day this year.
read more here
Cmdr. Christopher Kalafut, 49 of Oceanside, dies in non-combat incident
UT San Diego
By Jeanette Steele
OCT. 26, 2014
A 49-year-old Navy officer from Oceanside died Friday in Qatar in a non-combat incident, the Pentagon said Sunday.
Cmdr. Christopher E. Kalafut was in Doha at Al Udeid Air Base. He was part of U.S. Central Command's Naval Amphibious Liaison Element.
He was serving in Qatar as part of the war effort in Afghanistan.
The Pentagon said the incident is under investigation.
Kalafut was a Navy Reservist who had worked as an airline pilot for Delta since 2001, based out of Atlanta. He and his spouse, Mary, bore five children ranging from age 12 to 21.
A Delta release said the family resides in Acworth, Ga., and noted that he was the subject of an article in Georgia's Marietta Daily Journal on Father's Day this year.
read more here
Florida mental health system is completely ill-equipped to handle this crisis
For Forgotten Soldier, a march through mental health gauntlet
Miami Herald
BY CARLI TEPROFF-CTEPROFF
10/25/2014
They call him the Forgotten Soldier — although actually he served in the Marines.
At 59, his lawyers say, he suffers from dementia and traumatic brain injuries and can barely talk, walk or take care of himself. But for years he became a human shuttlecock, batted to and fro between jail and state hospitals and mental health facilities.
Attorneys in the Broward Public Defender’s Office say the man — whose advocates ask that he not be identified — personifies the way the United States is ill-serving a vulnerable population, the growing ranks of individuals, many of them veterans, coping with early-onset dementia. They say it is particularly shocking that it happened in Broward, a county that prides itself on its progressiveness, and pioneered the nation’s first felony mental health court.
“This is a five-alarm alert to the community that says your mother and father are not safe,” said Howard Finkelstein, Broward’s elected public defender.
Frustrated and discouraged by his plight, Chief Assistant Public Defender Owen McNamee and Assistant Public Defender Douglas Brawley — also the man’s attorney — wrote a letter outlining his trek through the system. It was sent to the Department of Children & Families, to judges and to county commissioners in hopes that more money will be fed into the system to ensure caring treatment of those with similar needs.
read more here
Miami Herald
BY CARLI TEPROFF-CTEPROFF
10/25/2014
“The Forgotten Soldier is just the beginning of the dementia avalanche that is coming our way,” the public defenders wrote. “The Florida mental health system is completely ill-equipped to handle this crisis.”
They call him the Forgotten Soldier — although actually he served in the Marines.
At 59, his lawyers say, he suffers from dementia and traumatic brain injuries and can barely talk, walk or take care of himself. But for years he became a human shuttlecock, batted to and fro between jail and state hospitals and mental health facilities.
Attorneys in the Broward Public Defender’s Office say the man — whose advocates ask that he not be identified — personifies the way the United States is ill-serving a vulnerable population, the growing ranks of individuals, many of them veterans, coping with early-onset dementia. They say it is particularly shocking that it happened in Broward, a county that prides itself on its progressiveness, and pioneered the nation’s first felony mental health court.
“This is a five-alarm alert to the community that says your mother and father are not safe,” said Howard Finkelstein, Broward’s elected public defender.
Frustrated and discouraged by his plight, Chief Assistant Public Defender Owen McNamee and Assistant Public Defender Douglas Brawley — also the man’s attorney — wrote a letter outlining his trek through the system. It was sent to the Department of Children & Families, to judges and to county commissioners in hopes that more money will be fed into the system to ensure caring treatment of those with similar needs.
read more here
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Crowd Welcomes Home 150 Army Reservists
Marion gives U. S. Army Reserves unit a warm welcome home
SWVA.com
Linda Burchette
Staff Writer
October 24, 2014
It was a much happier gathering in downtown Marion Friday than a year ago.
In August 2013 the crowds were sending U.S. Army Reserves 760th Engineering Company off to Afghanistan with tears and best wishes for their safety. Yesterday, they were welcoming the soldiers home with smiles and congratulations for a job well done.
The 760th, a vertical engineer company of about 150 members organized to handle a wide range of missions, had been deployed to Afghanistan for a retrograde mission to close forward operating bases and pack up and send equipment back to the United States.
read more here
SWVA.com
Linda Burchette
Staff Writer
October 24, 2014
In August 2013 the crowds were sending U.S. Army Reserves 760th Engineering Company off to Afghanistan with tears and best wishes for their safety. Yesterday, they were welcoming the soldiers home with smiles and congratulations for a job well done.
