Body found may be missing Marine Eric Hall

Body may solve missing veteran mystery
Officials awaiting coroner's report STAFF PHOTO / JASON McKIBBEN
A volunteer searching for missing Iraq war veteran Eric Hall Sunday found human remains in this drainage pipe in the Deep Creek area near Sulstone and Partin drives. The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene and removed the remains Sunday evening. The identity of the body has not yet been released. Hall has been missing since Feb. 3 when he left his aunt's home on a motorcycle which was later recovered near the site where the body was found.
By Kate Spinner

DEEP CREEK -- A badly decomposed body found Sunday in a culvert in Charlotte County is suspected to be that of missing Iraq war veteran Eric Hall.

"Everybody's kind of concluded that," said Bob Carpenter, spokesman for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office.

However, he said, a final determination will not be made until the body is analyzed by the county medical examiner.

Hall's mother, Becky Hall, said she wanted to wait for the medical examiner's report before reaching any conclusions or making comments.

Becky Hall also would not say whether such items were found.

Carpenter said he did not know when the medical examiner would make a determination. He also could not say whether shoes, a cell phone, or clothing belonging to Hall were found in the culvert or nearby.

Suspicion is high that the body is Hall's because the culvert was very close to an underground shelter Hall is thought to have built weeks ago.

A volunteer who was searching for signs of Hall contacted the Sheriff's office Sunday morning to report a strong odor coming from the culvert, according to a Sheriff's Office press release.
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http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080310/NEWS/803100312

This has to be the one time I prayed someone would turn up with homeless veterans. Pray for his family.


The count's public works department provided a backhoe for investigators to dig to the pipe and cut a hole in it. The body was found 40 to 50 yards inside the pipe.

Loss of sons shaped outlook of Fort Carson CO

Loss of sons shaped outlook of Fort Carson CO

By Erin Emery - The Denver Post via AP
Posted : Monday Mar 10, 2008 11:37:43 EDT

FORT CARSON, Colo. — On the underside of the two stars that rest on each shoulder of Fort Carson’s top general, the names “Kevin” and “Jeff” are engraved.

This is one way Maj. Gen. Mark Graham honors his sons, two young men who did not live long enough to see their father pin on those stars.

Second Lt. Jeff Graham, 23, died Feb. 19, 2004, when a roadside bomb exploded in Kalidiyah, Iraq, while the young leader protected his platoon.

Kevin Graham, 21, a top ROTC cadet at the University of Kentucky, hanged himself June 21, 2003, from a ceiling fan in his apartment. No one saw the lethality of his depression.

“They both fought different enemies,” Graham said during a recent interview.

For a man who is not sure why he joined the military more than 30 years ago, no general in today’s Army has a more intimate understanding of war’s hardships and the mental health issues that follow than Fort Carson’s commander.

Not a day goes by that he doesn’t think about his sons. Their loss, he said, has made him a more compassionate officer.

“The easy thing would be to curl up in a corner and do nothing and not get out of bed in the morning,” Graham said. “Getting up some days is real hard, and most people never see it because I put a smile on my face usually. That’s the way I was.

“Happy is different now than it ever was before.”

Back in June 2003, as he and his wife, Carol, drove away from Kevin’s funeral, Graham told her: “We can either let this be the tragic, horrible book of our life, or we can make it one bad chapter in the book of our life.”

When they lost Jeff, they added a second bad chapter.

Now they are trying to change the story.

Carol Graham spends countless hours talking to people about suicide. She is a national board member of Suicide Prevention Action Network.

Commissioned a second lieutenant in 1977, Mark Graham served in Desert Storm and years later led the military’s evacuation effort of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

In 2006 and 2007, Fort Carson had been under fire for its treatment of wounded soldiers. Veterans’ advocacy groups claimed too many soldiers were not receiving good care. They claimed soldiers were being discharged for infractions such as drug use and going AWOL after they were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/ap_markgraham_030908/

This is a great story about Graham and his wife. The problem is, what is really going on at Carson and why is not addressed in this report. Soliders sent back no matter what the wound is, no matter if they have PTSD or not, does not fit into this story of a father who understands depression and loss. So what is it? What is behind the wounded being sent back to Iraq and Afghanistan? Why is this still happening at Carson of all places if Graham understands? I'm sure the investigation will answer these questions. I hope they get answered soon.

Courtney Lockhart "hasn't been the same" since Iraq"

Mom of Auburn Slaying Suspect Apologizes
The Associated Press
Sunday, March 9, 2008; 12:30 PM

COLUMBUS, Ga. -- The mother of the man charged with killing an Auburn University student said her son was an Iraq war veteran who was changed after his service, and offered an apology to the freshman's family.

Catherine Williams, the mother of suspect Courtney Lockhart, made the apology to Lauren Burk's family in an interview with Columbus, Ga., television station WTVM.

"I am sorry that Courtney did that. ... First let me say I'm sorry to the Burk family for Courtney taking, taking their child. ... My heart goes out to her family," Williams said in the tearful interview.

But she also said her son did not confess anything to her.

Lockhart, 23, was arrested Friday in Phenix City, Ala., and was charged with capital murder in Burk's abduction and shooting death. Police would not say what led them to charge him in her death.

The 18-year-old from Marietta, Ga., was found shot on the side of an off-campus road Tuesday night and her car was found burning in a campus parking lot.

