Vets group cites errors reported by VA IG
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 12, 2010 15:01:20 EDT
At a conference designed to help veterans service organizations better understand the issues their clients face, Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense tried to tie it up in a one-page document of new data from the Veterans Affairs Department:
After looking at eight Veterans Benefits Administration regional offices in 2009 and 2010, VA’s inspector general found a 28 percent error rate. In fact, the San Juan, Puerto Rico, overall error rate stood at 41 percent, while the Nashville office had made errors in 52 percent of its post-traumatic stress disorder cases. In Baltimore, 55 percent of cases of diabetes in connection with Agent Orange had errors, and in Roanoke, Va., 49 percent of traumatic brain injury cases had errors.
“VA has a very significant quality problem in adjudicating their claims,” Sullivan said. “VA’s own reports indict the place. VBA is the dam that holds veterans up from getting the medical care they need.”
Sullivan spoke on a panel that detailed what roadblocks remain as service members transition from active duty to veteran status. He said Congress has focused so much on VA health care that the administrative end has gotten lost in the shuffle. “Some of their computers are older than I am,” said Sullivan, who served in the 1991 Gulf War and who used to work for VA.
read more here
Vets group cites errors reported by VA IG
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Veterans Blast Georgia Bill to Put PTSD Diagnosis on Driver's Licenses
Like I said, if they really wanted to alert as well as honor, they should just offer them them the choice of putting Combat Veteran instead of doing this. The idea that they get pulled over by police is really out there. They don't get pulled over more than civilians. It is good for police to know they are facing an uncommon person when they are standing in front of a veteran and this way they get taken to the hospital if needed or to a veteran's court if necessary but what about when they have to use their license for identification using charge cards or cashing checks? Not a good move at all.
Read more about this here
Veterans Blast Georgia Bill to Put PTSD Diagnosis on Driver's Licenses
By Joshua Rhett Miller
- FOXNews.com
Veterans groups are blasting Georgia lawmakers for passing legislation that would allow a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder to appear on driver's licenses.
Veterans groups are blasting Georgia lawmakers for passing legislation that would allow a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder to appear on driver's licenses.
The legislation, which awaits Gov. Sonny Purdue's signature, would permit servicemembers and veterans to request a PTSD denotation, which would appear on their driver's licenses as a specific health problem, much like poor eyesight.
PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can occur after a traumatic event, including sexual assault, physical assault and military combat. Symptoms include vivid flashbacks to the traumatic event, depression and substance abuse, among others. Up to 20 percent of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars suffer from PTSD, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The bill would require a sworn statement from a physician verifying a diagnosis of PTSD and a waiver of liability for the release of the driver's medical information.
State Sen. Ron Ramsey, who co-sponsored the bill, says he sees no downside to the measure. In a statement to FoxNews.com, Ramsey, a Democrat, said the "completely voluntary" legislation may protect law enforcement officers and veterans from potentially dangerous situations.
"For example if a veteran suffering from PTSD was pulled over for a simple traffic violation, a designation on the license explaining the circumstances could inform an officer that the situation should be handled cautiously," the statement read. "If a veteran does not feel it is necessary to designate this on their license, then they do not have to. Again, it is entirely voluntary."
go here for more of this
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/12/law-label-veterans-damaged-license/
Read more about this here
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Georgia about to make PTSD even worse
“Why would I want to put out there on my license – hey, I’m a nut job,” said Marvin Myers, president of the Georgia Vietnam Veterans Alliance Inc.
CODE and Activision Make an Educational Investment in Veterans
CODE and Activision Make an Educational Investment in Veterans…
Written by Call of Duty Endowment on May 11, 2010 – 11:16 am -
Today the Call of Duty Endowment and Activision are announcing the creation of a new scholarship program to assist those veterans pursuing a career in videogame development at Austin Community College (ACC) and Madison Area Technical College (MATC). The program will assist veterans at these schools with the costs of software, transportation, and other educational needs, while the GI bill covers tuition costs for U.S. veterans at most schools. ACC and MATC were chosen by CODE and Activision because of their gaming and illustration programs, as well as the high number of veterans’ enrolled at each school and the participation of military veterans in the relevant course work.
