Suspect in shooting of wildlife officer arrested
Christopher Eddy, 23, had been on the run for 2 days
Nature Susan Jacobson
Sentinel Staff Writer
8:34 PM EDT
July 17, 2009
A man who has been on the run for two days after the shooting of a Florida wildlife officer has been arrested.
Christopher Eddy, 23, was caught about 6:15 tonight breaking into a car at Juan Ponce de Landing, a small park in Melbourne Beach, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said. The owner called 911, and a Melbourne Beach police officer saw Eddy walk out of some bushes, investigators said.
Eddy initially identified himself as Josh Adams, but the officer asked again, and Eddy admitting being the man wanted in the Wednesday night shooting of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Officer Vann Streety. He will be booked into the Brevard County Jail after detectives question him.
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Suspect in shooting of wildlife officer arrested
Wounded FWC officer in stable condition and good spirits
WCTV - Tallahassee,FL,USA
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Waterford Lakes standoff ends in suicide
What could have been done differently may never be known. Ovesen had concerned his ex-girlfriend enough that she called police. The police knew they had a potentially suicidal man to confront and perhaps they were also informed he was armed. It seems as if everyone tried as much as they could to help this man but they were just too late. Over the years, every piece of advice that could have been given fits into what all the people involved in this tragedy tried to do, but no one can prevent every suicide. I really wish we could. Please pray for his family and the people in his life, but also for the police officers that tried to save his life.
Waterford Lakes standoff ends in suicide
Susan Jacobson
Sentinel Staff Writer
8:53 PM EDT
July 17, 2009
A suicidal man who barricaded himself in a Waterford Lakes home has killed himself, authorities said.
The standoff began about 2:35 p.m. when Svend Aage Ovesen's ex-girlfriend called and asked the Orange County Sheriff's Office to check on him because he had threatened suicide.
read more here
Waterford Lakes standoff ends in suicide
Combat Stress Workshops Planned
Combat Stress Workshops Planned: A Veteran PTSD Caregiver is to Speak Here.
July 18, 2009 -- By Loretta Sword, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.
Jul. 18--Combat soldiers returning from war often seem like strangers to their families. Sadder still, they feel like strangers to themselves.
Those feelings, if not expressed and validated by loved ones or professionals, can lead to severe depression, substance abuse, domestic violence, suicide and even homicide, as illustrated by the recent murder cases against a handful of war veterans stationed at Fort Carson.
From the jungles of Vietnam to military bases in Canada and Africa, Sister Kateri Koverman has spent decades working with veterans who have been diagnosed with PTSD -- post traumatic stress disorder -- and helping military leaders to recognize and offer help to PTSD victims.
Koverman is the founder and director of Them Bones Veteran Community, a treatment and advocacy organization based in Cincinnati with a satellite office in Colorado Springs. She'll be in Pueblo next week to lead two free workshops sponsored by Parkview Medical Center's Behavioral Health Division and Mental Health America of Pueblo. One will be for veterans and their friends and families and the second will be for treatment providers and other professionals who work closely with veterans.
read more hereCombat Stress Workshops Planned
July 18, 2009 -- By Loretta Sword, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.
Jul. 18--Combat soldiers returning from war often seem like strangers to their families. Sadder still, they feel like strangers to themselves.
Those feelings, if not expressed and validated by loved ones or professionals, can lead to severe depression, substance abuse, domestic violence, suicide and even homicide, as illustrated by the recent murder cases against a handful of war veterans stationed at Fort Carson.
From the jungles of Vietnam to military bases in Canada and Africa, Sister Kateri Koverman has spent decades working with veterans who have been diagnosed with PTSD -- post traumatic stress disorder -- and helping military leaders to recognize and offer help to PTSD victims.
Koverman is the founder and director of Them Bones Veteran Community, a treatment and advocacy organization based in Cincinnati with a satellite office in Colorado Springs. She'll be in Pueblo next week to lead two free workshops sponsored by Parkview Medical Center's Behavioral Health Division and Mental Health America of Pueblo. One will be for veterans and their friends and families and the second will be for treatment providers and other professionals who work closely with veterans.
read more hereCombat Stress Workshops Planned
New Rules for PTSD, Stop, look and listen
by
Chaplain Kathie
When you are too busy with what you have to do, looking for what you need or want and seeing your veteran as anything but a partner, you have a bigger problem than you think.
When it comes to PTSD, wives and family members are on the front line of this battle to keep them alive. That's right. It's a battle for us to wage because they cannot fight for themselves. That part inside of them has been held captive by PTSD. We need to do the fighting when they come home.
I had to fight when I met my husband because he couldn't.
First rule, stop. Stop trying to find excuses for why they act differently. You would have had to live under a rock to not pay any attention at all to what happens in combat. You already know the answer. What they had to go through did a number on all of them. It's up to how well you know them, know what they were like, to fully understand if they are not "getting over it" or need more help than you can give. Love can't heal PTSD even though it does help, you still need to have them evaluated to find out what is really going on. Don't assume anything.
Second rule, look. Look at what they do and hear what they say. Is it out of character for them? Are they drinking more? Do you suspect drug use? Do they have drastic mood swings? Nightmares? Flashbacks? Did they stop taking care of themselves as far as personal appearance? PTSD has signs and it's up to us to notice them. The problem is you need to know what they are or you may end up seeing something that is not there or overlooking something that is staring you right in the face.
Third rule, listen. Be there to listen to what they say, how they say it and even listen to what they are not saying. Sounds like a crazy notion but it's important. Are they detached from what is going on in the home? Are they paying attention to conversations? Are they forgetting what was just said? Do they avoid things they used to enjoy and tell you "I just don't feel like it" without giving a real, reasonable reason? Are they snapping back in anger irrationally? Are they talking in their sleep especially during a nightmare? Did they stop telling you things they used to say all the time, like I love you, you look nice, the meal was great or suddenly act as if they are not paying attention at all?
All of these are parts of warning signs for PTSD. Pay attention just as you would when your children were growing up. You would watch every step they took to make sure their legs were ok, their balance was ok. You would watch the way they would take things to make sure their eyes were working fine, their brain was learning and to see how well they were developing. You paid close attention to them when they could not talk to you and tell you something was wrong. It was up to you to notice it all. Well, it's the same thing when they have PTSD. Most of the time they cannot tell you what's wrong because they don't understand it themselves. Other times they are afraid because they don't understand it well enough. There are times when they are in such denial they don't see any of the changes in themselves. There are also times when they think they are getting away with hiding it from you. It's up to you to pay attention and get them the help they need to heal. The sooner they begin, the sooner your whole family heals as well.
Chaplain Kathie
When you are too busy with what you have to do, looking for what you need or want and seeing your veteran as anything but a partner, you have a bigger problem than you think.
When it comes to PTSD, wives and family members are on the front line of this battle to keep them alive. That's right. It's a battle for us to wage because they cannot fight for themselves. That part inside of them has been held captive by PTSD. We need to do the fighting when they come home.
I had to fight when I met my husband because he couldn't.
First rule, stop. Stop trying to find excuses for why they act differently. You would have had to live under a rock to not pay any attention at all to what happens in combat. You already know the answer. What they had to go through did a number on all of them. It's up to how well you know them, know what they were like, to fully understand if they are not "getting over it" or need more help than you can give. Love can't heal PTSD even though it does help, you still need to have them evaluated to find out what is really going on. Don't assume anything.
Second rule, look. Look at what they do and hear what they say. Is it out of character for them? Are they drinking more? Do you suspect drug use? Do they have drastic mood swings? Nightmares? Flashbacks? Did they stop taking care of themselves as far as personal appearance? PTSD has signs and it's up to us to notice them. The problem is you need to know what they are or you may end up seeing something that is not there or overlooking something that is staring you right in the face.
Third rule, listen. Be there to listen to what they say, how they say it and even listen to what they are not saying. Sounds like a crazy notion but it's important. Are they detached from what is going on in the home? Are they paying attention to conversations? Are they forgetting what was just said? Do they avoid things they used to enjoy and tell you "I just don't feel like it" without giving a real, reasonable reason? Are they snapping back in anger irrationally? Are they talking in their sleep especially during a nightmare? Did they stop telling you things they used to say all the time, like I love you, you look nice, the meal was great or suddenly act as if they are not paying attention at all?
All of these are parts of warning signs for PTSD. Pay attention just as you would when your children were growing up. You would watch every step they took to make sure their legs were ok, their balance was ok. You would watch the way they would take things to make sure their eyes were working fine, their brain was learning and to see how well they were developing. You paid close attention to them when they could not talk to you and tell you something was wrong. It was up to you to notice it all. Well, it's the same thing when they have PTSD. Most of the time they cannot tell you what's wrong because they don't understand it themselves. Other times they are afraid because they don't understand it well enough. There are times when they are in such denial they don't see any of the changes in themselves. There are also times when they think they are getting away with hiding it from you. It's up to you to pay attention and get them the help they need to heal. The sooner they begin, the sooner your whole family heals as well.
High suicide numbers in the U.S. Army get a second look
High suicide numbers in the U.S. Army get a second look
By Steve Wideman • Gannett Wisconsin Media • July 17, 2009
APPLETON — Scott Adler, a veteran of the first Iraq war, wasn't surprised at news earlier this week attributing record numbers of Army suicides to a failure of commanders to monitor returning combat veterans.
Adler, of Brillion, knew four soldiers who killed themselves during his 13 years in the Army, including a man who shot himself as Adler listened in horror on the telephone.
"That suicide changed me forever," said Adler, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder to the point he can't hold a job. He manages to volunteer as a veterans' advocate at the Fox Valley affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, which has the only veterans support group among state NAMI chapters.
The head of an Army suicide task force, Brig. Gen. Colleen McGuire, said Monday a three-month review of 143 suicides last year — the highest since records were kept in 1980 — found "we have young leaders who have not been trained in the art of just taking care of soldiers," particularly after they come home from combat.
read more here
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/20090717/OSH0101/307170028/1987
By Steve Wideman • Gannett Wisconsin Media • July 17, 2009
APPLETON — Scott Adler, a veteran of the first Iraq war, wasn't surprised at news earlier this week attributing record numbers of Army suicides to a failure of commanders to monitor returning combat veterans.
Adler, of Brillion, knew four soldiers who killed themselves during his 13 years in the Army, including a man who shot himself as Adler listened in horror on the telephone.
"That suicide changed me forever," said Adler, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder to the point he can't hold a job. He manages to volunteer as a veterans' advocate at the Fox Valley affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, which has the only veterans support group among state NAMI chapters.
The head of an Army suicide task force, Brig. Gen. Colleen McGuire, said Monday a three-month review of 143 suicides last year — the highest since records were kept in 1980 — found "we have young leaders who have not been trained in the art of just taking care of soldiers," particularly after they come home from combat.
read more here
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/20090717/OSH0101/307170028/1987
Friday, July 17, 2009
VA wasted millions on faulty Gulf War Illness Study
VA wastes millions on faulty study, IG says
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 17, 2009 15:09:56 EDT
After the Inspector General for the Department of Veterans Affairs issued a report Wednesday stating that a university had violated a contract for research on Gulf War Illness — and that VA had wrongfully awarded the contract in the first place — a lawmaker called for canceling it entirely.
“I ask that you look into this matter immediately and implement the Inspector General’s recommendation to terminate the contract for default so VA’s funds can be directed to research projects that will help those veterans affected by Gulf War Illness,” wrote Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, in a letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki dated Thursday.
The contract confusion has wasted more than two years and millions of dollars that could have been used to help veterans, according to the report.
read more here
VA wastes millions on faulty study, IG says
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 17, 2009 15:09:56 EDT
After the Inspector General for the Department of Veterans Affairs issued a report Wednesday stating that a university had violated a contract for research on Gulf War Illness — and that VA had wrongfully awarded the contract in the first place — a lawmaker called for canceling it entirely.
“I ask that you look into this matter immediately and implement the Inspector General’s recommendation to terminate the contract for default so VA’s funds can be directed to research projects that will help those veterans affected by Gulf War Illness,” wrote Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, in a letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki dated Thursday.
The contract confusion has wasted more than two years and millions of dollars that could have been used to help veterans, according to the report.
read more here
VA wastes millions on faulty study, IG says
Ex-Marine fends off Wyo. lion attack with chainsaw
Man fends off Wyo. lion attack with chainsaw
The Associated Press
Man fends off Wyo. lion attack with chainsaw
By MATTHEW BROWN (AP) – 21 hours ago
BILLINGS, Mont. — Wielding his chain saw as a weapon, a Colorado man says he fought off a starving mountain lion that attacked him while he was camping with his wife and two toddlers in northwestern Wyoming.
Dustin Britton, a 32-year-old mechanic and ex-Marine from Windsor, Colo., said he was alone cutting firewood about 100 feet from his campsite in the Shoshone National Forest when he saw the lion staring at him from some bushes.
Britton revved his 18-inch chain saw and tried to back away. But the 100-pound lion followed.
click link for more
The Associated Press
Man fends off Wyo. lion attack with chainsaw
By MATTHEW BROWN (AP) – 21 hours ago
BILLINGS, Mont. — Wielding his chain saw as a weapon, a Colorado man says he fought off a starving mountain lion that attacked him while he was camping with his wife and two toddlers in northwestern Wyoming.
Dustin Britton, a 32-year-old mechanic and ex-Marine from Windsor, Colo., said he was alone cutting firewood about 100 feet from his campsite in the Shoshone National Forest when he saw the lion staring at him from some bushes.
