Sleeping in the woods, under bridges

Home in the cold
Sleeping in the woods, under bridges - count proves homeless people are out there

By Raymond Castile
Saturday, February 16, 2008 1:16 PM CST


He wears eight sweaters and a coat. The Army taught him how to survive outdoors, he says, biting into a sandwich.

"You got to dress in layers, eat meat and keep your body in shape, or you get sick out here," said Michael Myers, flashing a Veteran's Identification Card displaying his name.

Myers, 48, served seven years in the Army. He has spent the last eight years homeless.The veteran begins his day around 6 a.m. in northern St. Charles, where he often spends the night in the woods. If he has money, he buys a cup of coffee. If he is broke, he goes to SSM St. Joseph Health Center and drinks free coffee.

"They don't like that, but I don't care," he said. "I was born at St. Joseph, so I should get a lifetime of free coffee."

At 8 a.m., Myers begins searching back alleys for cans and metal scraps. By 11 a.m., he exchanges them for money at Cash's Scrap Metal and Iron on Junior Drive. Then he walks to the Salvation Army on 2140 N. Fourth St. to eat lunch at the soup kitchen.

That is where Myers sat Jan. 30, eating a sandwich in the company of other homeless men, like Terrance Marshall, 55.

"I could be sleeping outside today. I don't know," said Marshall, a Petty Officer 3rd Class who served in the U.S. Navy 1974-78.
click post title for the rest

Most of us are one paycheck away from being homeless. Most of us try to work hard for what we have and what we need but it doesn't always matter. I ended up out of a job after working for a church for two years. I don't even get unemployment because the church didn't pay into the system. We're having to refinance our house to make up the difference in my lost income. I only worked part time so that I could do this work 12 hours a day, seven days a week. When people asked me what I did for a living, I'd laugh and tell them "I work for God and in my spare time, I work for the church." Now I'm out of a job, trying to find part time work in a recession so that I can continue my life's work. After all, we moved from Massachusetts for this reason. It just didn't work out the way I hoped it would.

I tried to get donations for the videos I do so that I wouldn't end up in the poor house on top of everything, but the donations didn't even get me even with what it cost me. The DVD drive broke and I couldn't afford to replace the PC with one that would be able to handle the workload. No one has money to donate. The people who do have money, don't donate as much as they should to charities so helping out a person like me is not even a dream anymore. Still this is not why my heart is breaking. The numbers of homeless go up and so do the numbers of billionaires in this country. I wonder what the hell they are going to do with all the money they accumulated in this lifetime when they are dead and can't take it with them? Could you imagine what could be done in this country if they would just pitch in and help people out?

Veteran recalls Vietnam for National Geographic

Veteran recalls Vietnam for National Geographic

BY R. NORMAN MOODY

INDIALANTIC - As an adviser to a regiment of the South Vietnamese Army, then-U.S. Army Major Wade Lovings found himself completely surrounded by the enemy.

It was May 1972 and the North Vietnamese had the South Vietnamese Army penned in, pounding the town of Kontum with artillery and rocket fire before the South Vietnamese began to regain some of the lost ground.

"It was a frontal assault right up into your face," said Lovings, a retired lieutenant colonel who lives in Indialantic. "You can't get more intense than fighting with bayonets."

Lovings, 70, is one of dozens of Vietnam veterans who will be featured tonight on National Geographic channel's "Inside the Vietnam War," a three-hour program that takes a close-up look at the war from testimonials and eyewitness accounts.

Lovings was interviewed by the National Geographic crew for about three hours but said he didn't know how much of his interview would be aired.
click post title for the rest

When Strains on Military Families Turn Deadly

When Strains on Military Families Turn Deadly

Lizette Alvarez and Deborah Sontag


New York Times

Feb 17, 2008

February 15, 2008 - A few months after Sgt. William Edwards and his wife, Sgt. Erin Edwards, returned to a Texas Army base from separate missions in Iraq, he assaulted her mercilessly. He struck her, choked her, dragged her over a fence and slammed her into the sidewalk.

As far as Erin Edwards was concerned, that would be the last time he beat her.

Unlike many military wives, she knew how to work the system to protect herself. She was an insider, even more so than her husband, since she served as an aide to a brigadier general at Fort Hood.

With the general’s help, she quickly arranged for a future transfer to a base in New York. She pressed charges against her husband and secured an order of protection. She sent her two children to stay with her mother. And she received assurance from her husband’s commanders that he would be barred from leaving the base unless accompanied by an officer.

Yet on the morning of July 22, 2004, William Edwards easily slipped off base, skipping his anger-management class, and drove to his wife’s house in the Texas town of Killeen. He waited for her to step outside and then, after a struggle, shot her point-blank in the head before turning the gun on himself.

During an investigation, Army officers told the local police that they did not realize Erin Edwards had been afraid of her husband. And they acknowledged that despite his restrictions, William Edwards had not been escorted off base “on every occasion,” according to a police report.
go here for the rest
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9368

DOD AND VA AWOL ON CLAIMS FOR WOUNDED WARRIORS

Decorated veteran stuck in red
Paperwork delays leave family broke as soldier fights for his benefits
By CE SKIDMORE
skidmore@poststar.com
Published: Monday, February 18, 2008
Matthew Welch's left calf looks like a turkey leg after the Thanksgiving meal. His right thigh is peppered with shrapnel scars and parts of him will probably cause an alarm to sound at the airport.

To be fair, he has looked worse.

Welch, 26, served in the Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry, Glens Falls. It is the same unit that lost Pfc. Nathan Brown, of South Glens Falls, who was killed in action on April 11, 2004, in Samarra, Iraq.

Seven months later in the same city, a Humvee that Welch was driving was hit by a roadside bomb. Dates and milestones that passed during his years in the service are hazy, Welch said. But he will never forget Nov. 24, 2004.

Welch's discharge didn't become official until Nov. 10, 2007. The process was in limbo for two years because of lost paperwork, according to Welch. He was supposed to receive $1,100 monthly retirement benefits starting Dec. 1, 2007, he said, but to date has not seen a check.

"I keep getting juggled around," he said. "There's no communication. ... One department tells me I need to call a different department, and they tell me I need to call someone else."

go here for the rest
http://www.poststar.com/articles/2008/02/18/news/local/13350515.txt

This is one of the reasons our veterans end up homeless. Welch is trapped in a backlog of claims over 800,000 deep now. Amazing how that went from 600,000 to 816,211 in a few months but it did.

VA claim backlog at 816,211 but IT cut back? WTF (+)
by: NamGuardianAngel
Wed Feb 13, 2008 at 22:24:14 PM EST
VA claim backlog at 816,211 but IT cut back? WTF Vets' groups urge IT budget boost for benefits processing By Bob Brewin bbrewin@govexec.com February 13, 2008 Veterans' services organizations have urged Congress to provide a sharp increase in the information technology budget of the agency that handles their compensation and pension claims.
The fiscal 2009 IT budget request for the Veterans Benefits Administration is about 18 percent less than the fiscal 2008 proposal. The overall IT budget for the Veterans Affairs Department, VBA's parent agency, jumped 18 percent in President Bush's latest request.
VBA's pending compensation and claims backlog stood at 816,211 as of January 2008, up 188,781 since 2004, said Kerry Baker, associate legislative director of the Disabled Veterans of America, during a Wednesday hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.
Baker said VBA must have the funds necessary to upgrade its IT infrastructure to handle the backlog and a growing caseload. Anything short of an increase is "a recipe for failure," he added.
Carl Blake, national legislative director for the Paralyzed Veterans of America, said VBA needed $121 million in its fiscal 2009 budget for its information technology. According to VA budget documents, VBA requested an IT budget of $109.6 million for its compensation and benefits programs, down $23.8 million from $133.4 million in 2008. VA requested an overall 2009 IT budget of $2.53 billion in 2009, up from $2.15 billion in fiscal 2008, with the largest portion earmarked for the Veterans Health Administration. go here for the rest
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfe...

And now the above report will only go to show this is all going to get worse. Veterans like Matthew Welch are trapped in the system, suffering along with their families for someone to find their file and do the right thing. To the VA they are just missing in a pile but if they were missing when the government wanted them to go, or the Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion had orders in hand to send them, they would be tracked down and tossed into jail for being AWOL. So who is charging the DOD and the VA with they are AWOL on these claims?

