Vietnam Vets Dealing With Effects of War Decades Later
KDLT News
Caiti Blase, KDLT News Reporter
Mar 28, 2015
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -
Thousands of South Dakotans served during the Vietnam War with hundreds making the ultimate sacrifice.
Many returned home, but are still dealing with the effects of war decades later.
An event to remember those who served during the Vietnam era was held in Sioux Falls Saturday.
Ritchie Wilson said, "I went to Vietnam in the spring of 1970."
It's been over 40 years since Wilson served in the Vietnam War.
"I was with the 25th Infantry Division. I was an infantry squad leader,” said Wilson.
But the scars of battle are still with Wilson many years later. read more here
On the back of a horse at a farm in Yelm, Mike Buccieri began letting go of the psychological wounds he carried after an Afghan insurgent’s bullet tore into his back and ripped him from the Army life he loved.
He found the equine-based therapy that worked for him when the Army sent him to a Warrior Transition Battalion, a medical unit he had once disparaged as a purgatory for “broken soldiers” on their way to being “kicked out” of the military.
Yet as Congress claims to be investigating the facts discovered by The Dallas News and NBC joint effort to bring the suffering of the wounded to our attention, it has been going on right under their nose and they just didn't care enough to do the right thing before they were forced to even take a look at it.
Remember the scandal at Walter Reed Hospital?
Embarrassed by allegations of mistreated wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2007, the Army spent more than $1.2 billion building facilities for its severely injured troops at large posts around the world.
So Congress did "something" about it.
Col. Chris Toner, chief of the Army Warrior Transition Command, told the House Armed Services Committee last month that 4,196 soldiers are enrolled in the program – down from a peak of 12,451 seven years ago.
Despite the falling numbers, Army leaders insist they want to maintain the warrior transition model rather than reuse the costly facilities for a different purpose.
“We’ve come a long way since the days of medical holding companies and long wait times for injured soldiers,” Toner told lawmakers. “We will not return to that setting.”
Yet, when reporters were not watching, this is what happened over and over again across the country to wounded servicemen and women.
Recently, The Dallas Morning News and KXAS-TV documented examples of mistreated patients and verbal abuse at warrior units at Army hospitals in Texas. Their investigation prompted the Army to issue new training guidelines for the soldiers who volunteer to work in warrior transition battalion.
A 2013 Defense Department Inspector General audit of JBLM’s Warrior Transition Battalion documented similar concerns from soldiers and staff members. It spelled out the systemic flaws that have dogged warrior transition battalions since the program launched, such as:
• Inconsistent training for staff members.
• High turnover among the active-duty and Reserve soldiers who oversee patients.
• Frustration among patients who felt stuck in a program of indeterminate length. Some could be enrolled in a battalion for two years or more.
• Barriers to connecting patients with job-training programs in the civilian sector that could prepare them for opportunities after they leave the military.
The report, based on site visits in the summer of 2011, included several revealing comments from anonymous patients and staff members about the pressures they felt inside the battalion.
The Warrior Transition Battalion “steals your soul and puts you in a deeper depression,” one National Guard soldier told the auditors. “They tell me to plan for the future, but they cannot tell me when I can leave.”
So now they'll have empty buildings but it isn't as if they overplanned for the wounded. It is more that the wounded soldiers are no longer in the military.
So what happens to them now? It isn't as if their wounds have vanished. The DOD doesn't have to count them anymore. They don't have to count the number of veterans committing suicide or needing care for PTSD any more than they have to account for the physical needs.
The VA has had trouble for decades as reported by veterans going back to the 70's. Congress has not had to answer for what they failed to do on that end either.
Their latest answer is, "Hey we'll just privatize it" hand out cards so veterans could go see a doctor charging a lot more money for the same work the VA is supposed to be providing. Sure, no wait times in a private office or at hospitals. At least that is what Congress wants us to envision. Guess they never had to rely on what the rest of experience on a daily basis.
This is really simple. Congress has had since 1946 to get it right for our veterans and even longer to get it right for the wounded yet what veterans got were more problems than solutions.
Guess who is to blame? Us. We vote for folks to do a job (both sides) yet never bother to make sure they're doing it. It takes reporters to tell the stories they live with on a daily bases, so God love them for that, however, they forget that we need to be reminded about what happened before that made it this bad. It is for sure that Congress won't blame themselves but veterans do.
Any idea what members of Congress are up to knowing that more and more disabled veterans are heading home from combat? They show no indication of learning from the past about anything so just expect more of the same excuses and a longer line of veterans suffering.
