Former Salem selectman talks about soldier son's recovery

We can talk about the fallen, but we never seem to think of the families enough. We can talk about the wounded but still, we don't think about what happens to their families. Here's a story of just one of them and what they had to give up to take care of their son.

Former Salem selectman talks about soldier son's recovery from injuries suffered in blast
By Jillian Jorgensen
jjorgensen@eagletribune.com


SALEM — Arthur Barnes knew the call that would change his life could come at any moment. When your child is in Afghanistan, he said, you live with a constant baseline of worry.

But when that call did come last month, informing him that his son had been critically wounded and might not survive, Barnes wasn't ready for it.

"You're never really prepared for that call," he said. "You never expect it. It just sort of comes."

Sgt. Arthur Barnes IV, 30, a Salem High graduate and Vermont National Guard soldier, had been riding in a vehicle that was hit by an improvised explosive device, and was evacuated from Afghanistan to Germany. The Army tracked down his parents volunteering at Rockingham Christian Church, and told them to get to a place where they could be near a phone for the next 24 hours.

"The only way I could describe my state of mind to you is like being in a fog," Barnes said last week from Washington, D.C.

Barnes, who resigned as a Salem selectman last week, has been by his son's side at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for about six weeks now, but his journey has just
begun.
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Former Salem selectman talks about soldier son recovery

Australia honors Vietnam Veterans

Day to honour Vietnam veterans

A SERVICE will be held at Warwick's Cenotaph on Wednesday, to commemorate Vietnam Veterans Day.

All war veterans, their families, friends and members of the public are invited to attend the service which will include a catafalque party from the Warwick Cadet Unit, playing of the Last Post and Reveille and a wreath-laying ceremony.

Veterans and visitors should be at the Cenotaph in Leslie Park at 10.45am on Wednesday in order to take part in the proceedings.

Australia lost 521 men, killed during the Vietnam War between 1962 and 1972, three of whom came from Warwick.

The Vietnam War was the first war to which the Australian Government sent conscripts and 210 of them were killed.
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Day to honour Vietnam veterans

'Craigslist Killing' Suspect Dies From Apparent Suicide

'Craigslist Killing' Suspect Dies From Apparent Suicide
Updated: 27 minutes ago

BOSTON (Aug. 17) -- A former medical student accused of killing a masseuse he met through Craigslist apparently killed himself inside a Boston jail, where he was awaiting trial, authorities said Sunday.

Philip Markoff's body was found Sunday morning in the Nashua Street Jail after an apparent suicide, said Ed Geary, a spokesman for the Suffolk County sheriff's office. Geary said no additional information was immediately available, and an investigation had begun.

Saturday would have been Markoff's first wedding anniversary, but his nuptials were canceled after his arrest.
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Craigslist Killing Suspect Dies From Apparent Suicide

Shooting Gallery suicide followed murder of woman

Officials identify victims of murder-suicide involving Orange County gun range
By Sara K. Clarke and Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel

9:37 a.m. EDT, August 15, 2010


Orange County officials are saying two deaths on Saturday were a murder-suicide, after a man shot himself at a local gun range and a woman was found dead in an apartment on Woodbury Road.

The victim was identified Sunday as Jennifer Lynn Roqueta, 21. The suspect found at the gun range was identified as Ryan Ray Scurlock, 24, Orange County Sheriff's Office said.

The sheriff's office said it had no further information to release in its ongoing investigation.

Deputies said Saturday they responded to a "shots fired" call at the Shooting Gallery gun range, near 39th Street and John Young Parkway, just after 3 p.m.
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Officials identify victims of murder suicide

Six dead, more injured when off road truck plows into crowd

Off-road truck plows into crowd in California, killing at least 6
By Leslie Tripp, CNN

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A race truck crashes into a crowd in San Bernardino County, California
Six people are pronounced dead at the scene
Nine others are injured


See local coverage from CNN affiliates KCAL and KTLA

(CNN) -- At least six people were killed when an off-road race truck plowed into a crowd in southern California on Saturday night, authorities said.

