Fox tries to blame Call of Duty video game on Eric Hall's disappearance

How did NewsHounds miss this one?

From Destructoid
www.destructoid.com

Call of Duty 4 linked to ex-Marine's disappearance: Thankfully FOX has the scoop
by Jim Sterling on

FOX, America's agenda-free and unbiased source for well-researched news, has a new videogame related story up that links Call of Duty 4 with the disappearance of former Marine Eric Hall. Hall, who was wounded in Iraq, had been playing the game before he apparently got up, said he had to go, and then left, never to return. FOX would like to remind you again -- it was a videogame that caused this.

Hall's time in Iraq was traumatic, to say the least. He was injured by a bomb that caused damage to his right arm, left leg, hip and abdomen, and also had to witness his best friend's decapitation during the conflict. Prior to his disappearance, Hall had been suffering from flashbacks and hallucinations. It is believed he fled his home on a motorcycle, which was later abandoned.

Not to be mean spirited or anything, but who decided that playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a good idea after you've been traumatized in the Iraq conflict? Do people who have been savaged in a shark attack watch Jaws as soon as they're released from hospital? Perhaps he thought it would be cathartic, but obviously that's not how it turned out. A worrying story, and testament to what war can do to one's mind. Honestly though, I wouldn't recommend anybody who went through what Hall did playing CoD4. A negative reaction to the gritty and grounded war title should have been seen a mile away.

http://www.destructoid.com/call-of-duty-4-linked-
to-ex-marine-s-disappearance-thankfully-fox-has-the-scoop-69583.phtml

The question is, did the game have anything to do with this or not?

From FOX

Missing Ex-Marine's Family Says Video Game May Have Sparked Disappearance
Sunday, February 10, 2008

Relatives of a missing ex-Marine wounded in Iraq fear a video game that simulates combat may have triggered war memories that led to his disappearance, Florida's Herald Tribune reported.

After playing "Call of Duty," Eric Hall "just got up and said he had to go," Courtney Birge, a family friend, told the newspaper.

The 24-year-old Hall left the home of a relative in Deep Creek, Fla., where he was staying, on Feb. 3, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office. He rode away on a motorcycle that was later found on a roadside, still running.

Hall had been hallucinating and having flashbacks, the sheriff's office said.
Hall's father, Kevin, remained in their native Indiana in case his son returned.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330225,00.html

Even though they gave the game this review less than two months ago.

Review: 'Call of Duty 4' One of Best Games of Year
Friday, December 21, 2007

By Dan Scheraga

NEW YORK — "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare," the latest in the celebrated series of first-person shooters, has some pretty big shoes to fill.

The fact that it must compete with the much-hyped "Halo 3" and "BioShock" doesn't make things any easier.

But "Call of Duty 4" ($59.99 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC) has one major advantage: It does everything right.

• Click here to visit FOXNews.com's Video Gaming Center.

First, the graphics are awesome. As in, my jaw hung open in awe when I first saw the beautifully rendered images on a high-definition TV. It still looks like a video game, but sometimes not by much.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,317705,00.html

The other question that needs to be answered is, what point did FOX have of reporting on this game when all the other reports did not? What do they have to gain by trying to tie Call Of Duty to this Marine suffering PTSD? Are they trying to say this wouldn't have happened if he didn't play the game? Well then, that explains why VIETNAM VETERANS WENT MISSING BECAUSE OF PTSD BEFORE THESE VIDEO GAMES WERE EVEN INVENTED! ARE THEY (FOX) INSANE? We had over 300,000 homeless Vietnam veterans and Lord knows how many more were missing from their families and never reported to the point where they were linked to Vietnam. PTSD is documented all the way back to ancient Greeks and Romans and yes, even in the Bible. So what the hell are they trying to say?

ABC News Picks Up On Missing Marine Eric Hall's Story

Not much added to the story but at least they are paying attention to this.


Ex-Marine Vanishes After Combat 'Flashback'
Florida Authorities Find Eric Hall's Motorcycle Running, but No Sign of Injured Iraq War Veteran
By DAVID SCHOETZ
Feb. 11, 2008

Relatives and volunteers -- some members of the military -- continued searching in Florida today for a former Marine who has been missing for a week and who may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

The ex-Marine suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) stemming from the bomb blast, his aunt and family spokesman Marge Baker told ABC News. The June 2005 explosion killed a fellow Marine and injured Hall's right arm, left leg, hip and the left side of his abdomen.

His injuries were so severe that he spent 13 weeks in military hospitals in Germany and Bethesda, Md. He has undergone nearly 20 operations since the explosion and was left with a permanent limp, Baker said. Hall was granted a medical retirement by the U.S. Marine Corps.

Baker said that Hall frequently would wake up in the night after having nightmares about combat. He had moved in January to Florida with the hope of putting his military experiences behind him. "While it is a disabling [injury], he didn't want it to be the forefront of him," Baker said. "He wanted a job, he wanted to get back into society and be meaningful to society."

http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=4272624&page=1

Web Wisdom On PTSD

When I worked for the church, I was presenting the information on the fantastic documentary, When I Came Home, about a homeless veteran, it was a hard sell. Imagine that people at a church would be so unaware of the plight of our veterans they had no clue. After all these years being involved with all that goes into making them homeless, this documentary put it all together. What I heard from some of the members of the church were exactly what Thomason heard. Very hard to believe people can be so disconnected from what they go through.

Every time I hear a story about a homeless veteran, talk to one, try to help one of them, I see my own husband in their eyes. He was almost one of them. When it was getting too hard to live with him as PTSD was killing him slowly, I got to the point where I couldn't take it anymore. All the years of research and advocacy couldn't prepare me to take the emotional assault that came. I know how hard it is to live with them as everything you loved about them is being eaten away by PTSD and self-medicating.




Thomason must be getting emails from the same people I do. If you take a look at some of the comments on this blog, you will begin to wonder if this pathetic attitude is contagious.

Opinion Columnist Ricky Thomason
» E-mail this columnist

Even homeless veterans can make some folks mad
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Huntsville Times
I was enraged, still am, that our government spends less per year helping homeless vets than it spends per day in that Haliburton Hellhole money pit called Iraq.

I received many letters from people who want to help. I received letters of thanks from veterans and active duty soldiers.

That said, I also received a number of the usual hemlock-inked "you bleeding-heart liberal SOB" kinds of hate mail that a small number of the "The Clintons are the Anti-Christs" crowd live to write. Never mind that I don't care for "ol' turn tears off and on at will" Shrillary either. Some people clearly see whatever they want to believe and it's never clouded by the truth.



Curiously, a number of the nastiest letters I received were from vets. Those "homeless" vets "choose" to live that way. "They like it." Most of them are "drunks and take drugs," ergo, they deserve whatever they get - other than help. And many of them "aren't really vets," or "served less than honorably."
go here for the rest

http://www.al.com/opinion/huntsvilletimes/
rthomason.ssf?/base/opinion/1202638545211330.xml&coll=1

When I hear someone say things against them, I just want to scream "idiot" because their ignorance is astonishing. They get treated for alcoholism and drug addiction. The problem is most of them are not addicted to the chemical but are using it to kill off feelings they don't want to feel. They get misdiagnosed with a long list of mental illnesses because of the symptoms that come with PTSD.

Obsessive compulsive disorder because they latch onto something and can't let it go. They go around the house constantly checking doors and windows while on patrol in nightly rituals.




Here are just some of the stories you don't hear about on the 24/7 cable "news" shows. When you know how easy it is to misdiagnose these veterans, you can get a better idea of what they are up against. The symptoms of PTSD can look like a lot of other illnesses. The key is when those symptoms show up. If it's after a traumatic event when they showed no signes before, it's PTSD.