Williams told the television station that her son hasn't been the same after serving 16 months in Iraq. She says her son had been living with her in Smiths Station, Ala., since returning from the war.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/09/AR2008030900917.html

Chaplain Tranining

For the week of 3-10 to 3-14 I won't be posting much. Chaplain traning is this week and it's a long ride. Please hold emails until the weekend if they can wait. I'll be on line for only a few hours at night. That is if there isn't too much to study. During the week, I'll only be posting the reports few others are posting on and they will be limited.

Wish me luck and keep checking in.

Thanks for reading this blog. It makes the work I do worth the hours I put in.

Australia Geff Gregg's suicide prompts overhaul of system

Suicide prompts call for veteran review
Nick McKenzie
March 10, 2008

THE girlfriend of an Australian soldier who killed himself after serving in Afghanistan has called for an overhaul of the support system for mentally ill veterans.

Geff Gregg killed himself shortly after receiving a letter warning his pension would be cut for failing to attend a medical appointment.

Tobi Barnard said that three days after she informed the Department of Veterans' Affairs about his suicide in September 2006, she was sent a letter demanding the refund of $300 it had overpaid him.

And three days after his suicide, a letter had arrived, saying a decision had been made to give Mr Gregg an increased pension because of his suicidal tendencies and inability to work. It was based on an assessment several months before. "Nothing was done about it. There was no red flag," Ms Barnard said.

Her call for an overhaul of the support system for mentally ill veterans comes amid revelations the Defence Force has conducted eight boards of inquiry into suspected suicides since 2006, but has kept secret the recommendations.

Mr Gregg suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and was medically discharged in May 2004. In 2002, while on secondment with an SAS patrol, he was involved in an intense firefight which left 11 Afghan villagers dead.

A defence spokesman said that between 2001 and 2007 there were 48 suspected suicides of permanent members of the ADF but that no existing evidence linked the number of suicides to operational service.

Another defence source aware of several of the inquiries said it was critical that systemic failings uncovered during the hearings were publicly aired.
go here for the rest

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/suicide-
prompts-call-for-veteran-review/2008/03/09/1204998283802.html

When will the military ever learn? It's not just here. It's every nation. They send them but won't take care of them when they come home wounded by what they were asked to do.

Walter Reed Red Tape And Veterans Care

Red tape blocks returning vets care
PETER URBAN purban@ctpost.com

Article Last Updated: 03/09/2008 12:33:57 AM EST


WASHINGTON — In the year that has passed since Staff Sgt. John Daniel Shannon told Congress of the neglect he suffered at Walter Reed Medical Center, the Army's premier hospital has begun to turn around.
"One of the first things they implemented was the Warrior Transition Unit. That is probably one of the best moves they ever could have made," Shannon said.

The unit provides wounded soldiers with a direct point of contact to help manage their recovery as they pass through the hospital and aftercare. Wounded soldiers now don't have to worry as much that they will be lost in the bureaucracy as he was when he arrived at Walter Reed in November 2004, said Shannon, 44.

"Anyone like me, an individual patient, has a lot more access to people to ask questions of those who have the responsibility to get things done," he said.

Five days after suffering a gunshot wound to the head that cost him an eye, Shannon was handed a photocopied map of Walter Reed's campus and directed to its outpatient Mologne House.

"I was extremely disoriented and wandered around while looking for someone to direct me to the Mologne House. Eventually, I found it. I had been given a couple of weeks' appointments and some other paperwork upon leaving Ward 58, and I went to all my appointments during that time," he told a Congressional panel last year. "After these appointments, I sat in my room for another couple of weeks wondering when someone would contact me about my continuing medical care.
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http://www.connpost.com/localnews/ci_8507168

Marine in puppy toss video identified

David Motari, Alleged Puppy Killer, Tracked Down

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars
March 4, 2008




It didn’t take long for internet sleuths to track down the perp. David Motari, the Marine accused of pitching a puppy off a cliff for the sheer psychopathic fun of it, is a member of the Bebo social network. Although the network requires registration to view member profiles, an enterprising researcher was able to login and screen capture Motari’s profile

go here for the rest

http://www.infowars.com/?p=582

Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown Medic Earns Silver Star at 19

Spc. Monica Lin Brown from Lake Jackson Texas of 82 Air borne stands guard at a forwarded operating base in Khost, Afghanistan, Saturday, March 8, 2008. Brown, will be the second female soldier awarded the Silver Star since World War II, for her role in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Woman Earns Silver Star in Afghan WarBy FISNIK ABRASHI – 3 hours ago

CAMP SALERNO, Afghanistan (AP) — A 19-year-old medic from Texas will become the first woman in Afghanistan and only the second female soldier since World War II to receive the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest medal for valor.

Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown saved the lives of fellow soldiers after a roadside bomb tore through a convoy of Humvees in the eastern Paktia province in April 2007, the military said.

After the explosion, which wounded five soldiers in her unit, Brown ran through insurgent gunfire and used her body to shield wounded comrades as mortars fell less than 100 yards away, the military said.

"I did not really think about anything except for getting the guys to a safer location and getting them taken care of and getting them out of there," Brown told The Associated Press on Saturday at a U.S. base in the eastern province of Khost.

Brown, of Lake Jackson, Texas, is scheduled to receive the Silver Star later this month. She was part of a four-vehicle convoy patrolling near Jani Kheil in the eastern province of Paktia on April 25, 2007, when a bomb struck one of the Humvees.

"We stopped the convoy. I opened up my door and grabbed my aid bag," Brown said.

