Veterans groups complain of stigma
Law aims to aid in stressful situations
By Kyle Martin
Staff Writer
Friday, July 23, 2010
Reaction is mixed to a new law that allows service members and veterans to have a notation on their driver's license that they've been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.
Advocates say it's a way to warn law enforcement at a traffic stop that the driver has a sensitive condition and should be treated with care.
Critics argue that it reinforces the stigma that veterans with PTSD are ticking time bombs and could foster discrimination against people with mental illness.
The law, which went into effect July 1, requires veterans to bring paperwork from their doctor or psychologist proving their condition.
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Veterans groups complain of stigma
Friday, July 23, 2010
PTSD on driver's license bad idea
If they really wanted to help then they should have done it in a way that would help as well as honor. I posted on this before that they should have just put on "Combat Vet" instead of PTSD.
Tennessee Helping Hearts host a PTSD clinic
Tenn.'s Helping Hearts host a PTSD clinic
Behind closed doors, the unshown side of war is out in the open.
Posted: 6:21 PM Jul 22, 2010
Reporter: Sara Shookman
SEVIER CO., Tenn. (WVLT) -- As East Tennessee expects more of our friends and neighbors' return Friday, a Sevier County group is trying to help those already back deal cope with Post Traumatic Stress. They're inviting anyone who serves in the military to come by.
Behind closed doors, the unshown side of war is out in the open.
"I've done two tours in Afghanistan. Two tours in Iraq," said Spc. Darrell Pearson. "I didn't know anything was wrong with me for a while. I didn't know I had PTSD...I was having problems with anger, solitude, depression and everything else."
Pearson was injured in Iraq in 2004. Six years later, he's dealing with the mental aftermath, and trying to help other veterans with PTSD do the same.
"We're always taught to man up, internalize it, and do your job, you are a solider. Don't show weakness," he said. "It takes more of a man, or more of a solider, to admit that he has a problem, and desires help than to does to deny you have a problem."
Tennessee's Helping Hearts is taking over American Legion Post 104 on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, encouraging veterans to just talk or even just listen.
read more here
Helping Hearts host a PTSD clinic
Behind closed doors, the unshown side of war is out in the open.
Posted: 6:21 PM Jul 22, 2010
Reporter: Sara Shookman
SEVIER CO., Tenn. (WVLT) -- As East Tennessee expects more of our friends and neighbors' return Friday, a Sevier County group is trying to help those already back deal cope with Post Traumatic Stress. They're inviting anyone who serves in the military to come by.
Behind closed doors, the unshown side of war is out in the open.
"I've done two tours in Afghanistan. Two tours in Iraq," said Spc. Darrell Pearson. "I didn't know anything was wrong with me for a while. I didn't know I had PTSD...I was having problems with anger, solitude, depression and everything else."
Pearson was injured in Iraq in 2004. Six years later, he's dealing with the mental aftermath, and trying to help other veterans with PTSD do the same.
"We're always taught to man up, internalize it, and do your job, you are a solider. Don't show weakness," he said. "It takes more of a man, or more of a solider, to admit that he has a problem, and desires help than to does to deny you have a problem."
Tennessee's Helping Hearts is taking over American Legion Post 104 on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, encouraging veterans to just talk or even just listen.
read more here
Helping Hearts host a PTSD clinic
Lt. Dan Choi honorable, discharged by Army National Guard
Choi Discharged From Army National Guard
July 22, 2010 10:30 PM
ABC News' Luis Martinez reports:
Lt. Dan Choi has been discharged from the Army National Guard. The Iraq war veteran became one of the most outspoken critics of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy on homosexuals in the military after outing himself as a gay soldier on national television.
Choi told ABC News that his battalion commander called him Thursday morning to notify him of his honorable discharge under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.
In a statement he said, "After 11 years since beginning my journey at West Point and after 17 months of serving openly as an infantry officer this is both an infuriating and painful announcement."
Choi is fluent in Arabic and served a tour as an infantry platoon leader in Iraq.
read more here
Choi Discharged From Army National Guard
July 22, 2010 10:30 PM
ABC News' Luis Martinez reports:
Lt. Dan Choi has been discharged from the Army National Guard. The Iraq war veteran became one of the most outspoken critics of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy on homosexuals in the military after outing himself as a gay soldier on national television.
