This week's story
The warrior returns
Dr. Edward Tick, author of the groundbreaking book “War and the Soul” and founder of Soldier’s Heart, is a practicing psychotherapist specializing in veterans with PTSD. Ed received his Master’s in Psychology from Goddard College, Vermont and his Doctorate in Communication from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. Ed has been in private psychotherapy practice since 1975 and began focusing on veteran’s issues in 1979. His pioneering work with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or, in his words, ‘loss of the soul’, is the basis for his recent book War and the Soul . He continues his healing work with veterans and other trauma survivors with innovative yet time-honored methods. Ed has extensively studied both classical Greek and Native American traditions and successfully integrates their methods into modern clinical work.
More information about Soldier's Heart can be found at www.soldiersheart.net.You can listen to Ed's story on our story site here.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
The warrior returns, PTSD and Soldier's Soul
For anyone out there that still thinks I'm nuts talking about the soul and PTSD, you really need to read this and listen to Dr. Tick. He's not the first one to talk about it, but it will give you some clue what I've been talking about all these years.
Families should watch for signs a veteran is repressing emotions
The occupation of Iraq is winding down as troops are withdrawn from the cities. Plans are in place to pull out most of the troops. While some will have to be trained for deployment to Afghanistan, others will be returned home to bases, cities and towns, as combat veterans. Many of these men and women no longer on the cycle of redeployments, will have the time they need to rest and recover from the endless months of risking their lives. The problem is, too many people right back here are still clueless about what they went through and what they can carry back home inside of them because of all of it.
Citizen soldiers, the National Guards and Reservists, returning to their families, no longer have the same connection they had to the people they deployed with. The support services are still not in place in too many states. They are expected to simply return to their "normal" lives just as veterans are expected to return to their lives as citizens instead of soldier. What is it they are coming back to?
After the welcome home banners have come down, after the parties and the parades, what exactly is it we are willing to do for them after asking every kind of sacrifice out of them? The great news has been posted here on this blog with service groups, churches and veterans groups stepping up to help. Charity organizations formed to take care of the dire need. This is all good news, but the truth is, too many in this country remain with their heads buried in the latest political scandal, reality TV show or their own problems to notice what has been happening for far too long.
We are nowhere near ready to take care of the veterans we already have needing help. The biggest issue is that families are the first ones to know when something is wrong but if they don't know what PTSD is, they will not know what to do.
Citizen soldiers, the National Guards and Reservists, returning to their families, no longer have the same connection they had to the people they deployed with. The support services are still not in place in too many states. They are expected to simply return to their "normal" lives just as veterans are expected to return to their lives as citizens instead of soldier. What is it they are coming back to?
After the welcome home banners have come down, after the parties and the parades, what exactly is it we are willing to do for them after asking every kind of sacrifice out of them? The great news has been posted here on this blog with service groups, churches and veterans groups stepping up to help. Charity organizations formed to take care of the dire need. This is all good news, but the truth is, too many in this country remain with their heads buried in the latest political scandal, reality TV show or their own problems to notice what has been happening for far too long.
We are nowhere near ready to take care of the veterans we already have needing help. The biggest issue is that families are the first ones to know when something is wrong but if they don't know what PTSD is, they will not know what to do.
Families should watch for signs a veteran is repressing emotions
Queens Chronicle - Rego Park,NY,USA
by Victor Epstein, Chronicle Contributor
07/02/2009
Our servicemen and women in Iraq and Afghanistan are no strangers to hardship. Yet one challenge they might not expect — but most probably look forward to — is the challenge of coming home.
Returning home from combat is a lot more then tearful reunions and heartfelt embraces. Many veterans find it a difficult challenge, one they are entirely unprepared for.
“When I came home it took a while to adjust,” said veteran Ed Diez, who works in Woodside. “You’re used to being always alert, every day, all the time. And you come home; everybody is very relaxed, telling you ‘Calm down,’ and you can’t seem to fit in properly, in the beginning at least.”
Diez served in Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004 as a specialist and at various times a squad leader with the 10th Mountain Division, 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry. Now he takes history classes at Queens College and works for the Vietnam Veterans of America as a service officer, counseling veterans about their benefits at the QVC in Woodhaven.
When he returned from combat, Diez said he personally experienced stress, social anxiety and trouble finding work or readjusting to his old life. These problems are common for returning veterans, and for some can be more serious. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, an anxiety disorder that can develop after traumatic experiences, is fairly common among returning veterans. “I would say probably close to 100 percent of those returning from combat would have some level of PTSD, though what level differs,” said retired Sgt. First Class Marvin Jeffcoat.
PTSD came to the public attention in the 1970s as Vietnam veterans returned and was formally recognized in 1980.
Jeffcoat, 44, was a soldier for 22 years and served in the Persian Gulf War. Born in South Jamiaca and now living in Woodside, he was recently elected to oversee the 26 Veterans of Foreign Wars posts in Queens. Jeffcoat said PTSD is not limited to veterans who have been in combat, mentioning accidental shootings, car crashes and a number of other traumatic scenarios as possible catalysts for the disorder.
“I had a roommate commit suicide,” he said. “His death was more disturbing to me than any number of dead Iraqis I saw.”
Dr. Paulette Peterson, who has worked for 24 years at the QVC, described PTSD as a great burden. “You don’t feel safe, you want to avoid thinking about the war, but it’s always on your mind,” she said. The QVC is a federally funded program started in 1979 by the Department of Veteran Affairs to help veterans deal with psychological issues.
click link for more
Churches come to aid of PTSD veterans
When the War Never Ends
Many vets are ambushed by post-traumatic stress disorder. But some churches are coming to their defense.
Jocelyn Green posted 7/02/2009 09:05AM
Nate self's military record was impeccable. A West Point graduate, he led an elite Army Ranger outfit and established himself as a war hero in March 2002 for his leadership during a 15-hour ambush firefight in Afghanistan. The battle resulted in a Silver Star, a Purple Heart, and a position as President Bush's guest of honor for the 2003 State of the Union. But by late 2004, Self had walked away from the Army. In another surprise attack, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) had taken his life captive.
"I just hated myself," says Self. "I felt like I was somebody different. And since I didn't feel like I could be who I was before, and hated who I was now, I just wanted to kill the new person. I felt like I had messed up everything in my life. The easiest way, the most cowardly way to escape, was to just depart."
When Andrea Westfall returned from her 10-month deployment in Kuwait with the Oregon Army National Guard in 2003, she too found herself fighting an invisible battle with ptsd. Unable to cope with the enemy, she isolated herself and drank every night to numb the pain and aid sleep.
Self and Westfall are among the untold number of soldiers who leave the battlefield only to fight another war in their mind and spirit. Studies show that nearly one in five returnees from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from ptsd, an anxiety disorder introduced into the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1980. Reported wartime PTSD cases jumped roughly 50 percent in 2007; Army statistics showed there were nearly 14,000 newly diagnosed cases in 2007, compared with more than 9,500 new cases the previous year and 1,632 in 2003. About 40,000 troops have been diagnosed with PTSD since 2003. Officials believe the actual number may be much higher—possibly as high as 30 percent of all U.S. vets—and think many are in denial or keep their illness hidden for fear that it could harm or end their military careers and preclude future benefits.
go here for more
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/july/14.48.html?start=1
A chaplain in the right place
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
A chaplain in the right place
Posted by tmatt
I was stunned the other day by the total lack of interest in the religion elements of the big story here in Washington, D.C., as in the tragedy on our Metro subway system. The coverage has been major league, as you would expect, and the story on which I focused was one out of many worthy of discussion.
(Sound of crickets on a still night)
OK, I don’t care.
I’m going to write about this subject again, because the Washington Post had a follow-up story the other day that was simply baptized in religious themes and images, for a totally valid, journalistic reason. You see, one of the survivors from that first Metro car, the one that was crushed to one third its size, was — wait for it — was a military chaplain with two tours worth of experience in Iraq. He was in the wrong place at the right time.
In the end, the Post turned Car 1079 into a kind of urban version of “The Bridge of San Luis Rey.” Who was in that car at the crucial moment, when it was “Three Minutes to Fort Totten”?
I do have a few questions, however.
With this kind of anecdotal story, any feature writer has to ask two questions right up front: (1) What’s the symbolic story that gives me a lede? And (2) What’s the over-arching principle that provides the structure (and how does the lede fit into that)?
Now, it’s clear to me that Dave Bottoms, the chaplain who has just arrived at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, provides most of the information and insights that provide the structure of the story. Yet, the lede starts somewhere else, with Tom Baker, a doctor, and the last man to step onto the train before the doors closed and it began its short, final trip. I understand that choice. Yet I also wonder if leading with the chaplain was, oh, too religious? Did the editorial team conclude that this would be too focused on the faith element of the story?
click link for more
A chaplain in the right place
Posted by tmatt
I was stunned the other day by the total lack of interest in the religion elements of the big story here in Washington, D.C., as in the tragedy on our Metro subway system. The coverage has been major league, as you would expect, and the story on which I focused was one out of many worthy of discussion.
(Sound of crickets on a still night)
OK, I don’t care.
I’m going to write about this subject again, because the Washington Post had a follow-up story the other day that was simply baptized in religious themes and images, for a totally valid, journalistic reason. You see, one of the survivors from that first Metro car, the one that was crushed to one third its size, was — wait for it — was a military chaplain with two tours worth of experience in Iraq. He was in the wrong place at the right time.
In the end, the Post turned Car 1079 into a kind of urban version of “The Bridge of San Luis Rey.” Who was in that car at the crucial moment, when it was “Three Minutes to Fort Totten”?
I do have a few questions, however.
With this kind of anecdotal story, any feature writer has to ask two questions right up front: (1) What’s the symbolic story that gives me a lede? And (2) What’s the over-arching principle that provides the structure (and how does the lede fit into that)?
Now, it’s clear to me that Dave Bottoms, the chaplain who has just arrived at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, provides most of the information and insights that provide the structure of the story. Yet, the lede starts somewhere else, with Tom Baker, a doctor, and the last man to step onto the train before the doors closed and it began its short, final trip. I understand that choice. Yet I also wonder if leading with the chaplain was, oh, too religious? Did the editorial team conclude that this would be too focused on the faith element of the story?
click link for more
UK Report Cognitive Behavioural Therapy a waste of money
Government wasting money on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy suggests study
Written by Lautaro Vargas
Thursday, 02 July 2009
New research from the University of Hertfordshire has concluded that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) represents is of no value to sufferers of schizophrenia and has limited effect on depression.
Developed from a mix of cognitive and behavioural therapy, CBT is designed to systematically help solve problems in people’s lives, such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or drug misuse.
Professor Keith Laws, at the University’s School of Psychology, is a lead author on a paper entitled: Cognitive behavioural therapy for major psychiatric disorder: does it really work?
This meta-analytical review of well-controlled trials, published online in the journal Psychological Medicine, reviews the use of CBT in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression.
The results of the review suggest that not only is CBT ineffective in treating schizophrenia and in preventing relapse, it is also ineffective in preventing relapses in bipolar disorder.
The review also suggests that CBT has only a weak effect in treating depression, but it has a greater effect in preventing relapses in this disorder.
The authors focused particularly on methodologically rigorous trials that compared CBT to a ‘psychological placebo’ and also investigated the impact of ‘blinding’, i.e. whether or not the people who assessed the patients knew if they were receiving active treatment or not.
Both factors are considered essential before a drug treatment is approved for use in psychiatric disorders.
go here for more
Government wasting money on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy suggests study
Written by Lautaro Vargas
Thursday, 02 July 2009
New research from the University of Hertfordshire has concluded that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) represents is of no value to sufferers of schizophrenia and has limited effect on depression.
Developed from a mix of cognitive and behavioural therapy, CBT is designed to systematically help solve problems in people’s lives, such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or drug misuse.
Professor Keith Laws, at the University’s School of Psychology, is a lead author on a paper entitled: Cognitive behavioural therapy for major psychiatric disorder: does it really work?
This meta-analytical review of well-controlled trials, published online in the journal Psychological Medicine, reviews the use of CBT in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression.
The results of the review suggest that not only is CBT ineffective in treating schizophrenia and in preventing relapse, it is also ineffective in preventing relapses in bipolar disorder.
The review also suggests that CBT has only a weak effect in treating depression, but it has a greater effect in preventing relapses in this disorder.