The six were pronounced dead at the scene around 7:48 p.m. local time (10:48 p.m. ET), said Tim Franke of the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
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Off road truck plows into crowd

VA mistakes smother Post-9/11 GI Bill spouse

VA mistakes smother Post-9/11 GI Bill spouse

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Aug 14, 2010 11:38:14 EDT

An Army spouse using transferred GI Bill benefits to attend veterinary school is worried that she won’t be able to attend college this fall because of problems with overpayments.

Angela Kargus, a student at Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, has a canceled check to show she repaid money she should never have received, but the Veterans Affairs Department has credited her with returning only part of the money and is threatening to withhold additional benefits unless she agrees to a repayment plan.

She has enlisted the help of Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., to try resolve the problem before the fall term begins Aug. 23.

Jenkins’ spokeswoman, Mary Geiger, confirmed that a caseworker is helping Kargus. Brownback aides did not respond to requests for information about their involvement.
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VA mistakes smother Post 9 11 GI Bill spouse

Hundreds of PTSD soldiers likely misdiagnosed

The numbers went up for several reasons.
Publicity when people started to talk about it, what they were going through, overcoming the sense of shame because they understood it was not their fault. Families talking about it especially when a life was ended because of suicide. Families and the troops being paid attention to by the media.

Knowledge gained by mental health workers so they could understand that this was the result of multiple exposures to traumatic events.

The time span when multiple deployments caught up to them. The time span between the contributing event and the symptoms showed up. The stressor that broke the dam of emotions sending mild PTSD into full blown disorder.

Above all of this was when the military stopped trying to find a way out of approving claims that could be directly tied to combat. Hearing the military was honoring the claims of others gave them hope of being helped to heal. If they saw someone like them being helped instead of being belittled or kicked out, they were more likely to seek help as well.

Most of this work will be undone if they are still practicing cover-ups instead of honoring the service of the individuals paying the price for service.

After that, the annual number of personality disorder cases dropped by 75 percent. Only 260 soldiers were discharged on those grounds in 2009.

At the same time, the number of post-traumatic stress disorder cases has soared. By 2008, more than 14,000 soldiers had been diagnosed with PTSD — twice as many as two years before.

Hundreds of PTSD soldiers likely misdiagnosed
By ANNE FLAHERTY (AP) – 42 minutes ago

WASHINGTON — At the height of the Iraq war, the Army routinely fired hundreds of soldiers for having a personality disorder when they were more likely suffering from the traumatic stresses of war, discharge data suggests.

Under pressure from Congress and the public, the Army later acknowledged the problem and drastically cut the number of soldiers given the designation. But advocates for veterans say an unknown number of troops still unfairly bear the stigma of a personality disorder, making them ineligible for military health care and other benefits.

"We really have an obligation to go back and make sure troops weren't misdiagnosed," said Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen, a clinical psychologist whose nonprofit "Give an Hour" connects troops with volunteer mental health professionals.

The Army denies that any soldier was misdiagnosed before 2008, when it drastically cut the number of discharges due to personality disorders and diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorders skyrocketed.

Unlike PTSD, which the Army regards as a treatable mental disability caused by the acute stresses of war, the military designation of a personality disorder can have devastating consequences for soldiers.

Defined as a "deeply ingrained maladaptive pattern of behavior," a personality disorder is considered a "pre-existing condition" that relieves the military of its duty to pay for the person's health care or combat-related disability pay.

According to figures provided by the Army, the service discharged about a 1,000 soldiers a year between 2005 and 2007 for having a personality disorder.
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Hundreds of PTSD soldiers likely misdiagnosed

Wounded soldier husband, devoted wife offers support

Cheryl Gansner is a young wife, with all the same problems the rest of us have but she has one more additional problem few others face. A wounded husband. When they decide to serve, most of the time they don't think of what the spouse will go through while they are deployed or what other changes they have to go through when their spouse comes back home. They don't think about the fact their spouse may have to turn into nurse and therapists along with the other responsibilities they have in the marriage. We talk a lot about supporting the troops in this country and here it looks like a site that will support the families.