Choi told ABC News that his battalion commander called him Thursday morning to notify him of his honorable discharge under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.
In a statement he said, "After 11 years since beginning my journey at West Point and after 17 months of serving openly as an infantry officer this is both an infuriating and painful announcement."
Choi is fluent in Arabic and served a tour as an infantry platoon leader in Iraq.
read more here
Choi Discharged From Army National Guard
Soldier charged with killing family in Alaska
Soldier charged with killing family in Alaska
By RACHEL D'ORO (AP)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A 21-year-old soldier has been charged with murder in the shooting deaths of his wife and infant daughter in their Alaska apartment soon after his return from Afghanistan.
Spc. Kip Lynch was indicted Thursday on first-degree murder charges in the April deaths of his 19-year-old wife Racquell Lynch and 8-month-old daughter Kyirsta Lynch.
read more here
Soldier charged with killing family in Alaska
By RACHEL D'ORO (AP)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A 21-year-old soldier has been charged with murder in the shooting deaths of his wife and infant daughter in their Alaska apartment soon after his return from Afghanistan.
Spc. Kip Lynch was indicted Thursday on first-degree murder charges in the April deaths of his 19-year-old wife Racquell Lynch and 8-month-old daughter Kyirsta Lynch.
read more here
Soldier charged with killing family in Alaska
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The New Gulf War, depression
When we feel as if we wait for what we want, we feel in power of changing today with hope. When we believe that if we do a good job and work hard, we can hold our heads up high. The problem comes when we are at the mercy of others. In this case, BP.
The people living and working in the Gulf did nothing wrong to cause this to happen to them. This was totally out of their control, but they are left to suffer for what other people decided to do. There is very little hope for them of this getting better until BP stops the oil from escaping into the Gulf. Once they know that is done, then their outlook on the next day will change but the bigger problem comes as the days go on. Mental health help will ease some of the stress but without real change in their lives, their depression may last a long time.
The people living and working in the Gulf did nothing wrong to cause this to happen to them. This was totally out of their control, but they are left to suffer for what other people decided to do. There is very little hope for them of this getting better until BP stops the oil from escaping into the Gulf. Once they know that is done, then their outlook on the next day will change but the bigger problem comes as the days go on. Mental health help will ease some of the stress but without real change in their lives, their depression may last a long time.
Faced with oil spill, Gulf residents fight mental pain
By Agence France-Presse
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 -- 2:29 pm
With the Gulf oil spill destroying livelihoods across southern Louisiana, anxiety over an uncertain future is prompting a desperate rise in depression, health officials and residents warn.
"This whole area is gonna die," cried fifth-generation fisherwoman Darla Brooks in an interview Wednesday with AFP, in the small fishing-based town of Buras.
"Down here, we have oil and we have fishing. We are water people. Everything we do involves the sea, and the spill has taken it all away from us," she said.
Brooks, 37, who grew up on the Gulf of Mexico being taught how to fish and shrimp by her father, lamented the loss of a way of life -- and being deprived of teaching a five-year-old grandson how to be fish boat captain just like her.
"I'm angry, I'm frustrated. I've been contemplating suicide to the point of making myself a hangman's noose; honest to God. Then I decided that's not going to do anything, apart from shut me up," she said, promising not to cry anymore.
read more here
Gulf residents fight mental pain
7 percent of lightning victims are military
7 percent of lightning victims are military
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jul 22, 2010 10:27:53 EDT
Lightning strikes an average of 400 people a year, the National Weather Service says — and recent data shows that about 7 percent of them are service members.
While only about 20 percent of people hit by lightning die, those who live may have to deal with severe injuries, including deep burns where the lightning makes contact, for the rest of their lives. A lightning strike can lead to loss of limb, vision or hearing loss, weakness or numbness in the limbs, temporary paralysis, memory problems, headaches and, believe it or not, a fear of storms.