From National Institute of Mental Health

What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, OCD, is an anxiety disorder and is characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). Repetitive behaviors such as handwashing, counting, checking, or cleaning are often performed with the hope of preventing obsessive thoughts or making them go away. Performing these so-called "rituals," however, provides only temporary relief, and not performing them markedly increases anxiety. More about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder »
Signs & Symptoms
People with OCD may be plagued by persistent, unwelcome thoughts or images, or by the urgent need to engage in certain rituals. They may be obsessed with germs or dirt, and wash their hands over and over. They may be filled with doubt and feel the need to check things repeatedly. More about Signs & Symptoms »

They get misdiagnosed as being Bipolar

Bipolar disorder causes dramatic mood swings—from overly “high” and/or irritable to sad and hopeless, and then back again, often with periods of normal mood in between. Severe changes in energy and behavior go along with these changes in mood. The periods of highs and lows are called episodes of mania and depression.
Signs and symptoms of mania (or a manic episode) include:
Increased energy, activity, and restlessness
Excessively “high,” overly good, euphoric mood
Extreme irritability
Racing thoughts and talking very fast, jumping from one idea to another
Distractibility, can’t concentrate well
Little sleep needed
Unrealistic beliefs in one’s abilities and powers
Poor judgment
Spending sprees
A lasting period of behavior that is different from usual
Increased sexual drive
Abuse of drugs, particularly cocaine, alcohol, and sleeping medications
Provocative, intrusive, or aggressive behavior
Denial that anything is wrong
A manic episode is diagnosed if elevated mood occurs with three or more of the other symptoms most of the day, nearly every day, for 1 week or longer. If the mood is irritable, four additional symptoms must be present.
Signs and symptoms of depression (or a depressive episode) include:
Lasting sad, anxious, or empty mood
Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism
Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness
Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed, including sex
Decreased energy, a feeling of fatigue or of being “slowed down”
Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions
Restlessness or irritability
Sleeping too much, or can’t sleep
Change in appetite and/or unintended weight loss or gain
Chronic pain or other persistent bodily symptoms that are not caused by physical illness or injury
Thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts
A depressive episode is diagnosed if five or more of these symptoms last most of the day, nearly every day, for a period of 2 weeks or longer.
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/symptoms.shtml

The soldier from Fort Carson who was pulled out of the hospital to be sent back, was diagnosed with bipolar instead of PTSD.

The 28-year-old specialist spent 31 days in Kuwait and was returned to Fort Carson on Dec. 31 after health care professionals in Kuwait concurred that his symptoms met criteria for bipolar disorder and "some paranoia and possible homicidal tendencies," according to e-mails obtained by The Denver Post.

The soldier, who asked not to be identified because of the stigma surrounding mental illness and because he will seek employment when he leaves the Army, said he checked himself into Cedar Springs on Nov. 9 or Nov. 10 after he attempted suicide while under the influence of alcohol. He said his treatment was supposed to end Dec. 10 but his commanding officers showed up at the hospital Nov. 29 and ordered him to leave.

"I was pulled out to deploy," said the soldier, who has three years in the Army and has served a tour in Iraq.

But it's not new. This is from VAWatchdog

Christopher Gearhart served 13 years in the military. He would have put in more time were it not for a hospitalization, a diagnosis and a discharge last year.While on duty last December, Gearhart, 35, of Cape Coral fell into a state of mania.

He doesn't remember much, only that he was going nonstop, 24 hours a day. It was worse than being drunk, Gearhart said. Colleagues would recount what he did or said, and Gearhart could recall none of it.

The soldier was sent to a private psychiatric hospital and diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a chemical imbalance that causes his emotions to swing wildly — from mania to depression.His discharge came soon after, and with it, the military washed its hands of him, he says.Gearhart is receiving no Veterans Administration benefits.

He has no job, no disability pay, and most critically, no health benefits. He is managing his illness with whatever drug samples doctors at Lee Mental Health are able to find for him. The drugs otherwise cost $2,000 a month, Gearhart said.He said U.S. Army officials reclassified his bipolar disease as a "personality disorder," which covers such things as antisocial, obsessive or histrionic behaviors.http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/nfSEP07/nf092407-2.htm

And then we have the Personality Disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder
Raising questions, finding answers
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious mental illness characterized by pervasive instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image, and behavior. This instability often disrupts family and work life, long-term planning, and the individual's sense of self-identity. Originally thought to be at the "borderline" of psychosis, people with BPD suffer from a disorder of emotion regulation. While less well known than schizophrenia or bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness), BPD is more common, affecting 2 percent of adults, mostly young women.1 There is a high rate of self-injury without suicide intent, as well as a significant rate of suicide attempts and completed suicide in severe cases.2,3 Patients often need extensive mental health services, and account for 20 percent of psychiatric hospitalizations.4 Yet, with help, many improve over time and are eventually able to lead productive lives.

Symptoms
While a person with depression or bipolar disorder typically endures the same mood for weeks, a person with BPD may experience intense bouts of anger, depression, and anxiety that may last only hours, or at most a day.5 These may be associated with episodes of impulsive aggression, self-injury, and drug or alcohol abuse. Distortions in cognition and sense of self can lead to frequent changes in long-term goals, career plans, jobs, friendships, gender identity, and values. Sometimes people with BPD view themselves as fundamentally bad, or unworthy. They may feel unfairly misunderstood or mistreated, bored, empty, and have little idea who they are. Such symptoms are most acute when people with BPD feel isolated and lacking in social support, and may result in frantic efforts to avoid being alone.

People with BPD often have highly unstable patterns of social relationships. While they can develop intense but stormy attachments, their attitudes towards family, friends, and loved ones may suddenly shift from idealization (great admiration and love) to devaluation (intense anger and dislike). Thus, they may form an immediate attachment and idealize the other person, but when a slight separation or conflict occurs, they switch unexpectedly to the other extreme and angrily accuse the other person of not caring for them at all.

Even with family members, individuals with BPD are highly sensitive to rejection, reacting with anger and distress to such mild separations as a vacation, a business trip, or a sudden change in plans. These fears of abandonment seem to be related to difficulties feeling emotionally connected to important persons when they are physically absent, leaving the individual with BPD feeling lost and perhaps worthless. Suicide threats and attempts may occur along with anger at perceived abandonment and disappointments.

People with BPD exhibit other impulsive behaviors, such as excessive spending, binge eating and risky sex.

BPD often occurs together with other psychiatric problems, particularly bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, and other personality disorders.
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/borderline-personality-disorder.shtml

Yet there have been over 20,000 discharged under "personality disorder" instead of PTSD.

Joshua Kors, a journalist that been reporting on Personality Disorder for the last ten months, stated that a Personality Disorder discharge is a “contradiction in terms. Recruits who have a severe, pre-existing condition like a Personality Disorder do not pass the rigorous screening process and are not accepted into the Army.” Kors interviewed soldiers that passed the first screening and were accepted into the Army. “They were deemed physically and psychologically fit in a second screening as well, before being deployed to Iraq, and served honorably there in combat,” said Kors. “In each case, it was only when they came back physically or psychologically wounded and sought benefits that their pre-existing condition was discovered.”
The committee also reviewed the recent report by the Institute of Medicine on VA Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) claims and discussed the VA’s plan for implementation of recommendations in the report. Current estimates show that approximately one-third of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans may show signs of PTSD.
http://veterans.house.gov/news/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=111

While this is what NIMH has on PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develops after a terrifying ordeal that involved physical harm or the threat of physical harm. The person who develops PTSD may have been the one who was harmed, the harm may have happened to a loved one, or the person may have witnessed a harmful event that happened to loved ones or strangers.
PTSD was first brought to public attention in relation to war veterans, but it can result from a variety of traumatic incidents, such as mugging, rape, torture, being kidnapped or held captive, child abuse, car accidents, train wrecks, plane crashes, bombings, or natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes.
People with PTSD may startle easily, become emotionally numb (especially in relation to people with whom they used to be close), lose interest in things they used to enjoy, have trouble feeling affectionate, be irritable, become more aggressive, or even become violent. They avoid situations that remind them of the original incident, and anniversaries of the incident are often very difficult. PTSD symptoms seem to be worse if the event that triggered them was deliberately initiated by another person, as in a mugging or a kidnapping. Most people with PTSD repeatedly relive the trauma in their thoughts during the day and in nightmares when they sleep. These are called flashbacks. Flashbacks may consist of images, sounds, smells, or feelings, and are often triggered by ordinary occurrences, such as a door slamming or a car backfiring on the street. A person having a flashback may lose touch with reality and believe that the traumatic incident is happening all over again.
Not every traumatized person develops full-blown or even minor PTSD. Symptoms usually begin within 3 months of the incident but occasionally emerge years afterward. They must last more than a month to be considered PTSD. The course of the illness varies. Some people recover within 6 months, while others have symptoms that last much longer. In some people, the condition becomes chronic.
PTSD affects about 7.7 million American adults,1but it can occur at any age, including childhood.7 Women are more likely to develop PTSD than men,8 and there is some evidence that susceptibility to the disorder may run in families.9 PTSD is often accompanied by depression, substance abuse, or one or more of the other anxiety disorders.4


Individual differences in these genes or brain areas may only set the stage for PTSD without actually causing symptoms. Environmental factors, such as childhood trauma, head injury, or a history of mental illness, may further increase a person's risk by affecting the early growth of the brain.7 Also, personality and cognitive factors, such as optimism and the tendency to view challenges in a positive or negative way, as well as social factors, such as the availability and use of social support, appear to influence how people adjust to trauma.8 More research may show what combinations of these or perhaps other factors could be used someday to predict who will develop PTSD following a traumatic event.
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-research-fact-sheet.shtml

What are the symptoms of PTSD?

Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be terrifying. They may disrupt your life and make it hard to continue with your daily activities. It may be hard just to get through the day.
PTSD symptoms usually start soon after the traumatic event, but they may not happen until months or years later. They also may come and go over many years. If the symptoms last longer than 4 weeks, cause you great distress, or interfere with your work or home life, you probably have PTSD.
There are four types of symptoms: reliving the event, avoidance, numbing, and feeling keyed up.
Reliving the event (also called re-experiencing symptoms):
Bad memories of the traumatic event can come back at any time. You may feel the same fear and horror you did when the event took place. You may have nightmares. You even may feel like you're going through the event again. This is called a flashback. Sometimes there is a trigger: a sound or sight that causes you to relive the event. Triggers might include:
Hearing a car backfire, which can bring back memories of gunfire and war for a combat veteran
Seeing a car accident, which can remind a crash survivor of his or her own accident
Seeing a news report of a sexual assault, which may bring back memories of assault for a woman who was raped
Avoiding situations that remind you of the event:
You may try to avoid situations or people that trigger memories of the traumatic event. You may even avoid talking or thinking about the event.
A person who was in an earthquake may avoid watching television shows or movies in which there are earthquakes
A person who was robbed at gunpoint while ordering at a hamburger drive-in may avoid fast-food restaurants
Some people may keep very busy or avoid seeking help. This keeps them from having to think or talk about the event.
Feeling numb:
You may find it hard to express your feelings. This is another way to avoid memories.
You may not have positive or loving feelings toward other people and may stay away from relationships
You may not be interested in activities you used to enjoy
You may forget about parts of the traumatic event or not be able to talk about them.
Feeling keyed up (also called hyperarousal):
You may be jittery, or always alert and on the lookout for danger. This is known as hyperarousal. It can cause you to:
Suddenly become angry or irritable
Have a hard time sleeping
Have trouble concentrating
Fear for your safety and always feel on guard
Be very startled when someone surprises you
What are other common problems?
People with PTSD may also have other problems. These include:
Drinking or drug problems
Feelings of hopelessness, shame, or despair
Employment problems
Relationships problems including divorce and violence
Physical symptoms
http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/ncdocs/fact_shts/fs_what_is_ptsd.html

From the Mayo Clinic

Signs and symptoms
Signs and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder typically begin within three months of a traumatic event. In a small number of cases, though, PTSD symptoms may not occur until years after the event.
Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms may include:
Flashbacks, or reliving the traumatic event for minutes or even days at a time
Shame or guilt
Upsetting dreams about the traumatic event
Trying to avoid thinking or talking about the traumatic event
Feeling emotionally numb
Irritability or anger
Poor relationships
Self-destructive behavior, such as drinking too much
Hopelessness about the future
Trouble sleeping
Memory problems
Trouble concentrating
Being easily startled or frightened
Not enjoying activities you once enjoyed
Hearing or seeing things that aren't there
Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms can come and go. You may have more symptoms during times of higher stress or when you experience symbolic reminders of what you went through. For example, some people whose PTSD symptoms had been gone for years saw their symptoms come back again with the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001.
When you have PTSD, you may relive the traumatic event numerous times. You may have upsetting memories. Or you may see reminders wherever you go. You may hear a car backfire and relive combat experiences, for instance. Or you may see a report on the news about a rape, and feel again the horror and fear of your own assault.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/DS00246/DSECTION=2

As you can see, this is what they are up against. They end up without income of a low disability rating instead of a just one and cannot support themselves. This does not just happen when the wound is PTSD, but physical wounds preventing them from working are also under rated.

PTSD veterans end up being homeless and labeled anything but what they are. A wounded veteran. Most of the homeless veterans have PTSD. Some people in this country would rather call them names than wounded veteran. Some would rather close their eyes to the reason these veterans end up homeless, pretending they deserve to be that way instead of doing the honorable thing a truly grateful nation would do for them. Take care of them.

The next time you come up against a blogger who wants to blame the veteran, remember what you read here. Then you will read the post as one coming from an ignorant, ungrateful moron with no common sense or decency. Maybe you found some information here that infuriated you. I hope so. That was exactly what I intended. Maybe it's enough for you to contact your congressman, your state representatives and your local ones to actually do something about all of this. The years are ticking away as we are losing too much time when they could be treated appropriately. They have wasted enough time re-studying what we already knew. Our veterans are dying for your attention.
Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

A New Look At Ecstasy To Treat PTSD

Breaking the Drug Taboo: Group of Traumatized Veterans Get Experimental Ecstasy Treatment

By Scott Thill, AlterNet. Posted February 11, 2008.


An experimental study that treats PTSD veterans with the drug MDMA could make life after war a lot more livable.

"We need to be positioning ourselves now to provide the assistance that our veterans need," said House Committee on Veterans' Affairs chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) during a hearing, called "Stopping Suicides: Examining the Mental Health Challenges Facing the Department of Veterans Affairs," held in December 2007. "Not only for those brave men and women who are returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan, but also for our veterans from previous conflicts. We cannot afford to put this issue off."

Filner's choice of words is instructive, as are his sentiments: With upwards of 25 million veterans in the United States, not counting those overseas in the morally murky theater of Iraq and Afghanistan who may return home sometime after the 2008 presidential election, that's a lot of assistance and funding needed to head off what he called a "rate of veteran suicide [that] has reached epidemic proportions," to the point that it has doubled the suicide rate of civilians. Safeguards already put into place have failed, for a variety of reasons, and given the severity of the mental and physical problems carried by returning soldiers, some daring out-of-the-box thinking is not only desperately needed, but required.

Enter the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and its currently funded trials using 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methamphetamine -- otherwise known as MDMA, or ecstasy -- to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although the U.S. Army had carried out lethal dose studies of MDMA back in the 1950s, work which was not classified until the close of the 1960s, it was only centered on animals and was mixed in with a variety of other compounds. At the closure of that research, MDMA languished in clinical obscurity until its rise as a club drug in the '80s and '90s brought it the kind of attention that dooms better drugs to Schedule I classifications -- that is, illegality -- and lesser drugs to approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But MAPS founder and president Rick Doblin became aware of MDMA in 1982, and since then has been convinced of its therapeutic uses. Accordingly, his organization has coordinated and/or funded recent studies into MDMA treatment of PTSD and has its eyes set on a higher goal.

"We're looking to make MDMA into a prescription medication in the United States, United Kingdom and elsewhere," he explained by phone.
go here for the rest
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/76576/

This report came out in 2005

Ecstasy trials for combat stress
David Adam,science correspondent
Thursday February 17, 2005
The GuardianAmerican soldiers traumatised by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are to be offered the drug ecstasy to help free them of flashbacks and recurring nightmares.The US food and drug administration has given the go-ahead for the soldiers to be included in an experiment to see if MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, can treat post-traumatic stress disorder.Scientists behind the trial in South Carolina think the feelings of emotional closeness reported by those taking the drug could help the soldiers talk about their experiences to therapists. Several victims of rape and sexual abuse with post-traumatic stress disorder, for whom existing treatments are ineffective, have been given MDMA since the research began last year.............................
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1416073,00.html

Missing Marine Eric Hall may be evading search effort

Marine may be evading search effort
By LATISHA R. GRAY



latisha.gray@heraldtribune.com

Family and friends of an injured Iraq war veteran who has been missing since Sunday fear that the 24-year-old is covering his tracks.

Courtney Birge said that if former Marine Eric W. Hall does not want rescuers to find him, they will not.

Hall's family spent Saturday printing fliers, driving around and talking to anyone who may have seen him.

"He's a Marine," said Birge, who is married to Hall's cousin, Adam Birge. "He knows how to survive off the land and find food. We don't feel he is dead. We want him back with us."

The family is planning a search party today and is asking for help from anyone interested in helping them. The group will gather at 8 a.m. at Gilchrist Park, 400 W. Retta Esplanade, Punta Gorda.