Don't get me wrong here. The DOD and the VA people who are trying to process claims are still busier than they should be. There are still not enough of them to process all the claims. The people who rate these claims are a mix between those who want to do a wonderful job and others who just do what they have to do in order to move onto the next claim. They have their orders to follow, so it depends on who is giving those orders and setting policy. It also depends on where they are and who is fighting for them.

The biggest problems seem to come when the veterans try to work their way through they system on their own. With no advocate knowing the system, they end up trapped. There are now lawyers around the country taking on these cases for free. They see it as their patriotic duty to help these veterans without charging them money. They just don't want to see these veterans suffering for their service and the inconvenience to the government of having to treat them and pay out their claims. There are DAV and VFW and American Legion Service Officers around the country helping with claims along with a lot of other smaller organizations. The problem is, for veterans in rural areas, help is just too far away and coping with too long of a line to get there.

With all the hearings by the House and the Senate, why is there so little being done to correct these problems while the veterans are suffering? Good motives and plans do not put food on their table or a roof over their heads. Building new hospitals does not take care of the veterans facing wanting to end their lives today or having to deal with having their wound go untreated. Can't they understand that these veterans need help yesterday? They still need to work on the future but they have to take care of today first!

Breaking the Drug Taboo:PTSD Veterans Get Ecstasy Treatment

Breaking the Drug Taboo: Group of Traumatized Veterans Get Ecstasy Treatment
February 11, 2008 - AlterNet




By Scott Thill

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.
go here for the rest
http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=266

Minnesota National Guard Warns Of Leishmaniasis

Minnesota National Guard web site

LeishmaniasisLeishmaniasis (LEASH-ma-NIGH-a-sis) is a parasitic disease spread by the bite of infected sand flies. There are several different forms of leishmaniasis. The most common forms are cutaneous leishmaniasis, which causes skin sores, and visceral leishmaniasis, which affects some of the internal organs of the body (for example, spleen, liver, bone marrow).

CUTANEOUS LEISHMANIASIS:
People who have cutaneous leishmaniasis have one or more sores on their skin. The sores can change in size and appearance over time. They often end up looking somewhat like a volcano, with a raised edge and central crater.

VISCERAL LEISHMANIASIS:
People who have visceral leishmaniasis usually have fever, weight loss, and an enlarged spleen and liver (usually the spleen is bigger than the liver). Some patients have swollen glands. Certain blood tests are abnormal.

TREATMENT:
If you suspect you are infected with leishmaniasis, consult a physician.
There are treatments available for leishmaniasis.
You will need to inform your physician that you were in a combat zone known to have leishmanisis.
They may need to call the CDC (Center for Disease Control) to obtain information on treatment.
Referance:
www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/leishmania
or www.pdhealth.mil/leish.asp
http://www.minnesotanationalguard.org/returning_troops/health.php

Veterans Suicide Hotline Still Telling Them To Wait?

I found the following shocking account on Soldiers Perspective site. I was stunned to learn that when veterans call the suicide hotline, they are not treated immediately. This veteran called and was told to wait until the following Monday. Then he had to call back several times. What good is a suicide hotline when they are told they have to wait for someone to get back to them?

From Soldiers Perspective

My Son, PTSD & the VA
February 16th, 2008 by White Rose

...........Then last weekend, Kenny called me, crying his eyes out. "Mom, I'm tired. I'm tired of hurting, I'm tired of life, I tired of everything." he said. I couldn't calm him down. He didn't want the pending divorce, he was tired of the problems with the PTSD and not sleeping. He wasn't eating but one meal a day and was having to force himself to do that. I understood, but then again I didn't, and I damn sure didn't know what to do for him. I have been trying to get him to go to the VA since he got out of the Army, but he just wouldn't go. He would give me one excuse after another why he couldn't or wouldn't go. From what I knew of his tour in Iraq I also didn't understand why he had PTSD. Yes, I know I have dealt with my own PTSD and do every day, but from the stories he had told me, I had seen more combat related crap that he had. I had been through more and I was coping with it. Finally he told me a story that gave me some in-site as to why he was having problems. I wont tell that story it is his to tell when he is ready.

When I got off the phone with him I called his Dad and asked him to call and talk to him. I was worried that he might hurt himself. He had told me that he wrote a very dark poem and had been thinking about suicide. I was scared!!!

A several hours later Kenny called me back. "Mom, you may not hear from me for a while after Monday. I called the VA suicide hotline and am going to the VA Monday." he said. It was all I could do to not break down and cry right there on the phone. But he didn't need to hear that so I stuffed those emotions down inside and tried to talk to him. I was in west Texas on my way back from California to the New Orleans area. I asked him if he wanted me to take him to the VA Monday morning. I was worried about leaving him alone. I knew he was staying with friends, but I wanted to make sure someone was watching him all the time. He said, "yeah" and I called my dispatcher. I explained what was going on and that I needed to go to Temple. They told me to go and 3 hours later I was hugging my son and fighting my tears. The hug seemed like it went on forever, but he just didn't want to let me go and I was not going to pull away.

..........We got a hotel room and talked. Monday morning we waited for the lady that the hotline said would call him. When 0900 rolled around and we had not heard from anyone, he called the number the hotline gave him. She didn't answer and he left a message. We kept waiting. Then he called the VA suicide hotline again. They told him that the psychologist had 24 hours to call him and to please be patient. I lost it! I was angry! How can they ask someone that is thinking about killing themselves to wait 24 hours t=from someone to call them back?! Yes he was with friends when he called them the day before, but that didn't mean that he could not have gone ahead and done it if he wanted to. I told him to call the VA directly.
http://www.soldiersperspective.us/2008/02/16/my-son-ptsd-the-va/

This veteran did the right thing. He felt as if he just couldn't hold on anymore. He reached out to his mother for help. She acted fast and took the call seriously. His father acted fast. With all of this going on, how is it the VA suicide hotline did not?

In this case, he was still alive the following Monday when he was told he would be called back. The call didn't come and he had to call several times more. Finally someone came and he was still alive. How many others are not? How many others reach out for help, do what they are supposed to do and then end up taking their own lives because people on the other end are not? I don't blame the people who work for the VA but I do blame the fact all these years later, they are still not able to deal with countless numbers of veterans reaching the breaking point.

Can any of us still wonder why so many are taking their own lives? Can any of us really, honestly, say this is a grateful nation? How can this still be happening? Have we learned nothing?

When you call a suicide hotline in civilian life, how long does it take to get help? When you call the VA, the routing recording first says, "If this is an emergency call 9-11" and then the recording goes on to direct your call.


From the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

If you need help, please call us

Each month, the Lifeline Network serves over 45,000 callers who are in emotional distress. You can reach the Lifeline by dialing 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Although suicide prevention is our primary mission, people call the Lifeline for many reasons:
Suicidal thoughts
Abuse/violence
Information on suicide
Economic problems
Information on mental health/ illness
Sexual orientation issues
Post-disaster needs
Homelessness issues
Substance abuse/addiction
Physical illness
To help a friend or loved one
Loneliness
Relationship problems
Family problems
Who Should Call?
Anyone, but especially those who feel sad, hopeless, or suicidal
Family and friends who are concerned about a loved one who may be experiencing these feelings
Anyone interested in suicide prevention, treatment, and service referrals Details About the Lifeline
The service is free and confidential
The hotline is staffed by trained counselors
We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
We have information about support services that can help you
TTY Users
If you are a TTY user, please use our TTY number: 1-800-799-4TTY (4889)
Learn the warning signs for suicide
Find out what will happen when you call
Find out what you can do to help someone you care about

Get Help
What Will Happen When I Call?

When you dial 1-800-273-TALK, your call will be routed to the nearest available crisis center in our net work. We currently have 120 centers in the net work and you will probably speak to one in your area. To find out where the nearest center is, take a look at our Crisis Center Map. Each center operates independently of the Lifeline and has its own trained staff.

When the crisis center answers your call, you will speak to an actual human being, who will listen, ask you questions, and do their best to help you.

I'm Calling for Myself

Crisis center staff will listen and talk with you. If needed, they can give you information about local community resources or services to help you after the call is over. You are always free to call 1-800-273-TALK again for followup or to check in.