They plan, as in the past, to have communities step up and take care of them. Sounds good until you ask about where all the billions a year spent to "care for them" went. Also sounds good until you wonder what happened to all the money folks donated to huge charities using professional fundraisers to gain millions a year while Congress refuses to hold them accountable.
When it comes to veterans, it seems they can't really count on anyone for very long.
Medal of Honor recipient recalls the ‘battle’
Tampa Bay News
By BOB McCLURE
March 25, 2015
“I look at it as honoring the men and women in uniform, present and past. It just shows the patriotism the citizens of Florida have toward our men in uniform.”
Photo by BOB McCLURE
Retired U.S. Army Command Sgt. Major Gary Littrell of St. Pete Beach wears the Congressional Medal of Honor he was awarded in 1973 following his heroic actions during a 1970 battle in Vietnam.
ST. PETE BEACH – Winston Churchill once said success is not final and failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.
That phrase sums up the actions of retired U.S. Army Command Sgt. Major Gary Littrell of St. Pete Beach who for four days in early April 1970 took command of a South Vietnamese Ranger battalion under siege by more than 5,000 North Vietnamese troops. Out of an original group of 477, Littrell was among 41 walking and wounded to safely leave the hill they gallantly defended.
His actions and decisions led him to receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1973.
He is the only Medal of Honor recipient in the area, one of three in Florida and one of 79 currently alive in the U.S.
read more here
Police surprise 84-year-old veteran with replacement wheelchair
ABC 4 News Utah
Rick Aaron
03/24/2015
"I'll never forget it," Officer Wersland said while choking back a sob. "I've been doing this for 20 years and I've never experienced anything like this."
TAYLORSVILLE (ABC4 News) - A U.S. Navy Veteran who thought he would be homebound after his motorized wheelchair was stolen got a big surprise Tuesday thanks to the Salt Lake Unified Police Department, the City of Taylorsville and Overstock.com.
Roy Feragen can walk but at 84 years old not very far or very steadily. So what did he say when his wheelchair was stolen from the front of a Savers store in Taylorsville last week?
"I ain't gonna use that kind of language," Mr. Feragen said.
Officer Mike Wersland started working on getting Roy a replacement chair and Overstock dot com donated a top of the line Drive Medical model they surprised him with at Taylorsville City Hall. Mayor Larry Johnson presented Feragen with the device.
read more here
Disabled veteran’s long wait could be over
WIVB News
By Al Vaughters, News 4 Reporter
Published: March 24, 2015
"Chris Krieger, co-founder of Western New York Heroes, a veterans self-help outfit, said the VA’s program of adapting homes and vehicles for disabled veterans is overrun with regulations."
HAMBURG, N.Y. (WIVB) — Disabled veteran Dale Dart’s quest for a more independent life could soon be within reach.
Dart turned to the government to re-work his home to accommodate his wheelchair, but it got bogged down in government paperwork, so he contacted Call 4 Action.
The Army veteran of Operation Desert Storm (1991) does have a bedroom and bathroom in his family’s Hamburg home that are wheelchair accessible, but they are in the basement.
Dart vented his frustration earlier this week, “I just sit in my room, and sit in my room.”
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs came up with a way to retrofit the Dart’s ranch style house with a first floor bedroom and bathroom that would be fully accessible, and the planning and permits have taken nearly two years to complete. But just as the contractor was about to break ground on the room addition, the VA threw more red tape at the project, which could delay the job enough to send it back to the drawing board.
Dale’s sister-in-law, Pamela Dart said the VA cited regulations which require a second contractor for the project.
read more here
Decorated Boston cop, Iraq veteran in coma after being shot in face
South Coast Daily News
March 28, 2015
The suspect in the shooting hopped out of the stopped car on Friday evening and opened fire on officers, striking Officer John Moynihan just below his right eye and an apparent bystander in her arm, police Commissioner William Evans said
BOSTON (AP) — A police officer who was honored for his role in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing was in an induced coma fighting for his life early Saturday after being shot in the face during a traffic stop, authorities said.
The suspect in the shooting hopped out of the stopped car on Friday evening and opened fire on officers, striking Officer John Moynihan just below his right eye and an apparent bystander in her arm, police Commissioner William Evans said.
Other officers returned fire and killed the suspect at the scene, Evans said. The woman suffered a flesh wound and was in good spirits, and three other officers were taken to a hospital with stress-related problems, he said.
The names of the suspect and wounded woman weren't immediately released.
Moynihan, 34, is on the police Youth Violence Task Force and is a highly decorated military veteran, Evans said.