The family is asking anyone with all-terrain vehicles, heavy-duty trucks, dogs, a helicopter or any other search aids, for help. They said people with military experience can also help with tracking and understanding a Marine's thought process.

Hall disappeared from another cousin's Deep Creek home last Sunday. He had recently stopped taking his pain medication for a serious leg injury he suffered in Fallujah, Iraq, three years ago when an explosive device nearly blew off his leg.
go here for the rest
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080210/NEWS/802100499

Battlemind should be surrendered

Battlemind should be surrendered.
by
Kathie Costos

They started to talk about Battlemind in 2005. The post I did earlier along with all the news reports of PTSD and suicides prove Battlemind does not work. They must have pulled the video to Gilgamesh . The link no longer works. Were they humiliated into removing it? The odd thing is the coding on the following links still has gilgamesh in the link. Very odd.

Clinical practice guideline has http://www.pdhealth.mil/gilgamesh/training_briefs/1.Introduction.wmv and so on. The cartoon itself seems to be gone.




DoD/VA Post-Deployment Health Clinical Practice Guideline (PDH-CPG)
Training Table of Contents
PDH-CPG Training Briefs are seven condensed (7-12 minute) training modules produced by the DoD Deployment Health Clinical Center. These modules were designed to provide clinicians with guidance on implementation of the DoD/VA Post-Deployment Health Clinical Practice Guideline (PDH-CPG).(Produced by DoD Deployment Health Clinical Center)
Introduction
Primary Care Screening
Primary Care Evaluation
Clinical Management and Follow-up
Clinical Health Risk Communication
Coding and Documentation
Post-Deployment Health Assessment (PDHA)
These are pretty good. The problem is that Battlemind is still being used on the troops as well as their families. The death rates related to PTSD have gone up and so have the divorce rates.


This is the attitude of most of the professionals in the DOD and the VA who actually treat the men and women who serve this nation instead of those who come up with crap to act as if they do.

"Therefore, the number-one thing we can do to help vets is to prevent avoidance," said Phipps, who admitted that she's not offering a magic bullet. "They don't need to hear 'Get over it,'" she said. "We should be saying, 'Get through it.'" Kelly Phipps, Ph.D.: http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/42/9/2

Operation Homefront ouit of Illinois did an online survey. The numbers are very telling of the hardships they go through.

Military Family Survey Results
Release of results from on-line survey regarding military families and deployment.Operation Homefront Illinois conducted an on-line survey from October 1 of 2007 until January 28, 2008 on our website

www.Operationhomefront.net/Illinois.

The purpose of this survey was to assess what the families of the military need and what is needed to support them. The survey was open to all members of the military and their families. The results of the survey highlighted several problems that military families have been going through for several years.

Highlights of the Survey
Forty six percent (46%) of the families felt that they were not given proper information regarding their loved ones deployment prior to them being deployed.

Forty-seven percent (47%) of the families communicated with their Servicemember via email or instant messenger on the internet.

Forty-nine percent (49%) of those surveyed were married 4 or more years.

Twenty eight percent (28%) stated that the deployment has had a significant or major impact on the child of a deployed Servicemember.

Eleven percent (11%) of the children of deployed Servicemembers required professional counseling to deal with the deployment.

Forty-seven percent (47%) of the families communicated with their deployed Servicemember via email or instant messenger on the internet.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of the families surveyed were not told about the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Ninety-two percent (92%) of the Servicemembers surveyed were not tested nor had no knowledge of being tested for PTSD.

Sixty-five percent (65%) of the Servicemembers surveyed either suffer from PTSD or are unsure if they suffer from PTSD.

Forty-one percent (41%) are not getting treatment for PTSD

Twenty-two percent (22%) were not able to find employment when coming off of Active Duty

Forty-six percent (46%) of the families surveyed find it difficult to impossible to attend a Family Assistance program.

Twenty-seven percent (27%) of the families and Servicemembers surveyed required financial assistance either during or after deployment.

Eighteen percent (18%) of deployed Servicemembers credit ratings went down as a result of being deployed.

Twenty-nine percent (29%) had issues with creditors

Comments from those who took the survey:

I believe that FRGs still exist primarily to "distract" wives and families during deployments. As such, they lose a very valuable opportunity to prepare families with knowledge and support to mitigate the effects of PTSD and other injuries. They also deny these families the valuable wisdom that a parent of a soldier may poses.

Deployment affects families very profoundly - and ways need to be found to lessen the negative impacts - and promote a positive caring environment among these groups with less emphasis on military needs and more emphasis on family needs. The military is correct in its assumption that they need to keep "strong" families behind their Servicemen and women - but they have in no way addressed what that looks like.

The "Battlemind" program dealing with PTSD and TBI is simplistic almost to the point of being insulting - dealing with two very complex issues as a simple "cause and effect" scenario. The psych care afforded to active duty military personnel is at best "sketchy" and at worst, dangerous.

Physicians are encouraged NOT to use best practices in dealing with these cases and rather than making decisions based on the best interest of a sick soldier - instead defer authority to the command making the primary interest "the mission". Unless and until these things change - I believe that our military readiness will continue to decline - as people "get out" to seek appropriate care for the seen and unseen wounds of war - that affect both our men and women in uniform and their families who love and care about them.

go here for more
http://www.polishnews.com/section,204,military-family-survey-results.html

So what good has come with programs funded with tax dollars like Gilgamesh and Battlemind produced? When will they get serious about all of this? Your guess is as good as mine and mine, is never. They know what redeployments do to the troops and the families, but they do it anyway. They know what the extended tours do to the troops and their families, but they do it anyway. They know just about everything they need to know but still have to "study" the problem instead of solving it. For all they know you'd think they would have been able to find solutions for some of this but they haven't.

Experts in their right mind know early treatment works best but as you can tell by the survey above it must be mostly lip service because it isn't being done. The press releases sound as if they are taking all of this seriously but then a few months down the road we find out that nothing has been accomplished on the kind of grand scale it was sold as. These are the reasons we are still losing more when they come back home that we do from a bullet or IED. The problem is in all likelihood we will keep burying more and more on our soil from the enemy they brought back with them then we do from the enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Marines sending mental health teams to Iraq

Mental health teams deploying to frontlines with Marines in Iraq


8:30 a.m. February 10, 2008

CAMP PENDLETON – Navy Chaplain Dick Pusateri has witnessed the stress of war on the faces of troops put in harm's way daily, in the strained relationships of families facing long deployments and the confessions of men shaken by the human cost of war.
For too long, chaplains were among the few people combat Marines felt they could turn to in a crisis.

The Navy and Marine Corps aim to change that by sending teams of mental health professionals to the frontlines this month, after studies showed a jump in the past five years in cases of combat-related mental health disorders, primarily post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Now is the time to adjust fire,” the generals wrote in a letter to the commandant. “We must shift the current direction of combat/operational stress control efforts to a more holistic, nested enabling strategy that provides a sound, unified approach.”

The Army adopted a similar approach last year, and has been deploying behavioral health specialists to patrol with its troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“What is probably new here is that we want to address it close on the frontlines, and thereby return people both back to combat and back to society healthy,” said Navy Capt. Mike Maddox, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force surgeon.

The push to make the program permanent comes after a report by the Institute of Medicine found post traumatic stress disorder is the most commonly diagnosed mental disorder among veterans. It affected an estimated 13 percent of those returning from Iraq and 6 percent from Afghanistan.

Figures released by the Marine Corps show a fourfold increase in the number of Marines diagnosed with PTSD – from 394 in 2003 to 1,669 to 2006.

“If we identify a stress and if we can treat it close to the unit, it's less likely that person will be sent back, medivaced out of there,” said Cmdr. David Oliver, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force psychiatrist.

click post title for the rest

This sounds like one of the best ways to address PTSD. So why do I read it with a lot of skepticism? Because there have been almost five years of reports like this. I hope they get it right this time and it's not just a publicity stunt some PR firm dreamed up to make them look like they care.



May 2007

Defense Department Releases Findings of Mental Health Assessment
By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA
American Forces Press Service


WASHINGTON, May 4, 2007 – The military has a robust system in place to deal with mental health issues, but longer and more frequent deployments are causing strain on servicemembers, a Defense Department study has found.

Navy Rear Adm. Richard Jeffries, medical officer of the Marine Corps, responds to a reporter's question during a May 4 Pentagon news briefing concerning the release of findings from the latest Mental Health Advisory Team survey. The survey -- the fourth conducted since 2003, assesses the mental health of deployed U.S. Army and Marine Corps troops in Iraq. Five top military doctors were on hand to explain details of the study.