The authors focused particularly on methodologically rigorous trials that compared CBT to a ‘psychological placebo’ and also investigated the impact of ‘blinding’, i.e. whether or not the people who assessed the patients knew if they were receiving active treatment or not.
Both factors are considered essential before a drug treatment is approved for use in psychiatric disorders.
go here for more
Government wasting money on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy suggests study
Women veterans find Grace After Fire
Grace After Fire
An online community designed by and for women veterans is finally here! Grace After Fire is a place where women can safely and anonymously share their stories, find their own community of shared experiences and discover a wealth of resources -- whether for addiction, alcoholism, post traumatic stress, reintegration, military sexual trauma (MST), depression, or help trying to navigate the VA system.
Grace was created to help women veterans find the "new normal" after serving in the Armed Forces. Grace lets women veterans and their families and friends talk about their problems through forums, blogs, chat, and more.
Visit www.graceafterfire.org and read the stories of women veterans from all eras past and present to learn about their strengths and the struggles they face every day. You will find a unique community where women veterans finally have a private online home of their own to share their stories, thoughts, and issues.
Become a Member!
Join the community! Find and give support in the online forums where women are able to find supportive healing for the most complex problems in the simplest ways. RegisterToday!
Donate!
Every email we open, every phone we answer, every women veteran we help -- your contributions make it happen! Our passionate and dedicated veteran volunteers have already given their money, their time, and their hearts to start this exciting nonprofit organization. We need your help to keep it going! Any amount that you can give will help us continue serving our women veterans. Click here to help a woman veteran today!
Contribute online to Grace's List, a place to offer or donate your extra household items, clothing, or free services to our veterans. Only Grace's women and their families will benefit from the donations that you give!
Contact Us
If you are a qualified provider of behavioral and mental health services,
If you can offer free or reduced-cost services, coupons or discounts,
If you would like to participate in our monthly give-away.
Most importantly, you can help spread the word! Forward this email on to a friend, a co-worker, a neighbor, or family member - tell others about Grace After Fire!
Our women vets have served, and now they deserve.
www.GraceAfterFire.org
http://e2ma.net/go/2168960803/1977042/73117514/28338/goto:http://www.graceafterfire.org/index.php
An online community designed by and for women veterans is finally here! Grace After Fire is a place where women can safely and anonymously share their stories, find their own community of shared experiences and discover a wealth of resources -- whether for addiction, alcoholism, post traumatic stress, reintegration, military sexual trauma (MST), depression, or help trying to navigate the VA system.
Grace was created to help women veterans find the "new normal" after serving in the Armed Forces. Grace lets women veterans and their families and friends talk about their problems through forums, blogs, chat, and more.
Visit www.graceafterfire.org and read the stories of women veterans from all eras past and present to learn about their strengths and the struggles they face every day. You will find a unique community where women veterans finally have a private online home of their own to share their stories, thoughts, and issues.
Become a Member!
Join the community! Find and give support in the online forums where women are able to find supportive healing for the most complex problems in the simplest ways. RegisterToday!
Donate!
Every email we open, every phone we answer, every women veteran we help -- your contributions make it happen! Our passionate and dedicated veteran volunteers have already given their money, their time, and their hearts to start this exciting nonprofit organization. We need your help to keep it going! Any amount that you can give will help us continue serving our women veterans. Click here to help a woman veteran today!
Contribute online to Grace's List, a place to offer or donate your extra household items, clothing, or free services to our veterans. Only Grace's women and their families will benefit from the donations that you give!
Contact Us
If you are a qualified provider of behavioral and mental health services,
If you can offer free or reduced-cost services, coupons or discounts,
If you would like to participate in our monthly give-away.
Most importantly, you can help spread the word! Forward this email on to a friend, a co-worker, a neighbor, or family member - tell others about Grace After Fire!
Our women vets have served, and now they deserve.
www.GraceAfterFire.org
http://e2ma.net/go/2168960803/1977042/73117514/28338/goto:http://www.graceafterfire.org/index.php
Weclome Home Ceremony for Vietnam Vets at Fort Campbell
Vietnam Veterans
Welcome Home Ceremony
Fort Campbell, Kentucky
1400H 16 August 2009
MG Jeffrey J Schloesser, CG 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) has announced a Welcome Home Ceremony for Vietnam Veterans during the Week of the Eagle at Fort Campbell Kentucky on Sunday 16 August 2009.
Vietnam Veterans from ALL units, branches and services are invited to participate in this very special opportunity. Vietnam Veterans will have the rare privilege of receiving the same welcome home that every member of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) receives when they return from the war on terrorism.
To participate, everyone is to enter Fort Campbell, KY at Gate 7 on Sunday 16 August 2009 and assemble in casual patriotic attire no later than 1400H CST (2:00 PM) at the Freedom Fighter Gymnasium near the 4th BCT (506th Currahee) headquarters.
Buses at the Freedom Fighter Gymnasium will transport everyone to and from Hangar 3. At Hangar 3, family and friends will assemble inside while the Vietnam Veterans form and “dress right dress” outside the hangar.
The grand moment will be when the hangar doors open to the sound of patriotic music, banners, cheers and tears. The Vietnam Veterans will be greeted by our new Commanding General, MG John F Campbell (former Commander 1st Bde 82nd Abn Div), families, friends and other patriots. What a memorable moment! I am a veteran of the Vietnam War and it touches me deeply to know that our Commanding General has made this special effort to include the Vietnam Veteran in the same honors given to our active duty Soldiers.
After the Hangar 3 ceremony, buses will return everyone to the Freedom Fighter Gymnasium (air-conditioned) and a sit down free Bar-B-Q meal for the Vietnam Veteran and one guest. The Golden Rule Smokehouse Restaurant is donating the meals.
To confirm (1) how many will attend the ceremony (2) to reserve a meal for yourself and one guest, (3) your branch of service and (4) handicap needs, please call the Hopkinsville-Christian County Chamber of Commerce at (270) 885-9096 or email akrohn@hopkinsvillechamber.com NLT 9 August 2009.
Also, please show your appreciation to the Golden Rule Smokehouse Restaurant (http://www.goldenrulebbq.com/stores.php) for their generosity to the Vietnam Veterans.
The website listing the Week of the Eagle activities is www.fortcampbellmwr.com/woe/.
While at the WOE, be sure to visit the 101st Airborne Division Association office at 32 Screaming Eagle Blvd near Gate 4
So, plan your trip, confirm your attendance, come to Fort Campbell, visit the 101st Airborne Division Association office and celebrate the Week of the Eagle with other veterans and members of our active duty Screaming Eagle family.
Joe R Alexander, President
101st Airborne Division Association
Mary Brenner Membership Administrator 101st Airborne Division Association PO Box 929 Fort Campbell, KY 42223 (931) 431-0199 ext 35 Fax (931) 431-0195 assocmemberinfo@comcast.net
Old News Military Cover-up raises questions
I received a link to this from a friend online. It raises the question about what was done about any of this. Was anything done? Did they still use whatever the vaccine was and did they ever admit to what it was?
Former Marine Claims Illness From Mystery Vaccine
Military Source Believes Experimental Shots May Have Been Given
POSTED: 3:03 pm EDT May 7, 2007
CLERMONT COUNTY, Ohio -- Target 5 has discovered that an alarming number of U.S. troops are having severe reactions to some of the vaccines they receive in preparation for going overseas.
"This is the worst cover-up in the history of the military," said an unidentified military health officer who fears for his job.
A shot from a syringe is leaving some U.S. servicemen and women on the brink of death.
"When the issue, I believe, of the use of the vaccine comes out, I believe it will make the Walter Reed scandal pale in comparison," said the health officer.
Lance Corporal David Fey, 20, has dialysis three days a week. His kidneys are failing, his military career is over, and he feels like his country abandoned him.
"I can't look at my old pictures. I really can't," said Fey. "I start looking at my old pictures, and I start crying."
Eleven months later, her son's medical records were mysteriously changed with a handwritten notation indicating that the mystery shot was a flu vaccine.
The military official who spoke to Target 5 on the condition of anonymity said that it was not surprising that nothing appeared originally in Fey's records.
"We have a lovely term for that," he said. "We call it C.Y.A. That's unfortunately an S.O.P. in the military."
Fey is one of a growing number of U.S. servicemen and women who are getting sick after receiving vaccines. And the highly praised Department of Defense medical officer who spoke with Target 5 said that the number is up in the thousands. The symptoms range from joint aches and pains and arthritic symptoms to death.
The Department of Defense said that it encourages "healthcare workers and vaccine recipients to report adverse (reactions) events." But the military never reported Fey's reaction to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the FDA.
go here for more
http://www.wlwt.com/news/13271378/detail.html
NAMI giving award to Dr. Katz for being forced to change?
I am on the NAMI Veteran's Council, or should I say, I have been. After the decision of NAMI to give an award to Dr. Katz, I am struggling finding a reason to participate at all.
When news of Dr. Katz came out during a conference call a few months ago, I was shocked. I respected the other members on the call and managed to keep my mouth shut. I did fire off an angry email, that was never responded to.
This is part of the email
Later in another conference call, someone said that Dr. Katz was vilified by the media. Seems he did a good enough job doing that himself. He was denying the suicides and attempted suicides were as high as they were trying to paint a picture of everything humanly possible being done to address the devastation our troops and veterans were going thru. A lawsuit filed by Veterans for Common Sense followed by another lawsuit on the delay in processing claims.
Yet NAMI seems to think that it was the media's fault that Dr. Katz was attacked while our veterans were dying. How many posts are on this blog about the suicides? How many do you think it would have taken NAMI to understand that this was not some kind of political game or media witch hunt going on?
We were reading their stories! We knew what was going on at the same time Dr. Katz among others were denying it was going on.
During the Bush Administration, with two military campaigns producing more wounded everyday, the VA was in denial mode at the same time the people on the lower tiers were struggling to help the veterans, process mountains of claims and get them diagnosed properly. What the top of the food chain was doing was quite different. There were less doctors and nurses working for the VA than there were after the Gulf War. IT workers were cut back at the same time people like Sally Satel were being allowed to dismiss the suffering of our veterans with PTSD as if they were just looking for a free ride. Still wonder why nothing was done to the help these veterans during the Bush Administration? Dr. Katz, very well could have been a fall guy for the administration but he was given a chance do decide if he cared more about his job and protecting the administration or cared about the veterans more. He decided to cover up what was going on.
That's the most appalling part in all of this. If Katz believed the crap the administration was putting out, then he was not paying attention enough to know better. If he didn't believe what he was saying then he was provided with enough opportunities to tell the truth. Either way, the veterans kept dying for attention and the truth to come out.
Another conversation during the conference call it was said that Dr. Katz had come a long way and deserved to be recognized for his work on suicide prevention. This stunning statement came after the law suits were filed, after congress and the senate Veterans Affairs Committees decided to figure out what was going on and do something about it. After Nicholson was finally replaced. After families of veterans that committed suicide told their stories to congress and after the needless military burials had already happened. Today, we still see the rise in suicides and attempted suicides but NAMI, well, NAMI decided that Katz deserves this award because he was forced to do something!
There is a lot of great work NAMI has been doing to address PTSD, from Peer To Peer and Family to Family, to other groups forming partnership with the VA and the DOD. All their work should be applauded but when they are wrong, they are wrong and I refuse to dismiss it.
I got into all of this because the veterans came first, not the people with the power. The veterans were and still are suffering, but the people with the power will not do what it takes, whatever it takes or how much money it will take to really take care of them. If I remain silent on this, I will be betraying the veterans I've fought so hard for since 1982. If I leave NAMI over this, it's no great loss to them because they never listen to me anyway. I am no one in their organization. In giving this award to Dr. Katz after his history it is a slap in the face to all the other groups around the country that tried so hard to bring accountability for the sake of the veterans, make the changes necessary to save their lives and provide them with a better quality of life.
I am torn up over this. If I did not believe in NAMI, know what good they are doing, I would not hesitate to stop supporting them. Thinking about what they are preparing to do makes me wonder how much they have really been paying attention to what has been happening to our veterans. It makes me sick thinking they could possibly be so unaware of any of this they reward someone responsible for it.
I think I just made up my mind. All the years and all the experience I have has meant nothing to NAMI Veterans Council in the past year so I'm done wasting my time. I'm done trying to get them to pay attention. I'm done reading emails sent with the "latest news" days after I've already posted it on the blog. This is the last straw on this overburdened back of mine. If they want to do something like this, after all the harm done, I can no longer support them.
