US Navy "Moral Injury" Step In Healing Souls

Soldier’s journey to heal spotlights ‘soul wounds’ of war
Associated Press
JULIE WATSON
Published: August 23, 2015

The Navy now runs one of the military’s first residential treatment programs that addresses
the problem — the one that Powell found.

This March 17, 2015 photo shows a photgraph of now-retired U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Marshall Powell standing with a U.S. Army MEDEVAC helicopter in Iraq during his last tour to the country, at Powell's brother's house in Crescent, Okla. Powell, who served as a military nurse in Iraq and Afghanistan, was deeply haunted by his experiences, and nearly lost his own internal war with depression before finding meaningful help.
(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

SAN DIEGO (AP) — “It was just another day in Mosul,” the soldier began, his voice shaking. Sgt. 1st Class Marshall Powell took a deep breath. He couldn’t look at the other three servicemen in the group therapy session.

He’d rarely spoken about his secret, the story of the little girl who wound up in his hospital during the war in Iraq, where he served as an Army nurse. Her chest had been blown apart, and her brown eyes implored him for help. Whenever he’d thought of her since, “I killed the girl,” echoed in his head.

Powell kept his eyes glued to the pages he’d written.

He recalled the chaos after a bombing that August day in 2007, the vehicles roaring up with Iraqi civilians covered in blood. Around midnight, Powell took charge of the area housing those with little chance of survival. There, amid the mangled bodies, he saw her.

She was tiny, maybe 6 years old, lying on the floor. Her angelic face reminded him of his niece back home in Oklahoma.

Back in the therapy room, saying it all out loud, Powell’s eyes began to fill just at the memory of her. “I couldn’t let her lay there and suffer,” he said.

A doctor had filled a syringe with painkillers. Powell pushed dose after dose into her IV.

“She smiled at me,” he told the others in the room, “and I smiled back. Then she took her last gasp of air.”
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Illinois Community New Home to Combat Veteran "Labor of Love"

Illinois community rallies around wounded veteran, gives him a new home
WKRN web staff
Published: August 24, 2015

HARMON, Ill. (KWQC) — An Illinois community has thanked a wounded veteran who survived injuries he sustained in Afghanistan by building him a new home.

Proud U.S. Army veteran, Sergeant Michael Shoemaker enlisted right out of high school and served in Iraq. He later toured Afghanistan where he was injured in 2012.

“We were moving ammunition and rounds that weren’t supposed to go off. Thirteen grenades blew up, wounded seven, and then killed one,” recalled Shoemaker.

He lost his best friend that day, but by strength and miracle, Shoemaker survived his own injuries.

“Broken left tibia. There is a rod in that now. Blew off my right knee cap, broke my right femur, deflated right lung, shrapnel all over my body, my brain. They removed half of my skull which is now titanium and bullet proof.”

Shoemaker is grateful he is alive and is able to watch his kids grow up. “I died four times on the table.”
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Indiana Axemen Motorcycle Club and Firefighters Team Up for Homeless Veterans

Firefighters host cookout fundraiser for homeless veterans
WNDU 16 News
Christine Karsten
Updated: Sun 7:18 PM, Aug 23, 2015

Clay firefighters teamed up with a motorcycle club today to fire up the grill and feed homeless people in South Bend.

The firefighters, along with the Indiana Axemen Motorcycle Club hosted a cookout At Robert Miller Veterans Center for the Homeless.

Volunteers served up burgers, brats and potato salad to hungry vets.

The groups were raising donations to give to Miller Veterans Center and Jesse's Warriors.
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Canadian Candidate Pushes for Restored Veterans Care

Justin Trudeau promises lifelong pensions for injured veterans
CBC News
Posted: Aug 24, 2015

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau promised to "reinstate" lifelong pensions for Canada's injured veterans during a campaign announcement in Belleville, Ont. that pledged $300 million annually to expand and create military support programs if elected on Oct. 19.

Trudeau said that after "10 years of neglect" under the Conservative government, he would implement changes immediately, including a new fund to cover post-secondary education costs for veterans, two new veterans' care centres and more support for the families of veterans.