The scholarships will help to fulfill CODE’s mission of ensuring that veterans are provided a clear path to new careers after their military service is complete. Recognizing that our nation’s veterans are some of the brightest and hardest working individuals our nation has to offer, the Call of Duty Endowment and Activision wanted to encourage and help create a path for more of these men and women to enter the field of video game production.
Applications are now being accepted at both schools for students looking to pursue the scholarship, with the initial scholarship recipients to be announced in August. The Call of Duty Endowment and Activision will track the development of the scholarship winners through the CODE website and other mediums as they progress throughout the program. In total, CODE will donate $100,000 to fund the scholarship programs, which will exist for at least five years at each school.
To apply or learn more about the scholarships at MATC, click here.
To apply or learn more about the scholarships at ACC, click here.
Those individuals that have put their lives on the line to protect our country deserve to be rewarded with 21st century careers. These scholarships will help them get there!
Remembering Joey, killed in Vietnam
Remembering Joey
Published: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 11:59 AM CDT
Jim Perry
StaffWriter
In life there are some things you have to do and Saturday became the time to mark off one of those items from my list.
My bride and I loaded my wheelchair into the car and headed east on Highway 287. The short drive would take us to Ennis, but it would also transport me back in time some 42 years.
Arriving at the traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall sent me even farther back in time.
I remember the 1960s as a time of conflict and confusion. Controversy raged throughout the land as to whether or not our young men should be giving their lives in the jungles of a place called Vietnam. Our country was polarized. You were either totally against sending our troops to foreign soils or you were totally supportive of stopping communism at whatever the cost. If you were a young man of draft age you gave the situation a lot of thought and a lot of prayer.
go here for more
Remembering Joey
Published: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 11:59 AM CDT
Jim Perry
StaffWriter
In life there are some things you have to do and Saturday became the time to mark off one of those items from my list.
My bride and I loaded my wheelchair into the car and headed east on Highway 287. The short drive would take us to Ennis, but it would also transport me back in time some 42 years.
Arriving at the traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall sent me even farther back in time.
I remember the 1960s as a time of conflict and confusion. Controversy raged throughout the land as to whether or not our young men should be giving their lives in the jungles of a place called Vietnam. Our country was polarized. You were either totally against sending our troops to foreign soils or you were totally supportive of stopping communism at whatever the cost. If you were a young man of draft age you gave the situation a lot of thought and a lot of prayer.
go here for more
Remembering Joey
First Lady announces study of military families
First Lady announces study of military families
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 12, 2010 14:53:13 EDT
More than 100,000 service members and their families will participate in a “landmark” study to help the administration understand the challenges these families face, First Lady Michelle Obama announced Wednesday.
She said the president has also ordered a 90-day review among 20 federal agencies to develop a coordinated governmentwide approach to supporting military families. Helping service members and families is not just the responsibility of the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments, she said.
And more than the federal government needs to be involved, said Obama, speaking to the National Military Family Association’s summit. She issued a nationwide challenge to help American military families.
“This has to be all hands on deck,” she said. While there has been an outpouring of support for military families over the last eight years of war, she said, many military families are still not receiving the support they need. Spouses need better mental health services, and children need more support, she said.
read more here
First Lady announces study of military families
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 12, 2010 14:53:13 EDT
More than 100,000 service members and their families will participate in a “landmark” study to help the administration understand the challenges these families face, First Lady Michelle Obama announced Wednesday.
She said the president has also ordered a 90-day review among 20 federal agencies to develop a coordinated governmentwide approach to supporting military families. Helping service members and families is not just the responsibility of the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments, she said.
And more than the federal government needs to be involved, said Obama, speaking to the National Military Family Association’s summit. She issued a nationwide challenge to help American military families.
“This has to be all hands on deck,” she said. While there has been an outpouring of support for military families over the last eight years of war, she said, many military families are still not receiving the support they need. Spouses need better mental health services, and children need more support, she said.
read more here
First Lady announces study of military families
Are Vietnam Veterans ready to forgive
It's a good question. I know some have already forgiven and some never will. Then there are others writing once in a while commenting on the treatment of the new veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, just as they had the same emotions when Gulf War veterans came home to cheers, parades, full airport waiting areas and parties with "welcome home" banners. They believe these veterans deserve what they are getting, but most know it was because they were treated so badly, most of it is possible now for others. There are things we can never make up for and things time has only made worse for some, but to not try, to not reach out and prove to them how sorry we are, that would be an even bigger slap in the face to them.