I'm Calling for Somone I Care About

If you are worried that someone you know is in crisis or is thinking about suicide, our centers can help. A crisis worker might:

Give you ideas and tips about how to approach the person you're concerned about. The crisis worker can help you think about what to say to encourage your friend or loved one to seek help.
In some cases, the center can conference you together with the person you are concerned about
Some communities have mobile crisis outreach teams that can visit people in their homes. If your area has an outreach team, our center will connect you with it.

I'm Calling for Mental Health Information

You don't have to be in crisis to call. Our centers can answer general questions about mental health, depression, suicide, community health resources, and more. You also can call to find out more about suicide prevention activities in your area.

Some Facts About the Lifeline

The call is toll-free from any phone in the United States.
Our line operates all day, every day, so you can reach a crisis worker whenever you need one.
Your call is confidential, which means that the crisis counselor will make every effort to keep your identity private.
We have services in English (1-800-273-8255) and Spanish (1-888-628-9454).
We are the only federally funded national hotline network.
http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/help/call_detail.aspx

This is the map of the locations of the centers.

These sites are for all citizens. The question is, where are the centers for the National Guardsmen and Reservists? They come from all over the nation. Do you notice the clusters of the centers?

If the VA does not have the capabilities to deal with suicidal veterans, the national center does not either, then what are these veterans supposed to do when they reach the breaking point and need help immediately?

This is from Utah

In the Utah National Guard alone, there have been at least 5,000 deployments (some of them repeats) to Iraq, beginning in 2003, and to Afghanistan since 2001. The Utah Guard has about 5,000 soldiers, as well as 1,500 airmen who are part of the Air National Guard.

Koplin said there have been 13 veterans who are confirmed to have committed suicide in Utah since about October 2006, when the VA at the federal level began requiring individual medical centers to track suicide data. Ten of those suicides in Utah, Koplin added, were veterans over the age of 40, implying that they were probably Vietnam veterans.

The national VA wants more data so that researchers are better able to predict which veterans might be at higher risk for suicide.

Koplin said there are currently 32 veterans in Utah who have attempted suicide and are actively seeking help through the VA or private sources. Within the past six months, the VA at the federal level has put at least one suicide-prevention coordinator like Koplin in each of the nation's 150 VA medical centers.



http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20070806/ai_n19443783

These are just some of the examples of why the communities have to become educated about PTSD. There is a growing need for all service organizations, veterans groups, chaplains, religious leaders, social workers and neighbors to become involved in helping these veterans stay alive long enough to heal.

When they are suicidal, they need immediate intervention as if their lives depended on it because they do!

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Iraqi Veterans

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Iraqi Veterans
Posted by Allan N. Schwartz, LCSW, PhD on Fri, Feb 15th 2008


Out of a deep sense of respect and honor I feel compelled to write about a wounded veteran of the Iraqi war. The respect I have for him developed from the things I learned about him this week. More than that I learned about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in a way different than I really knew before. This man, who shall remain anonymous in order to protect him, is representative of countless other soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with concussions, brain injuries, loss of limbs and PTSD.

This is the story of a particular soldier who did everything he could to protect his men and do his job in ways that were courageous and necessary. Home, now, from the war, he is not angry or bitter about the army or about the Iraqi people for whom he has nothing bad to say. In fact, as he stated it, the army saved his life because he was on the road to deep trouble as a result of the dysfunctional and violent family in which he grew up. He credits the army with setting him on the right path so that he was able to go to college, get an advanced degree and an excellent job prior to his volunteering for a tour of duty when he was in his late thirties.
go here for the rest


http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=weblog&wlid=5&id=370&cn=109

The veteran has a service dog to help him. He has a second wife to understand him. He has a psychiatrist to treat him. He has what he needs to heal enough to live a life instead of just existing. How many others do not? This is what it takes to cope with PTSD. This is what is needed for all of them. We need to make sure all the support available is provided to all of them or we will keep seeing more and more end up homeless, more marriages dissolve and more veterans take their own lives.

From Fighting In Iraq To Homeless In San Diego

From Fighting In Iraq To Homeless In San Diego

Watch Video Last Updated:
http://www.cbs8.com/flv/video_pop_hd3.php?startID=117996

02-14-08 at 7:41PM

According to the Department of Defense, 130,000 troops have returned home after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. A growing number of those veterans are homeless. News 8's Dan Cohen has the story of one Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran who fought in Iraq, and also fought to get off the streets.

The 28-year-old former Marine and National Guardsman saw things in Iraq he doesn't want to remember.

"I know what being over there can do to a person," he said. "I didn't expect to deploy to Iraq with the National Guard, but that's the way it turned out."

He asked that his identity be concealed after a rough six months, with support and help he's turning his life around.

"I basically went from the war to trying to be a civilian," he said.

That didn't work out. He bounced from state to state, ending up in San Diego, on the streets.

"I guess because of my behavior and stuff when I got back I was kind of hard to be around," he said. "My family wanted me to get some help, they knew something wasn't quite right with me. It was hard for them to deal with."

Like so many other returning veterans, he didn't recognize the signs he needed help.

"I know when I got back I didn't want to be around anybody… the last thing I wanted to do was ask for help or any kind of program," he said.

In part because Iraqi veterans fear the stigma of having post-traumatic stress disorder.

"They may not know they have it, I guarantee it," the former Marine said. "Looking back, I know I was suffering from PTSD. My nerves were pretty raw and I was drinking a lot."
go here for the rest
http://www.cbs8.com/features/special_assignment/story.php?id=117996

Linked from ICasualties.org

Time to put shame of PTSD where it belongs

When the soldiers went home following the Revolutionary War, there was shame. When they went home after the Civil War, there was shame. When they went home after every war, there was shame. The difference is we are a lot more educated than the population back then. Or at least you'd think we were. Back then they shot soldiers experiencing mental health problems because they were seen as cowards. We know better now. Don't we?

Historians have been documenting the price the human mind pays when humans are sent into combat. This has been documented over and over again under different titles but with the same reports of the same problems humans face today. While science has advanced to the point where we can actually see the changes in the brain by someone with PTSD, humans however are still only human. Trauma can, will and does strike humans until we stop being human.

It takes other humans to become involved enough to learn what PTSD is, what it isn't and what can be done about it, as well as what cannot be done yet.

The shame should have never been placed on humans who develop PTSD after traumatic events. The shame belongs to the rest of the humans who refuse to learn. You would think that by now the stigma of PTSD would be so eroded it would resemble the attitude we now have toward leaches and bleeding a patient to death, but when it comes to PTSD, too many are still living in the dark ages.

These dark-dwellers are in the military, back home and in the neighborhoods. I for one would be more embarrassed hanging onto the attitude it's their fault when this has never been the case. Today there are still members of the military upper echelon remaining ignorant and coming off as uneducated cave dwellers thinking fire was magic. Will they ever learn? How many humans serving this nation need to pay for their ignorance? The shame does not belong to the veterans or the active military any more than it belongs to other humans who also experience PTSD from other causes. It belongs to those who would prefer to stand in the way of help than offer a hand toward it.

Sens.: Shame may spur better care for wounded

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Feb 15, 2008 16:55:25 EST

Shame and embarrassment can do as much as, if not more than, legislation to prod the services to improve treatment for wounded combat veterans, key lawmakers said Friday.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Congress can pass laws like the Wounded Warrior Act that took effect Jan. 28, but getting the services to follow through on new policies is harder.

While Congress has the power to cut budgets if the services don’t follow orders, Levin said calling public attention to shortfalls seems more effective.

“We can require it by law. We’ve already done that. So I think kind of embarrassing and shaming them into meeting those deadlines, through that kind of public disclosure of their shortfalls, is probably the most practical way to accomplish the goal,” Levin said in a conference call with reporters.

Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind. — who has been involved in investigating the death of an unattended soldier at Fort Knox, Ky., who was being treated for mental health issues — agreed.

Bayh said while it should not take publicity to “spur action,” experience has shown publicity works. “We need to follow up on this and keep the pressure on,” he said.

Bayh worries that as time passes since last year’s Walter Reed Army Medical Center outpatient scandal, some of the urgency to make improvements is diminishing, and the glacial pace of changing a bureaucracy has returned.

“For a while, there was a sense of focus and urgency, and then that kind of dissipated,” he said. “We cannot allow that to dissipate again. Whether it’s shame or coercion, whatever it takes, we’re going to do better.”