The fourth Mental Health Advisory Team survey, MHAT IV as this survey was called, was conducted in August and September. For the first time, the survey included Marines in the study group. The MHAT was composed of behavioral health professionals who deployed to Iraq and surveyed soldiers, Marines, health care providers, and chaplains, Army Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock, the acting surgeon general of the Army, told reporters at the Pentagon.

The MHAT IV team found that not all soldiers and Marines deployed to Iraq are at equal risk for screening positive for a mental health symptom, and the level of combat is the main determining factor of a servicemember’s mental health status, Pollock said. For soldiers, deployment length and family separation were the top non-combat deployment issues, whereas Marines had fewer non-combat deployment issues, probably because of their shorter deployment periods, she said.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=33055

Extended tours report from April 2007

Mental health worsens as deployments lengthen

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Apr 26, 2007 17:37:50 EDT

A recently released survey of soldiers and Marines puts concrete numbers behind problems experts have worried about since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began.

Suicides are up among combat vets, mental health issues are worse among those who deploy often and for longer periods, and one out of 10 service members surveyed said they have hit or kicked non-combatant Iraqis or destroyed their property.

Only half said they would report another service member for hurting or killing an Iraqi civilian.

The survey also comes with a recommendation from mental health workers that seems to fly in the face of the recently extended deployment lengths and troop surge: “Extend the interval between deployments to 18 to 36 months or decrease deployment length to allow time for soldiers [and] Marines to mentally re-set.”

The findings come from an April 18 briefing prepared for Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway by Mental Health Advisory Team IV, operating under the auspices of Multi-National Force-Iraq, a copy of which was obtained by Military Times. MHAT IV used anonymous surveys and focus groups to analyze morale, health and well-being, and the ethical issues of deployed U.S. troops.

Soldiers and Marines who have faced the most combat situations, deployed for longer periods of time, and deployed more than once face more mental health issues, according to a survey of 1,320 soldiers and 447 Marines. Of those on a second, third or fourth deployment, 27 percent screened positive for mental health issues, compared to 17 percent of first-time deployers. And 22 percent of those in-theater for six months or more screened positive for mental health issues, compared to 15 percent of those who had been there fewer than six months.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/04/military_ptsd_survey_0426w/

The facts and time prove the Battlemind Training does not work

March, 2005
AMEDD Adapts To Needs Of Times
By Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, MC, USA

BY LT. GEN. KEVIN C. KILEY, MC, USA
Army Surgeon General
Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Command


Today, our soldiers, families, health professionals and elected leaders are more aware of mental-health needs. We are committed to ensuring all returning veterans receive the physical and behavioral health services they require. More patients are seeking behavioral health support as we offer them more opportunities to solicit assistance.

Behavioral health researchers at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research have surveyed combat units and developed data regarding mental-health needs of soldiers before, during and after deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. Last year they published findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association that accurately described mental-health status and noted improvements in the availability of mental-health services for soldiers during and after deployment.

It is critical that we help our soldiers prepare for war, and when they return from the war zones of the world we must help them ‘reset.’ To assist in this [area], researchers developed a comprehensive program, called ‘Battlemind Training,’ to train soldiers both pre- and post-deployment about what to expect at each phase of the deployment cycle, how to look out for the mental health of themselves and fellow unit members, and about the resources that are available for them to get help if they need it. Battlemind Training has been incorporated into the Army Deployment Cycle Support Program, and is given as part of the Post Deployment Health Reassessment (PDHRA) process.

One goal is to reduce the stigma long associated with mental health issues. Also, we must deal with the needs of families, as well as soldiers.

When a unit returned to Fort Lewis, Wash., last year, every soldier saw a psychologist, regardless of any reported mental health issues. Since everyone did it, it was seen as normal...no stigma. What’s more, Madigan Army Medical Center has implemented the Family Assessment for Maintaining Excellence (FAME) program, through which spouses of deployed solders are surveyed and, if needed, interviewed by mental health professionals.

At Tripler Army Medical Center, a new Soldier and Family Assistance Center provides easy access for mental health services under one ‘umbrella.’ Three new clinics were added for soldiers, children and adult family members.

One way to reach all soldiers, without stigma and with tight resources, is a new program we call ‘Respect-mil.’ Basically, family practitioners and physician assistants in our regular clinics will act as mental health counselors. With extra training and extra time to ask the right questions, our front-line medical force can screen most soldiers during routine visits.

http://www.usmedicine.com/column.cfm?columnID=248&issueID=72

And this was very interesting.
September 2007

Division Mental Health in the New Brigade Combat Team Structure: Part II. Redeployment and Postdeployment
Military Medicine, Sep 2007 by Warner, Christopher H, Breitbach, Jill E, Appenzeller, George N, Yates, Virginia, Et al

Objective: Recent Army transformation has led to significant changes in roles and demands for division mental health staff members. This article focuses on redeployment and postdeployment.

Methods: The postdeployment health assessment behavioral health screening and referral process and redeployment plan are reviewed, and data on postdeployment rates of negative events are reported.

Results: All soldiers and many of their families participated in an aggressive education program. Of the 19,500 soldiers screened, 2,170 (11.1%) were referred for behavioral health consultation; of those referred, 219 (10.1%) were found to be at moderate or high risk for mental health issues (1.1% of total screened). Of the moderate/high-risk soldiers, 146 (71.9%) accepted follow-up mental health treatment upon return to home station. Fewer cases of driving under the influence, positive drug screens, suicidal gestures/attempts, crimes, and acts of domestic violence were seen, in comparison with rates seen after an earlier deployment of this unit to Iraq. Conclusions: A formalized approach with command support and coordination can have a positive impact on successful referral and treatment and reduce negative postdeployment events.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3912/is_200709/ai_n21033346

Battlemind has been a bust but they still use it. The numbers of suicides in Iraq have gone up as well as those who commit suicide when they come home. There have been suicides in Afghanistan as well. This does not even address any of the veterans who committed suicide after they were discharged by the DOD and before they were added to the VA records. With the numbers of troops coming back with PTSD they sure aren't preventing any of it either. Not that they could but if they addressed it as soon as trauma hit, they would have a better chance. That would mean they would have to have at least one mental health professional in every group going on patrol. They don't have enough to even come close to having one in every unit.

From Military Operational Medicine Reseach Program

Battlemind Training on New WRAIR-Psych Website
“Battlemind” is a Soldier’s inner strength to face adversity, fear, and hardship during combat with confidence and resolution; it is the will to persevere and win. Battlemind skills and strengths sustain the Soldier on the battlefield but if these skills and strengths are not adapted for the home environment problems can arise. Realistic transition training is critical to the mental health and well being of Soldiers, their units and families. New mental health tools for helping Soldiers transition through the different phases of their service careers are being made available on the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Psychiatry and Neuroscience website (http://www.wrair-psych.org/).

Department of Applied Neurobiology
Mission: Conducts research on militarily relevant brain trauma resulting from ballistic, blast or neurotoxin exposures and identifies neuroprotection strategies. Research utilizes animal models (rodent and non-human primates), neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, behavioral protocols, and cellular and molecular biology techniques.
Current and future plans include

1) establish a prototype rapid triage and diagnostic tool for combat casualty care (CCC) (titled Biomarker Assessment for Neurotrauma Diagnosis and Improved Triage System; BANDITS),

2) test advanced development neuroprotection therapeutics in several experimental models of brain trauma,

3) investigate the role of cortical spreading depression as a mechanism of secondary injury following brain trauma,

4) study the mechanisms of penetrating ballistic brain injuries in a new rodent model,

5) test experimental therapeutics in limiting and preventing sequelae of silent brain seizures,

6) test neuropsychological consequences of chemical warfare nerve agent (CWNA) exposures and development countermeasures in rodents and non-human primates.

More…

Battlemind Training materials include brochures, briefings, instructor materials, and a video to aid Soldiers with the stresses and strains of initial entry, deployment, and returning home. Currently available materials and those in development can be used for Soldiers, Leaders, National Guard/Reserves, and families.

Soldier Battlemind
Leader Battlemind
Spouse Battlemind
Helping Professional Battlemind
Soldier PDHRA Battlemind Video
Additional Resources
Unit Needs Assessment Training Materials
Unit Behaviorial Health Needs Assessment Survey (UBHNAS)
Unit Needs Assessment Manual
Unit Needs Assessment Validation
Research Reports


The goal of this training is to develop a realistic preview, in the form of a briefing, of the stresses and strains of deployment on Soldiers. Four training briefs have been developed and are available for Soldiers, Leaders, National Guard/Reserves, and families.

