Vietnam veteran, Randy Vest, fixing cars and veterans

Vietnam veteran helps veterans while dealing with PTSD

WSLS.com - Roanoke,VA,USA

By Lindsey Henley
WSLS10 Reporter
Published: March 7, 2008

Vietnam veteran, Randy Vest, compares life to combat.
“It’s just like combat itself, you don’t quit in the middle of it. You just keep going,” Vest said.
With Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, he knows first hand sometimes that’s easier said than done.

“It doesn’t take a whole lot to cause you to have flashbacks, nightmares, things like that at night,” he said.

It took Randy more than 30 years to finally face his problems. He says once he left the combat zone he was back at home within a couple of days. Unfortunately, there were so many negative feelings, as well as stereotypes toward the Vietnam War, he didn’t want to talk about it until the War in Iraq.

That’s when Randy finally admitted he had a problem. With the help of a good friend, David Amos, he went through the long process of applying for compensation from the U.S. Government.

click above for the rest and for video interview

Senator Barbara Boxer needs to read the Hartford Courtant Report

Providers needed for mental health care

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Mar 7, 2008 15:54:54 EST

A nationwide shortage of mental health professionals is hurting — but not preventing — the military’s expansion of counseling and treatment programs for service members and their families, officials say.

Army Col. Loree Sutton, director of the Defense Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, said Tricare has added more than 3,000 new mental health providers to its networks in the past few months and is also trying to find non-network providers willing to take on new patients — part of a move to expand treatment options for members of the National Guard and reserve.

Sutton said the Pentagon also is working with the U.S. Public Health Service to get the services up to 200 mental health providers who can augment military counselors and doctors.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who four years ago was one of the toughest critics of military mental health services, said March 5 that she is pleased the military seems to be taking the issue seriously.
But, she said, military medical people cannot rest on their laurels.

“We have a big problem ... that is only going to get worse if we don’t do something big now,” Boxer said as she and military medical officials testified before the Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee.

“We need to ensure we have adequate numbers of uniformed mental health providers who can train and deploy with our troops and be there when they are needed,” she said, noting that treatment does no good if it is not available quickly.

“When we do this right, it is going to help our military in the long run,” Boxer said.
go here for the rest

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/military_mentalhealth_030708w/
From what I just posted.

The study found that behavioral health providers were also struggling. Despite the Army's repeated emphasis on expanding psychological services to soldiers, the ratio of mental health providers to soldiers in Iraq dropped to one provider for every 734 troops in 2007 — down from one for every 387 in 2004.

http://woundedtimes.blogspot.com/2008/03/worse-rate-of-mental-health-help-for.html

Worse rate of mental health help for troops in Iraq now

Mental Health Providers Too Few For Troops
Army To Recruit Civilian Counselors To Work In War Zones In Iraq, Afghanistan
By LISA CHEDEKEL And MATTHEW KAUFFMAN Courant Staff Writers
March 7, 2008


Top Army health officials acknowledged Thursday that they don't have enough military mental health providers to meet the growing needs of troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and said they will begin recruiting civilian counselors to work in the war zones.

The move comes as a new Army study of the mental health of troops deployed to war found that third and fourth combat deployments were wearing down soldiers' mental health at the same time that access to counseling and treatment was becoming more difficult.

Soldiers in Iraq surveyed by a team of experts in the fall of 2007 expressed more willingness to seek psychological help than those surveyed a year earlier, but reported more difficulties getting that help.

The Mental Health Advisory Team study — the fifth such study since the Iraq war began — reaffirmed findings from last year that troops on repeat deployments have higher rates of psychological problems and are more likely to take out their aggressions on Iraqi civilians.

About 27 percent of non-commissioned officers on third or fourth deployments to Iraq in 2007 met criteria for depression, anxiety or acute stress, compared with 18.5 percent on second tours and 12 percent who were on their first tour.

The study also reiterated last year's recommendation that troops' "dwell time" between deployments be increased so that they have sufficient time to "reset" their mental health. Most soldiers now have 12 to 15 months between tours.

"We see this multiple-deployment effect for the mental health problems, [and] we see a similar pattern for morale," said Lt. Col. Paul Bliese of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, who led the study.

"One of the conclusions that we draw from this is that soldiers are not resetting entirely before they get back into [the combat] theater. So they're not having the opportunity … to completely recover from the previous deployment when they go back into theater for the second or third deployment."

The study found that behavioral health providers were also struggling. Despite the Army's repeated emphasis on expanding psychological services to soldiers, the ratio of mental health providers to soldiers in Iraq dropped to one provider for every 734 troops in 2007 — down from one for every 387 in 2004.

In addition, military mental health providers in Iraq reported even higher rates of burnout and frustration with a lack of resources than they did in last year's study, with 75 percent saying there were insufficient resources to meet troops' needs. One in four providers expressed concerns about their own mental well-being.
go here for the rest
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-troophealth0307.artmar07,0,3291995.story

Charges dropped against Whiteside

Booman Tribune caught this from Military Corruption
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2008/3/7/82640/36487
Military Corruption Net caught this and I missed it.
http://www.militarycorruption.com/whiteside.htm
Told you it's almost impossible to keep up with all of this.



Military Justice
Why did it take a near-tragedy for the Army to do the right thing in the Whiteside case?
"ONE OF THE Army values is integrity, which is defined as doing what is right, legally and morally. The moral thing to do is dismiss these charges . . . . " That recommendation of an Army investigator more than a month ago in the case of 1st Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside was not acted on until after this vulnerable young woman attempted suicide a second time. The delayed reaction offers another troubling glimpse into the military's attitude about mental health issues.

Lt. Whiteside is the 25-year-old Army reservist who faced a court-martial after she suffered a breakdown and tried to commit suicide in Iraq. Post reporters Dana Priest and Anne Hull chronicled her story: how she had a spotless record; how she had been harassed by a superior and how she snapped one night in war-torn Baghdad, pulling a gun on a superior before shooting herself in the stomach. The diagnosis of her psychiatrists that she suffered significant mental illness was brushed aside by her commanders, who saw it as an excuse and pressed ahead with charges. In December a hearing officer sided with the doctors and recommended against a court-martial. To do so, he said, would be "inhumane," but no action was taken. Nor could Lt. Whiteside and her attorneys get any answers. Distraught about her legal limbo, she attempted suicide last Monday, and, with The Post again looking into the circumstances, the charges were finally dropped.

The mishandling of this case is indicative of a military culture dismissive of psychiatric ills as real sickness. Those who seek treatment are too often stigmatized and punished. How else to explain the worry of service members who say they fear being labeled as weak? Think of the message that was sent by the Army's pursuit of Lt. Whiteside and its apparent reluctance to do the right thing.

The case is also a poignant illustration of the dramatic rise of suicides and attempted suicides in the Army. A draft internal study obtained by The Post showed suicides among active-duty soldiers increased nearly 20 percent in 2007, to the highest level since the Army began keeping such records in 1980. The numbers of attempted suicides and self-inflicted injuries also are increasing.
click post title for the rest

Women warriors less likely to seek help for PTSD

Some single mothers in uniform have told her they are reluctant to report symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder out of fear that their mental health problems could be used against them in a custody dispute. Others have said it would be helpful if installations maintained lists of people available to provide emergency child care.

Caucus has big plans for military women

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Mar 7, 2008 16:24:46 EST

The Congressional Women’s Caucus — which lists the laying of a Memorial Day wreath for female veterans at Arlington National Cemetery among its major accomplishments for military women during the 109th Congress — plans to be far more aggressive this year.

An ambitious agenda, aided by a well-placed member of the caucus, increases the likelihood that the caucus could drive some major changes in the lives of women in uniform.

Rep. Susan Davis, D-Calif., who co-chairs the caucus task force on women in the military, said the caucus wants to make sure sex-related crimes against women are prosecuted aggressively, and that programs are in place to help women suffering from sexual harassment and trauma, and from combat-related stress.

The caucus, which works with the nonprofit Women’s Policy, Inc., also is launching an investigation of military policies related to motherhood, especially maternity leave, Davis said.

The investigation could lead to legislation requiring services to have common policies granting women more time off from work and from deployments, she said.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/military_women_030708w/

Australian Troops and invisible scars of a soldier

Nick McKenzie
March 8, 2008

THE bullet smashed the windscreen, spraying shards of glass into an eight-year-old boy's eye. He would never see out of it again. It also pierced the face of the boy's mother. She, too, would be left sightless in one eye, as well as partially deaf and with severe head trauma.

The young Australian soldier who fired the shots on a Baghdad street two years ago says it was like a scene from Pulp Fiction, in which a gangster played by John Travolta accidentally shoots a man in the head in a car. But this was real. He had pulled the trigger. It was bullets from his gun — three in all — that pierced the family's Volkswagen as it drove towards another soldier who was screaming at the driver to stop.