Levin, Akaka and Bayh said the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs deserve credit for progress made in the last year, but they stressed no one should believe the job is done.

“They’ve been way too slow on this, but they’re trying to do the right thing here,” Bayh said.

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02
/military_shamingservices_woundedwarrior_080215w/

Senator Sherrod Brown taking on PTSD problems

Brown's legislation will help sufferers of post traumatic stress disorder
News Journal staff report

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said this week he will introduce legislation to require additional regulations before the Department of Defense can discharge military personnel suffering from service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury or related conditions.

Brown said his legislation would address the growing number of service members who agree, based on common misconceptions about automatic discharge upgrades, to less than honorable discharges for behaviors that are actually a function of the disorders.



"We must protect our soldiers suffering from PTSD or TBI from getting lost in an administrative shuffle," Brown said. "These brave men and women deserve every consideration and too often they are receiving none."

An increasing number of service personnel are being given involuntary, less-than-honorable discharges but are later diagnosed with the service-connected disorders, the senator said. He added that often that occurs when the military discharges a service member citing a "personality disorder."
Those with a less than honorable discharge are not entitled to military or Veterans Administration benefits.

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Murtha On His Way To Fort Drum

Congressman to visit Drum, discuss PTSD treatment
By MARC HELLER
TIMES WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2008
WASHINGTON — The chairman of a House defense spending panel will visit Fort Drum next Friday to discuss the treatment of soldiers for disabilities and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Rep. John R. Murtha, D-Pa., who heads the House Appropriations subcommittee on defense, said he will meet with base commanders and Department of Veterans Affairs representatives as well as with soldiers and their families.

Mr. Murtha's plans follow reports of long waits for soldiers seeking psychological help at Fort Drum, which came on the heels of revelations that VA counselors stopped helping wounded soldiers navigate the bureaucracy in applying for disability benefits.

As a result, the Army and the VA signed an agreement this week spelling out each agency's responsibilities — a development Mr. Murtha acknowledged Thursday as progress toward addressing the issue identified in reports from National Public Radio.

Mr. Murtha said he wants to know more about how PTSD is being handled at Fort Drum, where the 10th Mountain Division is one of the most heavily deployed units to Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Bayh Challenges Overdose Comment by Army General

Bayh Challenges Comment by Army General
By KIMBERLY HEFLING – 15 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee said Friday it was inappropriate for the Army's surgeon general to compare the overdose deaths of injured soldiers in the military's care to that of actor Heath Ledger.

Earlier this month, Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker made reference to the 28-year-old "Brokeback Mountain" star's death as he discussed the overdose deaths of some troops in the Army's "warrior transition units." The units give wounded troops coordinated medical care, financial advice, legal help and other services as they make the adjustments necessary either to return to active duty or re-enter civilian life.

"This isn't restricted to the military, alone, as we all saw the unfortunate death of one of our leading actors recently," Schoomaker told Pentagon reporters. His comments came a day after it was announced that Ledger had died Jan. 22 from an accidental overdose — the effect of taking several types of painkillers and sedatives.

Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., told reporters during a conference call Friday that likening Ledger's death to the deaths by overdose of wounded soldiers was not appropriate because Ledger was not injured in combat.

"He didn't have a traumatic brain injury," Bayh said. "He wasn't, as far as I know, under a physician's care or residing in a unit designed to protect him and treat him or given by his own caregivers potentially lethal doses of medication and left to self medicate himself when he had a traumatic brain injury."

Said Bayh, "I just think that analogy is inappropriate and I hope it will stop."
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Senator Patty Murray Stands Up For Female Warriors

Received by email. Thanks to all the members of this Army of Love out there making sure I get everything on PTSD. You never know what I'm going to miss.

Senator Murray is a great advocate for Veterans & is always involved in trying to make things better...

Senator Seeks Help For Survivors Of Military Sexual Trauma
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=d38a90ee-2012-495c-9368-453825fac195

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). (http://vetwow.com/)
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.
Joy Ilem, assistant national legislative director at Disabled American Veterans, says many military women worry that there is no systematic way for commanders to handle sexual assault cases.
“It can definitely ruin your life if not treated,” she says.
Thirty-four years after she was attacked, Sally still takes medication for panic attacks, won't leave her house at night and is terrified of loud voices or large crowds.
She has endured years of nightmares, flashbacks, a nervous breakdown, depression and homelessness.
Sally has found solace in a Seattle support group of mostly female veterans with similar stories.
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.
Murray is preparing legislation that would require the federal government to conduct research on military sexual trauma, provide an annual report to Congress on how the VA is handling these cases, and come up with treatments and policies to help women veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
For example, she says women should have separate waiting rooms and more privacy in veterans' hospitals because female victims of MST are further emotionally strained when they “face a room-full of men.”
The issue came to the forefront recently with the murder of Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, a personnel clerk at Camp Lejeune, NC., who was eight months pregnant when her burned body was found in a fire pit in the backyard of Cpl. Cesar A. Laurean, whom she had accused of rape.
Avila-Smith says more than 99 percent of men who rape women in the military are fellow soldiers.
“They are not strangers and they're not foreigners on the other side of the war,” she says. “They're people with access to you and your paper work, people in your unit.”
Many of the victims are reluctant to report the abuse because they could be charged with filing a false report or adultery, or they fear going to jail where they could be raped again, she says.
Sally Fictim Griffiths, 33, a Houston fourth-grade teacher, mother of two young daughters and former Marine lance corporal who worked as an administrative assistant, says she was raped at age 19 in Okinawa, Japan, by a Marine she knew.
She says women planning to join the military “need to have an opportunity to sit down with other veterans who have lived the nightmare.”
Griffiths says she wouldn't have joined the Marines if she had known about the environment.
She recalls being sexually harassed by much older married men when she enlisted at 18.
But she suffered a terrible attack after she asked a fellow Marine to go jogging with her. The male Marine declined the invitation, opting instead to sneak up and rape her on the beach. Griffiths was interrogated and accused of lying at a military hearing before she found the rapist's confession in a file cabinet.
She was quickly transferred, then given an honorable discharge with the help of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and was later featured on the CBS-TV program “60 Minutes.” Her attacker was promoted and served six more years.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, also a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs panel, says any federal program to deal with post-traumatic stress syndrome must consider that women in the military can face “mental anguish” if they are sexually harassed.
She says mental health problems for women veterans “are very real and much more a focus in the Veterans' Administration then ever before.”

Eric Hall's family offers reward for info on missing Marine son

While the news on Eric Hall, the missing Marine, seems to have vanished, I found this story today.

Tip on missing Marine leads to gas station

Last updated on: 2/15/2008 1:15:36 PM by Ryan Hughes

CHARLOTTE COUNTY: New details have emerged in the case of a missing Charlotte County Marine. Deputies got at tip placing 24-year-old Eric Hall at an area gas station last week.

Family members feel that the lead is legitimate and believe that Hall may have hitched a ride out of town.


A reward has been posted on those flyers for a $1,000 for anyone who submits information that lead to Hall's return.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of Eric Hall, you are urged to contact the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office at (941) 639-2101.
go here for the rest
http://www.nbc-2.com/articles/readarticle.asp?articleid=17554&z=3

Gross mismanagement caused deaths and injured in Iraq

Study: Lack of MRAPs cost Marine lives

By RICHARD LARDNER
Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hundreds of U.S. Marines have been killed or injured by roadside bombs in Iraq because Marine Corps bureaucrats refused an urgent request in 2005 from battlefield commanders for blast-resistant vehicles, an internal military study concludes.

The study, written by a civilian Marine Corps official and obtained by The Associated Press, accuses the service of "gross mismanagement" that delayed deliveries of the mine-resistant, ambush-protected trucks for more than two years.

Cost was a driving factor in the decision to turn down the request for the so-called MRAPs, according to the study. Stateside authorities saw the hulking vehicles, which can cost as much as a $1 million each, as a financial threat to programs aimed at developing lighter vehicles that were years from being fielded.

