Behind the Bloodshed, Some Backstory of Lance Cpl. Acevedo

You read the story of Marine Lance Cpl. Eric Acevedo, the other day. With much admiration for Lily of Healing Combat Trauma, I am posting the follow up she did on the story. Lily is a friend and very talented. I just wish reporters would take the same interest in the stories they write to do such a fantastic job of telling the stories behind the stories.

Lily Casura
Published writer and editor; Journalist & blogger; Harvard grad; compassionate human being; Friend of Veterans

March 27, 2008
Behind the Bloodshed, Some Backstory
Another day, another lurid headline. A Marine Lance Corporal in Texas, recently returned from three back-to-back tours of duty in Iraq, and allegedly suffering from PTSD, breaks into his former girlfriend's home, stabs her to death and then waits, "covered with blood and looking dazed," in the parking lot for police to arrive and arrest him. On the surface, another brutal domestic violence story, with a very tragic ending. Behind the headlines, though, more questions than answers about troops' after-care, and whether ethnicity (the Marine in question is Hispanic) plays or ought to play a part in how PTSD is diagnosed and treated.

First, some facts. Marine Lance Corporal Eric R. Acevedo, 22, was arrested over the weekend for allegedly murdering his former live-in girlfriend, in Saginaw, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has been covering the story, and it's typically gruesome, but it's also a tragedy for all concerned. The victim, who was a single mother; the alleged perpetrator, who will likely do substantial prison time; and both people's families -- the 10 year old girl who now grows up motherless, as well as Acevedo's family, who believed he was struggling with PTSD, but was sent back to Iraq.
go here for the rest
http://www.healingcombattrauma.com/2008/03/the-ugly-backst.html

After the tornado - Greensburg , Kansas

I received this in an email. It shows what humans have to learn from "dumb animals."

After the tornado - Greensburg , Kansas

THIS IS SUCH A NEAT STORY

The story begins with the rescuers finding this poor little guy they named Ralphie.
Ralphie, scared and starved, joined his rescuers...


Someone had already taken him under their wing but weren't equipped to adopt;
I wouldn't think anything could live thru this...but we were wrong.




This little lady also survived that wreckage.
Here she is just placed in the car - scared, but safe.



and then...they are no longer alone!

Instant friends, they comforted each other while in the car.



Add two more beagles found after that...the more, the merrier!
Oh boy, a new traveler to add to the mix...



(note : the cat coming over the seat needing shelter...)



now just how is this going to work??? - and remember they are all strange to one another.




Wow! The things we learn from our animal friends...

If only all of mankind could learn such valuable lessons as this.

Lessons of instant friendship. Of peace and harmony by way of respect for one another -- no matter one's color or creed.

These animals tell you... 'It's just good to be alive and with others.'

Yes, it surely is.

So... Live, Love, Laugh.

'Life's a Gift... Unwrap It!'

Debbie Shank still asks how her son is. He died in Iraq

Brain-damaged woman at center of Wal-Mart suit
Story Highlights
Debbie Shank, 52, suffered severe brain damage in a traffic accident

Wal-Mart's health plan sued Shank and her family to recoup what it paid out

The Shanks got money in suit; Wal-Mart says policy means couple can't get benefits

Couple's son was killed in Iraq after they lost lawsuit to Wal-Mart

By Randi Kaye
CNN


JACKSON, Missouri (CNN) -- Debbie Shank breaks down in tears every time she's told that her 18-year-old son, Jeremy, was killed in Iraq.


Debbie Shank, 52, has severe brain damage after a traffic accident in May 2000.

The 52-year-old mother of three attended her son's funeral, but she continues to ask how he's doing. When her family reminds her that he's dead, she weeps as if hearing the news for the first time.

Shank suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident nearly eight years ago that robbed her of much of her short-term memory and left her in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home.

It was the beginning of a series of battles -- both personal and legal -- that loomed for Shank and her family. One of their biggest was with Wal-Mart's health plan.

Eight years ago, Shank was stocking shelves for the retail giant and signed up for Wal-Mart's health and benefits plan.

Two years after the accident, Shank and her husband, Jim, were awarded about $1 million in a lawsuit against the trucking company involved in the crash. After legal fees were paid, $417,000 was placed in a trust to pay for Debbie Shank's long-term care.

