Injured Cedar Falls Sailor Released From Hospital
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier
WASHINGTON, D.C.
A Cedar Falls sailor injured in Afghanistan has been released from the hospital.
Morris announced on his blog that he was officially released from the hospital Thursday, and has moved to an apartment at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C.
read more here
also
Wounded Afghanistan Vet spends July 4th at White House
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Army's huge culture shift: No shame in mental health help
Army's huge culture shift: No shame in mental health help
By Gail Sheehy
Special for USA TODAY
Daniel Rodriguez joined the Army when his home life collapsed. His parents split. His father dropped from a heart attack. He was 18 and on the runty side for a high school football player, but with a dream of playing at a Division I college.
Three weeks after burying his father, the angry teen made his way to an Army recruitment center. Like so many of today's volunteers, he was looking for a new home, discipline and the directions for becoming a man.
But Iraq and Afghanistan are unique in America's wars, clouding that traditional coming-of-age road map. The invisible wounds of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and family breakup have soared for the military there, along with repeated redeployments and a 360-degree combat-alert range. The most glaring result is the 80% increase in suicides, averaging nearly one a day this year — the fastest pace in the nation's decade of war. This is the second year in a row that more active-duty soldiers have been lost to self-inflicted death than to combat.
These appalling statistics have given the Army a new mission — to treat those invisible wounds of war before soldiers come home with their mental composure shattered.
read more here
By Gail Sheehy
Special for USA TODAY
Daniel Rodriguez joined the Army when his home life collapsed. His parents split. His father dropped from a heart attack. He was 18 and on the runty side for a high school football player, but with a dream of playing at a Division I college.
Three weeks after burying his father, the angry teen made his way to an Army recruitment center. Like so many of today's volunteers, he was looking for a new home, discipline and the directions for becoming a man.
But Iraq and Afghanistan are unique in America's wars, clouding that traditional coming-of-age road map. The invisible wounds of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and family breakup have soared for the military there, along with repeated redeployments and a 360-degree combat-alert range. The most glaring result is the 80% increase in suicides, averaging nearly one a day this year — the fastest pace in the nation's decade of war. This is the second year in a row that more active-duty soldiers have been lost to self-inflicted death than to combat.
These appalling statistics have given the Army a new mission — to treat those invisible wounds of war before soldiers come home with their mental composure shattered.
read more here
Will Veterans Lose if Mitt Romney Wins?
UPDATE
Just to show that my fears for the VA are not unfounded.
Veterans For Common Sense has a great article taking a look at what this country would be like for veterans if Romney takes over as President. Sadly the truth is, veterans will lose if Romney wins just as they lost under other Republican presidents, especially under Bush.
It is not that Republican politicians are bad people but when you put business first, veterans are usually last on the "to do" list. Bush took advantage of the loyalty of the veterans just as McCain tried to do.
This was one of the happiest days of my life!
It wasn't just what happened at Walter Reed but most of what is adding to the suffering of our veterans since the troops were sent into Afghanistan in 2001 happened because no one planned for the wounded coming home and what they would need. No one was held accountable as veterans suffered because veterans are loyal people. The last thing they want to think is that another veteran betrayed them. It happens all the time.
Most the veterans I spend my time with are Republicans. I've written often how I wouldn't want to be around anyone else because I know them. I know how humble they are, how much they care about others, especially other veterans, and it breaks my heart when I have to tell them the truth.
I see the pain in their eyes when I have to tell them that someone they trusted betrayed them.
When McCain was running against Obama, they didn't know that McCain voted against them most of the time. He thought the GI Bill, among other bills, was "too good for them" even though this bill was not good enough, as we've seen over the last few years with problem after problem. Yet McCain, who fought tooth and nail against it along with Bush, managed to take credit for it passing.
Now they are face with Romney. A man with a career of making money for himself first and his partners second. His record on veterans has not been good when you consider who really benefited and that was businesses. I doubt he'd change as President when considering going to war and having to choose between the lives of the men and women he sends against the defense contractors he owes favors to. We saw that with Bush and paybacks of no-bid contracts.