After Defense Secretary Robert Gates declared the MRAP (pronounced M-rap) the Pentagon's No. 1 acquisition priority in May 2007, the trucks began to be shipped to Iraq in large quantities.
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South Dakota Health Care Providers to Learn About PTSD

South Dakota Health Care Providers to Learn About PTSD at TriWest and VA-Sponsored Conference



SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the National
Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), one in six returning
service members will develop PTSD or other combat stress-related disorders.
Affected service members may suffer memory loss, irritability, depression,
trouble sleeping and other challenges within 60 to 90 days post deployment,
but these symptoms may occur earlier or later. If left untreated, symptoms
could cause serious physical and mental health problems for service members
and their families.

To address and support the health care needs of South Dakota's military
families, TriWest Healthcare Alliance and U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs
(VA) Medical Centers in South Dakota (Sioux Falls and Black Hills) are
hosting a "Combat Stress-related Disorders" videoconference on Wednesday,
Feb. 20, 2008. The videoconference will last from 1 until 4 p.m. CST (noon
to 3 p.m. MST).

The videoconference will bring together nearly 150 community-based
physicians, nurses, psychiatrists and other health care professionals that
care for service members and their families. The providers will learn to
identify symptoms of PTSD, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and other
combat-stress disorders, as well as treatment methods.

Key conference presenters are Paul Rentz, Ph.D., staff psychologist at
Sioux Falls VA Medical Center; and Ashok V. Kumar, M.D., director of Sleep
Lab and Respiratory Division at VA Black Hills Health Care System and chief
of Aviation Medicine at South Dakota Army National Guard (SDARNG).

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DOD webhall opens to a lot of attention

2/15/2008 - FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AFPN) -- The Pentagon's top doctor, S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, hosted a Web-based live "Webhall" Feb 14, a first for the military health system. Leaders from the MHS joined Doctor Casscells in answering some pointed and challenging questions live on the new MHS Web site.

DOD participants included Steve Jones, principle deputy assistant secretary of defense for health affairs; Ellen Embrey, deputy assistant secretary of defense for force health protection and readiness; and Jack Smith, acting assistant secretary of defense and chief medical officer. They were joined by several subject matter experts from the MHS.

Before and during the live program, servicemembers and their families submitted questions and comments about DOD programs, priorities and efforts covering many broad issues with the main focus on wounded warriors. Participants could either write or text their questions.

Pain management programs, funding of new programs, standardized physical examination processes, care for service members with traumatic brain injury or post traumatic stress disorder, and concerns about the medical evaluation process were among many of the questions or concerns posted. Check out the MHS Wounded Warrior Webhall for official DOD responses.

"This was a great start for opening a dialogue with our MHS beneficiaries and I look forward to continuing this type of discussion in the future," said Doctor Casscells. "In addition to my regular blog which is available 24/7 for questions and concerns, I plan to host a regular Webhall with my senior staff."

Questions not answered during the hour-long live Webhall will be answered within 24 hours of the event at the Web site. Participants and viewers should check back to the website for additional information. See the Military Health System Blog for more information about the Webhall.
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123086631

Many of us who were injured and were evacuated from Afghanistan or Iraq have difficulties not only adjusting to the injuries but also the return to life outside a combat zone. As soldiers we are always held to the values of each respected branch of service we come from, I believe there should be a time to get the combat zone out of our heads, a time of decompression if you will. Also getting all medical treatment should come first. Some troops that return and are in the process of healing begin to realize that they might not be the same person they were when they left both mentally and physically. This is one of the greatest amounts of stress on a soldier injured downrange, the uncertain future they face. Reserve and Guard troops it is even worse because they left civilian jobs and if injuries keep themn from returning to that job they have known possibly for many years suddenly they have to give them up and change according to there new physical and mental limitations. Some troops cannot handle this and feel helpless and confused leading to more emotional issues stacked on the mental combat issues. Some injured troops bring more problems down on top of themselves by getting into trouble and getting Article 15's, disciplinary actions and find that they are suddenly discharged without their honorable discharge. Everyone knows what a discharge that reads anything but honorable will get you in life. The roads ahead of each soldier who gave themselves both physically and mentally to this war deserves Honorable Discharges. Mistakes happen and each soldier is responsible for his or her actions in the end.
The military should look at each soldier individually and if necessary morally and ethically. The suicide rate for soldiers returning from the war is off the charts and the military needs to look at that closer and understand that sometimes mentally they don't always make the best descisions. Mental health needs to outway anything else including disciplinary actions for these soldiers. What good does it do to Art 15, confine, or discharge a wounded soldier and in the end he takes his life because he knows his future is bleak.
Without coming out of the military with a good discharge, the physical and mental ability to adjust and transition to civilian life many soldiers would rather give up. It is hard to fight the demons from combat that are in your head let alone look at your family knowing that getting a job with the physical and mental limitations you have and possible discharge without it being honorable because of a mistake. If anyone volunteers to give it all to the country and survives they deserve the honor that goes along with that sacrifice. The funeral of a soldier who fought in this war who took his life for any reason is one too many period.

Dr. Casscells, ASD Health Affairs at 2008-02-14 13:26:05 wrote:

Thanks for these challening questions. Let me try some short answers and then all of you please feel free to chime in. To Sheila Smith: you are correct: for example we were given by Congress an unprecedented extra $900 million to improve our approach to combat stress and prevent - and treat- PTSD, and prevent suicide. We have allocated that money to the Army, Navy and AF to support their hiring of psychologists and psychiatrists and nurse-clinicians, to improve our pre-deployment screening, to implement educational programs to reduce the stigma of asking for help(emphasizing it takes strength to ask for help, that facing fear is real courage, that overcoming depression marks you as a proven leader).
These programs are underway, but have yet to receive much attention in the press as their success is not yet proven. We are also fielding new tests to identify - in the field - service members who have concussions ( mild traumatic brain injury). We are also developing new programs with NIH to develop ways to coax nerve cells to regrow; an exciting development is that we may soon be able to instruct cells fromm skin or saliva to become stem cells. This is a longer -term research effort . Many other initiatives, esp to reduce a rising incidence of suicide in the Army. Other important initiatives are teh Army's WTU's (warrior transition units) which now surround our wounded warriors with medical, nursing, and bureaucracy help; we are also working closely with VA in improving the disability eval process, and updgrading our electroninc health records to make them more useful, private, portable, and patient-controlled. This is a small part of what we are doing. What do YOU think we can do better? Respectfully, Ward Casscells, MD

From Moderator

Even though this event is scheduled from 1-2pm you will still be able to submit after the event has ended. You may continue to submit your question and come back later to get your answers. MHS Moderator

go here for more questions and some answershttp://www.health.mil/WoundedWarriorWebhall.aspx

Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker slams disability system project

Army official slams disability system project

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Feb 15, 2008 14:52:28 EST

A pilot project intended to speed the process of evaluating and rating service members’ disabilities will do little more than turn a bad process into “a fast bad process,” the Army’s top medical official said Friday.

Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker’s comments came at a hearing at which the services’ surgeons general had their chance to brag about what they have done in the year since the outpatient scandal at Walter Reed broke — standing up units specially designed to take care of wounded troops, asking for and receiving money to house those service members, ombudsmen, internal checks and toll-free numbers for reporting problems – before the House Armed Services Subcommittee.

Schoomaker also spent some time talking about continued problems, including his view that the pilot project designed to streamline the disability system will not prove to be the answer.

go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/military_schoomaker_vadisability_080215w/

Army 3 drug overdose deaths and 4 suicides in Warrior Transition Unit

Army: 3 ODs, 4 suicides in unit for wounded

By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Feb 15, 2008 9:41:05 EST

There have been at least three accidental drug overdoses and four suicides among soldiers in special units the Army set up last summer to help war-wounded troops, officials said late Thursday.

A team of pharmacists and other military officials met early this week at the Pentagon to look into the deaths in so-called “warrior transition units” — established to give sick, injured and wounded troops coordinated medical care, financial advice, legal help and other services as they attempt to make the transition toward either a return to uniform or back into civilian life.

The Army said officials had determined that among those troops there have been 11 deaths that were not due to natural causes between June and Feb. 5.

That included four suicides, three accidental overdoses of prescribed medications, three deaths still under investigation and one motor vehicle accident, the Army said.

“Army medical and safety professionals continue to remind soldiers and their families of the importance of prescription-drug safety precautions, including following the printed directions and information for each medicine,” the Army said of the overdoses in a statement Thursday.