Wal-Mart had paid out about $470,000 for Shank's medical expenses and later sued for the same amount. However, the court ruled it can only recoup what is left in the family's trust.

The Shanks didn't notice in the fine print of Wal-Mart's health plan policy that the company has the right to recoup medical expenses if an employee collects damages in a lawsuit.
go here for the rest
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/25/walmart.insurance.battle/index.html?iref=newssearch

New wars added 662 homeless veterans to New England Shelter

Tallying up the human costs of war

Mélida Arredondo

It’s been five years since the United States began war in Iraq and seven years in Afghanistan. Yet according to a survey recently released by the Pew Research Center, more than one-quarter of the American public — 28 percent, to be exact — is unaware that nearly 4,000 U.S. troops have died in Iraq over the past five years.

No matter what the reason, there is a disconnect among the people of the United States and the impact of the wars our nation is waging, both here and abroad. The numbers are startling. According to the latest government statistics, 4,458 U.S. troops have died and 68,529 U.S. troops have been wounded, injured or become sick while in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

Locally, the state Department of Veterans’ Services reports that a total of 78 troops with ties to Massachusetts have died in Iraq, and 15 have died in Afghanistan.

The number of the dead is low in comparison to Vietnam, where 60,000 U.S. troops were killed or went missing. However, according to The Associated Press, about 15 troops are wounded for every fatality during the current conflicts. This is five times the injury rate of troops who fought in Vietnam.

Dr. Gerald Cross of the federal Veterans Health Administration recently testified that there are 300,000 veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan treated at Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals, and that more than half are treated for serious mental health conditions. Post-traumatic stress disorder accounts for 68,000 cases.

According to VA research obtained in February by The Associated Press, 144 veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan committed suicide from 2001 through the end of 2005. Statistics from 2006 and 2007 are not yet available. In addition, almost 300,000, or about one in four, of the nation’s homeless are veterans. Locally, 662 new veterans have joined the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans this past year, many bearing the signs of trauma from the current wars.
go here for the rest
http://www.baystatebanner.com/issues/2008/03/27/opinion03270858.htm

'Ward 57' examines psyche

'Ward 57' examines psyche
By Bill Hirschman Special Correspondent
March 26, 2008

There is invasive surgery going on inside the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Jessica Goldberg's drama Ward 57, but it's not dissection of the body but of the psyche.

This world premiere is not really about the plight of wounded veterans, although that's certainly examined, and it's not even a tract against the tragedy in Iraq. In fact, the play assiduously respects those who serve and those who dissent.

Ward 57 examines our duty to take responsibility for what we do — and the duty to be intellectually honest about motivations and consequences. Goldberg holds up a mirror and insists we ask the same unsparing questions as her characters.

Her plot sends sincere, if postmodern, screenwriter Wendy Hoffman (Aditi Kapil) to research a film about returning veterans. Her contact at Reed is Capt. Gray Whitrock (Brandon Morris), a prickly counselor who wants to be an example of hope to patients because he lost a leg during his first tour — and then went back for a second.

Whitrock cannot allow Hoffman to visit patients, such as the emotionally tortured Anthony Small (Buddy Haardt), who makes up rap lyrics about his blindness and asks Whitrock to help him commit suicide. So Whitrock and his pregnant wife, Lydia (Bonni Allen), become primary sources for Hoffman's research.

The sparring soldier and screenwriter — opposite poles on the political litmus paper — test each other's sincerity and then the intellectual integrity of their motivations. She sees him as a self-deluded jingoist while he sees her as a parasitic sightseer: " ... we think we lost our limbs for something and you think we lost them for nothing," Whitrock says.
go here for the rest
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/lifestyle/sfl-thwardsbmar26,0,6264311.story


We talk a lot about the death counts, but we don't talk about the wounded in body, mind or spirit. We don't talk about the price they pay after war. Go above and watch the clip of this play.

Shalala: Veterans benefits system is broken

Shalala: Veterans benefits system is broken
26 MAR 2008 • by Juliana Hanson
Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars won't get proper health care until the U.S. government updates and simplifies the bureaucracy strangling benefits and outpatient care.