And it was Ben's life that, in a few seconds, changed forever. It was February 26, 2005, and he was 20 years old.

"Everyone is screaming. And everyone in the back (of the car) just jumps out and goes, 'Why? Why? Why?' They were covered in blood," recalls the former infantry man, now 23. "Straight away, I felt like shit."

Ben's story — he has asked that his surname not be used — offers a rare first-hand account of the confusion and ugliness of the Iraq war and of its impact on some of the young Australians sent to fight in it. It is a side of the war the Australian Defence Force has mostly kept secret.

Kept quiet, too, is the other thread to Ben's experience — how soldiers are treated after a horrific event and what happens when they come home.

The shooting of the al-Saadi family — middle-class shop owners now suing the Federal Government in a landmark case for compensation — was made worse for Ben by what happened afterwards, a series of missteps and alleged attempts to cover up what had occurred.

The warning shots fired at the car by one of his superior officers should never have happened, as warning shots are banned under Australian rules of engagement. Ben alleges that another soldier falsely claimed that the family had guns in the boot of their car, a lie that incenses Ben because it implied his actions somehow required covering up.

Then there was the decision several months after the shooting to hand the Saadi family two envelopes filled with cash. Without notice, Ben was asked to contribute to the payments, which increased his sense that he was quietly being blamed by senior officers. Ben handed over the contents of his wallet. He had $33.

He was ordered to accompany his new commanding officer to the Saadis' home. "I did not know we were going (to their house). When we got there, the kids are bringing us Pepsi. They were the kids of the mother I shot. I felt like shit," he recalls. "He (the commanding officer) never rang my f---ing house to see if my wife or kids were all right."

Last November, Ben was medically discharged from the army, suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition that can follow a major traumatic event. Symptoms include depression, anxiety, fear of public places, nightmares and flashbacks.

"I am lucky to go an hour without thinking about Iraq. Every hour I think about it."

Ben had wanted to join the army since he was 10 years old, following in the footsteps of his uncle, an army engineer. He joined at 17, three months before the September 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington. After three years and an uneventful stint in East Timor, he was desperate to put his training into action and to "make a difference". On the same day Ben landed in Kuwait bound for Iraq, he was told his wife, Tara, was pregnant.
click post title for the rest

Dark Cloud Hangs Over Fort Carson

There is a dark cloud hanging over Fort Carson along with Fort Drum and Fort Hood. The culture of use and abuse the wounded may finally be coming to an end as investigations into the conduct of the generals begins.

Soldiers seek Ft. Carson deployment probe
The Army will be asked to investigate generals for deploying ailing GIs.
By Erin Emery
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 03/07/2008 12:01:55 PM MST
Secretary of the Army Pete Geren will be asked today to convene a panel of officers to investigate "Army policies and practices which permit the deployment of medically unfit soldiers."

Spec. Bryan Currie, 21, of Charleston, S.C., will ask Geren to convene a Court of Inquiry — a rarely used administrative fact-finding process — to investigate top generals at Fort Carson; Fort Drum, N.Y.; and Fort Hood, Texas.

A Court of Inquiry is composed of at least three high-ranking military officers and can subpoena civilians. Geren can refuse the request.

"It's very important for the Army and very important for my clients. This is an investigation that is long overdue," said Louis Font, a Boston attorney who represents Currie and Spec. Alex Lotero, 21, a Fort Carson soldier from Miami.

The request says the Court of Inquiry should "investigate the extent to which the (generals) have been derelict in failing to provide for the health and welfare of wounded soldiers."

Font and Citizen Soldier, a veterans advocacy group, plan a news conference today in Watertown, N.Y. Copies of the request will be provided to the House Armed Services Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee, Font said.

Maj. Gen. Mark Graham, commander of Fort Carson since September 2007, said: "We have caring and competent commanders who make these decisions every day. I'm confident in our Soldier Readiness Processing site here at Fort Carson."
For the rest go here
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_8483271

I cannot begin to say how disappointed I am in Graham. When he took over Fort Carson, there seemed to be so much hope for things to turn around. He appeared to understand what PTSD was and what needed to be done. At least, what he said gave that impression. This is all just more of the same. More commanders too unable to become educated enough to understand this wound for what it is. More commanders who are not ashamed of the fact they are being seen as just too pig headed to learn facts. Far too many of them retain the mentality of blaming the wounded instead of seeing the wound. The rest of this is just part of what the people in his command are up against. I just hope this wakes them all up enough to finally come to terms with the reality of this wound before it's too late for more.
This is just some of the report.

"Not full-mission capable"
The request for the Court of Inquiry says the panel should be assembled on behalf of Currie and four Fort Carson soldiers. They include:

• Lotero, a soldier diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder "who was subjected to ridicule and threats for seeking medical attention." He said his commanders took his medications away from him, saying it was for his own safety. Lotero had received a 30 percent disability rating at Fort Carson for PTSD and traumatic brain injury. In June, three weeks before he was to leave the Army with a medical retirement, he deserted because he said harsh treatment from commanders made him feel as if he would harm himself or others. He was apprehended in Florida on Feb. 1 and spent 29 days in jail. He's now back at Fort Carson in a Warrior Transition Unit. He will undergo a new medical board process after his legal issues are settled



• Master Sgt. Denny Nelson, who had a severe foot injury and was deployed to Kuwait. A physician in Kuwait urged in an e-mail to the brigade surgeon that Nelson be sent back to the United States: "This soldier should NOT have even left CONUS (the U.S.). . . . In his current state, he is not full-mission capable, and in his current condition is a risk to further injury to himself, others and his unit."

• An unnamed Fort Carson soldier who was deployed from Cedar Springs psychiatric hospital in Colorado Springs before he could finish a 28-day treatment program for alcoholism. An Army e-mail, dated Dec. 14, 2007, shows the soldier was taking psychiatric medications, pending a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, "but that information was not passed on" before he was discharged.

• Staff Sgt. Chad Barrett, 35, a Fort Carson soldier from Saltville, Va., who died in Iraq on Feb. 2. The Army is investigating the cause of his death. "He allegedly was found not deployable by military medical personnel, but he was deployed anyway and reportedly committed suicide in Iraq in February 2008," the request says. Barrett's wife, Shelby, who lives in Fountain, said Thursday that she does not believe her husband killed himself. She said she believes he died of a heart-related ailment, a condition that runs in his family.

Currie said he served with the 10th Mountain Division for 10 months in Afghanistan. He was driving a vehicle that was blown up by a roadside bomb and suffered combat-related injuries, including post-traumatic stress disorder.

He returned with his unit to Fort Polk, La., but he said his commanders harassed him for being injured.

"I suffer from physical injuries incurred in combat. Military medical personnel found that I am not deployable. My commanders, however, disregarded the medical findings," Currie says in the request. "Also, I sought medical attention for PTSD but was rebuffed."

Currie left Fort Polk, La., and is considered to be AWOL from the Army. He plans to turn himself in today at Fort Drum, where the general who commands the 10th Mountain Division is stationed.

Screening for Redeployment Passes Muster
This is from yesterday's post


Erin Emery


Denver Post

Mar 06, 2008

March 6, 2008 - Fort Carson, CO — A month-long investigation by Fort Carson's inspector general has found that screening processes for soldiers returning to war are sound, according to Maj. Gen. Mark Graham, commanding general at Fort Carson.

The investigation found that a lag in paperwork prompted Fort Carson in January to report that 79 soldiers who were deemed medical "no-gos" at a screening site were deployed, though the actual number was much lower.

The inspector general's report focused on the base's Soldier Readiness Processing (SRP) site and did not address decisions by commanders to send injured troops, called "borderline" by a brigade surgeon, into war zones.

"The process of the SRP works fine, and the commander is the one who makes the decision on whether the soldier deploys or not," Graham said. "I'm convinced that the process is good."
go here for the rest
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9492

Washington Veterans Service Center provides assistance to veterans, families

The center is specifically reaching out to Vietnam veterans who have been diagnosed with certain cancers or Type 2 Diabetes. “There are both monetary and medical benefits owed to our Vietnam veterans,” said American Legion Service Officer, Doug Coulter. “All veterans who served on the ground in Vietnam are presumed to have been exposed to Agent Orange defoliant. This includes air crews that left their aircraft and naval ships that were in certain Vietnamese waters.”

Veterans Service Center provides assistance to veterans, families


Friday, March 7, 2008

A veterans’ service center has opened in South Kitsap on the grounds of the Washington Veterans Home at Retsil, just east of Port Orchard’s waterfront.

Funded and operated by the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) with support from the Federal Veterans Administration (VA), the center has three full-time service officers providing assistance to veterans and family members.

