Through Meditation, Veterans Relearn Compassion

Through Meditation, Veterans Relearn Compassion
By Amy Standen
Wednesday, November 21, 2012

The epidemic of post-traumatic stress disorder has pushed the VA to explore new and sometimes unorthodox treatments. In one VA facility in Menlo Park, Calif., veterans of current and past wars gather to meditate and break down the shields that combat forced them to hold.

Marine Esteban Brojas is rocking back and forth in his chair in a rehabilitation center for veterans in Menlo Park, Calif. He rubs his hands together so quickly you can hear them.

"You know, you're going into a building, and you know there's a grenade being popped in there," he says, "and there's a woman and a child in there ... and you're part of that?"

When Brojas came back from Iraq in 2003 to his home in Greenfield, Calif., he reunited with his wife and met his newborn daughter for the first time. His wife was excited to see him, but he found himself not wanting to pick up his daughter.

"The fact of holding my daughter in my arms, you know, or even being intimate with my wife? Very difficult. Very difficult because of the trauma," he says.

Multiply Brojas by the hundreds of thousands of newly returned servicemen and servicewomen the Department of Veterans Affairs estimates are suffering from PTSD, and you can see the scale of the problem here. These men and women cannot leave combat completely behind.
read more here

Woman shown disrespecting Arlington National Cemetery lost job!

If you want to see the picture click the link below. I can't stomach looking at it.

Shamed Facebook Poster Loses Her Job
Nov 22, 2012
Boston Herald
by Jessica Heslam

A Plymouth, Mass., woman taking an online beating for posting a photo of herself flipping the bird at Arlington National Cemetery on Facebook has lost her job.

LIFE Inc. of Hyannis -- a Cape Cod nonprofit that helps adults with special needs -- announced that Lindsey Stone, along with a co-worker who snapped the offending photo, are no longer working there.

"Lindsey resigned and we accepted her resignation," LIFE Inc. CEO Diane Enochs told the Herald.

Ironically, the formal announcement was made on Facebook.

"We wish to announce that the two employees recently involved in the Arlington Cemetery incident are no longer employees of LIFE. Again, we deeply regret any disrespect to members of the military and their families. The incident and publicity has been very upsetting to the learning disabled population we serve. To protect our residents, any comments, however well-intentioned, will be deleted. We appreciate your concern and understanding as we focus on the care of our community," the statement reads.
read more here

Old Guard Soldier in new Lincoln movie

Old Guard Soldier Takes Talents to the Big Screen
Nov 21, 2012
Army.mil News
by Staff Sgt Megan Garcia

"The civil war era was very familiar to me because my whole family are war re-enactors," said Hague. "I've been a war re-enactor since I was four years old."

"This whole thing was really top secret in a sense that we weren't allowed to talk about it to anyone," said Staff Sgt. James Hague. "I wasn't allowed to talk about this big Spielberg film that was coming out."
Hague, drum major, United States Army Fife and Drum Corps [FDC], 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), explained his recent experience in the new Steven Spielberg movie, "Lincoln", which debut this weekend.

Members of The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps wear uniforms and white wigs modeled after musicians of Gen. George Washington's Continental Army. They play on 10-hole fifes, handmade rope-tensioned drums and single-valve bugles to replicate the sounds of that period. During the movie, Hague said fitting into the part of an 1865 Marine Band piccolo player was fairly easy due to his experience as a FDC fifer.

"They're not the same instrument, but they are related. The fife has no keys on it but the piccolo does," said Hague, who joined FDC in 2006. "Also, being that the role was in a military band, I was able to fit right in."
read more here

Fort Carson Soldiers Return Home For Thanksgiving

Fort Carson Soldiers Return Home For Thanksgiving
CBS Denver News
November 21, 2012

Iraq war veteran Eric Schultz left for dead in ditch

Mesquite Iraq Veteran Left for Dead In Hit and Run
Family asks for answers in hit and run incident
By Tammy Mutasa
Thursday, Nov 22, 2012

A North Texas family is asking for help finding the hit and run driver who left an Iraq war veteran for dead. Eric Schultz is recovering at home after he was critically injured in the incident.

Schultz fought for this country in Iraq and South Korea for two years. Now, the veteran and his family are fighting for answers, after a hit and run driver left him for dead in a ditch.

"I thought I was pretty much dead, it's scary," said Schultz. "I just want to know why they didn't help? Why didn't you stay? Why didn't you at least call the cops? Why couldn't you have done something besides get scared and leave?"

Over Veterans Day weekend, Schultz was walking along Interstate 635 near Bruton and New Market Roads when a car hit him and the driver took off.