"For 10 years, Stephen Harper has been nickle-and-diming our veterans, lacking the respect and the support that Canadians have earned through service to country and that's something that we have to fix as a priority," Trudeau told supporters in the southern Ontario riding Bay of Quinte, which is home to CFB Trenton.

"This is about doing right by people who have offered everything in service of our country."

Trudeau said a "fully costed platform" would be released in coming weeks to show how the Liberal plan would be funded should he form government.

The plan includes:

$20 million to create two new veterans' care centres.
$100 million annually to expand support for families of veterans, including education and counseling.
$25 million to expand the Permanent Impairment Allowance for the most seriously wounded.
$40 million to increase the Earnings Loss Benefit from 75 per cent to 90 per cent of a soldier's pre-release salary.
Increase the veteran survivor's pension amount to 70 per cent from 50 per cent.
Double funding to the Last Post Fund for the burial of veterans.
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Vietnam Veterans Unaware of Agent Orange Benefits

VA wants all veterans exposed to Agent Orange to apply for benefits
Salisbury Post
By Rick Johnson
August 24, 2015

Many Vietnam veterans aren’t aware of the Agent Orange presumptive diseases. Furthermore, some veterans choose not to go to the VA for their treatment or some veterans have never thought to apply.

Rowan County Veteran Services

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. The first U.S. combat troops arrived in Vietnam in March of 1965.

More than 58,000 Americans died in the Vietnam conflict. Many who survived are fighting diseases the U.S. government now recognizes were caused by a very powerful toxic chemical used in the jungle war zone.

Since 2010, the Department of Veterans Affairs has recognized a list of diseases, cancers and illnesses caused by the chemical Agent Orange. The VA is now making a renewed push to ensure everyone knows about the benefits available to veterans sickened by Agent Orange.
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List Of Diseases Connected to Agent Orange
AL Amyloidosis
A rare disease caused when an abnormal protein, amyloid, enters tissues or organs

Chronic B-cell Leukemias
A type of cancer which affects white blood cells

Chloracne (or similar acneform disease)
A skin condition that occurs soon after exposure to chemicals and looks like common forms of acne seen in teenagers. Under VA's rating regulations, it must be at least 10 percent disabling within one year of exposure to herbicides.

Diabetes Mellitus Type 2
A disease characterized by high blood sugar levels resulting from the body’s inability to respond properly to the hormone insulin

Hodgkin's Disease
A malignant lymphoma (cancer) characterized by progressive enlargement of the lymph nodes, liver, and spleen, and by progressive anemia

Ischemic Heart Disease
A disease characterized by a reduced supply of blood to the heart, that leads to chest pain

Multiple Myeloma
A cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell in bone marrow

Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
A group of cancers that affect the lymph glands and other lymphatic tissue

Parkinson's Disease
A progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects muscle movement

Peripheral Neuropathy, Early-Onset
A nervous system condition that causes numbness, tingling, and motor weakness. Under VA's rating regulations, it must be at least 10 percent disabling within one year of herbicide exposure.

Porphyria Cutanea Tarda
A disorder characterized by liver dysfunction and by thinning and blistering of the skin in sun-exposed areas. Under VA's rating regulations, it must be at least 10 percent disabling within one year of exposure to herbicides.

Prostate Cancer
Cancer of the prostate; one of the most common cancers among men

Respiratory Cancers (includes lung cancer)

Cancers of the lung, larynx, trachea, and bronchus

Soft Tissue Sarcomas (other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, or mesothelioma) A group of different types of cancers in body tissues such as muscle, fat, blood and lymph vessels, and connective tissues

Children with birth defects
VA presumes certain birth defects in children of Vietnam and Korea Veterans are associated with Veterans' qualifying military service.

Veterans with Lou Gehrig's Disease
VA presumes Lou Gehrig's Disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS) diagnosed in all Veterans who had 90 days or more continuous active military service is related to their service, although ALS is not related to Agent Orange exposure.