PTSD Victims No Longer Need to Prove Trauma 30 years too late

This is great but not cheering yet.

PTSD Victims No Longer Need to Prove Trauma

Kelly Kennedy


Air Force News

Feb 18, 2008

February 18, 2008 - The Veterans Affairs Department has dumped a policy requiring combat vets to verify in writing that they have witnessed or experienced a traumatic event before filing a claim for post-traumatic stress disorder, said the chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

“This change provides a fairer process for veterans with service-connected PTSD,” Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, said in a written statement. It “leaves claim adjudicators more time to devote to reducing the staggering backlog of veterans’ claims.”

In the past, a veteran has had to provide written verification — a statement from a commander or doctor, or testimony from co-workers — that he or she was involved in a traumatic situation in order to receive disability compensation for PTSD from VA. The Defense Department uses the same rules in evaluating PTSD for disability retirement pay.

In Iraq, troops joke about keeping a pen and paper on hand in case they witness a shooting or explosion or are injured themselves. That way, they can run around and have all their buddies sign a quick statement saying it really happened. The joke loses steam when a Marine has to prove he was involved in a traumatizing event when he had a hand blown off in that event, or when a soldier has to prove he watched his friends die to qualify for benefits.

The rule also slows the process as veterans wait for yet more documentation before their claims may be processed.

Akaka said he asked VA Secretary James Peake if the rule was necessary, and asked that it be removed. Peake agreed.

“I am pleased that the secretary took quick action to reverse this requirement after it was brought to his attention,” Akaka said.

In the future, veterans will be diagnosed with PTSD through a medical examination with no further proof necessary, Akaka said, adding that he’s been told that Peake has already informed VA regional offices of the decision.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleid/9370

If you go here you'll see thousands and thousands of postings from veterans looking for others. Most of them are looking for someone to support a claim with the VA.

Vietnam Combat Area Listings (VN, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand)
U.S. Army (updated: 27 January 2008)
U.S. Marine Corps (updated: 27 January 2008)
U.S. Navy (updated: 27 January 2008)
U.S. Air Force (updated: 27 January 2008)

It is on Grunt space.
http://grunt.space.swri.edu/vetorgs.htm
While I am truly delighted this finally happened, it's 30 years too late for far too many. How many suicides could have been prevented if they had their claim for PTSD approved, provided with the compensation they need to replace the income they lost because of PTSD and had the treatment they needed? How many would have not been homeless or put into prison because of PTSD? Does this new rule include veterans of Vietnam or the Gulf War? This will go very far in reducing the number of claims backlogs and claims on appeal, but what does this do to the veterans who have been dishonorably discharged under "personality disorders" and what does it do to the veterans who have been misdiagnosed with the other illnesses PTSD resembles?

Sorry if I can't jump on the bandwagon and cheer but there are still too many questions not addressed in this release of information.

Will they review the cases of dishonorably discharged veterans who do in fact have PTSD?

Will they automatically approve claims for veterans who have been diagnosed by psychologists from the DOD, the VA as well as private doctors since a lot of veterans turn to private psychologist and psychiatrists because of the system?

If the diagnoses means an automatic approval, then will they actually do the right thing and pay back to when PTSD began to ravage their lives instead of when a claim was filed?

Will they review claims that have been turned down and veterans did not file appeals?

Will they review claims of veterans they denied the claims of only to have the veterans kill themselves and then provide the compensation they should have received to the families they left behind?

There have been too many veterans paying the price for their service and it took this new generation of combat veterans to push the system to the breaking point where they have to do something. It took Senator Akaka to take over the chairmanship to make these changes. It is a wonderful victory for the veterans of today, but there are still far too many issues the other veterans face and they all need to be included in these changes. After all, they did all serve the same nation, suffered the same wounds, only some of them suffered a lot longer.

Seattle giving a lesson in real love

Last week, it was Valentine's Day. While most people view "love" as something involving a family member or sexual partner, there is another kind of love. This kind of love is pure, asks for nothing in return as unselfishness calls them to work for the greater good. This kind of love does not stand in judgment. Does not seek blame. Does not seek anything but helping someone in need. This is a lesson in real love. The kind of love Christ spoke of.

At last, a place of her own
By Marsha King

Seattle Times staff reporter

For the first time in years, Mary Millett, 67, has a permanent roof over her head, a bathroom of her own and a door she can lock.

But after a decade spent in homeless shelters, she is finding her first weeks in a studio apartment both exhilarating and unsettling.