The 760th, a vertical engineer company of about 150 members organized to handle a wide range of missions, had been deployed to Afghanistan for a retrograde mission to close forward operating bases and pack up and send equipment back to the United States.
read more here
Junk Science Behind Michael Savage's Attacks On Military Troops With PTSD
I can't write some of the words used by veterans when we talked about Michael Savage attacking veterans. I got about as bad as I could get when I posted Veterans Fed Up With Michael Savage After PTSD Rant
There is an article over on Media Matters that pretty much summed up where the crap Savage came up with came from. No, it wasn't in his own delusional-dysfunctional head. It is nothing more than, as Lisa Reed put it, "junk science" we've all been fighting against for the last 40 years.
I wonder if Savage has the balls to tell off a Navy SEAL and tell him he's a crybaby while explaining how exactly he celebrates weakness.
There is an article over on Media Matters that pretty much summed up where the crap Savage came up with came from. No, it wasn't in his own delusional-dysfunctional head. It is nothing more than, as Lisa Reed put it, "junk science" we've all been fighting against for the last 40 years.
The Junk Science Behind Michael Savage's Attacks On Military Troops With PTSD
Media Matters
Lisa Reed
October 26, 2014
Last week, Michael Savage leveled his latest in a long string of attacks on Americans with mental illness and the medical community that works to help them. After a veteran caller with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) expressed support for the city of San Francisco naming a bridge after the late Robin Williams, the right-wing radio host announced that he is "so sick and tired of everyone with their complaints about PTSD, depression," asserting that it's a sign of a "weak, sick, broken nation."
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), approximately 5.2 million adults have PTSD within a given year. As of 2012, mental illness was the leading reason for active-duty hospitalizations in the military, and the VA estimates that up to 20 percent of veterans who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars since 2001 suffer from PTSD. For veterans who left the military between October 2002 and July 2011, nearly 200,000 had a provisional diagnosis for PTSD, not including those who went undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. And the Institute of Medicine reported in June that "PTSD is the third most common major service-connected disability after hearing loss and ringing of the ears."
PTSD isn't just a combat-related injury. It can result from various traumatic incidents, ranging from child abuse to car accidents to muggings to sexual assault. A fight-or-flight response can be triggered by things that remind the survivor of her trauma, or things that catch the person off-guard, like bright lights or loud noises. Often those with PTSD experience flashbacks, where memories and feelings associated with past trauma come rushing back as if the trauma was happening all over again.
In an interview with CNN, former U.S. Navy Seal Brandon Webb said that he had observed significant improvements in the way PTSD is reported and discussed within the military, but pointed out an even larger challenge that veterans face:
WEBB: Most of the veterans and active duty folks I speak to, actually their biggest fear is that this stigma is created in the media and elsewhere that these veterans, as they're transitioning from active duty to civilian life, that there's this stigma that they're damaged goods.
Webb also pointed out the positive qualities that veterans, even those with PTSD, can bring to the civilian working world that are often overlooked by the media: "They're leaders, they can think on their feet, and make incredibly tough decisions under extreme amounts of pressure." read more here
I wonder if Savage has the balls to tell off a Navy SEAL and tell him he's a crybaby while explaining how exactly he celebrates weakness.
Community Makes Home Better for Wounded Afghanistan Veteran
Community rallies to help soldier wounded in Afghanistan
Northwest Georgia News
October 26, 2014
ADAIRSVILLE — A community has rallied to ready a home for Army Spc. Eugene Perry Young, who was paralyzed last year by a suicide bomber a little more than four months into a nine-month deployment in Afghanistan. Young has been in a Veterans Administration hospital in Tampa for more than a year.
He and his family had planned to build a home there until June, when Young returned to the Adairsville-Calhoun area for the first time since the bombing.
“I actually never thought I was going to come back home. It’s a small town and kids want to get away, do something on their own,” Young said. “But when I got injured and I came back here, I just felt drawn to this place like this is where I should be.”
Young and his wife, Samantha, found a home in Adairsville, but the VA said it was not equipped to handle his needs.