When news of Dr. Katz came out during a conference call a few months ago, I was shocked. I respected the other members on the call and managed to keep my mouth shut. I did fire off an angry email, that was never responded to.
This is part of the email
I finally had some time to call in and listen. I am now thoroughly disappointed. The award the council is giving to Dr. Katz is wrong beyond belief. If NAMI wants to award someone for lying about PTSD suicides and attempted suicides then clearly NAMI does not know the facts. I'm involved with a lot of groups, several of which ended up filing law suits because of Dr. Katz and his abysmal record while the troops and veterans were killing themselves. The members that made the choice of Dr. Katz would have known what he's done if they read one tenth of the reports I do. How could you award him anything when he denied the enormous problem with the VA and suicides for the suicide prevention line he was forced to do? Do you know what this will do to NAMI's reputation? The stories have been all over the news for a couple of years and the organizations I'm involved with have massive lists of memberships they will notify of NAMI's award to Dr. Katz. Plan on a massive backlash against NAMI by these organizations because the fury this will cause.
Later in another conference call, someone said that Dr. Katz was vilified by the media. Seems he did a good enough job doing that himself. He was denying the suicides and attempted suicides were as high as they were trying to paint a picture of everything humanly possible being done to address the devastation our troops and veterans were going thru. A lawsuit filed by Veterans for Common Sense followed by another lawsuit on the delay in processing claims.
Arguments in the lawsuit, which pushes for better care for veterans injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, started April 21 in U.S. District Court. Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth, the lawsuit’s plaintiffs, say unless the U.S. institutes systemic and drastic measures to care for injured veterans, the numbers of broken families, unemployed and homeless veterans, cases of drug abuse and alcoholism, and the burdens on health care and social services systems will be incalculable. That includes the impact of poor care for Black soldiers with PTSD, they add.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs denied charges that discrimination and racism exacerbate the stress of wartime service and contributes to PTSD, in a written response to Veterans for Common Sense et al vs. Peake. When psychiatrists treat Blacks for PTSD, they are “much less likely to attribute the PTSD to combat than when they treat Whites, leading to a denial of services at the VA,” the lawsuit charges.
Veterans also say that over the last six years, the Bush administration has systematically denied veterans the health care they were promised and that they went to court as a last resort.
Suicide rates alarming
“We are here because veterans are committing suicide at an alarming rate,” Atty. Arturo Gonzalez told U.S. District Court Judge Samuel Conti, citing government documents showing that 18 U.S. war veterans kill themselves every day. “More of these veterans are dying in the United States than in combat—that’s wrong.”
“There is only one person on Earth who can do anything to help these men and women,” he told the judge, “Your honor, these veterans need help. The VA has demonstrated that they won’t do it on their own.”
The veterans’ groups are asking the judge to order the Department of Veterans Affairs to fully implement its own mental health strategic plan, which they argue has been left to wither on the vine; to comply with an internal VA memo setting out “specific programs intended to stop the suicides;” and to shorten claim times.
In his early May closing argument, Justice Department attorney Daniel Bensing countered that “the VA is providing world-class health care across the board” and dismissed as “immaterial” the fact that 18 veterans commit suicide every day.
“We don’t dispute that suicide is a major issue among veterans,” he said, but “there is no evidence that suicidal veterans have been turned away.”
“Extensive care is being provided,” he said.
But internal VA documents made public at the trial appeared to paint a different picture.
Hiding serious problems?
In one e-mail made public during the trial, the head of the VA’s Mental Health division, Dr. Ira Katz, advised a media representative not to tell reporters that 1,000 veterans receiving care at the VA try to kill themselves every month.
“Shh!” the e-mail begins.
“Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among the veterans we see in our medical facilities. Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it?” the e-mail concludes. Leading Democrats on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee have since called for Dr. Katz’s resignation.
Another set of documents showed that in the six months leading up to March 31, 2008, 1,467 veterans died waiting to learn if their disability claims would be approved by the government. A third set of documents showed that veterans who appeal a VA decision to deny their disability claim have to wait an average of 1,608 days, or nearly four and a half years, for their answer.
These documents, which contained information that journalists and veterans’ groups had been trying to obtain for months, only came to light because of the discovery process of the trial, which required high-ranking government officials to give depositions under oath.
“No matter how this trial turns out, it has given us a wealth of information,” said Amy Fairweather of the nonprofit group Swords to Plowshares, which provides counseling, employment and housing to returning veterans. “We can use the information that’s been discovered to show how to do things better.”
Ms. Fairweather said she hopes Judge Samuel Conti will grant the veterans’ groups request for a Special Master to monitor the Department of Veterans Affairs’ compliance with its mental health strategic plan.
“When someone’s watching over you it’s an incentive to do your job,” she said. “Right now, there’s no accountability.”
As the trial wrapped up, Judge Conti appeared to be friendly to the arguments of the veterans groups, but the judge, an 86-year-old World War II veteran who was originally appointed to the bench by Richard Nixon, expressed a concern that he not overreach his authority.
“This court is restricted by statutes and case law,” he said, asking both sides to file legal arguments on his jurisdiction.
“Whatever I do, one side or the other is going to appeal,” he noted, expressing a desire that his decision not be overturned by a higher court.
Speaking with reporters afterwards, representatives for the veterans and the government both agreed that the losing side will likely appeal the case all the way to the Supreme Court.
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_4730.shtml
Yet NAMI seems to think that it was the media's fault that Dr. Katz was attacked while our veterans were dying. How many posts are on this blog about the suicides? How many do you think it would have taken NAMI to understand that this was not some kind of political game or media witch hunt going on?
We were reading their stories! We knew what was going on at the same time Dr. Katz among others were denying it was going on.
From VA Watchdog
Yesterday we learned that Dr. Ira Katz, the VA's mental health chief, covered up statistics about veteran suicides. That story here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfAPR08/nf042208-6.htm
Video of that story is here... http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfAPR08/nf042208-7.htm
Now, Sen. Patty Murray wants his head on a platter...and, it couldn't happen to a more deserving fellow. Katz should be fired and ostracized from the medical community for his actions.
Murray press release is here... http://murray.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=296526
For more about CBS News reports on veterans and suicide, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here... http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=cbs+suicide&op=and
Today's story here... http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/22/cbsnews_investigates/main4035255.shtml
stories/2008/04/22/cbsnews_investigates/main4035255.shtml
Advocacy Groups File Lawsuit Against VA Over Disability Claims Delays
Main Category: Veterans / Ex-Servicemen
Also Included In: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 12 Nov 2008 - 11:00 PST
Two veterans' advocacy groups on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs alleging that its failure to process disability claims in a timely manner has resulted in economic and other problems for hundreds of thousands of military personnel, the Cox/Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by the Vietnam Veterans for America and Veterans of Modern Warfare, which represent about 60,000 veterans.
According to the lawsuit, "The VA's failure to provide timely benefits decisions often leads to financial crises, homelessness, addiction and suicide." The suit calls on VA to provide waiting veterans with interim benefits for claims that take at least 90 days to process or more than six months to appeal.
Robert Cattanach, a Minneapolis-based attorney for the veterans, said there currently are about 600,000 service members who are awaiting the outcomes of their disability claims, which can take six months to one year to be processed. Appeals can take up to four years to be processed. Cattanach said that as more veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan return to the U.S., VA likely will see an increase of hundreds of thousands of additional disability claims. Phil Budahn, a VA spokesperson, declined to comment on the lawsuit (Deans, Cox /Memphis Commercial Appeal, 11/11).
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/129023.php
During the Bush Administration, with two military campaigns producing more wounded everyday, the VA was in denial mode at the same time the people on the lower tiers were struggling to help the veterans, process mountains of claims and get them diagnosed properly. What the top of the food chain was doing was quite different. There were less doctors and nurses working for the VA than there were after the Gulf War. IT workers were cut back at the same time people like Sally Satel were being allowed to dismiss the suffering of our veterans with PTSD as if they were just looking for a free ride. Still wonder why nothing was done to the help these veterans during the Bush Administration? Dr. Katz, very well could have been a fall guy for the administration but he was given a chance do decide if he cared more about his job and protecting the administration or cared about the veterans more. He decided to cover up what was going on.
Subject: Dr. Katz to receive top award from National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
Dr. Ira Katz, Deputy Chief PCS Officer for Mental Health, has been named recipient of NAMI’s Veterans Council Dedication to Veterans Mental Health Care Award. Dr. Katz will receive his award at NAMI’s national conference in San Francisco, July 6-9.
NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots organizations for people with mental illness and their families whose mission is to be an advocate to ensure that all persons affected by mental illness receive the services they need and deserve, in a timely fashion. In announcing the prestigious award, NAMI noted that despite criticism in the media following reports of increased suicides among veterans, Dr. Katz worked tirelessly behind the scenes to launch the VA’s first-ever suicide presentation initiative, including a nationwide crisis call line that has intervened in thousands of potential suicides by veterans. NAMI noted that Dr. Katz spearheaded VA-wide approval of dramatic reform of its mental health programs to embrace recovery principles. “All Veterans receiving mental health care in the VA are better served today because of the work of Dr. Ira Katz,” NAMI said in its statement about the award.
That's the most appalling part in all of this. If Katz believed the crap the administration was putting out, then he was not paying attention enough to know better. If he didn't believe what he was saying then he was provided with enough opportunities to tell the truth. Either way, the veterans kept dying for attention and the truth to come out.
Another conversation during the conference call it was said that Dr. Katz had come a long way and deserved to be recognized for his work on suicide prevention. This stunning statement came after the law suits were filed, after congress and the senate Veterans Affairs Committees decided to figure out what was going on and do something about it. After Nicholson was finally replaced. After families of veterans that committed suicide told their stories to congress and after the needless military burials had already happened. Today, we still see the rise in suicides and attempted suicides but NAMI, well, NAMI decided that Katz deserves this award because he was forced to do something!
There is a lot of great work NAMI has been doing to address PTSD, from Peer To Peer and Family to Family, to other groups forming partnership with the VA and the DOD. All their work should be applauded but when they are wrong, they are wrong and I refuse to dismiss it.
I got into all of this because the veterans came first, not the people with the power. The veterans were and still are suffering, but the people with the power will not do what it takes, whatever it takes or how much money it will take to really take care of them. If I remain silent on this, I will be betraying the veterans I've fought so hard for since 1982. If I leave NAMI over this, it's no great loss to them because they never listen to me anyway. I am no one in their organization. In giving this award to Dr. Katz after his history it is a slap in the face to all the other groups around the country that tried so hard to bring accountability for the sake of the veterans, make the changes necessary to save their lives and provide them with a better quality of life.
I am torn up over this. If I did not believe in NAMI, know what good they are doing, I would not hesitate to stop supporting them. Thinking about what they are preparing to do makes me wonder how much they have really been paying attention to what has been happening to our veterans. It makes me sick thinking they could possibly be so unaware of any of this they reward someone responsible for it.
I think I just made up my mind. All the years and all the experience I have has meant nothing to NAMI Veterans Council in the past year so I'm done wasting my time. I'm done trying to get them to pay attention. I'm done reading emails sent with the "latest news" days after I've already posted it on the blog. This is the last straw on this overburdened back of mine. If they want to do something like this, after all the harm done, I can no longer support them.
Combat veterans, families pay heavy price
My friend, Lily Casura wrote another great article you should read.
Combat veterans, families pay heavy price
By Lily G. Casura
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Recently I had the opportunity to attend a memorial service of sorts at the St. Helena Library, honoring the 500-plus California service members who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, including 10 from Napa and Sonoma counties. The brief biographies, complete with photos, of all those killed were poignant and moving; as were the longer bios of the local soldiers, which audience members stood and read, frequently with tears.
The causes of death for all 500-plus ran the gamut: frequently improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or small-arms fire. But sprinkled throughout were the telling deaths from “non-combat injuries,” sometimes shorthand for a soldier killing him or herself. Of course, once combat veterans return, the difficulties only continue. Veterans who committed suicide after returning from war weren’t included in the rolls of who we honored that night.
A few days later, I was saddened to read of another service member’s death. Roy Brooks Mason Jr., 28, originally from Fairfield, a two-tour Iraq war veteran who’d come home with PTSD, took his life in Capitola.
