Senator Nelson wants answers on hidden camera at Tampa VA

Sen. Nelson calls for investigation on Haley VA medical center's covert camera
By William R. Levesque
Times Staff Writer
Friday, August 3, 2012

TAMPA — Sen. Bill Nelson asked the Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general on Thursday to investigate the James A. Haley VA Medical Center's use of a camera disguised to look like a smoke detector in a patient's room.

Nelson sought an inquiry to determine whether Haley had ever used hidden cameras before and whether any other VA hospital had ever done so.

This comes on top of an investigation launched earlier this week by the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee. Haley spokeswoman Carolyn Clark said the VA will no longer answer questions about the camera. Its use was first reported in a July 10 story by the Tampa Bay Times.

The VA has sent a response to the committee. Both the VA and committee, chaired by Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Pensacola, refused to provide a copy to the Times.
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original story
Hidden camera found in patient's room at James A Haley VA hospital

Senator Nelson takes on fight for Iraq Vet facing deportation

Jacksonville Iraq War Veteran Faces Deportation
11:33 PM, Jun 29, 2011

Written by
Lewis Turner

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Just last year Elisha Dawkins was getting pinned, having just graduated from the FSCJ school of nursing. His plan was to take the boards after he returned from his deployment to Guantanamo Bay.

That plan changed, though, when he was arrested upon his return in April. Immigration officials said there was a problem with Dawkins' passport paperwork. They said he checked the box stating he never applied for a passport before, when in fact he had.

read more here
Jacksonville Iraq War Veteran Faces Deportation

From the New York Times

Iraq Veteran Offered Deal in Passport Violation Case
By SUSANNAH NESMITH
Published: June 28, 2011

MIAMI — The federal government on Tuesday took the unusual step of offering to drop a passport violation prosecution of a Navy petty officer if he completed a term of probation.

Even if he is able to resolve the criminal case, the petty officer, Elisha L. Dawkins, 26, is facing deportation based on an order issued in 1992, when he was 8 years old, his lawyer said.

Petty Officer Dawkins was brought to the United States from the Bahamas as a baby and was raised in Miami believing he was a United States citizen, said his lawyer, Clark Mervis.

In March, while he was on active duty at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Petty Officer Dawkins was indicted on a charge of making a false statement on a 2006 passport application. The statement, according to prosecutors, was that he had never applied for a passport before, when he had actually abandoned an application he filled out the year before.

Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga of Federal District Court noted the unusual nature of the prosecutors’ offer, saying she had seen the government use the pretrial diversion program only twice before in her eight years on the bench.

“I’m almost speechless,” the judge said. “It’s a kinder, gentler day over there. It happens so infrequently.”
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Iraq Veteran Offered Deal in Passport Violation Case

also
Iraq Veteran locked up for not being a citizen

PTSD: When you can't see the tears

When you see a picture like this it is clear they are wounded and will have to adjust to a different life.

Everything in his life changes. What if he loved to play football? He'd have to adjust to not being able to do that anymore. What if he loved to run and play with his kids? He'd have to learn how to spend time with them in a totally different way. He has to learn how to walk with a metal replacement to his missing leg and foot. Everyone seems to be able to understand the emotional healing he'll have to do.

When you see a picture like this, it is clear someone is in emotional pain.

While this image is all over the web, most people don't know what was behind the story that goes back to 2003.

U.S. military policeman Sgt. 1st Class Brian Pacholski, left, comforts his hometown friend, U.S. military policeman Sgt. David J. Borell, right, both from Toledo, Ohio, at the entrance of the U.S. military base in Balad, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Friday, June 13, 2003. Borell broke down after seeing three Iraqi children who were injured while playing with explosive materials. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

Published on Monday, June 23, 2003 by the Associated Press
Burned Iraqi Children Turned Away By US Army Doctors
by Donna Abu-Nasr

BALAD, Iraq - On a scorching afternoon, while on duty at an Army airfield, Sgt. David J. Borell was approached by an Iraqi who pleaded for help for his three children, burned when they set fire to a bag containing explosive powder left over from war in Iraq.