Bartow County Emergency Management Agency Director Paul Cuprowski knew Young would need a ramp. He needs a wheelchair after a roadside bomb injured his spinal cord.
read more here
Northwest Georgia News
October 26, 2014
ADAIRSVILLE — A community has rallied to ready a home for Army Spc. Eugene Perry Young, who was paralyzed last year by a suicide bomber a little more than four months into a nine-month deployment in Afghanistan. Young has been in a Veterans Administration hospital in Tampa for more than a year.
He and his family had planned to build a home there until June, when Young returned to the Adairsville-Calhoun area for the first time since the bombing.
“I actually never thought I was going to come back home. It’s a small town and kids want to get away, do something on their own,” Young said. “But when I got injured and I came back here, I just felt drawn to this place like this is where I should be.”
Young and his wife, Samantha, found a home in Adairsville, but the VA said it was not equipped to handle his needs.
Bartow County Emergency Management Agency Director Paul Cuprowski knew Young would need a ramp. He needs a wheelchair after a roadside bomb injured his spinal cord.
read more here
Terrible Love the Movie for Veterans with PTSD
Behind Terrible Love Story Real Families
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 26, 2014
Life for veterans and families with PTSD can be terrible at times. So much so that it makes all the talk show tales of troubled marriages look easy. Speaking as a wife of a veteran with PTSD for 30 years, the movie Terrible Love comes as close as a civilian can get to seeing what our lives are like. Beyond the headlines there is real heartache.
Our lives are harder than most will ever know. Christopher Thomas wanted to tell our stories condensed in the story of a National Guardsman and his loving wife as their world fell apart. Our lives are complicated by the emotional rollercoaster corrupts even the strongest bond and while we fight to help our husbands/wives heal, we battle our own inner conflicts of wanting to stay and fight for the sake of those we love or walk away for our own futures. Can we do it? Can we fight hard enough and long enough to make it all work? Can we go on never knowing one moment to the next that will happen to us or because of us if we react wrongly?
The movie was intended to let families know we are not alone and what we are going through is our normal even though it is all abnormal to the rest of country.
We have to decide to keep fighting the VA for what they need and fighting to hang onto hope that it can get better or give up on all of it.
During the filming and editing Christopher struggled with getting the story right. He wanted to go beyond showing us we are not alone into reaching citizens trying to understand us when all they get are news reports on stories when it has been too late to do much good for anyone.
We were the audience he dedicated three years of his life to without being one of us. We were the people he spent countless hours and sleepless nights trying to get it right for and he achieved it. I've been reading reviews on Terrible Love but this one made me cringe
He learned what it was like because we spent countless hours on the phone and email Q and A for three years. He watched the videos I made, read the stories on Wounded Times and asked me about what he did not understand. He wanted to know about us as well as all the families I worked with over the years trying to get them to a point in their lives when loving them didn't feel so terrible.
After reading the review, this is the comment I had to leave.
The end of the movie does not have to be the end of their story. It isn't the end for any of us as long as we get the help we need to stay and fight for them side by side. Because people like Christopher Thomas are out there, we're a lot closer to changing the conversation from headlines to our reality.
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 26, 2014
Life for veterans and families with PTSD can be terrible at times. So much so that it makes all the talk show tales of troubled marriages look easy. Speaking as a wife of a veteran with PTSD for 30 years, the movie Terrible Love comes as close as a civilian can get to seeing what our lives are like. Beyond the headlines there is real heartache.
Our lives are harder than most will ever know. Christopher Thomas wanted to tell our stories condensed in the story of a National Guardsman and his loving wife as their world fell apart. Our lives are complicated by the emotional rollercoaster corrupts even the strongest bond and while we fight to help our husbands/wives heal, we battle our own inner conflicts of wanting to stay and fight for the sake of those we love or walk away for our own futures. Can we do it? Can we fight hard enough and long enough to make it all work? Can we go on never knowing one moment to the next that will happen to us or because of us if we react wrongly?
The movie was intended to let families know we are not alone and what we are going through is our normal even though it is all abnormal to the rest of country.
We have to decide to keep fighting the VA for what they need and fighting to hang onto hope that it can get better or give up on all of it.
During the filming and editing Christopher struggled with getting the story right. He wanted to go beyond showing us we are not alone into reaching citizens trying to understand us when all they get are news reports on stories when it has been too late to do much good for anyone.
