TBI Struggle for Words Frustrates Woodruff

Woodruff interviews U.S. soldiers in Iraq on Jan. 29, 2006, just moments before a roadside bomb went off, ripping into his skull. His head was unprotected, and the explosion almost killed him. Doug Vogt, an ABC cameraman, was also seriously wounded in the blast.

Struggle for Words Frustrates Woodruff
By Christine Dugas,USA Today
Posted: 2008-02-25 15:56:25
Filed Under: Health News
(Feb. 25) -- One year after Bob Woodruff spoke about his brain concussion on an ABC documentary, he is busy flying around the world on assignments and continuing to draw attention to the signature injury of the war in Iraq: traumatic brain injury.

His recovery seems miraculous, considering how the shrapnel from a roadside bomb had ripped into his skull on Jan. 29, 2006. Woodruff, 46, is back at work at ABC news, although he does not have his previous job as a news anchor — at least not yet.

"I don't know if I could do that," he says. "I think it's possible. But one thing that I know for sure is that I'm going to remain as a journalist because I have always loved journalism."

Woodruff now works with a team to produce more in-depth assignments. He can better cope with longer projects because his traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused a language disorder that makes it hard for him to come up with words. And for a journalist, nothing could be more frustrating.

Woodruff continues to improve and often speaks with ease and confidence. But he still occasionally runs into a roadblock in his brain.

In a recent interview at his office, Woodruff described how reading and writing have helped his brain improve. After he got out of the hospital he was not willing to just sit at home, he said, "watching sports on TV all day long with a — what do you call the thing that controls the TV?" He couldn't come up with the term remote control.

Woodruff has a disorder called aphasia. It happens when a stroke or TBI affects the language side of the brain, usually the left side. The National Aphasia Association estimates that 1 million people in the USA have it.
click post title for the rest

Disney Pixie dust deployed to Walter Reed Hospital

Trying Some Disney Attitude to Help Cure Walter ReedBy Steve Vogel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 25, 2008; Page B01

Fifty medical workers -- doctors, nurses, therapists and administrators among them -- sat in a room at Walter Reed Army Medical Center gazing at a slide of Donald Duck on a screen.

The oft-cranky Disney cartoon character, wearing his blue sailor jacket and cap, was in a palpable rage. His webbed feet had lifted off the ground, his beak was gaping, and his white-gloved hands were tightly clutching an old-fashioned two-piece telephone.

"We can clearly see he's frustrated," said Kris Lafferty, a trainer for the Disney Institute who was leading workers at the Northwest Washington hospital last week in a four-hour seminar on customer service. "Why do we think he's frustrated?"

A year after a scandal erupted over the long-term treatment of soldiers at the hospital, the Army has turned to Disney for help. "Service, Disney Style" is newly required for all military and other government employees at Walter Reed.

Lafferty and her fellow Disney trainer, Mike Donnelly, handed out little plastic Goofy and Mickey Mouse figurines as they led Wednesday afternoon's discussion with the workers -- some in uniform, some in scrubs, some in civilian clothes.

Various theories were offered for Donald Duck's ire: He was getting the run-around. He could not get a question answered. He was flummoxed by his antique phone.

The lesson: Poor service equals frustration.

At the tables, heads nodded in agreement. It's a familiar story at Walter Reed, where wounded soldiers and their families often confront a numbing bureaucracy.

The Army is paying Disney $800,000 to help revamp attitudes at the hospital.
click post title for the rest

What kind of a stunt is this and how bad could it have been they had to hire Disney to train them on how to treat people?

"It sounds a little odd, but it's true," said Rear Adm. John Mateczun, commander of a joint task force overseeing military medicine in the Washington region.

So why didn't they just ask the people who run Fisher House how to treat the wounded better?

Col. Patricia D. Horoho, commander of the Walter Reed health-care system, said the goal is to change the culture there. "When you enter the hospital, we want it to be the best experience possible," she said. "Disney fits that.

The goal is to change the culture there? Are they serious? Can they have treated wounded veterans that badly they needed this for real?

Up until now I thought the problems at Walter Reed had more to do with being under funded. A lot of the problems came when Walter Reed was on the block to be shut down. As stupid as that was, that was the excuse behind the deplorable conditions there. Now I'm wondering how bad the attitude of the staff was toward the wounded they would need to pay out $800,000 to fix it?

If the DOD really wanted to change attitudes they need to begin with the units these wounded come from first. TBI and PTSD are still regarded as something to be ashamed of. Considering they used a cartoon to try to communicate the seriousness of PTSD while providing absolutely nothing substantial, they really should have hired Disney to provide a better one. If they are serious about changing attitudes then they should seek out the real professionals who have been taking care of the wounded with privately funded places like Fisher House. Needless to remind people that Fisher House wouldn't have to be there if the DOD and the VA had their own acts together to do it right in the first place.

Excuse me if this report makes me furious but considering when I read the title I thought it was about coming out with entertainment for the wounded instead of a training session on how to treat the wounded better. You would have thought they would have already known how to do that.

Justice Department Finds Veterans' Rights Violated in Tennessee

News: Justice Department Finds Veterans' Rights Violated
Posted on February 25, 2008 by editor

Tennessee has failed to care for its veterans and even contributed to some of their deaths

The federal government could be a step closer to suing the state of Tennessee. It all stems from problems at the Tennessee State Veterans Homes.

A NewsChannel 5 investigation first exposed problems at the state-run nursing homes.

And soon after, the U.S. Department of Justice opened its own investigation.

Investigative reporter Jennifer Kraus got a copy of the Justice Department's final report, which was just delivered to Gov. Phil Bredesen. It's filled with examples of how federal inspectors say the state has failed to care for its veterans and even contributed to some of their deaths.

The U.S. Justice Department lays it all out in its 43-page report, and it's not pretty...
go here for the rest
http://www.veteranstoday.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2884

150 Fort Bliss Warrior Transition Wounded to join 4,000 in parade

Parade marks return of Fort Bliss units from Iraq
By Chris Roberts / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 02/25/2008 12:00:00 AM MST

When Mayor John Cook returned from the Vietnam War in early 1970, one of the protesters who greeted his bus pelted him with an egg.

"I just wanted to do a better job," Cook said, explaining why he decided to welcome Fort Bliss soldiers home from overseas with a parade. "The entire El Paso community has really stepped up to the plate and people have said that the (4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division) is symbolic of all the soldiers that have served."

On Wednesday, when thousands of 4-1 Cavalry soldiers march through El Paso's streets during the Welcome Home Heroes Parade, they will be accompanied by 31 riderless horses -- empty boots backward in the stirrups -- representing cavalry soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq. The horses are being provided by the El Paso County Sheriff's Posse, Cook said.

Also being honored are the air defenders of the 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery, 11th ADA Brigade, who also returned recently from the Middle East.

Most of the cavalry brigade was operating in Iraq's northwestern Nineveh Province. However, some of the soldiers also served in Baghdad. They left in late 2006 and, after 14 months, the last soldiers returned the day before Christmas. Some 150 wounded soldiers in the Fort Bliss Warrior Transition Unit also will participate in the parade.

The 3-43 ADA soldiers recently completed the longest tour of duty for a Patriot missile unit in the Army's history. Some of the air defenders spent 17 months in the Middle


East, including the countries of Kuwait and Qatar. The 3-43 ADA soldiers suffered no loss of life or serious injuries.

Details of the 3-43 ADA's mission have not been available due to the sensitivity of that information, but Patriot batteries generally protect ground assets that include troop concentrations, headquarters, motor pools and ammunition depots. Their deployment was moved up to coincide with President Bush's surge of troops into Baghdad.

About 4,000 soldiers will participate in the parade.

Col. Stephen M. Twitty, 4-1 Cavalry commander and Command Sgt. Maj. Stephan Frennier will lead the cavalry soldiers.
go here for the rest
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_8354981

Thousands of veterans lose health benefits because of paperwork errors

Thousands of veterans lose health benefits because of paperwork errors

Correcting mistakes in discharge documents can be a bureaucratic nightmare

By Lou Michel NEWS STAFF REPORTER



Christopher M. Simmance helped keep the peace as an American soldier in the Middle East, but when he returned home and later suffered a breakdown, he was turned away from the VA hospital because the government didn’t acknowledge his overseas duty.

