Over 100 servicemembers with TBI from Iran bombs..,not just headaches

Over 100 US troops have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries following Iran strike

CNN
Barbara Starr
February 10, 2020

Last month, Trump said he does not consider potential brain injuries to be as serious as physical combat wounds, downplaying the severity of the injuries suffered in Iraq.

(CNN)Over 100 US service members have been diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injuries in the wake of the January 8 Iranian missile attack on the al Asad military base in Iraq, according to a US official with knowledge of the latest information.

A picture of the destruction left at Al Asad base in Iraq after it was struck by Iranian missiles.

Later on Monday the Pentagon released a statement confirming that 109 service members had been diagnosed, an increase of 45 from the end of January when they said 64 service members had been suffered injuries.

The statement added that nearly 70% of the injured service members have returned to duty.
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US Navy is bombing Ocala?

US Navy drops live bombs in Ocala National Forest
WFTV 9 News
By: Elyna Niles-Carnes
Updated: Jun 21, 2018

OCALA, Fla. - Residents in southern Marion, northern Lake or west Volusia counties should not be alarmed if they hear loud booms near their neighborhoods.

The US Navy began bomb training exercises this week at the Pine Castle Range Complex in the Ocala National Forest, officials said in a news release.
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Life Changed For Alabama Doctor After Boston Marathon

Boston Marathon bombing survivor, Alabama physician shares how invisible scars still impact his life
AL.com
By John Talty
June 27, 2015

Dr. Scott Weisberg is a survivor of the Boston Marathon bombing. He suffers from significant hearing loss, and deals with both post-traumatic stress disorder and memory problems. Weisberg, a family physician in Birmingham has become an advocate for those survivors with invisible injuries. (Joe Songer AL.com)

When Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the two Boston Marathon bombers, broke his silence this week for the first time since the 2013 bombing, it didn't provide much relief for Birmingham physician Scott Weisberg.

Dr. Weisberg, who had just crossed the finish line when the first bomb went off, didn't believe Tsarnaev was sincere in his apology in court on Wednesday. Tsarnaev, who has been sentenced to death, killed three and injured 264 others when he and his brother Tamerlan planted pressure-cooker bombs near the marathon finish line on April 15, 2013. He said he was sorry for the "irreparable damage" he had caused, but refused to face his victims in attendance.

Even if Tsarnaev were sincere, it wouldn't ameliorate all the suffering Weisberg has endured the last two years.

"The overall sentence is irrelevant because what he took away from me I'm never getting back, nor is any other survivor," Weisberg said. "This is the closing of this initial chapter in the recovery."

Weisberg looks like your average family physician. He's smart, sincere and his patients at Homewood Family Medicine like him. But beneath the surface Weisberg is suffering.

Every day he must grapple with that fateful April day.

He now wears hearing aids because of significant hearing loss from the blast.

He has to deal with both post-traumatic stress disorder and memory problems.

His marriage crumbled and is currently in the process of a divorce.

He's had to fight to keep his business afloat and adjust as a physician who can no longer use a stethoscope.
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Quiet Boston Marathon Hero Receives Soldier's Medal

Boston Marathon hero awarded Soldier's Medal
US Army Corps of Engineers
By Bernard Tate
Headquarters
Posted 4/28/2014

BOSTON-- Many Americans have seen the shaky photos and videos taken when the bombs exploded at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Among the many people who went to the aid of the injured, there are glimpses of runners who stripped off their shirts to tie tourniquets around the shattered limbs of bomb victims.

One of those unknown runners was Col. Everett Spain, an Army engineer who is earning a doctorate in management at the Harvard Business School. On April 18, in a ceremony on the school's Baker Lawn, Spain received the Soldier's Medal, the Army's highest award for valor in a non-combat situation.

But Spain has shunned any publicity, avoided interviews with the civilian news media.

"First and foremost, I was brought up to believe that military officers should never seek praise for themselves," Spain said. "Our purpose is to serve others through character and leadership."