Events like this are good but what would matter more to them is to be taken care of when they have carried the burdens deep inside for all these years. Many Vietnam veterans still don't know there is a name for what is wrong with them and there is help to heal. Many try to seek help at the VA but the lines are too long, claims too complicated and denials come fast. There used to be Veterans Centers they could go to when they didn't want to go to the VA, but there are not enough of them to go around. If we were really serious about making it up to them, we'd really take care of them.
Events like this are good but what would matter more to them is to be taken care of when they have carried the burdens deep inside for all these years. Many Vietnam veterans still don't know there is a name for what is wrong with them and there is help to heal. Many try to seek help at the VA but the lines are too long, claims too complicated and denials come fast. There used to be Veterans Centers they could go to when they didn't want to go to the VA, but there are not enough of them to go around. If we were really serious about making it up to them, we'd really take care of them.
Vietnam vets to gather for ‘welcome home’: Are they ready to forgive?
PAT SCHNEIDER The Capital Times
You’ve got to understand what it was like here at home during the Vietnam War. How rapidly society was changing. How deep and broad opposition to the war grew and how sharp the backlash was.
Soldiers returning from their time “in country” entered an altered landscape. The “Ballad of the Green Berets” was blown away by Jimi Hendrix’s “Star Spangled Banner” at Woodstock. Madras plaid button-downs bled into tie-dyed T-shirts. College students cut classes for anti-war protests, leaving a waft of marijuana smoke in their trail.
As protests spread and confrontations with police grew violent, some returning soldiers were met with taunts, and nobody postponed the revolution to welcome them home. Most often they were greeted with shrugs, veterans say today.
Jim Kurtz of Middleton recalls landing at Truax Air Force Base in Madison in 1967 when he came home from Vietnam, where he led an infantry platoon. “There was nobody there but my parents. From other people, it was apathy, like you had been in Chicago working or something.”
On May 21-23, Wisconsin Vietnam veterans are invited to gather at Lambeau Field in Green Bay for LZ (Landing Zone) Lambeau, what organizers are billing as a long-delayed “welcome home.” The event, sponsored by Wisconsin Public Television and state veterans agencies and organizations, began as a preview for a WPT documentary series on Vietnam veterans but has ballooned into a three-day affair with big names and big-time attractions. Packer great Bart Starr is set to appear, the traveling version of the powerful Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall will be erected, and military aircraft will fly over the staging ground.LZ Lambeau set for May 21-23
Vietnam documentary on TV
Wisconsin Public Television and the Madison Public Library will offer a preview screening of “Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories,” a new WPT documentary, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 12, at the Madison Public Library, 201 W. Mifflin St.
A discussion will follow with the documentary makers, the author of a companion book and Vietnam veteran Doug Bradley.
The three-part documentary featuring stories of veterans’ experiences on the battlefield and coming home will air at 8 p.m. on May 24, 25 and 26.read more here
Former Air Force intelligence specialist due in court over flight diversion
Ex-airman due in court over flight diversion
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday May 12, 2010 9:26:41 EDT
BANGOR, Maine — A Florida man accused of causing a trans-Atlantic flight to be diverted to Maine is due in federal court for a detention hearing.
Prosecutors say Derek Stansberry got the attention of the flight crew when he passed along a note that said he had a fake passport. Later, he told air marshals that he had dynamite. The April 27 flight from Paris to Atlanta ended up landing at Bangor International Airport.
Defense lawyer Virginia Villa initially sought a competency hearing but she now says that he's competent. He'll appear before a magistrate judge Wednesday.
The former Air Force intelligence specialist was working for a defense contractor in Africa. Villa says his actions are out of character based on everything she's learned about Stansberry.
Ex airman due in court over flight diversion
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday May 12, 2010 9:26:41 EDT
BANGOR, Maine — A Florida man accused of causing a trans-Atlantic flight to be diverted to Maine is due in federal court for a detention hearing.
Prosecutors say Derek Stansberry got the attention of the flight crew when he passed along a note that said he had a fake passport. Later, he told air marshals that he had dynamite. The April 27 flight from Paris to Atlanta ended up landing at Bangor International Airport.