She started running toward the burning vehicle as insurgents opened fire. All five wounded soldiers had scrambled out.

"I assessed the patients to see how bad they were. We tried to move them to a safer location because we were still receiving incoming fire," Brown said.

Pentagon policy prohibits women from serving in front-line combat roles — in the infantry, armor or artillery, for example. But the nature of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, with no real front lines, has seen women soldiers take part in close-quarters combat more than previous conflicts.

Four Army nurses in World War II were the first women to receive the Silver Star, though three nurses serving in World War I were awarded the medal posthumously last year, according to the Army's Web site.

Brown, of the 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, said ammunition going off inside the burning Humvee was sending shrapnel in all directions. She said they were sitting in a dangerous spot.

"So we dragged them for 100 or 200 meters, got them away from the Humvee a little bit," she said. "I was in a kind of a robot-mode, did not think about much but getting the guys taken care of."

For Brown, who knew all five wounded soldiers, it became a race to get them all to a safer location. Eventually, they moved the wounded some 500 yards away and treated them on site before putting them on a helicopter for evacuation.

"I did not really have time to be scared," Brown said. "Running back to the vehicle, I was nervous (since) I did not know how badly the guys were injured. That was scary."

The military said Brown's "bravery, unselfish actions and medical aid rendered under fire saved the lives of her comrades and represents the finest traditions of heroism in combat."

Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, of Nashville, Tenn., received the Silver Star in 2005 for gallantry during an insurgent ambush on a convoy in Iraq. Two men from her unit, the 617th Military Police Company of Richmond, Ky., also received the Silver Star for their roles in the same action.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5glkrzVej-PKK8nJR9w7pDvP-eQXQD8VA1ICO0

Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester is the first female soldier since World War II to receive the Silver Star medal for valor in combat.
Photo Credit: By Spec. Jeremy D. Crisp -- Defense Department Via Associated PressRelated Article: Soldier Earns Silver Star for Her Role in Defeating Ambush, page A21

Bill Campbell's Labrador Helps Cope With PTSD

Heading to Iraq

Campbell, 46, was a biologist for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife for 19 years. He served as an executive officer in the National Guard for nearly a decade.

When the war in Iraq broke out, Campbell volunteered to re-enlist. He said he wanted to be involved, even if that meant taking a cut in rank and pay and putting his life on the line.

May 9, 2008

Dog helps heal wounds of war: Veteran suffering from PTSD finds an anchor in canine companion

MASON COUNTY - Bill Campbell took a long pause as he searched for the right words to describe what happened to him in Iraq.

He looked over at his wife, Domenica, who often tackles questions for him, especially when he's struggling to think of the answers.

Then Campbell reached down and brushed his hands against Pax, a specially trained yellow Labrador, whose mission is to help the Army National Guard sergeant heal after serving on the front lines of war, where he witnessed death, destruction and despair.

"It was a car bomb - shrapnel," he said, his voice trailing off. "I was at a place that was just outside the Green Zone."

Pax stays close to Campbell around the clock. He reminds Campbell to take medication. He can sense the onset of panic attacks, hallucinations and other symptoms of the post-traumatic stress disorder that afflicts Campbell.

Pax even sleeps in the same room with Campbell and serves as "a reality check" during his frequent nightmares.

Campbell is the first veteran in the country to receive a companion dog through the Puppies Behind Bars' Dog Tags program. The New York City-based nonprofit organization works with inmates to train service dogs.

Although there are several programs that produce psychiatric service dogs, the Dog Tags program was established last year to raise companions specifically for U.S. servicemen and servicewomen injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We wanted to do something to thank our vets for serving their country," said Gloria Gilbert Stoga, who founded Puppies Behind Bars in 1997.

What: Puppies Behind Bars' Dog Tags program was created to match service dogs with injured veterans who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

To qualify: A veteran or service member must be out of the hospital for at least eight months and be able to incorporate a dog into his or her life. After a dog is placed, the recipient is responsible for providing exercise, food, annual veterinarian visits, and love for the dog. "(It's for) somebody who's serious about getting better - somebody who's stable, so they're home life is stable enough to have a dog in it," said Gloria Gilbert Stoga, founder and president of Puppies Behind Bars.

Applying: Veterans are required to fill out an application and go through several interviews. In most cases, those selected will need to travel to New York or Colorado to be matched up with a dog and complete specialized training.

Costs: Puppies Behind Bars pays for all costs associated with raising puppies in prison - including dog supplies, educational supplies for puppy raisers, teachers' salaries and travel. The nonprofit organization, which is funded through private donations, pays for related training and travel expenses for a veteran and a support person if needed.

How to help: For more details about the Puppies Behind Bars and Dog Tags programs, including how to donate, go to www.puppiesbehindbars.com or call 212-680-9562.
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http://www.theolympian.com/living/story/383411.html

Korean War Pvt. Joseph Meyer Jr Finally Going Home

“It’s closure,” she said. “After all these years, now we know.”

Remains of soldier come home after 57 years

By Dave Kolpack - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Mar 9, 2008 8:36:18 EDT

WAHPETON, N.D. — Fifty-seven years after Pvt. Joseph Meyer Jr. disappeared while fighting in the Korean War, the Army has told his family his remains will be coming home.

Meyer was 17 when he left Wahpeton to enlist in the Army. He was declared missing in action in 1950, with few clues offered to his family.

His sisters remember their red-haired, freckle-faced brother as straight-laced and well-liked. He liked to play football, but decided to enlist in the Army rather than stay in school.