Britton revved his 18-inch chain saw and tried to back away. But the 100-pound lion followed.
click link for more
Shell-shocked: Jacqueline Winspear takes on PTSD
This may help the general public finally begin to understand what it's like. I know it helped my Mother when she would read mystery novels and love stories. Occasionally she would come across a character with PTSD and feel terrible about them, around the same time she stopped telling me to get divorced. Before words of the writers of these books connecting her to the character, even her own son-in-law was hard to understand. It was almost as if she was just too closely connected to him to really see him. In fantasy land of the fiction novel, they can manage to what all the clinical studies and real life stories can't manage to do. I am sure that if my Mom was still alive, she'd buy the book.
Shell-shocked: Jacqueline Winspear, Iraq vets, and the EPICON study
Jacqueline Winspear, England-born and raised, is the author of the award-winning, wildly popular Maisie Dobbs mystery books - whose latest installment is titled Among the Mad. In it, Winspear, with characteristic British practicality and compassion, explores territory few writers dare to tread - the psychic cost of war. The EPICON study, just released, explored the same territory in the lives of returning men of one troop exposed to multiple tours and higher levels of conflict. The EPICON study analyzed a cluster of murders in Colorado committed by members of this troop. According to the AP "The psychological trauma of fierce combat in Iraq may have helped drive soldiers in a single battle-scarred Army unit to kill as many as 11 people after their return home, the military said."
Specifically, study subjects said they "carried weapons with them because they felt 'naked' and unsafe and had difficulty transitioning to civilian life. Some said they felt 'weird' and didn't fit in, the Army report said. 'There, we were the law; here, the cops are the law,' one of the accused told investigators."
Jacqueline Winspear's books are set in post-World-War I England.
Shell-shocked: Jacqueline Winspear
State Dept. security chopper crashes in Iraq
State Dept. security chopper crashes in Iraq
By MATTHEW LEE (AP) – 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON — The State Department says a helicopter used to protect U.S. diplomats in Baghdad has crashed outside the Iraqi capital and a U.S. official says that two crew members were killed.
go here for more
State Dept. security chopper crashes in Iraq
By MATTHEW LEE (AP) – 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON — The State Department says a helicopter used to protect U.S. diplomats in Baghdad has crashed outside the Iraqi capital and a U.S. official says that two crew members were killed.
go here for more
State Dept. security chopper crashes in Iraq
AMVETS Group clips $63K in coupons for vets
VETERAN SAVERS: Group clips $63K in coupons for vets
By Deborah Allard
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Jul 16, 2009 @ 08:16 PM
Fall River — Imagine what your grocery bill would be if you cut $63,423 in coupons in a year’s time?
That’s how many coupons members of the AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary Post No. 60 clipped to help American veterans and their families save some cash on food purchases. For their efforts, the women won the first place Americanism Award at a state AMVETS annual convention in Sturbridge in June for their coupon collecting and for the food and clothing they donated to veterans in Fall River.
Post No. 60 also took second place for Scholarship Awards, Community Service and Child Welfare at the annual convention.
"I was so surprised. I cried,” said Bernadette Botelho, president of the Ladies Auxiliary Post No. 60. “We did excellent this year.”
read more here
VETERAN SAVERS Group clips 63K in coupons for vets
By Deborah Allard
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Jul 16, 2009 @ 08:16 PM
Fall River — Imagine what your grocery bill would be if you cut $63,423 in coupons in a year’s time?
That’s how many coupons members of the AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary Post No. 60 clipped to help American veterans and their families save some cash on food purchases. For their efforts, the women won the first place Americanism Award at a state AMVETS annual convention in Sturbridge in June for their coupon collecting and for the food and clothing they donated to veterans in Fall River.
Post No. 60 also took second place for Scholarship Awards, Community Service and Child Welfare at the annual convention.
"I was so surprised. I cried,” said Bernadette Botelho, president of the Ladies Auxiliary Post No. 60. “We did excellent this year.”
read more here
VETERAN SAVERS Group clips 63K in coupons for vets
Vietnam Tunnel Rats share stories of service
Vietnam Veterans to share stories of the role played by 'tunnel rats'
by Rudi Larini/The Star-Ledger
Friday July 17, 2009, 5:00 AM
HOLMDEL -- Two Vietnam veterans Saturday will be sharing the story of "tunnel rats" and the role they played in the Vietnam War in a special program in Holmdel.
Veterans John Scafidi and Ron Giles will be part of the program scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the Vietnam Era Educational Center of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Giles, a tunnel rat during the war, remembers groping his way through the pitch-black underground passageways. During one tunnel exploration, under the dim light of his flashlight, he discovered a strange object ahead of him. He could see it resembled a covered wok with small protrusions.
Curious, but even more cautious, he radioed his unit on the ground above and described what he saw to an Army engineer.
"He told me to turn around carefully, very slowly and get the hell out of there," Giles said.
read more here
Vietnam Tunnel Rats share stories of service
by Rudi Larini/The Star-Ledger
Friday July 17, 2009, 5:00 AM
HOLMDEL -- Two Vietnam veterans Saturday will be sharing the story of "tunnel rats" and the role they played in the Vietnam War in a special program in Holmdel.
Veterans John Scafidi and Ron Giles will be part of the program scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the Vietnam Era Educational Center of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Giles, a tunnel rat during the war, remembers groping his way through the pitch-black underground passageways. During one tunnel exploration, under the dim light of his flashlight, he discovered a strange object ahead of him. He could see it resembled a covered wok with small protrusions.
Curious, but even more cautious, he radioed his unit on the ground above and described what he saw to an Army engineer.
"He told me to turn around carefully, very slowly and get the hell out of there," Giles said.
read more here
Vietnam Tunnel Rats share stories of service
Thousands gather for Veterans Family Reunion
Thousands gather for Veterans Family Reunion
WICHITA, Kansas – Twenty-two years ago a group of Vietnam veterans got together. They called friends, who called more friends, and started what was known as the Vietnam Veterans Family Reunion. That event has now evolved to include veterans of all wars and is bigger than ever.
Thousands of military veterans and their families are gathering at El Dorado Lake this weekend for the 22nd Annual Veterans Family Reunion.
“While the reunion was started for veterans and their families, I like to use the word patriots -- those that support our military and its veterans, so that's what this event is for -- for our veterans and the patriots,” said Lance McCune, president of the Veterans Family Reunion.
The event was started by Vietnam vets, but has now expanded to include veterans of a new war.
“I started talking to them and found out the things I went through and experienced in Iraq were some of the exact same things they experience in Vietnam,” McCune said.
It’s a meeting of the old and the new – an opportunity to pass on experience and knowledge to a younger generation of war veterans.
“And telling them, ‘you're not alone,’” said Everett Thompson, a Vietnam veteran. “Yeah we're 30 or 40 years older than you are, but what you went through is the same thing we went through. The only difference is years.”
read more here
Thousands gather for Veterans Family Reunion
WICHITA, Kansas – Twenty-two years ago a group of Vietnam veterans got together. They called friends, who called more friends, and started what was known as the Vietnam Veterans Family Reunion. That event has now evolved to include veterans of all wars and is bigger than ever.
Thousands of military veterans and their families are gathering at El Dorado Lake this weekend for the 22nd Annual Veterans Family Reunion.
“While the reunion was started for veterans and their families, I like to use the word patriots -- those that support our military and its veterans, so that's what this event is for -- for our veterans and the patriots,” said Lance McCune, president of the Veterans Family Reunion.
The event was started by Vietnam vets, but has now expanded to include veterans of a new war.
“I started talking to them and found out the things I went through and experienced in Iraq were some of the exact same things they experience in Vietnam,” McCune said.
It’s a meeting of the old and the new – an opportunity to pass on experience and knowledge to a younger generation of war veterans.
“And telling them, ‘you're not alone,’” said Everett Thompson, a Vietnam veteran. “Yeah we're 30 or 40 years older than you are, but what you went through is the same thing we went through. The only difference is years.”
read more here
Thousands gather for Veterans Family Reunion
HERO CENTRAL: Services needed for returning veterans
HERO CENTRAL: Services needed for returning veterans
By Amy Fox
MUSKEGON, Mich. (WZZM)- As the United States military scales down operations in Iraq and shifts focus to Afghanistan the needs of troops returning to the United States are increasing.
The Muskegon County Department of Veterans Affairs is doing all it can to help these heroes.
Iraq and Afghanistan veteran Jason Wright recounts, "I was in a police station. I got blown from my bed, through a concrete wall. I have missing cartilage, four pieces of broken bone floating around. I have shrapnel in there." Wright's foot was injured while he was serving in Iraq.
But, that's only the injury you see. He says, "They classified me as severe PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder. I also have a traumatic brain injury." It's from hitting the concrete wall, and run ins with several roadside bombs.
Wright's injuries are perhaps not surprising considering his tours of duty, which consisted of "three in Iraq, three in Afghanistan, and two in Kosovo. Out of 12 years in the military, I have 9 years combat."
go here to read more and for video
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_story.aspx?storyid=111425&catid=14
By Amy Fox
MUSKEGON, Mich. (WZZM)- As the United States military scales down operations in Iraq and shifts focus to Afghanistan the needs of troops returning to the United States are increasing.
The Muskegon County Department of Veterans Affairs is doing all it can to help these heroes.
Iraq and Afghanistan veteran Jason Wright recounts, "I was in a police station. I got blown from my bed, through a concrete wall. I have missing cartilage, four pieces of broken bone floating around. I have shrapnel in there." Wright's foot was injured while he was serving in Iraq.
But, that's only the injury you see. He says, "They classified me as severe PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder. I also have a traumatic brain injury." It's from hitting the concrete wall, and run ins with several roadside bombs.
Wright's injuries are perhaps not surprising considering his tours of duty, which consisted of "three in Iraq, three in Afghanistan, and two in Kosovo. Out of 12 years in the military, I have 9 years combat."
go here to read more and for video
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_story.aspx?storyid=111425&catid=14
Initial 45 Projects Targeted for New VA Management
Recent VA News Releases
Secretary Shinseki Announces Next Steps in Technology Advancements to
Reduce Wasteful Spending and Increase Accountability
Initial 45 Projects Targeted for New Department-Wide Management System
WASHINGTON (July 17, 2009) - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
announced today that it will temporarily halt 45 information technology
projects which are either behind schedule or over budget. These
projects will be reviewed, and it will be determined whether these
projects should be continued.
"Leveraging the power of Information Technology to accelerate and
modernize the delivery of benefits and services to our nations Veterans
is essential to transforming VA to a 21st century organization that is
people-centric, results-driven and forward thinking," Secretary of
Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki said.
Secretary Shinseki ordered a review of the department's 300 IT projects
and implementation of the PMAS, designed to increase the department's
accountability for IT projects.
Each of the 45 projects will be temporarily halted. No further
development will occur and expenditures will be minimized. A new
project plan that meets the requirements of Program Management
Accountability System (PMAS) must be created by the project manager and
approved by VA's Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology
before resuming.
"VA has a responsibility to the American people, who are investing
millions of dollars in technology projects, to deliver quality results
that adhere to a budget and are delivered on time." Shinseki said.
"They need to have confidence that the dollars they are spending are
being effectively used to improve the lives of our Veterans."
PMAS is a management protocol that requires projects to establish
milestones to deliver new functionality to its customers. Failure to
meet set deadlines indicates a problem within the project. Under PMAS,
a third missed customer delivery milestone is cause for the project to
be halted and re-planned.
"Our goal is to increase our success rate for our systems development
projects," Roger W. Baker, VA's Assistant Secretary for Information and
Technology, said. "We will use every tool at our disposal to bring
about greater accountability and ensure that taxpayer dollars are being
spent wisely. PMAS and the IT Dashboard will be critical indicators of
whether our IT projects are on schedule and on budget, and if they are
not, we will take swift action to cut down on waste and redundancy."
PMAS, in conjunction with the analytical tools available through the IT
Dashboard, will ensure early identification and correction of
problematic IT projects. The IT Dashboard
, launched last month, is a one-stop clearinghouse of information,
allowing the American people to track federal information technology
initiatives and hold the government accountable for progress and
results.
Over the next year, all IT projects at VA will be required to move to
PMAS.
The Obama Administration has made management reform a key
government-wide priority. From IT accountability to personnel and
contracting reforms, the administration is committed to providing better
value, efficiency, and effectiveness for taxpayers' dollars.
Below is a complete list of all projects temporarily halted under PMAS
at this time:
o Scheduling Replacement
o Laboratory System Reeingeering Project (LSRP)
o Pharmacy Re-Engineering Pre .5
o Health Data Repository (HDR) II
o Pharmacy Re-Engineering Pre1.0
o HeVet Middleware Services
o Person Service Identity Management
o Administrative Data Repository (ADR)
o Document & Ancillary Imaging
o Clinical Data Service
o VA Learning Management
o Home Telehealth (HT) Development
o Occupational Health Record Keeping System (OHRS)
o Enrollment System Redesign (ESR) v4
o CHDR - Chemistry & Hematology: ADC Automation
o Clinical Flow Sheet - CLIO
o E-Gov: E-Training
o Barcode Expansion
o Delivery Service
o Organization Service
o Enrollment System Redesign (ESR) v3.1
o Health Data Repository (HDR) Data Warehouse
o Home Telehealth (HT) Infrastructure Enhancements
o Radiology Outside Reporting
o BCMA Inpatient Medication Request for SFG IRA
o Blood Bank - VBECS v1.0
o Prosthetics Enhancements
o VIC (Veterans Identification Card) Development
o Spinal Cord Injury & Disorders Outcomes v3.0
o Radiology HL7 Interface Update
o Ward Drug Dispensing Equipment (WDDE) Interface
o Lab Data Sharing & Interoperability (LDSI) - Anatomic
Pathology/Microbiology
o HBPC Medical Foster Home (MFH)
o eClaims Plus
o ASISTS Modification - Case Management
o National Teleradiology Program
o CAPRI Enhancements
o Master Patient Index
o RMS - Rights Management Server
o National Teleradiology Program
o Problem List Standardization
o Radiology Standardization
o LDSI Terminology Support
o Clinical/Health Data Repositories (CHDR) Phase II
o Fee Data and HERO
Secretary Shinseki Announces Next Steps in Technology Advancements to
Reduce Wasteful Spending and Increase Accountability
Initial 45 Projects Targeted for New Department-Wide Management System
WASHINGTON (July 17, 2009) - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
announced today that it will temporarily halt 45 information technology
projects which are either behind schedule or over budget. These
projects will be reviewed, and it will be determined whether these
projects should be continued.