(http://www.battlemind.org/)

http://www.momrp.org/battlemind_announce.htm

When will they notice this did not work?

Fort Carson Soldier Pulled Out Of Hospital To Redeploy

Fort Carson Forcibly Removed Soldier from Mental Hospital and Deployed Him to Iraq War

Erin Emery


Denver Post

Feb 10, 2008

Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, was outraged. "If he's an inpatient in a hospital, they should have never taken him out. The chain of command needs to be held accountable for this. Washington needs to get involved at the Pentagon to make sure this doesn't happen again. "First, we had the planeload of wounded, injured and ill being forced back to the war zone. And now we have soldiers forcibly removed from mental hospitals. The level of outrage is off the Richter scale."

Ill GI says he was deployed from hospital

Februray 10, 2008 - A Fort Carson soldier who says he was in treatment at Cedar Springs Hospital for bipolar disorder and alcohol abuse was released early and ordered to deploy to the Middle East with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

The 28-year-old specialist spent 31 days in Kuwait and was returned to Fort Carson on Dec. 31 after health care professionals in Kuwait concurred that his symptoms met criteria for bipolar disorder and "some paranoia and possible homicidal tendencies," according to e-mails obtained by The Denver Post.

The soldier, who asked not to be identified because of the stigma surrounding mental illness and because he will seek employment when he leaves the Army, said he checked himself into Cedar Springs on Nov. 9 or Nov. 10 after he attempted suicide while under the influence of alcohol. He said his treatment was supposed to end Dec. 10 but his commanding officers showed up at the hospital Nov. 29 and ordered him to leave.

"I was pulled out to deploy," said the soldier, who has three years in the Army and has served a tour in Iraq.

Soldiers from Fort Carson and across the country have complained they were sent to combat zones despite medical conditions that should have prevented their deployment.

Late last year, Fort Carson said it sent 79 soldiers who were considered medical "no-gos" overseas. Officials said the soldiers were placed in light-duty jobs and are receiving treatment there. So far, at least six soldiers have been returned.
go here for the rest
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9321

When Maj. Gen. Mark Graham took over command of Fort Carson, I had high hopes the problems at Carson would addressed and corrected. With this, those hopes are gone. I wanted to see what Graham had to say about all of this since he stated he would correct the problems at Carson. I found this.

From CBS

AP) Seventy-nine injured soldiers were pressed into war duty last month as the U.S. Army struggled to fill its ranks, but most were assigned to light-duty jobs within limits set by doctors, two Army leaders said. The Denver Post, quoting internal Army e-mails and a Fort Carson soldier, reported that troops had been deployed to Kuwait en route to Iraq while they were still receiving medical treatment for various conditions.

Fort Carson's top general Maj. Gen. Mark Graham said most of the 79 soldiers remain in Iraq, while about a dozen are in Kuwait, the newspaper reported in Friday editions. A few returned to the United States because of inadequate rehabilitation available in theater, Graham said. Graham said he has asked Fort Carson's inspector general to investigate whether proper procedures were followed in sending the soldiers into war zones. Congressional investigators also are reviewing allegations that medically unfit soldiers have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan to shore up lagging troop numbers.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/19/national/main3731718.shtml

A fraction of hope returned with this but it is shaky at best. Wouldn't Graham have given orders when he took over Carson to make sure this kind of thing would never even be considered? Wouldn't Graham have enforced the attitude the wounded are wounded and should be treated accordingly? How could he leave open to interpretation pulling a soldier out of the hospital to redeploy them when they were already wounded? Graham, Fort Carson and the DOD have a lot to answer for. This is disgusting and disgraceful.

The other issue is are they now diagnosing soldiers with bipolar disorder instead of PTSD?

Sen. Patty Murray Seeks Help For Survivors Of Military Sexual Trauma

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., says women in the military return home traumatized because, in addition to the pressures of living in a war zone, they have been living in close quarters with men and, in many cases, report that they had been sexually harassed, assaulted or raped.

Senator Seeks Help For Survivors Of Military Sexual Trauma


Published on 2/10/2008



Washington — Scurrying back to her Army barracks in the dark after her shift at the hospital, Sally, a 21-year-old medic, was grabbed by a man who dragged her to the woods and raped her at knifepoint.

When she reported the attack, Sally, of Kirkland, Wash., who asks that her full name not be used, was brushed off by her superior officer at Fort Belvoir, Va., who dismissed the rape as a spat with a boyfriend.

Her story is alarmingly like that of hundreds of other veterans who have suffered sexual harassment, assault and rape in the military, according to Susan Avila-Smith, a Seattle-based advocate who has helped hundreds of women veterans get VA benefits and treatment for military sexual trauma (MST).

Avila-Smith says she also was a victim when she served in the Army, having been sexually assaulted in a hospital recovery room after sinus surgery at Fort Hood, Texas.

The pressures on women service members, who now comprise about 7 percent of all veterans, are escalating:

• According to the Veterans Administration, 19 percent of women who have sought health care in the VA were diagnosed as victims of military sexual trauma.

• Cases of military sexual trauma increased from 1,700 in 2004 to 2,374 in 2005, according to the Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention Response Program.
go here for the rest
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=d38a90ee-2012-495c-9368-453825fac195

What kind of a nation are we now? Are we a nation of laws or have we become a fraud? Women in the military raped, yet it is passed off and ignored, or worse, the women who report it face harassment instead of justice. Hallibuton/KBR employees are raped and yet when they report it they face retribution. Instead of turning it over to law enforcement, they only allow the victim to be heard in arbitration. What are we now?

Rape is a crime. When did it become something to ignore? Who wrote the rule that the victim is supposed to be ashamed someone with more power, usually possessing a weapon, decided to get their rocks off by forcing themselves on a woman? Does the nation really think that this only happens in the military and "boys will be boys" only when they are in the military? How deluded are they? Don't they understand that this type of crime will continue when they become civilians again?

Whenever we read reports like this we need to ask ourselves what kind of justice would be appropriate if it happened to someone in our own family. What if it was your daughter deployed into a foreign nation, risking her life for the sake of the nation and then finding that life taken with such disregard no one cared she was raped? What if it was your wife who was just doing her job as a nurse only to be raped by someone who apparently thinks they are worth so much more than she is?

People who rape are criminals. People who are raped are victims of a crime. This nation has laws against crimes. There are penalties when you commit a crime. Or at least that is the way it's supposed to work. Lately this nation has proven laws don't matter when the people committing the crime are employed under the banner of the nation.

Community and family take over search for missing Marine Eric Hall

Missing Marine's family takes over search

Last updated on: 2/9/2008 7:46:01 PM by Amie McLain

CHARLOTTE COUNTY: Charlotte County deputies have suspended their search for a missing marine, but his family and friends stepped in where local law enforcement left off. The Hall family is now making a plea to the public to help in their search by asking supporters to meet at Gilcrest Park in Punta Gorda Sunday morning at 8 a.m.

Roger Smoot takes his dog Vega for walks everyday, but Saturday, a clear purpose guided their steps -the search for missing Marine, Eric Hall.

Smoot climbed through brush in Punta Gorda searching for footprints, tire tracks, or any sign of the 24-year-old Corporal who was reported missing last Sunday.

More than 30 years ago, Smoot served in the United States Coast Guard and as a veteran himself, he said he is looking for someone in his military family.

"It's a brotherhood, so here I am," Smoot said adding that he's into saving people and that's what everyone who turned out was hoping to do.

But Smoot doesn't know Hall or the Hall family personally and as a complete stranger, he volunteered his services while remaining hopeful of finding Eric.

"It shows a sign that the community is actually caring about this one. We're really glad to see it. We're really thankful for everybody that's doing this," said Adam Birge, Eric's cousin.
go here for the rest
http://www.nbc-2.com/articles/readarticle.asp?articleid=17422&z=3

Myasthenia Gravis but soldier being sent back to Iraq anyway

A great friend of mine Irish, sent this urgent message. It is something more veterans need to be aware of and so do reporters. Irish has been very active in veterans issues and is fairly well know in many groups. I trust the information she sent me.