Dana Cushing as a Marine served two tours of duty in Iraq and a third in east Africa, but when she returned home, she found herself labeled a “conscientious objector” and also was denied medical care by the government.

Simmance is one local veteran among roughly 2,000 across the country trying to get corrected incomplete or inadequate discharge papers. Cushing only recently got hers corrected after trying for a year. The result is that many now face a bureaucratic nightmare that prevents them from getting the health benefits they are entitled to receive.


The Army alone has a backlog of 1,890 veterans seeking corrections on their discharge papers, and some have been waiting for three years, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Many other veterans probably have faulty discharge papers but don’t know it because they have not sought benefits.

Efforts are being made to speed up the corrections on faulty discharge papers, Army officials said.

But it can’t come quick enough for Simmance, the City of Tonawanda Army veteran who ended up broke and homeless late last year after he suffered service-related psychological problems and was unable to get help because of his faulty discharge paper.
go here for the rest
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfFEB08/nf022508-3.htm

Sadly it's still happening. During Vietnam, they had the excuse of typed errors. My husband came home in 1971 with a Bronze Star Award. It had an error in his social security number. There were several documents he was given with the wrong number typed in. Most of the time they were not important documents but other times they were very important. Because his MOS had him listed as a clerk, his claim depended on the Bronze Star Award. With the wrong number on it and showing up as standing out on his DD214, it came into being questioned. While we were fighting the VA to have his claim approved, we lost our tax refunds and he felt as if he had a knife in his back because the VA doctor told him he needed the VA to treat him at the same time they were making him pay for it. Our private health insurance company would no longer cover mental health with private doctors because the VA doctor linked it to Vietnam. Once the award and orders were corrected, his claim was approved soon after.

The problem is that between the time he received it and the time they fixed it, he went through hell. I lost count how many people reminded us that once his claim was approved, we would get back the money they received along with retroactive pay, but they didn't tell us how to pay our bills while all of this was going on. This is also one of the biggest reasons I try to support the homeless veterans shelters as much as possible. He almost ended up homeless and I almost ended up living back home with my Mom with our daughter. Yes, it got that bad. We managed to make three forbearance agreements with the mortgage company in the six years we fought them. That saved our house from foreclosure.

If you have someone in the military right now, make sure they have all their paper work and keep it in a safe place. Make sure all the forms have the right social security number on it and if it doesn't make sure they fix it and hand back a corrected form. With computers, it shouldn't be that hard to do. Make sure they hang onto every document they are given and toss nothing out. You cannot trust that the DOD will keep every record and have them all right. There is human error. Don't go through what Vietnam veterans did. You cannot assume it will all work out fine.

DoD: Hot line calls rise 40 percent every year

DoD: Hot line calls rise 40 percent every year

By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Monday Feb 25, 2008 15:13:19 EST

Rows of hot line operators with muted voices mask the desperation of incoming calls on a recent afternoon: a soldier back from Iraq with a drinking problem and a broken marriage; an Army recruiter in the throes of depression; a Marine in Iraq eager to reach his wife after the birth of his son.

This warren of cubicles in a suburban Philadelphia office building — with two other call centers in Arlington, Va., and St. Petersburg, Fla. — are the Pentagon’s front line for fighting the strain of war.

A few years ago, Military OneSource consultants found a temporary home for a 15-foot pet boa constrictor while its owner, an Army National Guard soldier, went to Iraq. In 2005, U.S. military doctors at a combat hospital in Iraq used the hot line to find a translator who could help treat, by telephone conference call, a wounded Nepalese soldier.

But the calls that send consultants to the “serenity room” here to chill out, or to take a walk around the building, are pleas for help from war-weary troops or their relatives.

“There’s a lot of stress [for] a lot of service members who are coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Amy DiMalanta, 34, who answers calls. “They’re having a lot of issues they’re facing at home like reintegration [with their family] or just the stress of, ‘Am I going to go back [to war]?’” she said. “A lot of them emphasize that they have a hard time sleeping ... having nightmares or they’re thinking that, ‘Oh, I’m still in Iraq,’ or ‘I’m thinking I’m going to hear a bomb go off.’”
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/gns_250208_hotline/

Buried under backlogs

Buried under backlogs
By GREGG CARLSTROM
February 25, 2008
More than 400,000 veterans are awaiting decisions on disability claims they filed with the Veterans Affairs Department, and roughly one-quarter of those have waited more than half a year.
Social Security Administration staffs are grappling with more than 600,000 disability claims.
Regional service centers at the Homeland Security Department’s Citizenship and Immigration Services are buried under more than 1 million citizenship applications.
And the Food and Drug Administration is more than a decade from inspecting every foreign pharmaceutical plant it is obliged by law to inspect.
Poor planning by agency leaders and underfunding by Congress created these debilitating backlogs that may take years to resolve, according to federal officials, legislators and watchdog groups.
At the start of the Bush administration in 2001, VA had more than 400,000 pending claims for disability ratings, which determine a service-disabled veteran’s employability and disability benefits. The department made progress reducing that number: By 2003, the backlog was down to around 250,000.
But then the nation went to war.
“VA was kind of cruising right along with a certain volume of claims until the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Then the volume of claims increased,” said Belinda Finn, VA’s assistant inspector general for auditing. “We still had the same processes for handling a lower workload, and the system just hasn’t been able to handle the increase in claims.”
And so the backlog started creeping up. By 2008, VA once again has more than 400,000 pending claims for a disability rating. About 25 percent of those are officially considered backlogged, meaning they have been pending longer than six months.
“The number of claims that we receive each year has been going up pretty steadily,” said Michael Walcoff, VA’s associate deputy undersecretary for field operations. “In 2000, we got 578,000 claims, and last year got 838,000. That’s a pretty significant increase, and certainly some of that can be attributed to the soldiers coming back from [the wars].”
go here for the rest
http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=3387368

It's a great article but he's only half right on the backlog of claims numbers.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

VA claim backlog at 816,211 but IT cut back? WTF
Vets' groups urge IT budget boost for benefits processingBy 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.

Franklin PA Countians seek to help veterans

Franklin Countians seek to help veterans
By VICKY TAYLOR Staff writer

Fred Bucci, retired Army, folds the flag with his son Staff Sgt. Michael Bucci at the group of local veterans are looking for a few good men -- and women, businesses and organizations -- to help them start and run an outreach program for area soldiers and their families.

The Franklin County Military Outreach Program will be designed to help military members, their spouse, children and parents.

"It will be the first of its kind in our area," said Fred Bucci, one of the veteran organizers.

The goal is to support military members and their families in any situation they may face, according to Bucci and fellow organizers Gary J. Stopyra and Bobby Rideout.

"Our organization needs to be so diverse that it's infrastructure can handle any situation that arises, whether it is just to answer a simple question, help a returning wounded soldier with their Veterans Association paperwork or provide moral, financial or any other kind of support for any crisis our military families face," Bucci said.

Bucci knows how difficult it can be for family members when a soldier is wounded or he and his family face personal crisis.

In 2003, the Bucci's son, Michael, was evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center because of a blood-borne disease he contracted during his initial tour in Iraq. In 2006, Michael lost a son who lived only two weeks following a complicated birth.

"At no point was there anyone from the Army to assist us through these most trying times," Bucci said. "I want to make sure that never happens to another of our military families."
go here for the rest
http://www.publicopiniononline.com/localnews/ci_8355069

This needs to happen all over the country. We have a nation filled with advocates just waiting for someone to ask us to help. Put the word out and we'll be there.

PTSD DVD sets available again soon

I received several donations and thank you for them. I just purchased a DVD drive that is supposed to be able to keep up with the load. The donations were not enough to cover a new PC. I will still need all the donations I can get to be able to keep sending the DVD's out, that is if I can get the drive to work right. Remember I'm no Bill Gates.