"Leveraging the power of Information Technology to accelerate and
modernize the delivery of benefits and services to our nations Veterans
is essential to transforming VA to a 21st century organization that is
people-centric, results-driven and forward thinking," Secretary of
Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki said.
Secretary Shinseki ordered a review of the department's 300 IT projects
and implementation of the PMAS, designed to increase the department's
accountability for IT projects.
Each of the 45 projects will be temporarily halted. No further
development will occur and expenditures will be minimized. A new
project plan that meets the requirements of Program Management
Accountability System (PMAS) must be created by the project manager and
approved by VA's Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology
before resuming.
"VA has a responsibility to the American people, who are investing
millions of dollars in technology projects, to deliver quality results
that adhere to a budget and are delivered on time." Shinseki said.
"They need to have confidence that the dollars they are spending are
being effectively used to improve the lives of our Veterans."
PMAS is a management protocol that requires projects to establish
milestones to deliver new functionality to its customers. Failure to
meet set deadlines indicates a problem within the project. Under PMAS,
a third missed customer delivery milestone is cause for the project to
be halted and re-planned.
"Our goal is to increase our success rate for our systems development
projects," Roger W. Baker, VA's Assistant Secretary for Information and
Technology, said. "We will use every tool at our disposal to bring
about greater accountability and ensure that taxpayer dollars are being
spent wisely. PMAS and the IT Dashboard will be critical indicators of
whether our IT projects are on schedule and on budget, and if they are
not, we will take swift action to cut down on waste and redundancy."
PMAS, in conjunction with the analytical tools available through the IT
Dashboard, will ensure early identification and correction of
problematic IT projects. The IT Dashboard
, launched last month, is a one-stop clearinghouse of information,
allowing the American people to track federal information technology
initiatives and hold the government accountable for progress and
results.
Over the next year, all IT projects at VA will be required to move to
PMAS.
The Obama Administration has made management reform a key
government-wide priority. From IT accountability to personnel and
contracting reforms, the administration is committed to providing better
value, efficiency, and effectiveness for taxpayers' dollars.
Below is a complete list of all projects temporarily halted under PMAS
at this time:
o Scheduling Replacement
o Laboratory System Reeingeering Project (LSRP)
o Pharmacy Re-Engineering Pre .5
o Health Data Repository (HDR) II
o Pharmacy Re-Engineering Pre1.0
o HeVet Middleware Services
o Person Service Identity Management
o Administrative Data Repository (ADR)
o Document & Ancillary Imaging
o Clinical Data Service
o VA Learning Management
o Home Telehealth (HT) Development
o Occupational Health Record Keeping System (OHRS)
o Enrollment System Redesign (ESR) v4
o CHDR - Chemistry & Hematology: ADC Automation
o Clinical Flow Sheet - CLIO
o E-Gov: E-Training
o Barcode Expansion
o Delivery Service
o Organization Service
o Enrollment System Redesign (ESR) v3.1
o Health Data Repository (HDR) Data Warehouse
o Home Telehealth (HT) Infrastructure Enhancements
o Radiology Outside Reporting
o BCMA Inpatient Medication Request for SFG IRA
o Blood Bank - VBECS v1.0
o Prosthetics Enhancements
o VIC (Veterans Identification Card) Development
o Spinal Cord Injury & Disorders Outcomes v3.0
o Radiology HL7 Interface Update
o Ward Drug Dispensing Equipment (WDDE) Interface
o Lab Data Sharing & Interoperability (LDSI) - Anatomic
Pathology/Microbiology
o HBPC Medical Foster Home (MFH)
o eClaims Plus
o ASISTS Modification - Case Management
o National Teleradiology Program
o CAPRI Enhancements
o Master Patient Index
o RMS - Rights Management Server
o National Teleradiology Program
o Problem List Standardization
o Radiology Standardization
o LDSI Terminology Support
o Clinical/Health Data Repositories (CHDR) Phase II
o Fee Data and HERO
Striking jump in mental illness found in Iraq, Afghanistan veterans
Striking jump in mental illness found in Iraq, Afghanistan veterans
by Julie Sullivan, The Oregonian
Thursday July 16, 2009, 9:50 PM
About two in five Iraq or Afghanistan veterans have post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, abuse alcohol or have other serious problems, such as homelessness, researchers reported Thursday.
A new study showed a striking jump in mental illness from findings reported two years ago and indicates that veterans' problems continue to emerge years after they return home.
The study was also the first to suggest that National Guardsmen and reservists suffer these wars differently than active-duty soldiers. Army soldiers and Marines younger than 25 had the highest rates of PTSD and drinking. That wasn't surprising, given that they're more likely to see combat and deploy multiple times.
But among National Guardsmen and reservists, it's the soldiers older than 30 who suffer, regardless of the combat they saw. Researchers suggested that being called up from established careers, families and communities make older citizen-soldiers less prepared for combat and less able to move between the two worlds.
"These are not people who live on a base, have a strong affiliation with a unit or maybe ever saw themselves going overseas, at all," said Dr. Karen Seal, the chief author of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco. "The disparity between their expectations and what they were actually exposed to over there may create a lot of vulnerability to PTSD."
read more here
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/striking_jump_in_mental_illnes.html
by Julie Sullivan, The Oregonian
Thursday July 16, 2009, 9:50 PM
About two in five Iraq or Afghanistan veterans have post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, abuse alcohol or have other serious problems, such as homelessness, researchers reported Thursday.
A new study showed a striking jump in mental illness from findings reported two years ago and indicates that veterans' problems continue to emerge years after they return home.
The study was also the first to suggest that National Guardsmen and reservists suffer these wars differently than active-duty soldiers. Army soldiers and Marines younger than 25 had the highest rates of PTSD and drinking. That wasn't surprising, given that they're more likely to see combat and deploy multiple times.
But among National Guardsmen and reservists, it's the soldiers older than 30 who suffer, regardless of the combat they saw. Researchers suggested that being called up from established careers, families and communities make older citizen-soldiers less prepared for combat and less able to move between the two worlds.
"These are not people who live on a base, have a strong affiliation with a unit or maybe ever saw themselves going overseas, at all," said Dr. Karen Seal, the chief author of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco. "The disparity between their expectations and what they were actually exposed to over there may create a lot of vulnerability to PTSD."
read more here
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/striking_jump_in_mental_illnes.html
Vietnam Vet Kathy Newton, battles cancer and lives in a tent
This is a terrible story about homeless people in this country when you really think about it, but it is also a wonderful story about people taking care of each other. Troy Renault and his family are taking care of other people at the campground they now call home, giving away what little they have. Remarkable people.
One of them, Kathy Newton, is a homeless Vietnam veteran with cancer. Why isn't she getting the treatment she needs? How many stories about homeless veterans do we really need to read before we go out and get all of them at least the medical care they need?
We need to care about all the homeless people in this country because it's the right thing to do. We also need to take care of our veterans because it's the honorable thing to do in return for the fact they served the rest of us.
One of them, Kathy Newton, is a homeless Vietnam veteran with cancer. Why isn't she getting the treatment she needs? How many stories about homeless veterans do we really need to read before we go out and get all of them at least the medical care they need?
We need to care about all the homeless people in this country because it's the right thing to do. We also need to take care of our veterans because it's the honorable thing to do in return for the fact they served the rest of us.
Homeless Families Flock to Campgrounds
July 15, 2009 - 2:41 PM by: Brooks Blanton
Troy Renault remembers the shocking statistic he heard earlier this year while watching the news. By the end of 2009, more than a million children will be homeless because of the recession, foreclosure crisis and skyrocketing unemployment rate.
"I was like how could that happen? In this country, how can that happen," Renault pondered that fact while sitting at a picnic table on a hot Tennessee afternoon. "And little did I think that my children would be part of the statistic."
He works in construction, helping build the suburban Nashville neighborhood that he, his wife Tammy and their four sons called home in until six weeks ago. When the housing industry collapsed, Troy was laid off and started his own handyman business. But even on his own, work was hard to find. The family struggled to make their bills.
"Do I keep the lights and water on so that we can at least get clean, wash clothes and do dishes? Or do we pay the rent and sit in the darkness?"
The lack of work finally caught up with the Renault family and they eventually lost their home. With nowhere to go, they packed their belongings and moved to Space 34 at the Timberline Campground in Lebanon, Tennessee. They now live in two tents, joined together to make up a tiny living room complete with a lamp and TV and three small rooms for the family of six to sleep. Their kitchen is a grill, stacks of plastic containers of food and a line of coolers just outside the tent. Running water, showers and toilets are a few steps away in a public restroom intended for campers to use on long weekends, vacations and holidays.
It's an attitude the Renault's live by at Timberline. They give away their own comfort items or lend a helping hand to those they feel are in more need. Even though they sweat out the hot days and humid nights in their tents, they refused to keep a donated air conditioner. Instead they gave it to Kathy Newton, a vietnam veteran who is battling cancer and lives in a tent just two spaces down from their makeshift home. Troy also gave a refrigerator to a couple at a neighboring campsite who couldn't afford to replace one that broke down and he recently helped an another woman by fixing the plumbing in her tiny camper, free of charge.
read more here
Homeless Families Flock to Campgrounds
Training and Support for Veteran Caregivers Bills Pass VA Committee
Veterans’ Affairs Committee Passes Bill to Provide Training and Support for Veteran Caregivers
Written by Imperial Valley News
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Washington, DC - The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs led by Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA), approved four bills that would improve benefits and services to veterans provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
“Today, this Committee passed a slate of bills that will have a significant impact on the lives of veterans when they become law,” said Chairman Filner. “I would specifically like to thank the freshman Members of this Committee for their ability to get right to work and address the needs of our Nation’s veterans.”
The Committee approved a comprehensive bill to expand necessary life insurance options for veterans and their families, as well as improve medical services at VA hospitals and clinics around the country. Also passed were bills to streamline the process for nonprofit research and education corporations to participate in VA research endeavors, increase the amount available to disabled veterans for structural improvements for their homes, and provide essential support and training to those caring for this Nation’s wounded veterans.
H.R. 3219,
H.R. 1293
H.R. 3155
Written by Imperial Valley News
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Washington, DC - The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs led by Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA), approved four bills that would improve benefits and services to veterans provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
“Today, this Committee passed a slate of bills that will have a significant impact on the lives of veterans when they become law,” said Chairman Filner. “I would specifically like to thank the freshman Members of this Committee for their ability to get right to work and address the needs of our Nation’s veterans.”
The Committee approved a comprehensive bill to expand necessary life insurance options for veterans and their families, as well as improve medical services at VA hospitals and clinics around the country. Also passed were bills to streamline the process for nonprofit research and education corporations to participate in VA research endeavors, increase the amount available to disabled veterans for structural improvements for their homes, and provide essential support and training to those caring for this Nation’s wounded veterans.
H.R. 3219,
H.R. 1293
H.R. 3155
H.R. 2770, as amended – Veterans Nonprofit Research and Education Corp orations Enhancement Act of 2009 (Filner)
This bill would modify and update provisions of law relating to nonprofit research and education corporations so they can better support VA research. Specifically, this bill expands the general authorities on establishing nonprofit research corporations by authorizing the creation of multi-medical center research corporations where two or more VA medical centers share one corporation and improves accountability of the corporations by detailing the audit requirements.
read more here
Training and Support for Veteran Caregivers
Big homecoming for recovering Marine
If you are in the military or a veteran, ever wondered if the American people really cared, I urge you to watch this video and know how much you do mean.
Big homecoming for recovering Marine
posted by: Jeffrey Wolf written by: Anastasiya Bolton
DENVER - In a place where crowds are a given and homecomings happen every day, a couple of hundred people, most perfect strangers, gathered to surprise one man in a way that doesn't happen every day.
Sherra Basham has never met Lance Corporal John Thomas Doody or his family. She heard about him coming home and decided people needed to show up to honor the 26-year-old Marine.
"I'm here to show a Marine how much America cares for his sacrifice and everything he's done for us," Basham said. "For me it's every American in these United States taking a moment to say thank you Lance Corporal Doody."
Basham got about 75 of her friends to come celebrate the Marine's return.
J.T. as most people call him, was shot three times in the leg in Iraq in March 2007.
Then, the infection he got paralyzed him and put him in a coma. Wednesday, he arrived back in Denver, alive and able to talk, a miracle the way his family sees it.
read more here and watch video
Big homecoming for recovering Marine
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Explosions at Marriott Hotel and Ritz in Jakarta
CNN) -- Explosions tore through two luxury hotels Friday in south Jakarta, Indonesia, witnesses said.