Despite Spain's modesty, his actions are a matter of public record in images taken during the Boston Marathon attack. He was only about 100 yards from the finish line when the bombs exploded.
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Boston Strong Survivor with PTSD Gained Strength From Soldiers

Soldiers Inspire Boston Marathon Bombing Survivor to Run Again
People Magazine
By JOHNNY DODD
04/20/2014

"Army Lt. Col. Brett Sylvia not only helped counsel Clark, but also oversaw the soldiers who reached out to her. Sylvia says he and his men understood what the 37-year-old mother of two was going through and what she needed to hear."

When the Boston Marathon starting gun goes off Monday, runner Demi Clark will have a group of soldiers to thank as she heads out over the 26-mile course.

Clark says she struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder after becoming the final runner to cross the finish line while bombs exploded and debris rained down around her during the 2013 race.

"So many people around me were hit with shrapnel," recalls Clark, whose left eardrum was blown out by the blast.

"I had such massive guilt that I walked away uninjured."

Within months of the blast, the guilt and memories of the victims, the blood and severed limbs she'd seen, took its toll on her. She began seeing a therapist, who diagnosed her with PTSD.

"I wasn't sleeping, and I was anxious whenever I went into public spaces," she recalls. "I just wanted to close the drapes and become a hermit."
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Boston Iraq Veteran-Fallen Firefighter Was Ready To Run Marathon

Fallen firefighter was set to run Boston Marathon
Michael Kennedy's dad taking loss 'one second at a time'
WCVB News
By Jack Harper
Apr 14, 2014

BOSTON —The father of a Boston firefighter killed in a fire in March is remembering his son, who ran to help the victims of last year's Boston Marathon and was training to run this year's race.

A funeral was held for Firefighter Mike Kennedy, who was one of two firefighters killed while battling a fire in Boston.

Wearing a fundraising shirt carrying his son's nickname, Dork, Paul Kennedy said he remembers wonderful times with his only son, including Mike's first Boston Marathon.

"I was close to the finish, and I saw him chugging along and waved. He saw me and stopped. I was in front of the Lenox Hotel. He turned and gave me a hug," he said.
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Military Cross for the 'bomb magnet' UK soldier blown up 17 times

Military Cross for the 'bomb magnet' soldier blown up 17 times
A soldier who has been involved in 17 bomb attacks by insurgents has been awarded the Military Cross for helping co-ordinate the response to the most recent one - even as he lay wounded
Telegraph UK
By Jasper Copping
6:30AM GMT 23 Mar 2014

He is either the unluckiest man in the Army, or the luckiest. Warrant Officer Class 1 Patrick Hyde has been blown up 17 times by insurgents − but has escaped serious injury on each occasion.

The soldier, who has been nicknamed “bomb magnet”, has been awarded the Military Cross for his actions after the latest attack, when he helped to coordinate the evacuation of injured soldiers, as well as a senior Afghan general and his men, as he lay wounded on the ground.
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Camp Pendleton relieves 2 after bomb blast investigation

2 relieved of command for blast that killed 4 Camp Pendleton Marines
LA Times
By Tony Perry
March 6, 2014

CAMP PENDLETON -- The explosion that killed four enlisted Marines during a Nov. 13 training exercise was probably caused when a grenade round was "dropped, kicked or bumped," according to a investigation report released Thursday.

The grenade set off an explosion among several hundred grenades and other shells that had been gathered for demolition.

As a result of the investigation, a captain and master sergeant were relieved of command -- an action that may end their careers.

Brig. Gen. John Bullard, commanding general of Marine Corps Installations West, said that the exact cause of the accident may never be known.

The four Marines were explosive ordnance disposal specialists who had been assigned to clear away thousands of rounds from one of the impact areas on the base.

The captain and master sergeant had failed to adequately assess the potential danger, the general concluded.

All four Marines had deployed to combat zones and been awarded a Combat Action Ribbon, awarded only to Marines who were under fire and returned fire.