He is a former Army Ranger who served in Iraq and was honored at the White House in May with the National Association of Police Organizations TOP COPS award.
Moynihan received the award for being one of the first responders in Watertown following the April 2013 gunbattle with the Boston Marathon bombers.
Moynihan had helped transit police Officer Richard Donohue, who was shot in the leg and nearly bled to death when police tried to apprehend Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Lieutenant Michael McCarthy said.
read more here
I am not a Democrat and this is one reason why I will never be a Republican. Under their "leadership" we had sequestration. That cut fund to the military as well as what they and their families need. They had years to fix it but didn't. They spent billions a year on programs that don't work as we've seen with the rise of military suicides.
Well folks, here we go again. The USO had to step up at Fort Bragg to fill in for what got cut.
"When deep budget cuts hit Fort Bragg, one of the casualties was an Army program meant to promote resiliency and reduce suicides."
USO of N.C. helps fill gaps for Army programs affected by budget cuts
FayObserver.com
By Drew Brooks
Military editor
Posted: Friday, March 27, 2015
Fort Bragg's commander, Lt. Gen. Joseph Anderson, has praised the partnership. He said the USO stepped forward to continue important training that otherwise would have been cut.Speaking to community leaders earlier this year, he cited the partnership as an example of ways the community can help Fort Bragg.
USO of N.C. helps fill gaps for Army programs affected by budget cuts
Staff photo by Andrew Craft
Along with yoga, the program included a juggling lesson and classes on stress management, suicide, substance abuse, leadership and financial literacy.
When deep budget cuts hit Fort Bragg, one of the casualties was an Army program meant to promote resiliency and reduce suicides.
But Fort Bragg leaders didn't give up.
Instead, they turned to community partners to fill the gaps created by tighter purse strings.
The result is Warrior Reset, a three-day gathering at Cape Fear Botanical Garden that is serving Fort Bragg soldiers as well as members of the North Carolina National Guard, Marines from Camp Lejeune and soldiers from Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
The program, which ends today, has brought together about 70 people - including servicemembers and their wives - for hands-on activities designed to help troops cope with stress and open up about their problems.
Kelli Davis, troop and family programs director for the USO of North Carolina, said the troops are leaders who are expected to take the lessons learned back to those who serve with and under them.
Davis said the USO will host similar programs on a quarterly basis, rotating across the state to other military communities, Raleigh and Charlotte.
It is the latest step in a partnership that has continually evolved.
read more here
Pendleton, K-Bay Marines to deploy to Australia
Marine Corps Times
By Joshua Stewart, Staff writer
March 27, 2015
In 2016, Corps officials hope to send 2,500 Marines — a full Marine air-ground task force — to Australia.
Members of Marine Rotational Force-Darwin conduct a helicopter insert during a live-fire exercise at Bradshaw Field Training Area during Exercise Koolendong in Australia. About 1,170 Marines will deploy to Australia’s Northern Territory in April.
(Photo: Cpl. Scott Reel/Marine Corps)
The Corps has identified the third group of Marines to head to Australia for a six month deployment.
In mid-April, about 1,170 California- and Hawaii-based Marines will deploy Down Under. They'll form Marine Rotational Force-Darwin, and will train alongside the Australian army in the Northern Territory.
Units include 1st Battalion, 4th Marines and a detachment from Combat Logistics Battalion 1 from Camp Pendleton, California, as well as Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 from Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, said 2nd Lt. Natalie Poggemeyer, a spokeswoman for Marine Corps Forces Pacific. It's the second time HMH-463 will be a part of the rotation — the squadron was the Corps' first aviation unit to deploy to Darwin during last year's rotation.
read more here
Body found in St. Joseph River identified as missing Iraq veteran Jason Holland
The Elkhart Truth
Tabitha Waggoner
Posted on March 26, 2015
A body found in the St. Joseph River has been identified as a missing Mishawaka man, 33-year-old Jason Holland.
MISHAWAKA — A body found Wednesday afternoon in the St. Joseph River has been identified as that of missing Iraq veteran Jason Holland, our reporting partner WNDU reports.
Holland was a 33-year-old former Marine who was first reported missing on Oct. 26, 2014.
He was a student at Indiana University South Bend.
read more here
Passing On Living Years With PTSD
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 28, 2015
Generations of veterans are still living in this country, ready and willing to help the younger ones but they have not been ready to learn. We're in this battle to defeat PTSD the same as them but forgotten.
That is the saddest part of all because as you hear about younger veterans committing suicide, we remember the others no one ever talked about.