The American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars military service organizations are contracted by the state to have a service officer at the center. The third provider is employed by the State of Washington.

“While we each represent a different organization, we have built a seamless team and a seamless operation to ensure quality, enthusiastic service to our peninsula veterans,” said Steve Cline, the service center supervisor.

The center is actively filing claims for disability now, with clients ranging from veterans who are just leaving active duty, to veterans well into their 70s and 80s, and for surviving spouses of deceased veterans.
click post title for the rest

A fifth of soldiers at PTSD risk

A fifth of soldiers at PTSD risk

By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

More than five years of recycling soldiers through Iraq and Afghanistan's battlefields is creating record levels of mental health problems, as about three in 10 GIs on their third tour admit emotional illnesses, according to an Army study released Thursday.

Soldiers in combat suffering emotional issues and who saw friends killed were twice as likely to abuse civilians by kicking or hitting them, or destroying their property, the study shows. Half of those soldiers admitted unethical conduct compared with a quarter of all other soldiers in combat.

From 15% to 20% of all soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan show signs of depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), says the study of almost 2,300 soldiers finished last fall. That rate jumps to about 30% for soldiers who have been on three or four combat deployments.

The study, conducted by mental health teams from the Army Surgeon General's Office, is the fifth since the Iraq war began in March 2003.

"Mental health problems are just one of the cascading costs we're seeing after a five-year war," said Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who leads a Senate subcommittee on military personnel.

"Psychological wounds affect families, both emotionally and financially, just as much as physical wounds."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2008-03-06-soldier-stress_N.htm

One more reason to help out families like mine. Up until the last couple of years, the families have been forgotten in all of this. In the 90's the VA had support groups for the families and it helped to cope with the PTSD patient. I tried to volunteer at the Orlando VA when we moved down here but was told they stopped support groups because of money and wouldn't be starting them again. This shocked me because four years ago, we were looking at hundreds of thousands already. Now advocates are saying they could reach about 800,000 in the next couple of years as they come to understand what came home with them. If you really want to know how bad this is going to get all you need to do is take the Vietnam figures and then add in the increase risk of 50% for each deployment back into combat.

Canada recruiting 450 mental health pros

Military recruiting hundreds to combat PTSD
Updated Thu. Mar. 6 2008 10:36 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

The Canadian military's surgeon general went before the House of Commons Defence Committee Thursday to discuss serious mental health problems potentially affecting thousands of soldiers returning from Afghanistan.


Brig.-Gen. Hilary Jaeger told the committee that she is in the process of recruiting 450 mental health personnel to help Canada's army cope with addiction, depression, and post-traumatic stress (PTSD).


Psychological problems have become an increasingly important issue for the military in recent years as it has expanded its traditional peacekeeping status into a greater combat role.


According to a Department of National Defence website page last modified in 2004, anywhere from two to 15 per cent of soldiers "returning from a stressful mission" may be affected by PTSD. More recent reports suggest that as many as 25 per cent of troops come back home, after experiencing raw combat, with one or more mental health issue.


According to a Veterans Affairs briefing note obtained by The Canadian Press recently, "Over the past five years, the number of clients with a psychiatric condition has tripled, increasing from 3,501 to 10,252; the number of clients with a PTSD condition has more than tripled, increasing from 1,802 to 6,504 as of March 31, 2007."


Jaeger said the issue is "very, very serious."
click post title for the rest

When you look at the numbers in Canada, you also have to be fully aware of something not very obvious. Afghanistan, until the last few years, has not produced the same kind of violence, bombs and carnage as Iraq has since the invasion. Canadian forces are only involved with Afghanistan. Our troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have been rotated in and out of both occupations. So why is it that Canada is taking such proactive steps to take care of their troops and we are taking baby steps?

Prozac plus rifle plus Iraq ended Spc. Travis Virgadamo's life

Army struggles with rising suicide
A soldier's tale illustrates the prevention battle inside the service as 2007 set a new high for troops taking their own lives

By Dahleen Glanton and Aamer Madhani Tribune correspondents
March 3, 2008

PAHRUMP, Nev. - All Spec. Travis Virgadamo ever wanted was to be a soldier.

But two years after his father signed papers for him to enlist at age 17, things went terribly wrong. Last August, three months after arriving in Iraq, he walked outside his barracks and killed himself with his rifle.

When the news crackled over the Bonecrusher Troop's radio, 1st Lt. Kyle Graham knew immediately that it was Virgadamo, the troubled soldier who had been on suicide watch since June, when he threatened to kill himself while on patrol.

"I feel like we all had some responsibility to make sure this didn't happen," Graham said shortly after the incident. "It's our responsibility to make sure we take care of our fellow soldiers."

Virgadamo, whose case has been cited on the Senate floor and in congressional hearings, is a symbol of a growing problem facing the military as soldiers in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars face repeated and extended deployments.

Last year, 121 soldiers in the Army and active-duty National Guard and Reserves committed suicide, the largest number since the military began keeping records in 1980.

That is more than double the 52 suicides reported in 2001, the year the war in Afghanistan began, according to a recent Pentagon report. The report also cited 2,100 attempted suicides or self-inflicted injuries last year -- six times the 350 reported in 2002, prior to the start of the Iraq war.

Efforts fail to stunt rise

The numbers are rising despite efforts by the military to beef up its mental-health programs. Faced with growing scrutiny over those programs in Congress and the news media, the Army has sought to improve services for soldiers, spending more than $1 million last year on additional counselors, training and screening, Army officials said.

"We are concerned," said Col. Elspeth Ritchie, the Army's chief psychiatrist. "We are doing a lot already to assist in suicide prevention, but clearly we need to do more."

It is not uncommon to see an increase in suicides during war, said Coleen Boyle, an epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and co-author of a mortality study on Vietnam veterans.

The current suicides, one-quarter of which occurred in Iraq and Afghanistan, are due primarily to strained personal relationships exacerbated by repeated deployments that last up to 15 months, Ritchie said. That, coupled with the ready availability of firearms, often can become a deadly combination.

Ritchie said there is no indication that the stress of combat plays a major role in the suicides. But 19-year-old Virgadamo, his relatives said, was distressed over what he had seen in Iraq.

There were signs that he was having trouble long before he deployed. According to his grandmother, Katie O'Brien, Virgadamo had been sent to an anger-management program while in boot camp. She said he also was placed on suicide watch at the Army's Ft. Stewart in Georgia and prescribed the antidepressant Prozac shortly before he deployed. Last June, officials in Iraq placed him on suicide watch again.

Informed of Virgadamo's death, "I asked, 'How many others lost their life with him?'" said O'Brien, 65. "They stood there for a minute and took a deep breath and said, 'No others. It was self-inflicted.' I went ballistic, and I screamed, 'No, no no!'"
click post title for the rest

Virgadamo was so depressed he needed Prozac but they sent him anyway. He lasted three months when he used the rifle he had been handed to end his own pain by taking his own life. What's wrong with sending them into combat on medication? Ask his family. Ask the families of all the others who were given medication and a rifle what's wrong with it. While Congress felt the need to make sure if anyone is diagnosed with mental illness they should not have a gun permit, they see nothing wrong with putting soldiers with mental illness into a combat zone.

South Carolina National Guard Will Need Help Back Home

SC Guard prepares to transition soldiers back to community, jobs
By SUSANNE M. SCHAFER - Associated Press Writer


COLUMBIA, S.C. --Almost half of a state's National Guard soldiers need mental health treatment after they return from fighting, Pentagon studies show. That has South Carolina military officials gearing up for the springtime return of its 1,800 soldiers in Afghanistan.

"They've seen some bad things, and left untreated, that could create some problems down the road," says Lt. Col. Taube Roy, the officer in charge of a new program designed to ease the transition of the members of the 218th Brigade Combat Team from wartime wariness to hometown normality.

Last summer's deployment of the Newberry-based unit ranks as the state's largest such troop movement since World War II.

"We have to help the soldiers who had to become 'warrior-citizens' turn back into 'citizen-soldiers,'" Roy explained recently to a military group organizing the soldiers' welcome home. "In combat situations, they had to have a 'battle mind' at all times - always carry their weapon, be alert for the enemy. Back home, it isn't like that. There are no enemies."

Dubbed "The Road Home," the Guard program invites family members, employers, government leaders, health care providers, law enforcement officials and local clergy to a series of briefings and celebrations designed to teach them how to ease the soldiers' transition - and understand what problems might crop up.

Pentagon studies show about 44 percent of a state's National Guard soldiers may require mental health treatment some three to six months after they return. About 14 percent of those will be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

While there may be a euphoric homecoming, Roy said problems often don't crop up for weeks or months.