Borell immediately called for assistance. But the two Army doctors who arrived about an hour later refused to help the children because their injuries were not life-threatening and had not been inflicted by U.S. troops.

Now the two girls and a boy are covered with scabs and the boy cannot use his right leg. And Borell is shattered.

"I have never seen in almost 14 years of Army experience anything that callous," said Borell, who recounted the June 13 incident to The Associated Press.

A U.S. military spokesman said the children's condition did not fall into a category that requires Army physicians to treat them — and that there was no inappropriate response on the part of the doctors.

The incident comes at a time when U.S. troops are trying to win the confidence of Iraqis, an undertaking that has been overwhelmed by the need to protect themselves against attacks. Boosting security has led to suspicion in encounters between Iraqis and Americans. There are increased pat-downs, raids on homes and arrests in which U.S. troops force people to the ground at gunpoint — measures the Iraqis believe are meant to humiliate them.

In addition, Iraqis maintain the Americans have not lived up to their promises to improve security and living conditions, and incidents like the turning away of the children only reinforce the belief that Americans are in Iraq only for their own interests.

For Borell, who has been in Iraq since April 17, what happened with the injured children has made him question what it means to be an American soldier.

"What would it have cost us to treat these children? A few dollars perhaps. Some investment of time and resources," said Borell, 30, of Toledo, Ohio.

"I cannot imagine the heartlessness required to look into the eyes of a child in horrid pain and suffering and, with medical resources only a brief trip up the road, ignore their plight as though they are insignificant," he added.

Maj. David Accetta, public affairs officer with the 3rd Corps Support Command, said the children's condition did not fall into a category that requires Army doctors to care for them. Only patients with conditions threatening life, limb or eyesight and not resulting from a chronic illness are considered for treatment.

"Our goal is for the Iraqis to use their own existing infrastructure and become self-sufficient, not dependent on U.S. forces for medical care," Accetta said in an e-mail to AP.

The incident came to light after an AP photographer took a picture of Borell being comforted by a colleague after the doctors refused to care for the children. When Borell's wife, Rachelle Douglas-Borell, saw the photo, she contacted AP with a copy of a letter he sent her describing what happened.
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Burned Iraqi Children Turned Away By US Army Doctors

We think of them as soldiers but forget just how human they are. We have a harder time thinking of Marines as humans with the same emotions the rest of us have. When we see an image like this, we have our heart tugged for a moment but then we let it go just as we expect that Sgt. Borell should have just let it go after. The problem comes when they can't let it go and there is no one like Sgt. 1st Class Brian Pacholski to comfort them. When they are back home, alone with their thoughts, families with no clue how much pain they brought back with them. The pain is still there even when you can't see the tears anymore.

While everyone adjusts after combat, we cannot assume the adjustment is always positive. Two out of three may live with the traumas of combat and end up stronger, more appreciative of what and who they have in their lives. One out of three are facing a negative adjustment afterwards. For them, the pain changes everything. The way they feel about people in their lives changes. The way they look at the world changes. The way they see themselves changes at the same time the people in their lives want to see the same person they always knew.

This leads families into dangerous territory. They respond to the veteran with anger, judgment and demands, expecting the veteran to return to the way they were before. While the veteran can heal, they will never be the same again. Everyone is changed by events in our lives. Some more profoundly than others. Their minds automatically build walls around their emotions to protect them from more harm. The process traps out good feelings as well as bad, releasing anger more than any other emotion because anger kept them prepared in combat. As the above picture shows, there are moments when emotional pain takes over even while anger is strong.

Jerry Beck came home in pain and now his family wants Senator Bill Nelson to get involved with helping the troops come home properly to the help they need to heal. This is not the first family to ask the congress to do the right thing. Helping the families is just as important as helping the soldiers but few families know what to do to help.