I was promised donations when requests came in for the DVD's but some people never sent in the donation. If you want one, I will send them out for free still but if you promise to make a donation, please make sure you do. I'm out of work now so I don't have extra money to cover the cost of doing them. Email me for a DVD at Namguardianangel@aol.com and if you can make a donation, use the PayPal button on the side bar. Even $10.00 helps a lot more than you think it does.

The DVD will now have Hero After War and you can pick one other video to go onto the DVD. If you don't request another video, then the Wounded Minds video will be included. These are the two top requested videos I've done.

Please also consider making a donation for the hours I spend doing this work. I do about 12 hours a day and seven days a week, except for play day on Friday with my husband, when I get mental health time away and act like a kid again. At least he knows he can get me away from the PC for 5 hours or so before I disappear back into the office.

If you want to write to me by snail mail send it here.
Nam Guardian Angel
5703 Red Bug Lake Road #154
Winter Springs, FL 32708-4969

Make sure the box number is there or the UPS store will send it back to you.

Thanks again and say a prayer I can figure out the new DVD drive.

PTSD? Why be afraid if you're not alone?

Cpl. Brent Phillips
Wounded marine helps other vets get benefits
Bert SassSpecial Projects Producer12 NewsFeb. 24, 2008 09:47 PM
War Stories: Corporal Brent Phillips


Nearly five years after he was wounded, it has taken Phillips a long time to adjust to civilian life. He says he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which affects many combat veterans.


Phillips tells about flashbacks




Phillips is determined to manage his PTSD and not let it control his life. He says, "I pretty much deal with it by telling my parents about it...both sheriff's officers (in California). Both of them have been in different firefights." Phillips also finds his wife and three small children help relieve the tension. He also is taking a proactive role in helping vets, like himself, get the VA benefits they deserve. He organized a recent information meeting to help vets learn about benefits and get VA appointments. Some Valley veterans with PTSD attend regular meetings that were started by case manager Patricia Tuli at the Carl T. Hayden Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Phoenix. Tuli works with many veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.


dealings with POWs surprised Phillips


Phillips describes firefight


go here for the rest


http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/052007warstorywebbonus-CR-CP.html

From the University of Virginia

Mental Health Disorders
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Statistics related to PTSD
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH):

Nearly 7.7 million Americans have PTSD at any given time.

About 30 percent of men and women who have spent time in war zones experience PTSD.

What is post-traumatic stress disorder?
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition that often follows a terrifying physical or emotional event - causing the person who survived the event to have persistent, frightening thoughts and memories, or flashbacks, of the ordeal. Persons with PTSD often feel chronically, emotionally numb.

PTSD was first brought to public attention by war veterans and was once referred to as "shell shock" or "battle fatigue." The likelihood of developing PTSD depends on the severity and duration of the event, as well as the person's nearness to it.

What triggers PTSD to develop?
The event(s) that triggers PTSD may be:

something that occurred in the person's life.
something that occurred in the life of someone close to him or her.
something the person witnessed.
Examples include:

serious accidents (such as car or train wrecks)
natural disasters (such as floods or earthquakes)
man-made tragedies (such as bombings, a plane crash)
violent personal attacks (such as a mugging, rape, torture, being held captive, or kidnapping)
military combat
abuse in childhood

http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/UVAHealth/adult_mentalhealth/anptsd.cfm

If PTSD wound becomes part of you, why would you be afraid to talk about it? You're not alone suffering from it. Your family is not alone coping with it. All you have to do is look over the last few years of news reports to know how large the world's population has been wounded by trauma.

Thirty years ago, it was America's secret. It was trapped in whispers and silence. Hidden under shame with the thought this wound was a character defect of those who suffered from it. They would look at others who lived through the exact same event appearing to be untouched. The thought of being weaker than others caused them to suffer in secret. It was not a well kept secret because others could see the changes in them.

Families began to keep the secret as well. They would find excuses why a combat veteran would not go to family functions. They would find excuses to provide bosses when they could not go to work because of yet another night of terrifying nightmares.

I found myself making excuse as well. Even though I knew what PTSD was from the beginning, it was hard to protect my husband from judgmental attitudes that PTSD meant Jack was crazy. Working in offices, and most of the time surrounded by men, it was hard to hear them talk about normal life. They would talk about taking their wives to movies. I would tell them I wasn't interested in going to movies, when the truth was, I loved to go to them. I couldn't tell them my husband couldn't tolerate them anymore. He couldn't handle being in a crowd, in the dark and feeling vulnerable especially if he had a flashback, feeling as if the enemy was right behind his seat.

They would complain their wife stole the covers at night or how she would stick her cold feet on their warm leg. I couldn't do anything more than laugh while I wanted to cry. My husband and I never spent an entire night in the same bed during our 23 years of marriage. I doubt we ever will.

The church I attended back home in Massachusetts, the same one I attended since birth, where everyone knew me, hardly knew what my husband looked like. Some wondered if we were still married.

I would go shopping by myself because he couldn't stand the malls and hated to be in crowds.

The list goes on of how what we found to be normal for us, was abnormal to the rest of the world. Years later it was easier to talk about it because I had come into contact with so many others going through the same things. Once someone spoke of it, or I indicated something about it, then the communication opened up. It was never racking every time I did because I wondered what they were thinking about me and especially about Jack.

To this day, knowing what I know, knowing the stories of others, knowing that we are not alone with this, I still feel the need to protect him. I don't even use my married name when I write. Often I wonder why I would still feel this need of protecting him considering to me there is no reason the stigma lives on and that there is no shame in being human, no shame in being wounded by tragedy and trauma and there is nothing about him to be ashamed of. To me, he is an amazing man, filled with kindness and gentleness as well as strength. His character lives on beneath the dark days of flashbacks and drained days following nightmares. Still in my mind I know the attitude of too many in this country and around the world. It is one of the reasons I work so hard to provide information and stories of others going through all of this. Sooner or later there will be no more stigma to overcome.

There are some people who can speak openly about the ravages of PTSD on their lives. I admire them greatly. It's very hard to have all of this going on in your life and be able to talk about it. It takes a lot of courage to be able to look at your life and see the need to open up about it. Jack can't. I walk a very thin line on what I feel free to speak out about and what remains in the shadow of the work I do.

When I did the video Coming Out Of The Dark, the song by Gloria Estefan was perfect.

COMING OUT OF THE DARK (Gloria Estefan)

Why be afraid if I'm not alone?
Though life is never easy, the rest is unknown
Up to now, for me, it's been hands against stone
Spent each and ev'ry moment
Searching for what to believe


Coming out of the dark
I finally see the light now
And it's shining on me
Coming out of the dark
I know the love that saved me
You're sharing with me

Starting again is part of the plan
And I'll be so much stronger holding your hand
Step by step, I'll make it through; I know I can
It may not make it easier
But I have felt you near all the way


Forever and ever, I stand on the rock of your love
Forever and ever, I'll stand on the rock
Forever and ever, I stand on the rock of your love
Love is all it takes, no matter what we face

Why is it that we still feel the need to be ashamed and afraid? What is there to be afraid of? The thoughts of others who would not have those ignorant thoughts if we all spoke out about it? The more people talk about being human, surviving a traumatic event, overcoming it and still stand, the weaker the stigma will become. It takes a greatness of character to survive the carnage of combat, the violence of police work, the tragedy of a firefighter and emergency responder, the terror of crime and the wrath of nature. Yet we look at the survivors as damaged instead of wounded.

When we look at the veterans who have committed suicide, we fail to see how they not only carried on when their lives were in danger, as well as their military brothers and sisters, they acted with bravery and courage. It was not until they were no longer in danger from the human enemy, but when they were back home with the enemy in their mind that they felt they could no longer go on. When they commit suicide while deployed, they don't do it while the fight is going on, but in the quiet of their barracks or the silence of the night.

Family Thinks PTSD Drove Veteran to Suicide

Dylan Darling


Redding Record Searchlight

Feb 24, 2008


February 24, 2008 - During Michael Sherriff's nine-month tour in the battlefields of Iraq, his mother worried that one day a pair of Army officers in full dress would come to her door with terrible news.

"You're just on edge every single minute," Jennifer Cass said.