Too many politicians on both sides have the same debt to corporate backers but veterans are the last to know where their politicians loyalty really is and they trust too much. Their loyalty really prevents using their power as veterans to hold politicians accountable for what they do as much as what they don't do.
Romney won't fix the VA. He'll destroy it so that his rich pals will finally get what they want. Turning the care of veterans and their families over to private corporations putting profits ahead of taking care of them.
Imagine calling the VA for an appointment and the voice on the other end is an outsourced employee in India instead of Indiana. You would see a hospital treating civilians and veterans together and then close down because they lost money leaving veterans with having to go without care. You'd see all the VA hospitals being controlled by corporations after taxpayer money built them, turned into luxury condos for turkey vultures because CEO's cut their losses and left.
Here's the issue in a nutshell. If Romney wins, veterans will lose but if Obama is re-elected, they have to hold him and every other politician accountable instead of just assuming any of them will be as loyal to the veterans as veterans are to the country they were willing to die for.
An Insult to Veterans
Posted: 07/25/2012
Richard Klass Colonel, USAF (ret.)
He asserts that the sequester cuts would weaken the Veterans Administration and that he would not let that happen. But President Obama has already ensured that the sequester, if it comes to pass, will not affect the VA. Gov. Romney did not mention his flirtation with replacing the VA with vouchers, a move that would decimate the VA's world class hospitals and research into veteran injuries such as loss of sight or limbs, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress. He also seems to have ignored the fact that the GOP budget of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), that he supports, would cut $11 billion from next year's VA budget. And of course, he would not give the Obama Administration credit for the largest increases in the VA budget in 30 years and for the expansion of care for women, mental health services and ending the shame of veterans' homelessness.
Veterans For Common Sense has a great article taking a look at what this country would be like for veterans if Romney takes over as President. Sadly the truth is, veterans will lose if Romney wins just as they lost under other Republican presidents, especially under Bush.
It is not that Republican politicians are bad people but when you put business first, veterans are usually last on the "to do" list. Bush took advantage of the loyalty of the veterans just as McCain tried to do.
This was one of the happiest days of my life!
JULY 17, 2007
VA Chief Nicholson Resigns
By TERENCE HUNT
The Associated Press
Tuesday, July 17, 2007; 12:17 PM
WASHINGTON -- Veterans Affairs chief Jim Nicholson, a onetime Republican Party chairman was forced to defend his agency's performance after revelations of shoddy health care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, announced Tuesday he is resigning.
Nicholson, who is returning to the private sector, has been head of the VA since February, 2005. Before that, he was U.S. ambassador to the Vatican and chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Most the veterans I spend my time with are Republicans. I've written often how I wouldn't want to be around anyone else because I know them. I know how humble they are, how much they care about others, especially other veterans, and it breaks my heart when I have to tell them the truth.
I see the pain in their eyes when I have to tell them that someone they trusted betrayed them.
When McCain was running against Obama, they didn't know that McCain voted against them most of the time. He thought the GI Bill, among other bills, was "too good for them" even though this bill was not good enough, as we've seen over the last few years with problem after problem. Yet McCain, who fought tooth and nail against it along with Bush, managed to take credit for it passing.
Now they are face with Romney. A man with a career of making money for himself first and his partners second. His record on veterans has not been good when you consider who really benefited and that was businesses. I doubt he'd change as President when considering going to war and having to choose between the lives of the men and women he sends against the defense contractors he owes favors to. We saw that with Bush and paybacks of no-bid contracts.
Too many politicians on both sides have the same debt to corporate backers but veterans are the last to know where their politicians loyalty really is and they trust too much. Their loyalty really prevents using their power as veterans to hold politicians accountable for what they do as much as what they don't do.
Romney won't fix the VA. He'll destroy it so that his rich pals will finally get what they want. Turning the care of veterans and their families over to private corporations putting profits ahead of taking care of them.