Those killed were:
Staff Sgt. Mathew Marsh, 28, of Long Beach. He deployed twice to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan.
Gunnery Sgt. Gregory Mullins, 31, of Bayou L'Ourse, La. He deployed twice to Afghanistan.
Sgt. Miguel Ortiz, 27, of Vista, Calif. He deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Staff Sgt. Eric Summers, 32, of Poplar Bluff, Mo. He deployed to Iraq and three times to Afghanistan.
The four had a total of seven children, all under age 10. The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation has awarded each child $30,000 in college scholarship support.
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Camp Pendleton training accident claims lives of 4 Marines

Soldier honored for aiding victims of Boston Marathon bombings

JBLM soldier honored for aiding victims of Boston Marathon bombings
The Olympian
BY KARI PLOG
Staff writer
December 20, 2013

Paul Cusack had certain expectations about running his first Boston Marathon just a short drive from his hometown of Westwood, Mass.

Then the unexpected happened.

Cusack, a 42-year-old Army sergeant, was part of a group representing the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment from Joint Base Lewis-McChord. He finished the 26-mile race under sunny skies just as the Red Sox sealed a victory at nearby Fenway Park, culminating in what appeared to be a perfect spring day.

The euphoria was shattered by two explosions near the finish line on Boylston Street. The blasts, 13 seconds and 200 yards apart, created an atmosphere of chaos. Brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were responsible for the attack, which killed three people and injured more than 200.

“You take certain expectations with you overseas, and you take other ones when you’re in your hometown,” Cusack told The News Tribune shortly before a ceremony Friday to honor his swift actions to help victims in the April 15 attack. “The wounds suffered by the people were definitely like what you see overseas, unfortunately.”

Cusack, who was given the Soldier’s Medal, was one of 14 medal recipients at the ceremony at Lewis-McChord. The Soldier’s Medal is awarded for acts of heroism not involving conflict with an enemy.
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Boston bombing victim engaged to nurse he met during recovery

Boston bombing victim engaged to nurse he met during recovery
NBC News
Scott Stump
TODAY contributor
December 17, 2013

One of the worst moments in the life of a man injured in the Boston Marathon bombing has led to one of his best.

James Costello, 31, of Malden, Mass., has proposed to Krista D’Agostino, a nurse he met during his recovery after suffering serious burns on his arms and legs in the explosion near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15.

Costello was the subject of one of the most widely viewed images in the wake of the blast. A photographer captured him staggering through the streets with his clothes shredded and his legs burned.

"As you all know, April 15th was one of the worst days of my life, suffering not only physical injuries of my own but the emotional difficulties when I learned about my friends," Costello wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday. "I soon wondered why and for what reason this had happened."

Costello met D’Agostino while she was working a temporary stint as a traveling nurse at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Cape Cod. He was transferred there after undergoing multiple surgeries at Massachusetts General Hospital, including skin grafts and a procedure to remove a pair of nails from his abdomen.
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Combat wounded inspire Boston Marathon amputee

Wounded Warriors Inspire Boston Marathon Amputee
American Forces Press Service
By Terri Moon Cronk

BETHESDA, Md., June 12, 2013 – Wounded warrior amputees at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center here got a chance today to share the wisdom and experience they’ve gained through tough rehabilitation and prosthetic fittings with a man who lost a leg during the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings.

J.P. Norden and his brother, Paul, were cheering on a friend at the finish line of the marathon when they were injured in the second bomb blast. Each brother lost a leg.

The brothers’ surgeon -- Dr. E.J. Caterson, chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Harvard Medical School’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston -- recently accepted an invitation from Walter Reed officials to visit and learn about the latest medical and surgical advances in similar blast injuries seen in wounded warriors.

“This is an incredible place,” Caterson said of the Military Advanced Training Center -- essentially, a rehabilitation center and gym.