We were the audience he dedicated three years of his life to without being one of us. We were the people he spent countless hours and sleepless nights trying to get it right for and he achieved it. I've been reading reviews on Terrible Love but this one made me cringe
"The big problem with this type of story right from the outset is that no matter what tricks a director employs, we will never know what it is like to go through something like that unless we actually do."(You can read more of this review below)
He learned what it was like because we spent countless hours on the phone and email Q and A for three years. He watched the videos I made, read the stories on Wounded Times and asked me about what he did not understand. He wanted to know about us as well as all the families I worked with over the years trying to get them to a point in their lives when loving them didn't feel so terrible.
After reading the review, this is the comment I had to leave.
Wounded Times Blog
I was the consultant on the PTSD part of this film. After 3 years of Christopher's heart invested in this project along with everyone else, I have mixed feelings about this review. I take your point on the music and the rest of the comments as truthful however it would have been more honest to also add in that this was his first movie and he did it out of love, not for his own glory.
Three years ago he called and wanted to learn about PTSD, what far too many were going through, because he wanted to do something to help. He wanted to tell a real story of what life was like but didn't have connections to make it happen. He did what he could with very little support, so what he managed to do with Terrible Love showed not only his talent, but his commitment to our veterans and families.
Christopher told a story of what life is like for many veterans and for the families they come home to. Lost and confused, wanting to help but not knowing what to do. Our lives are very hard but few others dared tell what it is like.
Did he hit all the Hollywood grades? No but the veterans community is grateful he did what really matters, He made Combat PTSD real for everyone to understand and be touched by it.
'Terrible Love' (2014) Movie Review
While it features some powerful moments, the film is too overwrought to fully resonate.
Rope of Silicon
Mike Shutt
FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014
Movies about soldiers coming home from war and trying to acclimate back into regular society can be very tricky. They are often too sentimental, too alienating, or too histrionic. It is difficult to make a situation like that exist outside of cliché and feel honest. Directors try so many different things to visualize PTSD, from flashes of the soldier's moment of trauma to screaming fits to being unable to do a certain task. The big problem with this type of story right from the outset is that no matter what tricks a director employs, we will never know what it is like to go through something like that unless we actually do. Soldiers who suffer from PTSD are changed people in every way, and we can only observe how the react. Terrible Love, the debut feature of director Christopher Thomas, tries to have a natural take on the situation, complete with totally improvised dialogue, but in postproduction, the emotional manipulation gets turned up far too high for the drama to breathe and sink into its audience.
Amy Urbina and Rufus Burns play, well, Amy and Rufus (all the characters have the actors' names), a married couple reuniting after Rufus's year-long deployment in the Middle East. He is returning home two weeks early after his humvee hit a land mine, causing him to completely lose eyesight in his left eye. Initially, their reunion is joyous, filled with a lot of montage kissing, but after a few days, things for Rufus start to go very sour. He gets night terrors, gets very distant from his wife, has small triggers that lead to big episodes, and struggles with taking care of himself and their daughter Aubrey (Aubrey Davis-Williams). Amy tries to accommodate, but day after day, the strain between them becomes greater and greater.
read more here
The end of the movie does not have to be the end of their story. It isn't the end for any of us as long as we get the help we need to stay and fight for them side by side. Because people like Christopher Thomas are out there, we're a lot closer to changing the conversation from headlines to our reality.
UPDATE Review Austin Film Festival
"Terrible Love" and PTSD and what happens when we are closed versus what happens when we are open
Film Colossus
by Chris Lambert
So Terrible Love's Rufus is one of the most tragic characters I've seen in a film. Why?
Because he is incapable of expressing his pain.
Which is what makes Terrible Love so fascinating to me.
The premise of Terrible Love is that Rufus (Rufus Burns) is an American soldier who leaves, shortly after his wedding to Amy (Amy Urbina), for a tour in Iraq. Eventually, Rufus is injured and discharged. PTSD will happen.
I'm sure much of the talk about this movie will revolve around its portrayal of PTSD, how accurate it is or is not. The film functions, in a way, as a critique of the poor support system for many veterans. Also for the spouses of those veterans. For example: there's a scene where Amy tells her friend, another military wife, that she's scared of Rufus. And the friend tells Amy that Amy is being dramatic and selfish. Yeesh.