Noting the death of actor Heath Ledger, Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker last week first disclosed the issue of drug overdoses in the 35 special transition units, which care for more than 9,500 soldiers.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_armyod_080215/

Fort Drum commanders defend soldier treatment

Fort Drum commanders defend soldier treatment

The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Feb 15, 2008 8:19:25 EST

FORT DRUM, N.Y. — A critical report on the mental health care provided at the Army’s Fort Drum highlighted previously identified shortcomings and incorrectly characterized other facets of support being provided to soldiers, 10th Mountain Division officials said Thursday.

The report released Wednesday by the Washington, D.C.-based Veterans for America cited problems with understaffing, a reliance on self-reporting of mental health problems and a prevailing attitude at the company level that treats mental health issues in an atmosphere of secrecy, shame and doubt.

It also said that some soldiers had to wait up to two months before they were seen by doctors.

“Are our processes as effective as we would like? No, but we’re working hard, and we remain fully committed as an Army and post to address our soldiers and family needs,” said Maj. Gen. Michael Oates, the division commander. “Helping our soldiers overcome the challenges of continued service in a time of war remains one of our top priorities.”

Among its recommendations, the report urged Fort Drum to establish more proactive mental health screening and treatment capabilities.

That shortcoming was recognized by Fort Drum medical staff in early 2007 and has already been addressed through temporary personnel realignments until permanent additions can be made, said Col. Jerome Penner III, Fort Drum’s Medical Department commander.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_drummental_080214/

"Early in 2007" you noticed that right? Early in 2007 when this is early in 2008. I know what the Army can get done when it wants to. I know what the Marines can get done when they want to. As a matter of fact, all branches can move mountains when they want to. The question is how badly do they want to do this?

How long does it take to get programs up and running to help the men and women in their command? How long does it take to get serious about doing some thing right? Is it that they still have no idea what PTSD is? You would think people who train all their lives to fight an enemy, spend every waking moment trying to figure out the best way to defeat the enemy, would spend the same amount of time trying to figure out how to defeat this enemy claiming the lives and futures of our armed forces. What's it going to take for them to treat PTSD like an enemy instead of those who have it? They better figure it out because all indications point toward this enemy overtaking a lot more of them.

Senator Murray Questions VA Secretary About 'Unacceptable' Budget

Senator Murray Questions VA Secretary About 'Unacceptable' Budget

Senator Patty Murray


Feb 14, 2008
February 13, 2008

One week before Murray brings Secretary Peake to Walla Walla, she asks for answers on lack of construction dollars and suicide prevention efforts.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - U.S. Senator Patty Murray, a senior member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, today questioned VA Secretary James Peake about the President's deficit of dollars when it comes to caring for our nation's veterans.

Peake appeared before Murray's committee today to defend the President's VA budget and will accompany her to the Walla Walla VA Facility in Washington state next week.

"We know all too well what happens when the VA gets shortchanged. The men and women who have served us end up paying the biggest price," Murray said. "Our veterans are our heroes, and they deserve the best we can give them. I believe we can do a lot better than this budget."

In asking Peake about what the VA is doing to reach out to struggling veterans who may not know about VA resources available to them, Murray referenced a VA study that found that Guard or Reserve members accounted for 53 percent of the veteran suicides from 2001, when the war in Afghanistan began, through the end of 2005. The study was made public yesterday in an Associated Press story.

go here for the rest
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9356

Brig. Gen. David R. Hogg doing what is needed for PTSD

Vilseck unit soon to start PTSD forums
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Friday, February 15, 2008



VILSECK, Germany — Vilseck’s newly formed warrior transition unit will establish a forum for soldiers and spouses to talk about problems associated with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

The unit, known as a WTU, was formed in December and has 59 injured and wounded soldiers assigned to it. Most are from Vilseck’s 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, which deployed to Iraq last summer.

Joint Multinational Training Command chief Brig. Gen. David R. Hogg, who addressed WTU members during a town hall-style meeting Wednesday, said soldiers in the unit have only one mission — to get better.

The PTSD meetings — due to start in the next two weeks — will be for soldiers and spouses, he said.

“Sometimes you think you are the only person with this issue,” he said. “They (PTSD sufferers) can find out they are not the only person and it helps with the healing process.”

Vilseck WTU 1st Sgt. Paul Ninelist said most soldiers in the unit who were wounded downrange have bomb blast injuries: traumatic brain injury or PTSD.

“The PTSD group is being put together so wives and husbands can understand PTSD,” he said.

Many soldiers suffering from the condition are nervous, added the former tanker, who survived three IED blasts in Iraq.
go here for the rest
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52496


This is one of the best things they could do for the troops with PTSD and their families. Support groups provide what doctors cannot. The families need to be very involved in the healing of their family member because PTSD involves the whole family. There are so many issues that change family life and it is difficult to cope with. Understanding what it is, being supported by others going through it and learning from each other are all vital to healing. All too often the families are forgotten when a military member is diagnosed with PTSD. This is a wonderful thing. The problem is that it isn't happening here. There is a great need all across the country for this kind of support. If we are going to support the troops for real, we need to also support them when they are wounded along with their families with everything we have.

National Guardsmen and Reservists are dealing with much higher rates of PTSD and they are not getting the kind of support they need. Think of how little it costs to have a support group running and think of the tremendous healing that can be done for the active members and for the veterans.

Army Staff Sgt. Dan Nevins Wounded Warrior

This is a great story on how Wounded Warrior Project is helping the veterans and a true testament of the spirit our soldiers have. A uniform didn't make him a hero, he was born that way. We were just lucky he wanted to serve. Makes you want to make sure they all get the same kind of attention and help.

Provided by the PGA Tour
Dan Nevins, who was badly injured in Iraq, can now play golf - a sport he learned with the help of the Wounded Warrior Project.

The Wounded Warrior Project helped him get back on his feet.

By MAGGIE FITZROY, The Times-Union


When doctors amputated his left leg after a bomb blast in Iraq, Army Staff Sgt. Dan Nevins thought he'd never run, ski or ride waves on a wakeboard again.

But then, one day in 2005, a Wounded Warrior Project representative visited him in his hospital room at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to invite him on a ski trip. Nevins agreed, even though he thought it was "crazy."

Wounded Warrior is a Jacksonville-based nonprofit organization dedicated to providing programs and services to severely injured service men and women.

It demonstrated to Nevins that, with his new prosthetic leg, he could do many activities he used to do. Run, snowboard down a mountain, ride a bicycle for miles.

After Nevins left the Army, moved to Jacksonville with his wife, Nicole, and landed a job at the PGA Tour, he helped support the Wounded Warrior Project.

On Jan. 23, after several years of chronic pain and recurring bone infections, doctors at Walter Reed removed Nevins' other leg below the knee.
go here for the rest
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/021408/met_246691005.shtml

DOD MAKING ANOTHER BAD MOVE ON MENTAL HEALTH

DOD revising questions about mental health
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, February 15, 2008


WASHINGTON — Defense officials are revising questions about mental health counseling in their security clearance questionnaires in an effort to help fight the stigmas associated with traumatic stress disorders.

David Chu, undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, said Wednesday that the goal is to strike a balance between getting the information investigators need and making servicemembers more comfortable with the process.

“It’s widely perceived that (seeking counseling) is a deterrent to receiving your clearance,” he said. “I think we’ll be able to change it to better assure people they can answer that question without imperiling their situation.”

He did not specify exactly what the changes will be, but they won’t involve completely omitting questions about past psychiatric counseling.

Currently the security questionnaire requires applicants to provide information on sessions regarding “mental health related conditions” including the name of the counselor and dates of care.
go here for the rest
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52506

Huge problem about to get worse. When Congress passed the bill that would stop veterans from having a gun permit if they had mental health issues, the veterans were up in arms. Many worried that they would lose their jobs if they came forward and were diagnosed. A lot of them had to turn to private psychologist to protect their jobs even before this passed.

Just because a veteran has PTSD that does not make them all depressed to the point they want to commit suicide, which was the intent of the bill. They do not all go out and commit crimes. They do not all end up homeless either. We cannot dismiss those who develop PTSD at such high levels they do fall into these categories, but we fail them when we lump them all in together.

