"Gathering storm," projected 70 percent of soldiers will not seek help

They took a pledge for us; now it's our turn to help them
By MICHELLE BELLON
Special To The Tampa Tribune
Published: August 25, 2012

The Psychiatric Times reports a "gathering storm," estimating that 70 percent of soldiers will not seek help from federal agencies because of the stigma associated with PTSD. Unfortunately, the public sector is not prepared for the coming demand of troops who will seek mental heath services.

Every day our troops stand strong in their pledge to protect the nation, sometimes making the ultimate sacrifice. Yet what are we, the American people, doing to protect and support them?

I allude to that question in my novel, "The Complexity of a Soldier," because I want to bring attention to this very serious issue. It affects not only the individual soldiers, but their friends, family and all who surround them when they return home. Often they are no longer the same person they were before their deployment, as they struggle with the mental and psychological effects of integrating into society post-combat.

"PTSD is now a pressing national health crisis," says Charlene Rubush, an advocate for soldiers suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.

Successfully integrating a soldier back into civilian life requires providing him or her with trauma evaluation services such as thorough psychiatric assessments and examination of post-traumatic stress symptoms, which include anxiety, nightmares, change in eating pattern or sleeping pattern, fear of leaving the house, inability to carry out job responsibilities, fear of public places, and startling at loud noises, to name just a few.

However, statistics show that mental health screenings of returning troops have little to no effect on their actually receiving services.
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Veteran Declared ‘Mentally Defective,’ Has Guns Seized

The Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Bill, passed by congress and signed by President Bush in 2007 is tied to this. The thought behind it was that if you have a veteran with PTSD and has to have someone else take care of their money, then they were unable to make sound decisions and should not have a weapon. What this did was cause a lot of fear for veterans with guns afraid they would have to give them up. They ended up not going for help from the VA. Would you rather have a veteran keep their guns and get the help they need to heal or have then need help but not go for it so they could keep that gun?

Veteran Declared ‘Mentally Defective,’ Has Guns Seized
News of similar case emerges day after release of Brandon Raub
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Friday, August 24, 2012

Just a day after Brandon Raub was released following his incarceration in a psychiatric ward over political Facebook posts, news has emerged of a similar case involving a veteran who had his guns seized after being labeled a “mental defective’ and faces being committed by a judge.

Radio host Steve Quayle was sent news of an Army combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient in west central Ohio who was the victim of a police raid on the evening of August 22nd during which Miami County Ohio Sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant to seize the man’s firearms for the “safety of the defendant and the general public,” according to the warrant.

The veteran, who is currently unnamed, had his guns taken because he was adjudged to be mentally incompetent, despite the fact that his previous VA psychiatric evaluations were all clear, he is not on medication, and he had no criminal record. The man appears to be a respected member of the community – he works for a Christian company and his father is a police officer and a pastor.

“The person is under adjudication of mental incompetence, has been adjudicated as a mental defective, has been committed to a mental institution, has been found by a court to be a mentally ill person subject to hospitalization by court order, or is an involuntary patient other than one who is a patient only for purposes of observation.

As used in this division, “mentally ill person subject to hospitalization by court order” and “patient” have the same meanings as in section 5122.01 of the Revised Code,” states the warrant.
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Foundation comes through for Iraqi War veteran

Helping a hero: Foundation comes through for Iraqi War veteran
By GENE ZALESKI
T and D Staff Writer

Retired U.S. Navy Specialist First Class Marrion Knight has had very little to smile about over the last few years.

The military veteran and father of five was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury after an explosion in Iraq in 2007.

And things have not gotten any better.

Knight was medically and honorably discharged from the Navy and then medically evacuated to San Diego for treatment. The family recently moved to Orangeburg, his home of record, and retirement was the only option.

With little money due to medical expenses and a backlog of veteran benefit claims, the Knights were in desperate need for assistance to help pay for car expenses.

On Friday, help arrived from the non-profit Wish Upon a Hero Foundation in the form of a $1,645 check.

“It takes a load off,” Marrion said upon receipt of the donation at his Orangeburg residence surrounded by his wife, Sharon, and five children. “It makes it a little easier. It gives me a little bit of hope.”

The family’s financial burdens took upon a heightened concern earlier this month when they found out they were about two payments behind on their car.
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Mexican police fired on US government vehicle

Navy: Mexican police fired on US government vehicle
ASSOCIATED PRESS
August 24, 2012

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican federal police fired on a U.S. Embassy vehicle and wounded two U.S. government employees Friday after their vehicle drove into a rural, mountainous area outside the capital where the officers were looking for criminals, Mexican and U.S. officials said.
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Camp Pendleton Wounded Marines wait two years in limbo

WOUNDED MARINES AT CAMP PENDLETON SPEND TWO YEARS IN ADMINISTRATIVE LIMBO
By Bob Brewin
Nextgov
August 24, 2012

Marines in the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Pendleton, Calif., spend an average of two years, or 730 days, waiting to transition back to active duty or to discharge, and this lengthy process impedes recovery, according to the Defense Department inspector general.

The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments have set a goal of 295 days to process troops through the Integrated Disability Evaluation System. At Camp Pendleton it took medical evaluation boards more than two-thirds of that time -- 197 days -- just to complete their assessments.

Russell Beland, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for military manpower and personnel, in comments appended to the IG report, flatly declared the goal to move troops through IDES in 295 days “unrealistic,” but said the Navy will work to get as close to it as possible.

Beland said the Navy now manages all IDES case file transfers electronically and is developing technology to make it easier to share discharge information with VA. He said the branch also has streamlined medical narrative summaries, which should speed the medical review process.