About 10 years ago, two of his sisters submitted DNA samples to the Army.

“I didn’t think it would do any good,” said one of the sisters, Alice Pausch. “At that point, I had lost hope already.”

They heard little until Alice and her husband, Virgil, received a phone message at their farm home southwest of Wahpeton last week saying the Army had information for them.

They learned Meyer’s remains were found with no identification in a mass grave in North Korea.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/ap_korea_remains_030808/

Ron Koontz Vietnam Vet Still Serving Country

Ron Koontz, program coordinator for the state Department of Veterans’ Services, spent 17 months in a military hospital after shrapnel blew off part of his jaw in Vietnam. (Globe Staff Photo / George Rizer)

Guiding veterans with experience won the hard way
Boston Globe - United States
By John Laidler
Globe Correspondent / March 9, 2008
When veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan talk to him about their struggles overcoming the physical and emotional effects of war, Ron Koontz understands.

Koontz, who left his job last month as Amesbury's veterans' services officer to become program coordinator for the state Department of Veterans' Services, knows firsthand the challenges that vets, particularly disabled ones, face in trying to resume normal lives.

Forty years ago, Koontz was serving as a combat infantryman in Vietnam when his platoon's base camp, located west of Saigon near the Cambodian border, came under a nighttime mortar and rocket attack. In the ensuing firefight, shrapnel from an exploding rocket blew off the right side of his jaw.

Koontz spent 17 months in a military hospital in San Francisco. For 13 months, his jaw was wired shut.

Recovering from the wound and rebuilding his life are the experiences Koontz draws on to help other veterans.

"The credibility I bring to the table is that I can identify with some of the issues they bring," he said. "My having been wounded kind of opens up that trust door, so when they come in, they know they are talking to another veteran who has experienced the same trauma they have."

After 15 years of working with veterans at the local level - 10 as Amesbury's veterans' officer and five as a post-traumatic stress disorder counselor at the Veterans Northeast Outreach Center in Haverhill - Koontz is bringing his skills to the statewide level.

In his new job, which he began Feb. 19, Koontz, 61, oversees the Veterans Workforce Investment Program. The federally funded program helps veterans obtain services such as education, job training, and mental health counseling.

The program targets veterans who are disabled, recently discharged, or who have significant barriers to employment. The help comes in the form of direct financial aid, information, and referrals.

"My job is to get these veterans jobs," Koontz said.

While the program has existed for a number of years, the agency is hoping to expand its reach at a time when the number of Massachusetts veterans is growing. Koontz, who was hired to lead that effort, estimates that 30,000 veterans have returned to the state since 2001.

Many are suffering the effects of traumatic brain injuries, which Koontz called "the signature injury" of the Iraq war.

The goal is to assess each veteran, and see that they are "mentally and physically put back together," he said. "Then once we work on those issues, we can start to work on the other issues" needed to land jobs.
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The VA is not a "budget deficit" it's an obligation

Tom Hayes: Congress must extend VA benefits to all combat veterans
Mar 08, 2008 @ 11:35 PM
The Herald-Dispatch
American Legion Post 93 has been working on a bill in Congress (HR 1901) to help veterans of Lebanon, Grenada, Panama and Korea. This bill will make these combat veterans eligible for the VA non-service-connected disability pension. It is only paid when a veteran becomes permanently and totally disabled and has limited or no income.

We commend Rep. Nick Rahall for introducing this bill for us. Congressman Rahall testified in support of HR 1901 on the House floor on April 19, 2007. He again testified before the House subcommittee on veterans affairs on July 31, 2007, along with representatives from the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans and the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

We asked Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, to sponsor the bipartisan bill, and her response was, "Should this bill reach the House floor, I will be sure to keep it in mind."

On more than one occasion, we asked Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a member and former chairman of the Senate Veterans Committee, to join Congressman Rahall in introducing a companion bill in the Senate. Sen. Rockefeller's responses were, "HR 1901 is currently pending with the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, and I will certainly keep your concerns in mind if it is brought before the Senate for consideration," and, "The tremendous deficits faced by our country are making it difficult to expand veterans benefits as much as we would all like to see."
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http://www.herald-dispatch.com/opinions/x1084925679

When I read what they say or watch them speak when they are covered by CSPAN, I cannot believe the audacity of these people. While they talk about the great debt we owe those who serve this nation with one breathe they then turn around and speak of deficits in the budget. The only deficit they should be concerned with is the morality they are lacking.

How can they say whatever money Bush asks for to continue the occupation of Iraq without any form of accountability and results, turn around and whine about the money it will cost this nation to care for the wounded they demand the right to keep producing? It makes no sense at all.

Had they not been so inclined to ignore the hundreds of millions of dollars that vanished in Iraq, the cost-plus contracts the defense contractors received or the money Bush keeps asking for aside from the budget on "emergency" spending requests, there wouldn't be such a huge deficit. The wounded are part of the costs of conducting two occupations producing more and more wounded on a daily basis. They are part of the emergency they need to pay for but they cannot see it that way. They would rather see the veterans as a burden to the tax payers while conducting the occupation no one wants has no limit to the amount of money they are willing to pay.

The veterans of today and tomorrow are no less and no more worthy than those of yesterday. They are just in addition to them. It's time to fully fund the VA so that there is no more separation of indebtedness. It cannot be one group of veterans being pushed aside to make room for another group because there is a budget deficit. Why is it that politicians seem to have little problem finding money to wage war and a gigantic problem paying for the results of those wars?