This is the conclusion of Donna Shalala, former secretary of the U.S. Department Health and Human Services during the Clinton administration. President George W. Bush commissioned Shalala, Bob Dole and several other experts to evaluate the care of wounded veterans after the Washington Post exposed dire conditions at Walter Reed Hospital: deteriorating, rat- and roach-infested housing for family members, neglectful staff, and a mind-numbing bureaucracy. Shalala spoke about their findings to an auditorium packed with students and military personnel Monday, March 10, at N.C. State University.

While deployed, U.S. soldiers have access to world-class health care. But as soon as they leave the hospital bed, Shalala said, "it falls apart ... in the coordination of outpatient care."

This new generation of veterans has different medical needs, yet the dated, convoluted veterans health care system fails many of them. More survivors are returning home with brain injuries and long-term mental health issues, conditions that tend to be more severe and complex. These patients suffer most as they and their families struggle to find continuity among lost records, shuffling caseworkers and miscommunication typical of the military health care system.
go here for the rest
http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A217249

Anthrax vaccine back in the court again

"For a lot of people, it's too late to go to court," he said. "This is a situation that cries out for congressional intervention."

Judge Advances Anthrax Vaccine Rufusal Case

Elaine M. Grossman


Government Executive

Mar 26, 2008

March 24, 2008 - Washington, DC -- A U.S. federal judge has ruled that the Defense Department must again consider exonerating two military pilots whose Connecticut Air National Guard careers ended after they refused to take compulsory anthrax vaccine shots.

The plaintiffs were among hundreds of service members compelled to leave the military after resisting the inoculations during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Many cited qualms about the vaccine's safety and efficacy in protecting against inhaled anthrax, the form of exposure that Pentagon officials anticipated in the event of a biological weapons attack.

The federal courts have since found that the military's mandatory vaccine program was being conducted illegally for more than six years, beginning with its March 1998 inception. Pending Food and Drug Administration approval for using the drug specifically against inhaled anthrax, the Defense Department could not administer the six-shot series without an individual's informed consent, a federal judge said in an October 2004 decision.

The following year, the drug agency issued its long-awaited approval. The question has remained, though, as to whether those service members who refused the vaccine during the previous six-year period might yet be vindicated.
go here for the rest

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9670

Making room for wounded warriors

We argue about why they are where they are. The question is, where are we when they come home?

Among Vietnam vets with post-traumatic stress disorder who sought mental health care, less than a third went to the VA. Sixty-eight percent of those veterans got care elsewhere.

Conference at Fort Monroe touts medical resources for vets
By Kate Wiltrout
The Virginian-Pilot
© March 27, 2008
FORT MONROE

It took one sobering statistic to bring together 200 social service workers at a regional conference Wednesday.

Thirty-seven percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have sought medical care from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

So, where are the other 63 percent?

This is the question Harold Kudler, a physician and VA mental health services manager, asked the group at the Virginia is for Heroes regional conference.

Almost 800,000 veterans of tours in Iraq and Afghanistan are eligible for services through the VA, he said, and more than 40 percent of those who actually use those services – 120,949 – have reported possible mental health problems.

Kudler warned this “silent majority” of recent combat veterans may turn to other sources for help – churches, family doctors, community service boards – that need to be prepared to assist them.

This reality is what brought together local and state mental health providers, pastoral counselors and educators.

The VA is the federal agency dedicated to serving veterans, and it provides health care to 5.5 million vets – about one in five who are eligible. But the government already knows that young combat veterans might be suffering in silence, or self-medicating with alcohol and drugs. They might show up in jail or at a homeless shelter. Or their children might start getting into trouble at school.

“There should be no wrong door to which Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans or their families can come for help,” Kudler said .
go here for the rest
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/03/conference-fort-monroe-touts-medical-resources-vets

There have been hundreds of reports on PTSD each and every month. I've read most of them. Within them I find glimmers of hope the government is finally getting it, people are moving past the stigma of it and the military brass is finally addressing it. Yet all these glimmers fade when I get emails or talk to veterans who have fallen through into the valley of despair.

Two nights ago, it was two phone calls from people about someone they love with PTSD. It was not a matter of them not wanting care, but a matter of them not being taken care of. Both are Vietnam Veterans. One other Vietnam veteran I've been helping has no place to go, very little income, unable to work because of PTSD and his claim has been tied up, so he is also getting very little psychiatric help. He is getting no human help from his community.