A passerby found the veteran in a ditch next to the road and called for help.
read more here

Remains found near Fort Bragg may be Kelli Bordeaux

March 25, 2013
Kelli Bordeaux Missing: $25K reward in case of Fort Bragg soldier missing almost a year

Kelli Bordeaux Missing: Forensic Tests To Determine Identity Of Remains Found Near Fort Bragg
Huffington Post
Posted: 11/21/2012

The discovery of remains on Tuesday near Fort Bragg raised speculation that they might belong to a soldier who vanished seven months ago, WTVD reported.

But before investigators determine if they've at last found Kelli Bordeaux, they must determine if the remains are human or animal.

An Army forensic team is examining the remains at a laboratory, according to WNCT

Bordeaux, a 23-year-old Army medic at the Fayetteville, N.C. base, vanished after a night of partying on April 14. When she failed to report for duty two days later, she was reported missing. Her husband, a civilian, was out of town the night she disappeared.
read more here

Fort Bragg Soldier Kelli Bordeaux still missing

Thankful for inner peace today

Thankful for inner peace today
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
November 22, 2012

Best Norman Rockwell Art

When we have bad memories, the whole world can look pretty bleak until somehow we get past the memories and move on. I doubt there is a single person on this earth without a bad memory. The human spirit thrives on the expression "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger" so it is very hard for people to understand what living with PTSD is like. They got over what happened in their lives so why can't you?

The truth is, they really didn't get over it. When I am talking to a group of regular civilians trying to get them to understand the difference between PTSD and temporary shock, I get them to remember events in their own lives so they can begin to understand. My past came with me even if I didn't notice it chasing me.

There is usually at least one event a person can connect to when I mention it and often, they connect to several but have managed to put the even out of their thoughts. A car accident, sudden death of someone they loved, verbal or physical abuse, crimes, witnessing something horrific, getting fired or laid off and divorce. The list goes on.

Once they are connected to something in their own life, I ask them to remember how it felt. Then I ask them what it would be like for them if that event happened over and over again and when it was not happening they had to worry about being repeated.

That's what it is like for the troops and that is how they end up not being able to just get over it. As the audience re-experience their own events and discover they have not really gotten past them, what they have discovered is that they have made peace with that part of their lives.

My Mom was born 11-21-21 and passed away in 2007. Yesterday I was depressed thinking about my youth and how hard it was growing up. My Dad was a Korean War veteran and a violent alcoholic. I made peace with him when he stopped drinking when I was 13. My Mom never really did. My brothers didn't forgive him and they died younger than they should have with all that anger. I don't think about those times until I am reminded of them by an anniversary date or holiday reminds me. For the rest of the year, I'm ok but the bad memories never really go away.

I don't remember the bad times in my marriage when PTSD was trying to destroy my husband until I have to take a look at it especially when I am talking to another veteran or a family member or when I have to talk about my book. Ten years ago forcing myself to remember all of it was the hardest thing I even had to do, but when it was done, I let it go for most of the time, yet all that pain is still there even if I do not feel it on a daily basis. I have too many things to be happy about now. The darkest times in my life are not gone but I have made peace with them just like I did with my Dad.

For veterans, depending on what they went through, most of the time they are able to "move on" but all the memories are still there. For them it never really ends because there are constant reminders of the hardest times in their lives. It is very hard for them because they have not been told how to make peace with that part of their lives. We expect them to do what we do and just get over it because that is what we were able to do. Yet when we are honest with ourselves we realize that we didn't really get over times in our own lives either.

When my Dad was drinking, it was horrible and I couldn't forgive him because there was the constant threat of him coming home drunk and starting fights with my oldest brother or arguing with my Mom. I couldn't start to forgive him until I for the most part I knew there was no danger of repeats. That came slowly and took years before I was able to trust he wouldn't drink again.

In 1980 after a series of heart attacks and strokes, he was told that he was on borrowed time because his heart was so weak. Even knowing he was dying, he refused to drink because he didn't want to hurt his family again. He lived until 1987.

I have made peace with every rotten thing that has happened in my life but I have not really forgotten them. I bet you haven't either. Today take a look at what is still haunting you and try to make peace with it. The veterans I help start to heal when they do. So many times they are angry with me because they think they are getting worse because they cry. Crying is a good thing because it releases all the pain we are feeling and then we all start healing. Forgiving what others did to us as much as we forgive what they wouldn't do for us helps us find peace but forgiving ourselves is often the hardest thing to do. When we manage to do that, then we find real peace within our memories.

Thanksgiving: Have an Attitude of Gratitude

Nov 20, 2012 by usarmy
Capt. Chaplain Scott Norman, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA), sends Thanksgiving greetings to his wife in Newport News, Virginia from Afghanistan.