Administrative and medical staff at the Camp Pendleton Wounded Warrior Battalion told the IG that the more time Marines and corpsmen spent in transition, “the more likely a warrior would abuse alcohol, or take risks that would ultimately get them into trouble.”
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Wounded and Waiting

Her bronze is as good as gold at Bedford VA

Her bronze is as good as gold at Bedford VA
Sentinel and Enterprise
By Katie Lannan

BEDFORD -- With neuromuscular disease limiting the use of his hands, Army veteran Ed Ackerson couldn't grip Natalie Dell's Olympic bronze medal when she passed it around to patients at the Edith Nourse Rogers Veterans Administration Hospital on Thursday.

So Dell, a rower on the U.S. women's quadruple sculls team, took the medal from around her neck and placed it around Ackerson's.

"You're going to insist on taking this back now, aren't you?" said Ackerson, 62, looking down the medal.

"I'll fight you for it, sir," Dell joked.

A mental-health researcher at the hospital, Dell, a Cambridge resident, was welcomed back to her workplace Thursday after two years telecommuting from New Jersey while training for the Olympics.

Her return as an Olympic medalist is a point of pride for the VA, said acting hospital Director Christine Croteau.

"We have world-class health care, world-class research and now, a world-class athlete," Croteau said.
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Veterans Administration Workers Sing 'Beat It'

Veterans Administration Workers Sing 'Beat It' In Latest Government Conference Embarrassment
Michael McAuliff
Posted: 08/24/2012

WASHINGTON -- The latest government conference scandal involving the Department of Veterans Affairs got more embarrassing Friday when a video surfaced of human resources workers delivering a tin-eared rendition of Michael Jackson's "Beat It."

House committees had already been investigating a pair of VA conferences that took place last July and August in Orlando and cost some $5 million, and earlier this week released a clip parodying General Patton.

So far, the office of Inspector General George Opfer has not found a strong case for Issa's claim.

"A series of interviews have uncovered questionable activities and we have notified both the Secretary and Congress of these issues," said a statement released by the IG's office. "We continue to review documents and conduct interviews. To date, all indications are that the conferences were for legitimate training purposes."
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From FEDLINE

New DVD Features Yoga By Veterans, For Veterans

New DVD Features Yoga By Veterans, For Veterans
by: yogaactivist
August 24, 2012

Daniel Hickman has taught yoga to amputees at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for five years. Through yoga and meditation, he works to help combat veterans cope with phantom limb pain and post-traumatic stress disorder. Yoga is now often used to complement traditional medical treatment for trauma survivors.

Through his dedication to working with this population, Hickman has created an 80-minute DVD for veterans to share the stress-relieving benefits of yoga–improved sleep, mindfulness, improved circulation, body awareness, and pain relief. The VetsYoga DVD features two beginner yoga sessions demonstrated by veterans who have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder and found healing through yoga.

“I found that yoga and meditation helped me respond better to traditional therapies,” said Sgt. Hugo Patrocinio, one of the veterans in the video. “Hopefully other veterans can use this DVD to help themselves heal.”
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Parents believe remains found in Montana are Noah Pippin

UPDATE August 27, 2012

Missing Marine Noah Pippin likely died of exposure

Remains found in Montana wilderness area where Iraq war veteran was last seen in 2010
By Associated Press

About a month before he was last seen, Noah Pippin quit his job with the Los Angeles Police Department. He later went to visit his family in Michigan and told them he was heading back west to serve with the California National Guard.

KALISPELL, Mont. — Human remains have been found in the Bob Marshall Wilderness in northwest Montana, where a team has been searching for an Iraq war veteran who disappeared two years ago, a sheriff said Friday.

The parents of Noah Pippin released a statement Friday saying Lewis and Clark County sheriff’s and coroner’s officials told them remains had been found in the Burnt Creek area.

Authorities haven’t confirmed the identity of the remains yet, but Mike and Rosalie Pippin said there is a strong likelihood they belong to their son.

A search party of border agents, search and rescue officials, a sheriff’s deputy and volunteers found the remains and planned to bring them back to the state crime lab in Missoula. Coroner M.E. “Mickey” Nelson said it could be several days or even weeks before the body can be positively identified.

“There was enough circumstantial evidence that I felt comfortable, and I informed the family, that their loved one has been located, based on preliminary indicators and circumstantial things we found,” Nelson said. He declined to elaborate on what was found.
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Disabled veteran with PTSD acquitted of felony

Afghan war veteran Eric Braman acquitted of felony charge, guilty of misdemeanor
Aug 24, 2012
Written by
Sophia Voravong

When troubled veterans put selves, others at risk, special court could be the answer For nearly a full year, Eric S. Braman said he had no nightmares or dreams about the four months he served in Afghanistan in 2010 — a tour of duty that ended early when the U.S. Army specialist lost his lower right leg on Aug. 28 in a rocket-propelled grenade attack.

Then came Aug. 27, 2011, when Braman got into a heated confrontation with another man outside a Lafayette bar and a small crowd gathered around them. Something snapped, and he fired two gunshots — one into the air, the other into the ground — and slightly injured a passer-by.

“Everyone started walking toward me. Then it was like ... flashback,” Braman told Lafayette police investigators in a recorded statement. “I’m going to run until I can’t run anymore.”

A Tippecanoe Superior Court 5 jury was likely sympathetic to his plight.

On Friday afternoon, following a two-day trial, jurors acquitted Braman of the most serious charge he faced: criminal recklessness while armed with a deadly weapon, a Class D felony.
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Parade canceled after soldier arrested-support was not canceled

Parade will welcome home injured soldier