She didn't dream her son would become a victim of the war the way he did -- not on a faraway battlefield like she feared, but like a growing number of veterans -- by his own hand once he made it home.

Of 807,694 veterans diagnosed with depression and treated at a Department of Veterans Affairs facility nationwide between 1999 and 2004, 1,683 committed suicide, according to a study released in October 2007 by the University of Michigan Depression Center.

After her son safely returned stateside in April 2004, Cass dealt with a new set of worries. She said she began experiencing stress and anxiety as her Mikey had an increasingly difficult time adjusting to civilian life.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleid/9410

Information, sharing and caring will erode the stigma and replace it with hope. Hope that they will be able to speak of what is happening inside of them and be embraced instead of embarrassed. Hope that once they say they need help, the help they need to heal will be there waiting for them. Hope that as soon as they know the trauma was too strong for them, they will be supported by those who care about them. Hope that life can regain a quality of what it once was. Hope that compassion will rap arms around them instead of point fingers at them.

So why be afraid if you're not alone? 7.7 million Americans are in the same company of wounded. We are not the only nation with PTSD. Every nation has a population of people wounded by it as long as they have humans in it.





Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/


"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Homeless man committed suicide in hospital

Hospital cited in patient suicide
ER fell short in monitoring a homeless man who hanged himself in Douglasville, according to a federal report.

By ANDY MILLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 02/25/08

A Douglasville hospital failed to meet patient safety standards when a homeless man committed suicide in its emergency department, federal regulators have found.

The patient, evaluated as a suicide risk by WellStar Douglas Hospital staff, was not properly monitored for two hours and was then found hanging in his seclusion room, said a federal investigative report. The death occurred Oct. 31.

under the Freedom of Information Act.

Douglas Wayne Brown, 45, was in a seclusion room — typically used to manage a very agitated patient — a total of 22 hours, waiting for a transfer to another facility for treatment of alcohol and psychiatric problems, according to the report from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The report, based on an inspection by state surveyors in mid-November, does not describe whether the WellStar Douglas emergency room was crowded when the patient died.

A suicide in a hospital emergency department is extremely rare, health care officials said. Brown's death also renews questions about the capacity of general hospitals and psychiatric facilities in Georgia to handle the rising demand for mental health services.
go here for the rest
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/02/24/ersuicide_0225.html

Brig. Gen. Mike Tucker A Man On A Mission To Heal

“What’s their job? To heal,” Tucker said. “If they’re not healing, they’re not doing their job.”

General: Army still facing Warrior Transition Unit challenges
Tucker lauds progress but says more ‘hard thinking’ necessary
By John Vandiver, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Monday, February 25, 2008

BAUMHOLDER, Germany — Nearly a year ago, Col. Robert P. White was catching up on old times with his old boss, Brig. Gen. Mike Tucker, when the phone rang.

White was in a pre-command course at Fort Knox, Ky., where Tucker was serving as deputy commanding general.

“I’m sitting there having a beer with him and he gets a call. He walks out of the room and comes back in and his face, his jaw just dropped,” White told a group of 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division commanders.

On the phone was the chief staff of the Army, who had a special assignment, one that would place Tucker in the eye of the storm. Revelations about shoddy outpatient care at Walter Reed Medical Center had just burst into the national consciousness. Tucker’s task was to make things right.

Tucker, now the Army’s assistant surgeon general for warrior care and transition, was in Baumholder last week to talk with commanders about the progress made so far and the challenges ahead.

“We have transformed the way we care for warriors in our Army and we will never go back to the way it was,” Tucker said during the presentation Thursday.
go here for the rest
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52803

Vets don't need health battle

Vets don't need health battle

February 24, 2008 6:00 AM
Editor's note: Chellie Pingree, from North Haven, is a Democratic candidate for Congress in Maine's First Congressional District. James E. N. Bachelder from Acton is Maine state commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

By Chellie Pingree and James E. N. Bachelder

It was just about a year ago that the nation was shocked by a Washington Post story that revealed the dismal conditions inside the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Over 700 active duty soldiers with serious physical and psychological issues were being warehoused in rundown buildings, neglected and lost in a tangle of bureaucracy without access to the care they desperately needed.

Once again, America was caught not living up to the promise we have made to the men and women who serve — that we will take care of you when you come home.

Some progress has been made, but there is much more that needs to be done, especially for veterans who have completed their service and are ready to come home. They've fought for us; now it's our turn to stand up and fight for them.

Maine has one of the highest percentages of veterans of any state in the country. Over 140,000 Mainers have worn a uniform. Nearly 90 percent of the Maine National Guard has been deployed to Iraq, and too many of them have come home bearing the scars of combat.

According to a new government study, the rate of suicide among those returning from Iraq or Afghanistan has increased substantially. And over half of those who took their own lives were members of the Guard or Reserves.

Better and faster emergency care on the battlefield means more and more servicemen and servicewomen are surviving, but improvements in the availability of mental health treatment have not kept pace.

It's estimated that 30 percent to 40 percent of all Iraq veterans will face some sort of mental health issue when they come home, and although the VA provides some of the best care in the world, it simply doesn't have the resources to adequately address those problems. In the current system, less than 40 percent of vets with psychological conditions are getting the treatment they need.

The first step to address this need is a thorough and confidential health-care assessment for all returning veterans. And those who need help making the transition back home should get it. The Maine National Guard has taken this step, but the VA should be able to make it available to all returning servicemen and women. Too often the health care and benefits that veterans have earned are buried under a mountain of paperwork and kept out of reach by bureaucratic delays. Too often, when a vet comes home from war unable to work because of disabilities, a long delay in awarding disability leads to homelessness.

Sometimes the wounds inflicted in a combat zone aren't very visible. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are real injuries that affect tens of thousands of veterans. The diagnosis isn't always easy, but rules and regulations shouldn't make it more difficult.

Congressman Tom Allen has introduced a bill that would remove certain requirements that have been keeping veterans suffering from PTSD from getting the treatment they needed. Simply put, if a health-care professional determines a veteran returning from war is suffering from PTSD, that diagnosis will be enough, without requiring documentation that is often difficult or impossible to obtain.

Because the VA budget is discretionary, not mandatory, reliable funding is hard to come by, which leads to delays and cutbacks. Injured veterans are denied the benefits they deserve and they end up paying the price. Complicated forms and a difficult-to-navigate application and appeals process make it worse. The VA budget should be made mandatory and the treatment and benefits process streamlined. Veterans should be able get the help they need without having to fight for it.

Congressman Mike Michaud has been an effective and outspoken advocate for veterans and in addition to cosponsoring Congressman Allen's proposal. Last summer, he introduced a bill that would start to fix some of the problems that vets face. The Veterans Health Care Improvement Act would not only improve access to care and benefits, but it would also commit significant resources to helping those who have slipped through the cracks — like the 200,000 veterans around this country who will sleep on the street tonight.

Both of us have friends and neighbors who have come home from war only to find they have to fight another battle to get the care and benefits they need. We can and must do a better job taking care of these men and women. They deserve it.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20080224/OPINION/802240333&sfad=1

Great report and Maine should be proud they are standing up for those who stood up for us. Isn't that what it all should be about? Does everything in this country have to be a battle of "with us or against us" or "pro-war or anti-war" when there are some things that should only be about them? When it comes to point of view, the men and women who serve, are really no different than the rest of us. Military presidential contributions are being distributed between Ron Paul with the lion's share and Senator Obama. All of them were willing to lay down their lives for the sake of this nation and while me may disagree on if willingness was appreciated or not, the rest of us can see that part clearly. We all need to stand up for them, especially the members of the groups who find time to march either protesting or supporting the occupation of Iraq. The men and women we fight over, need all of us coming together to really fight for their sake when they need us.

Help for the homeless Tony finds his way home

Help for the homeless Tony finds his way home
An innovative program is getting many of the city’s mentally ill off the streets and into a new life
By DAWN HINSHAW - dhinshaw@thestate.com
When Jeremy McCleery took a job 1½ years ago doing outreach at the Homeless Recovery Center, his mission was to help Tony.