US Army Alaska Command Team Thanksgiving Message
Nov 20, 2012
by USArmyAlaska
Gratitude and Thanksgiving
Maj. Gen. Michael X. Garrett, U.S. Army Alaska Commanding General

Nov 12, 2012 by hourlyupdates
Soldier Surprises Wife, It's going to be a very happy Thanksgiving for a San Antonio couple.

A soldier fighting in Afghanistan paid his wife back home a special surprise just in time for the holidays.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jonathan Gillis surprised his wife Giselle with flowers at the end of the finish line at the fifth annual Rock "N" Roll marathon in San Antonio Sunday.

Gillis, a member of the 1/143rd Infantry Unit in Austin, Texas, had left Afghanistan last week but had told his wife his arrival would be delayed due to dental surgery.

Once his wife saw him, she was overwhelmed with joy and ran into his arms.

Gillis had been away on deployment in Afghanistan since January.



Nov 20, 2012 by TownsquareUtica
Service Men and Women say hello for Thanksgiving - courtesy of the Dept of Defense.

Ft. Sam Houston, Lt. Gen William B. Caldwell IV, Thanksgiving Message
Nov 10, 2012
by TheUSARMYNorth
Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, commanding general, U.S. Army North and Fort Sam Houston would like to extend his mesage to the Ft. Sam Houston Community during the Thanksgiving celebrations.

Nov 21, 2012 by MyMommyDays
The boys were so happy mommy and daddy came to have Thanksgiving lunch with them at their school :) #GoodTimes

Nov 21, 2012 by tullylegal
Albany, NY Law Firm Tully Rinckey PLLC teamed up with Hannaford Supermarkets on Tuesday November 20, 2012 to give thanks to Capital Region veterans by handing out free Thanksgiving turkeys.
The firm provided more than 100 free turkeys to active and retired military personnel for the fourth annual giveaway. Members of the law firm said that this is the highlight of their year.
Since the giveaway began, the "turkeys for veterans" program has donated to more than 300 servicemen and servicewomen.

If you thought your Thanksgiving prep was hard, read this

Thanksgiving Army-style at remote base in Afghanistan
By STEVEN BEARDSLEY
Stars and Stripes
Published: November 21, 2012

COMBAT OUTPOST BOWRI TANA, Afghanistan — As she prepares Thanksgiving lunch and dinner here, Spc. Nikki Barthelemey faces a few holiday challenges — cooking the turkey evenly, finishing side dishes on time, avoiding incoming mortar fire.

Wait — what?

Barthelemey is head cook for an Army infantry company at this outpost in remote east Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, a transit region for militants entering the country, and an unlikely setting for a traditional American Thanksgiving.

Yet that’s how Barthelemey is spending the day, cooking a meal that rivals what Company C, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, is missing during deployment.
read more here

Here are some pictures from around the web.

In This Photo: Joshua Korder Joshua Korder of Winona, MN with Blackfoot Company 1st Battalion 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment has Thanksgiving dinner while standing watch in a guard tower November 26, 2009 in Matakhan, Afghanistan. The soldiers of Blackfoot were served pre-packaged turkey breasts, cranberries, potatoes, stuffing and pie.

DynCorp International Helps U.S. Troops Celebrate Thanksgiving in Afghanistan served this last year.

On Thanksgiving Day, DI’s food service staff prepared and served a total of:
13,030 pounds of turkey
5,488 pounds of rib eye steaks
3,618 pounds of steamship round beef
3,570 pounds of pit smoked ham
3,000 pounds of shrimp
2,256 assorted pies (apple, cherry, pecan and sweet potato)
1,785 pounds of stuffing
1,739 pounds of mixed nuts
735 gallons of eggnog
588 pounds of marshmallows for candied yams

To all the men and women serving tomorrow and everyday,,,,, Happy Thanksgiving and I give thanks for all of you!

Dallas veterans complained of poor quality of care

New report, more problems at Dallas VA hospital
by BRETT SHIPP
WFAA
khou.com
Posted on November 21, 2012

DALLAS -- There were more troubles Tuesday night for the Dallas VA hospital, after a News 8 story last week in which veterans complained of poor quality of care at the facility.

The Office of Inspector General has just released a report critical of patient care and the long wait to get it.

In 2004, the Office of Inspector General called the Dallas VA Hospital the worst in the nation. And while current administrators say all of the old issues have been addressed, there are a number of local veterans who disagree.

Tony Mathis of Dallas has had to rely on the VA for his health care for five years.
“I’m not getting the quality of care I need, I know that,” Mathis said.
read more here