Imagine calling the VA for an appointment and the voice on the other end is an outsourced employee in India instead of Indiana. You would see a hospital treating civilians and veterans together and then close down because they lost money leaving veterans with having to go without care. You'd see all the VA hospitals being controlled by corporations after taxpayer money built them, turned into luxury condos for turkey vultures because CEO's cut their losses and left.
Here's the issue in a nutshell. If Romney wins, veterans will lose but if Obama is re-elected, they have to hold him and every other politician accountable instead of just assuming any of them will be as loyal to the veterans as veterans are to the country they were willing to die for.
Will Veterans Lose if Mitt Romney Wins?
Posted on July 7, 2012
by VCS
VCS Executive Director quoted extensively
What would a Mitt Romney Administration really mean for America’s veterans?
On Tuesday, Romney named former President George H.W. Bush and former Sen. Bob Dole as honorary co-chairmen of his Veterans and Military Families for Romney. But perhaps more significantly, the group’s national co-chairs, who will advise Romney on veteran policy if he is elected, include James Nicholson, former secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) under President George W. Bush.
Some veterans advocates say Romney’s decision to tap Nicholson, who abruptly resigned from the VA in 2007 amid controversy, as well as Anthony Principi and James Peake, who also presided over the VA during George W. Bush’s two terms in the White House, could signal that Romney will embrace some of the policies of the Bush years, which were widely considered to be tough times for veterans.
“A Romney presidency would be a disaster for veterans, as evidenced by whom he’s chosen to advise him,” says Patrick Bellon, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, a veterans’ advocacy organization. “I think these choices should give all Americans pause. How can voters support a candidate who is showing so clearly that he learned nothing from Bush’s failures? It would be a mistake to trust people like Nicholson who failed veterans in such epic fashion.”
Nicholson, a wealthy attorney, decorated Vietnam veteran and former chair of the Republican National Committee who served as VA Secretary from 2005 to 2007, said in a statement on Romney’s website, “Veterans have served our nation proudly for decades. They deserve not only our respect and admiration, but top quality care for the rest of their lives. Mitt Romney will work tirelessly to ensure that veterans and military families are always cared for. That is why I am proud to join him in his campaign to keep America strong and prosperous.”
But the “top quality care” to which Nicholson refers was reportedly hard to come by when he ran things. A cover story in Newsweek in March 2007 reported that the VA under Nicholson was an overloaded bureaucracy that was unprepared for the onslaught of troops returning from war and was failing America’s wounded.
read more here
Don’t Put Women in Combat, Says Female Combat Veteran
Some women think it is a good idea. Some don't. It is important to hear their voices.
Don’t Put Women in Combat, Says Female Combat Veteran
Katie J.M. Baker
Last April, the Marine Corps announced that it would begin integrating female officers into its Infantry Officer Course, a monumental step towards allowing women to serve in front-line combat that would also open up more promotions for women, some of whom have been complaining for decades that prohibiting women from the front lines hurts their chances of moving up into senior military ranks.
As one might expect, not everyone thinks this is such a fantastic idea. In the latest issue of Marine Corps Gazette, an Iraq and Afghanistan vet and "combat-experienced Marine officer" makes the case that "we are not all created equal" and that "I am confident that should the Marine Corps attempt to fully integrate women into the infantry, we as an institution are going to experience a colossal increase in crippling and career-ending medical conditions for females."
read more here
Friday, July 6, 2012
General McChrystal says "I think we ought to have a draft"
McChrystal says it's time to bring back the draft
By JOSH ROGIN
Foreign Policy
Published: July 6, 2012
WASHINGTON — Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former top commander of international forces in Afghanistan, said this week that the United States should bring back the draft if it ever goes to war again.
"I think we ought to have a draft. I think if a nation goes to war, it shouldn't be solely be represented by a professional force, because it gets to be unrepresentative of the population," McChrystal said at a late-night event June 29 at the 2012 Aspen Ideas Festival. "I think if a nation goes to war, every town, every city needs to be at risk. You make that decision and everybody has skin in the game."