Defense lawyer Virginia Villa initially sought a competency hearing but she now says that he's competent. He'll appear before a magistrate judge Wednesday.
The former Air Force intelligence specialist was working for a defense contractor in Africa. Villa says his actions are out of character based on everything she's learned about Stansberry.
Ex airman due in court over flight diversion
Un-break hearts to heal PTSD
Un-break hearts to heal PTSD
by
Chaplain Kathie
Research has shown changes in the mind after trauma leading to PTSD. An event, or multiple events, end up changing how the mind works. What happens after is not "one size fits all" because there are different kinds of traumatic events. When men and women are participants in the events, law enforcement and military, instead of bystanders or victims, surviving the events it can cut deeper into them. This makes it harder for them to heal because usually it's not just one event that needs to be addressed, but many of them.
Trauma is a bottom feeder. One event may not be so bad, but the door is open into the soul and then comes another event, doing more damage. Then comes a series of events feeding off the earlier ones. While one memory may be the dominate one, it is not the only one to heal from. This is also one of the reasons it can take years of therapy to reverse the damage done. The longer it takes, the less reversal healing.
The good news is that it is never too late and much can be healed provided all of the person is taken care from. The chemical balance in the brain can be treated with medication to get the balance back. Medication should never be used by itself. Therapy needs to be included to enable the survivor to heal. Therapy needs to take care of the memory but there needs to be spiritual therapy as well simply for the reason that PTSD is a wound to the part of the brain where emotions live. The body needs to be treated to heal as well. When all "parts" of the human are treated, then there is true healing.
Think I'm wrong? Then look at it this way. We live our lives with a basic base of our character. Changes in our lives set of changes in our character, for better or worse. An event, a powerful traumatic event, changes "us" deeply and the result can be seen not only in how we act but by medical equipment seeing into how our minds work. How it is reversed is injecting another event to reverse it. If an event set PTSD off, then another one can set off the healing. The healing event is intervention.
No "one size fits all" answers this because everyone is different with different histories. This is why therapy needs to have many approaches. Sooner or later they can find what works for them. The key is to address the whole person, body, mind and soul.
I had a young Iraq veteran, a member of the National Guards, face what he was haunted by. He told me the whole thing. Then I had him think about what happened right before it. Once there, he told me what happened before that and we backtracked to things he had forgotten. With the whole series of events in order leading to the haunting event, he was able to see himself as no longer evil, but remember what was in his heart. His heart was broken because he never thought he'd be capable of doing what he was forced to do and it ate away at him. It made him question everything he knew about himself. When he looked in the mirror, he saw a stranger. Every other event after that made this event worse. It was the one that haunted him the most.
That nightmare ended but while he should have stayed in therapy at the VA and on medication, he felt healed and stopped treatment without consulting me. His healing could have been more complete had he remained in therapy with medication to address the rest of the events until he was stronger. I am not a therapist, just a Chaplain, I addressed being human with a grieving soul. This needs to be included in therapy but cannot replace the other parts of therapy or it can be easily undone. To this day I worry about him and wonder what could have been possible if he stayed in therapy with the VA. His Mom told me he moved away.
The mind is reset after trauma and can be reset again leaving them stronger than before because of what they survived. The problem is making sure they have what they need to do it. Based on what I've been reading about what has been the approach by the military, they can't get there from where they are. They fail to even understand what opens the door to PTSD yet they expect to be able to heal them?
by
Chaplain Kathie
Research has shown changes in the mind after trauma leading to PTSD. An event, or multiple events, end up changing how the mind works. What happens after is not "one size fits all" because there are different kinds of traumatic events. When men and women are participants in the events, law enforcement and military, instead of bystanders or victims, surviving the events it can cut deeper into them. This makes it harder for them to heal because usually it's not just one event that needs to be addressed, but many of them.
Trauma is a bottom feeder. One event may not be so bad, but the door is open into the soul and then comes another event, doing more damage. Then comes a series of events feeding off the earlier ones. While one memory may be the dominate one, it is not the only one to heal from. This is also one of the reasons it can take years of therapy to reverse the damage done. The longer it takes, the less reversal healing.
The good news is that it is never too late and much can be healed provided all of the person is taken care from. The chemical balance in the brain can be treated with medication to get the balance back. Medication should never be used by itself. Therapy needs to be included to enable the survivor to heal. Therapy needs to take care of the memory but there needs to be spiritual therapy as well simply for the reason that PTSD is a wound to the part of the brain where emotions live. The body needs to be treated to heal as well. When all "parts" of the human are treated, then there is true healing.