Mason’s death highlights the ongoing problem of returning veterans, PTSD and suicide. A childhood friend was quoted in the local paper, saying that “Mason wrote several letters before killing himself, including one to a … congressman, in which he asked for more intense screening and other help for returning soldiers.”
go here for more
Combat veterans, families pay heavy price
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Shocking Wall Timers Recalled
240,000 in-wall electronic timers recalled
Consumers have been shocked while replacing Intermatic timers' batteries
The following recall has been announced:
About 240,000 Intermatic model ST01 and EI600 in-wall electronic timers, made in Mexico by Intermatic Inc., of Spring Grove, Ill., because the product might pose a shock hazard to consumers trying to replace its battery.
The company has received 12 reports of consumers receiving a minor shock while changing the timer's battery.
go here for more
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31691330/ns/today_home_and_garden/
Consumers have been shocked while replacing Intermatic timers' batteries
The following recall has been announced:
About 240,000 Intermatic model ST01 and EI600 in-wall electronic timers, made in Mexico by Intermatic Inc., of Spring Grove, Ill., because the product might pose a shock hazard to consumers trying to replace its battery.
The company has received 12 reports of consumers receiving a minor shock while changing the timer's battery.
go here for more
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31691330/ns/today_home_and_garden/
Prescription drug overdoses spike in Orlando, Florida
Prescription drug overdoses spike in Orlando, Florida
Willoughby Mariano Sentinel Staff Writer
4:49 PM EDT, July 1, 2009
Deadly overdoses of anti- anxiety drugs and painkillers spiked in the Orlando area and across the state last year, experts said, evidence of the growing threat posed by the abuse of legal prescription drugs.
And in what experts say is a major shift, Florida deaths by anti-anxiety drugs, painkillers and a heroin treatment drug surpassed those from cocaine in 2008, according to a report released this week by a commission of Florida medical examiners. Cocaine caused the most deaths in 2007.
In Orlando and Osceola counties alone, deaths caused by an anti-anxiety drug often sold as Xanax killed 50 people, a jump of 61 percent.
"Not a week goes by, and sometimes, not a day goes by, without a [prescription drug] case," said Dr. Jan Garavaglia, the Orange-Osceola office's medical examiner. "It's unbelievable."
Anti-anxiety drugs were present in 130 bodies examined by the office, a 132 percent increase
go here for more
Prescription drug overdoses spike in Orlando
Willoughby Mariano Sentinel Staff Writer
4:49 PM EDT, July 1, 2009
Deadly overdoses of anti- anxiety drugs and painkillers spiked in the Orlando area and across the state last year, experts said, evidence of the growing threat posed by the abuse of legal prescription drugs.
And in what experts say is a major shift, Florida deaths by anti-anxiety drugs, painkillers and a heroin treatment drug surpassed those from cocaine in 2008, according to a report released this week by a commission of Florida medical examiners. Cocaine caused the most deaths in 2007.
In Orlando and Osceola counties alone, deaths caused by an anti-anxiety drug often sold as Xanax killed 50 people, a jump of 61 percent.
"Not a week goes by, and sometimes, not a day goes by, without a [prescription drug] case," said Dr. Jan Garavaglia, the Orange-Osceola office's medical examiner. "It's unbelievable."
Anti-anxiety drugs were present in 130 bodies examined by the office, a 132 percent increase
go here for more
Prescription drug overdoses spike in Orlando
10 people hurt in Staten Island Ferry Crash
Staten Island Ferry crash injures 10
Story Highlights
Ferry loses power and hits a pier at full speed, Coast Guard says
1 person injured seriously, 9 others hurt
Accident happens at St. George Terminal on north shore of Staten Island
Impact did not send any passengers overboard, spokesman says
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A Staten Island Ferry lost power and hit a pier Wednesday at full speed, resulting in one serious injury and nine minor injuries, a Coast Guard spokesman said.
The New York Fire Department estimates that 750 to 800 passengers were aboard the Staten Island Ferry.
Coast Guard boats were on the scene, the St. George Terminal on the north shore of Staten Island.
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/01/ferry.crash/index.html
Story Highlights
Ferry loses power and hits a pier at full speed, Coast Guard says
1 person injured seriously, 9 others hurt
Accident happens at St. George Terminal on north shore of Staten Island
Impact did not send any passengers overboard, spokesman says
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A Staten Island Ferry lost power and hit a pier Wednesday at full speed, resulting in one serious injury and nine minor injuries, a Coast Guard spokesman said.
The New York Fire Department estimates that 750 to 800 passengers were aboard the Staten Island Ferry.
Coast Guard boats were on the scene, the St. George Terminal on the north shore of Staten Island.
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/01/ferry.crash/index.html
DOD warns shakes in MRE may have salmonella
Salmonella concerns prompt dairy shakes warning
By Matthew Cox - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 1, 2009 20:26:34 EDT
Don’t drink the dairy shakes. They might give you diarrhea.
Defense Department officials are warning all military personnel to temporarily avoid drinking dairy shakes found in Meals, Ready to Eat and Unitized Group Rations-Express because they might contain Salmonella.
“There is a remote chance that we might have some dairy shakes that could have some Salmonella,” Gerry Darsch, director of the DoD Combat Feeding Program, told Army Times on Wednesday.
That means that potentially there are about 12 million dairy shakes in MREs that could be affected, Darsch said.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/army_dairyshakes_070109w/
By Matthew Cox - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 1, 2009 20:26:34 EDT
Don’t drink the dairy shakes. They might give you diarrhea.
Defense Department officials are warning all military personnel to temporarily avoid drinking dairy shakes found in Meals, Ready to Eat and Unitized Group Rations-Express because they might contain Salmonella.
“There is a remote chance that we might have some dairy shakes that could have some Salmonella,” Gerry Darsch, director of the DoD Combat Feeding Program, told Army Times on Wednesday.
That means that potentially there are about 12 million dairy shakes in MREs that could be affected, Darsch said.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/army_dairyshakes_070109w/
Silver Rose medals awarded
Silver Rose medals awarded
Sierra Vista Herald - Sierra Vista,AZ,USA
Local Vietnam War vets were exposed to Agent Orange
By Dana Cole
Herald/Review
Published/Last Modified on Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009
SIERRA VISTA — During a special ceremony on Sunday, nine Vietnam War veterans were recognized for their contributions and service to this country.
The Order of the Silver Rose is a medal awarded to veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange while serving in the Vietnam War.
In Sierra Vista’s first Silver Rose ceremony, presentations were made by Rose and Aaron Possien at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall, where the victims of Agent Orange, in the presence of family members and friends, were honored. Three of the honorees were deceased; their medals were presented to a family member or close friend.
Aaron Possien is the Arizona state director for The Order of the Silver Rose, a nonprofit organization that not only honors the veterans who have been sickened or killed by Agent Orange, but strives to raise awareness about a wide range of cancers and other illnesses caused by exposure to the defoliant.
click link for more
Sierra Vista Herald - Sierra Vista,AZ,USA
Local Vietnam War vets were exposed to Agent Orange
By Dana Cole
Herald/Review
Published/Last Modified on Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009
SIERRA VISTA — During a special ceremony on Sunday, nine Vietnam War veterans were recognized for their contributions and service to this country.
The Order of the Silver Rose is a medal awarded to veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange while serving in the Vietnam War.
In Sierra Vista’s first Silver Rose ceremony, presentations were made by Rose and Aaron Possien at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall, where the victims of Agent Orange, in the presence of family members and friends, were honored. Three of the honorees were deceased; their medals were presented to a family member or close friend.
Aaron Possien is the Arizona state director for The Order of the Silver Rose, a nonprofit organization that not only honors the veterans who have been sickened or killed by Agent Orange, but strives to raise awareness about a wide range of cancers and other illnesses caused by exposure to the defoliant.
click link for more
Suicide Warning Issued for Chantix and Zyban
These drugs work fine for some people. I've written before how they helped an elderly aunt and uncle quit successfully. The warning should be taken seriously for anyone with a mental health issue. Especially troubling right now is that the military has said they want to crack down on smoking. If they want to use these products, fine, but they better be prepared to make sure they are paying close attention to the troops that take them.
Suicide Warning Issued for 2 Anti-Smoking Drugs
By GARDINER HARRIS
Published: July 1, 2009
WASHINGTON — Federal drug regulators warned Wednesday that patients taking two popular stop-smoking drugs should be watched closely for signs of serious mental illness, as reported suicides among the drugs’ users mount.
But officials emphasized that patients should not be scared away from taking the smoking-cessation medicines, Chantix, made by Pfizer, and Zyban, made by GlaxoSmithKline.
“Stopping smoking is a goal we should all be working towards,” said Dr. Curt Rosebraugh, director of a drug evaluation office at the F.D.A. “We don’t want to scare people off from trying a medication that could help them achieve this goal. You should just be careful.”
The F.D.A. required Pfizer and Glaxo to place so-called black box warnings — the agency’s most serious caution — on the prescribing information for both drugs. Both companies will be required to conduct clinical trials to assess the mental health risks associated with the drugs’ uses.
go here for more
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/health/02drug.html?_r=1&hp
Iraq Veteran reaches plea agreement with OIA over bomb parts
Man accused of trying to smuggle bomb parts on OIA flight reaches plea agreement
Willoughby Mariano and Amy L. Edwards Sentinel Staff Writers
July 1, 2009
A man accused of trying to carry bomb parts onto a plane at Orlando International Airport last year will enter a plea to a misdemeanor after experts concluded he did not pose as serious a security threat as first thought.
Kevin Brown, 33, faces up to 12 months in prison on a charge of entering an aircraft or airport area in violation of security requirements but has already spent 14 months in jail awaiting trial. Originally, he was charged with attempting to place an explosive or incendiary device on an aircraft, which carries a sentence of 20 years.
Brown, a troubled U.S. Army veteran from Jamaica who served in the Iraq war, was not a terrorist, his attorney Wayne Golding said.
go here for more
Man accused of trying to smuggle bomb parts on OIA flight reaches plea agreement
Willoughby Mariano and Amy L. Edwards Sentinel Staff Writers
July 1, 2009
A man accused of trying to carry bomb parts onto a plane at Orlando International Airport last year will enter a plea to a misdemeanor after experts concluded he did not pose as serious a security threat as first thought.
Kevin Brown, 33, faces up to 12 months in prison on a charge of entering an aircraft or airport area in violation of security requirements but has already spent 14 months in jail awaiting trial. Originally, he was charged with attempting to place an explosive or incendiary device on an aircraft, which carries a sentence of 20 years.
Brown, a troubled U.S. Army veteran from Jamaica who served in the Iraq war, was not a terrorist, his attorney Wayne Golding said.
go here for more
Man accused of trying to smuggle bomb parts on OIA flight reaches plea agreement
PTSD program answers need for comprehensive treatment
A couple of points that should be paid attention to here;
The first one that struck me is that they are paying attention to the fact nothing works for all of them the same way, so they have a variety of programs going on.
They are keeping the groups small, and this also helps them to feel connected instead of being lumped into such a large group, they would feel lost.
They are using EMDR and yoga, two of the latest programs being used.
To me, this is all good even though it's early on in this program. It seems they are doing everything right and should be seriously considered.
The first one that struck me is that they are paying attention to the fact nothing works for all of them the same way, so they have a variety of programs going on.
They are keeping the groups small, and this also helps them to feel connected instead of being lumped into such a large group, they would feel lost.
They are using EMDR and yoga, two of the latest programs being used.
To me, this is all good even though it's early on in this program. It seems they are doing everything right and should be seriously considered.
New PTSD program answers need for comprehensive treatment
by Capt. Bryan Lewis
Landstuhl Regional Medical Center Public Affairs
7/1/2009 - LANDSTUHL REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, Germany (AFNS) -- Symptoms of combat stress and post-traumatic stress disorder for wounded warriors include continual nightmares, avoidance behaviors, denial, grief, anger and fear.
Some servicemembers battling these and other symptoms, can be treated successfully as an outpatient while assuming their normal duties, but for others; however, returning to work and becoming their old selves again were challenges recognized by several mental health professionals across the European theater.
"We were looking at how we can best meet the needs of our clientele, and we were identifying that a lot of the Soldiers needed more than once a week outpatient, individual therapy and probably needed more than once or twice a week group therapy," said Joseph Pehm, the chief of Medical Social Work at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.