Already we have seen veterans coming back and told they have to wait as their claims fall into a huge pile so deep it depends on the day and the reporter using the data provided on that day. What happens is a report will ask about the number of backlog claims and they are told what the person answering the question wants to tell them. A report came out last month addressing the cut back in IT workers stating the backlog of claims was over 800,000, yet another article will be written days later putting that number back around 400,000. Does Congress ask what that cause of the discrepancy is coming from? Do they even notice the huge difference in what they are being told by different people?

This entire subject is not just absurd, it's disgraceful.

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

Alpha Company hit hard by post-traumatic stress

Both MacDermid and Katz said that PTSD had become a popular shorthand for all sorts of emotional symptoms that veterans experience. These may include depression and anxiety disorders, but not rise to the level of PTSD.

Steven Silver, who recently retired as director of the inpatient PTSD unit at the Coatesville VA hospital, predicted that as time went on, more and more combat veterans would be shown to have the high PTSD rate Alpha now shows.

Posted on Sun, Mar. 9, 2008


Alpha Company: Their War Comes Home
Alpha Company hit hard by post-traumatic stress
In all, 46 percent said they had been treated at clinics or hospitals. “Those are big numbers,” one expert said.
By Tom Infield

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Of all the things that Alpha Company has had to struggle with since it came home from Iraq, the most pervasive may be post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Of the 126 veterans interviewed or surveyed by The Inquirer, almost half - 46 percent - said they had been treated for PTSD, most at VA hospitals and clinics in the region.

Alpha's rate of PTSD is higher than that of most U.S. troops who served in Iraq or Afghanistan - partly, no doubt, as a result of its being a frontline combat unit that lost six men.

Shelley M. MacDermid, a Purdue University professor who served on a Defense Department mental-health task force last year, said typical PTSD rates among returning veterans were about 14 percent.

"Those are big numbers," she said of The Inquirer's Alpha findings.

National Guard and Reserve units, in general, have shown slightly higher PTSD rates than have regular Army units, she said.

click post title for the rest

KBR: Water still making troops sick in Iraq

AP: Water Makes US Troops in Iraq Sick
The Associated Press
By LARRY MARGASAK – 3 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dozens of U.S. troops in Iraq fell sick at bases using "unmonitored and potentially unsafe" water supplied by the military and a contractor once owned by Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, the Pentagon's internal watchdog says.

A report obtained by The Associated Press said soldiers experienced skin abscesses, cellulitis, skin infections, diarrhea and other illnesses after using discolored, smelly water for personal hygiene and laundry at five U.S. military sites in Iraq.

The Pentagon's inspector general found water quality problems between March 2004 and February 2006 at three sites run by contractor KBR Inc., and between January 2004 and December 2006 at two military-operated locations.

It was impossible to link the dirty water definitively to all the illnesses, according to the report. But it said KBR's water quality "was not maintained in accordance with field water sanitary standards" and the military-run sites "were not performing all required quality control tests."

"Therefore, water suppliers exposed U.S. forces to unmonitored and potentially unsafe water," the report said.

The problems did not extend to troops' drinking water, but rather to water used for washing, bathing, shaving and cleaning. Water used for hygiene and laundry must meet minimum safety standards under military regulations because of the potential for harmful exposure through the eyes, nose, mouth, cuts and wounds.

KBR said its water treatment "has met or exceeded all applicable military and contract standards." The company took exception to many of the inspector general's assertions. "KBR's commitment to the safety of all of its employees remains unwavering," the company said in a statement to the AP.

KBR is a former subsidiary of Halliburton Co., the oil services conglomerate that Cheney once led.

Is this "supporting the troops" the way Cheney always puts it when it comes to keeping the troops in Iraq? Is this what Bush means when he says it? How can they keep allowing this to go on? The reports of bad water for the troops and the people of Iraq have been going on long enough that someone should have done something about it if they wanted to, but it all boils down to all talk and no proof with deeds. The Democrats haven't done much better on this either. What does it say to the troops everyone is "supporting" when they cannot even depend on the water they are supplied while risking their lives?

UPDATE

Or as NewBusters put it, it's the media's fault.

AP Implicates Vice President Cheney in Iraq Water Problem

By Noel Sheppard March 9, 2008 - 12:59 ET
One of the truly disgraceful media fixations since America invaded Iraq five years ago has been to blame all the world's problems on energy contractor Halliburton while making it clear that Vice President Dick Cheney used to be its Chief Executive Officer.
Despite it being almost eight years since Cheney resigned his position with the contracting giant and sold all of his stock, Halliburton-obsessed press members continue to implicate the Vice President in any bad news concerning his former company.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008/03/09/
ap-implicates-vice-president-cheney-iraq-water-problem

But then they must not have heard of tax returns and financial reports the elected have to release.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2003
Cheney was chief executive officer of Halliburton from 1995 through August 2000. The company's KBR subsidiary is the main government contractor working to restore Iraq's oil industry in an open-ended contract that was awarded without competitive bidding.

According to Cheney's 2001 financial disclosure report, the vice president's Halliburton benefits include three batches of stock options comprising 433,333 shares. He also has a 401(k) retirement account valued at between $1,001 and $15,000 dollars.

His deferred compensation account was valued at between $500,000 and $1 million, and generated income of $50,000 to $100,000.