Police sealed off the area around both blasts, one of which occurred in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the other at the J.W. Marriott Hotel.
check back here on CNN for more
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/07/16/indonesia.hotel.explosion/index.html
UPDATE
Police say Jakarta hotel bombers were guests
Story Highlights
Police say bombers had earlier checked into Marriott hotel
Death toll in bomb attacks now six with at least 50 injured
Police defuse bomb found on 18th floor of JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Indonesian authorities believe two suicide bombers checked into the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta and carried out coordinated bombings Friday morning, killing at least six victims and wounding more than 50 others.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/07/17/indonesia.hotels.explosions/index.html
Police sealed off the area around both blasts, one of which occurred in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the other at the J.W. Marriott Hotel.
check back here on CNN for more
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/07/16/indonesia.hotel.explosion/index.html
UPDATE
Police say Jakarta hotel bombers were guests
Story Highlights
Police say bombers had earlier checked into Marriott hotel
Death toll in bomb attacks now six with at least 50 injured
Police defuse bomb found on 18th floor of JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Indonesian authorities believe two suicide bombers checked into the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta and carried out coordinated bombings Friday morning, killing at least six victims and wounding more than 50 others.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/07/17/indonesia.hotels.explosions/index.html
Veterans will have a chance in September to walk in support of PTSD education
I don't know if this documentary is any good or not. I've only seen clips of it from the site. What I do know is that while the veterans become aware of what PTSD is, usually kicking, denying and screaming they don't have a problem, the general public is even more behind the learning curve. Any documentary to bring this into the public's attention is a worthy effort.
I Would Walk 500 Miles for PTSD- Would You?
Tim King Salem-News.com
Veterans will have a chance in September to walk in support of PTSD education.
(SALEM, Ore.) - I admit that when we first decided
(SALEM, Ore.) - I admit that when we first decided to produce an hour long documentary on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I thought it would be so widely supported that the actual production would be a piece of cake. I was wrong.
Companies that make literally billions off the wars overseas, won't so much as return a call to this producer. So I have another, much better idea. I am going to march 500 miles with fellow veterans to raise support for this important program. We don't need big corporate funding anyway, we just need more heart and soul, which is where this whole effort begins anyway.
The goal is to generate enough funding to produce this program at a high standard with all of the required components. The budget we gain from donations will allow us to make the best use of time, instead of everything being stretched and corners cut.
read more here
I Would Walk 500 Miles for PTSD
Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor.
Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), the first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several other awards including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated with Google News and several other major search engines and news aggregators.
You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com
Twelve hurt when 2 Disney buses crash
Twelve hurt when 2 Disney buses crash
Accident happened in front of Contemporary Resort
Susan Jacobson
Sentinel Staff Writer
5:00 PM EDT, July 16, 2009
Two Walt Disney World buses crashed this afternoon in front of the Contemporary Resort on Disney property, injuring 12 people, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
The rear-end crash happened about 2:40 p.m. when one southbound bus stopped to merge as the World Drive narrowed from three to two lanes, said Sgt. Kim Miller, an FHP spokeswoman. The second bus did not stop in time.
Fifty people were on both buses. A dozen were taken to area hospitals. Miller described their injuries as minor. Preliminary reports indicate the buses were ferrying guests from the theme parks to hotels.
click link for more
Accident happened in front of Contemporary Resort
Susan Jacobson
Sentinel Staff Writer
5:00 PM EDT, July 16, 2009
Two Walt Disney World buses crashed this afternoon in front of the Contemporary Resort on Disney property, injuring 12 people, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
The rear-end crash happened about 2:40 p.m. when one southbound bus stopped to merge as the World Drive narrowed from three to two lanes, said Sgt. Kim Miller, an FHP spokeswoman. The second bus did not stop in time.
Fifty people were on both buses. A dozen were taken to area hospitals. Miller described their injuries as minor. Preliminary reports indicate the buses were ferrying guests from the theme parks to hotels.
click link for more
$50 million dollar waste for what the Army should already know
Consider this. The Army already knows about repeat deployments and the increased risk of PTSD plus PTSD increases the risk of suicide. They did it anyway. Then add in that PTSD has been studied to death since the 70's. Do you really think for a second they will find something new? Do you really think this money will end up being more wasted money finding the same answers? I do. Most of these well funded studies usually find what has already been discovered 30 years ago. Since humans don't change, they would be a lot better off if they just looked at all the data already there to find out why we are where we are. The rate they're going, you can't get there from here!
Army to fund universities’ suicide study
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jul 16, 2009 16:25:04 EDT
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The University of Michigan and three other universities are launching a $50 million Army-funded study to find out why soldiers kill themselves or become mentally ill.
Columbia University, Harvard University and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., also are part of the consortium conducting the five-year study.
The University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research says in announcing the study Thursday that it’s the largest to date of suicide and mental health in the military.
Study co-leader Steven Heeringa at Michigan says the goal is to find out risk and protection factors for suicide and mental illness. He says the school will survey 90,000 active Army personnel.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/ap_army_suicide_study_071609/
Man Accused Of Killing Wife During Mexico Cruise
Man Accused Of Killing Wife During Mexico Cruise
Medical Examiner Identifies Victim As Shirley McGill, 55
POSTED: 9:26 am PDT July 16, 2009
SAN DIEGO -- A 55-year-old woman died aboard a cruise ship that docked in San Diego Thursday, and her husband was arrested in connection with the death, according to the FBI.
FBI Special Agent Darrell Foxworth said the 2,052-passenger Carnival Elation was on the last leg of a five-day trip to Baja Mexico on Tuesday when members of the ship's crew responded to a domestic dispute between a husband and wife in their cabin.
The crew members entered the cabin and found the woman dead, Foxworth said.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office identified the victim as Shirley McGill of Winnetka, a city in Los Angeles County. She turned 55 on July 8.
Robert McGill, who is also in his mid 50s, was held in the ship's brig during the return trip to San Diego and is expected to be charged with murder, FBI Special Agent in Charge Keith Slotter said during a midday news briefing at B Street Pier.
read more herehttp://www.10news.com/news/20075486/detail.html
linked from CNN
Medical Examiner Identifies Victim As Shirley McGill, 55
POSTED: 9:26 am PDT July 16, 2009
SAN DIEGO -- A 55-year-old woman died aboard a cruise ship that docked in San Diego Thursday, and her husband was arrested in connection with the death, according to the FBI.
FBI Special Agent Darrell Foxworth said the 2,052-passenger Carnival Elation was on the last leg of a five-day trip to Baja Mexico on Tuesday when members of the ship's crew responded to a domestic dispute between a husband and wife in their cabin.
The crew members entered the cabin and found the woman dead, Foxworth said.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office identified the victim as Shirley McGill of Winnetka, a city in Los Angeles County. She turned 55 on July 8.
Robert McGill, who is also in his mid 50s, was held in the ship's brig during the return trip to San Diego and is expected to be charged with murder, FBI Special Agent in Charge Keith Slotter said during a midday news briefing at B Street Pier.
read more herehttp://www.10news.com/news/20075486/detail.html
linked from CNN
Madonna 'devastated' by stage construction death
Madonna 'devastated' by stage construction death
Story Highlights
One person was killed when stage being built for Madonna concert collapses
Accident happened Thursday afternoon in southern French city of Marseille
Another two people, one British and one American, were severely injured
Madonna due to play first of five concerts in city for "Sticky and Sweet" tour Sunday
(CNN) -- Madonna was "devastated" to hear that a man was killed in an accident during construction for her upcoming concerts in Marseilles, France, a representative said Thursday.
A 53-year-old French man was killed when a stage being built for the concert collapsed, a fire department spokesman in the southern French city said.
Another two people, one British and one American, are severely injured, and four are lightly injured, officer David Goddin told CNN.
"At this point we don't know how it happened, but we are confident no one else is still under the rubble," Goddin said.
read more here
Madonna devastated by stage construction death
Story Highlights
One person was killed when stage being built for Madonna concert collapses
Accident happened Thursday afternoon in southern French city of Marseille
Another two people, one British and one American, were severely injured
Madonna due to play first of five concerts in city for "Sticky and Sweet" tour Sunday
(CNN) -- Madonna was "devastated" to hear that a man was killed in an accident during construction for her upcoming concerts in Marseilles, France, a representative said Thursday.
A 53-year-old French man was killed when a stage being built for the concert collapsed, a fire department spokesman in the southern French city said.
Another two people, one British and one American, are severely injured, and four are lightly injured, officer David Goddin told CNN.
"At this point we don't know how it happened, but we are confident no one else is still under the rubble," Goddin said.
read more here
Madonna devastated by stage construction death
Man who shot 5 police officers wearing priest clothing
5 cops wounded in New Jersey shootout; 2 suspects killed
Story Highlights
NEW: Man who started shootout was wearing "priest clothing," mayor says
Battle began when a suspect fired shotgun at officers, wounding one, authorities say
Suspect fled; police found him holed up in apartment with another person
Shootout there ended with both suspects dead, four more officers injured
(CNN) -- A gunman wearing "priest clothing" sparked a shootout with police in Jersey City, New Jersey, early Thursday that ended with five officers wounded and the shooter and another suspect dead, authorities said.
Two of the officers sustained serious injuries, officials said.
The shootings began around 5 a.m. as two officers monitored a vehicle suspected of being involved in a recent armed robbery.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/16/nj.cops.shot/index.html
Story Highlights
NEW: Man who started shootout was wearing "priest clothing," mayor says
Battle began when a suspect fired shotgun at officers, wounding one, authorities say
Suspect fled; police found him holed up in apartment with another person
Shootout there ended with both suspects dead, four more officers injured
(CNN) -- A gunman wearing "priest clothing" sparked a shootout with police in Jersey City, New Jersey, early Thursday that ended with five officers wounded and the shooter and another suspect dead, authorities said.
Two of the officers sustained serious injuries, officials said.
The shootings began around 5 a.m. as two officers monitored a vehicle suspected of being involved in a recent armed robbery.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/16/nj.cops.shot/index.html
Heal the Healer
Heal the Healer
As a medic on a medevac helicopter crew, Andrea saw non-stop action during OIF, and felt that she was using her medical training for it's best purpose. When she returned home, the full range of PTSD symptoms hit her like a bomb. She was so triggered that she had to give up her medical career and live with intense isolation and anger. Therapy and a friendship with a caring family has helped her to heal and to begin to trust.
You can listen to Andrea's story on our story site here. Heal the Healer
For the iTunes version, click here. If you'd like to hear a quick sample of any of our podcasts, click here for iTunes
As a medic on a medevac helicopter crew, Andrea saw non-stop action during OIF, and felt that she was using her medical training for it's best purpose. When she returned home, the full range of PTSD symptoms hit her like a bomb. She was so triggered that she had to give up her medical career and live with intense isolation and anger. Therapy and a friendship with a caring family has helped her to heal and to begin to trust.
You can listen to Andrea's story on our story site here. Heal the Healer
For the iTunes version, click here. If you'd like to hear a quick sample of any of our podcasts, click here for iTunes
The Army denies that combat stress causes homicide
The Army denies that combat stress causes homicide
An Army report seems to confirm a Salon investigation linking battle stress to murder. But the Army begs to differ
Editor's note: Read excerpts from the Army's report on homicides at Fort Carson here or download the full study here. Read Salon's Coming Home series about preventable deaths at Fort Carson here.
By Michael de Yoanna and Mark Benjamin
July 16, 2009 FORT CARSON, Colo. -- The harsh combat in Iraq, including potential war crimes that were witnessed by soldiers, contributed to a series of brutal murders by soldiers based at this Army post near Colorado Springs after they returned home, according to a hard-hitting Army study released Wednesday. Many of the findings in the study, which was announced by senior Army brass at a press conference on the post, mirror those in Salon's Coming Home series, which identified a pattern of preventable homicides and suicides at Fort Carson among soldiers who served in Iraq with combat stress and failed to receive proper medical treatment.
According to the report, "Survey data from this investigation suggest a possible association between increasing levels of combat exposure and risk for negative behavioral outcomes." The study also says that "combat intensity/exposure . . . may have increased the risk for violent behaviors" and that its "findings are consistent with recent research on combat exposure and subsequent behavior outcomes among Soldiers."
Salon's Coming Home series showed that soldiers who returned from combat duty with symptoms of stress were often ridiculed or otherwise discouraged from seeking help, were overmedicated or misdiagnosed, or chose to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. Many had been deployed even though they were already displaying signs of combat stress. Additionally, some of the soldiers involved in violence against themselves or others had preexisting conditions that should have disqualified them from service, but were allowed into a military hard-pressed for new recruits via waivers.
read more here
The Army denies that combat stress causes homicide
An Army report seems to confirm a Salon investigation linking battle stress to murder. But the Army begs to differ
Editor's note: Read excerpts from the Army's report on homicides at Fort Carson here or download the full study here. Read Salon's Coming Home series about preventable deaths at Fort Carson here.
By Michael de Yoanna and Mark Benjamin
July 16, 2009 FORT CARSON, Colo. -- The harsh combat in Iraq, including potential war crimes that were witnessed by soldiers, contributed to a series of brutal murders by soldiers based at this Army post near Colorado Springs after they returned home, according to a hard-hitting Army study released Wednesday. Many of the findings in the study, which was announced by senior Army brass at a press conference on the post, mirror those in Salon's Coming Home series, which identified a pattern of preventable homicides and suicides at Fort Carson among soldiers who served in Iraq with combat stress and failed to receive proper medical treatment.
According to the report, "Survey data from this investigation suggest a possible association between increasing levels of combat exposure and risk for negative behavioral outcomes." The study also says that "combat intensity/exposure . . . may have increased the risk for violent behaviors" and that its "findings are consistent with recent research on combat exposure and subsequent behavior outcomes among Soldiers."
Salon's Coming Home series showed that soldiers who returned from combat duty with symptoms of stress were often ridiculed or otherwise discouraged from seeking help, were overmedicated or misdiagnosed, or chose to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. Many had been deployed even though they were already displaying signs of combat stress. Additionally, some of the soldiers involved in violence against themselves or others had preexisting conditions that should have disqualified them from service, but were allowed into a military hard-pressed for new recruits via waivers.
read more here
The Army denies that combat stress causes homicide
Percentage of veterans with mental health problems jumps dramatically
This is stunning! Not that the numbers have increased this high, but that the VA still to this day does not understand it! That's the most stunning part of all.
The pamphlet I always refer to (over on the side bar of this blog) states clearly that most veterans will not seek help, realize they have a problem needing to be addressed until a year after they came home. This was about information known in 1978. For Heaven's sake will these people ever get it?