Since January 2009, some 42 service members have been hit by lightning, according to the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center. Of those, 29 were soldiers and nine were airmen. In February, three airmen were hit by a single lightning strike in Florida.
read more here
7 percent of lightning victims are military
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jul 22, 2010 10:27:53 EDT
Lightning strikes an average of 400 people a year, the National Weather Service says — and recent data shows that about 7 percent of them are service members.
While only about 20 percent of people hit by lightning die, those who live may have to deal with severe injuries, including deep burns where the lightning makes contact, for the rest of their lives. A lightning strike can lead to loss of limb, vision or hearing loss, weakness or numbness in the limbs, temporary paralysis, memory problems, headaches and, believe it or not, a fear of storms.
Since January 2009, some 42 service members have been hit by lightning, according to the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center. Of those, 29 were soldiers and nine were airmen. In February, three airmen were hit by a single lightning strike in Florida.
read more here
7 percent of lightning victims are military
Greyhound bus crash in California leaves 6 dead and 34 injured
6 dead, 34 injured in Greyhound crash on California highway
By Ashley Hayes and Melanie Whitley, CNN
July 22, 2010 9:36 a.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
35 people were on board the bus
California Highway 99 was closed after the crash
Greyhound representatives were on the scene
(CNN) -- Six people died and at least 34 were injured -- four of them critically -- in a crash involving a Greyhound bus and two other vehicles on a highway in Fresno, California, early Thursday, the California Highway Patrol said.
The accident occurred about 2:15 a.m. (5:15 a.m. ET) on northbound California Highway 99, highway patrol spokesman Officer Kirk Arnold said. The bus apparently struck an overturned SUV that was in the highway's fast lane, then possibly struck a second vehicle before traveling down an embankment and slamming into a large eucalyptus tree, Arnold said.
"We're still trying to piece everything together," he told reporters. Authorities believe at least one of the people who died was a person in the overturned SUV, he said.
go here for more
Greyhound crash on California highway
By Ashley Hayes and Melanie Whitley, CNN
July 22, 2010 9:36 a.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
35 people were on board the bus
California Highway 99 was closed after the crash
Greyhound representatives were on the scene
(CNN) -- Six people died and at least 34 were injured -- four of them critically -- in a crash involving a Greyhound bus and two other vehicles on a highway in Fresno, California, early Thursday, the California Highway Patrol said.
The accident occurred about 2:15 a.m. (5:15 a.m. ET) on northbound California Highway 99, highway patrol spokesman Officer Kirk Arnold said. The bus apparently struck an overturned SUV that was in the highway's fast lane, then possibly struck a second vehicle before traveling down an embankment and slamming into a large eucalyptus tree, Arnold said.
"We're still trying to piece everything together," he told reporters. Authorities believe at least one of the people who died was a person in the overturned SUV, he said.
go here for more
Greyhound crash on California highway
Fallen Campbell soldiers remembered at service
Fallen Campbell soldiers remembered at service
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jul 21, 2010 20:28:50 EDT
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — As fighting in Afghanistan increases this summer, families and friends gathered Wednesday to honor nine soldiers who have died in the 101st Airborne Division’s latest deployment.
Col. Dominic J. Caraccilo, acting senior commander at Fort Campbell during the deployment, called the casualties “nine of the Army’s finest soldiers” during his address to more than 100 family members and friends.
Almost 20,000 soldiers from the division are deployed or will deploy to Afghanistan, and the toll on the soldiers has been difficult as fighting increases during the buildup of troops.
Since March, 36 soldiers from the division have died. Five soldiers came from just one company and were killed by an improvised explosive device.
go here for more
Fallen Campbell soldiers remembered at service
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jul 21, 2010 20:28:50 EDT
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — As fighting in Afghanistan increases this summer, families and friends gathered Wednesday to honor nine soldiers who have died in the 101st Airborne Division’s latest deployment.
Col. Dominic J. Caraccilo, acting senior commander at Fort Campbell during the deployment, called the casualties “nine of the Army’s finest soldiers” during his address to more than 100 family members and friends.
Almost 20,000 soldiers from the division are deployed or will deploy to Afghanistan, and the toll on the soldiers has been difficult as fighting increases during the buildup of troops.