In 2002, Cheney's total assets were valued at between $19.1 million and $86.4 million.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/26/politics/main575356.shtml

From the White House

Vice President Dick Cheney and Mrs. Cheney Release 2002 Income Tax Return

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Terrence O'Donnell
of Williams & Connolly LLP
at (202) 434-5678

Vice President and Mrs. Cheney filed their federal income tax return for 2002 today.

The income tax return shows that the Cheneys owe federal taxes for 2002 of $341,114 on a taxable income of $945,051. During the course of 2002 the Cheneys paid $436,972 in taxes through withholding and estimated tax payments. The Cheneys elected to apply $20,000 of the resulting $95,858 tax overpayment to their 2003 estimated tax payments.

The wage and salary income reported on the tax return includes $190,134 in government salary for the Vice President. In addition, the tax return reports the payment of deferred compensation from Halliburton Company, in the amount of $162,392. In December 1998, the Vice President elected to defer compensation earned in calendar year 1999 for his services as chief executive officer of Halliburton. This amount is to be paid in fixed annual installments (with interest) in the five years after the Vice President's retirement from Halliburton.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/04/20030411-8.html

From the White House

Vice President Dick Cheney and Mrs. Cheney Release 2004 Income Tax Return
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Terrence O'Donnell or James T. Fuller
Williams & Connolly LLP
(202) 434-5000

Vice President and Mrs. Cheney filed their federal income tax return for 2004 today. The income tax return shows that the Cheneys owe federal taxes for 2004 of $393,518 on taxable income of $1,328,678. During the course of 2004 the Cheneys paid $290,855 in taxes through withholding and estimated tax payments. The Cheneys paid $102,663 upon filing their tax return.

The wage and salary income reported on the tax return includes the Vice President's $203,000 government salary. In addition, the tax return reports the payment of deferred compensation from Halliburton Company in the amount of $194,852. In December 1998, the Vice President elected to defer compensation earned in calendar year 1999 for his services as chief executive officer of Halliburton. This amount was required be paid in fixed annual installments (with interest) in the five years after the Vice President's retirement from Halliburton. That election to defer income became final and unalterable before Mr. Cheney left Halliburton. The amount of deferred compensation received by the Vice President is fixed and is not affected in any way by Halliburton's current economic performance or earnings.

The tax return also reports Mrs. Cheney's wage and salary income from the American Enterprise Institute and compensation from Reader's Digest, on whose board of directors she served until her retirement in 2003.

The Cheneys donated $303,354 to charity in 2004, primarily from Mrs. Cheney's book royalties from Simon & Schuster on her books America: A Patriotic Primer, A is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Woman, and When Washington Crossed the Delaware: A Wintertime Story for Young Patriots, and the exercise of stock options dedicated to charity pursuant to the Gift Administration Agreement which the Cheneys entered into in January of 2001. The book royalties and the proceeds from the stock options were donated to designated charities on a tax neutral basis.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/04/20050415-3.html

And then we have the Katrina Connection

April 17, 2006
Kirsch: Cheney Tax Return Shows Katrina Tax Benefits for Non-Katrina Charitable Contributions
Michael Kirsch (Notre Dame) points out an interesting aspect of the Vice-President's 2005 tax return:
It appears that the VP is a major beneficiary of the Hurricane Katrina tax relief act. In particular, he claimed $6.8 million of charitable deductions, which is 77% of his AGI -- well in excess of the 50% limitation that would have applied absent the Katrina legislation. The press release indicates that the charitable contribution reflects the amount of net proceeds from an independent administrator's exercise of the VP's Halliburton options -- apparently, the VP had agreed back in 2001 that he would donate the net proceeds from the options to charities once they were exercised.
The press release seems to confirm, at least implicitly, the VP's efforts to take advantage of the Katrina legislation -- it mentions that the Cheneys wrote a personal check of $2.3 million to the administrator in December in order to "maximize the charitable gifts in 2005." Admittedly, I don't know anything about the transactions beyond the info in the press release, but my gut reaction is that the personal check was given in order to make sure the independent administrator had sufficient liquid assets to pay all of the promised charitable contributions before the 50% limit returned on 1/1/06.
Despite the importance of the Katrina legislation to his tax return, it looks like none of the charitable contributions actually went to Katrina-related charities (the press release lists the 3 charitable recipients, all of which were designated in the original 2001 gift agreement). While there's nothing inappropriate about that from a legal perspective, it does demonstrate how the legislation, which was sold to the public as providing relief to Katrina victims, provided significant tax benefits to the VP (and potentially other wealthy individuals) in situations that have nothing to do with Hurricane Katrina.
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2006/04/kirsch_cheney_t.html

Readers of this blog are aware of American Enterprise Institute and their "advice" on PTSD, which boils down to they need to stop whining and go to work. See posts on Sally Satel here and on Screaming In An Empty Room at www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com

Kansas National Guardsmen serving the wounded

Guardsmen volunteer to help wounded soldiers

By John Milburn - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Mar 8, 2008 7:17:35 EST

FORT RILEY, Kan. — They’ve gone to war recently themselves, but a cadre of Kansas National Guard soldiers has volunteered for a year — maybe longer — to help wounded soldiers get back on their feet.

Located in a cluster of tan modular structures adjacent to Irwin Army Community Hospital, the Warrior Transition Battalion is designed to give wounded soldiers a place to get well, while getting services they need to continue their Army career or life as a civilian.

Command Sgt. Maj. Terence Hankerson, a Guard soldier from Topeka, is the senior enlisted soldier at the battalion. He was wounded in Iraq last year and volunteered to serve at Fort Riley.