The solution came in the creation of an intensive eight-week therapeutic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Day Treatment Program called "evolution" that began in March 2009 at LRMC. During the eight-hour days, patients enrolled in the program participate in multiple disciplines and interests, including art therapy, yoga and meditation classes, substance abuse groups, anger and grief management, tobacco cessation, pain management and multiple PTSD evidence-based practice protocols.
"I am a great believer in the kitchen sink, meaning I throw everything, including the kitchen sink, and something will stick," said Dr. Daphne Brown, chief of the Division of Behavioral Health at LRMC. "And so we've come with all the evidence-based treatment for PTSD that we know about. We've taken everything that we can think of that will be of use in redirecting symptoms for these folks and put it into an eight-week program."
Doctor Brown, Mr. Pehm and Sharon Stewart, a Red Cross volunteer who holds a Ph.D. in psychology, said the program is designed from research into the effects of traumatic experience and mirrors successful PTSD programs at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as programs run by psychologists in the U.S.
"We are building on the groundbreaking work that some of our peers and colleagues have done and just expanding it out," Doctor Brown said.
go here for more
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123156957
Wounded Warriors Return to Iraq
Wounded Warriors Return to Iraq
June 29, 2009
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq (American Forces Press Service) – Six wounded soldiers, all amputees, returned here last week hoping to close the door on the combat that changed them forever.
The last time Sgt. Christopher A. Burrell was in Iraq, he was pulled from a burning vehicle in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood. A tourniquet applied by another soldier saved his life, but a nurse here at the Air Force Theater Hospital had to break the tragic news—his left leg was gone, taken by an explosively formed projectile.
Now, almost a year and a half later, and after months of rehabilitation and physical therapy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Burrell returned to Iraq with five other amputee combat veterans as part of Operation Proper Exit.
”I don’t remember much, but I remember my nurse,” Burrell said. ”Shelly. She was an angel, there to comfort me when I was in a difficult spot.“
Operation Proper Exit, a United Service Organizations pilot program sponsored by the Army and the Troops First Foundation, allows soldiers wounded in combat to return to Iraq. The goal of the program is to give the soldiers an opportunity for closure, and to see the progress made in securing and stabilizing the country, Burrell said.
”It kind of helps you heal mentally and emotionally, to close that chapter in your life so you can move on,” he said. ”The progress that’s been made—it shows that we made a sacrifice but it was for a reason.”
go here for more
http://www.army.com/news/item/5539
June 29, 2009
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq (American Forces Press Service) – Six wounded soldiers, all amputees, returned here last week hoping to close the door on the combat that changed them forever.
The last time Sgt. Christopher A. Burrell was in Iraq, he was pulled from a burning vehicle in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood. A tourniquet applied by another soldier saved his life, but a nurse here at the Air Force Theater Hospital had to break the tragic news—his left leg was gone, taken by an explosively formed projectile.
Now, almost a year and a half later, and after months of rehabilitation and physical therapy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Burrell returned to Iraq with five other amputee combat veterans as part of Operation Proper Exit.
”I don’t remember much, but I remember my nurse,” Burrell said. ”Shelly. She was an angel, there to comfort me when I was in a difficult spot.“
Operation Proper Exit, a United Service Organizations pilot program sponsored by the Army and the Troops First Foundation, allows soldiers wounded in combat to return to Iraq. The goal of the program is to give the soldiers an opportunity for closure, and to see the progress made in securing and stabilizing the country, Burrell said.
”It kind of helps you heal mentally and emotionally, to close that chapter in your life so you can move on,” he said. ”The progress that’s been made—it shows that we made a sacrifice but it was for a reason.”
go here for more
http://www.army.com/news/item/5539
Star Wars Society steps up for Wounded Warriors of Ward 57
Star Wars society raises funds for wounded warriors at Walter Reed
by J.H. Freeman
Jun 30, 2009
J.H. Freeman/Medill
The Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi graces the front of the Pennsylvania Star Wars Collecting Society's medallion to raise money for patients in Walter Reed's Ward 57
WASHINGTON - Injured soldiers recuperating in Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Ward 57 are getting special assistance from a galaxy far, far away.
The Pennsylvania Star Wars Collecting Society is selling a one-time run of 1,000 souvenir medallions inspired by the films, with proceeds going to Operation Ward 57—a group dedicated to raising money for DVD players and electronic gaming consoles, like Xbox and Playstation, for the wounded.
The 24-bed Ward 57, known as the “amputee ward,” is home to some of the most severely wounded soldiers in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“We decided as a group that we wanted to do some sort of fundraiser for Operation [Ward] 57,” said Bill Cable, president and founder of the 350-member Star Wars society.
go here for more
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/washington/news.aspx?id=135331
by J.H. Freeman
Jun 30, 2009
J.H. Freeman/Medill
The Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi graces the front of the Pennsylvania Star Wars Collecting Society's medallion to raise money for patients in Walter Reed's Ward 57
WASHINGTON - Injured soldiers recuperating in Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Ward 57 are getting special assistance from a galaxy far, far away.
The Pennsylvania Star Wars Collecting Society is selling a one-time run of 1,000 souvenir medallions inspired by the films, with proceeds going to Operation Ward 57—a group dedicated to raising money for DVD players and electronic gaming consoles, like Xbox and Playstation, for the wounded.
The 24-bed Ward 57, known as the “amputee ward,” is home to some of the most severely wounded soldiers in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“We decided as a group that we wanted to do some sort of fundraiser for Operation [Ward] 57,” said Bill Cable, president and founder of the 350-member Star Wars society.
go here for more
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/washington/news.aspx?id=135331
Child strangled by python in Florida
Child Strangled By Python
Wednesday, July 01, 2009 11:37:48 AM
OXFORD -- News 13 has just confirmed that a young child is dead after being strangled by a python.
go here for more
http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2009/7/1/child_strangled_by_python.html
UPDATE
Child Suffocated By Python
Wednesday, July 01, 2009 4:15:58 PM
OXFORD -- News 13 has confirmed that a 2-year-old girl is dead after being suffocated by a python.
Shaiunna Hare died in her home in Oxford, just off of County Road 466, east of The Villages.
The snake was a 12-foot long albino Burmese python and was a pet of the family.
According to Lt. Joy Hill with Florida Fish and Wildlife, Charles Darnell, the boyfriend of the child's mother, Jaren Hare, put the python away in an aquarium and when he woke up around 9 a.m., he found the aquarium was empty. He ran to Shaiunna's bedroom and found the snake on top of the her.
click link for more
Wednesday, July 01, 2009 11:37:48 AM
OXFORD -- News 13 has just confirmed that a young child is dead after being strangled by a python.
go here for more
http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2009/7/1/child_strangled_by_python.html
UPDATE
Child Suffocated By Python
Wednesday, July 01, 2009 4:15:58 PM
OXFORD -- News 13 has confirmed that a 2-year-old girl is dead after being suffocated by a python.
Shaiunna Hare died in her home in Oxford, just off of County Road 466, east of The Villages.
The snake was a 12-foot long albino Burmese python and was a pet of the family.
According to Lt. Joy Hill with Florida Fish and Wildlife, Charles Darnell, the boyfriend of the child's mother, Jaren Hare, put the python away in an aquarium and when he woke up around 9 a.m., he found the aquarium was empty. He ran to Shaiunna's bedroom and found the snake on top of the her.
click link for more
Another Medal of Honor Stolen Valor Case? Maybe not
Amster says he never knew what was on his discharge papers until he wanted to get a loan and needed it. This could be just a mistake, considering during the Vietnam War, there were many errors on records. Wrong social security numbers were typed all the time and while corrections were attempted to be made, most of them never ended up being fixed all the way through on every record in every file. The question here is, did Amster ever claim having the Medal of Honor to anyone for his own advantage? Seems really odd that it would take him until 2005 to come up with a story like this.
Man In Hot Water Over Medal Of Honor Dispute
Wednesday, July 01, 2009 8:13:07 AM
Reported By Greg Pallone
PALM BAY -- A veteran could get a year in jail and pay up to a $100,000 fine if convicted on charges of claiming to be a Congressional Medal of Honor winner.
Last week in Tampa federal court, Gary Amster, 62, was arraigned on charges he misrepresented himself as a recipient as early as September 2007 through April 2008.
The recipient of a Purple Heart, Amster served two years as an Army radio operator in Vietnam, and was hit by shrapnel and had a kidney removed after his unit was ambushed in December 1967 after pulling the four other wounded men to safety.
go here for more
Man In Hot Water Over Medal Of Honor Dispute
Additional Information
Florida Has A Share Of Medal Recipients
Medal Of Honor, A Badge Of Courage
Military Medals For Heroism
A family's sacrifice: Three brothers sent to war
A family's sacrifice: Three brothers sent to war
By Thom Patterson
CNN
Story Highlights
It's unusual: Three brothers serve in same Georgia National Guard company
Another three brothers from Washington state also serve in Afghan war
Two mothers open up about the stress of having three sons in harm's way
Nevada Army National Guard unit has nine sets of brothers serving in Afghanistan
Huddling in a parking lot outside a motel near Camp Shelby, Mississippi, the Callaway family members hold on to what they value most: their faith and each other. Mark and Karmen Callaway clutched their three soldier sons before sending them off to Afghanistan. "I know that people lose their children every day," said Karmen Callaway. "A fear that I have is that something will happen to all three of them." full story
By Thom Patterson
CNN
Story Highlights
It's unusual: Three brothers serve in same Georgia National Guard company
Another three brothers from Washington state also serve in Afghan war
Two mothers open up about the stress of having three sons in harm's way
Nevada Army National Guard unit has nine sets of brothers serving in Afghanistan
Huddling in a parking lot outside a motel near Camp Shelby, Mississippi, the Callaway family members hold on to what they value most: their faith and each other. Mark and Karmen Callaway clutched their three soldier sons before sending them off to Afghanistan. "I know that people lose their children every day," said Karmen Callaway. "A fear that I have is that something will happen to all three of them." full story
Chaplain Vakoc fell at care center before death
Chaplain fell at care center before death
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jul 1, 2009 9:17:30 EDT
MINNEAPOLIS — A medical examiner's report says the military chaplain gravely wounded in Iraq five years ago suffered head injuries in a fall at his nursing home just before his death.
The Hennepin County medical examiner's report lists the cause of Rev. Tim Vakoc's death as blunt-force head injuries related to a fall.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/ap_chaplain_fall_070109/
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jul 1, 2009 9:17:30 EDT
MINNEAPOLIS — A medical examiner's report says the military chaplain gravely wounded in Iraq five years ago suffered head injuries in a fall at his nursing home just before his death.
The Hennepin County medical examiner's report lists the cause of Rev. Tim Vakoc's death as blunt-force head injuries related to a fall.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/ap_chaplain_fall_070109/
Soldiers return from the frontlines to face war with VA
Soldiers return from the frontlines to face war with VA
By Sheldon Traver
from WillametteLive, Section News
Posted on Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 08:45:07 PM PDT
This year marks a milestone for the Oregon Army National Guard.
More than 3,000 soldiers have already left or are preparing for deployment to Iraq in 2009. It will be the largest deployment for the Oregon Army National Guard since World War II.
However, questions have recently been raised about the care veterans receive upon their return from war. Some Oregon weekend warriors are finding a Department of Veterans Affairs that is unwilling or unable to care for the long-term physical and mental disabilities they are now facing.
With little outside help, some have given up the fight and others continue to struggle for the benefits they say they deserve.
The Veterans Affairs office in Portland disputes these claims, saying it is doing more for veterans now than any time in the past, and points to increased services and a new processing facility in Hillsboro that has prepared the federal agency to aid all returning veterans.
Todd Marcus
In November 2006, then-23-year-old Army specialist Todd Marcus was on patrol in a small Afghan village outside of Kabul.
He carried his M-16 barrel down with his finger just inside the trigger housing. He sweltered under more than 50 pounds of combat gear, including body armor and a Kevlar helmet. Beads of perspiration trickled down to the palms of his gloved hands. Even with the fingertips cut off, the salty runoff made the cuts in his hands sting and itch.
Approximately 100 meters to his left, Marcus saw an Afghan police officer walking a few meters behind another police officer in patrol formation. The officer looked nervous as he scanned the rooftops, looking for those who might intend to kill him. Each little boy, each expectant mother could have been a suicide bomber, paid or extorted by insurgents to end their lives in a desperate bid to feed their families.