WE NEED INTERVENTION FOR THIS SOLDIER... MANY OF YOU KNOW CINDY MILLOY AS BEING A YOUNGER FAMILY FRIEND TO MY SISTERS WITH SERVICE DURING THE VIETNAM ERA IN THE NAVY. WHEN CINDY CALLED ME TONIGHT I TOLD HER TO SEND ME THE FACTS AS TO THE DEPLOYMENT FOR THIS MAN. AS SHE DID NOT HAVE HIS PERMMISSION TO RELEASE HIS NAME. I TOLD HER IT WAS IMPORTANT TO GET THIS OUT TO THE VETERAN COMMUNITY ASAP... WHEN IS THE DOD GOING TO STOP SENDING MILITARY MEMBERS BACK TO THE BATTLE FIELD DISREGARDING OUR SERVICE INCURRED DISABILITIES.

WE USE THE MOTTO NO NEVER AGAIN THEY WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN!!!!!!!!
AND EVERY DAY WE WATCH AS MEN AND WOMEN WARRIORS ARE RETURNED TO THE BATLLE FIELD WITH OPEN WOUNDS... AND THEN DOD WONDERS WHY 6,000 VETERANS MORE THAN THE ENTIRE VIETNAM WAR KILLED THEMSELVES LAST YEAR ALONE!!!!!!!!

LETS JOIN TOGETHER OUR RESOURCES AS VETERANS TO ASSIST THIS WARRIOR .... NO ONE LEFT BEHIND. WE TOOK AN OATH REGARDLESS OF WHICH BRANCH OF THE MILITARY WE JOINED..... NOW WE MUST KEEP THAT OATH AND SAVE THIS WARRIOR...

IRISH BRESNAHAN

VVA POST 992 DAV AMERICAN LEGION POST 448 AND UNITED FELMALE VETERANS OF AMERICA LIFETIME MEMBER IN ALL THESE ORAGANIZATIONS

US ARMY 71-77 CAPTAIN SIGC/MI

----- Original Message -----
From:
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 11:55 PM
To: jackpot29@msn.com
Subject: Myasthenic being deployed to Iraq

A member of the US Army MP is being deployed to Iraq in the near future. The Army is not recognizing Myasthenia Gravis as a legitimate disease. If you go to www.myasthenia.org you will see what happens to a Myasthenic under normal and stressful situations. Double vision is a very prominent side effect of this disease which he suffers from. Imagine the risk his peers are at when the shooting starts.
Myasthenia Gravis is a rare Neuro Muscular disease which is treated with a variety of medications. Each individual is very unique with their symptoms as is their treatment. The right combination of drugs can take years to figure out. We suffer from extreme fatigue, no advance notice of loss of muscle control, can stop breathing at anytime, speech can become slurred, at times we can suddenly lose our ability to walk.

Here is my story of living with Myasthenia Gravis (MG).

For years, it is unknown how long, I would be accused of sleeping in classes, having "bedroom eyes" as I got older, sleeping in church and so on. I never understood since my eyes seemed wide open. I would trip over absolutely nothing at times and I remember my grandfather telling me from an early age I would trip over a marshmallow. I just thought I was clumsy. I was tired all the time and forced myself to finish a work day then go home and go to bed. I never knew why. In the early 90's I was tested for MS and it was negative.

I moved to GA in 2001 and suffered a heart attack followed by a stroke. Since I was new to GA and didn't have a neurologist I was assigned one. This man sent me to day therapy at one of the local hospitals. This meant intensive PT/Speech/OT for eight hours. By the time I was supposed to do the stationary bike I would collapse. The neuro said I was menopausal and basically crazy. It wasn't much longer that I became completely bedridden. I had an aide come in the morning to bathe me, feed me, get me up for a while, and do my housework. Another aide came in to feed me dinner and get me ready for bed. My quality of life was extremely depressing and I had given up since I had this doctor who was convinced there was nothing wrong with me.

On a good day when I tried to venture out of my wheelchair while the aides were gone I would fall. I would try to pick up a plain piece of paper and it would feel as though it weighed a hundred pounds and I would go down. The worst part was I didn't have the use of my arms to protect either my face or head from the fall. I have suffered from a fractured hip, broken fingers, broken toes, slipped discs in my neck and my lower back and yet I was just crazy. I have fallen picking up my toothbrush. I always needed someone around to help me.

Finally, one day in the emergency room I asked for a different neurologist. I was very blessed because she was on call and in the ER. Within four days she had me diagnosed with MG. This is only the beginning of my journey. I was admitted to the hospital countless number of times as I exasperated. By that I mean I lost the ability to swallow, breathing was almost impossible (lungs are a muscle), I was unable to walk or talk Many combinations were tried and finally I was treated with five days of IVIg (Intravenous Immuno Globlulin) infusions every month this was my liquid gold, miracle drug. I was able to walk on my own. Shower on my own. Brush my own teeth, hair, and dress myself.

This didn't last long though as after a few months I coded due to an allergic reaction to the infusion. That meant back to square one. You can't imagine what that was like. In fact, it was October 2005 and I began getting extremely weak again and placed on Mestinon and Prednisone which are the common first round of drugs.

By Thanksgiving I wasn't able to eat any food therefore my body was losing all nutrition besides I could not take any medications. Your mouth depends on muscles to swallow. Early December a feeding tube was placed in my stomach. Now I am a female with this tube sticking out of my stomach I remember the first feeding the nurse did to show me how to use it. I cried and begged them to take it out. It was horrible. I was to young for any of this.

I survived the ordeal but what no one thought of was the weakness in my hands. I wasn't able to operate the tube feedings, crush the meds, or even flush the tube since I had no strength. A pump was ordered to deliver the nutrition and once again nurses and aides were taking over my apartment. I refused to be spend Christmas in the hospital so I just kept saying I could do this on my own. I couldn't by January 1, 2006 I was barely breathing on my own. I had fallen out of bed and was on the floor for over three hours before anyone found me.

When the police arrived he put me in my wheelchair since I was not getting back into bed and figured I was better off in my power chair. I was in that chair for over 15 hours before finally being admitted to the hospital. It was a Monday and I remember it well. Once again I was total care only this time there was not one muscle in my body which could move on its own. I spent one month in the hospital that January. New drugs were tried before they found one which was still in the experimental stage for MG. The only problem all paperwork stated it would take 9 to 12 months before it took effect.

Presently, I take Mestinon 60 mg four times a day, Mestinon 180 mg Timespan at bedtime, and 60 mg. of Prednisone to manage my MG. I also have several other Auto Immune diseases which I have been told that once you get one you will get more. I take approximately 23 prescription drugs a day. You see with an MGer we have to take meds throughout the day. My Mestinon is used for muscle strength. For me it works maybe two hours before it wears off. That means I have a lapse of two hours before the next dosage. Now my vision is so bad I can no longer driver. I see double and at times have to wear a patch over my right eye to do even simple tasks.

Now, I don't know how the US Army can send someone with this disease over to Iraq. This soldier suffers from severe double vision and other symptoms. The stress he will be placed under will only exasperate his symptoms. I would think this would not only put him at risk but his fellow soldiers Our meds don't stay in your system for long periods of time so what happens when he misses a dose or two. Is our government really willing to sacrifice a soldiers life?

When I heard this mans story about his deployment it outraged me. I had just watched the interview of the soldier who died of cancer senselessly. Is this going to continue? Is there a reason for such disconcert of a soldier? Surely, our homeland could utilize him here.

I felt compelled to share this story however, at this time I cannot share his name since I do not have permission. Please we are losing enough men why take the chance of losing one senselessly.

Thank you for taking time to read this.
Sincerely,
Cynthia A Milloy
US Navy 74-81




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DOD contract of $6.5 million to promote "support" of the troops?

Nothing against America Supports You but this is bullshit!

Report: DOD may award PR contract for America Supports You
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, February 10, 2008



ARLINGTON, Va. — The Defense Department could award a contract of up to $6.5 million for a public relations firm to promote America Supports You, according to the magazine PR Week.

The move comes as the Defense Department Inspector General’s Office is conducting an audit looking at how Stars and Stripes was used as a conduit to transfer money from American Forces Information Service to a public relations firm hired to promote the newspaper and America Supports You.

American Forces Information Service and Stars and Stripes fall under the purview of Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for internal communications and public liaison.

Barber also runs America Supports You, a Defense Department Program that gives publicity to nonprofit groups that support U.S. troops.
go here for the rest
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52340

Do you think that kind of money would be better spent maybe opening some veteran's centers across the country TO GIVE THE WOUNDED SOLDIERS WHAT THEY NEED TO REALLY BE SUPPORTED? $6.5 MILLION AND HOW MANY LIVE IN AREAS WITH NO MENTAL HEALTH HELP AT ALL? HOW MANY HOMELESS VETERANS WITH NO PLACE TO SLEEP? $6.5 MILLION FOR PR WORK? ARE THEY NUTS?