Millett's new digs are in a recently opened apartment building in downtown Seattle for those 55 and older who've been living in shelters, cars or on the streets.

What she's finding is that leaving a long-familiar way of life — even if it's homelessness — can be disorienting, as if something's suddenly missing.

"It's a new experience," Millett explains. "Getting your emotions in tow is the problem."

The $26 million apartment project reflects heightened concerns about the aging of the area's homeless population. Shelter and medical-clinic staffs say they are seeing more older adults with no place to go and with complex health needs that are difficult to meet.

It has 92 units, with about 20 set aside for homeless veterans. Residents pay 30 percent of their income toward rent. For most, monthly income ranges between $300 and $600. The project has a nurse, as well as case managers with expertise in geriatrics, mental health, chemical-dependence recovery and veterans issues.

go here for the rest
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004189012_homeless19m.html

I take no joy in posting about people suffering. As a matter of fact, it breaks my heart. These kind of stories, I rejoice in, celebrating the human spirit and the capacity so many in this country have in taking care of "the least among us" when it would be all to easy to just walk by them, act as if they didn't exist or worse, as if they deserved to be in the state they are in.

All across the nation, people are thinking of others and acting as if they do in fact represent Christ with compassion. These stories need to be told as much as the stories of people suffering. They show what people can do when they know there are so many others hurting. This is the best side of what the citizens of this nation can do.

Gathering Of Eagles Demonstrating At Walter Reed?

I got a heads up on this from an email. At first I thought, hope of hopes, this would be about the way our wounded troops are being treated by this administration and how the wounded veterans are being treated. I thought, finally, they get the point that they can fight all they want to keep the troops in Iraq under whatever thoughts they have, but when it comes to the way we treat our veterans, this has to go beyond politics in order to really take care of them. After all, since the entire nation is upset over the way they are being neglected, this is something we can all manage to agree on. Right? Wrong. When I read it, I got sick to my stomach. It's the same old tired lines.

There is a misunderstanding about the events of March 15th. It’s not a major thing, but I think it bears clarification.

The current GOE newsletter contains a piece about our planned “Stand Up America” rally scheduled for 3/15. In view of the fact that Eagles Up has already done a lot of planning for their rally/march, GOE has relegated itself to a supporting role on that day, and we will not have a separate event. We will, of course, join Free Republic, EU, and other pro-America organizations at the demonstration at Walter Reed Army Hospital on Friday night.

Let’s all get behind Eagles Up and make March 15th a day to remember!

GOE is concentrating its efforts on the period in April that surrounds the expected testimony of General Petraeus. The moonbats threaten to disrupt Washington with their treasonous activities, and we just won’t allow that to happen. All brother and sister organizations are invited to join us in this event!

See you next month and in April! It’ll be an Eagle springtime…
Larry Bailey

The last time someone demonstrated at Walter Reed it was the "moonbats" who were doing it because Walter Reed was scheduled to be shut down. When will these people ever get it? When will they understand that when they treat Bush as if he were some kind of God instead of holding him accountable, they are hurting the troops instead of helping them. How they can ever think it does anything for morale when they are wounded and then have to fight the government to have their wounds taken care of and to get the support they really need, shows how narrow their support really is.

Why can't they at least join the rest of this nation in trying to get them all taken care of?

Readers of this blog know how bad it is for them. They know about the suicides, the PTSD rates, the depleted uranium illnesses, the backlog of claims along with the rest of it. The problem is you won't find any of these reports on any of the sites operated by any of them. They would rather show up and demonstrate at Walter Reed because the majority of this nation wants to hold Bush accountable for what he has failed to do as Commander-in-Chief. It really is a shame because most of them are great people. They just have blinders over their eyes and cannot see what kind of support the troops, especially the wounded really need.

They would call me a "moonbat" and as a matter of fact they have. Because of the work I do, the political side I take because I am aware of all that comes with these two occupations, I am like the rest of the people they call their enemy. It doesn't matter how hard I fight for the wounded and for the veterans, if I disagree with them on other things. I'm not welcomed among them. To me the troops and the veterans come first and anyone not taking care of them is not supporting them. But they can't see it that way. It really is a shame. With them, it's all or nothing.