Suddenly, a bright flash of light filled Marcus’ peripheral vision, followed by a percussion of hot wind that knocked him aside. His sunglasses flew off and the smell of cordite wafted through the air with a cloud of concrete and dust. He looked toward the ground where the blast originated. The Afghan police officer that was walking just yards from him lay in a pool of blood along with two other officers. An improvised explosive device planted inside the corner of a bullet-riddled concrete home had taken their lives.
Once the carnage and chaos was over, all Marcus could do was cry.
go here for more
Soldiers return from the frontlines to face war with VA
By Sheldon Traver
from WillametteLive, Section News
Posted on Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 08:45:07 PM PDT
This year marks a milestone for the Oregon Army National Guard.
More than 3,000 soldiers have already left or are preparing for deployment to Iraq in 2009. It will be the largest deployment for the Oregon Army National Guard since World War II.
However, questions have recently been raised about the care veterans receive upon their return from war. Some Oregon weekend warriors are finding a Department of Veterans Affairs that is unwilling or unable to care for the long-term physical and mental disabilities they are now facing.
With little outside help, some have given up the fight and others continue to struggle for the benefits they say they deserve.
The Veterans Affairs office in Portland disputes these claims, saying it is doing more for veterans now than any time in the past, and points to increased services and a new processing facility in Hillsboro that has prepared the federal agency to aid all returning veterans.
Todd Marcus
In November 2006, then-23-year-old Army specialist Todd Marcus was on patrol in a small Afghan village outside of Kabul.
He carried his M-16 barrel down with his finger just inside the trigger housing. He sweltered under more than 50 pounds of combat gear, including body armor and a Kevlar helmet. Beads of perspiration trickled down to the palms of his gloved hands. Even with the fingertips cut off, the salty runoff made the cuts in his hands sting and itch.
Approximately 100 meters to his left, Marcus saw an Afghan police officer walking a few meters behind another police officer in patrol formation. The officer looked nervous as he scanned the rooftops, looking for those who might intend to kill him. Each little boy, each expectant mother could have been a suicide bomber, paid or extorted by insurgents to end their lives in a desperate bid to feed their families.
Suddenly, a bright flash of light filled Marcus’ peripheral vision, followed by a percussion of hot wind that knocked him aside. His sunglasses flew off and the smell of cordite wafted through the air with a cloud of concrete and dust. He looked toward the ground where the blast originated. The Afghan police officer that was walking just yards from him lay in a pool of blood along with two other officers. An improvised explosive device planted inside the corner of a bullet-riddled concrete home had taken their lives.
Once the carnage and chaos was over, all Marcus could do was cry.
go here for more
Soldiers return from the frontlines to face war with VA
American Legion taking Courage Carries On national
The good news is that the American Legion along with other service groups are stepping up. The bad news is that they have to. Most of what we are seeing today could have been prevented had anyone in charge been paying attention and planning for it. All of this was predicable. It didn't take some kind of clairvoyant to see it coming. All it would have taken was open eyes and caring hearts.
Now you can see what we knew and when we knew it. By 1978 the DAV had already set up Veterans Centers to focus on helping the veterans of Vietnam. In the process, they ended up helping all other generations because Vietnam veterans pushed for PTSD to be treated instead of ignored.
We knew the numbers. We knew what it did to the veterans with suicides, homelessness, incarcerations and families falling apart. We knew about self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. We knew about the long list of symptoms. Above all, we knew the men and women in the military were all still just humans facing the traumas of combat. The studies were all done in the 80's and 90's. We knew the earlier treatment began after trauma, the better the recovery because PTSD gets worse without intervention.
We also understood the need to respond to traumatic events right here at home. Read any traumatic event from natural disasters to crimes and then read how crews of mental health providers were being brought in. That came because of what we understood about humans after combat. Read about how police officers go to see someone after a shooting and again, know this came about because of the veterans of Vietnam. What you won't read is how the military has taken any of this seriously enough so that they do the same in times of war.
Could you imagine most of what we see today being just a fraction of what it is? It would have been if there were enough mental health workers and Chaplains deployed with the troops. It would have been if the military didn't come out with what could have been great programs but ended up doing more harm than good by telling the troops they could toughen their minds to prevent PTSD. The military has been really great at coming up with ways to kill but totally dysfunctional when it comes to saving lives. They wouldn't even listen to their own studies about redeployments and the increased risk of PTSD. They didn't listen to their own studies about improper dwell time between deployments either.
Well, the American Legion should be applauded with this effort because this is going to take as many people as possible to save the lives of the veterans. Using the figures from Vietnam with the studies on redeployments, it's easy to know we are looking at least a million veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan needing to heal from PTSD. All of this coming at the same time the older veterans are finally figuring out what has been the root of their problems all along. Not a good scenario at all.
Now you can see what we knew and when we knew it. By 1978 the DAV had already set up Veterans Centers to focus on helping the veterans of Vietnam. In the process, they ended up helping all other generations because Vietnam veterans pushed for PTSD to be treated instead of ignored.
We knew the numbers. We knew what it did to the veterans with suicides, homelessness, incarcerations and families falling apart. We knew about self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. We knew about the long list of symptoms. Above all, we knew the men and women in the military were all still just humans facing the traumas of combat. The studies were all done in the 80's and 90's. We knew the earlier treatment began after trauma, the better the recovery because PTSD gets worse without intervention.
We also understood the need to respond to traumatic events right here at home. Read any traumatic event from natural disasters to crimes and then read how crews of mental health providers were being brought in. That came because of what we understood about humans after combat. Read about how police officers go to see someone after a shooting and again, know this came about because of the veterans of Vietnam. What you won't read is how the military has taken any of this seriously enough so that they do the same in times of war.
Could you imagine most of what we see today being just a fraction of what it is? It would have been if there were enough mental health workers and Chaplains deployed with the troops. It would have been if the military didn't come out with what could have been great programs but ended up doing more harm than good by telling the troops they could toughen their minds to prevent PTSD. The military has been really great at coming up with ways to kill but totally dysfunctional when it comes to saving lives. They wouldn't even listen to their own studies about redeployments and the increased risk of PTSD. They didn't listen to their own studies about improper dwell time between deployments either.
Well, the American Legion should be applauded with this effort because this is going to take as many people as possible to save the lives of the veterans. Using the figures from Vietnam with the studies on redeployments, it's easy to know we are looking at least a million veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan needing to heal from PTSD. All of this coming at the same time the older veterans are finally figuring out what has been the root of their problems all along. Not a good scenario at all.
North Dakota American Legion’s PTSD ad campaign to grow
Jim Deremo was tired of the calls. The department services officer for North Dakota American Legion heard too often from family of clients who attempted suicide.
By: Dave Roepke, INFORUM
Jim Deremo was tired of the calls.
The department services officer for North Dakota American Legion heard too often from family of clients who attempted suicide.
“It just really bothered me, tugged at my heart,” Deremo said.
So he started an American Legion campaign to encourage veterans to seek help for post-traumatic stress disorder. The media blitz featuring images of actual veterans, called “Courage Carries On,” kicked off this winter.
On Tuesday the Legion announced it will expand the campaign nationwide, offering it to every Legion organization in the U.S.
Carroll Quam, past state commander of the North Dakota American Legion, said heads of other state Legion groups have told him they’d like to pick up “Courage Carries On.”
click link for more
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
FDA advisers vote to take Vicodin, Percocet off market
FDA advisers vote to take Vicodin, Percocet off market
Story Highlights
NEW: Panel votes to kill prescription drugs that combine acetaminophen, narcotics
Panel advises lower maximum doses of nonprescription acetaminophen drugs
Those drugs include Tylenol, NyQuil, Pamprin and Allerest
CDC estimates acetaminophen was the likely cause of most acute liver failures
(CNN) -- A government advisory panel voted Tuesday to recommend eliminating prescription drugs that combine acetaminophen with narcotics -- such as Vicodin and Percocet -- because of their risk for overdose and for severe liver injury.
Acetaminophen, found in drugs such as Tylenol, is one of the most commonly used drugs in the United States.
The panel, assembled by the Food and Drug Administration, voted 20 to 17 to advise the FDA to remove such prescription combination drugs from the market.
The group recommended that the FDA "send a clear message that there's a high likelihood of overdose from prescription narcotics and acetaminophen products," Dr. Sandra L. Kweder of the FDA's Office of New Drugs said at a news conference after Tuesday's meeting.
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/30/acetaminophen.fda.hearing/index.html
Story Highlights
NEW: Panel votes to kill prescription drugs that combine acetaminophen, narcotics
Panel advises lower maximum doses of nonprescription acetaminophen drugs
Those drugs include Tylenol, NyQuil, Pamprin and Allerest
CDC estimates acetaminophen was the likely cause of most acute liver failures
(CNN) -- A government advisory panel voted Tuesday to recommend eliminating prescription drugs that combine acetaminophen with narcotics -- such as Vicodin and Percocet -- because of their risk for overdose and for severe liver injury.
Acetaminophen, found in drugs such as Tylenol, is one of the most commonly used drugs in the United States.
The panel, assembled by the Food and Drug Administration, voted 20 to 17 to advise the FDA to remove such prescription combination drugs from the market.
The group recommended that the FDA "send a clear message that there's a high likelihood of overdose from prescription narcotics and acetaminophen products," Dr. Sandra L. Kweder of the FDA's Office of New Drugs said at a news conference after Tuesday's meeting.
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/30/acetaminophen.fda.hearing/index.html
VA obstacles get in the way of homeless veterans
VA objections slow help for homeless vets
By Sean Rose
POST-DISPATCH WASHINGTON BUREAU
06/30/2009
WASHINGTON — A wing on the fourth floor of the St. Louis Queen of Peace Center for addiction treatment had been renovated, and rooms were ready for five homeless female veterans.
But Connie Neumann, the center's CEO, ran into an unlikely obstacle earlier this year: the Department of Veterans Affairs, which demanded more renovations before funding the project. Neumann, unable to afford what the government wanted, backed out.
"I don't pull out of things, but this was over the top," Neumann said. "It was not in the best interest of my business here to do that. There's too many other homeless people who need housing."
Her complaints are not uncommon among nonprofit groups that see the oversight that comes with VA funding as a hindrance to helping homeless veterans. Veterans Affairs relies on nonprofit groups and faith-based organizations for much of its groundwork, but some are being driven away from seeking funding, organizers say.
go here for more
VA objections slow help for homeless vets
By Sean Rose
POST-DISPATCH WASHINGTON BUREAU
06/30/2009
WASHINGTON — A wing on the fourth floor of the St. Louis Queen of Peace Center for addiction treatment had been renovated, and rooms were ready for five homeless female veterans.
But Connie Neumann, the center's CEO, ran into an unlikely obstacle earlier this year: the Department of Veterans Affairs, which demanded more renovations before funding the project. Neumann, unable to afford what the government wanted, backed out.
"I don't pull out of things, but this was over the top," Neumann said. "It was not in the best interest of my business here to do that. There's too many other homeless people who need housing."
Her complaints are not uncommon among nonprofit groups that see the oversight that comes with VA funding as a hindrance to helping homeless veterans. Veterans Affairs relies on nonprofit groups and faith-based organizations for much of its groundwork, but some are being driven away from seeking funding, organizers say.
go here for more
VA objections slow help for homeless vets
Anti-Anxiety Drugs Raise New Fears
Anti-Anxiety Drugs Raise New Fears
By Katie Balestra
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Stan Starr, a 54-year-old financial consultant, sat in the back of the room filled with blue chairs, quietly tapping his Converse sneakers on the carpet. The 12 steps to recovery, enshrined by Alcoholics Anonymous, were printed in large black letters on a wall. But Starr was there because of a different drug -- a class of prescription medication called benzodiazepines.
Five years ago, he couldn't sleep at night, his heart raced, he had wrenching stomach pains and felt as if his skin were crawling off his bones. He was in the midst of a 2 1/2 -year battle to withdraw from the drug Klonopin, which his psychiatrist had prescribed to him for anxiety. "I went through sheer living hell," he said. "I didn't know if I was going to make it."
Benzodiazepines, often prescribed to manage anxiety, panic and sleep disorders, include Xanax, Ativan, Valium and Klonopin. Originally pushed as an alternative to barbiturates, their use has grown rapidly in the past 30 years. But critics say their long-term effects have gone largely unaddressed. Health professionals and consumers are increasingly recognizing that taking the drugs for more than a few weeks can lead to physical dependence, often ending with a grueling withdrawal.