Think I'm wrong? Then look at it this way. We live our lives with a basic base of our character. Changes in our lives set of changes in our character, for better or worse. An event, a powerful traumatic event, changes "us" deeply and the result can be seen not only in how we act but by medical equipment seeing into how our minds work. How it is reversed is injecting another event to reverse it. If an event set PTSD off, then another one can set off the healing. The healing event is intervention.
No "one size fits all" answers this because everyone is different with different histories. This is why therapy needs to have many approaches. Sooner or later they can find what works for them. The key is to address the whole person, body, mind and soul.
I had a young Iraq veteran, a member of the National Guards, face what he was haunted by. He told me the whole thing. Then I had him think about what happened right before it. Once there, he told me what happened before that and we backtracked to things he had forgotten. With the whole series of events in order leading to the haunting event, he was able to see himself as no longer evil, but remember what was in his heart. His heart was broken because he never thought he'd be capable of doing what he was forced to do and it ate away at him. It made him question everything he knew about himself. When he looked in the mirror, he saw a stranger. Every other event after that made this event worse. It was the one that haunted him the most.
That nightmare ended but while he should have stayed in therapy at the VA and on medication, he felt healed and stopped treatment without consulting me. His healing could have been more complete had he remained in therapy with medication to address the rest of the events until he was stronger. I am not a therapist, just a Chaplain, I addressed being human with a grieving soul. This needs to be included in therapy but cannot replace the other parts of therapy or it can be easily undone. To this day I worry about him and wonder what could have been possible if he stayed in therapy with the VA. His Mom told me he moved away.
The mind is reset after trauma and can be reset again leaving them stronger than before because of what they survived. The problem is making sure they have what they need to do it. Based on what I've been reading about what has been the approach by the military, they can't get there from where they are. They fail to even understand what opens the door to PTSD yet they expect to be able to heal them?
U-M study sheds light on the biological roots of post-traumatic stress disorder
ANN ARBOR, Mich.-University of Michigan researchers say they have identified what appears to be a crucial step in the chain of biological events leading to post-traumatic stress disorder.
(Media-Newswire.com) - ANN ARBOR, Mich.—University of Michigan researchers say they have identified what appears to be a crucial step in the chain of biological events leading to post-traumatic stress disorder.
Their findings support the idea that exposure to a traumatic event can trigger genetic changes that alter the body's immune system, leading to post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD is a severe anxiety disorder that develops in some people who have been exposed to events involving the threat of serious injury or death.
"We think we have uncovered a key biological step in the process that leads to PTSD," said Monica Uddin, a molecular epidemiologist at the U-M School of Public Health's Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health.
"Diseases in general, and psychiatric diseases in particular, involve an interplay between social and biological factors," said Uddin, an assistant research scientist in the U-M Department of Epidemiology and lead author of a paper scheduled to be published online Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"In the case of PTSD, traumatic events can get under your skin and literally alter your biology, with significant physical and mental consequences," she said. "That's the main message of this paper."
The researchers used data from the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study, a five-year project funded by the National Institutes of Health. They examined more than 14,000 genes using DNA from blood samples provided by 100 Detroit residents. Twenty-three of those individuals suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The researchers identified numerous genes—most of them involved in regulating the immune system—that appeared to be more active in people with PTSD. Previous studies have posited a link between altered immune function and PTSD. The new U-M findings support that model and go a step further by identifying a specific biochemical reaction that may be involved.
go here for more
http://media-newswire.com/release_1118743.html
Suicide prevention bill a tribute to Sgt. Coleman Bean
Suicide prevention bill a tribute to local veteran
Holt says government failed Army sergeant from East Brunswick
BY BRIAN DONAHUE Staff Writer
After two combat tours in Iraq, Coleman Bean of East Brunswick sought treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but he did not receive the support that is in place for many returning veterans.
Bean was a member of the U.S. Army’s Individual Ready Reserve, with which he had signed a four-year commitment after completing his first tour of duty. This meant that Bean, who fought in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, could be called back to active duty at any time and assigned anywhere the military had a need. Bean was called back in 2007 and assigned to a unit of the Maryland National Guard, with whom he served his second tour in Iraq.