I tried to join several of their online groups and either got a "no thank you" or no answer at all. That was in a time when I thought they really wanted to help the troops and the veterans. After 25 years you would think they would welcome the support I could offer. After all, I keep my politics out of the PTSD work I do and focus only on them but that isn't enough for these people. Too bad they can't keep their politics out of it as well when it comes to actually living up to a grateful nation. I'll keep trying to get them to understand that the problems they face are so huge that it will take this entire nation to stand by their side to make sure they are all taken care of. One day, they may manage to see that and at least join with the rest of the nation for the sake of those we send to risk their lives. It's something we all owe them.

Fernandina Beach Florida Neighbors Reach Out To Wounded Soldier

'One big neighborhood' aids wounded soldier's family

By Michael Parnell, News-Leader

A U.S. Army soldier from Fernandina Beach faces months of recovery from injuries suffered in Iraq, but he has been buoyed by prayer and support from family, friends and even strangers, his mother said.

"I am better every day knowing that he is getting better every day," Lisa Harter said about son Taylor Harter, 20, injured last month in a bomb blast southeast of Baghdad.

"My son is well taken care of" at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C., where she spent two weeks after he was wounded, Harter said. She complimented the Army for its care of her son and his family. "That place is amazing. . . . I don't think I'd want Taylor any other place."

Lisa Harter returned home to attend to her 10-year-old son and her two businesses, but plans to return Feb. 22. Taylor may be moving then from his hospital room to outpatient quarters in a cottage on the Walter Reed grounds.

His mother is comforted from the calls she receives each day from a high school classmate, U.S. Army Col. Bruce Haselden, a Fernandina Beach High graduate who works at Walter Reed. He made contact with Lisa Harter after his sister, who lives here, sent him a newspaper story about the bomb blast that injured Taylor and killed one of his crewmates in their armored vehicle when it rolled over a buried explosive device.
go here for the rest
http://www.fbnewsleader.com/articles/2008/02/18/around_town/00aatsoldier.txt

Rude awakening, I've become my Mother!

All the time growing up, I promised myself several things concerning my Mom. I promised myself I would never answer a question with "because I said so" instead of a real answer. Blew that one a long time ago when I gave birth to a child a lot smarter than I ever was. The other thing was that I would never tell a child of mine how hard life was for me the same way my Mother said it was on her and her family. I couldn't beat her on that anyway considering she was the first one in her family born in America after leaving Greece in a time when people were still saying Greeks were like gypsies and stole kids as well as being born in 1921. So far, I haven't done that too often with my daughter but I just did that to a person who emailed me. I've already apologized, but it brings up an interesting point. Aside from the humiliating fact I did too much research today and misread one word, making me misunderstand the point of the email.

Naturally when I read, or thought I read it in a moment of temporary senility, that someone was telling me they had a perspective of what it was like to live with a vet who had PTSD, I snapped back with a classic equal to, you don't know how easy you have it type of rant. As I was closing the email the word, "I" was clear as day instead of "if" and once I managed to close my mouth after removing my foot, I emailed her right back.

Anyway, now to the point. When Vietnam veterans came back, we didn't have support and neither did they. It was rough. Most of us wished there were support groups, communication and so way to bridge the distance across the nation for men and women who served together. It had been so long since most of them even wanted to contact each other, most had either moved away or passed away. I managed to track down one veteran my husband was stationed with. Very sad when you think they all counted on each other for their lives. Up until the 90's, there was very little on line for Vietnam Veterans. Sites like mine were sprouting up and it was great, but it took almost 20 years to get there. Today there are so many organizations out there it's a lot easier to find someone to connect to, share with and find support with.

I'm so glad that this generation has this tool to connect and find support. I really wish it was there when Vietnam veterans came home. But even us old people (feeling real old tonight) have managed to take advantage of the endless possibilities this technological genie has opened the doors to. I'm able to reach out and share knowledge as well as gain knowledge with the rest of the world.

My videos are being used all over the country but they are also in a lot of other nations. Emails come in from places I never expected like a teaching college in the Netherlands and a college in Lebanon. Still I tend to think back on being raised by my Mom, a first generation American and my Dad, a first generation American as well. His family came from Canada. He was a Korean veteran and they did in fact have it very hard. Except when he was stationed in Japan and my older brother was spoiled by the Japanese lady who came to help take care of him. I just never thought I would carry on the tradition of "if you think this is hard" but I did. The good news is that this generation can also use the same line on the next. Considering each generation creates the latest gadget to make life easier. My parents grew up without TV sets. We grew up without PC connections but had a TV. Now our kids have the PC, laptops, cell phones and there is a TV in every room.