Report after report comes out on steps taken to address suicides and PTSD but they are always followed by reports showing these steps are not working. Congress keeps holding hearings on listening to heartbroken families but they don't seem interested in families that have suffered the heartbreak of PTSD veterans and ended up coming out of the dark. When will congress be interested in what has worked since men like this came home?

No one was interested when Vietnam Veterans came home with PTSD any more than they were interested in Korean veterans coming home or older generations. No one was interested in telling families what actually worked to get them through all of it when congress could have held hearings on the problems to finance the healing and then taken a step further, having hearings on what works to make sure those programs received the funds and not research projects for businesses façade pretending to be a program.

Why is congress still hearing about families suffering when they could be listening to families talking about healing?

His family says they've contacted Senator Bill Nelson's (D-FL) office, hoping to raise more awareness about the need for returning military to receive mental health treatment.

Missing soldier with Bay area ties found on Florida east coast
6:42 PM, May 13, 2011
Written by
Adam Freeman
TAMPA, FLORIDA-- A soldier with ties to the Tampa Bay area, missing for more than two weeks, was found early Friday hundreds of miles away from home.

Jerry Beck was found by Brevard County deputies walking alone along the side of a road.

Since disappearing from Georgia, the only sign of Beck, a husband and father of three, came when his car was found abandoned near I-75 and the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway in Hillsborough County.

Beck used to live in Temple Terrace and still has friends in the area, so his family believed he was near Tampa.

"We're so happy now because we know he's alive," said Beck's father, Dewey.
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Missing soldier with Bay area ties found on Florida east coast

Vietnam Vet blowing off steam may end up in jail

I often wonder when people dealing with these veterans ever understand how frustrating it is when claims are not approved or tied up? Can they understand that bills are not being paid? Families fall apart with the extra stress? Or that veterans end up so frustrated they just give up and vanish from the face of the earth one way or another? Some end up lost on the streets of our cities and towns living among the other homeless veterans. Others, their sadness and hopelessness leads them to suicide. Some snap, taking out their anger/rage on others. Some lash out at the people trying to help them because for all the "help" offered, the solution and relief never seem to come.

According to this report, it happened to one of them and he may end up in jail over it. Ronald Barnes, Vietnam vet, was in the Army, but when he wanted to intimidate he said he was a Marine and trained killer. He admits what he did was wrong but says that he was off his medication. He called in a bomb threat to the VA hospital and made threats to Senator Nelson's office.

I'm sure it could have been frightening for the other people at the other end of the phone line, but the rest of us have to ask why any veteran should ever have to feel so helpless they have to resort to anything like this?

Man says he regrets bomb threat to VA Hospital

By ELAINE SILVESTRINI The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 11, 2009

Ronald F. Barnes says he was just "blowing off steam" when he called the Veterans Administration and threatened to bomb the Bay Pines VA Hospital.

The disabled Vietnam veteran says he didn't mean it when he called Sen. Bill Nelson's office and the V.A. repeatedly and threatened to "whack" the person the government had appointed to help him handle his finances. "I was venting at the time," Barnes, 58, told a federal judge today.

Barnes, 58, is facing a possible prison term after pleading guilty to using a telephone to threaten to blow up a building, a charge which carries a maximum of 10 years behind bars.

At the V.A., he gave his name and his claim number, according to his plea agreement. He called Nelson's office so often, the people there recognized his voice.
read more here
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/aug/11/man-says-he-regrets-bomb-threat-va-hospital/news-breaking/

I didn't get too much posting done today because the emails were coming in fast and furious. Usually that's the case when you see sporadic posts during the day, or I have meetings to go to. Each one of them were heartbreaking stories about veterans falling apart from them and others searching for ways to help someone they love. It never seems to end.

We have the media picking up on the newer veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, along with so many new groups trying to help it makes my head spin trying to keep up with all of them. We also have this new generation reaching out across the state lines to connect with other veterans.