Reading an article like this makes me want to scream about the fact we, in polite society, are doing so little.

In these years, I've talked to members of the clergy and watch their eyes glaze over when trying to get them to understand their duty is to these veterans as members of the human race. They cannot understand the toll on the veteran, their family or the far reaching affects on the community in general. They simply don't want to take the time to understand.

Last year I presented the documentary When I Came Home at the church I worked for. The turnout was embarrassing. I had invited a past National Commander of the DAV and a representative of Orange County Veterans Services to attend to answer questions I would not be able to answer. Very few members of the church attended. The Pastors did not and most of the elders did not, yet when there was a different kind of function during the week, it drew large groups of people. People couldn't be bothered to attend even though the event was free and lunch was provided. Pretty sickening when you get right down to it.

It isn't that no one cares. I also met with a group of Chaplains training at a local hospital. They asked me to speak to them because they wanted to know more about PTSD so that they could pastor to the patients with better understanding. These Chaplains were committed to addressing the needs of everyone. They wanted to know the causes and the signs to watch for, not just for veterans but for the community fully understanding that PTSD comes from all kinds of trauma.

Kudler warned this “silent majority” of recent combat veterans may turn to other sources for help – churches, family doctors, community service boards – that need to be prepared to assist them.

This is the same thing I've been trying to get through to people for years. With the VA overwhelmed with the demand for services as it is, they are not able to meet that demand. It will take years for the additional funding Congress finally allocated to increase the resources needed for long term care, but they have operated as if they have time to waste instead of taking care of the veterans today. There has to be room for the veterans in our own communities. There will not be unless we make room for them in our hearts.

We can point fingers all we want and say it's the Republican leaderships fault nothing was done to address this years ago, but we have a history of not providing for the veterans we send into combat. We didn't take care of Vietnam veterans even though we saw the need and now we are compounding this atrocity by pushing them aside to make room for the newest generation of combat veterans. The VA says there just isn't enough room for all of them to be taken care of.

Until there is, and we have to make sure the VA and the Congress move the damn mountains out of the way, we need to make sure the local clergy, service organizations founded to "take care of veterans" are all up to speed on the wounds they bring home. We cannot simply say that we have parades and build monuments for them while we do not do all humanly possible to actually take care of them. This isn't just the government's job to do. This is a job we all need to do.

I've been screaming about the fact so many can turn out for protests against the occupation of Iraq and in support of the occupation, but we cannot turn out in the thousands to address the fact that we are losing 120 veterans every week due to suicide, families are falling apart and wounded warriors are ending up homeless.

I am begging you again to call your pastor, minister, priest, rabbi or whatever to make sure they get involved and do something about addressing this. Time is being wasted while they want to only serve at the pulpit. Their duty is to humanity and they fail to acknowledge this. They speak of how the Holy people of God did this and that, tell you that you need to do the same but they are not.

While Chaplains are out in the communities to reach out to all of "God's children" there are not enough to go around. This demands the actions of everyone to really make a difference for the veterans today!



Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Namguardianangel.blogspot.com
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

PTSD Marine, 22 years old, 3 tours accused of murder

Suspect in Saginaw slaying served 3 Iraq tours
By DEANNA BOYD
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

SAGINAW -- A 22-year-old Marine who served three tours of duty in Iraq faces a charge of capital murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of a former live-in girlfriend.

Family members say Eric Acevedo has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Saginaw police believe that Acevedo broke into Mollieann Worden's townhouse in the 300 block of Cambridge Drive through a front window early Saturday. Worden and a neighbor both called 911 but when officers arrived, they found that the 32-year-old woman had been stabbed multiple times with a kitchen knife, police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:30 a.m.

Officers saw Acevedo in the parking lot and arrested him. Neighbors say the man was covered in blood and looked dazed.

Andres Acevedo, Eric Acevedo's father, said his son has not been the same since returning from Iraq and would never have harmed anyone if he had been in his right mind.

"I gave him to the government nice and healthy, and the government returned somebody who is capable of doing something like that," Andres Acevedo said.

Eric Acevedo remained in the Saginaw Jail on Monday with bail set at $1 million.