“Obviously, you want somebody who’s been through the process,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to identify with these guys. I can look them in the eye and go, ‘I know what you’re talking about. Believe me, I had an E-6 dogging me the whole time, too.’

“It doesn’t matter if you are a sergeant or a colonel, you’re still expected to make your appointments and heal, first and foremost.”

The battalion results from last year’s controversy over the quality of care wounded soldiers were receiving at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Over the past year, Congress and the Department of Defense have worked to improve care and put more personnel in contact with the wounded as they move from combat back to their home posts or civilian lives.

Most the 300 soldiers in Fort Riley’s battalion are active-duty Army from units deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, though some are Guard soldiers and Army Reservists.

Sgt. Bonnie Capp previously deployed with a medical detachment out of Lenexa but volunteered to work at Fort Riley. She’s a squad leader, making sure 12 wounded soldiers get to medical appointments on time and their needs addressed at all hours of the day.

It’s a new challenge, she said, calling for skills that aren’t standard for the military.

“You have to be a mother, you have to be a sister, you have to be a friend. You’re everything that these soldiers rely on,” Capp said.

That includes advocating that soldiers get the services they need, even when someone tells them no.

“As for us being National Guard, we have a little more understanding, but military — the uniform — is not all that we know about,” said fellow squad leader Sgt. Voneen Hale. “We have our education; we have our civilian jobs.”

Col. Lee Merritt, the battalion commander, said a new Soldier and Family Assistance Center specifically for the wounded centralizes key services, such as medical, educational, child support or financial.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/ap_wounded_volunteers_030608/

Hearing loss is epidemic among combat troops

Hearing loss is epidemic among combat troops

By Chelsea J. Carter - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Mar 7, 2008 22:36:54 EST

SAN DIEGO — Soldiers and Marines caught in roadside bombings and firefights in Iraq and Afghanistan are coming home in epidemic numbers with permanent hearing loss and ringing in their ears, prompting the military to redouble its efforts to protect the troops from noise.

Hearing damage is the No. 1 disability in the fight against terror, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, and some experts say the true toll could take decades to become clear. Nearly 70,000 of the more than 1.3 million troops who have served in the two war zones are collecting disability for tinnitus, a potentially debilitating ringing in the ears, and more than 58,000 are on disability for hearing loss, VA said.

“The numbers are staggering,” said Theresa Schulz, a former audiologist with the Air Force, past president of the National Hearing Conservation Association and author of a 2004 report titled “Troops Return With Alarming Rates of Hearing Loss.”

One major explanation given is the insurgency’s use of a fearsome weapon the Pentagon did not fully anticipate: powerful roadside bombs. Their blasts cause violent changes in air pressure that can rupture the eardrum and break bones inside the ear.

Also, much of the fighting consists of ambushes, bombings and firefights, which come suddenly and unexpectedly, giving soldiers no time to use their military-issued hearing protection.

“They can’t say, ‘Wait a minute, let me put my earplugs in,”’ said Dr. Michael E. Hoffer, a Navy captain and one of the country’s leading inner-ear specialists. “They are in the fight of their lives.”

In addition, some servicemen on patrol refuse to wear earplugs for fear of dulling their senses and missing sounds that can make the difference between life and death, Hoffer and others said. Others were not given earplugs or did not take them along when they were sent into the war zone. And some Marines were not told how to use their specialized earplugs and inserted them incorrectly.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/ap_hearingloss_030608/

Chaplain fired from hospital for being in National Guard?

Military chaplain sues hospital over firing

The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Mar 8, 2008 14:31:32 EST

SEATTLE — A Kirkland, Wash., woman is suing Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, accusing the hospital of firing her because she was about to be deployed to Iraq as a military chaplain.

Court documents filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Seattle say Kelly Hansen was fired by the hospital after spending a long weekend with the National Guard in January. She has a master’s degree in divinity from Princeton University and was working as a chaplain at the hospital.

She says her supervisor told her, when she returned to work, that they felt the hospital wasn’t a good fit for her. They said she would be happier in the National Guard or at the veteran’s hospital.

Children’s Hospital told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Friday that its dismissal of Hansen had nothing to do with her obligations to the Guard.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/ap_chaplainlawsuit_030808/

Brian Christopher Wothers Not Guilty Due To PTSD

March 08, 2008

Vet using war stress defense found not guilty of murder

By LAUREN SONIS
Staff Writer

BUNNELL -- An Iraq war veteran was found not guilty by reason of insanity Friday after psychiatrists said he was having a flashback when he shot and killed a man.

Brian Christopher Wothers, 26, of Ormond Beach will live in a mental-health treatment facility until he is no longer deemed a threat to himself or others.
He was accused of killing 26-year-old Jeffrey Maxwell, a traveling construction worker from Denison, Texas, who was in Florida on an assignment. Maxwell's body was found May 26, 2006, in a wooded area near Old Kings Road in Palm Coast.

Wothers had a history of post-traumatic stress disorder related to his military duties when he saw piles of bodies and witnessed shootings, his attorneys said.

Prosecutors and Wothers' attorneys agreed to a trial by Circuit Judge Kim C. Hammond -- on charges of robbery and first-degree murder -- instead of by a jury.

"He's likely to suffer from that disorder for the foreseeable future," Hammond said.

Three adults hugged and kissed Wothers after the trial. They declined comment for this story.

"I'll call you," Wothers whispered to a woman as he left the courtroom to return to the Flagler County Inmate Facility, where he has been held pending the outcome of his case.