Among the hundreds of anonymous homeless people who wander Columbia’s streets, Tony was different.

A slight Vietnamese man with a broad brown face, Tony slumbered on benches along Devine Street or walked the streets downtown with his clothes bundled under his shirt, his long matted hair stuffed into a stocking cap.

Many people came to recognize Tony during his 15 years on the streets, but no one knew him.

He was calm and silent, never asking for anything, often refusing the money or food that well-meaning people held out to him, saying, “I’m OK, I’m OK.”

Because of his silence, stories grew up around Tony — legends, really — that he was royalty, that he fled his homeland in fear for his life.

As a social work student at USC, McCleery saw Tony around town and wondered about him, too.

“He’d been around for so long, and no one had helped him,” he said. “Our program was made for people like Tony.”
go here for the rest
http://www.thestate.com/local/story/326053.html

It's a heart warming story of what a difference one person can make.

Fort Knox:"We're soldiers caring for our own"

"We're soldiers caring for our own," said Lt. Col. Gary Travis, the unit commander at Fort Knox.

Fort Knox improves treatments
BOOSTS DISCHARGE PREPARATION, AID FOR WOUNDED
By Bruce Schreiner
ASSOCIATED PRESS

FORT KNOX --Staff Sgt. Gerald Gonzalez has seen plenty of changes in a special unit for wounded soldiers since arriving at Fort Knox last summer with injuries from a roadside bomb in Iraq.

Barracks at the Army post in Central Kentucky are being renovated for soldiers placed in the "warrior transition unit." Staffing has been beefed up to help soldiers heal. And an assistance center geared toward the wounded troops and their families has opened.

"It's a lot better now," said Gonzalez, who suffers from a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder since being wounded last May while helping escort a military convoy.

Still, he said, Army efforts to specially tend to the wounded soldiers remain "a work in progress."
go here for the rest
http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/327283.html

Veterans help veterans readjust to civilian life

Veterans help veterans readjust to civilian life
Posted online: February 23, 2008 11:43 PM
Print publication date: 2/24/2008

By Brandy Donaldson , bdonaldson@qconline.com

Many veterans agree that readjusting to civilian life after serving in a foreign land can be like a brand new battle.

Davenport native Jim Gall was 18 when he was drafted into the Army and thrust into combat in Vietnam. Davenport's Wayne Hogard entered the Navy as a teenager during the Korean War. The plight of today's soldier is much the same as it was when they served, and, fortunately, there's more support available for those who need it, they said.

"I didn't have any trouble, but I'm sure there were some who experienced combat who had trouble readjusting after Korea. There's some who still experience that to this day," said Mr. Hogard, who, as an aviation electrician, never entered combat.

"Many boys come back today and don't really have the education they need about their own physical or mental health."

According to a recent Army study, an all-time high 121 active-duty soldiers committed suicide and at least 2,100 injured themselves or attempted suicide last year. The Department of Veterans Affairs reported 144 veterans committed suicide between 2001 and 2005, and thousands more suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

"I would imagine the high suicide rate is a result of boys not being treated when they get home and no one recognizing they're having problems," Mr. Hogard said.

Indicators of PTSD include incessant fear, hopelessness, isolation, memory loss, difficulty sleeping and concentrating, nightmares, flashbacks, erratic emotions, uncontrollable anger, paranoia, unexplainable outbursts and other symptoms.

Most troops can't recognize these things in themselves and those who do may have a difficult time admitting it, said Ron Milburn, junior vice commander at VFW Post 9128 in Bettendorf. He served in the Marines and Navy during peacetime. He later joined the National Guard and was sent to Iraq in 2003.
go here for the rest
http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=375938

Families Catch Fallout From PTSD

Spouse Calls Column: Families Catch Fallout From PTSD

February 24, 2008

Of all the subjects covered on the Spouse Calls blog, none is more heartbreaking than post- traumatic stress disorder and its effects on military spouses and families.

An upcoming column will feature resources and counseling for those affected by PTSD. These blog excerpts will explain why:

I live in New Jersey. I have searched endlessly, to no avail for a support group for the loved ones of PTSD veterans. I even tried starting one of my own. The vet centers, and the VA clinics and hospitals say they are including family members and loved ones, but I have not found that to be true.

Many of the veterans’ wives and significant others that I know are left without a support group. Does anyone else have live support in your area?
go here for the rest

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9405

If anyone is in the Orlando Florida area, I'd be happy to begin a support group. I believe it is vital having support to get through all of this. Vietnam veterans and their families didn't have it and it cost too many marriages as well as lives .

Sgt. John Osmolski's funeral peaceful due to flu

Stomach Flu Keeps Protesters Away From Soldier’s Funeral

Sunday, February 24, 2008 12:19:56 AM

Fallen Soldier Remembered video

EUSTIS -- Hundreds of people showed up to honor the memory of a local soldier who was killed while fighting in Iraq.

Dozens of flags waved outside of Bay Street Baptist Church in honor of Sgt. John Osmolski.

The 23-year-old was killed by a bomb six days before he was supposed to come back home.

Protestors from Kansas that lead a campaign called “God Hates America” were scheduled to picket the service. However, they canceled at the last minute, saying the group came down with the stomach flu.

Friends, family and former military men and women said it allowed them to focus on what was really important.

The men and women who held up flags at the church are part of a statewide organization called the Patriot Guard. The group travels to more than 50 memorial services, funerals and welcome home celebrations of soldiers each year.

Why would anyone would want to protest at a funeral for a soldier? They do it though. Whatever they hope to prove by doing it must be more about proving they are hateful people.

Senator Tester, fix Montana's VA problem sooner

Tester, VA chief hear from veterans
Agency chief says help is on way; senator, vets tell of inadequate services
By TOM LUTEY
Of The Gazette Staff

Limited by staff and space, veterans' health care services in Montana fall short, said U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who brought U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake to Billings to meet with local veterans.

"What I'm getting at is the staff and the square footage is a big issue," Tester said Wednesday. "That's not just here. It's the same in Great Falls and other places."

Tester and Peake got a firsthand look at the tight cramped quarters of the Veterans Affairs Primary Care Center in Billings. Roughly a decade old, the facility at 2345 King Ave. W. is no longer big enough to accommodate services for Billings-area veterans. Plans to relocate to a larger facility are in the works, but the VA Primary Care Center is also short on staff members.

Veterans speaking to Tester and Peake said phone calls to the VA Primary Care Center sometimes go unanswered for half an hour. Getting in to see a counselor about war-related stress can take days.

There's a debate about how many claims will still be made by veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bush administration estimates that 33,690 new veterans will enter the system, but the majority of staff for the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, on which Tester serves, expects 200,000 claims by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

If the committee is correct, the president's budgeted amount for new claims could leave funding short for about 150,000 veterans.
go here for the rest
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/02/21/news/local/18-va.txt

With the problem veterans are having trying to get fit into the VA, buying land and building new hospitals and clinics will help, but that fix is years away. They need help today.

A quick search of commercial property in Billings Montana showed they not only have land that could be used in the future, but they also have buildings already available. Some of them seem to be a great deal. These are just a few of them.




Property Description:
Prime West End Office Building
2 story building with approx. 26,000 SQFT. Brick construction complex built in 1986 and remodeled in 1999. Located in approx. 66,000 SQFT landscaped and paved lot. The building has 25,825 SQFT. Excellent exposure to one of busiest avenues in Billings - King Avenue.