By Katie Balestra
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Stan Starr, a 54-year-old financial consultant, sat in the back of the room filled with blue chairs, quietly tapping his Converse sneakers on the carpet. The 12 steps to recovery, enshrined by Alcoholics Anonymous, were printed in large black letters on a wall. But Starr was there because of a different drug -- a class of prescription medication called benzodiazepines.
Five years ago, he couldn't sleep at night, his heart raced, he had wrenching stomach pains and felt as if his skin were crawling off his bones. He was in the midst of a 2 1/2 -year battle to withdraw from the drug Klonopin, which his psychiatrist had prescribed to him for anxiety. "I went through sheer living hell," he said. "I didn't know if I was going to make it."
Benzodiazepines, often prescribed to manage anxiety, panic and sleep disorders, include Xanax, Ativan, Valium and Klonopin. Originally pushed as an alternative to barbiturates, their use has grown rapidly in the past 30 years. But critics say their long-term effects have gone largely unaddressed. Health professionals and consumers are increasingly recognizing that taking the drugs for more than a few weeks can lead to physical dependence, often ending with a grueling withdrawal.
The ordeal of withdrawing from benzodiazepines can rival that of kicking a heroin habit, according to some who have had success. Abrupt withdrawal can result in hallucinations, seizures and even death, experts say.
Last year, after jail officials in Cleveland denied R and B singer Sean Levert's repeated requests for his Xanax, he hallucinated for hours and ultimately died from the effects of withdrawal, according to the coroner's report cited in court records. His widow sued the corrections center and medical staff. The suit is pending.
Some seeking to withdraw from the drugs have turned to online support groups. Debra Standiford, a nurse who leads a benzodiazepine support site on the Yahoo Web site, said membership has grown to 3,800 people from 200 in 2000, gaining two to three members each day.go here for more
Students shot at bus stop in Detroit
Seven people hurt in Detroit bus stop shooting
Story Highlights
At least five of the victims are students
Police say gunmen asked for specific person
Two victims are in critical condition
Gunmen covered their faces; no one in custody, police say
(CNN) -- Seven people, at least five of them high-school students, were shot Tuesday at a bus stop in Detroit, Michigan, officials said.
Tuesday's shooting occurred off school property, a Detroit Public Schools spokesman said.
Two of the victims were in critical condition; the others were in serious condition at area hospitals, Police Chief Roderick Grimes said.
"Two perpetrators, possibly three, pulled up in a vehicle, exited their vehicle with weapons, asked for a person by name and then opened fire onto the crowd," he said.
go here for more
Seven people hurt in Detroit bus stop shooting
Story Highlights
At least five of the victims are students
Police say gunmen asked for specific person
Two victims are in critical condition
Gunmen covered their faces; no one in custody, police say
(CNN) -- Seven people, at least five of them high-school students, were shot Tuesday at a bus stop in Detroit, Michigan, officials said.
Tuesday's shooting occurred off school property, a Detroit Public Schools spokesman said.
Two of the victims were in critical condition; the others were in serious condition at area hospitals, Police Chief Roderick Grimes said.
"Two perpetrators, possibly three, pulled up in a vehicle, exited their vehicle with weapons, asked for a person by name and then opened fire onto the crowd," he said.
go here for more
Seven people hurt in Detroit bus stop shooting
Lung disease of soldier linked to burn pits
Lung disease of soldier linked to burn pits
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jun 30, 2009 17:09:31 EDT
Even as military health officials continue to say there are “no known long-term health effects” caused by open-air burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, a team of Army doctors says a soldier’s cystic lung disease is “related to the burn pits in Iraq.”
A second set of doctors, trying to determine why 56 soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division came back from Iraq short of breath, found each had bronchiolitis that could be diagnosed only with a biopsy.
That disease normally comes with organ transplantation, infection, rheumatoid arthritis or toxic fume inhalation. Because there was no scarring on the soldiers’ lungs, doctors decided it must have been toxic inhalation and added a fifth cause of bronchiolitis to their list: “Iraq.”
Since Military Times began reporting in October about burn pits in the war zones, 400 troops have contacted Disabled American Veterans to say they have breathing problems or cancers they believe came after exposure to the burn pits.
Many say they have been diagnosed with “asthma-like” or “allergy-like” symptoms when they’ve complained of shortness of breath, but their doctors can’t come up with an exact diagnosis.
go here for more
Lung disease of soldier linked to burn pits
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jun 30, 2009 17:09:31 EDT
Even as military health officials continue to say there are “no known long-term health effects” caused by open-air burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, a team of Army doctors says a soldier’s cystic lung disease is “related to the burn pits in Iraq.”
A second set of doctors, trying to determine why 56 soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division came back from Iraq short of breath, found each had bronchiolitis that could be diagnosed only with a biopsy.
That disease normally comes with organ transplantation, infection, rheumatoid arthritis or toxic fume inhalation. Because there was no scarring on the soldiers’ lungs, doctors decided it must have been toxic inhalation and added a fifth cause of bronchiolitis to their list: “Iraq.”
Since Military Times began reporting in October about burn pits in the war zones, 400 troops have contacted Disabled American Veterans to say they have breathing problems or cancers they believe came after exposure to the burn pits.
Many say they have been diagnosed with “asthma-like” or “allergy-like” symptoms when they’ve complained of shortness of breath, but their doctors can’t come up with an exact diagnosis.
go here for more
Lung disease of soldier linked to burn pits
Hallelujah! Someone in congress is finally listening!
While I seriously doubt Rep. G.K. Butterfield has any clue what I've been saying all this time, it appears that at least someone is finally listening to the veterans and what this backlog of claims is doing to them. They have been suffering because no one in the government got ready for any of them when they sent them into Afghanistan and Iraq.
There are over 32 posts on the backlog of claims. This is one of them and Linda Blimes should have been listened to all along.
Bill: Have VA pay old claims automatically
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jun 30, 2009 11:25:16 EDT
A North Carolina lawmaker proposes tackling the backlog of veterans’ disability claims by awarding benefits to veterans after 18 months if their claim hasn’t been processed.
Veterans Affairs Department officials have told Congress they are, on average, processing disability compensation claims within 162 days and have a goal of cutting the average to 120 days. But Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., is one of many lawmakers who think there is a limit to how patient veterans could be in waiting for money they are due.
“Backlogs are at the point where veterans must wait an average of six months for a decision on benefits claims and some veterans are waiting as long as four years,” Butterfield said in a statement. “Veterans deserve better than this.”
Butterfield introduced a bill on Friday, HR 3087, that would automatically approve a veteran’s claim if no decision is made by the VA within 18 months. The bill doesn’t say exactly how the VA would do this, but creates a task force to monitor VA to make sure the 18-month deadline isn’t met with an arbitrary denial just before the claim must be paid.
The bill comes as the number of unprocessed veterans claims exceeds 915,000 — a 100,000 jump since the beginning of the year. In testimony two weeks ago before a House committee, VA officials said the current 162 days is 17 days less than one year ago, a sign that they are beginning to make process.
go here for more
Bill: Have VA pay old claims automatically
There are over 32 posts on the backlog of claims. This is one of them and Linda Blimes should have been listened to all along.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Potential VA benefits chief has new ideas
No I don't have ESP and I did not go to Harvard. I just pay attention and read about people like Linda Blimes thinking it would be a great idea to take care of the veterans by pushing their claims thru. Ironic as it is this showed up today on Army Times, but hey, anyone paying attention feels the same way.
Potential VA benefits chief has new ideas/
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Feb 2, 2009 17:36:26 EST
A Harvard University researcher with some radical ideas about how to reduce the backlog of veterans disability claims appears to be in line to head the Veterans Benefits Administration. Linda Blimes, a public policy lecturer and research at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, wants the Department of Veterans Affairs to operate like the Internal Revenue Service — on an honor system that trusts veterans claiming service-connected disabilities.
All veterans claims would be approved as soon as they are filed, with a random audit conducted to “weed out and deter fraudulent claims,” Blimes told the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee in testimony in 2008.Ninety percent of veterans disability claims end up being paid after they make it through the system, she said — proof, she said, that most veterans are asking only for what they deserve.Immediate payment of at least a minimum benefit would help to reduce the average 180-day waiting time for initial benefits claims to be processed and allow VA to redeploy the employees processing those claims to work on more complicated appeals, she said.
Blimes also has talked of a vastly simplified disability rating system that would have just four ratings instead of the current 10 for service-connected disabilities and illnesses.Blimes has not been formally announced as a nominee, but her name is being circulated among lawmakers and congressional staff in what has become a standard procedure to determine whether there is any strong opposition to her taking the key post.Her idea of a streamlined claims process has some prominent supporters, among them Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., the House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman who has talked of automatic claims approval as a way to quickly eliminate the claims backlog.
click links for more
Sgt. Ben Driftmyer "spent 8 years serving" now feels betrayed
The good news is that Congress is trying to make it easier to file and have a PTSD claim approved now, but it comes too late for people like Sgt. Driftmyer. Why? Because they ended up suffering. To this day I still wonder what happened to the over 22,000 given discharges under "personality disorder" allowing them nothing for their service and no help for PTSD.
'The military didn't want to pay for me for the rest of my life'
By Kim Quintero KVAL News
COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. - A turning point in the Iraq war: Tuesday is the deadline for US combat troops to withdraw from Baghdad and other Iraqi cities after a six year occupation. This is the first phase of a full withdrawal by the end of 2011.
Those returning are facing serious combat related mental health issues. According to a study conducted by RAND Corp. last year, one in three combat veterans will return home with PTSD, traumatic brain injury or major depression requiring treatment.
"I had spent eight years serving the military. I never got in trouble. Never did anything bad. And I got treated like I was a piece of crap because of it," said Ben Driftmyer, discharged U.S. Army Sergeant and Cottage Grove resident.
Driftmyer was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder by Eugene doctors after he was chaptered out from the special forces unit in Baghdad. He suffered several mental breakdowns during his service, but his discharge was classified as "other than medical."
"Because the military didn't want to pay for me for the rest of my life," said Driftmyer.
go here for more
http://www.kval.com/news/local/49465117.html
Clearwater VFW Post remodels to be more inviting to younger veterans
Clearwater VFW Post remodels to be more inviting to younger veterans
By Theodora Aggeles, Times Correspondent
In Print: Tuesday, June 30, 2009
CLEARWATER — Ray Riley wanted to forget the horrors of Vietnam.
He lost a brother there. Sgt. William A. Riley has been missing in action for 49 years.
Riley himself escaped the jungles of Vietnam and made it back home with Silver and Bronze Star medals.
But he could not flee from the images that crept into bed with him each night. In dreams, he heard gunfire. Saw bloodshed. Felt the heat and attacked his enemies.
"I was like a lot of older guys who came back and didn't talk about what we'd been through," Riley said. "Years later when I talked, let's just say for years what I pushed down had been eating me up inside."
Now 66, Riley understands post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition that caused him to relive the hell of Vietnam every night for decades.
That's why he and the other 550 or so members of VFW Post No. 2473 are sprucing up the post and starting a post-traumatic stress disorder training program.
It's all part of $75,000 in renovations to make the facility a more comfortable, therapeutic and fun place to come for younger veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
go here for more
http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/veterans/article1014421.ece
By Theodora Aggeles, Times Correspondent
In Print: Tuesday, June 30, 2009
CLEARWATER — Ray Riley wanted to forget the horrors of Vietnam.
He lost a brother there. Sgt. William A. Riley has been missing in action for 49 years.
Riley himself escaped the jungles of Vietnam and made it back home with Silver and Bronze Star medals.
But he could not flee from the images that crept into bed with him each night. In dreams, he heard gunfire. Saw bloodshed. Felt the heat and attacked his enemies.
"I was like a lot of older guys who came back and didn't talk about what we'd been through," Riley said. "Years later when I talked, let's just say for years what I pushed down had been eating me up inside."
Now 66, Riley understands post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition that caused him to relive the hell of Vietnam every night for decades.
That's why he and the other 550 or so members of VFW Post No. 2473 are sprucing up the post and starting a post-traumatic stress disorder training program.
It's all part of $75,000 in renovations to make the facility a more comfortable, therapeutic and fun place to come for younger veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
go here for more
http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/veterans/article1014421.ece
Minn. Court Rules for Democrat Al Franken in Senate Fight
Minn. Court Rules for Democrat Al Franken in Senate Fight
It's about time there were two senators! Congratulations Al Franken!