It has nothing to do with support or lack of support for the campaign itself. The troops are supported by the American public. This is clear and in direct response to the deplorable mistakes we made with the Vietnam veterans. The other known factor is the redeployments, which according to the Army's study, increases the risk of PTSD by 50%. Then you have the fact of the rate of traumatic events in Iraq and now being repeated in Afghanistan.
Think of it this way. I have no degree in mental health. I've just been paying attention for longer than most others have. If I could figure out in 2001 the number of Vietnam veterans needing help would increase after 9-11, they should have been able to as well. The trauma of 9-11 caused a secondary stressor to the extreme for Vietnam veterans to the point where even if they didn't understand what PTSD was, they would not be able to deny they needed help. They knew the flashbacks and nightmares were all about Vietnam so they sought help. The Internet played a role in all of this as well as more and more reports about PTSD came out. This was only the beginning of what I saw coming. After Afghanistan was invaded followed by Iraq, it was obvious that the numbers would mimic what we saw after Vietnam. Then came the Army study about redeployments and it was not that hard to figure out what the numbers would be. This is no surprise. Within the next two years were going to be seeing a million new veterans needing help with PTSD, that is if too many more don't commit suicide before the VA helps them.
I have a feeling we're very close to seeing those numbers sooner instead of later because of how little has been done to treat it right after they're involved in the events that will change their lives.
Now think of this,,,,
The pamphlet I always refer to (over on the side bar of this blog) states clearly that most veterans will not seek help, realize they have a problem needing to be addressed until a year after they came home. This was about information known in 1978. For Heaven's sake will these people ever get it?
It has nothing to do with support or lack of support for the campaign itself. The troops are supported by the American public. This is clear and in direct response to the deplorable mistakes we made with the Vietnam veterans. The other known factor is the redeployments, which according to the Army's study, increases the risk of PTSD by 50%. Then you have the fact of the rate of traumatic events in Iraq and now being repeated in Afghanistan.
Think of it this way. I have no degree in mental health. I've just been paying attention for longer than most others have. If I could figure out in 2001 the number of Vietnam veterans needing help would increase after 9-11, they should have been able to as well. The trauma of 9-11 caused a secondary stressor to the extreme for Vietnam veterans to the point where even if they didn't understand what PTSD was, they would not be able to deny they needed help. They knew the flashbacks and nightmares were all about Vietnam so they sought help. The Internet played a role in all of this as well as more and more reports about PTSD came out. This was only the beginning of what I saw coming. After Afghanistan was invaded followed by Iraq, it was obvious that the numbers would mimic what we saw after Vietnam. Then came the Army study about redeployments and it was not that hard to figure out what the numbers would be. This is no surprise. Within the next two years were going to be seeing a million new veterans needing help with PTSD, that is if too many more don't commit suicide before the VA helps them.
I have a feeling we're very close to seeing those numbers sooner instead of later because of how little has been done to treat it right after they're involved in the events that will change their lives.
Percentage of veterans with mental health problems jumps dramatically
1:00 PM, July 16, 2009
Jia-Rui Chong
About 37% of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have mental health problems, a nearly 50% increase from the last time the prevalence was calculated, according to a new study published today analyzing national Department of Veterans Affairs data.
The study, which examined the records of about 289,000 veterans who sought care at the VA between 2002 and 2008, also found higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
“What’s really striking is the dramatic acceleration in mental health diagnoses, particularly PTSD, after the beginning of the conflict in Iraq,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Karen Seal, a staff physician at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and an assistant professor at UC San Francisco.
The researchers said they could not pinpoint the exact causes of the increase, but suggested: “Waning public support and lower morale among troops may predispose returning veterans to mental health problems, as occurred during the Vietnam era.”
click link for more
Now think of this,,,,
Post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD (P-T-S-D), is an acquired mental condition that manifests itself following a psychologically distressing event outside the range of normal human experience. This disorder presumes that the person experienced a traumatic event or events involving actual or threatened death or injury to themselves or others, such as violence, abuse, or during a war.
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Bag of medals left at traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall in Bellingham
Bag of medals left at traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall in Bellingham
ISABELLE DILLS - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
BELLINGHAM — No one would have guessed the contents of a brown plastic bag with a camouflage design laid against the Veterans Traveling Tribute, a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
The bag sat untouched, as are some other items left at the memorial, for almost two days before Shelley Prentice, the coordinator of the memorial’s visit, finally opened it. When she did, she couldn’t believe her eyes.
The bag contained five medals, including an Army Distinguished Service Cross — the nation’s second-highest military honor — and a Purple Heart, in their original blue tin cases.
“That’s just amazing,” Prentice said. “These are the highest medals you can get, short of the … Medal of Honor.”
Medals are occasionally left beside the traveling wall, a smaller replica of the memorial in Washington, D.C. The tradition of leaving items is believed to have begun in 1982 at The Wall in D.C. when someone put a Purple Heart in the concrete being poured during the memorial's construction, according to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Web site.
go here for more
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/top/story/990077.html
ISABELLE DILLS - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
BELLINGHAM — No one would have guessed the contents of a brown plastic bag with a camouflage design laid against the Veterans Traveling Tribute, a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
The bag sat untouched, as are some other items left at the memorial, for almost two days before Shelley Prentice, the coordinator of the memorial’s visit, finally opened it. When she did, she couldn’t believe her eyes.
The bag contained five medals, including an Army Distinguished Service Cross — the nation’s second-highest military honor — and a Purple Heart, in their original blue tin cases.
“That’s just amazing,” Prentice said. “These are the highest medals you can get, short of the … Medal of Honor.”
Medals are occasionally left beside the traveling wall, a smaller replica of the memorial in Washington, D.C. The tradition of leaving items is believed to have begun in 1982 at The Wall in D.C. when someone put a Purple Heart in the concrete being poured during the memorial's construction, according to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Web site.
go here for more
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/top/story/990077.html
Former POW speaks to Vietnam veterans
Former POW speaks to Vietnam veterans
By Jenny Wagner, Times Staff
Published: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 11:06 PM EDT
“The war is not over for many of us.”
Fred Elbert
U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam War veteran and former prisoner of war
ROCHESTER — Those who know Lance Cpl. Fred Elbert describe him as quiet and sincere, but the Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war began his speech at the Vietnam Veterans of America meeting Wednesday with a proud, strong “Semper Fi.”
Elbert, 62, of East Liverpool, Ohio, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in October 1966, when he was 19.
“I was gung-ho,” he said. “I was trying to get into the National Guard.”
Elbert said the Army was sending troops directly to Vietnam after basic training, and when a recruiter told him he could use his aviation mechanics training in the Marine Corps, Elbert signed up. It didn’t turn out the was he expected, though.
read more here
http://www.timesonline.com/articles/2009/07/15/news/doc4a5e99227317c664590185.txt
By Jenny Wagner, Times Staff
Published: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 11:06 PM EDT
“The war is not over for many of us.”
Fred Elbert
U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam War veteran and former prisoner of war
ROCHESTER — Those who know Lance Cpl. Fred Elbert describe him as quiet and sincere, but the Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war began his speech at the Vietnam Veterans of America meeting Wednesday with a proud, strong “Semper Fi.”
Elbert, 62, of East Liverpool, Ohio, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in October 1966, when he was 19.
“I was gung-ho,” he said. “I was trying to get into the National Guard.”
Elbert said the Army was sending troops directly to Vietnam after basic training, and when a recruiter told him he could use his aviation mechanics training in the Marine Corps, Elbert signed up. It didn’t turn out the was he expected, though.
read more here
http://www.timesonline.com/articles/2009/07/15/news/doc4a5e99227317c664590185.txt
Philadelphia V.A. hospital sued by Vietnam Vet
Philadelphia V.A. hospital sued!
July 15, 2009 (NewYorkInjuryNews.com - Injury News)
New Source: JusticeNewsFlash.com
Legal news for Pennsylvania Veteran’s Affairs medical malpractice lawyers.
Attorneys representing a Vietnam veteran sue Department of Veteran’s Affairs
Philadelphia, PA–The Philadelphia Inquirer reported a medical malpractice claim was filed against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by a Vietnam veteran. The veteran, 59 year-old Barry Lackro, filed the lawsuit after news broke about a certain Veterans Administration medical facility executing botched cancer treatments. There have been 92 cases in which the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, in Pennsylvania, admitted to administering an insufficient, or excessive, amount of radiation. Lackro was one of the 92 patient’s who received negligent care.
go here for more
Philadelphia V.A. hospital sued
July 15, 2009 (NewYorkInjuryNews.com - Injury News)
New Source: JusticeNewsFlash.com
Legal news for Pennsylvania Veteran’s Affairs medical malpractice lawyers.
Attorneys representing a Vietnam veteran sue Department of Veteran’s Affairs
Philadelphia, PA–The Philadelphia Inquirer reported a medical malpractice claim was filed against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by a Vietnam veteran. The veteran, 59 year-old Barry Lackro, filed the lawsuit after news broke about a certain Veterans Administration medical facility executing botched cancer treatments. There have been 92 cases in which the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, in Pennsylvania, admitted to administering an insufficient, or excessive, amount of radiation. Lackro was one of the 92 patient’s who received negligent care.
go here for more
Philadelphia V.A. hospital sued
Army vet killed in late night motorcycle crash
Army vet killed in late night motorcycle crash
Motorcyclist dies in crash 7-16-09
Slideshow
Danny Facto was killed Wednesday night in a motorcycle crash. This photo is from a 2006 story we did with Facto on PTSD. (NewsChannel 9, WSYR-TV) Cicero (WSYR-TV) - Sheriff's deputies are investigating a deadly motorcycle accident that happened late Wednesday night along East Taft Road in Cicero. 29-year-old Danny Facto, who lived on Areopagitica Avenue in Bridgeport, was killed. We're told Facto was traveling east on East Taft Road around 11:30 on Wednesday night when he lost control of his 2006 Harley Davidson motorcycle. The motorcycle skidded for about an eighth of a mile before coming to a rest. Deputies say the man suffered a massive head injury when his helmet shattered.
Motorcyclist dies in crash 7-16-09
Slideshow
Danny Facto was killed Wednesday night in a motorcycle crash. This photo is from a 2006 story we did with Facto on PTSD. (NewsChannel 9, WSYR-TV) Cicero (WSYR-TV) - Sheriff's deputies are investigating a deadly motorcycle accident that happened late Wednesday night along East Taft Road in Cicero. 29-year-old Danny Facto, who lived on Areopagitica Avenue in Bridgeport, was killed. We're told Facto was traveling east on East Taft Road around 11:30 on Wednesday night when he lost control of his 2006 Harley Davidson motorcycle. The motorcycle skidded for about an eighth of a mile before coming to a rest. Deputies say the man suffered a massive head injury when his helmet shattered.
Facto was an advocate for better treatment of veterans suffering from PTSD. NewsChannel 9's Dan Cummings did a story with Facto in 2006.
Danny's struggles with PTSD prompted his father to create a resource for veterans and families seeking help. To learn more about it, head here: http://www.veteransandfamilies.org/home.html
Army Times has some explaining to do
Nye is a Democrat and Rick Maze got it part right when he wrote
Just checked back and it looks like it was fixed,,,,
I've read Maze for a long time and frankly I'm a bit stunned he wrote "Republican" instead of Democrat on something as important as this is.Rep. Glenn Nye, D-Va.,
(but got it wrong here)
one of the Republicans trying to round up support to prevent the military and veterans benefits from being taxed
Rep. Glenn Nye (D-VA 2nd District)Now back to this article, we need to think that we've made it bad enough for our veterans when they have to wait so long to have claims approved, this would be appalling. Isn't it bad enough they don't receive a dime to live on until they get an approved claim? Isn't it bad enough most claims are low-balled instead of given a rating they truly deserve so they don't have to pay all the pro-rated back pay they really should pay? Isn't it bad enough that our veterans end up getting wounded serving the country then have to wonder how the hell they can pay their bills because of it while the VA figures out if they are "worthy" or not of paying? Well if that's all not bad enough, think of the slam this will do to them. Are our congress members out of their minds?
1st term Democrat from Virginia 2nd District.
Residence: Norfolk
Marital Status: Single
Prev. Occupation: Foreign Service Officer
Prev. Political Exp.: no prior elected office
Education: BS Georgetown University, 1996
Birthdate: 09/09/1974
Birthplace: Philadelphia, PA
Religion: Presbyterian
Percentage in Last Election: 52%
Major Opponent: Thelma Drake
http://congress.org/congressorg/bio/id/20157
Fight looms on military, VA health care taxes
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jul 16, 2009 11:28:50 EDT
A handful of House Republicans are gearing up for a fight to largely exempt military and veterans benefits from the broader health care reform movement.
Two issues are involved. One has to do with whether military and veterans benefits could be taxed in the same fashion as employer-provided health benefits, a proposal included in the 1,018-page health care bill being taken up by the House Education and Labor Committee.
A second question involves potential federally imposed limits on the types and cost of care covered by health insurance, limits that could apply to both direct care from military hospitals and clinics and from the Tricare health plan, as well as to direct care from the veterans health care system.
Republican aides, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they expect amendments will be offered to protect the military and veterans health plans. Exactly who will offer the amendments and what those amendments might say has not been determined.
This will pose a problem for Democrats, who fear that allowing any exemptions from the overall health reform effort opens the door for other changes that could undermine the legislation
“We believe that any health reform legislation must be fully paid for. However, it is untenable to put these costs on the backs of the men and women who are serving their country in the Armed Forces,” said Rep. Glenn Nye, D-Va., one of the Republicans trying to round up support to prevent the military and veterans benefits from being taxed.
go here for more
Fight looms on military, VA health care taxes
Just checked back and it looks like it was fixed,,,,
“We believe that any health reform legislation must be fully paid for. However, it is untenable to put these costs on the backs of the men and women who are serving their country in the Armed Forces,” said Rep. Glenn Nye, D-Va., one of the lawmakers trying to round up support to prevent the military and veterans benefits from being taxed.