Jake Tapper of CNN put up a stunning picture "At the service for Iraq war veteran SGT Richard Miles, who took his own life last month."
I read the comments on his Twitter feed with most saying how sad it was. It is even sadder for folks paying attention all along. It isn't one family a day.
It isn't even the much publicized 22 a day. It is happening to veterans double the civilian population in state after state all over the country. The majority of those veterans are over 50. Veterans of the past wars no one really paid attention to. After all, when they came home, they came home to vanish into the general population. Reporters were not interested in what was happening to them.
What makes this even sadder is that for the last decade, Congress has been pushing bills faster than they research what is causing the increase. In other words, they are recycling failures. The result is newer veterans are committing suicide triple their peer rate after all the years of efforts.
Every generation Blames the one before And all of their frustrations Come beating on your door
I know that I'm a prisoner To all my Father held so dear I know that I'm a hostage To all his hopes and fears I just wish I could have told him in the living years
Every generation blames the one before because they refused to learn from them. Learn what worked as well as what failed so they wouldn't repeat the same mistakes or gain opportunities to avoid lost time learning the hard way on their own.
The older generation of veterans came home just as the other come home now, however while this generation uses the social media and the internet to spread the word about what is going on, the older veterans learned from the younger ones how to use what they have to help themselves. Too bad it didn't work the other way around.
It is almost as if the OEF OIF generation was appointed to be the only veterans suffering. After all, considering they are the only generation to receive mass attention from new charities popping up all over the country, reporters spread the word about how to donate to them and Congress passing bills just for them, it is hard to have the time to notice the others.
Accounts of psychological symptoms following military trauma date back to ancient times. The American Civil War (1861-1865) and the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) mark the start of formal medical attempts to address the problems of military Veterans exposed to combat.
"In September 1914, at the very outset of the great war, a dreadful rumor arose. It was said that at the Battle of the Marne, east of Paris, soldiers on the front line had been discovered standing at their posts in all the dutiful military postures—but not alive. “Every normal attitude of life was imitated by these dead men,” according to the patriotic serial The Times History of the War, published in 1916." WORLD WAR I: 100 YEARS LATER
But you can read even more online about the WAR and Military Mental Health The US Psychiatric Response in the 20th Century, if you are not convinced that every generation suffered the same things that break your heart today.
They committed suicide but families didn't talk about it. They used drugs and alcohol to numb the pain, but no one talked about it. They were supposed to be ashamed of themselves and families didn't know any better, so they were ashamed as well.
Vietnam veterans and families like mine learned from the generation before. We used the buildings with a lot of books in them we could hold in our hands. The library was our safe haven where we could touch history learning from what others didn't talk about. We had to learn the hard way because it was the only way.
Wives like me were fighting for their lives, just as our parents did but we were not ready to simply suffer in silence. We were not just fighting for our own husbands. We found a way to discover others and ended up fighting for their families side by side. It was all one huge family writing letters by hand or typing letters to members of Congress in the 70's.
As more and more research was being done, we learned. We passed on what we learned to our parents so they would understand what all the "living years" with their veterans were caused by.
In the 80's the Department of Veterans Affairs finally honored these veterans. Not just Vietnam veterans, but all generations.
In 1980, APA added PTSD to DSM-III, which stemmed from research involving returning Vietnam War Veterans, Holocaust survivors, sexual trauma victims, and others. Links between the trauma of war and post-military civilian life were established.
"So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It's the bitterness that lasts"
Our heartaches even more for the newer generation because they are getting the attention. They are getting more help than we ever did because everyone seems to want to do "something" to help. Yet as the result produces more and more suffering, it is clear to us that "something" is not what is needed. It is not what we fought so long and so hard for. It is not what worked for us and what was discovered by our generation has been forgotten.
While everyone seems to be able to shed a tear pretending there are not a million reasons to cry a river, we only sacrifice the future and let the bitterness last. It doesn't have to be this way. It doesn't have to end this way for thousand of veterans a year. The new generation has an obligation to learn from older veterans, not just for their own sake but for the generation coming after them. Our generation will be gone by then.
Jasper man convicted of beating soldier to death for insurance money
The Associated Press
March 27, 2015
A federal jury took less than an hour to convict an Alabama man of murder in the 2013 baseball bat slaying of a Fort Stewart soldier found beaten on government property near the southeast Georgia Army post.
The U.S. District Court jury returned its guilty verdict Thursday against 43-year-old Carl Evan Swain of Jasper, Alabama. Prosecutors say Swain killed his brother-in-law, 29-year-old Army Spc. John Eubank, in a plot with the defendant's sister to collect $500,000 in life insurance and benefit payments from the soldier's death.