"We're getting into what's known as the 'collateral damage,'" Roy said, using the military term for unintended injuries accompanying a military operation.
go here for the rest
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/575/story/374004.html

12-month recovery time between deployments noted as ‘insufficient’

This study, the fifth survey of soldiers, also showed that rates of combat stress disorders and depression are nearly the same among troops recently returning from Afghanistan as those returning from Iraq, a change from previous research which had shown slightly lower in Afghanistan.

12-month recovery time between deployments noted as ‘insufficient’
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, March 7, 2008



WASHINGTON — Soldiers with three or more combat tours show increased rates of mental health problems, in part because they aren’t getting enough dwell time between deployments, according to new data from the Army.

Results from the 2007 Mental Health Advisory Team study, which surveyed almost 2,300 soldiers returning from Iraq and nearly 700 more from Afghanistan, noted nearly 28 percent of soldiers returning from their third tour showed signs of significant stress and mental health problems.

That’s well above the roughly 18 percent rate seen in troops returning from their first or second deployment.

Col. Charles Hoge, director of psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, told members of a Senate health panel Wednesday at least part of the problem is the recovery time for troops.

The study notes that 12 months between deployments is “insufficient to reset the mental health of soldiers” and that some post-traumatic stress disorder cases can take up to a year after deployment to manifest themselves.

“It’s also important to keep in mind the length of deployment,” Hoge said. “When the Army deploys longer, they probably need more recovery time afterwards.”
go here for the rest
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=53120

Jamie Leigh Jones case against KBR should go to court

Attys: Iraq Rape Case Belongs in Court
By JUAN A. LOZANO – 22 hours ago

HOUSTON (AP) — A woman who says co-workers raped her while she was a contractor in Iraq should have her case tried in court, not settled in private arbitration, her lawyer told a federal judge Wednesday.

In a federal lawsuit, Jamie Leigh Jones says she was drugged, raped and held against her will in a storage locker while working for KBR Inc., then a subsidiary of Halliburton Co., in 2005.

As part of her employment, Jones agreed to settle claims against the company in arbitration. But she never imagined such claims would include being imprisoned in a storage locker, said one of her attorneys, L. Todd Kelly.

Attorneys for Halliburton and KBR argued that the contract Jones signed binds her to settle all claims — including claims of sexual assault — against her former employer through arbitration.

Halliburton attorney W. Carl Jordan said that because the purported attack is said to have happened in Halliburton-provided barracks, it ties any claims Jones makes to her employment.

Attorneys for Halliburton, KBR and other subsidiaries that have been sued have disputed Jones' allegations. KBR split from Halliburton last year.

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison is expected to rule at a later date.

Jones sued in May, saying she was raped by co-workers at Camp Hope, Baghdad, in 2005
click post title for the rest

Since when has a crime like rape, gang rape on top of that, been considered an arbitration case instead of a crime?

5,771,000 expected at VA in 2009

Veterans Affairs Health Dept. Undersecretary addresses House Appropriations Subcommittee
March 6th, 2008 by Staff · No Comments
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs met today to discuss the FY2009 budget for Veterans Affairs.

Chairman of the committee Chef Edwards (D-TX) briefly introduced the panelist and commended the efforts of Veterans Affairs in providing medical treatment for injured vets.

Undersecretary for the Health Dept. of Veterans Affairs Michael Kussman spoke on the President’s FY2009 budget which sets aside $41.2 billion for Veterans Affairs (VA) medical care—a $2.3 billion increase over the 2008 budget. He spoke of the need to implement recommendations offered by the Dole-Shalala Commission which he said provide a powerful outline to ensuring that military personnel injured during the “Global War on Terror” receive the necessary aid and medical assistance. He said the 2009 budget request will achieve two main goals of the VA: 1. to provide “timely, accessible, and high-quality health care [to their] highest priority patients,” and 2. to advance “collaborative efforts with the Department of Defense (DoD).”

He also promised to provide “compassionate care” for veterans suffering from mental health issues such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He said that VA expects to treat about 5,771,000 patients in 2009. Kussman also said that in April 2006, over 250,000 “unique” patients were waiting more than 30 days to receive their treatment but that as of January 2001, that figure has been reduced to just over 69,000.

http://talkradionews.com/2008/03/veterans-affairs-
health-dept-undersecretary-addresses-house-appropriations-subcommittee/



Dole-Shalala Commission has been looked at and it should not be done. It falls short of what is really needed. The other thing is none of them will be held accountable when they are out of office next year.

US Troops buying their own gear? Is this supporting them?

U.S. troops buy own gear for safety, style
By Patrik Jonsson
Thu Mar 6, 3:00 AM ET

FORT BENNING, Ga. - Commando Military Supply on Victory Drive here is about as different from a musty Army surplus store as you can imagine.

More REI than M.A.S.H., Commando is regularly jam-packed with deploying grunts and sergeants, poking around for custom gear including $200 flashlights, $150 Oakley protective sunglasses, $180 Thinsulate boots, and $20 thermal socks.

"When you're comfortable and you know where all your gear is, it makes you a better fighter," says Lt. Tucker Knie, an Army Ranger perusing custom ammo pouches and techno-fiber socks. "You don't want to be rummaging around in your pocket during a firefight."

The traditional Army credo is that it's guts that win the glory — not fancy long-johns or Oakley sunglasses. But that old-school thinking is wicking away like perspiration through Gore-Tex as US soldiers today go beyond military-issue battle dress uniforms in favor of top-of-the-line gear to help them get home in one piece — and look sharp, too.

One reason, critics say, is that military procurement, especially of life-saving equipment, is still too slow. Quietly, however, the Pentagon — with the Army leading the charge — has begun bypassing rigid procurement rules, loosening uniformity requirements, and even spearheading technical innovations in gear, ranging from flame-retardant shirts to low-infrared signature zippers.

"The idea now is, 'If it helps Joe do the mission, let him have it — as long as it's not hot pink,' " says Army veteran Logan Coffey, founder of Tactical Tailor, a custom-maker of packs and pouches in Lakewood, Wash. "It's a giant change" in the military mind-set, he says in a phone interview.

In some cases, charity groups have stepped in to help. Operation Helmet, founded by Bob Meaders of Montgomery, Texas, shipped special helmet liners to soldiers to replace what many soldiers said were poorly designed helmet pads issued by the Army and the Marines. Just as Operation Helmet thought its work was done late last year, more requests came in from troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

click post title for the rest

Also remember the pants that split in the crotch? Yep!

The $2 Trillion Nightmare

The $2 Trillion Nightmare

By BOB HERBERT
Published: March 4, 2008
We’ve been hearing a lot about “Saturday Night Live” and the fun it has been having with the presidential race. But hardly a whisper has been heard about a Congressional hearing in Washington last week on a topic that could have been drawn, in all its tragic monstrosity, from the theater of the absurd.

The war in Iraq will ultimately cost U.S. taxpayers not hundreds of billions of dollars, but an astonishing $2 trillion, and perhaps more. There has been very little in the way of public conversation, even in the presidential campaigns, about the consequences of these costs, which are like a cancer inside the American economy.

On Thursday, the Joint Economic Committee, chaired by Senator Chuck Schumer, conducted a public examination of the costs of the war. The witnesses included the Nobel Prize-winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz (who believes the overall costs of the war — not just the cost to taxpayers — will reach $3 trillion), and Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International.

click post title for the rest

What is really strange is that in a time when a President committed troops into two foreign nations to wage war, he cut taxes for the rich. We now have more billionaires than we did before Afghanistan was invaded and before Iraq was invaded. What we also have is higher debt, less services for the American people, but the most troubling aspect of all of this is there is less for the wounded and for the veterans of both military actions the same President not only ordered but demanded the right to continue both of them as he pleases. Doesn't make much sense does it? No one in their right mind would treat the troops or the veterans this way and then further the assault on them by saying everyone else in the country has to support him if they want to claim they support the troops.

We have less doctors and nurses working for the DOD and the VA than we did before 9-11. There are less service representatives. There are less mental health professionals. There are less IT processors working on claims. All the way around there are more veterans and wounded veterans needing help and less to take care of them. But this has all been ok to the GOP in office and not worth raising hell about for the Democrats. When it comes to supporting the troops when it really does matter to them, we suck at it. We would have demanded a lot more out of the Congress a long time ago if we were really supporting the troops.

Boston:YMCA housing for men in need is called deplorable

YMCA housing for men in need is called deplorable
By David Abel
Globe Staff / March 6, 2008
There have been rat droppings on the old, musty carpet and frequent mouse sightings near holes in the pocked, plaster walls. For months, exterminators have fought an infestation of bedbugs, which left at least one client with bite marks so bad he was treated at a hospital. Watermarks stain the aging ceiling, and some window frames are so old and ill-fitting that duct tape was used to stop drafts. In bathrooms, many of the urinals, toilets, and sinks are out of order.