Nam Guardian Angel now a Charter of the IFOC
Nam Guardian Angel now a Charter of the IFOC
It's official. Nam Guardian Angel is now a Charter of the International Fellowship of Chaplains and I could not be happier! I am so proud to be a Charter holder of this great organization.
As of July 1st, any donations made to me are tax deductible. Your support will keep my ministry going. To tell you the truth, this couldn't have come at a better time. It would be great to finally be able to at least break even on what it costs me to operate this site and Namguardianangel.com as well as what it costs me to be a Chaplain. It would be even better to be able to depend on some kind of a salary considering I work about 70 hours a week. But let's face it. Times are tough and no one has money right now.
If you can spare even $10.00 to donate it will help me pay down my debt since all this time, my expenses have been out of pocket. Donations have come in to cover the cost of sending out videos when I have to burn them, but have not come close to the other expenses. If you value having all these reports I track all in one place, please consider making a donation. If you can't make a donation, then please say a prayer for me that someone able to afford donating is touched enough to do it.
It's official. Nam Guardian Angel is now a Charter of the International Fellowship of Chaplains and I could not be happier! I am so proud to be a Charter holder of this great organization.
As of July 1st, any donations made to me are tax deductible. Your support will keep my ministry going. To tell you the truth, this couldn't have come at a better time. It would be great to finally be able to at least break even on what it costs me to operate this site and Namguardianangel.com as well as what it costs me to be a Chaplain. It would be even better to be able to depend on some kind of a salary considering I work about 70 hours a week. But let's face it. Times are tough and no one has money right now.
If you can spare even $10.00 to donate it will help me pay down my debt since all this time, my expenses have been out of pocket. Donations have come in to cover the cost of sending out videos when I have to burn them, but have not come close to the other expenses. If you value having all these reports I track all in one place, please consider making a donation. If you can't make a donation, then please say a prayer for me that someone able to afford donating is touched enough to do it.
Post-traumatic stress disorder hitting World War II vets
Yesterday's veterans are the same as today's veterans. It's not that they didn't know they had PTSD from combat. They just didn't know what it was. For anyone still out there saying that PTSD is an excuse for getting government money from the VA, explain why it is that so many veterans never sought money all these years while they were suffering! It blows that theory away. Talk to any family member of a WWII veteran, Korean War veteran or Vietnam veteran and you'll be able to understand how much they suffered, just as today's combat veterans are suffering. Now think what could be accomplished today if they receive the help they need to heal. Do you think for a second they would not want to return to as close to "normal" as possible even though they will receive either no disability checks or very low ones? They would take it in a heartbeat as long as they were being treated instead of suffering in silence the way the older veterans did.
For older veterans, it's too late to undo all they have carried but it's not too late to heal and restore "life" back into living. My husband did. Medication and therapy have helped him greatly and he went without help from 1971 when he came home until 1993. All those years lost even though I knew what PTSD was and was helping other veterans since 1982, he wouldn't listen. There were too few seeking help and no one he knew was going to the VA. That is, that he knew of. It turned out there were a lot more than he ever imagined because they just wouldn't talk about it. It took a trip to the Veteran's Center in Boston before he understood that what he was carrying in him was a wound from Vietnam. It happened to his nephew as well. He was a Vietnam veteran with PTSD but ended up committing suicide.
Read this report and please watch the video. If you have never seen Ken Burns, The War, try to find it on PBS and understand this wound is not about what they can gain from VA compensation, it's about what they lost because they didn't get the help they needed when they came home.
For older veterans, it's too late to undo all they have carried but it's not too late to heal and restore "life" back into living. My husband did. Medication and therapy have helped him greatly and he went without help from 1971 when he came home until 1993. All those years lost even though I knew what PTSD was and was helping other veterans since 1982, he wouldn't listen. There were too few seeking help and no one he knew was going to the VA. That is, that he knew of. It turned out there were a lot more than he ever imagined because they just wouldn't talk about it. It took a trip to the Veteran's Center in Boston before he understood that what he was carrying in him was a wound from Vietnam. It happened to his nephew as well. He was a Vietnam veteran with PTSD but ended up committing suicide.
Read this report and please watch the video. If you have never seen Ken Burns, The War, try to find it on PBS and understand this wound is not about what they can gain from VA compensation, it's about what they lost because they didn't get the help they needed when they came home.
Post-traumatic stress disorder hitting World War II vets
Posted by Brian Albrecht/Plain Dealer Reporter July 15, 2009 22:07PM
VIDEO: Peter Carnabuci, of Maple Heights, recalls scenes of combat and concentration camps during World War II that have troubled him in recent years.
World War II vet talks about post-traumatic stress disorder
They thought they had locked up the memories and thrown away the key.
Talking meant remembering, so many veterans of World War II didn't speak about the scenes of carnage and combat they saw more than 60 years ago. Not even to their wives or children.
Suck it up, lock it away.
Problem was, there was more than one key.
Decades later those visions of horror have seeped to the surface in nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety and emotional numbness -- symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
PTSD, more commonly associated with the war in Vietnam and the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, is showing up in veterans whose fighting days may be long gone but are far from forgotten.
The Department of Veterans Affairs' National Center for PTSD estimated that 1 in 20 of the nation's 2.5 million surviving World War II vets suffers from the disorder.
read more here
Post-traumatic stress disorder hitting World War II vets
Green Beret gets award for noncombat heroism
Green Beret gets award for noncombat heroism
By KEVIN MAURER
Associated Press Writer
Posted: 07/15/2009
FORT BRAGG, N.C.—In the final minutes of Sgt. James Treber's life, frigid water filling his armored truck, the 24-year-old freed a pinned comrade and shoved the man into the small air pocket he'd been using to breathe.
Treber didn't make it out of the canal in Afghanistan alive, but he saved another Special Forces soldier.
The Army presented his family with a Soldier's Medal—an award for heroism performed while not in combat.
"It is the beginning of the healing process," his father, Gordon Treber of Astoria, Ore., said Wednesday. He said earlier this week that he was proud of his son.
About 130 Soldier's Medals have been awarded since late 2001, according to military records.
Treber's father, stepmother, Nicole, and widow, Tamila attended the ceremony Wednesday at Fort Bragg in the memorial rock garden outside the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group's headquarters where 17 stones memorialize the members of the battalion killed in Afghanistan.
For Sgt. 1st Class Joseph A. Serna, the June 2008 day is a painful memory.
read more here
Green Beret gets award for noncombat heroism
By KEVIN MAURER
Associated Press Writer
Posted: 07/15/2009
FORT BRAGG, N.C.—In the final minutes of Sgt. James Treber's life, frigid water filling his armored truck, the 24-year-old freed a pinned comrade and shoved the man into the small air pocket he'd been using to breathe.
Treber didn't make it out of the canal in Afghanistan alive, but he saved another Special Forces soldier.
The Army presented his family with a Soldier's Medal—an award for heroism performed while not in combat.
"It is the beginning of the healing process," his father, Gordon Treber of Astoria, Ore., said Wednesday. He said earlier this week that he was proud of his son.
About 130 Soldier's Medals have been awarded since late 2001, according to military records.
Treber's father, stepmother, Nicole, and widow, Tamila attended the ceremony Wednesday at Fort Bragg in the memorial rock garden outside the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group's headquarters where 17 stones memorialize the members of the battalion killed in Afghanistan.
For Sgt. 1st Class Joseph A. Serna, the June 2008 day is a painful memory.
read more here
Green Beret gets award for noncombat heroism
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Getting worse before it gets better
On Sunday I did a post about my dog and the need for all of us to keep talking to our doctors, communicating with them so they get it right.
My dog has a serious disease and I promised to update on his condition. Brandon is his Vet's office and is staying there until he can walk again. He had to go there on Monday because he couldn't walk. His dizziness caused his head to move a lot while we were trying everything to carry him outside to relieve himself and we ended up dropping him. Plus at almost 90 pounds (huge Golden) he did a number on my already bad back. Monday he was in really bad shape. The Vet gave him medication to calm him down and get him more comfortable. Tuesday we went to visit him and he was still in bad shape.
Idiopathic vestibular disease gets worse before it gets better. The Vet told us that it usually lasts about two weeks.
Aside from missing him like crazy, it's really breaking my heart to know he is away from us and suffering right now. Well, today we went to visit him and he was a lot more alert. He was licking us the way he normally does, had a spark back in his eyes and they were not moving out of control the way they had been. He kept trying to give my husband his paw to high five while he was laying on the floor. I tried a few times to get him to stand up, but he couldn't. Now we're worried that we won't be able to bring him home tomorrow the way we thought we'd be able to. I know he's in the best place possible for him because the staff and the Vet adore him and will be able to take care of him better than we can, but he's my baby after all.
Sometimes illnesses have to get worse before they get better. It's very hard when this happens. Somehow we all manage to convince ourselves that once an illness is treated people turn the corner right away. That is not always the case. As with Brandon, he got worse even after treatment began because it is the nature of what he has. It's really the same thing with PTSD and it really frightens people. We all just expect treatment to take care of the symptoms and everything will be fine right away. We don't expect what comes.
As PTSD begins to gain control, emotions are frozen, trapped behind a wall to protect the person from feeling any more pain. The walls get thicker as time goes on. They become detached emotionally from everyone they once loved. When they begin to heal, there is a crack in their barrier wall. First emotions are trickling out and then comes the flood as the walls begin to come down once the soul knows it no longer has to defend itself. It seems like PTSD is getting worse at the same time the reality is it's getting better.
They cry a lot. They wonder why they can't seem to stop crying. In this case, crying is good. They are healing. Bruises look worse when they are getting better. They change color and spread out covering a larger area. Cuts end up looking really bad when infections are coming out and most of the time flesh gets itchy. Appearances of getting worse, when there is a lot of healing going on. It is the way the human body was created to work things out. The key is getting the right kind of help to make it all work the way it's supposed to.
There was a time when many of the illnesses we see today were not treated simply because they just didn't know how to. People died from what we can cure today. The body hasn't changed but treatment has simply because we know more about how it all fits and works. We got here because people were not willing to just settle for the way things were. They set out to change the outcome.
That's what healing is all about. Without help to heal PTSD, it gets worse. People died because they did not get the help they needed, ended up finding their hearts couldn't take the depression, lack of sleep, stress and endless flashbacks as real as the moments of trauma happening repeatedly. They drank themselves to death causing their livers to fail or causing fatal car accidents. They did drugs and died of overdoses or failures of their bodies to deal with the drugs. They also committed suicide. People found ways to understand and treat PTSD because they were not willing to simply settle for the same outcome. They ended up saving lives. Still there are many hard at work because the outcomes for far too many is not where it should be. Unacceptable outcomes have left too many suffering when they could be getting help.
The key is knowledge and knowing the person suffering when it's someone you love or knowing yourself when you know you are no longer the same. Communicate with the doctors so they find the right diagnosis and if your medication is not working, let them know. Don't feel as if you've had a set back if you find yourself with uncontrollable tears. There are years worth of pain that need to come out and be honored. Those walls didn't go up in a day and won't be fully pulled down that fast either.
Remember that sometimes healing is painful but the other side of the pain is waiting for you. It's a great place to be. My husband went from being a man dying a slow death to one alive again and feeling the beauty of a sunset and the excitement of seeing a shuttle launch cutting across the sky. Treatment and medication works to restore a lot of what you've been missing.
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but moments that take our breath away" I don't know who wrote this quote but I have it hanging in my house to remind me that it is not how long we're here, it's what we do when we're here that really matters. Why spend your days building the walls to protect your soul from pain when it ends up trapping out the joys as well? That is a life in existence and not one being lived.
Our dog Brandon, for non-dog owners, it's hard to understand that they are a part of the family. I call him my baby and he's 13. I know he doesn't have too much time left with us but the quality of his days matters more than the number of them. Once this illness has passed, he will be on the right medication for his spine and compressed discs and should be back to his old self. As long as I know he is enjoying his life, that's all that matters. Can any of us really ask for anything more than that? Enjoying our lives and living with the moments of pain so that we can feel joy as well?
Sunday, July 12, 2009
When doctors get it wrong, keep looking and talking
My dog has a serious disease and I promised to update on his condition. Brandon is his Vet's office and is staying there until he can walk again. He had to go there on Monday because he couldn't walk. His dizziness caused his head to move a lot while we were trying everything to carry him outside to relieve himself and we ended up dropping him. Plus at almost 90 pounds (huge Golden) he did a number on my already bad back. Monday he was in really bad shape. The Vet gave him medication to calm him down and get him more comfortable. Tuesday we went to visit him and he was still in bad shape.
Idiopathic vestibular disease gets worse before it gets better. The Vet told us that it usually lasts about two weeks.
Aside from missing him like crazy, it's really breaking my heart to know he is away from us and suffering right now. Well, today we went to visit him and he was a lot more alert. He was licking us the way he normally does, had a spark back in his eyes and they were not moving out of control the way they had been. He kept trying to give my husband his paw to high five while he was laying on the floor. I tried a few times to get him to stand up, but he couldn't. Now we're worried that we won't be able to bring him home tomorrow the way we thought we'd be able to. I know he's in the best place possible for him because the staff and the Vet adore him and will be able to take care of him better than we can, but he's my baby after all.
Sometimes illnesses have to get worse before they get better. It's very hard when this happens. Somehow we all manage to convince ourselves that once an illness is treated people turn the corner right away. That is not always the case. As with Brandon, he got worse even after treatment began because it is the nature of what he has. It's really the same thing with PTSD and it really frightens people. We all just expect treatment to take care of the symptoms and everything will be fine right away. We don't expect what comes.