Location Description:
Located in the Homestead Business Park - Billings MT. A block from King Ave. on Grant Rd.
Property Use Type: Investment
Primary Type: Office
Office-Business Park
Building Size: 26,000 SF
Lot Size: 66,000 SF
Price: $3,200,000
Price/SF: $123.08
Cap Rate: 7.25%
Net Lease Investment: Yes
Years left on Lease: 2
Date Last Verified: 2/22/2008
Property ID: 15530183



Special Purpose Property
In or near Billings, MontanaVery solid 5,040 sq. ft. Commercial Construction. Scenic Spring Creek runs through property, mature trees, an oasis in the middle of Billings. Pe...
Status:Price:Bldg. Size:Cap Rate:Primary Type:Sub-Type:
Active$425,0005,040 SFN/ASpecial PurposeSpecial Purpose (Other)

Special Purpose Property
In or near Billings, MontanaSignificant, historical, brick building, with 7,025 sq. ft. on main level. Structurally astute, constructed of high quaility building materials, 7...
Status:Price:Bldg. Size:Cap Rate:Primary Type:Sub-Type:
Active$385,00014,050 SFN/ASpecial PurposeSpecial Purpose (Other)

Office Property
In or near Billings, Montana
Two 9,000 square foot buildings. Upscale Medical or office complex. 13,300 ADT's Per Day. Billings Highest Per Capita Income. Now Under Constru...
Status:No. Spaces:Rental Rate:Space Available:Bldg. Size:Primary Type:Sub-Type:
Active1$.012,800 SF9,000 SFOfficeMedical Office

Now, picture these buildings being used for veterans clinics and Vet's Centers. They seem to be just what the doctor ordered to take care of the veterans today and not just years from now. They could open up Vet Centers tomorrow. They could begin support groups for veterans and their families. If not then they will need to build a lot more homeless veterans shelters a couple of years from now. It's time to get serious about all of this and stop ringing their hands with the monumental task ahead. There is no time to play catch up when veterans are suffering because no one planned for them.

Spc. Brenden Teetsell ended his life leaving questions and heartache

Soldier’s lies unravel after he kills himself
By Nancy Montgomery, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, February 24, 2008


HEIDELBERG, Germany — Spc. Brenden Teetsell stood out. He was 6-foot-6 — but it was more than that. He was talkative, enthusiastic, smart and likable.

But Teetsell, it turned out, was also deeply troubled.

The 20-year-old satellite operator with the 5th Signal Command hanged himself Feb. 7 in his Mannheim barracks. He used bedsheets and a stairwell to end his life, just after Criminal Investigation Command investigators had spent the morning questioning him for apparently impersonating an officer.

He had been claiming to be a captain and that he’d been shot in the leg in Iraq, pastors at a California church told CID after the pastors decided to check up on him.

That long-distance telephone call was to be the first thread in the rapid unraveling of Teetsell’s life.

“It went from zero to 60 that morning,” said Lt. Col. Jay Chapman, commander of the 72nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion.

“We didn’t see symptoms. We’re really upset with ourselves. Nobody would have considered him to be feeling the way he was inside.”

Teetsell, who enlisted in 2006, had never been to Iraq. He hurt his knee before his unit deployed last fall and was reassigned to a different unit.

His death comes at a time when Army officials are grappling with a record number of suicides, even as they’ve stepped up suicide prevention efforts.

One major contributor to the increase in soldier suicides is thought to be the disruption to intimate and family relationships caused by long, repeated deployments.

But Teetsell had never deployed. He did not appear depressed, Chapman said his commanders told him. He was not aware he was being investigated until the day he died, Chapman said.
go here for the rest
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52770
Teetsell was not deployed, not wounded in combat and seemed to have been troubled by many accounts. Why didn't anyone do anything when they seemed to have thougth he was troubled? Why was he able to get into the military if he was already troubled? There are so many questions to this sad story of a life ended too soon.

Master Sgt. Woodrow Keeble Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor going to Native American soldier
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, February 23, 2008


WASHINGTON — A Native American soldier who fought in World War II and the Korean War will be posthumously honored with the Medal of Honor next month, White House officials announced Friday.

Retired Master Sgt. Woodrow Keeble, a South Dakota native who died in 1984, will be recognized for actions in North Korea in October 1951. According to Army records, he ignored life-threatening wounds to take out three mountainside enemy pillboxes which had pinned down a U.S. platoon.

Keeble was initially awarded a Distinguished Service Cross, a Silver Star and a Purple Heart for those actions, but members of his state’s congressional delegation have pushed for Medal of Honor recognition for him for years.

Army records say Keeble displayed “extraordinary heroism and completely selfless devotion to duty” during his assault on enemy troops in Korea.

After seeing an advance platoon was pinned down by gunfire, Keeble rushed from his support unit to the front line. He then crawled ahead to take out three enemy positions with grenades, despite intense fire trained on him as he moved along the mountainside.

go here for the rest
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52728

Renewed Hope Eric Hall Is Still Alive

Missing Marine may have called again
Eric Hall, 24, is believed to have placed another phone call to a friend
CAROLYN QUINN, Charlotte Sun Staff Writer
7:27 p.m., Friday, February 22, 2008


The former Marine who vanished over two weeks ago during a flashback to his service in Iraq may have called an old friend a second time.

Eric Hall, 24, who left his aunt's house in Deep Creek on Feb. 3 and has not been seen since, is believed to have called a childhood friend and former girlfriend in his native Indiana after 6 p.m. Thursday. It is the second call he is believed to have made to the friend, although he did not identify himself either time.

"He is reaching out, and it just renews my efforts," said Becky Hall, Eric's mother, who came to Florida from Indiana shortly after his disappearance.
go here for the rest

linked from ICasualties.org

Former Army Chaplain Chiefs Confer on Current Issues

Former Army Chaplain Chiefs Confer on Current Issues
Feb 21, 2008
BY Elizabeth M. Lorge
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Feb. 21, 2008) - As the Army's chaplaincy focuses on expanding services to wounded warriors and redeploying Soldiers, 15 former chiefs of chaplains gathered in Arlington, Va., for a "Graybeard Conference" Feb. 15 to discuss lessons learned from their tenures and relate them to the biggest concerns for today's Army.

Maj. Gen. Douglas L. Carver, the Army's current chief of chaplains, invited the former chaplains from the active Army, National Guard and Army Reserve in order to learn from their 40 years of combined experience at the helm of the chaplaincy and update them on the Army's current goals, priorities and challenges.
'
"There's a scripture in the bible that says there's nothing new under the sun, so I know that what I'm experiencing today as a leader is something that I can learn from those who have gone before me -- similar challenges that they've faced during the life and the history of the Army and the nation. I think it's also important for us to hear the collective wisdom of those who have been in this leadership position before, to hear their thoughts, their ideas, just to ensure we're doing the best we can to support our Soldiers and Families during a time of war."
click post title for the rest

A Local Soldier's Long Road Home: Dealing With PTSD

A Local Soldier's Long Road Home: Dealing With PTSD

POSTED: 10:38 pm EST February 22, 2008

WHEELING, W.Va. -- A local Iraq war veteran opened up to NEWS9 about the daily struggles of living with post traumatic stress disorder.

When soldiers leave the war zone, it’s not always a happy homecoming.

"When I came home the first time,” said Ryan Flowers, 25, of Moundsville, “I thought something wasn't right. I felt out of place."

Flowers is one of thousands of Iraq veterans dealing with PTSD.

He served two tours in Iraq, and his jobs included being a heavy wheel mechanic and convoy security.

Flowers’ job in convoy security required him to protect groups of civilians and war supplies.

“Making sure we could get supplies from one camp to another to support the ongoing war effort,” said Flowers.

While Flowers worked at night, his visions are clear as day.

“A night in December, we were leaving Mosul, and there was an explosion on the horizon," said Flowers. “To see an explosion come up over the horizon from that distance, it was my best friend who was in that explosion. He's OK, as OK as you can be."
go here for the rest
http://www.wtov9.com/news/15384598/detail.html

Frank Discussion About PTSD and War Trauma

Frank Discussion About PTSD and War Trauma (VIDEO)
Tim King and Dr. Phil Leveque Salem-News.com
Two men with experience in war; one a combat soldier and physician, and one who is a present day war reporter, attempt to spread light on facts surrounding PTSD.

(SALEM, Ore.) - As increasing numbers of veterans are returning from war where they experienced direct combat situations, the number of questions about what that trauma will bring them later in life is growing too.

Dr. Phil Leveque is a WWII veteran and a physician. When he speaks about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, he does so from what may be one of the most unique and qualified perspectives possible.

First he survived combat and battle injuries fighting Hitler's Nazi soldiers while the world raged at war, then he endured the hardships of the government VA healthcare system where he spent several months recovering from combat related injuries.