He argued that the burdens of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan haven't been properly shared across the U.S. population, and emphasized that the U.S. military could train draftees so that there wouldn't be a loss of effectiveness in the war effort.
"I've enjoyed the benefits of a professional service, but I think we'd be better if we actually went to a draft these days," he said. "There would some loss of professionalism, but for the nation it would be a better course."
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq placed unfair and extreme burdens on the professional military, especially reservists, and their families, McChrystal said.
read more here
By JOSH ROGIN
Foreign Policy
Published: July 6, 2012
WASHINGTON — Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former top commander of international forces in Afghanistan, said this week that the United States should bring back the draft if it ever goes to war again.
"I think we ought to have a draft. I think if a nation goes to war, it shouldn't be solely be represented by a professional force, because it gets to be unrepresentative of the population," McChrystal said at a late-night event June 29 at the 2012 Aspen Ideas Festival. "I think if a nation goes to war, every town, every city needs to be at risk. You make that decision and everybody has skin in the game."
He argued that the burdens of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan haven't been properly shared across the U.S. population, and emphasized that the U.S. military could train draftees so that there wouldn't be a loss of effectiveness in the war effort.
"I've enjoyed the benefits of a professional service, but I think we'd be better if we actually went to a draft these days," he said. "There would some loss of professionalism, but for the nation it would be a better course."
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq placed unfair and extreme burdens on the professional military, especially reservists, and their families, McChrystal said.
read more here
Big dip in unemployment rate for young veterans
Big dip in unemployment rate for young veterans
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 6, 2012
The jobless rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans fell dramatically in June despite an overall economy that produced few jobs and left the national unemployed rate unchanged.
The unemployment rate for Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans fell to 9.5 percent, down from 12.7 percent the previous month and from 13.3 percent in June 2011, according to the employment situation report released Friday by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
For veterans of all generations, the June jobless rate was 7.4 percent, a slight improvement over the 7.8 percent rate for May.
The national unemployment rate remains 8.2 percent in a sour economy that produced just 80,000 jobs last month.
Big month-to-month changes in veterans’ unemployment can be the result of statistical flukes because the Labor Department’s monthly report is based on a survey of about 200,000 people, of whom just 22,000 are veterans. The June survey included just 2,600 people who left active duty since Sept. 11, 2001, to draw conclusions about the jobless rate for the newest generation of veterans.
Still, the statistical improvement comes amidst a continuing expansion of federal and private-sector programs aimed at helping veterans get jobs.
read more here
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 6, 2012
The jobless rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans fell dramatically in June despite an overall economy that produced few jobs and left the national unemployed rate unchanged.
The unemployment rate for Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans fell to 9.5 percent, down from 12.7 percent the previous month and from 13.3 percent in June 2011, according to the employment situation report released Friday by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
For veterans of all generations, the June jobless rate was 7.4 percent, a slight improvement over the 7.8 percent rate for May.
The national unemployment rate remains 8.2 percent in a sour economy that produced just 80,000 jobs last month.
Big month-to-month changes in veterans’ unemployment can be the result of statistical flukes because the Labor Department’s monthly report is based on a survey of about 200,000 people, of whom just 22,000 are veterans. The June survey included just 2,600 people who left active duty since Sept. 11, 2001, to draw conclusions about the jobless rate for the newest generation of veterans.
Still, the statistical improvement comes amidst a continuing expansion of federal and private-sector programs aimed at helping veterans get jobs.
read more here
Over 200 soldiers re-enlist during Fort Hood July 4th Freedom Fest
More than 200 Fort Hood soldiers re-enlist on Independence Day
by ASHLEY GOUDEAU KVUE News
Photojournalist DATHAN HULL
kvue.com
Posted on July 5, 2012
FORT HOOD, Texas -- What better way to celebrate America's birthday than to celebrate it with America's heroes?
"It's good to see people come out and support the military," said Fort Hood Solider 1st Lieutenant Kenneth Tarpley.