When you read the symptoms of what PTSD, it is true they can experience all the symptoms but it is also true they can experience some of the symptoms. They do not always fit all sizes. If the DOD and the VA got their act together and consulted the psychologist who treat and know these veterans they would stop doing stupid things that will only add to the reasons veterans and active duty forces do not seek help. They may need to, they even may want to but with so many barriers up, they may find themselves refusing to seek help. The goal is to get them in for treatment as soon as possible and we should be doing everything to accomplish this, not putting up more walls to keep them away from the help they need.

People like me can get them past the stigma and get them to understand what PTSD is but what we cannot do is prevent the DOD and the VA from making very bad decisions.

Death at the Army's Hands

Just as the Pentagon failed to anticipate the duration and cost of the Iraq war, it has been woefully unprepared for the waves of wounded who return home needing care. Earnest, hardworking medical personnel haven't been able to handle the deluge. At Fort Knox, Cassidy and more than 200 other soldiers were placed in a newly created Warrior Transition Unit (WTU). The Army is spending $500 million this year on such units, in which troops operate as a military detachment and continue to be paid. After a 2007 Washington Post series focused attention on poor conditions at the service's flagship Walter Reed hospital in Washington, the Army created the units to streamline the care of Army outpatients. There are currently 8,300 soldiers in 35 WTUS. One in 5 suffers from TBI, PTSD or both.

Why do they keep saying this? How many times does it have to be pointed out to reporters by other reporters that the administration not only knew this was going to be a "quagmire" as Cheney put it and become what Stormin Norman warned would be "like a dinosaur stuck in a tar pit" when they cared about the loss of life? They knew this would produce years upon years and a multitude of wounded but they didn't care!

Just for a second here, set aside your position on Iraq. This has nothing to do with being for it or against it. This has to do with the troops who were sent there.

Go back and read history, read the speeches, listen to rebroadcasts of speeches they did at the DAV, the VFW and the American Legion conventions. Listen to the words of warnings and consequences they were so concerned about following the Gulf War that they decided to not remove Saddam. Take those words and then compare them to what Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney said about how fast this would be over. They may have told us that, but they didn't believe that. They proved it when they were defending the decision to not take over Iraq after they removed Saddam's forces from Kuwait.

They knew this would happen but did nothing to prepare for it. They knew how many years it would go on at the same time Rumsfeld was saying "It may take six days. It may take six weeks. I doubt six months." because he was involved in the Gulf War and so was Cheney and so was Powell.

This is what is so infuriating about all of this. They knew and did nothing to prepare. As a matter of fact the VA budget was cut in 2005. There are still less doctors and nurses in the VA than there were in the 90's. Nicholson sent back money that he did not spend at the same time there were soldiers coming back with PTSD and committing suicide because they couldn't get in to see a psychiatrist. So please tell me how dare they still use the no one knew copout on this?

Death at the Army's Hands
Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008 By MARK THOMPSON

Iraqi insurgents wounded Gerald Cassidy in the deafening blast of a roadside bomb just outside Baghdad on Aug. 28, 2006. But it took more than a year for him to die from neglect by the Army that had sent him off to war. When Cassidy returned to the U.S. last April, the Army shipped him to a hospital in Fort Knox, Ky., to get treatment for the excruciating headaches that had accompanied him home. For five months, he made the rounds of Army medical personnel, who couldn't cure a pain that grew steadily worse. Unable to make room for him in a pain-management clinic, the Army increasingly plied him with drugs to dull the torment.

At summer's end, the headaches had grown so intense that Cassidy pleaded once more for help, and his doctor prescribed methadone, a powerful narcotic. The next day, calls to Cassidy's cell phone from his wife Melissa went unanswered. After two more days without word from her husband, she frantically called the Army and urged that someone check on him. Nine hours later, two soldiers finally unlocked the door to his room. They found Cassidy slumped in his chair, dead, his laptop and cold takeout chicken wings on his desk.

The "manner of death" was summed up at the end of the 12-page autopsy: "Accident." But when he died, Cassidy had the contents of a locked medicine cabinet coursing through his body, powerful narcotics and other drugs like citalopram, hydromorphine, morphine and oxycodone, as well as methadone. The drugs--both the levels that Cassidy took and "their combined, synergistic actions," in the medical examiner's words--killed him.

Horrifyingly, it appears that Cassidy lived for up to two days after falling into a stupor. Forgotten and alone, he sat in his room until he died. "My God, he was there for three days, and no one even found him. That's a huge scandal," says Dr. William Kearney, Cassidy's Army psychiatrist. Regulations that require a soldier to show up for formation three times a day or be tracked down were widely ignored, say soldiers who stayed at Fort Knox. "You could easily linger for two days in a coma," Kearney says, "and if anybody had opened his door, they would have found him unconscious and they would have called 911."

go here for the rest

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1713485,00.html

Iraq Veteran Seeks Help Then Shot By Police After Stabbing

Update
Sanabria was redeployed under stop-loss. He didn't want to go back. He was already having problems.

Sanabria joined the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and, as part of the 41st Field Artillery Regiment, was in Iraq five years ago as part of the U.S. invasion.

He did not plan to re-enlist after he came home. But he was later sent back to Iraq as part of the military’s stop-loss policy. He told The Press of Atlantic City in a 2004 interview that he did not want to go back. He was not afraid, he said, but he had been having nightmares about combat.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_vetkilled_080215/

Police Kill Veteran Stabbing His Stepfather

POSTED: 8:26 am EST February 14, 2008

BRIDGETON, N.J. -- In the last 10 days of his life, German Sanabria told his family that someone was trying to kill him.

It turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

A Bridgeton police officer fatally shot the 26-year-old Iraq war veteran Wednesday morning after being unable to stop the man as police say he stabbed his stepfather repeatedly with a steak knife.


A relative said that Sanabria came back a different, harder man when he returned from his second tour of duty in Iraq about a year ago.

But it was only after he watched the Super Bowl at a club in Vineland on Feb. 3 that he seemed deeply paranoid and suicidal, said Celia Ray, a cousin of Sanabria's mother who lives nearby.

"He got in trouble at this place," Ray said. "He thought someone from there was after him to kill him."

Ray said she did not know whether the trouble was real or imagined -- but it did concern the family enough that relatives sought psychiatric help for him at two places in the last week.

On Feb. 8, she said, the family called a crisis center at a local hospital. He was taken there by ambulance, but was discharged after a few hours.

Three days later, Ray and other relatives were there when they took him to the Veterans Affairs hospital in Philadelphia. The family stayed in a waiting room while he went for tests. But he never returned, she said.

He had left the hospital, a staff member told them.

go here for the rest
http://www.nbc10.com/news/15299590/detail.html

Discharged after a few hours? Why would they do that? Then the VA let him just walk out the door? The family did every thing right. They tried to get him help. Why didn't the VA do their job? Why does this keep happening?

linked from ICasualties.org

Where have reports on missing Marine Eric Hall gone?

Last week the story of Eric Hall, the Marine, Iraq veteran, wounded veteran, PTSD veteran, was all over the news. For the last two days, I've found nothing. Why has this story died? Is he no longer of interest? Do the people searching for him no longer need any help? Does his family no longer need help searching for him? Or is this just a matter of one more veteran, who served his country, paying the price with his body and mind, becoming lost, forgotten or perhaps becoming one more of the homeless veterans living in the woods, under bridges or in shelters when they are lucky enough to get in?

Gunman opens fire on NIU campus

Gunman opens fire on NIU campus


Published: Feb. 14, 2008 at 5:36 PM

DEKALB, Ill., Feb. 14 (UPI) -- A gunman opened fire in an auditorium on the campus of Northern Illinois University Thursday, wounding at least two students, reports said.
click post title for the rest

275 children have been struck with leishmaniasis in Iraq

Skin disease strikes Iraqi children

UN Health Officials: Skin Disease Rising in Southern Iraq With Children at Risk

MARIA CHENG
AP News

Feb 14, 2008 12:51 EST

At least 275 children in southern Iraq have been infected with a disfiguring skin disease, an outbreak some health officials are blaming on the war's devastating effect on the public health system.


According to the United Nations — citing reports from Iraq's southern province of Qadissiyah — 275 children have been struck with leishmaniasis, which is spread by sand flies. Most have a form that causes skin sores, but others have a type that strikes internal organs and can be fatal.

"This is a killer disease and we are trying to stop its spread," said Dr. Omer Mekki, an epidemiologist at the World Health Organization's Iraq office.