Caterson brought other hospital staff members and J.P. Norden to learn about blast injury amputations and prosthetics from the wounded warriors and their doctors. Paul Norden also was scheduled to attend, but was unable to do so for medical reasons, his brother said. “I wanted J.P. to see his peers around him who have gone through the same thing as he did, and I want him to see the incredible energy this place has, the incredible expertise and the motivation to say, ‘Let’s get better,’” Caterson said.

“Walter Reed has the most experience with amputees,” he added. “[The doctors] shared with us their expertise, because there are some difficult decisions we’re making” in fitting patients with prosthetics and providing rehabilitation programs.
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Police look for trauma support after Boston bombing

Police look for trauma support after Boston bombing
By Maria Cramer
GLOBE STAFF
JUNE 01, 2013

Boston Police Department officials said they are worried about long-term psychological effects of the Marathon bombings on their officers and are searching for ways to pay for more mental health specialists.

“We have an entire department that was impacted by the Marathon and many, many officers who saw things they should never have seen and endured things they should never have endured,” said Superintendent-in-Chief Daniel Linskey. “We’re going to have make sure they’re getting services not just for the first 12 to 24 hours [after the bombing], but the first week, the first month, the first year, and next five years down the road.”

In the days following the bombings, 600 officers were ordered to attend sessions called debriefings, in which they broke off in smaller groups to talk about the horror of that day. New York City police sent 18 retired and active officers trained in counseling to help Boston’s Critical Incident Management Team, which is composed of 45 officers trained in peer counseling.

The Boston Police department also contracts with three clinicians, but in the long run, the department will need even more help to respond to any psychological effects on officers in the weeks, months, and even years to come, Linskey said.

“Officers [generally] see horrific scenes and violent scenes that can have a cumulative effect on people over the years,” he said. “We’re going to have to invest additional resources.”
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Boston Police after bombs

Man shot by FBI in Orlando over ties to Boston bombing

Friend: Orlando man shot by FBI agent was questioned in Boston Marathon bombings
By Jerriann Sullivan and Amy Pavuk
Orlando Sentinel
10:21 a.m. EDT, May 22, 2013

An Orlando man who was shot and killed by an FBI agent early Wednesday morning was friends with the Boston bombings suspects, according to a friend of the victim.

Ibragim Todashev, 27, was shot in a condo at 6022 Peregrine Avenue, a quiet residential street near Universal Studios, said FBI Agent Dave Couvertier.

"The agent encountered the suspect while conducting official duties," Couvertier said.

An FBI post-shooting incident review team has been dispatched from Washington, D.C., and is expected to arrive in Orlando within 24 hours.

Couvertier, the FBI's spokesman for the Orlando region, released no other details on the shooting or the investigation.
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Soldiers in T-shirts and shorts rushed to help after suicide bomber struck

Suicide Car Bomber Attacks NATO Convoy In Kabul; 15 Dead, Dozens Wounded 
Huffington Post
By AMIR SHAH and KATHY GANNON
05/16/13

KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide car bombing tore through a U.S. convoy during rush hour in the Afghan capital on Thursday, killing at least 15 people, including six U.S. military advisers and two children, officials said.

U.S. soldiers rushed to the scene to help, including some wearing only T-shirts or shorts under their body armor.

An Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out by a new suicide unit formed in response to reports that the U.S. plans to keep permanent bases and troops in Afghanistan even after the 2014 deadline for the end of the foreign combat mission. Hezb-e-Islami said its fighters had stalked the Americans for a week to learn their routine before striking.
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When being "resilient" is part of the problem

A fascinating reaport came out of Boston this morning about the slogan "Boston Strong" being an issue for some mental health professionals.

Mental health experts worried about ‘Boston Strong’ slogan
By Deborah Kotz
GLOBE STAFF
MAY 13, 2013

The slogan “Boston Strong” that emerged days after the Marathon bombings resonates with many — including two-thirds of the more than 500 readers who answered a Boston.com poll.