Wife of a Wounded Soldier Up
I am 28 years old and the wife of a severely injured soldier. I have been married to my husband, my hero, for 4 years. Throughout our 6 year relationship we were seperated over 2 years due to Operation Iraqi Freedom 1 & 5. My husband was injured by an improvised explosive device (IED) and spent 20 months rehabing at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. I am a Social Worker and Bryan now works on bomb robots. Our life has been a complete roller coaster and I decided to share with others what it is like to care for a combat wounded soldier. We are now hoping to get our life on track and start our new chapter. Click here to read my blog .
http://www.operationhomefront.net/www/highlights.aspx?id=5231

National Guards, what they did for love

National Guards, what they did for love
by
Chaplain Kathie

The rest of us wonder why other people want to join the military as Soldiers, Sailors, Marines or Airmen. Why do some want to go a step beyond that and combine their civilian lives with serving in the National Guards or Reserves? Why do some enter into law enforcement? The answer is not as complicated as you think.

Corinthians 13:7

Love
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

The rest of us get on with our lives, thinking of ourselves and what we need, want and our own problems. They have them too but they take on the problems of their communities and their nation as well. Then we end up expecting them to just go back to their homes when their commitment is up never once thinking of what they are going back home with.

Police officers have to confront the worst people do. Murder, robbery, rape, domestic violence, drunk driving and drug related crimes. They see drunk drivers and speeders knowing they had no thoughts about anyone else but themselves causing accidents that will change everyday after that for the innocent people involved. They see the hopelessness in the addicted. They see the worst what people do to each other and they see the suffering of the victims. It always protects.

Firefighters respond after a fire or accident, all too often when a person is trapped and they have to rescue them as well as fight the fire. Sadly they arrive too late to save a life and then they have to return home knowing no matter how hard they tried, someone died that day.

Yesterday six firefighters went to work and six were hurt doing their jobs.

Six Detroit firefighters hurt when roof collapsed
Firefighters hurt in Detroit
By the CNN Wire StaffAugust 13, 2010(CNN) -- Six firefighters were hospitalized in Detroit, Michigan on Friday, a hospital spokesman said.They were hurt when a roof collapsed as they were battling a blaze CNN affiliate WDIV-TV reported.

They never know if they will be just hanging around the firehouse or rushing into a burning building when they start their day or if they will end their day going home or recovering in a hospital or having their body recovered.

Yet with all these courageous professions, some take it one step further. They go into the National Guards. It is not enough for them to risk their lives in their full time positions. They are willing to do it on their time off as well.

National Guards
History:
For over 360 years the citizen soldiers of the Army National Guard have come to the aid of their neighbors during times of need. The Guard plays a key role during floods, fires and other natural disasters. The Army National Guard's mission involves helping communities during natural disasters, civil emergencies, and national conflict, having answered the call to defend America in every war. Today, the Army National Guard plays a key role in conjunction with the nation's active military forces. Whether guarding our country's interests at home or abroad, the Army National Guard is always ready, always there. Guard members are ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

Some Guardsmen/women have tame desk jobs in their civilian lives but still manage somehow to train to be able to save lives as well as trained to go into combat. Gone are the times when they were not faced with being deployed with the regular military. With 50,000 remaining in Iraq until next year and more troops being sent into Afghanistan, anyone joining the Guard must face the risk of being sent away from their families, their civilian jobs and friends.

So why do they do it?

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

It is the fact they are willing to lay down their lives that makes them so remarkable. They do it with love for their families, their friends and for total strangers.

Yet with all of this, we are surprised when so many need help recovering from what they have to go through. After they faced the "one too many times" of horror, they need help to overcome it. They need someone to talk to they trust. If they know the person listening to them will not be overwhelmed by hearing what they lived through, they will open up. If they know the person listening will not judge them for feeling the way they do or dismiss their emotions, they will tell everything going on inside of them. Yet if they hear the "fix" response of a person trying to come up with answer of how they get over it, then the conversation ends, an opportunity to serve them is gone and precious time is lost.