I think the movie takes on a larger subject than PTSD. A simple, universal truth that is the film's real power. Openness versus Closedness. Specifically, how easy it is to be open about positive emotions and experiences, and how difficult it is to express negative emotions.
The first 20 minutes of the movie captures this in such a beautiful way that it made me cry.
The film opens with Rufus and Amy reciting their wedding vows. Plenty of friends and family are there. The bride and groom express, out loud, for everyone, how much they love one another, how much they need one another, etc. etc. This positive spirit lingers, even when Rufus heads to Iraq. His time there and Amy's time at home is captured in summary. The time they are apart takes less than 5 minutes in the film. We see them going about their lives (domestic things contrasted by graphic imagery from the Middle East), knowing they miss one another, knowing they care about one another—their wedding vows still fresh in our minds. We don't see Rufus in pain. We don't see Amy in pain. Even when Rufus's car rolls over a land mine and he's hurt: we don't see him screaming, crying or anything. In fact, we get a phone call from Rufus saying everything is okay and then cut to him coming home, to the happy reunion between him and Amy in the airport.
We follow the reunion with 8 minutes of wonderful domestic life. Amy and Rufus are both happy. We see laughter, affection, joy. Until the 16 minute mark when Rufus has his first on-camera instance of PTSD. As he hunches and cries and yells and hyperventilates, Amy asks: "Are you okay? What's going on? What is happening? Are you in pain? What's wrong? Are you okay?"
Rufus tells her nothing.
read more here
Veteran Suicide Awareness Not Even Close To Being Aware
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 26, 2014
I have grown weary of reading about suicides and PTSD tied to military service. Few have gotten it right. It seems as if everyone has become an instant expert popping up on Facebook and writing opinions with very little based on facts. Veterans end up with information overload not knowing what is opinion and what is truth.
The truth is, most awareness being raised is not even close to what is needed to be known and it is inexcusable!
I was reading an opinion piece on Triblive and my head exploded to the point where I had to leave a comment. I hate to leave comments because it takes too much time considering I read up to 50 articles a day and would be impossible to leave comments on all of them. I have to be emotionally tied to it before I type the first word.
This is the comment I left.
Obama got an earful while in Montana.
Then Senator Obama made a promise that if he became President he would expand what the Montana National Guards started on screenings for PTSD.
He kept that promise however when the Joint Chiefs of Staff testified they were not doing all the screenings they were supposed to be doing during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, no one was held accountable.
There is no doubt in my mind that President Obama is very aware of military suicides and PTSD as well as the dysfunctional congressional politicians inability to actually learn what works instead of writing checks supporting what has failed. After the repugnant Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program was instituted based on a research project to give school aged children a better sense of self-worth was pushed on our servicemen and women, suicides went up.
This farce of teaching soldiers to be "resilient" with this program increased suicides. It isn't that all of this was not predicted far ahead of thousands of graves being filled. Even I saw it coming back in 2009 when I stated this.
Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Will Make It Worse
We let them get away with it! It isn't as if they didn't know what was going on. So what is their excuse for all of this now?
How about we stop talking about suicide awareness, since they have increased faster than when we were not talking about them and start talking about raising awareness on how to live on after combat and heal? How about we give these veterans and military folks some actual weapons to defeat PTSD and stop trying to find excuses for not doing it? How about we raise awareness that most veterans with PTSD do not commit suicide? How about we talk about how they heal better and faster when they stop trying to fit back in with people who can't understand but start to join other groups of veterans who do understand?
We've been at this for far too long to accept any excuses for the good that works to be ignored and the bad to be allowed to continue.
Kathie Costos
October 26, 2014
I have grown weary of reading about suicides and PTSD tied to military service. Few have gotten it right. It seems as if everyone has become an instant expert popping up on Facebook and writing opinions with very little based on facts. Veterans end up with information overload not knowing what is opinion and what is truth.
The truth is, most awareness being raised is not even close to what is needed to be known and it is inexcusable!
I was reading an opinion piece on Triblive and my head exploded to the point where I had to leave a comment. I hate to leave comments because it takes too much time considering I read up to 50 articles a day and would be impossible to leave comments on all of them. I have to be emotionally tied to it before I type the first word.
This is the comment I left.