Wothers will stay there until the paperwork is filed to transport him. His attorneys said while it's not definite, Wothers will likely be moved to the North Florida Evaluation Treatment Center in Gainesville.

Attorney Zachary Stoumbos said in most similar cases, it can take five years before someone is considered safe enough to release.

Jeffrey Maxwell's family did not attend the trial, but they remained close to their phones on a snowy week in northeastern Texas.

His mother, Evelyn Maxwell, said she had hoped Wothers would be forced to stay in a treatment facility for at least 10 years and thought he should be punished.

"I'd prefer if he was in there a lot longer than five years," she said.

She said that while she supports capital punishment in general, she did not want to pursue the death penalty because of Wothers' mental-health problems. The mother said she wanted him to get help.

She later added, "A lot of (veterans) do need help when they come out."

When soldiers return from Iraq and Afghanistan and are accused of killings and other crimes, the justice system has been increasingly impelled to consider the effects of combat trauma in their offenses, according to a January New York Times report.
go here for the rest
http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD01030808.htm


Evelyn Maxwell must be an amazing woman. She lost her son but even after that she can see that Wothers was not in his right mind when it happened. How is it that she can understand PTSD but we have so many in the military who cannot?

PTSD:Service in Bosnia took a toll

Service in Bosnia took a toll
Now, Fred Doucette helps others with stress disorder
PAUL GESSELL, Freelance; Ottawa Citizen Published

The first disturbing flashback came in the King of Donair restaurant on King St. in Fredericton. Capt. Fred Doucette was feeling tired and miserable, just as he had most every day since returning home July 7, 1996, from a year-long tour of duty as a UN peacekeeper in Bosnia. He closed his eyes for a moment. Suddenly, Doucette was no longer in the fast-food outlet, but back in time many months, in the doorway of a building in the UN Protected Area of Gorazde, "a small island of humanity" surrounded by the Bosnian-Serb Republic of Srpska.

"I can smell the wood smoke, the burning garbage and the sour, overpowering smell of urine and excrement," Doucette would write later of his hallucination on King St.

"My body contracts, my muscles tense in fear of being in a very dangerous place." Doucette was not aware he was experiencing a flashback. He truly believed, while in the grip of the hallucination, that he was back in war-ravaged Bosnia.

"There is the burnt-out tank, the pharmacy with its front covered by logs and a dirty Red Cross flag draped over them in an attempt to play on the humanity of the Serbs who have surrounded the town. I am afraid and terrified. What am I doing here?"

Suddenly, someone entered the King of Donair and banged the door. Doucette snapped out of the flashback. He staggered onto King St., dazed and confused about what had just happened to him.

"The only thing I know for certain is that I will tell no one," he thought at the time. "Only crazy people can travel into the past." Doucette did not know it then, but he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. He was not diagnosed and treated for this mental illness until 2001. The disorder was simply a taboo subject in many military circles. Today, Doucette is no longer in the Forces and no longer shy about discussing his illness. In fact, he has written a book about his experiences, Empty Casing: A Soldier's Memoir of Sarajevo Under Siege. Retired general Roméo Dallaire, Canada's most famous soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder, wrote the foreword. Doucette has become experienced discussing what used to be called "battle fatigue," "shell shock" or other, far more pejorative terms. Now, based at Lincoln, N.B., near CFB Gagetown, he has spent the past five years working with the government-funded Operational Stress Injury

go here for the rest
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/books/story.html?id=7dd1f5a7-8a88-45e5-846b-1a7f7c3131e6

When I did the video, Wounded And Waiting, I used the same terms about what they go through during combat and what comes after with a flashback when it all comes back to life. If you want to know what it' like, go to the side bar in the video section and watch Wounded And Waiting.

PTSD Spc. Bryan Currie AWOL-and so was his General

Soldier files deployment probe
Updated: 03/07/2008 05:07 PM
By: Amy Ohler
FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- With his lawyer and family by his side Specialist Bryan Currie spoke out about why he went AWOL.



"There was no care everywhere I looked. There was a lot of hazing from higher-ups. People that should be there to help platoon sergeants and stuff were just not there or didn't care," said Spec Bryan Currie, 10th Mountain Division.



While serving in Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Division Currie was hit by a roadside bomb.



"Sustained a broken jaw, broken cheek bone, lost four teeth, burned my hands. I've got shrapnel wounds, PTSD, lacerated my lip I had to get stitches, my knees were swollen, I couldn't walk the dashboard crushed my legs," said Currie.



Currie said he had a hard time receiving care but once he found a doctor that would listen, that doctor wrote in his physical profile, "cannot deploy." It stated that Currie could not run, carry a weapon or wear protective gear.

"The doctor made his opinions and once my chain of command realized they needed one more guy they contacted him and he changed his opinion," said Currie.



Currie says he was told he had to deploy with his unit to Iraq, shortly after that he went AWOL.
click post title for the rest

go here for video
http://news10now.com/Video/video_pop.aspx?vids=68281&sid=1083&rid=1013


When I read stories like this AWOL comes into mind for the commanders giving the orders to the wounded that they have to go no matter what. They are Acting Without Logic. What's next? Sending them back without an arm and expecting them to shoot a rifle? Sending the wounded back to get wounded or killed again is not only appalling, conduct unbecoming an officer, disgraceful and inexcusable, it's dangerous to the rest of the men in the unit. The generals have to be held accountable for the sake of the men and women they order to go.

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