After that Phillip Leveque, already a college graduate, completed his master's program and attended medical school. He became a doctor who specialized in the treatment of people who had endured similar horrors of war.

Tim King joined the Marine Corps after high school, and then began a career in news broadcasting in the late 1980's. Today in addition to writing and reporting for Salem-News.com full time, he also serves as a War Correspondent.

Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 in Afghanistan embedded with the 41st Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. Army which was under the control of the Oregon Guard.

In late March, Tim will head to Baghdad, Iraq to cover the actions of Oregon National Guard soldiers on the ground.
click post title for the rest and video

I will embed the video soon.

Minnesota Marine veteran Jonathan Schulze suicide back in news

Minnesota Marine's case is part of lawsuit against VA
The suicide of Jonathan Schulze is cited in the class-action suit filed by two national veterans groups.

By KEVIN GILES, Star Tribune

Last update: February 22, 2008 - 9:23 PM
A class-action lawsuit filed by two national veterans organizations accusing the U.S. Veterans Administration of neglecting psychological fallout from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars cites the suicide of Minnesota Marine veteran Jonathan Schulze.

Schulze is one of several deceased veterans named in the suit, which a judge last month allowed to proceed and is headed for a hearing in U.S. District Court in San Francisco in March. Schulze, 25, committed suicide in January 2007 in New Prague, Minn., five days after he allegedly was turned away from the VA hospital in St. Cloud when seeking psychiatric help.

He had fought in Iraq. Medical records showed that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

His father, Jim Schulze of the Stewart, Minn., area, said Friday that attorneys for Veterans for Common Sense and a second group, Veterans United for Truth, asked his wife, Marianne, to file a declaration in support of the case.

go here for the rest

http://www.startribune.com/local/15895127.html

These are just a few of the names from B. There are over 100 of their stories in my video Death Because They Served. If you want to read more about some of the lives lost you can go to my other blog, Screaming In An Empty Room and look for non-combat deaths. Go to www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com

PTSD:Problems should be anticipated

Our country owes it to its returning combat veterans to do all we know to help them move into an effective survivor mode. Failure to do so will be predictable! Headlines of homeless problems, domestic assaults, alcohol/drug epidemics, and legal problems for combat vets will again catch the nation's attention. Vietnam anyone?

Problems should be anticipated
February 22, 2008
By William Weitz



Recent readings of a Department of the Army news release and an editorial in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported significant increases in the suicide rate of active duty Army soldiers. The numbers showed a 20 percent increase over the prior year, despite efforts to include "more training and education programs, the hiring of more mental health professionals, and the addition of screening programs."

While acknowledging the impact of combat stress and the multiple tours of duty faced by these soldiers, there was also a shift to focusing on other issues such as financial stressors, family discord, and employment concerns as contributing to the suicide rate for these troops.

How little we have learned!

Having worked for 30 years as a military psychologist and a VA Vet Center Team Leader, it is critical not to separate environmental stressors from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. War veterans in intense combat environments develop PTSD at exceeding high rates. In Vietnam, the estimate was generally in the 30 to 40 percent range for developing combat stress and for Iraq, given the multiple tours, the rates should be much higher.
click post title for the rest

Hundreds of acinetobacter infections a year with wounded soldiers

Insurgents in the Bloodstream
Proceedings Capt. Chas Henry (Ret.) February 22, 2008
"It's why I lost my leg, so it sucks."

The assessment, from a 22-year-old Marine toughing out physical therapy on two prosthetic limbs, is laconic, matter-of-fact. Sgt. David Emery lost one leg in February 2007 when a suicide bomber assaulted the checkpoint near Haditha, Iraq, where he and fellow Marines stood guard. Military surgeons were forced to remove his remaining leg when it became infected with acinetobacter baumannii-a strain of highly resistant bacteria that since U.S. forces began fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan has threatened the lives, limbs, and organs of hundreds wounded in combat.

"They could have saved it," says Emery. "They had a rod in it, but then the bacteria was in too bad and my white blood cell count was up to 89,000-and they told my mom on a Friday that they had to take it."

Emery's mother recalls that the hazard was not confined to her son's limbs.

"He ended up getting it in his stomach," says Connie Emery, "and they tried to close his stomach back up, but when they did, the stitches ended up pulling away because the infection was taking over."

An Army infectious disease physician says the germ has spread rapidly since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began. "Prior to the war, we were seeing one to two cases of acinetobacter infection per year," remembers Lt. Col. Kimberly Moran, deputy director for tropical public health at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.

"Now that's much different. We've had hundreds of positive cultures over the last four years."

And the toll has been serious, observes Army Col. Glenn Wortmann, acting chief of infectious disease at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. "Of the infectious disease problems that have come out of the conflict," notes Dr. Wortmann, "it is the most important complication we've seen."
go here for the rest
http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,162552,00.html

Edward Robinson tells Maryland lawmakers what it's like to want to die

This is from the post I did earlier today. This is what some of the legislative people think about the veterans.

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Gov. Martin O’Malley’s administration wants $3.5 million to provide short-term mental health services for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

But legislative analysts recommend the funding be cut in half because the services are fundamentally a federal responsibility and the estimates of the veterans needing the treatment are too high.

Now here is from the Washington Post about Maryland and the way we as a nation treat our veterans.

Veterans Share Stories as Work Starts on Mental Health Bills

By Philip Rucker
Friday, February 22, 2008; Page B06


For two years, Edward Robinson was stationed at a Navy hospital in Portsmouth, Va., helping treat wounded troops returning from battle in Iraq. The experience was so emotionally taxing that when Robinson moved home to Annapolis in 2006, his life started unraveling.

Robinson tried to kill himself four times, he said in emotional testimony before a panel of Maryland legislators yesterday. The 35-year-old told lawmakers that he was hospitalized five times, and his mental illnesses grew so bad that his wife recently left him.

"The stigma of having a mental illness . . . people look at you differently. People don't want to hire you," Robinson said. The problem, he said, is that the federal government is not providing adequate care.

Thousands of veterans like Robinson live in Maryland, and state officials say the federal government is failing to connect them to mental health-care providers, a void that became clear last year amid the scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) has proposed legislation to close gaps in federal care for returning service members. The measures would establish a $3.5 million pilot program to help veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan navigate the federal system to obtain care for mental and behavioral health problems.

At the start of this week, O'Malley and the General Assembly paid tribute to the 20 Maryland troops who died in Iraq and Afghanistan last year.

"Our hearts go out to them and to our families," O'Malley said in a short speech. "Our promise goes out to them that we will stand by their comrades."

During a poignant ceremony Monday night on the floor of the House of Delegates, each fallen service member was honored. A delegate representing the service member's county read his or her name and date of death into the record. Then on the wooden dais, a bell tolled for each.

Lawmakers began work on the bills this week by hearing testimony from veterans such as Robinson, Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D), Health and Mental Hygiene Secretary John M. Colmers and Veterans Affairs Secretary James A. Adkins.

Brown, who served as an Army reservist in Iraq, said the state government should fill the gaps to help a "very fragile cohort of veterans" in Maryland.

"In a perfect world, the federal government would help ensure the welfare and care of veterans," Brown said. But "we don't live in a perfect world."

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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Gov. Martin O’Malley’s administration wants $3.5 million to provide short-term mental health services for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

But legislative analysts recommend the funding be cut in half because the services are fundamentally a federal responsibility and the estimates of the veterans needing the treatment are too high.

Florida Guard has sent about 9,000 troops to Iraq and Afghanistan

The Florida Guard has sent about 9,000 troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, many on repeated and ever longer deployments. They include Brevard County men and women who serve in such Central Florida-based units as the 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment and 164th Air Defense Artillery Brigade.

Our view: Preventing GI suicides

National Guard program badly needed step to stop tragic trend of Iraq-Afghanistan wars

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are bloody, brutal and have no end in sight.

The brave troops who continue fighting them have gone back on repeated combat tours, facing roadside bombs, heavily armed insurgents and terrorists.

More than 4,000 have died and 30,000 have been wounded with tens of thousands more coming home emotionally traumatized to face failed relationships, divorce, financial troubles and unemployment.