When they are deployed, there isn't someone to talk to most of the time. They see their buddies going through the same thing they did and think they will be seen as weak if they complain to their "stronger" friend. How can you complain or "whine" to someone else who went through the same exact thing but acts as if it was no big deal? It's not easy especially if they think their friend is never bothered by any of it.

When they carry these feelings onward they begin to eat away at the emotions. Depression, self-judgment and sadness sets in. It begins to eat away at their character. Good emotions become trapped behind a wall of pain and anger is the only emotion to surface. They seek alcohol and drugs to become numb to it.

On 9-11 it was one day many have still not recovered from.

September 11 numbers
Death, destruction, charity, salvation, war, money, real estate, spouses, babies, and other September 11 statistics.

The initial numbers are indelible: 8:46 a.m. and 9:02 a.m. Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes. Time they took to fall: 12 seconds. From there, they ripple out.

Total number killed in attacks (official figure as of 9/5/02): 2,819
Number of firefighters and paramedics killed: 343
Number of NYPD officers: 23
Number of Port Authority police officers: 37
Number of WTC companies that lost people: 60
Number of employees who died in Tower One: 1,402
Number of employees who died in Tower Two: 614
Number of employees lost at Cantor Fitzgerald: 658
Number of nations whose citizens were killed in attacks: 115
Bodies found "intact": 289
Body parts found: 19,858
Number of families who got no remains: 1,717

We can understand the lives changed forever from this one day because we understand how we were changed as well. Everyone in this country stopped thinking about their life here as safe from being attacked after that day. We can understand because every news station in this country and around the world covered this story for weeks. Everyone alive that day remembers where they were when they heard the news the first tower was hit.

One morning of terror turned into memories that will not go away. To this day as the anniversary comes, we remember that day with great sadness. Most of us forget all the houses with flags flying, cars with flags and magnets on every city street and highway. We forget about how wonderfully we joined together to help the families of the fallen and how we honored the men and women daring to rush into ground zero territory as everyone else was running away. The bad sticks in our minds more than the good. It is the same for them.

The good inside of them compelling them to serve is replaced by bad memories of the worst man can do to man. They forget what their own intent was, what they tried to do, what they wanted to do and what they thought they were doing. They forget about what they were willing to sacrifice to do it, to be there and to be ready to respond.

While one day weighs heavily on the rest of us just as our own traumatic events do, we need to remember for them it is not just one time but many of them. When they return from deployment it is often too late for them to just get over it. Their times of danger have been numerous and they knew they would have to face more of those times while they were deployed.

By the time they return home, there have been too many times to count piled onto other days. The thirty day window of recovery closed on them after the first time because others followed. Time to seek help when they come home is when you notice something different. Don't wait for another 30 days to pass. In a perfect world they would be emotionally debriefed after every mission with use of weapons, after every loss, wounding or attack. This is not a perfect world and there are not enough mental health workers or Chaplains to go around.

The military has been trying to train buddies to watch out for signs of suicide but they need to train these "buddies" to listen so that it never gets that far. This is why it is so important for families and communities to step up for the Guardsmen and women. The military has a community support system, even as failing as it is, but when the citizen soldiers come home, they often have no one to talk to willing to listen instead of "fix" the problem.

It is because they care so much they end up feeling it more, facing higher numbers of PTSD and related symptoms. It cut them deeper. They need the help of the clergy and all service organizations to do more than give them parties to go to, bars to drink in and parades a couple of times a year. They need more than a sermon on morals and ethics when they did what they did out of love and unselfishness. They need more than coming home to a job that no longer exists for them with a desk full of bills to pay. Regret sets in and that feeds PTSD. When they look around for someone to help them after all they did for everyone else, it makes it harder to find the reason they were willing to do it in the first place.

Help them see the good so they will know they are really appreciated so they do not regret what they did for love.

Six Detroit firefighters hurt when roof collapsed

Firefighters hurt in Detroit
By the CNN Wire Staff
August 13, 2010
(CNN) -- Six firefighters were hospitalized in Detroit, Michigan on Friday, a hospital spokesman said.

They were hurt when a roof collapsed as they were battling a blaze CNN affiliate WDIV-TV reported.
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Firefighters hurt in Detroit