It's about time there were two senators! Congratulations Al Franken!
Veterans Care, all states are not the same
There is confusion between what the states are responsible for and what the federal government is responsible for. This confusion comes from some states cutting back on VA budgets at the same time the federal government is pumping in a lot of money into the VA. This is what the Federal VA is responsible for followed by what the State of Florida is responsible for.
When it comes to the issue of claims, there was already a problem in 2001. A task force was formed to see how bad the problem was and what could be done about it.
As you can see, the problems we see today with the claims is as huge as it is because problems found in 2001 were not corrected. The report last week on Houston Texas, should give you an idea of what we're heading into and it's not good.
Houston, We've got a problem! This time with veterans claims
You can go here for more information on what you are able to receive
Federal Benefits
Federal Benefits Guide (English) (Spanish)
Cold War Certificate
Combat-Related Special Compensation
Houses for Sale-U.S. Dept. of Veterans' Affairs
Interactive link to Veterans' resources
Requesting Military Records Online
Veteran Benefits Timetable
VA Cemeteries and Military Funeral Honors
Who's Eligible-documentation, filing claims, obtaining forms
The Center for Women Veterans
Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) BenefitsState of Florida
State Benefits
Certification of Discharge or Separation
Disabled Veteran Identification Card
Veterans' Preference (HTML version)
Download a
copy of "Veterans' Preference"
(500kb
Adobe Acrobat file)
--->
Education
High School Diploma- Korean War Veterans
High School Diploma- WWII Veterans
Licenses
License Tags
DV License Tag
Homestead Exemption (Permanent &Totally Disabled)
Homestead Exemption (10% to 100% BUT not Permanent in nature)
Permits/Fees (parking, tolls, building improvements)
Tuition
Homeless Veterans
When it comes to the issue of claims, there was already a problem in 2001. A task force was formed to see how bad the problem was and what could be done about it.
Task force issues report on VA claims processing
By Kellie Lunney klunney@govexec.com October 3, 2001
Poor planning and an overall lack of accountability by the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) are partly to blame for the agency's dismal claims processing record, according to a VA task force created to study the problem.
The task force, which was launched last spring and included representatives of the VA, industry and veterans organizations, submitted its final report to VA Secretary Anthony J. Principi on Wednesday.
Despite VBA's efforts in recent years to improve the timeliness and accuracy of claims, the agency has failed to provide its 57 regional offices with the proper leadership, guidance and training in handling claims processing, the 14-member task force concluded.
Its report included 34 recommendations for improving VA's claims process, ranging from providing better training to VBA employees to creating specialized regional offices focusing on one part of the overall claims process.
Principi pledged to "study and act" on the task force's recommendations "with urgency." "This report will not sit on a shelf gathering dust," he said.
The agency task force, led by Ret. Navy Vice Adm. Daniel L. Cooper, criticized VBA for failing to provide clear and uniform guidance to regional offices and keep them abreast of changes in VA policy. The confusion has resulted in an inconsistent claims process that varies widely throughout the agency.
"There may be a system, but it is improperly coordinated and less effective than it must be to ensure both fairness to the veteran and efficiency in processing claims," the report said.
On average, it takes VBA 194 days to process a claim, which includes requests by veterans for disability compensation, pensions, and survivors' benefits. There are more than 500,000 cases, excluding appeals, still pending in VBA's backlog. The agency hopes to eventually reduce those figures to 74 days and 250,000 cases, respectively.
The VBA's claims processing system has been repeatedly criticized in recent years as slow and inefficient. The agency has tried to improve its claims processing accuracy by using case management techniques and by reorganizing its field offices into clusters meant to collaborate with one another.
Despite its attempts at reform, VBA still reported errors in 41 percent of the claims it processed in fiscal 2000. The task force called on the VA to hold VBA officials at headquarters and the regional offices accountable for performance, rewarding those offices that reach their goals and cracking down on those that fail.read more here
As you can see, the problems we see today with the claims is as huge as it is because problems found in 2001 were not corrected. The report last week on Houston Texas, should give you an idea of what we're heading into and it's not good.
Houston, We've got a problem! This time with veterans claims
You can go here for more information on what you are able to receive
Benefits - Veterans Benefits Administration Home
Benefits
Education En Español
Post 9/11 GI Bill
Dependents' Educational Assistance (Chapter 35)
More Options
Home Loans
Home Loan Eligibility
Certificate of Eligibility
Homes for Sale
More Options
Compensation and Pension
Disability Compensation
Pension
Burial Allowances
Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation
Survivors' Benefits
Month of Death Survivors Benefit
Compensation
Pension
Educational Assistance
More Options
Vocational Rehabilitation
Vocational Training and Employment Services
Vocational Counseling
More Options
Life Insurance
Servicemembers' & Veterans' Group Life Insurance
Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance
More Options
General Benefit Information
Benefits for Returning Veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom
Benefit Fact Sheets En Español
Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents
Monday, June 29, 2009
Gang interventionists distribute food, prayer -- and a sense of change
Gang interventionists distribute food, prayer -- and a sense of change
By Scott Gold
June 28, 2009
Alfred Lomas stood at the front of a bus. "This," he bellowed, "is not a bus!"
The driver pulled out of the Dream Center, a church ministry where Lomas directs a mobile food bank. Lomas stared into the anxious faces of congregants and do-gooders, his sunglasses hiding dark, deep-set eyes that have seen more than their share of hurt, much of it of his own making.
"This," he said, "is a vehicle of hope!"
The bus lurched and sighed into South Los Angeles. On Slauson Avenue, once a sturdy spine of industry, they passed empty, tin-walled warehouses and an abandoned rail yard. With every pothole, piles of supplies on the bus threatened to tumble -- bags of oranges, boxes of peanut butter, even dog biscuits.
"These children see terrible things," said Lomas, 45, quieter now. "Let's transform the atmosphere. The goal is love."
Each month, Lomas' crew distributes prayer and 80 tons of free food in the city's urban core. A growing number of civic leaders, including police commanders, are watching. It is not so much Lomas' food program that has drawn their attention, but what he does with his free time: building a renewed sense of community in South L.A.
With gang violence down, city officials are looking to secure lasting change in South L.A., in part through a large injunction targeting six gangs in a 13.7-square-mile area straddling the Harbor Freeway. Critical to the success of that campaign is the work of gang interventionists, who act as liaisons between police and gangs -- "like the social workers in the places no one else will go," said Brian Center, executive director of A Better LA, a nonprofit that combats violence in South L.A. and funds 26 interventionists.
Lomas is emblematic of the possibility and the delicacy of that work.
The city is scrambling to "professionalize" the ranks of interventionists, providing new oversight and training in an effort to separate the credible from the pretenders. It's no simple task.
go here for more
Gang interventionists distribute food, prayer
By Scott Gold
June 28, 2009
Alfred Lomas stood at the front of a bus. "This," he bellowed, "is not a bus!"
The driver pulled out of the Dream Center, a church ministry where Lomas directs a mobile food bank. Lomas stared into the anxious faces of congregants and do-gooders, his sunglasses hiding dark, deep-set eyes that have seen more than their share of hurt, much of it of his own making.
"This," he said, "is a vehicle of hope!"
The bus lurched and sighed into South Los Angeles. On Slauson Avenue, once a sturdy spine of industry, they passed empty, tin-walled warehouses and an abandoned rail yard. With every pothole, piles of supplies on the bus threatened to tumble -- bags of oranges, boxes of peanut butter, even dog biscuits.
"These children see terrible things," said Lomas, 45, quieter now. "Let's transform the atmosphere. The goal is love."
Each month, Lomas' crew distributes prayer and 80 tons of free food in the city's urban core. A growing number of civic leaders, including police commanders, are watching. It is not so much Lomas' food program that has drawn their attention, but what he does with his free time: building a renewed sense of community in South L.A.
With gang violence down, city officials are looking to secure lasting change in South L.A., in part through a large injunction targeting six gangs in a 13.7-square-mile area straddling the Harbor Freeway. Critical to the success of that campaign is the work of gang interventionists, who act as liaisons between police and gangs -- "like the social workers in the places no one else will go," said Brian Center, executive director of A Better LA, a nonprofit that combats violence in South L.A. and funds 26 interventionists.
Lomas is emblematic of the possibility and the delicacy of that work.
The city is scrambling to "professionalize" the ranks of interventionists, providing new oversight and training in an effort to separate the credible from the pretenders. It's no simple task.
go here for more
Gang interventionists distribute food, prayer
Some veterans of recent wars find homelessness at home
Some veterans of recent wars find homelessness at home
By Jia-Rui Chong
June 29, 2009
It was, back then, a joke Luis Pinto shared with his Army buddies in Iraq. As they were all eating food out of tin cans, living out of rucksacks, moving constantly from place to place, Pinto cracked, "If I become homeless, I'm ready."
But five years later he didn't actually expect to find himself sleeping in alleys in Whittier or in friends' cars, too busy getting high to hold down a regular job. A suicide attempt on March 16 was the shock he needed to start putting his life back together.
His mother drove him to the Salvation Army's shelter in Bell, where he has been living and taking classes on drug addiction and coping skills since the end of March.
"I had a lot of issues from my time in the service and I had not dealt with them," said Pinto, a soft-spoken 27-year-old who still sports a military crew cut. "I felt, when I came out, 'I deserve time to relax and party.' It got out of control."
While veterans and homeless advocates have long grappled with homelessness in previous generations of veterans, Pinto appears to be part of a new, building wave of the problem among those coming back from the latest wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
go here for more
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-homeless-vets29-2009jun29,0,4512932.story
Linked from ICasualties.org
By Jia-Rui Chong
June 29, 2009
It was, back then, a joke Luis Pinto shared with his Army buddies in Iraq. As they were all eating food out of tin cans, living out of rucksacks, moving constantly from place to place, Pinto cracked, "If I become homeless, I'm ready."
But five years later he didn't actually expect to find himself sleeping in alleys in Whittier or in friends' cars, too busy getting high to hold down a regular job. A suicide attempt on March 16 was the shock he needed to start putting his life back together.
His mother drove him to the Salvation Army's shelter in Bell, where he has been living and taking classes on drug addiction and coping skills since the end of March.
"I had a lot of issues from my time in the service and I had not dealt with them," said Pinto, a soft-spoken 27-year-old who still sports a military crew cut. "I felt, when I came out, 'I deserve time to relax and party.' It got out of control."
While veterans and homeless advocates have long grappled with homelessness in previous generations of veterans, Pinto appears to be part of a new, building wave of the problem among those coming back from the latest wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
go here for more
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-homeless-vets29-2009jun29,0,4512932.story
Linked from ICasualties.org
Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher Distinguished Civilian Humanitarian Award
Nominations being accepted for Fisher awards
Staff report
Posted : Sunday Jun 28, 2009 8:38:53 EDT
Nominations are being accepted for two award programs that recognize individuals and units for humanitarian service, and excellence in electronic warfare and information operations.
The Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher Distinguished Civilian Humanitarian Award was established by the armed forces in 1996 to honor the founders of the Fisher House Foundation, which has built numerous “comfort homes” near military and Veterans Affairs medical centers for the use of military families.
The award recognizes a private sector individual or organization that has demonstrated exceptional patriotism and humanitarian concerns for members of the U.S. armed forces and their families.
Nominations for service performed in 2008 must be received at the Army Incentives Awards Board by July 31. For specific details, consult ALARACT Message 171-2009, DTG 051413Z.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/06/army_fisheraward_062809w/
Staff report
Posted : Sunday Jun 28, 2009 8:38:53 EDT
Nominations are being accepted for two award programs that recognize individuals and units for humanitarian service, and excellence in electronic warfare and information operations.
The Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher Distinguished Civilian Humanitarian Award was established by the armed forces in 1996 to honor the founders of the Fisher House Foundation, which has built numerous “comfort homes” near military and Veterans Affairs medical centers for the use of military families.
The award recognizes a private sector individual or organization that has demonstrated exceptional patriotism and humanitarian concerns for members of the U.S. armed forces and their families.
Nominations for service performed in 2008 must be received at the Army Incentives Awards Board by July 31. For specific details, consult ALARACT Message 171-2009, DTG 051413Z.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/06/army_fisheraward_062809w/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)