For a growing number, it's too much.
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Invasion of Panama Veteran Still Has To Fight VA

Another Veteran Screwed and this Time a Kossack: Me
by Jeffersonian Democrat
Fri Feb 22, 2008 at 05:01:11 AM PST
It has taken me a few days to come to grips enough to write this up as a diary as some have suggested. I apologize upfront if my rage comes through in any way whether it is whining or hyperbole as that is not my intent and I will do my best to objectively relate the narrative of events and opinion.

First of all, let me explain how the VA determines PTSD claims:

The formula for a successful PTSD claim is simple. You need three things:

Evidence of an in-service stressor (the Combat Infantryman's Badge, combat Military Occupational Specialty, Combat awards and medals, etc. , for example, is presumptive of that)
A DIAGNOSIS of PTSD (a VA directed Compensation & Pension exam is where that will come from, based upon the records and the exam)

A "nexus" tying 1 and 2 together, for example orders placing one in combat operations and documented problems resulting from that experience
Jeffersonian Democrat's diary :: ::
Ok, quick relevant military bio. I joined the Army in 1984 and became an Airborne Infantryman, a Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. Although I had fantasies of film school in Paris or becoming a diplomat, after I attended SERE school I reenlisted to attend the Special Forces Qualification Course at Ft. Bragg. I successfully completed the course but not without gut-wrenching hardship and sheer iron will power. I am small in stature and only 5'6, but my heart and desire were much bigger at that time. I became a weapons and tactics specialist and Special Forces soldier, commonly known as a Green Beret. I was assigned to 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) immediately after an intensive Spanish course and assigned to an ODA, which is commonly known as an "A-Team". Irrelevant to this case, I also served in the Navy after my education at University of Michigan in Russian and Eastern European Studies as a Naval Intelligence Officer, but that is another can of worms.

Now, I am not going to go into personal stressors and events here, but my little conflict was the Invasion of Panama in 1989-1990. That conflict affected me in ways I had no idea of then. They really came to full force, drastically surfacing, when the Iraq war began. Not that they were there all along, there were things I should have taken notice of. But like a good soldier, I sucked it up and suppressed it. I self-medicated with alcohol for strange feelings that I later learned were panic attacks until I became a full fledged alcoholic. At first, the VA was denying my initial claim because they said that I didn't have the stressor event, however:what the VA does in fact have, in addition to statements, is my DD214 with MOS: 18B Special Forces Weapons Sergeant, and my CIB/SSI and Expeditionary medal awarded through 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) for combat operations in Panama.

And that is a presumptive stressor, so they back-off on that. Yet I had to appeal and file a Notice of Disagreement that I filed in 2005. I had not heard back from the VA until December of 2006, when they finally asked for, and sent me the paperwork for, a VA C&P exam.

Now I had already been hospitalized three times at this point. The first time was the morning that I woke up on my balcony from being passed out, surrounded by beer bottles, and a noose around my neck tied to the railing. I thought, "Jeff Dem, maybe you need some help, hmmm?" I was a kossack also at this point.
go here for the rest
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/22/6057/91498

This is the comment I just left at the Daily Kos.
It was the same problem with Vietnam vets. My husband came home in 1971, not diagnosed until 1990, couldn't get him to go to the VA until 1993 and his claim took six years. His best friend's claim took 19 years and he was multiple tour Green Beret. My husband's nephew had a claim after coming home addicted to heroin, busted for drug deal gone bad, got his life together, had his claim approved and then committed suicide when the DOD told him his unit never existed. Veterans are dying for attention everyday. Maybe that's what they want when they turn down claims? In 1996, we were told by a VA doctor that for every 10 claims with the VA, 8 drop out because of the frustration. That means 8 less wounded veterans they have to support. Claims get tied up for years and veterans die off or fade away. You'd think we would be able to take care of the veterans if we were ever serious about being a "grateful nation" but then you'd also have to believe that fighting for the country, then being forced to fight the country would be wrong. Don't give up! You paid them up front when you were willing to lay down your life. They owe you! So do the rest of us and we had better all start acting like it by telling the government we will not stand for any of you to be treated like this any longer.

Police Link Takes A Look At Suicide By Cop

Suicide by Cop: Why?
Definition: Suicide-by-cop is a colloquial term used to describe an incident in which a suicidal individual consciously engages in life-threatening behavior(s) to the degree that it compels a police officer to respond with deadly force. In a suicide-by-cop scenario the cop is the methodology of the suicide. If it hadn't been an officer it could have been a rope, sleeping pills, a train, a knife or a handgun. If you can't kill yourself, and you really, really, really want to die, who are you going to call?

Researchers have concluded that suicides-by-cop are surprisingly more common than initially thought, and that the number of incidents is rising. The most comprehensive study to date on the incidence of suicide-by-cop, from 1987 through 1997, found that 11 percent of officer-involved shootings were suicide-by-cop incidents. In 1997, the last year of the study, the percentage of shootings identified as suicide-by-cop jumped to 25%. One researcher, in his analysis of current available literature, has suggested that the true figure may be as high as 46%. The discrepancy in these statistics may be the result of hidden suicidal ideation by the victim of any officer involved shooting. Researchers have long suspected that single-occupant car crashes, some airplane crashes and workplace fatalities involved suicidal motivation. Engaging in criminal acts may in fact involve suicidal ideation.
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http://www.policelink.com/training/articles/11074-suicide-by-cop-why

WWII veteran passes away with homeless veterans in his heart

Donations may be made in his name to the New England Shelter for Homeless Veteran’s, 17 Court Street, Boston, MA 02108 or to the All Saints Church, 44 Park Ave., Whitman, MA 02382.

Herbert G. "Herb", II Corliss
Whitman, Mass
Friday, February 22, 2008
Herbert G. “Herb” Corliss, II, 85 died Wednesday, February 20th after a period failing health. He was the husband of the late Eleanor G. (Morgan) Corliss. Born and raised in Rockland he was the son of the late Levi J. and Effie (Duffett) Corliss and attended Rockland schools. Herb was a veteran of the United States Army from 1943 to 1945 and served as a Sergeant during World War II. He was awarded a Victory Medal, and a European-African Middle Eastern Theater Campaign Ribbon.
click post title for the rest to read a tiny bit about what this man accomplished in his life. He will accomplish even more for homeless veterans because of his life.

Maryland Lt. Gov. Brown fights for Vets because he is one

Analysts propose trimming veterans mental health initiative
Feb 22, 2008 3:00 AM (15 hrs ago) by Len Lazarick, The Examiner
BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Gov. Martin O’Malley’s administration wants $3.5 million to provide short-term mental health services for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

But legislative analysts recommend the funding be cut in half because the services are fundamentally a federal responsibility and the estimates of the veterans needing the treatment are too high.

“We still have some work to do” to get the money, said Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, an Iraq war veteran who is the administration’s point man on the veterans mental health initiative. “We’re going to work with the appropriations committees.”



The state health department estimates that there are about 15,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan living in Maryland, and about a third of them could use mental health and substance abuse services. There is a particularly high incidence of post-traumatic stress syndrome.

The Maryland Department of Veteran Affairs said there are about 4,300 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans enrolled with the federal VA health system, and there is no waiting list for services at the VA.

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My guess is there is more that has to be done and until the federal government gets their act in gear, the problem will get worse. Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and Gov. Martin O’Malley want to act now because the federal government did not act in the beginning.


From Maryland Homeless Veterans services

The HVRP program has become an integral part of the continuum of services provided by MCVET. The fundamental approach to homeless services is to provide assistance through a continuum of incremental steps that enable students to rejoin their communities as productive citizens. For the first three months, homeless veterans are placed in emergency housing where case managers help determine their needs and challenges, ensure that all benefit resources are accessed, and help them set education and employment goals. Students who suffer from mental illness or substance abuse issues begin receiving treatment. This is a critical component of the enrollment process because more than 98% of homeless veterans who enter the MCVET program have addiction problems, and more than 80% have mental disorders such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
http://www.nchv.org/hvrp_article.cfm?id=42