Officials at the Cardinal Medeiros Transitional Program say they have complained about the conditions for years, but they contend that the YMCA Greater Boston, their landlord in the century-old building on Huntington Avenue, has ignored them while investing in top-of-the-line equipment for its gym. They accuse the Y of neglecting the 63 formerly homeless men who live there after an effort to terminate the program's lease failed four years ago.

Now, program officials are threatening to withhold state lease payments to cover the cost of renovations, which they estimate could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"It's deplorable, an unacceptable situation, the conditions these folks are living in," said Joe McPherson, director of homeless and housing services at Kit Clark Senior Services, which supervises the Medeiros program. "This is not a way people should live. It's so disrespectful. These folks are working, saving money, and they're living in a setting that neither you nor I would accept."
click post title for the rest

Veterans Voices Casualty of war

Casualty of war
By Kevin Cullen
Globe Columnist / March 6, 2008
There was a time, back in the 1950s, when they were in the Navy together, that Tony Flaherty and Wacko Hurley were the best of friends.

When they got back to South Boston, the place where they were born and where they remain, they drank together at the old Chiefs club, a sailors' hangout on Summer Street.

When Flaherty got married at St. Augustine's, Hurley stood at the altar with him, his best man. When Flaherty's first child was born, Hurley was godfather.

But something happened. Wacko Hurley went back to civilian life. Tony Flaherty, a career Navy man, went off to war, this time in Vietnam, and he came back a changed man. One day, he was walking down a dirt road, as a gaggle of Vietnamese kids straggled by, fleeing a village destroyed by American fire.

"One of the kids, a boy, had lost a leg," Tony Flaherty was saying, sitting in his apartment on East Broadway. "I had an epiphany that day."

Flaherty, a military man his entire adult life, had become suddenly, implacably opposed to war. Not long after, they airlifted him out of Nam. He left the Navy with the rank of lieutenant and something called post traumatic stress disorder. "I went cuckoo," he said.

He came back to Southie and tried to pick up the pieces. But he kept picking up a bottle. Eventually he got sober and with a clear head became even more opposed to war, more convinced of its folly, furious over the fact that the sons and daughters of the rich and powerful mostly stayed home while others fight the wars started by the rich and powerful. He worked for a program that got veterans housing and help for substance-abuse problems.

He joined a national organization called Veterans for Peace and, closer to home, a group called South Boston Residents for Peace. Five years ago, as US forces prepared to invade Iraq, Flaherty and his friends asked to march in the St. Patrick's Day parade in Southie. He found himself seeking the permission of his old pal Wacko Hurley, the longtime parade organizer.

Wacko told them to get lost.

"He called us commies," Flaherty said.
go here for the rest
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/03/06/casualty_of_war/

Orlando hires VA Bill Vagianos for homeless prevention

City taps VA official to fight homelessness
March 6, 2008
ORLANDO - Orlando has hired a new administrator whose job is to reduce the number of homeless people in the city.

The City Council this week approved a two-year, $77,000-a-year employment contract with Bill Vagianos, who spent seven years coordinating homeless programs at the Veterans Affairs medical center in Orlando.

Vagianos, 58, will be the city's homeless-prevention coordinator, responsible for coordinating services from government agencies, nonprofit groups and community organizations, as well as developing programs and seeking grant funds.
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61 Year Old Dr. Willilam Krissoff enlisted after son's death

Orthopedic Surgeons Treat ‘Signature’ War Wounds In IraqBy MedHeadlines • Mar 6th, 2008 • Category: Lifestyle, Odd MedNews, Orthopedics, Surgery
After learning that his 25-year-old son had been killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq, Dr. William Krissoff left his orthopedic practice in Nevada and signed up with the Navy Medical Corp Reserves. The 61 year old surgeon is part of a growing number of orthopedic surgeons who are committed to going to Iraq to help treat the devastating musculoskeletal injuries that have become the “signature” wounds in the war.

In a report presented Wednesday at the 75th Annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, Dr. Kissoff and his colleagues described the unique challenges posed by the injuries in this war. “Modern war produces devastating high energy wounds,” explained Dr. D.C. Covey, chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Naval Medical Center in San Diego. “Whether due to rocket propelled grenades, bombs or improvised explosive devices, the wounds are extremely challenging to treat.”

Due to improvements in body armor which safeguard the head and torso, military orthopedic surgeons are seeing a group of extremity wounds that were not frequently seen in soldiers from previous conflicts. Seven out of ten people who sustain battlefield injuries suffer from musculoskeletal trauma.

“The field of regenerative medicine offers great potential to improve the treatment of patients with severe war injuries,” said Dr. Covey. Military orthopedic surgeons agree that additional research and resources are needed to further advance orthopedic care for the severely injured to improve their chances of living a full life.

Source: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS)

http://medheadlines.com/2008/03/06/orthopedic-surgeons-
treat-signature-war-wounds-in-iraq/

Truckee physician commits to combat after eldest son is killed in Iraq

Guidance from his sons
By Andrew Cristancho, Sierra Sun Staff Writer
» More from Andrew Cristancho, Sierra Sun Staff Writer
12:01 a.m. PT Dec 8, 2007

There's a determination in Bill Krissoff's voice. It is conveyed with a calm cadence that cracks once with emotion as he speaks of his son, a Marine lieutenant whose injuries from an Iraqi roadside bomb couldn't be repaired in time.

Now Krissoff's Truckee office is shuttered. His wife has come to terms with his nearing departure. All that is left for Krissoff, a 61-year-old orthopedic surgeon, is to head to Iraq where young Marines, broken from battle, will be tended by his experienced hands.

Marine 1st Lt. Nathan Krissoff's death, only a year past, galvanized his father's determination to go to war as a healer.

At a time when most successful doctors his age are settling into retirement, the fit surgeon is making one of the most monumental decisions of his life and heading to war.

In his sixth decade, Krissoff, who could pass for 41, squares his chin and with large eyes looking at a point in the distance, proudly speaks of his son.

Fathers usually inspire sons into action, to achieve life goals. But in this family that relationship was turned upside down when Dr. Krissoff received news of his older son's death.

Nathan Krissoff died on Dec. 9, 2006, in Al Anbar province. He was 25.

Now the fallen Marine's father is committed to a mission, one that carries even more than the memory of Nathan. Krissoff's youngest son, Austin, is also an officer in the Corps.
go here for the rest

http://www.theunion.com/article/20071208/NEWS/112080178

Why does the Pentagon keep two sets of books on wounded?

Care for Injured Vets Raises Questions
By BRADLEY BROOKS – 1 hour ago

BAGHDAD (AP) — The number of wounded soldiers has become a hallmark of the nearly 5-year-old Iraq war, pointing to both the use of roadside bombs as the extremists' weapon of choice and advances in battlefield medicine to save lives.

About 15 soldiers are wounded for every fatality, compared with 2.6 per death in Vietnam and 2.8 in Korea.

But with those saved soldiers comes a financial price — one veterans groups and others claim the government is unwilling to pay.

Those critics also say that the tens of thousands of soldiers wounded in Iraq are part of a political numbers game, one they say undermines the medical system meant to care for them.

The most frequently cited figure is the 29,320 soldiers wounded in action in Iraq as of Thursday. But there have been 31,325 others treated for non-combat injuries and illness as of March 1.

"The Pentagon keeps two sets of books," said Linda Bilmes, a professor at Harvard and an expert on budgeting and public finance whose newly published book, "The Three Trillion Dollar War," was co-authored with Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.

"It is important to understand the full number of casualties because the U.S. government is responsible for paying disability compensation and medical care for all our troops, regardless of how they were injured," Bilmes said.

Veterans Affairs predicts it will treat 330,000 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan in 2009 — a 14 percent increase over the 2008 estimate of 263,000 — at a cost of nearly $1.3 billion.
go here for the rest
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j2oUYYnB7xtpN6eyOV0lmnjkTScwD8V83JFG1

They need to expect over half a million and even more than that if this keeps up. It would also be very interesting to find out why the Pentagon thinks they should keep two sets of books. This didn't explain it.

Bad news on Army Mental Health. Is McCain Listening?

Latest Army Mental Health Survey Brings More Bad News -- Is McCain Listening?
Posted March 6, 2008 12:46 PM (EST)

Today's release of the Army's latest mental health survey provides very little to be happy about. In the past, I've talked repeatedly about mental injuries in war, so I won't rehash all of that again. But here are the highlights from today's report:

Despite all the talk about how wonderful things are in Iraq, the overwhelming majority of troops in Iraq continue to say that morale in their units and their own morale is low. Just 11 percent reported that their unit's morale was "high or very high." Only 20 percent said their own morale was "high or very high."