Bean fought in Northern Iraq through much of 2007 and early 2008. Upon returning that May, the Maryland soldiers had access to the services and help of their Army base, but the IRR soldiers went back to their home states, basically left to their own devices. A few months after returning to New Jersey, Bean, whose PTSD symptoms included extreme anxiety attacks and depression, took his life in the early hours of Sept. 6, 2008, at the age of 25.
Bean’s parents, Greg and Linda, of East Brunswick, have corresponded with Holt since Coleman’s passing, and support the legislation.
“It is important not only as a suicide prevention measure, but because it also will help Individual Ready Reserve soldiers find the assistance they are currently lacking in other areas of their lives, like career and medical needs,” said Greg Bean, former executive editor of Greater Media Newspapers. “These fine men and women served America with courage and integrity, and now it is up to us to make sure that their needs are met as well. Too many IRR veterans have slipped through the safety net provided to other returning members of the armed forces, and this legislation will help close the gaps.”
go here for more
Suicide prevention bill a tribute to local veteran
Vandals dishonor Vietnam Veterans memorial
Vietnam Veterans of America New Mexico Chapter needs help to raise funds to fix the damage done to the memorial, but above that, needs help to fix their broken hearts.
Someone decided to do this to their memorial right before Memorial Day. These veterans came home to worse than nothing. They came home to anger, blame, hostility and abandonment. Any other generation of veterans wouldn't have been able to handle that kind of treatment, especially from other older veteran groups not wanting them in "their club."
These veterans, even after the way they were treated, never lost hope in the rest of us. They knew if they let us know how much they were suffering after doing what this nation asked of them, we would care, and we did. It was a long time coming but Vietnam veterans were finally honored for their service and their acts of heroism along with their true devotion to their "brothers" but they managed to stun everyone when they decided to fight for all generations of veterans.
Their actions are pointed to whenever wars are debated and the lesson learned by the American public is not never again blame those we send for who sends them. The Gulf War veterans were treated with respect because of them and yellow ribbons were on doorways across the country. Afghanistan and Iraq veterans are treated with respect because of Vietnam veterans.
There is much still to be done in order to take care of our veterans, all generations of them, but for the Vietnam veterans, an act like this cannot be tolerated. Help them heal by helping them rebuild what cowards tried to destroy.
Someone decided to do this to their memorial right before Memorial Day. These veterans came home to worse than nothing. They came home to anger, blame, hostility and abandonment. Any other generation of veterans wouldn't have been able to handle that kind of treatment, especially from other older veteran groups not wanting them in "their club."
These veterans, even after the way they were treated, never lost hope in the rest of us. They knew if they let us know how much they were suffering after doing what this nation asked of them, we would care, and we did. It was a long time coming but Vietnam veterans were finally honored for their service and their acts of heroism along with their true devotion to their "brothers" but they managed to stun everyone when they decided to fight for all generations of veterans.
Their actions are pointed to whenever wars are debated and the lesson learned by the American public is not never again blame those we send for who sends them. The Gulf War veterans were treated with respect because of them and yellow ribbons were on doorways across the country. Afghanistan and Iraq veterans are treated with respect because of Vietnam veterans.
There is much still to be done in order to take care of our veterans, all generations of them, but for the Vietnam veterans, an act like this cannot be tolerated. Help them heal by helping them rebuild what cowards tried to destroy.
Vandals dishonor veteran memorial
Kayla Anderson, Eyewitness News 4; Taryn Bianchin, KOB.com
A recently unveiled memorial honoring New Mexico’s Vietnam veterans becomes the latest target of vandals.
The bronze, life sized statue at Veteran's Memorial Park in Albuquerque was unveiled on March 29th, coinciding with the day Governor Richardson declared Vietnam Veteran's Day for New Mexico.
The sculpture is a field cross marking a burial place on the battlefield, where one soldier is grieving for a fallen friend.
Last week, police found the sculpture partly broken and the bronze helmet and gun missing. The vandals also spray painted a large patch of graffiti along the back wall of the Memorial Park.
Police still don't know who may be behind the vandalism.
The statue was paid for by the local chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America. They say they are currently making plans to raise money to fix it.
go here for more
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S1554918.shtml?cat=504
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