"He is penniless. He is desperate, and he is willing to kill her husband if she'll pay him," Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Rafferty told jurors in his closing argument.
Swain didn't testify at during his trial, the Savannah Morning News reported. His defense attorney, Edward Tolley, asked jurors to consider Swain's statement to FBI agents after he was arrested in December 2013.
read more here
Utah Vietnam Veterans Day: Remembering and honoring those who have served
Daily Herald
Cathy Alfred
March 27, 2015
When we came home, nobody said nothing, and they made all kinds of foul remarks about it,” Robinette said of his military service. “Even my friends made derogatory remarks."
HIGHLAND -- Dennis Callanta is a Vietnam veteran.
He knows how to fight in the hot, humid jungle, has felt the effects of Agent Orange, has seen the horrors of battle, and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I like to call it PTSI for post-traumatic stress injury,” Callanta said.
On Monday, the state of Utah will observe its first Vietnam Veterans Day, a tribute to those who fought and served in the Vietnam War.
President Ronald Reagan proclaimed the first National Vietnam Veterans Day on April 23, 1976.
Since then, several states have declared their own Vietnam Veterans Day, usually on March 29 because it is the date the last American combat troops left Vietnam in 1973. read more here
Ex-Marine, wife dead in car; cops suspect suicide
IOHUD
Thane Grauel
March 27, 2015
"No way it could be suicide," said Arendt, now a civilian. "He had his whole life planned out ahead of him, investments, he was going to make a business with his wife."
Elijah and Shannon Woodson, both 22, were found about 11:45 p.m. Tuesday.
YONKERS A former Marine and his wife found dead late Tuesday in a car at The Mall at Cross County likely committed suicide, police said.
Elijah and Shannon Woodson, both 22, were found about 11:45 p.m. in a car with burning charcoal briquettes according to the Westchester County Medical Examiner's Office.
The cause of death was asphyxiation.
Lt. Patrick McCormack, a police spokesman, said Thursday that the department was not confirming their identities because it was still trying to locate relatives of the two.
"We feel, based on what we found inside the vehicle, that it was a suicide," said Lt. Patrick McCormack, a police spokesman. read more here
Joint Chiefs of Staff, USO Salute Medal of Honor Recipients
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
WASHINGTON, March 25, 2015 – On the eve of National Medal of Honor Day, members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff partnered with the United Service Organizations Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore to salute the nation’s Medal of Honor recipients here yesterday.
Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his wife, Mary, speak before an audience of about 600 during the USO of Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore’s 33rd awards dinner in Arlington, Va., March 24, 2015. The Winnefelds and the Joint Chiefs of Staff honored the nation's Medal of Honor recipients on the eve of National Medal of Honor Day. DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Nathan Gallaha
The USO Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore held its 33rd annual awards dinner, where it paid special tribute to nearly 30 recipients of the nation’s highest military honor, as well as yearly accolades to those who serve America’s troops.
Following a video presentation, Army Gen. Frank J. Grass, chief of the National Guard Bureau, began the Medal of Honor recipient tributes.
Heroism ‘Thrust Upon Them’ “Our veterans have forged the story of American patriots,” he said. The fabric of our society continues to be built upon the foundation of these patriots who display extraordinary heroism, courage and selfless sacrifice for our nation, Grass said.
“They do not go out seeking to become heroes; it’s thrust upon them,” he said.
Grass quoted a fifth-century writer who once said, “‘the purpose of all wars is lasting peace.’” read more here
Memorial run on Saturday to raise veteran suicide awareness
KOCO News
By Rob Hughes
Mar 27, 2015
OKLAHOMA CITY —A 5K memorial run to raise veteran suicide awareness will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday at Earlywine Park in Oklahoma City.
Team Rubicon, Team Red, White and Blue and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America have partnered to lead the fourth annual "Suicide and Prevention and Awareness Run as One."
The event is in honor and memory of Clay Hunt, a Marine Corps veteran who lost his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder in 2011. The nationwide event also raises awareness of PTSD. read more here
Team Rubicon mourns the loss of a veteran, volunteer, and brother. Neil Landsberg, a former Combat Controller in the United States Air Force, was an active Region 3 team member. As an Air Force Special Operator, Neil completed multiple overseas combat deployments. When he took off the uniform he volunteered at Walter Reed and served as a role model for many TR volunteers around the Washington, DC area. Neil is remembered by his teammates and fellow volunteers as a “total stud”.