On the suicides tied to military service, it is worse than you may know. When President Obama was a Senator, he served on the Veterans Affairs Committee and was very aware of suicides. So much so, he escaped the national press in 2008 while running for office to go to the Montana National Guards after the suicide of Spec. Chris Dana.
He knew about them then yet when suicides went up he held no one accountable. As congress continued to spend more and more money on failed programs, he let them instead of demanding accountability. Combat PTSD has been researched for 40 years, yet the outcome is worse than ever. When do we hold politicians accountable to the men and women they send into combat?
Obama got an earful while in Montana.
Before speaking, the candidate met for several minutes with the family of Spec. Chris Dana, a Montana National Guard veteran suffering from PTSD who committed suicide in March 2007, several months after returning from Iraq. Dana's stepbrother, Matt Kuntz, became a vocal advocate for better treatment of PTSD after Dana's death.
Jess Bahr, a Vietnam veteran, drove more than 200 miles from Great Falls to hear Obama. Before being bused to the event with a veteran-heavy crowd, Bahr said the number of homeless U.S. veterans was inexcusable and that the needs of retired warriors across the country were being ignored by communities.
“In Great Falls, they're building a $6.5 million animal shelter and we don't have a shelter for veterans. What does that tell you about priorities?” asked Bahr, a 1967 Army draftee who survived the Tet Offensive, a nine-month series of battles that resulted in more than 6,000 deaths and 24,000 injuries among American and allied troops during the Vietnam War.
Then Senator Obama made a promise that if he became President he would expand what the Montana National Guards started on screenings for PTSD.
The Montana National Guard has developed a program to check its soldiers and airmen for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder every six months for the first two years after returning from combat, then once a year thereafter. The program exceeds national standards set by the U.S. Department of Defense.
He kept that promise however when the Joint Chiefs of Staff testified they were not doing all the screenings they were supposed to be doing during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, no one was held accountable.
There is no doubt in my mind that President Obama is very aware of military suicides and PTSD as well as the dysfunctional congressional politicians inability to actually learn what works instead of writing checks supporting what has failed. After the repugnant Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program was instituted based on a research project to give school aged children a better sense of self-worth was pushed on our servicemen and women, suicides went up.
This farce of teaching soldiers to be "resilient" with this program increased suicides. It isn't that all of this was not predicted far ahead of thousands of graves being filled. Even I saw it coming back in 2009 when I stated this.
Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Will Make It Worse
"If you promote this program the way Battlemind was promoted, count on the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides to go up instead of down. It's just one more deadly mistake after another and just as dangerous as sending them into Iraq without the armor needed to protect them."
We let them get away with it! It isn't as if they didn't know what was going on. So what is their excuse for all of this now?
White House callous toward American lives
Trib Live
By Diana West
Friday, Oct. 24, 2014
At a time when our military has been at war for 13 years, suicide is at an all-time high, (post-traumatic stress disorder) is out of control and families are being destroyed as a result of 13 years of war, the last thing the president should be doing is sending people into West Africa to fight Ebola.”Do you get the feeling that the United States government is trying to get us all killed?
OK, not all of us. Some of us.
I almost don't know how else to interpret the headlines, whether the issue is the 167,000 convicted criminal aliens who, despite deportation orders, remain “currently at large” or the U.S. consulates in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea that are still issuing travel visas to citizens from these Ebola-stricken nations at a rate of 100 a day.
The White House refusal to exercise elementary precautions to prevent an Ebola outbreak in the United States has become another notorious hallmark of the Obama years. I refer to the administration's failure to prohibit travel from the Ebola-stricken region into our formerly Ebola-free nation for the duration of the horrific epidemic.
Even now, the Obama administration continues to permit 150 travelers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to land every day, their unimpeded ease of movement our government's top priority. The rest of us take our chances. To date, we are looking at “only” two infected nurses. From the globalist perspective, this mean Obama's policies are working. The golf course beckons.
read more here
How about we stop talking about suicide awareness, since they have increased faster than when we were not talking about them and start talking about raising awareness on how to live on after combat and heal? How about we give these veterans and military folks some actual weapons to defeat PTSD and stop trying to find excuses for not doing it? How about we raise awareness that most veterans with PTSD do not commit suicide? How about we talk about how they heal better and faster when they stop trying to fit back in with people who can't understand but start to join other groups of veterans who do understand?
We've been at this for far too long to accept any excuses for the good that works to be ignored and the bad to be allowed to continue.
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