As PTSD begins to gain control, emotions are frozen, trapped behind a wall to protect the person from feeling any more pain. The walls get thicker as time goes on. They become detached emotionally from everyone they once loved. When they begin to heal, there is a crack in their barrier wall. First emotions are trickling out and then comes the flood as the walls begin to come down once the soul knows it no longer has to defend itself. It seems like PTSD is getting worse at the same time the reality is it's getting better.
They cry a lot. They wonder why they can't seem to stop crying. In this case, crying is good. They are healing. Bruises look worse when they are getting better. They change color and spread out covering a larger area. Cuts end up looking really bad when infections are coming out and most of the time flesh gets itchy. Appearances of getting worse, when there is a lot of healing going on. It is the way the human body was created to work things out. The key is getting the right kind of help to make it all work the way it's supposed to.
There was a time when many of the illnesses we see today were not treated simply because they just didn't know how to. People died from what we can cure today. The body hasn't changed but treatment has simply because we know more about how it all fits and works. We got here because people were not willing to just settle for the way things were. They set out to change the outcome.
That's what healing is all about. Without help to heal PTSD, it gets worse. People died because they did not get the help they needed, ended up finding their hearts couldn't take the depression, lack of sleep, stress and endless flashbacks as real as the moments of trauma happening repeatedly. They drank themselves to death causing their livers to fail or causing fatal car accidents. They did drugs and died of overdoses or failures of their bodies to deal with the drugs. They also committed suicide. People found ways to understand and treat PTSD because they were not willing to simply settle for the same outcome. They ended up saving lives. Still there are many hard at work because the outcomes for far too many is not where it should be. Unacceptable outcomes have left too many suffering when they could be getting help.
The key is knowledge and knowing the person suffering when it's someone you love or knowing yourself when you know you are no longer the same. Communicate with the doctors so they find the right diagnosis and if your medication is not working, let them know. Don't feel as if you've had a set back if you find yourself with uncontrollable tears. There are years worth of pain that need to come out and be honored. Those walls didn't go up in a day and won't be fully pulled down that fast either.
Remember that sometimes healing is painful but the other side of the pain is waiting for you. It's a great place to be. My husband went from being a man dying a slow death to one alive again and feeling the beauty of a sunset and the excitement of seeing a shuttle launch cutting across the sky. Treatment and medication works to restore a lot of what you've been missing.
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but moments that take our breath away" I don't know who wrote this quote but I have it hanging in my house to remind me that it is not how long we're here, it's what we do when we're here that really matters. Why spend your days building the walls to protect your soul from pain when it ends up trapping out the joys as well? That is a life in existence and not one being lived.
Our dog Brandon, for non-dog owners, it's hard to understand that they are a part of the family. I call him my baby and he's 13. I know he doesn't have too much time left with us but the quality of his days matters more than the number of them. Once this illness has passed, he will be on the right medication for his spine and compressed discs and should be back to his old self. As long as I know he is enjoying his life, that's all that matters. Can any of us really ask for anything more than that? Enjoying our lives and living with the moments of pain so that we can feel joy as well?
Gates won’t ban tobacco on front lines
Gates won’t ban tobacco on front lines
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 15, 2009 18:00:32 EDT
Smokers on the front lines need not fear any effort to ban the habit — as long as Defense Secretary Robert Gates is on the job.
A recent report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, called for eliminating tobacco sales at all military installations and setting a “specific, mandatory date by which the military will be tobacco-free.”
But while Gates “shares [the report authors’] concern about the health and well-being of the force,” Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters Wednesday, “you should not expect him to take any action which would restrict the use of tobacco products by … our service members in conflict zones.”
read more here
Gates will not ban tobacco on front lines
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 15, 2009 18:00:32 EDT
Smokers on the front lines need not fear any effort to ban the habit — as long as Defense Secretary Robert Gates is on the job.
A recent report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, called for eliminating tobacco sales at all military installations and setting a “specific, mandatory date by which the military will be tobacco-free.”
But while Gates “shares [the report authors’] concern about the health and well-being of the force,” Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters Wednesday, “you should not expect him to take any action which would restrict the use of tobacco products by … our service members in conflict zones.”
read more here
Gates will not ban tobacco on front lines
Orlando 3rd 'meanest' city for homeless, study finds
Orlando 3rd 'meanest' city for homeless, study finds
Advocacy groups rank Top 10 cities that 'criminalize' homelessness
Kate Santich
Sentinel Staff Writer
July 14, 2009
The City Beautiful? How about "The City Mean"?
Two national advocacy groups for the homeless ranked Orlando as the third "meanest" city in the nation Tuesday, citing a trend toward criminalizing activities that come with living on the streets, such as sleeping in parks or panhandling.
In a report from the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless, Orlando ranked behind Los Angeles and St. Petersburg on a Top 10 "meanest cities" list, which also included Gainesville (No. 5) and Bradenton (No. 9).
Although a city of Orlando spokeswoman called the label unfair, Tulin Ozdeger, the law center's civil-rights program director, said: "We're definitely seeing a prevalent attitude among many cities in Florida that encourages these ... criminalization measures. We think there needs to be a political shift in attitudes to move toward solutions instead of penalizing people."
read more here
Orlando 3rd meanest city for homeless, study finds
Just a reminder
FL 430 funded beds but 18,910 homeless veterans as of 2006 report
http://www.nchv.org/page.cfm?id=81
One of the biggest factors in Vietnam veterans becoming homeless was the fact that when they came home, there was a timeline to file claims of a year. With PTSD issues increasing since the time many of them came home, it took longer in too many cases for them to understand that what was "wrong" with them was connected to their service. To this day, we're still seeing Vietnam veterans seeking help from the VA for the first time. It's not that they suddenly found themselves needing help. It's because they didn't know what they needed help for or how to get it. I still have them asking what PTSD is. We did a lousy job getting Vietnam veterans help even though they were responsible for all the research and programs the VA and mental health community have right now. Let's not make the same mistake again because we're already seeing homeless Iraq and Afghanistan veterans needing help to heal. Not healing does lead to homelessness in too many of them.
The other issues on homelessness is the economy and lack of jobs. People in need of mental healthcare are also a factor. For all the reasons we can find for why people end up homeless, there are very few excuses we can come up to justify not helping them.
Wednesday's child is full of woe?
Wednesday's child is full of woe? Was Mother Goose right?
MONDAY'S CHILD IS FAIR OF FACE
by Mother Goose
Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go.
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child born on the Sabbath Day,
Is fair and wise and good and gay.
http://www.bethanyroberts.com/MondaysChildIsFairofFace.htm
For Suicide, Why Wednesday?
What is it about Wednesday?
Intriguing new research shows that Wednesday is the day of the week on which most suicides occur. That contradicts earlier, long-standing findings that Monday was the most common day for people to commit suicide.
The study looked at data about suicides nationwide among people over age 18; that number totaled 131,636 over five years. Almost a quarter of those suicides happened on Wednesdays, while only about 14 percent took place on Mondays. The fewest -- just over 11 percent -- occurred on Thursdays.
In keeping with previous research, this study showed that men were about three times as likely as women to attempt suicide and about three times as likely to succeed in their attempt.
It's very hard for a person not inclined to consider suicide to get inside the head of one who does contemplate killing him- or herself. So it's hard to know why people would choose Wednesday above all other days to commit such an act. The paper suggests that perhaps life's stresses build up by mid-week and seem most insurmountable on that day.The study suggests more research is needed; it would of course be good to figure this out. Because maybe if we understood their thinking, we could better help dissuade people from taking their own lives.
What do you think? What makes Wednesday stand out in this grim regard?
(Here's information about a nationwide network of suicide prevention hotlines.)
MONDAY'S CHILD IS FAIR OF FACE
by Mother Goose
Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go.
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child born on the Sabbath Day,
Is fair and wise and good and gay.
http://www.bethanyroberts.com/MondaysChildIsFairofFace.htm
Wounded Times was right about Michael Jackson before US Magazine
It's nice to be right before "reporters" are. I do suggest you go to the site to watch the video. It's better than the one I found online and posted on the original post. I still think that this accident could have set off PTSD and that would account for the changes in him.
linked from RawStory
How Michael Jackson's Pill Addiction Began
Wednesday July 15, 2009
The harrowing, never-before-seen footage of the singer's 1984 Pepsi commercial accident
Wednesday July 15, 2009
The harrowing, never-before-seen footage of the singer's 1984 Pepsi commercial accident
Usmagazine.com has exclusive, never-before-seen footage of Michael Jackson's Pepsi commercial accident, filmed in L.A.'s Shrine Auditorium on Jan. 27, 1984.
Look back at Michael Jackson's most unforgettable moments.
The clip (watch above) shows one take where the pyrotechnics exploded as planned -- after Jackson descended the stairs and began performing with his brothers.
See Michael Jackson's life in photos.
On the sixth take, though, things went horribly wrong: The fireworks erupted too early, igniting Jackson's head in flames. Jackson is at first unaware he's on fire, and continues dancing.
See 32 photos from inside Michel Jackson's Staples Center memorial.
He was never the same after the accident, reports the new issue of Us Weekly, on stands today.
How Michael Jackson's Pill Addiction Began
linked from RawStory
Monday, June 29, 2009
Is this the minute that changed Michael Jackson's life?
DOD:Non-comat death in Iraq
07/14/09 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Chief Warrant Officer Rodney A. Jarvis, 34, of Akron, Ohio, died July 13 in Baghdad of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 46th Engineer Battalion, 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Fort Polk, La.
Area soldier stricken by heart attack
By Jim Carney
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 07:34 p.m. EDT, Jul 15, 2009
A heart attack Monday claimed the life of Akron native Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rodney A. Jarvis who was on his third tour in Iraq, his family said.
''He is a casualty of war,'' his sister, Robin Bacola of Munroe Falls said Wednesday. ''He gave his life just as if he were hit by a bullet.''
Jarvis was scheduled to come home to his wife and two daughters in Louisiana in September.
read more here
http://www.ohio.com/news/50897502.html
Congress turns up heat on burn pits
Congress turns up heat on burn pits
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 15, 2009 13:33:14 EDT
Two lawmakers have called upon the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to determine if open-air burn pits for waste disposal in Iraq and Afghanistan are exposing troops to harm, as well as if there are any alternatives.
“Preliminary reports have indicated that fumes from these burn pits produce a considerable amount of contaminants that may cause short- and long-term harm to our service members serving in proximity to these operations,” wrote Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., in a letter dated July 9.
And on Tuesday, Feingold and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., proposed an amendment to the 2010 defense authorization bill that would “prohibit the disposal of covered waste in an open-air burn pit during a contingency operation lasting longer than one year” and would direct the secretary of defense to submit a report about what is burned in the pits and a plan for alternative options. The House has already passed a similar amendment in its version of the defense policy bill.
read more here
Congress turns up heat on burn pits
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 15, 2009 13:33:14 EDT
Two lawmakers have called upon the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to determine if open-air burn pits for waste disposal in Iraq and Afghanistan are exposing troops to harm, as well as if there are any alternatives.
“Preliminary reports have indicated that fumes from these burn pits produce a considerable amount of contaminants that may cause short- and long-term harm to our service members serving in proximity to these operations,” wrote Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., in a letter dated July 9.
And on Tuesday, Feingold and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., proposed an amendment to the 2010 defense authorization bill that would “prohibit the disposal of covered waste in an open-air burn pit during a contingency operation lasting longer than one year” and would direct the secretary of defense to submit a report about what is burned in the pits and a plan for alternative options. The House has already passed a similar amendment in its version of the defense policy bill.
read more here
Congress turns up heat on burn pits
Mom of GI killed in Camp Liberty clinic shooting seeks info
Mom of GI killed in clinic shooting seeks info
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jul 15, 2009 14:05:38 EDT
FEDERALSBURG, Md. — The mother of a Maryland soldier killed with four others in a shooting at a mental health clinic in Iraq says she wants to know more about how her son died.
Shawna Machlinski says she filed a Freedom of Information Act request last month to get more details about the May shooting in which her son, 19-year-old Pfc. Michael Yates Jr. of Federalsburg, was killed.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/ap_mom_soldier_death_071509/
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jul 15, 2009 14:05:38 EDT
FEDERALSBURG, Md. — The mother of a Maryland soldier killed with four others in a shooting at a mental health clinic in Iraq says she wants to know more about how her son died.
Shawna Machlinski says she filed a Freedom of Information Act request last month to get more details about the May shooting in which her son, 19-year-old Pfc. Michael Yates Jr. of Federalsburg, was killed.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/ap_mom_soldier_death_071509/
Army: Accused Carson GIs faced intense combat
Army: Accused Carson GIs faced intense combat
P. Solomon Banda - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jul 15, 2009 13:30:36 EDT
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Soldiers from a Colorado unit accused in nearly a dozen slayings since returning home — including a couple gunned down as they put up a garage sale sign — could be showing a hostility fueled by intense combat in Iraq, where the troops suffered heavy losses and told of witnessing war crimes, the military said Wednesday.
The Army launched an investigation after soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division — nicknamed the Lethal Warriors — were accused in a spate of five killings around Colorado Springs, home to Fort Carson, in 2007 and 2008.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/ap_carson_study_071509/
P. Solomon Banda - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jul 15, 2009 13:30:36 EDT
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Soldiers from a Colorado unit accused in nearly a dozen slayings since returning home — including a couple gunned down as they put up a garage sale sign — could be showing a hostility fueled by intense combat in Iraq, where the troops suffered heavy losses and told of witnessing war crimes, the military said Wednesday.