What we don't see enough of is reporting on the older veterans and what their lives are still like. While they are not all heartbreaking, some are while they search for help to heal when they should have received in many years ago.

We also don't see the reports about how older veterans were being pushed back to make room for the newer veterans as the staff at VA hospitals across the country were being pushed to get them in the door.

We have a very long, long way to go before we have taken care of all the veterans waiting their turn for what they earned. The problem is, too many will be gone before this happens.

Vietnam Veteran Keith Maynard Finally Gets Silver Star

Vietnam veteran awarded Silver Star

The Associated Press
LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. -- A Lehigh Acres man has been awarded the Silver Star nearly 44 years after rescuing wounded soldiers in Vietnam.

Sen. Bill Nelson was in southwest Florida Friday to present 71-year-old Keith Maynard with the prestigious award. The Silver Star is the third highest military honor for valor in combat.
go here for more
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1051295.html

Possible contamination at VA facilities sparks call for inquiry

Possible contamination at VA facilities sparks call for inquiry
Story Highlights
Contaminated colonoscopy gear may have exposed Florida veterans to hepatitis, HIV

Florida lawmakers seek inquiry, raise concerns about other facilities

VA sent letters to people who may have had colonoscopies May 2004 to this month

Officials say tubing was rinsed but not disinfected, call risk of infection minimal
From Jennifer Pifer Bixler, Elizabeth Cohen and Sabriya Rice
CNN

(CNN) -- Thousands of veterans in South Florida may have been exposed to hepatitis and HIV because of contaminated equipment after getting colonoscopies at the Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, officials announced Monday.

Two Florida lawmakers are asking for an inspector general's inquiry.

"The VA is a model of the type of health care we provide our veterans, and when mistakes like this occur, it undermines the efficacy of the entire system," said Rep. Kendrick B. Meek, D-Florida, in a news release. Meek, along with Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, is requesting an official inquiry by the inspector general of the VA.

In a letter to retired Gen. Eric Shinseki, the secretary of Veterans Affairs, Nelson said he is also concerned about possible contaminated equipment at facilities in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Augusta, Georgia.
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/24/florida.va.facilities/index.html

Senate votes again for full SBP to widows

Senate votes again for full SBP to widows
By Tom Philpott, Special to Stars and Stripes
European edition, Saturday, September 13, 2008



By a 94-to-2 vote, the Senate for a fourth straight year has agreed to repeal a law that bans “concurrent receipt” for military surviving spouses.

The intent is to end reduced annuities under the military Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) when a surviving spouse opts to draw Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

DIC, which is tax free, only is available to a surviving spouse if their service member has died while on active duty or as a result of a service-connected injury or ailment.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), lead sponsor of an amendment to the defense authorization bill (S 3001) to repeal the SBP-DIC offset, argued that “widows and orphans” simply seek the same sort of relief from a ban on concurrent receipt of dual benefits that Congress has delivered in recent years to seriously disabled military retirees through a series of initiatives.

“We have acted to get rid of these unjust offsets. But there is one offset that still remains…the one that affects survivors,” Nelson said. It is unfair, he said, that DIC, earned because loved ones died of service-connected causes, is used to reduce SBP, an insurance annuity retirees bought to give surviving spouses or children financial protection.

“In my previous life as the elected insurance commissioner of the state of Florida,” Nelson said, “I want you to know I never heard of any other purchased insurance annuity program that [refuses] to pay the insured benefits that the insured purchased by saying, ‘Oh, by the way, [I see] you are getting a different benefit somewhere else.’ ”

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Senator Bill Nelson takes on sexual attacks in war

I have to say that I am finally happy to get an email update that really means something from Senator Nelson. Sorry but I have a few bones to pick with his Orlando office. I visited there a couple of years ago and offered my help with veterans. Never heard from them. Two weeks ago, I sent them a letter letting them know I was a Chaplain and again, offering my help with veterans in this area. Again, have not heard from them. You'd think they would be interested in doing something to help the veterans in Florida with PTSD enough they would have been at least interested enough in asking me a few question to see if I knew what I was talking about, but no, they must not have the time. Anyway, this was a pleasant surprise. It's a pretty powerful email about what is happening to too many women.