"You know, being a service member, in uniform, you know it kind of gives us the opportunity to reflect back on all those that served before us to be able to enjoy these freedoms that we're actually enjoying today," added Fort Hood Command Sergeant Major Antonio Dunston.
More than 50,000 people from across Central Texas traveled to "The Great Place," or Fort Hood, for Freedom Fest 2012.
There was a cannon salute to each U.S. state and territory, and food, music and games.
A day for soldiers to spend time with the people they're protecting.
"Because we've been on the ground so long from all the years of fighting the global war on terrorism, it's just good to see them get out and enjoy their families on a day like today," said CSM Dunston.
read more here
by ASHLEY GOUDEAU KVUE News
Photojournalist DATHAN HULL
kvue.com
Posted on July 5, 2012
FORT HOOD, Texas -- What better way to celebrate America's birthday than to celebrate it with America's heroes?
"It's good to see people come out and support the military," said Fort Hood Solider 1st Lieutenant Kenneth Tarpley.
"You know, being a service member, in uniform, you know it kind of gives us the opportunity to reflect back on all those that served before us to be able to enjoy these freedoms that we're actually enjoying today," added Fort Hood Command Sergeant Major Antonio Dunston.
More than 50,000 people from across Central Texas traveled to "The Great Place," or Fort Hood, for Freedom Fest 2012.
There was a cannon salute to each U.S. state and territory, and food, music and games.
A day for soldiers to spend time with the people they're protecting.
"Because we've been on the ground so long from all the years of fighting the global war on terrorism, it's just good to see them get out and enjoy their families on a day like today," said CSM Dunston.
read more here
Army Battles War-Stress Stigma
Army Battles War-Stress Stigma
Written by
Derry London
WLTX news
Jul 6, 2012
Washington, DC (written by Gail Sheehy/Special for USA Today) -- Daniel Rodriguez joined the Army when his home life collapsed. His parents split. His father dropped from a heart attack. He was 18 and on the runty side for a high school football player, but with a dream of playing at a Division I college.
Three weeks after burying his father, the angry teen made his way to an Army recruitment center. Like so many of today's volunteers, he was looking for a new home, discipline and the directions for becoming a man.
But Iraq and Afghanistan are unique in America's wars, clouding that traditional coming-of-age road map. The invisible wounds of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and family breakup have soared for the military there, along with repeated redeployments and a 360-degree combat-alert range. The most glaring result is the 80% increase in suicides, averaging nearly one a day this year - the fastest pace in the nation's decade of war. This is the second year in a row that more active-duty soldiers have been lost to self-inflicted death than to combat.
These appalling statistics have given the Army a new mission - to treat those invisible wounds of war before soldiers come home with their mental composure shattered.
Pvt. Rodriguez was a prime candidate to join the epidemic of military suicides. During 12 months of walking patrols in what he calls the "concrete jungle" of Baghdad during the surge of 2007, he dodged more than 1,000 roadside bombs. But he lost a dozen of his buddies. And in Afghanistan, he was thrown together in a remote outpost with Afghan soldiers who betrayed the Americans and sided with the Taliban.
read more here
Written by
Derry London
WLTX news
Jul 6, 2012
Washington, DC (written by Gail Sheehy/Special for USA Today) -- Daniel Rodriguez joined the Army when his home life collapsed. His parents split. His father dropped from a heart attack. He was 18 and on the runty side for a high school football player, but with a dream of playing at a Division I college.
Three weeks after burying his father, the angry teen made his way to an Army recruitment center. Like so many of today's volunteers, he was looking for a new home, discipline and the directions for becoming a man.
But Iraq and Afghanistan are unique in America's wars, clouding that traditional coming-of-age road map. The invisible wounds of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and family breakup have soared for the military there, along with repeated redeployments and a 360-degree combat-alert range. The most glaring result is the 80% increase in suicides, averaging nearly one a day this year - the fastest pace in the nation's decade of war. This is the second year in a row that more active-duty soldiers have been lost to self-inflicted death than to combat.