Two types of leishmaniasis have been found in southern Iraq, according to Mekki: 212 cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis, also known as Baghdad boil disease, and 63 cases of visceral leishmaniasis, or kala azar, Hindi for black fever.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is not fatal but can cause facial lesions and crater-shaped sores, leaving patients disfigured. Kala azar can kill, and causes fever, weight loss, anemia, and swelling of the spleen and liver.

Children are particularly at risk because they typically have weaker immune systems than adults. A single sand fly bite can transmit the disease.

Though the disease was first identified in Iraq more than a century ago, outbreaks were rare during Saddam Hussein's regime. But since the conflict began, experts say the destroyed health system has opened the way for diseases lurking in the environment.

Since the conflict began, hundreds of U.S. soldiers have also been infected and scarred by leishmaniasis.

Leishmaniasis also surged in Afghanistan after decades of civil war and the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. Though data about the historical number of cases are sketchy, experts say Afghanistan now has about 200,000 cases per year.

click post title for the rest

We need to watch this for the soldiers too. Especially the wounded.

Valentine's Day Message for Veterans With PTSD

February 14 and 914 post on Wounded Times. Most of them have been on PTSD. This blog has only been up for six months. I've already done 130 for February alone and there are still not enough hours in the day to cover every report coming out on PTSD, but I try my best.

Why do I do it? Because I fell in love with a Vietnam veteran who has been suffering for his service since 1970. He came home in 1971 but was not diagnosed until 1990, not treated until 1993 and didn't have his claim approved until 1999. Not only do I understand what PTSD is, I've lived with it, researched it, fought for care for it, seen the worst of it and then arrived to the point where hope became real. My husband is proof it's never too late to get help with PTSD. My marriage, 23 years and counting is proof families do not have to break apart. Once a veteran gets through the system and their claim is approved, the VA takes great care of them but there is only so much they can do given the fact the backlog of claims, over worked staff and under-prepared administration is trying to play catch up. The veterans are suffering.

Since this is Valentine's Day, since I do this for the love of Jack, my husband, and all the veterans dealing with PTSD, I couldn’t think of a better day to ask for the rest of this nation to finally, once and for all, eliminate the stigma of PTSD and treat it like the wound it is.

These are from the posts I put up this morning. They will give you an idea of what they are up against.

333,000 US Casualties: Are They Covered?
By Maya Schenwar
t r u t h o u t Report

Thursday 14 February 2008

As Iraq and Afghanistan war casualties soar to unprecedented levels, Bush's 2009 Veterans Affairs' budget comes up short.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will treat about 333,000 sick and injured veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in 2009, according to VA statistics released last week. That number is a 14 percent increase over this year's casualty total.

But that’s not all the veterans with PTSD. This next report should cause a very loud alarm.

Florida National Guard to launch program on suicide
Fla. Guard to launch program on suicide
The aim is to provide mental health help to returning troops.
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
Published February 14, 2008


In the military, telling someone they might need to see a psychiatrist is not always an easy sell.

Few admit depression because they think it's a career ender.

That's a barrier the Florida National Guard says it wants to eliminate.

If they do not get treated for PTSD, it adds to the homeless issue. While not all homeless veterans have PTSD or related problems, these veterans make up the majority of the homeless population.

These are headlines on homeless veterans from the blog world just for today.

Homeless Veterans All Over Blog World Today

HELLO February 08...
DAV Charitable Service Trust supports physical and psychological rehabilitation programs, meets the special needs of veterans with specific disabilities

Arizona Standdown for Homeless Veterans
By Doris Do you realize there are between 200000 and 300000 homeless veterans on the streets in this country at any given day of the year?

Military Vets to protest Bill O'Reilly and FOX News
By Rob(Rob) A delegation of homeless veterans from Fitzgerald House, an organization that provides housing and assistance to veterans, visited FOX News two weeks ago to hand deliver the petition, signed by over 18000 people.

Homeless Veterans Are in the Lurch
By contact@veteransforcommonsense.org (Steve Vogel ) A dilapidated shelter for homeless veterans is set to be leveled to make way for development on the sprawling grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Northwest Washington, leaving a nonprofit veterans group scrambling

115. The Pipeline
By wanderingvet Dear Readers: The Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development make a clear distinction between Sheltered and Unsheltered Homeless.

The Faces of Hawaii's Homeless
Hawaii Reporter - Kailua,HI,USAThe National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) estimates than there were nearly half a million homeless veterans in 2006

Port Angeles man receives state's Outstanding Veteran Volunteer award
Peninsula Daily - Port Angeles,WA,USALee directs the state Department of Veterans Affairs. McKeown, he said, helped found Voices for Vets, a Clallam County group that helps homeless veterans

Vets: Back from the war but not home
Red Bank Hub - NJ, USAAt right, plants, books, DVDs and photos of family and his canine companions decorate the apartment of a formerly homeless veteran

Homeless veterans left in lurch by plans to raze shelter
Boston Globe - United States(kevin clark/washington post) WASHINGTON - A dilapidated shelter for homeless veterans is set to be leveled

Put all this together with the report I posted yesterday and you get closer to the extent of the problems these veterans are facing on a daily basis.

VA claim backlog at 816,211 but IT cut back? WTF
Vets' groups urge IT budget boost for benefits processing
By Bob Brewin bbrewin@govexec.com February 13, 2008
Veterans' services organizations have urged Congress to provide a sharp increase in the information technology budget of the agency that handles their compensation and pension claims.
The fiscal 2009 IT budget request for the Veterans Benefits Administration is about 18 percent less than the fiscal 2008 proposal. The overall IT budget for the Veterans Affairs Department, VBA's parent agency, jumped 18 percent in President Bush's latest request.

VBA's pending compensation and claims backlog stood at 816,211 as of January 2008, up 188,781 since 2004, said Kerry Baker, associate legislative director of the Disabled Veterans of America, during a Wednesday hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

There are still some people in this country who lack the capacity to put themselves in someone else’s shoes. I wounded how people like Bill O’Reilly would feel if he had been one of them dealing with the fact they served this country and then had the country treat them as if they had the nerve to expect their wounds would be treated with respect and dignity from a “grateful” nation? Does he even ever consider the fact they would not be wounded, would not need to be taken care of if they did not serve? Does he ever really come close to appreciating their service? No and he’s not alone.

The stigma of PTSD is born out of an attitude that is contagious. If all people hear is that homeless veterans are all drug addicted, alcoholics, lazy, looking for a free ride, cowards, along with every other name in the book they’ve been called, that’s all they know. Yet little by little tiny blogs like mine, linked with thousands of other people across the country, are beating this stigma out of the minds of the ignorant. One day there will be no excuse for anyone denying what PTSD and what the cause of it is but today is not that day. We have such a long battle ahead of us for their sake before they are all taken care of like Jack is.

Often people ask me why I care so much. Since we met 25 years ago, Jack has been the love of my life and I see all veterans through his eyes.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all the veterans and to the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. You are loved and one day, God willing and citizens willing, we will finally prove it to all of you.

Love,
Kathie

333,000 US Casualties: Are They Covered?

333,000 US Casualties: Are They Covered?
By Maya Schenwar
t r u t h o u t Report
Thursday 14 February 2008

As Iraq and Afghanistan war casualties soar to unprecedented levels, Bush's 2009 Veterans Affairs' budget comes up short.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will treat about 333,000 sick and injured veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in 2009, according to VA statistics released last week. That number is a 14 percent increase over this year's casualty total. Yet, despite the Bush administration's promises to prioritize the VA even as other domestic departments' funds are cut, its annual budget request for next year places more financial burdens than ever on many returning soldiers.

At first glance, Bush's 2009 budget may seem like a boon to veterans: It would increase the VA budget by $3.4 billion.

"The President's ongoing commitment to those who have faithfully served this country in uniform is clearly demonstrated through this budget request for VA," said VA Secretary James B. Peake at a budget hearing last Thursday. "Resources requested for discretionary programs in 2009 are more than double the funding level in effect when the president took office seven years ago."

However, veterans' advocates argue the budget's growth has not kept pace with the skyrocketing size of the veteran community - or the increasing cost of servicing them.
go here for the rest
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021408J.shtml

816,211 claims backlog shows this is only part of the number of wounded.