More than 50,000 Boston Strong T-shirts have been sold to raise money for a victims’ charity fund, and the phrase has been plastered on posters and signs throughout the city.

But mental health specialists are concerned that some still traumatized by the Marathon attacks might deem themselves weak or inadequate for not feeling that Boston strength.

“I think it is probably attempting to speak to a sense of resilience and strength on the level of the community,” said Dr. Michael Leslie, a psychiatrist who treats trauma patients at McLean Hospital in Belmont. “But there are people who will read this in a personal way, as an exhortation that they themselves need to be strong” no matter what they’re actually feeling. That would be “an unfortunate conclusion to draw from the phrase,” he added.
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In the article, this came out.

"Nearly 9 percent of poll respondents said they didn’t like the slogan because it makes them feel like they have to be strong."

RESILIENT : characterized or marked by resilience: as

a : capable of withstanding shock without permanent deformation or rupture
b : tending to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change

The word does not mean "untouched" or "unchanged" by what happens. The first part of the definition is not about a person but is about an object.

Being resilient does not mean they are unbreakable. All it means is they are able to hold out a little bit longer than others. It does not mean they be unchanged. It just means the change in them will not destroy them. If they have a misunderstanding of what resilience is, that can cause a whole new problem.

The military has been pushing the term of "resilience" as if it is supposed to mean they can overcome everything without being changed or harmed. When they believe that is what comes next after "it" happened to them, they have a harder time when reality sinks in and they discover they are only human after all.

3 Marine officers dismissed in wake of deadly mortar accident

3 Marine officers dismissed in wake of deadly mortar accident in Hawthorne, Nev.
May. 8, 2013
By Andrew deGrandpre and Hope Hodge
Staff writers

Three Marine officers, including a battalion commander, were removed from their jobs Wednesday in the wake of a disastrous training accident in Nevada that killed seven Marines and wounded eight other troops, Marine Corps Times has learned.

Lt. Col. Andrew McNulty, commanding officer of 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, at Camp Lejeune, N.C., was dismissed along with two subordinates, Capt. Kelby Breivogel, commander of the battalion’s Alpha Company, and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Douglas Derring, the battalion’s infantry weapons officer. The decision was made by Brig. Gen. James Lukeman, commanding general of 2nd Marine Division, the battalion’s parent command, said 1st Lt. Peter Koerner, a spokesman.
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Cemeteries don't want to bury Boston bomber

I think his body should be put in the ground as soon as possible. Instead of praying for him, they should offer prayers for his victims and their families, since his life is over but their lives were forever changed by what he decided to do to them.

The 5 major developments in the Boston Marathon case over the weekend
By Holly Yan
CNN
Mon May 6, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A bombing suspect's friend accused of lying to authorities is due in court Monday
Cambridge's city manager says the older bombing suspect can't be buried there
Officials will announce a plan on how to distribute roughly $28 million in compensation

2. Cemeteries don't want to bury Tamerlan Tsarnaev
For two weeks, no one claimed the body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the elder bombing suspect who died the night he and his brother led police on a wild chase.

Now, the funeral home holding his remains is struggling to find a place to bury him.

The brothers' parents in Dagestan have said they will not fly his body back to Russia for burial, spokeswoman Heda Saratova said.

And Cambridge City Manager Robert W. Healy said he would not allow Tsarnaev to be buried in the city if requested by the funeral director or Tsarnaev's family.

"The difficult and stressful efforts of the citizens of the City of Cambridge to return to a peaceful life would be adversely impacted by the turmoil, protests, and widespread media presence at such an interment," Healy said in a statement Sunday.

Explaining his decision, he cited an excerpt from Massachusetts state law saying that "it shall be the duty of the city manager to act as chief conservator of the peace within the city."

"I have determined that it is not in the best interest of 'peace within the city' to execute a cemetery deed for a plot within the Cambridge Cemetery for the body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev," Healy said. Tsarnaev's body now lies at Graham Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Parlors in Worcester, west of Boston.