Basic training Snakes On A Desk

Canebrake rattlesnake

Garboon Viper


Basic training includes lessons on snakes

By Joey Holleman - The (Columbia, S.C.) State
Posted : Saturday Feb 9, 2008 12:49:05 EST

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The 5-foot canebrake rattlesnake wasn’t all the way out of the plastic container before Spc. Christina Perez jumped up on the seat of her classroom desk at Fort Jackson.

She was 20 feet away from the plump reptile. She had been told the snake was lethargic from being transported on a cool morning. Several of her fellow trainees sat between Perez and the snake.

Asked later if she stood on the seat to get a better look at the snake, she gave a wide-eyed shake of the head.

“I don’t like snakes,” Perez said. “I’m terrified of snakes.”

Scott Pfaff, curator of herpetology at Riverbanks Zoo, brought several venomous snakes from the zoo to Fort Jackson, in part to alleviate some of those fears among safety troops who travel ahead of their units. It was the second time he had ventured out with the snakes. The other was for similar training for Special Forces troops.

Lt. William Amerson asked Pfaff to make the presentation because he had been impressed by a similar effort while training at Fort Riley in Kansas. The students are field sanitation soldiers, who get to an area early as a liaison to check on potential hazards. They report back to supervisors about bad water, dangerous food or biting insects. Snakes sometimes make the danger list.

Pfaff aimed to give the soldiers a handle on the level of danger. Before he brought out any snakes, he offered a few facts:

go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_snakes_080209/

Python like the ones in Vietnam. It isn't just bullets and bombs they have to worry about.

Vietnam veterans help returning Iraq soldiers deal with shocks of war

Vietnam veterans help returning Iraq soldiers deal with shocks of war
Neil Kenny, decorated for his service in Vietnam, plays big brother to Jeremiah Workman, a medal winner in Iraq struggling with the psychological effects of combat.

By Jennifer Miller Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

from the January 30, 2008 edition
Washington - Marine Sgt. Jeremiah Workman wasn't born yet when his friend Neil Kenny received the Navy Commendation Medal for dragging dead and wounded soldiers out of combat in Vietnam. But he has a good idea what it must have been like.

In 2004, during the second battle of Fallujah in Iraq, Sergeant Workman pushed through exploding grenades and machine-gun fire to rescue 10 trapped marines. His bravery earned him the Navy Cross, the military's second-highest honor. Yet today Mr. Kenny and Workman share more than medals. They came home from war with severe psychological wounds – anxiety, anger, and depression. More than their Marine brotherhood and shared valor, it is the painful legacy of combat that has now forged a singular bond between them. "I can tell him everything," Workman says. "I don't trust anybody. He's one of the few people I can talk to."

Their relationship is symbolic of a grass-roots movement by Vietnam veterans to help soldiers returning from Iraq cope with the mental rigors of war and ease the transition to civilian life. Across the country, both groups of Vietnam veterans and individual former soldiers are pitching in to help console, counsel, or just be a voice on the other end of the phone to those who have served in the Middle East.

Throughout history, veterans of one war have always helped those of another. But rarely has the homecoming experience of two sets of veterans been so different, and the bonds between them so deep, as those from Vietnam and Iraq.

One reason is that many Vietnam-era soldiers understand the trauma that some of today's returning fighters are going through and want to help them in ways they feel they never were. Kenny is currently mentoring five Iraq war veterans. When he looks at today's young soldiers, he sees a mirror image of himself returning from Southeast Asia at 19. "That's where I was," he says. "I don't want to turn my back on them."
go here for the rest
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0130/p20s01-usmi.html

This is one of the biggest reasons I did the video Hero After War. The Vietnam veterans have been doing it all along. Most of them have their own kids involved in the two occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of them are as divided on Iraq as the rest of then nation but the one common bond they all share is the brotherhood.

Vietnam veterans began so many different support groups it's nearly impossible to keep track of all of them. From Rolling Thunder, to Nam Knights motorcycle groups, to Vietnam Veterans of America. They have taken leadership positions in local government, business and state government. They have filled the seats of the House of Representatives and the Senate. They are still giving back at the same time so many are still paying for their service to this nation. They are among the finest people I've ever met and the above article is just one of the reasons I feel the way I do. My husband, naturally is the biggest reason of all.

PTSD: If we know what works, why don't we just do it?

More Help for Veterans
White River Junction, Vermont - February 8, 2008

The Department of Veterans Affairs will begin providing more mental health services for veterans returning from recent combat.

VA facilities across the country will expand training programs for psychologists. The internships and postdoctoral fellowship positions will focus on the increased mental needs of veterans-- like treatment for post traumatic stress disorder.

Doctors say, the earlier soldiers can get treatment, the better off they are.

"People with PTSD often don't take care of themselves as well. They are more likely to wind up drinking too much, smoking too much. Not doing the kind of things that help people stay healthy, so by investing a lot of resources in the psychological aspects of healthcare, we think we can make a real dent in their long-term trajectory," explains Dr. Andrew Pomerantz of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is adding over $5.3 million a year to its budget to pay for the expanded training programs. There are currently three postdoctoral fellowships at the VA in White River. Part of the money will pay for an additional one.

Adam Sullivan - WCAX News
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=7845104&nav=menu183_2

When Vietnam veterans came home, they were studied over 30 years ago. What the studies proved was that as soon as treatment began, the healing began. PTSD stopped getting worse when they were being treated with therapy as well as medication. Like an infection spreads untreated, PTSD just worse if you don't treat it. So why are they still delaying getting all of these veterans into treatment programs?

We already know a lot about PTSD because of the Vietnam veterans. There is still a lot to learn from why some treatment works better on some but not on others. Group therapy works great on some but others cannot tolerate it. Veterans centers seem to help more than the VA setting but we don't use more of them across the country waiting for enormous hospitals to be built. We know it is never too late to begin treatment but in the time lost, the wound cuts deeper and hits every other part of the veteran's life. There is a golden opportunity right here and right now to take care of them for the sake of their futures and their families. Why aren't we doing what we know works until we find something better to offer them?

University of Florida taking the lead for wounded veterans

Galloway: Returning veterans are changing college campuses
By JOSEPH GALLOWAY

last updated: February 09, 2008 07:31:23 AM


GAINESVILLE, Fla. — There's a fast-growing new community on the campuses of our universities and colleges — young men and women combat veterans fresh out of military service. Those here at the University of Florida and Santa Fe Community College have change on their agenda.

With the help of a local congressman, supporters in the community and a soft-spoken campus veterans' adviser, they just might succeed in fixing some problems and meeting a need that no one imagined we'd face.

The biggest and most expensive dream of these new GI Bill scholars is to build a special 90-apartment complex to accommodate the physical and educational needs of young military veterans who've come home severely wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan. SFCC President Dr.

Jackson Sasser was an early and enthusiastic supporter of the assisted living facility for wounded veterans, and Dr. James Bernard Machen, the president of the University of Florida, supports the effort, too.

These veterans — some missing limbs, others paralyzed — require levels of assistance and care that virtually lock them out of higher education. Some are even sent to live in nursing homes filled with those whose lives are ending, not just beginning.

John Gebhardt works with the 900 to 1,000 new GI Bill veterans who're attending the university and the college each semester. He and they are passionate about wanting to provide a better opportunity for severely wounded young veterans to gain an education.

"The facility we hope to see built here would be totally handicap-accessible," Gebhardt told me this week. "With both hired staff and volunteers, the wounded veterans would be provided transportation to classes on the two campuses, as well as rides to the regional Veterans Administration center for ongoing medical care." The complex also would have facilities for physical therapy and rehabilitation and, when these veterans have to return to a VA hospital for treatment of old or new complications from their wounds, other volunteer veterans would help them keep up with their studies so they don't lose entire semesters. "We are talking about young people who have sacrificed so much in service to our country," Gebhardt said.

"They need an education; they need to be with people their own age; they need to begin easing back into society and finding a future for themselves." Such a facility would cost an estimated $30 million for the purchase of the land and construction. U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, a local Republican, is an enthusiastic supporter of the idea and is going to bat for the money in Washington.
go here for the rest
http://www.modbee.com/opinion/national/story/205990.html