April 9, 2008
Dear Kathie,
Today I chaired a hearing on the failure of our government to prosecute cases of sexual assault committed against American women working for defense contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. Two brave women, both formerly KBR employees, gave disturbing testimony about the assaults they suffered, and then we questioned representatives from the Department of Defense, the State Department, and the Department of Justice why these—and other similar assaults—are not being prosecuted.

I hope you will take a moment to read the news release below and the two related articles from ABC News. You can also link to my website and watch or listen to the hearing. A fundamental breakdown of justice has occurred and it must be corrected.A fundamental breakdown of justice has occurred and it must be corrected.

Women Tell Of Brutal Assaults In Iraq That Go Unpunished


Washington, D.C. - The federal government hasn't tried any cases involving sexual assaults against women who work for contractors in Iraq or Afghanistan, despite a 2000 law giving that authority to the Department of Justice.

That information emerged this morning in often-emotionally charged testimony before a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations panel headed by Florida Democrat Bill Nelson. Since last fall, Nelson has been pressuring federal agencies about unpunished sexual assaults in the war zones, following a Florida woman's report that she was attacked while working in Iraq for a defense contractor.

Another disturbing piece of information that emerged in testimony this morning was that the victims of sexual assault in the war zone felt pressured to sweep the incidents under the rug.

"I am unaware of any measures to date being taken against the KBR employee or the member of the U.S. military who attacked me," Dawn Leamon said in remarks presented to the subcommittee. "I hope that by telling my story here today, I can keep what happened to me from happening to anyone else."

Leamon, who has two sons who served as soldiers in the war zones, worked for Halliburton's former subsidiary KBR. She says she was sexually assaulted just two months ago by a KBR coworker and a U.S. soldier at a remote military base near Basra, in Iraq. Her testimony marked the first time she has identified herself in public. Leamon was one of two victims to testify today.

Another KBR employee, Mary Beth Kineston, said in her testimony, "I also expected that when I made a complaint about such activity, it would be thoroughly investigated in good faith, that is, with an intent to resolve the problem immediately, and that I would be protected from the perpetrator in the meantime. I can assure this committee that none of my expectations about KBR were fulfilled."

"I'm in a war zone - and, I have to worry about being attacked by my coworkers," Kineston testified, recounting how she was raped in the cab of her truck by the driver of a vehicle that was parked behind her tanker as they waited one night to fill up with water from the Tigris River.

According to figures supplied by the Pentagon, more than two dozen U.S. civilians have reported sexual assaults. The Defense Department's inspector general said it has investigated 742 sexual assault cases during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most involved members of the military and at least 26 involved American civilians.

But the Justice Department has only sparingly used the 2000 law intended to protect Americans working as contractors in the war zone. In fact, there have been no convictions in a sexual assault of a U.S. civilian in Iraq or Afghanistan. In prepared testimony, Sigal P. Mandelker, deputy attorney general of the Justice Department's criminal division, said officials have brought charges in five sex cases, with four successful convictions.

The convictions were for sexual abuse of a minor by a Defense Department civilian employee in Japan; child pornography crimes by defense contractors in Iraq and Qatar; and, abusive sexual contact by a Pentagon contractor against a soldier in Iraq. An indictment has been delivered in the fifth case, but Mandelker in her testimony did not provide details on that case, citing privacy, confidentiality and court-ordered restrictions.

"The bottom line is that American women working in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to be assaulted while their assailants continue to go free," Nelson said. "Either the U.S. government has the authority to prosecute contractors for sexual assault and is failing to do so, or it doesn't have the authority or resources it needs and hasn't come to Congress. Either way, it is a travesty.