Peter Stefan, owner of the funeral home, said three cemeteries he's contacted said they feared reprisals. If he can't find a gravesite, Stefan said he plans to ask the government to find one.

The funeral home owner said everyone deserves to be buried.

"This is what we do in a civilized society, regardless of the circumstances," he said.
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Five US soldiers killed in Afghanistan bomb blast

Five US soldiers killed in Afghanistan bomb blast
Deaths – thought to have occurred in Kandahar province – take number of US troops killed in Afghanistan this year to 32
Associated Press in Kabul
Saturday 4 May 2013

Five US service members were killed on Saturday by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, the latest deadly attack against international troops since the Taliban announced the start of their spring offensive this week.

The coalition did not disclose the location of the blast, but Javeed Faisal, a spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province, said the coalition patrol hit the roadside bomb in Maiwand district of the province, the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban.

Captain Luca Carniel, a public affairs official for the US-led coalition in Kabul, confirmed that all five were Americans. With the deaths, 47 members of the coalition have been killed so far this year including 32 Americans.
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Marine Comforts Bombing Survivors

From Battlefield To Boston: Marine Comforts Bombing Survivors
NPR
by TOM BOWMAN
May 03, 2013

Editor's note: In a story earlier this week, we met Celeste Corcoran, one of nearly two dozen people who lost limbs in the April 15 Boston bombing. Corcoran told NPR's Richard Knox that a hospital visit from two Marines who lost legs in Afghanistan had given her hope. "After I met them, it was like this little spark, this little light," she told Knox, "[that] it's really going to be OK."

One of those Marines was Cam West, a young captain whom NPR listeners first met in 2011 in a profile by Tom Bowman. This week Bowman checked in with West again for NPR's All Things Considered; he shares this update with Shots.

In a video taken just days after the Boston Marathon bombing, Cam West breezes into the hospital room like a coach, trying to inspire the team at halftime. Celeste Corcoran sits in a chair, the stubs of her legs wrapped in gauze. She's holding hands with her daughter, Sydney, who was also injured.

West leans over Celeste and grips the arms of her chair. She dabs away tears. She can barely speak.

He moves in close, and waves a hand above her stubs. "This doesn't matter," he tells Corcoran.

"It's just a change of scenery. It really is."
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Combat veterans visit double amputee in Boston

Massachusetts National Guardsmen rush to help on video

Boston Marathon Bombing, and the Heroes that took immediate action.
April 15, 2013
Please scroll down to read original post.
Update #13 (05:11 EST)
The two Soldiers that have been seen in various viral videos running up to help the individuals that were mauled by the blast have been identified by one of WTFM Sources.

1LT Stephen Fiola and 1SG Bernard Madore both are members of the 1060th Transportation Company of the Mass. National Guard.

Far right is 1LT Fiola and 1SG Madore is right above the TOUGH.
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These Soldiers Did the Boston Marathon Wearing 40-Pound Packs. Then They Helped Save Lives.
When the bombs went off, the Tough Ruck 2013 crew sprang into action.
—By Tasneem Raja
Tue Apr. 16, 2013

At 5:20 a.m. on Monday, four hours before the Boston Marathon's elite runners took off, a group of 15 active-duty soldiers from the Massachusetts National Guard gathered at the starting line in Hopkinton. Each soldier was in full combat uniform and carried a "ruck," a military backpack weighing about 40 pounds. The rucks were filled with Camelbacks of water, extra uniforms, Gatorade, changes of socks—and first-aid and trauma kits. It was all just supposed to be symbolic.

"Forced marches" or "humps" are a regular part of military training, brisk walking over tough terrain while carrying gear that could help a soldier survive if stranded alone. These soldiers, participating in "Tough Ruck 2013," were doing the 26 miles of the Boston Marathon to honor comrades killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, or lost to suicide and PTSD-related accidents after coming home.
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