Afghanistan, which is quickly becoming the 'forgotten war' for Bush/McCain, is finding a worsening of the mental health among our troops there. Preliminary reports are that there has been a rise in the amount of troops in Afghanistan reporting depression. In Iraq, troops report the same level of depression as last year.

Combined, the findings are highly troubling. What it tells me, and any person with an elementary school education, is that for all the talk of success in Iraq, the troops aren't feeling that, at all. At the same time, we're crushing our troops in Afghanistan, who have done heroic work there with little help, but now are feeling increasingly overwhelmed.
click above for the rest

VA claims there are less homeless veterans now?

There are fewer homeless vets, VA estimates

By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 6, 2008 12:04:57 EST

WASHINGTON — The number of homeless veterans has declined to just over 150,000, the government says.

The Veterans Affairs Department estimates that on any given night last year, 154,000 veterans were homeless, about a 20 percent decrease from 195,827 in the agency’s 2006 estimate.

The decrease comes even as Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are trickling into shelters. VA has seen about 500 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in homeless-specific programs, and the number is increasing as the pool of troops who fought in the wars grows, said Pete Dougherty, VA’s director of homeless programs.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/ap_homelessvets_030608/

They can say what they want to say, but they'll have to actually prove it this time. We suddenly dropped from over 300,000 to less than 200,000. Now they are saying the numbers dropped again. If they have the data to prove this then there has to be data on where all the homeless veterans went. Show us the data! Then we may believe it.

Heartlessness feeds the homeless problem

Heartlessness feeds the homeless problem
by Lewis W. Diuguid
Some teenage girls popped through the sunroof of a limousine and yelled something unprintable at me from Cleaver Boulevard near Main Street.

A yellow school bus followed with teenage boys screaming, “Have you killed anyone yet?”

Hurtful and compassionless comments have always occurred in the more than 10 years I’ve worn old clothes — including an old army coat — on my annual sojourns into homelessness.

In the Main Street median were two persons I wanted to talk to. Danielle’s backpack rested near her on the snow-covered ground.

Bundled in an oversized coat, she faced northbound traffic near the turn lane “flying a sign.” It said “Homeless. Hungry. Need Help.”

In the other median appealing to southbound Main Street traffic was Bill, a homeless veteran. He had a salt-and-pepper beard, large coat, a huge duffel bag and a hand-made sign saying, “Homeless vet. Need Help. God Bless.”

A woman in a passing car handed Bill a dollar. A man gave Danielle some change. Each recipient was grateful.

In the last year, I have noticed more homeless people in midtown, Westport, the Plaza and south Kansas City. It’s as if the new Sprint Arena, the Power and Light District and upscale downtown housing have caused people living on the street to migrate south.

Some agencies offering services to the homeless weren’t so sure. Others have noticed a definite trend.
go here for the rest
http://www.kansascity.com/278/story/517256.html

Fox Attacks wants to know where O'Reilly's GI Bill is

Hey Bill O’Reilly: Where’s “Your” GI Bill?
By DJK
You may remember that Bill O’Reilly — in response to the heaps of criticism he received for denying the existence of homeless veterans, then claiming that America’s roughly 500,000 homeless vets deserve to be homeless because they’re substance-addicted and mentally ill and that the government doesn't owe homeless vets anything — magnanimously announced that he had discovered that America needs a new and improved G.I. Bill and that veterans are not getting the assistance they need. Acting as if it were his idea, BOR announced:


“WE [that’s the BOR royal ‘we’] are proposing a new G.I. bill with the help of Rep. Peter King (R-NY) and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) that will provide important new benefits for G.I.’s after they leave the service.”

This bill had not even been drafted, but BOR promised to “monitor” its creation and harass any politician who opposed it. When it eventually existed.

That BOR would actually pretend that a new G.I. Bill was somehow his idea is an ego trip of Kanye West-type proportions, as well as an outright lie and a ridiculously inefficient way to help homeless vets who are suffering RIGHT NOW. So what will BOR claim (if he decides to report it) that Sen. James Webb, on his first day in office in January 2007, proposed a new G.I. bill that is “a mirror of the World War II G.I. Bill” and that just five days after BOR’s “big announcement”, Webb, Chuck Hagel (R-NE), and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) held a press conference calling for its implementation?

Senators Jim Webb (D-VA), Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) today joined representatives of the nation’s leading veterans’ organizations to advocate comprehensive educational benefits for post-9/11 veterans in the fiscal year 2009 budget. The groups unveiled their Independent Budget to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs earlier in the day, advocating a “21st Century GI Bill,” similar to the Webb-Hagel bill (S.22) that enjoys widespread support in Congress.



This is the first time in twenty-two years of presenting an Independent Budget to Congress that the participating veterans’ organizations have advocated a new, comprehensive GI Bill, as opposed to a mere enhancement. –snip-

“This independent budget represents the voices of our nation’s veterans’ service organizations who truly understand the costs of war,” said Senator Webb. “These advocates have called for a ‘21st Century GI Bill’ that provides returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with benefits that respect their service and reward their sacrifice like the WWII veterans that came before them.”
go here for the rest
http://foxattacks.com/blog/31512-hey-bill-o-reilly-where-s-your-g-i-bill

We all want to know what he's doing about anything besides talking about it.

PTSD Netherlands Rewind Technique

On January 31st Human Givens Nederland launched its program of activities in the Netherlands with a 2-day Introduction workshop in Amersfoort, a city not far from Utrecht and Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. This introductory workshop was followed by a third day on Post-Traumatic Stress disorder and the ‘rewind technique’.

The 10 participants who took part in these workshops were from many different walks of life – counselling, coaching and therapy, social work and teaching, from business and studies at university.

With a natural balance between learning about the theoretical principles behind the Human Givens ‘organising idea’ and actual ‘hands-on’ experience in some of the Human Given techniques, the participants felt they had a much better sense about these strange new ‘Human Givens’ that seem to be being imported from the U.K.!

The HG Netherlands team stated: “We are looking forward to many more of those delighted exclamations that came to us during these first workshops. It was a real pleasure for us to watch as each person started realising, for him or herself, just how universal and immediately applicable the Human Givens ideas are in all our different walks of life and living.

We know, without a doubt, that the Human Givens organising idea translates perfectly well into Dutch and the Dutch culture – and into any language for that matter!”

Many thanks and congratulations to all the HG Nederlands team: Jenny Wakelin, Marieke Uiterwijk, Renee van der Vloodt, Robin Temple and Sander van der Velde for making this new enterprise such a success, and good luck for the future of HG Nederlands!
http://www.mindfields.org.uk/blog/?p=187

When I started to do the videos on PTSD, on of the first request to use them came from the Netherlands.

I work as a psychologist at the faculty of psychology of the Erasmus University Rotterdam (The Netherlands).On the internet I stumbeled upon your video about PTSD. I would like to ask your permission to use this video on our website for stricty educational purposes.

Kind regards,Drs Arjen Karel

This was two years ago. They have been ahead of us on PTSD and open to new ways to treat it as well as how to reach people needing help.

Explosive Device At Military Recruit Station Is Sick Act

Blast damages Times Square recruit station

By Derek Rose - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 6, 2008 7:26:51 EST

NEW YORK — An explosive device caused minor damage to an empty military recruiting station in Times Square early Thursday, shaking guests in hotel rooms high above.

Police blocked off the area to investigate the explosion, which occurred at about 3:45 a.m., shattering the station’s glass entryway. No one was injured.

“If it is something that’s directed toward American troops, then it’s something that’s taken very seriously and is pretty unfortunate,” said Army Capt. Charlie Jaquillard, who is the commander of Army recruiting in Manhattan.

He said no one was inside the station, where the Marines, Air Force and Navy also recruit.

Witnesses staying at a Marriott hotel four blocks away said they could feel the building shake with the blast.

“I was up on the 44th floor and I could feel it. It was a big bang,” said Darla Peck, 25, of Portland, Ore.

“It shook the building. I thought it could have been thunder, but I looked down and there was a massive plume of smoke, so I knew it was an explosion,” said Terry Leighton, 48, of London, who was staying on the 21st floor of the Marriott.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/ap_timessquare_030608/

While it is really too soon to know who did this and why they did this, it raises a good question. How can people say they want to seek peaceful means to withdraw the troops from Iraq yet act in violence? It's one thing to have an opinion and speak out but to do this was unacceptable no matter what is behind it. It could have been someone with a grudge against the recruiting center itself. It could have been someone who lost someone they loved and blames the recruiting center. It could also have been someone who is not involved in any group at all. We don't know yet what was behind it. I don't care how people feel about having troops in Iraq when someone decides to do something like this. I'm on their side when it comes to what has happened involving Iraq but when it comes to taking it out through violence, it is just plain wrong. I know people on both sides of the Iraq debate and they have the troops in the center of what they do. I hope people on both sides denounce this act of violence.