The bad news is that people are still only human, with bodies that get wounded and minds that get wounded. Man still decides to go to war and another man will decide to fight back. Too bad technology hasn't figured out how to have wars when no one gets killed. Then when the generation of the wounded die off, there will be no more to replace them. Until then each generation has the other to reach out to and learn from. Yes, even if it means they have to hear how hard that generation had it before them. I bet my Mom is up in heaven laughing her head off saying "I told you so. You are just like me."

Extreme Makeover making over the LA Catholic Church?

Because I try to cover all the reasons of PTSD, the stories of the rapes of kids by some priests, will be part of what I post on. To get a real grip on the fact PTSD is a human condition caused by trauma, we need to learn all we can about other causes. It will help to eliminate the stigma.

When I was reading this story, it took so many unexpected turns, there is a great need to read all of it.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition Builds Priest Rape Crime Victim Rehab Centers, but in the end, it's all a dream, or is it.
by Kay Ebeling (Posted by Kay Ebeling) Page 1 of 4 page(s)
http://www.opednews.com/

As it turns out, Ty Pennington went to see Cardinal Roger Mahony about helping a rape victim begin helping others with a center for other victims of priests. Pennington wanted to help Kay Ebeling do just that.

Kay Ebeling devotes hours of time as a volunteer to a cause that's important to her. She’s a journalist who just happens to also be a victim of Catholic Priest pedophilia, so Kay produces City of Angels blog where she is determined to get out the truth, about sex crimes in the Catholic Church

.

While the Cardinal was trying to say they did all they could, one of the Extreme Makeover staffers took a look at property owned by the church and found they owned a building used in porn. You have to read the rest of this story yourself. You'd never believe it if I only took other parts out of this and there is just no way to cut down four pages to do this any kind of justice. Great work on this, that's for sure.

Eric Hall's story, so much more than missing Marine

Home from war, but no peace
By Kate Spinner
Published Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.

Almost three years after an explosion ripped apart his leg and killed his best friend in Fallujah, Iraq, war still stirred in Eric Hall's mind.

He tried to ignore it, tried to hold down a steady job and tried to act like nothing was wrong. But family members say a flashback to the terror of combat sent the 24-year-old former Marine fleeing from his aunt's Deep Creek home on Feb. 3.

He has not been seen since, despite a feverish search in Charlotte County by rescue crews last weekend and dozens of volunteers this week.

Veterans advocates say Hall's disappearance is a sad example of the nation's failure to meet the needs of soldiers returning from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD.

The Department of Veterans Affairs vastly underestimated the number of PTSD patients the war would generate, according to a January report by the advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

The VA predicted 3,000 new cases in 2005. Instead, it saw 18,000, according to the new study.

The fallout: an alarming increase in veterans who have committed suicide, become homeless or disappeared.

For Hall, getting treatment for PTSD in his hometown of Jeffersonville, Ind., meant days off work, long waits and little benefit in return.

"In his heart, he didn't feel like anyone understood," said his mother, Becky Hall, who is staying with family in Deep Creek to coordinate the search for her son, who had recently relocated to Southwest Florida.

Military studies report that one-third of veterans from the current wars will return home with some sort of mental illness.

Advocates estimate that 1.5 million soldiers will fight in those wars, eventually bringing the total number of veterans in need of mental health care to 500,000.
click post title for the rest

I keep searching for more news on Eric Hall, the missing Marine, praying that he is found and get the help he needs. There is a chance that can happen. There is a chance he joined the other 20,000 homeless veterans in Florida. There is also a chance, he may have vanished.

Re-reading this report, it is amazing how much more information is in this reporting than just a story of yet one more combat veteran suffering from PTSD and the lack of care he needed.

While some advocates are putting the figure at 500,000 veterans with PTSD from Iraq and Afghanistan joining the other combat veterans from past wars, they are not even close. 1.6 million Vietnam veterans were in what was considered heavy combat zones. There have been 1.6 million rotated in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan already. By 1978 there were 500,000 diagnosed cases of PTSD according to a study commissioned by the DAV. This is just the beginning of the numbers we will be looking at.

Advocates who have been looking at all the numbers, like me, are thinking more in the range of at least 800,000 if both occupations ended today. That's right. We have evidence to back it up.