Since March, 36 soldiers from the division have died. Five soldiers came from just one company and were killed by an improvised explosive device.
go here for more
Fallen Campbell soldiers remembered at service
Delaware American Legion Auxiliary holds leadership workshop
American Legion Post 28
Auxiliary holds leadership workshop
The Department of Delaware American Legion Auxiliary recently held its first Leadership Workshop at the American Legion Post 28 in Millsboro. The workshop provided an opportunity to expand ideas on how the American Legion Auxiliary can meet the needs of newer veterans and their families and how to attract them as part of the Legion family. Attendees also discussed specific opportunities for units to participate in the growth of the organization.
Carole Baldwin, the department leadership chairwoman and president of Unit 28, welcomed the more than 30 participants. Mary Lee Phillips, a member of Unit 28, spoke on the subject, “Are You a Leader?” and got to the heart of the question by telling them they all were and they just needed to find their niche. She said, “Leadership is ordinary people making the extraordinary happen.”
Keynote speaker Sen. Leanna Washington, D-Pa., spoke on “Women and Leadership Roles” and used her own personal transition from the House of Representatives to the Senate to demonstrate how being aggressive and positive can put people on their life goal path. Washington, who is the minority chairwoman for the Committee on Aging and Youth and also serves on the Veterans Affairs Committee, said, “I will go where there is no path, and I will leave a trail for others to follow.” There were many questions for Washington, and her openness and frank discussion engaged the attendees.
Special guest Donald Whitehead, the former executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless and one of four formerly homeless individual advocates nationally invited to the first National Symposium on Homeless Research, presented the face of the homeless in a unique way.
read more here
Delaware American Legion Auxiliary
“Leadership is ordinary people making the extraordinary happen.”
Auxiliary holds leadership workshop
The Department of Delaware American Legion Auxiliary recently held its first Leadership Workshop at the American Legion Post 28 in Millsboro. The workshop provided an opportunity to expand ideas on how the American Legion Auxiliary can meet the needs of newer veterans and their families and how to attract them as part of the Legion family. Attendees also discussed specific opportunities for units to participate in the growth of the organization.
Carole Baldwin, the department leadership chairwoman and president of Unit 28, welcomed the more than 30 participants. Mary Lee Phillips, a member of Unit 28, spoke on the subject, “Are You a Leader?” and got to the heart of the question by telling them they all were and they just needed to find their niche. She said, “Leadership is ordinary people making the extraordinary happen.”
Keynote speaker Sen. Leanna Washington, D-Pa., spoke on “Women and Leadership Roles” and used her own personal transition from the House of Representatives to the Senate to demonstrate how being aggressive and positive can put people on their life goal path. Washington, who is the minority chairwoman for the Committee on Aging and Youth and also serves on the Veterans Affairs Committee, said, “I will go where there is no path, and I will leave a trail for others to follow.” There were many questions for Washington, and her openness and frank discussion engaged the attendees.
Special guest Donald Whitehead, the former executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless and one of four formerly homeless individual advocates nationally invited to the first National Symposium on Homeless Research, presented the face of the homeless in a unique way.
read more here
Delaware American Legion Auxiliary
Art therapy session offered for veterans with PTSD
Art therapy session offered for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder
Press-Gazette • July 22, 2010
DE PERE — Military veterans can take an art-therapy session to help deal with post-traumatic stress from 1 to 4 p.m. today at the St. Norbert Abbey Center for Spirituality, 1016 N. Broadway.
The Return and Recovery Program for Military Veterans therapy session is free for veterans and their spouses and is run by the Appleton-based nonprofit Artists for the Humanities.
read the rest here
Art therapy session offered for veterans with post traumatic stress disorder
Press-Gazette • July 22, 2010
DE PERE — Military veterans can take an art-therapy session to help deal with post-traumatic stress from 1 to 4 p.m. today at the St. Norbert Abbey Center for Spirituality, 1016 N. Broadway.
The Return and Recovery Program for Military Veterans therapy session is free for veterans and their spouses and is run by the Appleton-based nonprofit Artists for the Humanities.
read the rest here
Art therapy session offered for veterans with post traumatic stress disorder
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