The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007

Subject: Your help needed to support Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity Legislation Federal and State

Thank you to those of who have already sent letters supporting the State Mental Health Parity & Substance Abuse legislation, over 200 individuals have already done so.Today the bill was passed through the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.
If you haven’t already please take a moment today and send a letter by email or mail to Governor Charlie Crist, Senate President Ken Pruitt, House Speaker Marco Rubio, Representative Aaron Bean of the House Healthcare Council, Senator Rhonda Storms of the Senate Children, Families, and Elders Committee and to your local legislative delegation. This letter should register your support for mental health and substance abuse parity legislation.
Ask these leaders to act on this critical issue during the upcoming legislative session.In addition, we are encouraging you to Please forward the below message about tomorrow’s vote on H.R. 1424 the Federal Parity Bill, “The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007” to your networks today.Thank you!
The full U.S. House is scheduled to vote on H.R. 1424, “The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007,” late tomorrow, Wednesday, March 5th.
Please call your U.S. Representatives in D.C. today and ask them to vote for passage of H.R. 1424 and to oppose any amendments that would weaken the legislation. Find your Members of Congress by visiting www.congress.org or by calling the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.H.R. 1424, introduced by Representatives Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN), seeks to eliminate discrimination in insurance coverage by requiring group health plans that currently offer coverage for drug and alcohol addiction and mental illness to provide those benefits in the same way as benefits provided to all other medical and surgical procedures covered by the plan.In addition, H.R.1424 contains the following four key provisions:
Protection of State laws: H.R. 1424 contains clear language stating that stronger State laws are protected and not preempted.

Out-of-network benefits: H.R. 1424 requires where there is out-of-network coverage for medical and surgical conditions, that there is also an out-of-network option for substance use disorders and mental illness.

Transparency:H.R. 1424 requires that plans make medical necessity criteria and reasons for any denials of reimbursement available to participants and beneficiaries upon request.

Requirement for covered conditions: H.R. 1424 would cover all the conditions and disorders in the DSM-IV.

Please call your U.S. House Members today and ask them to vote for H.R. 1424 tomorrow on the House floor.

Shame on Fort Drum Maj. Gen. Michael Oates

Drum to publish names of substance offenders

By William Kates - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Mar 5, 2008 20:20:10 EST

FORT DRUM, N.Y. — Upset with an increase in the number of 10th Mountain Division soldiers using illegal drugs and being arrested for alcohol-related offenses, Fort Drum will begin publishing the names and photos of offenders in its post newspaper, says commander Maj. Gen. Michael Oates.

Starting with the front page of Thursday’s edition, the Fort Drum Blizzard will feature photographs of the 45 soldiers who have been charged with DWI since Jan. 1. The names and photographs of soldiers committing such offenses will become a regular feature in the paper, although not on the front page.

“I don’t take this step lightly and I realize that there will be people offended by this,” Oates said. “But apparently talking to them is not deterring this behavior, and financial penalties are not deterring this behavior.

“I understand soldier culture well enough ... I may not understand youngster culture well enough ... but I think they would probably not be happy with this public recognition of their misconduct,” said Oates.

Department of Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Anne Edgecomb said Fort Bliss officials publish the names of those convicted of drunk driving offenses but she knew of no other Army installations publicizing the names of those arrested and their photos.

“Soldiers must live the Army values on and off duty. This requires discipline. Commanders at all levels are charged with maintaining discipline in their units. Addressing an issue before it becomes a larger problem is the right thing to do,” Edgecomb said.

Oates said there has been an “unacceptable” increase of substance abuse on the northern New York Army post over the last three months, although he did not provide any specific numbers.

Army-wide there were 4,621 incidents of active duty soldiers driving under the influence in 2006, the last year for which the Army has complete statistics, or about 2.3 per 1,000 soldiers, according to records. About 95 percent of those involved alcohol, according to Army records.

Despite the division’s frequent combat deployments, Oates was reluctant to blame the recent increase in substance abuse on those deployments, or the mental stresses that accompany them. Oates said Fort Drum officials have noted increased use of marijuana and cocaine among initial entry soldiers who have yet to be deployed.

“I think it is more generational and cultural at this point,” Oates said. “And I really don’t care in a lot of ways. Because in our (Army) culture we believe in discipline and it is against the law to use these drugs and to drive intoxicated. So regardless of your circumstances we are not going to tolerate this kind of behavior.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/ap_drumoffenders_030508/

Does he understand that the men and women under his command are not normal people who decide to drink and drive just because they can? Doesn't he understand these men and women cared so much about other people they were willing to lay down their lives in service to them? How could he even begin to think they would so callous about drunk driving they would do it intentionally without any reason behind it?

Substance abuse, or should I say substance use, is a form of self-medicating. If he knows nothing about PTSD then he needs to get educated fast! The 10th have endured some of the worst conditions over and over again. If he thinks putting their picture in the Fort Drum Blizzard will solve the problem he lives in fantasy land.

Shame on him and anyone else in command positions thinking so little about the men and women they command that they assume it's the soldiers who are all wrong. Fort Drum has a big problem coming to terms with PTSD and until they get it into their brain this is a wound and start to treat it like one, there will be many more suffering and more using alcohol and drugs to kill off flashbacks and calm nerves. Trying to shame someone for doing what they feel forced to do to cope is only adding to the shame the military chain of command has already done to them. Shame on Maj. Gen. Michael Oates. It's not the "youngster culture" he does not understand. It's the wound he does not understand!

Walsh Middle School Students Have Warm Hearts For Homeless Vets

Olivia Agostinelli,, left and Ting Ting Ge, students at Walsh Middle School in Framingham sort socks during sock drive held by their school in Framingham to help homeless veterans in the Newton area.

Sock it to 'em: Students hold sock drive for homeless veterans
By John Hilliard/Daily News staff
GHS
Posted Mar 06, 2008 @ 12:32 AM
Last update Mar 06, 2008 @ 12:54 AM

Walsh Middle schoolers have collected more than 1,000 pairs of new socks for homeless veterans as part of a community service effort.

Sixth-grade teacher Judy McEntegert said the school has been collecting socks for about five years through the Warm Feet, Warm Hearts program. Students took three weeks to gather the socks, which will go to the Jewish War Veterans Post 211 in Newton.

"It makes me very happy," said Philip Geller, a member of the veterans group who fought in World War II. "I see how pleased (veterans) are, that they'll have (a new) pair of socks on their feet."

The socks will be included with special toiletry bags to hand out through homeless veterans organizations.

"We depend quite a lot on these small children," said Geller.

Walsh holds a veterans appreciation day during the fall, said McEntegert, where students can learn more from the local heroes. Today's middle schoolers - kids who grew up during a time of war in Afghanistan and Iraq - may not have realized some veterans don't have a home after serving their country, she said.
go here for the rest
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x1370087753

PTSD question follows McCain as "Senator Hothead"

It doesn't come easy for battle-scarred McCain
Reuters Wednesday, 05 March 2008
Stuff.co.nz - New Zealand
John McCain secured the Republican presidential nomination as the ultimate survivor – winning it eight years after his first failed attempt and decades after cheating death in the Vietnam War.


Easy to laugh and easy to anger, McCain carries with him the scars of battle in both armed conflict as a naval pilot and in the political wars of Washington as a US senator from Arizona.

The 71-year-old McCain would be the oldest American ever elected to a first presidential term if he is able to defeat the Democrats' choice in the November election. He is also a cancer survivor, having undergone surgery for two malignant melanomas in 2000.

Polls initially put him in a strong position to compete against either Democrat Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton.

That would seem at least in part a credit to a strategy aimed at attracting independent and moderate voters rather than exclusively courting the Republican Party's right wing.

On the campaign trail, he often travels with his wife, Cindy, and has a repertoire of old jokes that he tells repeatedly, such as, it is so dry in Arizona that the trees chase the dogs.

Or there was one about the man who came up to him and said, "'Did anybody ever tell you, you look like Senator John McCain?' I said yes. He said, 'Doesn't that make you mad as heck?"'

A hawk on military matters, McCain served as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee when Republicans held control of the Senate in recent years and is now a ranking member for the minority party.

Sometimes known by his colleagues as "Senator Hothead," McCain can be quick to lose his temper, which is what happened last May when he and Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn quarrelled over the details of proposals to deal with illegal immigration.

"(Expletive) you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room," McCain was said to have told Cornyn.

go here for the rest

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4426573a12.html

It's almost as if he thinks he deserves to be President because he is a veteran. We all know what he did since he got into the Senate and he has not been a good veteran. Voting against veterans should remove any doubt that when it comes to veterans, his record speaks too loudly.