PTSD strikes 1 out of 3, no matter what the cause. But this figure is for every traumatic event. While the depth of the wound may vary, it is a human that is struck by it. Humans are still humans even if they are trained to go to war. Taking this figure as a basis, we have to then include the fact the redeployments increase the risk of PTSD by 50% for each time back in. Vietnam didn't have very many repeat tours. Most went for one year and then that was it. These troops are going back for up to 6 or even a few cases 7th time.

While we look at the numbers from Vietnam, beginning with the 500,000, then adding in the 148,000 who sought help from 2006-2007 in an 18 month period, we're already at 648,000. Then add in the numbers who were diagnosed from the time the study was done until now. We also have to take into account how many took their own lives. Two studies attempted to do this and put the figure between 150,000 and 200,000. 300,000 ended up homeless. It's easy to see how we already surpassed that rate, but also add in the fact that with the advancement of medical trauma care, the survival rate is also a lot higher than during Vietnam. This will also add to the PTSD rates when more survive.

UK:Wounded troops finally getting better care from Army

Wounded troops finally win better care from army

A sweeping package of improvements to improve the welfare of injured British troops has been finalised to prevent a repeat of healthcare failings for soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Foreclosed homes occupied by homeless

Foreclosed homes occupied by homeless
By THOMAS J. SHEERAN, Associated Press Writer
Mon Feb 18, 5:02 AM ET



CLEVELAND - The nation's foreclosure crisis has led to a painful irony for homeless people: On any given night they are outnumbered in some cities by vacant houses, and some street people are taking advantage of the opportunity by becoming squatters.

Foreclosed homes often have an advantage over boarded-up and dilapidated houses abandoned because of rundown conditions: Sometimes the heat, lights and water are still working.

"That's what you call convenient," said James Bertan, 41, an ex-convict and self-described "bando," or someone who lives in abandoned houses.

While no one keeps numbers of below-the-radar homeless finding shelter in properties left vacant by foreclosure, homeless advocates agree the locations — even with utilities cut off — would be inviting to some. There are risks for squatters, including fires from using candles and confrontations with drug dealers, prostitutes, copper thieves or police.

"Many homeless people see the foreclosure crisis as an opportunity to find low-cost housing (FREE!) with some privacy," Brian Davis, director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, said in the summary of the latest census of homeless sleeping outside in downtown Cleveland.
click post title for the rest

New Orleans hospital issue stirs veterans

New Orleans hospital issue stirs veterans
Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

The issue of relocating the Veterans Administration Hospital in New Orleans is a touchy one for Link Savoie, a member of the committee on veterans affairs on Gov. Bobby Jindal's transition team.

Savoie sees medical students from LSU and Tulane getting more consideration than veterans.


"When Katrina hit New Orleans, that area of the city flooded," Savoie said. "All the good equipment at the VA was on the first and second floors, so it was ruined. Now, they're talking about rebuilding the hospital near the same location."

The VA has stated it wants that similar location, instead of a move to Jefferson Parish in suburban New Orleans or elsewhere, as a convenience to the medical students. That has incensed veterans like Savoie, who sees veterans being demoted in importance.
click post title for the rest

UK PTSD veterans suffered because of good intentions and wishing for luck

Help call for traumatised troops

PTSD symptoms can start long after the events that caused them

A Plymouth MP says more must be done to help services personnel affected by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Devon has about 900 military welfare cases with mental health problems, many including PTSD caused by combat.

A report released from the Defence Select Committee said identification and treatment of veterans relied too much on luck and good intentions.
go here for the rest
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/7251173.stm

Pair to hike 2,000 miles to help homeless veterans

Pair to hike 2,000 miles to help homeless veterans

By Terry Karkos , Staff Writer
Monday, February 18, 2008

JAY - After a four-year commitment with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division that included a 15-month tour in Iraq, a North Jay man and his Army buddy will head to Georgia next month on another mission.

Only this time, former Sgts. Jarad Greeley, 25, and Marshall Berry, 28, of New Hampshire, will be raising awareness and resources for the nation's homeless veterans by through-hiking more than 2,000 miles of the Appalachian Trail to Maine in four to five months.

"This may seem like a long hike, but put into perspective with the number of homeless veterans that we are trying to help, (it) seems minor," Greeley said Friday afternoon at his home off Route 4 in North Jay.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, an estimated 195,000 veterans are homeless on any given night, while nearly 400,000 experience homelessness during the course of a year.
click post title for the rest

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.

click post title for the rest

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.
click post title for the rest

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."
click post title for the rest

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.
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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.
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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