Worden's 10-year-old daughter was spending the night at a friend's house when the attack occurred, police said. The girl is staying with relatives, said officer Kimberly Allison, a Saginaw police spokeswoman.

Attempts Monday to reach relatives of Worden were unsuccessful.

Young recruit

Acevedo joined the Marines just nine days after graduating from Joshua High School.

"He'd always been wanting to join the armed services. I wanted to do that myself but my parents didn't allow me. I wasn't about to tell him he couldn't," Andres Acevedo said.

Master Sgt. Ronald Spencer with the Marine Corps Mobilization Command in Kansas City said records show that Acevedo enlisted in the Marines in June 2003 and ended his active service in June 2007. He then joined the inactive ready reserves, where he was to serve until June 2010, Spencer said.

Andres Acevedo said his son served in Iraq three times over a four-year span, but emerged a very different man.

"I was very proud of him. He served well over there. He never complained," Acevedo said. "But when he did this last tour, he was feeling kind of like he didn't really want to go because of the nightmares and stuff he had had from the second time. My wife tried to stop it over medical issues. They still sent him off."

Since his return last May from the third tour in May, Eric Acevedo had gotten only worse, Andres Acevedo said.

"He was nothing but a good kid. He never caused any problems," said Alicia Rodriguez, Acevedo's aunt. "He was a good son to my brother. I know he was a good soldier. I just don't know what happened. When he went in, he was so proud. When he came out, he had so many problems. I don't know what happened to him."

About six months ago, Acevedo went to see a military doctor and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, Andres Acevedo said. He was placed on medication that seemed to calm him down, but not completely, Andres Acevedo said.
go here for the rest
http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/546116.html

Last night I had two phone calls from people involved with veterans who became frightening. Sometimes this happens. It is not always, they need help are not a danger to anyone. There are times when they are not only a danger to themselves, but to others as well. While we tend to want to help them and do whatever it takes to do it, we need to be careful. If they become extremely angry, violent, threatening, abusive, you need to removed yourself from them. Most of the time it is just talk out of anger. That's most of the time but no one should take a chance. Staying there, confronting a combat vet with PTSD bouncing off the wall will only escalate tension and complicate the situation. Wisest thing is to remove yourself from harm first. Then, while it is the hardest thing to do, you need to consider getting the professionals involved. Get to a safe place and call their doctor. If that is not possible then call the police. As for the Sergeant on duty and explain what is going on making sure they know it is a combat veteran, that they have PTSD if they have been diagnosed, if they have a gun in the house or not and exactly what the police will be dealing with. There have been too many innocent victims in all of this.

We cannot place all the blame on the veteran because they did not ask for this and the government is still not prepared to take care of all of them. We do need to help them but we also need to know what we are dealing with. Many times medications need to be adjusted and that's all it takes but in emergency situations, you cannot stand there and wonder what to do.

Often we need to take a tough love approach. There are times when they have to be forced into getting the help they need. Failing to do so will endanger your life and the lives of others as well as the veteran you are trying to protect.

Don't get me wrong here. The violent ones are rare. The greatest percentage of them are a danger to themselves only. If they are a danger to themselves or others, you need to report this. You know them and what they are like. You will be the first to know when they no longer seem like the same person. Get them evaluated as soon as possible but above all, make sure you are safe.

German study, scared to death does happen

Blood-curdling fear linked to heart attack


Published: March 26, 2008 at 10:17 AM
BONN, Germany, March 26 (UPI) -- Scientists in Bonn, Germany, found the saying, "The fear made my blood curdle," may literally be true.

The researchers examined the coagulation in patients with anxiety disorders and compared them to those without such disorders and found intense fear and panic attacks increase blood clotting and may increase the risk of thrombosis or heart attack.

Franziska Geiser of the Clinic and Policlinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy and Ursula Harbrecht of the Institute of Experimental Haematology and Transfusion Medicine matched 31 patients with anxiety disorders to corresponding healthy patients based on age and gender. The blood analysis, which measured various coagulation factors, produced a clear result, the researchers said.
click post title for the rest

Right away the first thing I thought of was the recent reports out about PTSD veterans and the rise in heart problems with them. Ever hear of this many 20 year olds having heart attacks? There are a lot of non-combat deaths that are signed off as "natural causes" that could be linked to something much more. They were scared to death.