These appalling statistics have given the Army a new mission - to treat those invisible wounds of war before soldiers come home with their mental composure shattered.
Pvt. Rodriguez was a prime candidate to join the epidemic of military suicides. During 12 months of walking patrols in what he calls the "concrete jungle" of Baghdad during the surge of 2007, he dodged more than 1,000 roadside bombs. But he lost a dozen of his buddies. And in Afghanistan, he was thrown together in a remote outpost with Afghan soldiers who betrayed the Americans and sided with the Taliban.
read more here
Tim McGraw Awards U.S. Army Sergeant With Mortgage-Free Home
Tim McGraw Awards U.S. Army Sergeant With Mortgage-Free Home
Posted Jul 6th 2012
Erin Duvall
Chicago fans may be anxious for the Brothers of the Sun tour stop at Soldier Field on Saturday (June 7), but none more so than U.S. Army Sergeant Linda Brashears. Earlier this year, Tim McGraw, who is co-headlining the trek with Kenny Chesney, launched HomeFront, in conjuction with Operation Homefront and Chase, to provide mortgage-free homes to American veterans. During their stop in the Windy City, Tim will congratulate Sergeant Brashears on her new home.
"My sister's a veteran of the first Gulf War," says Tim. "My uncle was a Vietnam veteran and my grandfather was a World War II veteran. I've always felt a deep sense of respect and obligation to our troops. Being able to reward them for their dedicated work with a new home is even more rewarding for us. It feels so good to give back to them, and to have the opportunity to entertain them is something I'm honored to do."
read more here
Posted Jul 6th 2012
Erin Duvall
Chicago fans may be anxious for the Brothers of the Sun tour stop at Soldier Field on Saturday (June 7), but none more so than U.S. Army Sergeant Linda Brashears. Earlier this year, Tim McGraw, who is co-headlining the trek with Kenny Chesney, launched HomeFront, in conjuction with Operation Homefront and Chase, to provide mortgage-free homes to American veterans. During their stop in the Windy City, Tim will congratulate Sergeant Brashears on her new home.
"My sister's a veteran of the first Gulf War," says Tim. "My uncle was a Vietnam veteran and my grandfather was a World War II veteran. I've always felt a deep sense of respect and obligation to our troops. Being able to reward them for their dedicated work with a new home is even more rewarding for us. It feels so good to give back to them, and to have the opportunity to entertain them is something I'm honored to do."
read more here
Cape Fear Nam Knights returns Dog Tags to families
Veteran's family reunited with long-lost dogtags
Submitted by Cliff Pyron
07/05/2012
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) -- A piece of military and personal history is back in the hands of a veteran's family. Nearly half a century after he lost them in Vietnam, Richard Wiler's family now has their dad's dog tags back.
Nearly 20 years ago a man named Ray Milligan was on a medical aid mission in Vietnam when he bought about 400 dog tags being sold by a street vendor. One of them was Richard Wiler's.
The Cape Fear Chapter of the Nam Knights made the trip from North Carolina to New Jersey and back, giving families like the Wilers a special moment to honor their father.
"It's kind of surreal," Wiler's son Jeff said. "It's really cool, I'll probably wear them for a few days before I pull them off."
read more here
Submitted by Cliff Pyron
07/05/2012
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) -- A piece of military and personal history is back in the hands of a veteran's family. Nearly half a century after he lost them in Vietnam, Richard Wiler's family now has their dad's dog tags back.
Nearly 20 years ago a man named Ray Milligan was on a medical aid mission in Vietnam when he bought about 400 dog tags being sold by a street vendor. One of them was Richard Wiler's.
The Cape Fear Chapter of the Nam Knights made the trip from North Carolina to New Jersey and back, giving families like the Wilers a special moment to honor their father.
"It's kind of surreal," Wiler's son Jeff said. "It's really cool, I'll probably wear them for a few days before I pull them off."
read more here
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