Troop mental health suffering in Afghanistan

Troop Depression on Rise in Afghanistan
By PAULINE JELINEK – 6 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. troop morale improved in Iraq last year, but soldiers fighting in Afghanistan suffered more depression as violence there worsened, an Army mental health report says.

And in a recurring theme for a force strained by its seventh year at war, the annual battlefield study found once again that soldiers on their third and fourth tours of duty had sharply greater rates of mental health problems than those on their first or second deployments, according to several officials familiar with the report.

All spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the findings ahead of the study's release Thursday.

The report was drawn from the work of a team of mental health experts who traveled to the wars last fall and surveyed more than 2,200 soldiers in Iraq and nearly 900 in Afghanistan. In the fifth such effort, the team also gathered information from more than 400 medical professionals, chaplains, psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health workers serving with the troops.

Officials said they found rates of mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and post-combat stress were similar to those found the previous year in Iraq, when nearly 30 percent of troops on repeat tours said they suffered a problem.
click post title for the rest

PTSD:War vets say stress debilitating

War vets say stress debilitating
By Jennifer Reeger
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Jamie Anderson and Mike Zimmerman both brought the Iraq war home with them.
A song brings sadness over a lost friend. A simple visit to a hospital brings with it the imagined smell of burned flesh.

Loud noises bring on rages for no reason. Images too awful to describe fill dreams.
And for Zimmerman a trip home to the Allegheny County community of Churchill from the airport becomes a vivid ride through the desert in a Humvee.

"I think that was scarier than anything I experienced in Iraq," Zimmerman, 25, of Churchill, Allegheny County, said of his first flashback upon arriving home from war.

Zimmerman, a former Marine and current Army National Guardsman, and Anderson, 47, of Washington, an Army master sergeant, both spoke of their experiences dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, during the second part of a two-part discussion on the disorder and the Iraq War Wednesday night at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg.

Anderson, Pitt-Greensburg's ROTC instructor, and Zimmerman, a psychology major at the Hempfield campus, said they are receiving counseling for the disorder that began while both were serving in Iraq in 2004.
go here for the rest
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleyindependent/teenscene/s_555789.html

Marine puppy toss number one draw on PTSD blog? WTF

My feed burner traffic report from today.
Traffic Source visits Trend
Search for "marine puppy" 153 +147%
Search for "marine puppy fake" 44 +529%
Search for "marine puppy toss" 37 +270%
Search for "puppy toss" 28 +600%

What is wrong with people in this country? A few minutes on YouTube with a jerk tossing a puppy over a cliff and I get these kinds of hits, but when I cover PTSD and what it's doing to our troops and veterans, the counts are a lot lower. I labor over videos to provide support and information on PTSD yet the top hit I get is 100 a day on Hero After War but most of them are only about 20 a day. Yet a video like this, pulled in millions in a day?

What does this say about how we feel about our troops and our veterans when they are so easy to ignore unless they do something drastically different, stupid, evil or disgusting? What does it say about us that if the media reports on some of our veterans committing crimes makes the headlines but when they commit suicide because they are not being taken care of, gets buried? Most of these reports are so scattered and buried beneath the sports section that they get very little attention. You would think their life would be worth so much more. Yet reporters have to contact advocates for reports on suicides and attempted suicides so they can try to make a name for themselves.

I get alerts on several subjects. One of them is veterans. What I find is that we use the term "veteran" far too often to describe a person who has experience and usually it's a sports figure. PR firms hire "veterans" away from other firms. They don't hire real veterans. I just don't get it. Why should it take someone pulling a stunt like this puppy toss to draw attention to a PTSD blog? I have to tell you that if you came here to read the story about this, then I really feel sorry for you. Your ignorance is blinding you to the real story here!

Fort Lewis murdered soldiers had acid poured on them

This is the couple who had acid poured on them.

Spc. Ivette Gonzalez Davila, shown in court March 3, allegedly confessed to another soldier that she killed Fort Lewis-based medics Timothy Miller, 27, and his wife, Randi Miller, 25, then took their child to a home improvement store, bought acid and poured it on the bodies. Gonzalez Davila is expected back in court March 5.

GI allegedly killed 2, poured acid on bodies

Army takes custody of suspect
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Mar 5, 2008 13:01:53 EST

TACOMA, Wash. — The Pierce County prosecutor’s office says the Army is taking over prosecution of a Fort Lewis soldier accused of killing two married soldiers in Parkland.

Deputy Pierce County Prosecutor Ed Murphy told The News Tribune on Wednesday that the Army took custody of Spc. Ivette Gonzalez Davila, 22, of Bakersfield, Calif., and transferred her out of the jail in Tacoma. She had been scheduled to appear in court Wednesday afternoon after prosecutors filed state charges.

Davila is accused of shooting 27-year-old Timothy Miller and his wife, 25-year-old Randi Miller on Saturday night at their home. Investigators also say Davila, an Army chemical specialist, poured muriatic acid on the bodies. Davila also is accused of taking the dead couple’s baby girl. She was turned over to Child Protective Services on Sunday after Davila was arrested.

Timothy and Randi Miller were medics who had served in Iraq. Investigators have said a possible love triangle may have been the motive for the killings.
go here for the rest

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/ap_lewiskillings_acid_030308/

McCain Bush's pal and no friend of veterans

John Sidney McCain
Current Office: U.S. Senate
Party: Republican
Status: Announced

Veterans Issues

2006 Senator McCain supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 20 percent in 2006.

2006 In 2006 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave Senator McCain a grade of D.

2006 Senator McCain sponsored or co-sponsored 18 percent of the legislation favored by the The Retired Enlisted Association in 2006.

2005 Senator McCain supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 25 percent in 2005.

2004 Senator McCain supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 50 percent in 2004.

2004 Senator McCain supported the interests of the The Retired Enlisted Association 0 percent in 2004.

2003-2004 Senator McCain supported the interests of the Vietnam Veterans of America 100 percent in 2003-2004.

2003 Senator McCain supported the interests of the The American Legion 50 percent in 2003.

2001 Senator McCain supported the interests of the Vietnam Veterans of America 46 percent in 2001.

1999 Senator McCain supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 66 percent in 1999.

1997-1998 Senator McCain supported the interests of the Vietnam Veterans of America 0 percent in 1997-1998.

1989-1990 On the votes that the Vietnam Veterans of America considered to be the most important in 1989-1990 , Senator McCain voted their preferred position 50 percent of the time.

Veterans Issues

Date Bill Title Vote
10/01/2007 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 NV
02/02/2006 Tax Rate Extension Amendment N
11/17/2005 Additional Funding For Veterans Amendment N
10/05/2005 Health Care for Veterans Amendment N
go here to see how the others rank.
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfJAN08/nf012108-1.htm

Mental Health Crisis hits New Orleans

Mental health crisis plagues New Orleans
By Rick Jervis, USA TODAY
NEW ORLEANS — Bernel Johnson showed all the signs.
He was diagnosed by a psychiatrist as aggressive, homeless and schizophrenic. He was kicked out of a Salvation Army homeless shelter late last year for holding a fork to a fellow resident's throat. On Jan. 4, Johnson was committed to a psychiatric facility for causing a disturbance at a bank. He was released and, a few weeks later, attacked New Orleans police Officer Nicola Cotton, 24, in a parking lot.

Johnson wrestled Cotton's service handgun from her and shot her 15 times, killing the officer, police said. Johnson remains in jail without bond, charged with first-degree murder.

New Orleans health and law enforcement officials say more cases such as this could unfold if the city's mental health crisis isn't resolved soon. Since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city 2½ years ago, the number of public mental health facilities and community outreach centers has decreased dramatically, leaving the mentally ill without medication and monitoring.

Mental illness also is rampant among the city's homeless, whose population has spiked since the storm from 6,200 to 12,000 today, says Sam Scaffidi of the New Orleans Police Homeless Assistance Unit. Under the Interstate 10 overpass at the corner of Claiborne Avenue and Canal Street downtown, homeless encampments have multiplied since Katrina into a sprawling colony of tents, soiled sleeping bags and cardboard caves.

go here for the rest
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-04-katrina-health_N.htm
Linked from RawStory


This was one storm that caused days of trauma and suffering. Now think about what happened to these people. Now think about living with trauma everyday while deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. Think about Vietnam veterans and all other veterans exposed to this kind of trauma. There is no need for anyone to ever question why so many are wounded by PTSD. We want to think the men and women who serve are different from us. In many ways, they are. We cannot forget that they are just humans and can experience the same wounds we do but they are exposed to more horrific traumatic events than we are.