"We've got a problem that justice is breaking down here," said Nelson, who chaired Wednesday's hearing of the International Operations and Organizations, Democracy and Human Rights Subcommittee.

Following are two abc NEWS accounts this morning:



Military Mom Says She Was Brutally Raped in Iraq
Dawn Leamon, Who Alleges She Was Raped by Two Men, Will Tell Her Story on Capitol Hill

By MADDY SAUER
April 9, 2008—

Yet another woman has come forward saying she was brutally raped in Iraq while working for the U.S. contractor Kellogg Brown Root (KBR).

Dawn Leamon, who has two sons on active duty, says she was raped earlier this year by a U.S. soldier and a KBR colleague.

She will tell her horrific story to members of Congress today at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Leamon says that following her rape, she spoke with a woman at the KBR Employee Assistance Program. "She discouraged me from reporting, saying, 'You know what will happen if you do,'" Leamon said.

Leamon says KBR then assigned full-time security guards to her which gave her no privacy to talk about the incident, and her movements around camp were restricted, yet her attackers' movements were unrestricted.

"KBR did little or nothing to restore my sense of safety after I reported being raped," said Leamon.

KBR released the following statement to ABC News this morning. "First and foremost, KBR in no way condones or tolerates sexual harassment. Each employee is expected to adhere to the Company's Code of Business Conduct, and when violations occur, appropriate action is taken. Any reported allegation of sexual harassment or sexual assault is taken seriously and thoroughly investigated. KBR's top priority is the safety and security of all employees, and our commitment in that regard is unwavering."

Also at today's hearing, for the first time the Department of Justice is slated to answer questions on the investigation and prosecution of alleged sex crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. No one has yet been charged in Leamon's case.

Last December, the department declined to send an official to testify before the House Judiciary Committee hearing on law enforcement efforts to protect U.S. contractors in Iraq. The hearing featured testimony by Jamie Leigh Jones, a young Texan woman who also says she was gang-raped while working for KBR in Iraq.

Like Jamie Jones, Leamon believes she was drugged before her attack.

In January, several lawmakers pounded the Justice Department for flatly refusing to answer their questions about how sexual assault cases in Iraq involving U.S. citizens are handled. "We still have heard nothing from your office," complained several Democratic senators, including presidential hopeful Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Now, sources says the Justice Department has agreed to send a representative to the Senate hearing entitled, "Closing Legal Loopholes: Justice for Americans Sexually Assaulted in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Meanwhile, Jamie Jones will receive the Susan McDaniel Public Awareness Award at the Congressional Victim's Rights Caucus Awards ceremony. There was a grand jury hearing in Florida concerning her case in January of this year, but no indictment has yet been filed.
Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

By the Numbers: Military Sex Assault Cases in Iraq, Afghanistan

Pentagon Stats Show 40 Percent of Cases End Without Prosecution or Punishment for Alleged Culprits

By JUSTIN ROOD
April 9, 2008—

Four in 10 military sexual assault investigations in Iraq and Afghanistan have ended without prosecution or punishment for the alleged culprits, according to new Pentagon statistics -- slightly more than those which have resulted in prosecution, punishment or both.

Out of 684 investigations opened, 122 were closed because investigators determined the victims' claims were unfounded; 101 were closed for insufficient evidence; and 44 were closed as unsolved, according to Pentagon figures provided to Congress in advance of a Wednesday hearing.

In 23 cases, the Pentagon said it has no record of action being taken. In nine others, its records show authorities "decided to take no action."

By contrast, 183 cases ended in some form of administrative discipline. Culprits were discharged, fired, deported, barred from their posts or received an unspecified "nonjudicial punishment," the document stated.

Of those which resulted in courts martial proceedings, 81 ended with convictions, and two alleged assaulters were acquitted, the figures showed. None appear to have been prosecuted in U.S. civilian courts.

Today a Defense official is slated to testify, along with representatives from the Departments of State and Justice, on sexual assault among service members and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.