The Army launched an investigation after soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division — nicknamed the Lethal Warriors — were accused in a spate of five killings around Colorado Springs, home to Fort Carson, in 2007 and 2008.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/ap_carson_study_071509/
Vietnam vet in standoff had stopped taking meds
UPDATE
August 29, 2011
Vietnam Vet given 10 years probation
August 29, 2011
Vietnam Vet given 10 years probation
Before we moved to Florida, we made two trips to visit Disney. In 1999, my husband was acting like a kid again, enjoying the rides and really excited by the attractions. The following year, a return trip was just the opposite. He complained most of the time we were at the parks about the heat, the crowds and didn't want to go on some of the rides he really enjoyed just the year before. I was very worried about him, wondering why he was acting the way he did and getting very aggravated that he would not just stay in the hotel room instead of making us miserable by his whining at the parks.
When we got back to Massachusetts, I made him go to the VA to find out what was going on. When we got there, he told the triage nurse that he stopped taking one of his medications. He said he was afraid to tell me because I would get mad at him. Turned out he never stopped to think that he was risking his life and making the people around him angry anyway. That was the last time he stopped taking his medication.
When people on medication feel better there is a tendency to stop taking them. After all, instead of thinking they are stable because of them, it's more hopeful for them to think they are cured. This is what can happen when they decide to become their own doctor and their worst enemy.
Wednesday, Jul. 15, 2009
Vietnam vet in standoff had stopped taking meds
By MITCH MITCHELL and BILL MILLER
Keller and North Richland Hills SWAT officers rushed through a back door and tackled a troubled Vietnam veteran in Watauga on Thursday night after an armed standoff that lasted more than nine hours.
Ronnie Paul Crowder, 57, was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, stunned relatives said. He faces two charges of attempted capital murder for shooting at two officers who arrived at his house in the 5900 block of Robin Drive about 11:15 a.m., Watauga police Chief Randy Benjamin said.
About 8:45 p.m., he said, officers shot at least six rounds of a chemical agent before entering the house and tackling Crowder.
The man was combative during and after the arrest and had to be strapped down for the ambulance ride, Benjamin said.
During the long, hot afternoon, homes were evacuated on Robin Drive and Kary Lynn Street South, a few blocks from Whitley Road Elementary School. As people arrived home from work, they were directed to a nearby public library to wait.
Relatives said Crowder had "not taken his medicine in six days. He’s not in his right mind." He served two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Marines and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as numerous physical ailments.
read more here
http://www.kellercitizen.com/101/story/13347.html
The Physical Aspects of Loss
The Physical Aspects of Loss
July 15, 2009 by
By Kirsti A. Dyer MD, MS, FT –
People experience many losses in their lifetime. The most common loss is the death of a loved one, but people experience other losses e.g. loss of a relationship, loss of a job or loss of health. Most of these losses result in some type of a grief response. Grief is the entire body’s response to the loss–mind, body and spirit.
A person grieving a loss may feel grief in many different ways–physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially and intellectually. He or she may experience a variety of body complaints that include:
Fatigue
Problems sleeping (insomnia)
General aches and pain
Backaches
Stomach pains
Intestinal symptoms (diarrhea, constipation, pain, discomfort)
Chest Pressure
Palpitations
Panic Attacks
Increased Anxiety
Many of these physical complaints are potentially serious and require a medical evaluation to exclude a serious medical disorders before determining that the symptoms are due to grief.
read more here
the physical aspects of loss Open to Hope Foundation
July 15, 2009 by
By Kirsti A. Dyer MD, MS, FT –
People experience many losses in their lifetime. The most common loss is the death of a loved one, but people experience other losses e.g. loss of a relationship, loss of a job or loss of health. Most of these losses result in some type of a grief response. Grief is the entire body’s response to the loss–mind, body and spirit.
A person grieving a loss may feel grief in many different ways–physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially and intellectually. He or she may experience a variety of body complaints that include:
Fatigue
Problems sleeping (insomnia)
General aches and pain
Backaches
Stomach pains
Intestinal symptoms (diarrhea, constipation, pain, discomfort)
Chest Pressure
Palpitations
Panic Attacks
Increased Anxiety
Many of these physical complaints are potentially serious and require a medical evaluation to exclude a serious medical disorders before determining that the symptoms are due to grief.
read more here
the physical aspects of loss Open to Hope Foundation
Returning veterans now battling at home
Returning veterans now battling at home
By Paul Thissen
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 07/14/2009 04:01:28 PM PDT
They've left the battlefield, but their fights are not over yet.
Veterans returning from service in Iraq or Afghanistan face the highest unemployment rate in decades. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Physical injuries. Homelessness. Dee Pu'u didn't know what to do.
"In the military you could trust somebody with your life," said Pu'u, 32, one of about 300 veterans attending the East Bay Veterans Fair in Concord on Monday. On the outside, he said, everyone is out for themselves.
He rejoined civilian life a year-and-a-half ago after two tours in Iraq. Two weeks later he was homeless, living in a park in Fairfield, he said.
He now realizes, he said, that there were resources available to him that could have helped him sooner. But after a dozen years in the Army, including the traumas of fighting in the initial push into Iraq, he just wanted to be left alone, he said.
Pu'u didn't realize he was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder until another veteran tricked him, saying they would go to San Francisco. Instead, they went to a group meeting for people with the disorder. At that point, Pu'u had been homeless for a year.
read more here
Returning veterans now battling at home
By Paul Thissen
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 07/14/2009 04:01:28 PM PDT
They've left the battlefield, but their fights are not over yet.
Veterans returning from service in Iraq or Afghanistan face the highest unemployment rate in decades. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Physical injuries. Homelessness. Dee Pu'u didn't know what to do.
"In the military you could trust somebody with your life," said Pu'u, 32, one of about 300 veterans attending the East Bay Veterans Fair in Concord on Monday. On the outside, he said, everyone is out for themselves.
He rejoined civilian life a year-and-a-half ago after two tours in Iraq. Two weeks later he was homeless, living in a park in Fairfield, he said.
He now realizes, he said, that there were resources available to him that could have helped him sooner. But after a dozen years in the Army, including the traumas of fighting in the initial push into Iraq, he just wanted to be left alone, he said.
Pu'u didn't realize he was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder until another veteran tricked him, saying they would go to San Francisco. Instead, they went to a group meeting for people with the disorder. At that point, Pu'u had been homeless for a year.
read more here
Returning veterans now battling at home
New PTSD Approach Offers Reduced Stigma at Lackland Air Force Base
New PTSD Approach Offers Reduced Stigma
July 14, 2009
Air Force Print Newsby Lt. Col. Lesa Spivey
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas - Servicemembers seeking help for deployment-related post-traumatic stress disorder now have the option of being treated through primary care channels at a new pilot program offered at Wilford Hall Medical Center here.
The primary goal of this new research program is to offer effective therapy for PTSD within the primary care environment, where servicemembers are likely to feel more comfortable seeking mental health assistance.
Servicemembers who wish to participate in this type of treatment program simply schedule an appointment with their primary care manager and go to their primary care facility, just as they would for any other treatment. The primary care manager then refers the servicemember to the behavioral health consultant who works in the primary care clinic. This process helps to mainstream the treatment alongside other, more routine care. It is hoped that, as a result, a servicemember will feel less isolated or ostracized and be more willing to ask for help.
PTSD is caused by exposure to a traumatic event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury. An individual who is experiencing PTSD symptoms may have been personally threatened or injured, or he or she might have witnessed the death or serious injury of another. In either case, the severity of PTSD is directly related to the level of threat to the person's life or the lives of others while in the combat environment.
PTSD is one of the top health concerns for servicemembers returning from combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Recent studies of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans suggest that 5 to 17 percent of U.S. military personnel returning from deployments have PTSD symptoms and as many as 25 percent report some psychological problems.
Almost 2 million U.S. military personnel have deployed in support of OIF/OEF, and estimates in this population indicate that 100,000 to 300,000 OIF/OEF veterans are at significant risk for chronic PTSD.
read more here
New PTSD Approach Offers Reduced Stigma
July 14, 2009
Air Force Print Newsby Lt. Col. Lesa Spivey
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas - Servicemembers seeking help for deployment-related post-traumatic stress disorder now have the option of being treated through primary care channels at a new pilot program offered at Wilford Hall Medical Center here.
The primary goal of this new research program is to offer effective therapy for PTSD within the primary care environment, where servicemembers are likely to feel more comfortable seeking mental health assistance.
Servicemembers who wish to participate in this type of treatment program simply schedule an appointment with their primary care manager and go to their primary care facility, just as they would for any other treatment. The primary care manager then refers the servicemember to the behavioral health consultant who works in the primary care clinic. This process helps to mainstream the treatment alongside other, more routine care. It is hoped that, as a result, a servicemember will feel less isolated or ostracized and be more willing to ask for help.
PTSD is caused by exposure to a traumatic event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury. An individual who is experiencing PTSD symptoms may have been personally threatened or injured, or he or she might have witnessed the death or serious injury of another. In either case, the severity of PTSD is directly related to the level of threat to the person's life or the lives of others while in the combat environment.
PTSD is one of the top health concerns for servicemembers returning from combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Recent studies of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans suggest that 5 to 17 percent of U.S. military personnel returning from deployments have PTSD symptoms and as many as 25 percent report some psychological problems.
Almost 2 million U.S. military personnel have deployed in support of OIF/OEF, and estimates in this population indicate that 100,000 to 300,000 OIF/OEF veterans are at significant risk for chronic PTSD.
read more here
New PTSD Approach Offers Reduced Stigma
Veterans Still waiting, and waiting
Sun editorial:
Still waiting, and waiting
Veterans Affairs’ backlog in processing veterans’ disability claims just gets bigger
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 2:05 a.m.
The long wait time for disability claims to be processed has been a complaint among veterans since the early days of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Troops were sent into combat in both wars by the administration of President George W. Bush without necessary preparations, such as expanding the veterans hospitals that would be caring for the wounded and adding staff and facilities to the Veterans Affairs Department so that the inevitable disability claims could be handled efficiently.
The result has been eight years of disservice to members of the military who were sent into harm’s way.
A New York Times story Monday revealed that veterans are still waiting interminably to hear back on their disability claims — in a recession, no less, during which many are desperate to receive what they have earned.
Veterans groups are forcefully speaking out. “The VA’s claim situation is so bad that it is exacerbating veterans’ already difficult situations,” the executive director of Veterans for Common Sense told the newspaper.
read more here
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jul/14/still-waiting-and-waiting/
Still waiting, and waiting
Veterans Affairs’ backlog in processing veterans’ disability claims just gets bigger
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 2:05 a.m.
The long wait time for disability claims to be processed has been a complaint among veterans since the early days of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Troops were sent into combat in both wars by the administration of President George W. Bush without necessary preparations, such as expanding the veterans hospitals that would be caring for the wounded and adding staff and facilities to the Veterans Affairs Department so that the inevitable disability claims could be handled efficiently.
The result has been eight years of disservice to members of the military who were sent into harm’s way.
A New York Times story Monday revealed that veterans are still waiting interminably to hear back on their disability claims — in a recession, no less, during which many are desperate to receive what they have earned.
Veterans groups are forcefully speaking out. “The VA’s claim situation is so bad that it is exacerbating veterans’ already difficult situations,” the executive director of Veterans for Common Sense told the newspaper.
read more here
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jul/14/still-waiting-and-waiting/
Suicides by soldiers tragic in Canada
Suicides by soldiers tragic
By PETER WORTHINGTON, SUN MEDIA
Last Updated: 14th July 2009, 3:57am
Last week the Toronto Star ran a disturbing front page headlined story about suicides in the Canadian military, and cited evidence that the stress of overseas missions may result in criminal acts by returned veterans.
The renewed concern about suicide and stress disorder among the military has intensified since Maj. Michelle Mendes, a fast-tracked and respected intelligence officer, committed suicide shortly after arriving in Afghanistan in April.
Now research is underway among veterans, dating back to the Korean war and peacekeeping, to see if there's a pattern of what they went through that may have affected their later lives.
Soldiers who commit suicide has always been a puzzling phenomenon that is rarely diagnosed except by hindsight. Maybe it57;s incomprehensible, except that it happens and is always tragic and seemingly unnecessary.
DND prides itself in noting that the suicide rate in the military is lower than the national average, but this is misleading because military personnel are screened before they are accepted, and are not the average.
A harsh reality is that since 1995 when the UN's peacekeeping role in the Balkans was turned over to NATO to become more aggressive, through 2008 and the "war" in Afghanistan, more Canadian service personnel have committed suicide than have been killed by enemy action - 145 suicides to 124 killed in action (at this writing) in Afghanistan.
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Suicides by soldiers tragic
By PETER WORTHINGTON, SUN MEDIA
Last Updated: 14th July 2009, 3:57am
Last week the Toronto Star ran a disturbing front page headlined story about suicides in the Canadian military, and cited evidence that the stress of overseas missions may result in criminal acts by returned veterans.
The renewed concern about suicide and stress disorder among the military has intensified since Maj. Michelle Mendes, a fast-tracked and respected intelligence officer, committed suicide shortly after arriving in Afghanistan in April.
Now research is underway among veterans, dating back to the Korean war and peacekeeping, to see if there's a pattern of what they went through that may have affected their later lives.
Soldiers who commit suicide has always been a puzzling phenomenon that is rarely diagnosed except by hindsight. Maybe it57;s incomprehensible, except that it happens and is always tragic and seemingly unnecessary.
DND prides itself in noting that the suicide rate in the military is lower than the national average, but this is misleading because military personnel are screened before they are accepted, and are not the average.
A harsh reality is that since 1995 when the UN's peacekeeping role in the Balkans was turned over to NATO to become more aggressive, through 2008 and the "war" in Afghanistan, more Canadian service personnel have committed suicide than have been killed by enemy action - 145 suicides to 124 killed in action (at this writing) in Afghanistan.
read more here
Suicides by soldiers tragic
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